His dad founded Chuck E. Cheese. Now he's opening virtual reality fun zones.
Back in the day, a visit to Chuck E. Cheese was the most exciting thing ever: pizza, ball pits, and creepy singing robots.
Now the son of the man who founded that company wants to open a high-tech fun zone that lets people shoot lasers in virtual reality.
Brent Bushnell, son of Chuck E. Cheese and Atari Inc. co-founder Nolan Bushnell, announced a new round of funding for his planned micro-amusement parks, which will feature virtual and augmented reality games and experiences.
Bushnell's concept is Two Bit Circus, an "experiential entertainment" company that he's running with his co-founder Eric Gradman, which will open physical spaces with multi-person virtual reality games, as well as molecular gastronomy, cocktails, and science and technology installations. In a release, the company added that there will be "liberal use of lasers, fires, and robots."
The first location is slated for downtown Los Angeles, but it's not opening until 2018. To appease eager gamers, Two Bit Circus is holding occasional private beta nights to let visitors play with the company's latest inventions and games.
The concept isn't totally theoretical. Two Bit Circus has already showcased temporary installations, with many held at big events, such as conferences. It's not all kid games, although Two Bit Circus seems like it'd be highly entertaining for a younger crowd.
To get a sense of what the new amusement centers will be like, look to their work already out there. Previous public installations brought virtual reality and haptic experiences based on the Super Bowl and Olympics. Their STEAM Carnival (named for science, technology, engineering, art and math) is a traveling high-tech arcade which has included a robot battle. This will all be rolled into the new 30,000 square-foot space.
On Thursday, Two Bit Circus announced a $15 million series B funding round. That's a lot of game tickets.
Topics Augmented Reality Virtual Reality
Sasha is a news writer at Mashable's San Francisco office. She's an SF native who went to UC Davis and later received her master's from the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism. She's been reporting out of her hometown over the years at Bay City News (news wire), SFGate (the San Francisco Chronicle website), and even made it out of California to write for the Chicago Tribune. She's been described as a bookworm and a gym rat.
