Virtual Reality Gets Real in Solvang

I’m an astronaut, but my space station is on the fritz. Gravity is gone, so I’m floating like an awkward balloon, pulling myself along the walls in search of the problem. It’s a frustrating mode of transportation — I’m breathing heavier, my brow’s starting to dampen — but I’m getting by, navigating toward the cause of the damage while gathering weapons that I assume will be engaged soon.

Just minutes before, I was blasting an onslaught of faceless attackers in an alternative world, choosing between ninja stars and Uzis as their bullets zipped at me from all sides. Minutes before that, I walked right up to house-sized stegosaurus and triceratops in a verdant, ancient land, able to make extinct flowers bloom with a flip of the wrist. And at any second, I could choose to walk the streets of Paris, ride the backs of dragons, zip through the human body as a red blood cell, fly a fighter jet, or — perhaps the most popular pastime — blast a bunch of zombies.

This whole time, in real reality, I’m standing inside an office building in Solvang, goggles on my face, joysticks in my hand, my brain soaked in virtual reality. This is Space VR, which is the only open-to-the-public, full-on, immersive virtual reality experience in Santa Barbara County.