Today, traditional escape rooms are of great interest to many people because they offer an interesting pastime. Technology does not stand still, and today we see that virtual reality escape rooms, which combine virtual reality and immersive environments, will be a logical extension.

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What Are Virtual Reality Escape Rooms?

Virtual Reality (VR) escape rooms are primarily interactive, where players put on VR headsets and enter a created environment. Unlike conventional escape rooms, these environments can imitate any location. You can get into a spaceship or find yourself in Dracula's castle, and you will have to solve a series of puzzles with a team to get out.

How Do They Work?

Setup and Equipment:

Setup and Equipment:

• VR headsets (Meta Quest, Oculus Quest e.g) which provide a 360-degree view of the world;
• Controllers allow players to interact with objects and solve puzzles;
• Headphones are needed to deliver spatial audio to enhance immersion;

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‍Gameplay:

• A team usually consists of 3-6 players who will try to solve puzzles together, and find clues to solve all the riddles within the set time;
• To make the scenario interesting, puzzles are often non-standard and require creativity, communication, and teamwork;
• Depending on the game's plot and technical implementation, players can either move around the environment(free locomotion) or take part in setting virtual boundaries;

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‍Types of Virtual Reality Escape Rooms:

• VR-Only Escape Rooms: In such rooms, the entire quest takes place in virtual reality;
• Hybrid VR Escape Rooms: These rooms already combine regular rooms with VR. For example, a storyline can be told to you through VR, while you solve all the puzzles in the physical room in a physical room;

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‍Themes and Scenarios:

• Usually it's something adventure, science fiction, or historical. Virtual reality with its environment can give you an unforgettable experience of immersion in such a quest room.

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Benefits of Virtual Reality Escape Rooms

Here are key ouline main benefits of VR Escape Rooms:

• Immersive Experiences: The feeling of being in another world increases engagement and creates a sense of adventure;
• Flexibility: Virtual Reality escape rooms allow you to easily change the setting of environments and the theme of quests without any physical reconstruction;
• Team Building: These rooms encourage collaboration, communication, and problem-solving among participants, making them popular for corporate team-building events;
• Accessibility: Virtual escape rooms can also be played remotely using Zoom, Microsoft Teams, or Google Meet;

Summarizing

If we compare them to a usual escape room, a virtual one gives us such attractions as: recreating any world, an unlimited number of scenarios, remote-pay, and, perhaps most importantly, its main characteristic feature - immersion.

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Virtual reality escape rooms are a completely new experience that combines advanced technology and collaborative gameplay. Keeping the spirit of traditional escape rooms, they expand their capabilities by providing a wide scope for creativity in developing puzzles and plots.