PVR launches Virtual Reality Lounge at its Noida theatre
With virtual reality becoming the new upcoming trend in the entertainment business, India's multiplex chain PVR Cinemas today launched a VR lounge where consumers can experience movies in virtual reality at its PVR ECX, Mall of India in Noida. The lounge was inaugurated by the tech savvy actor Ranbir Kapoor who claimed to be a gaming aficionado.
The company is all set to roll out 10 such lounges in its cinemas in major metros in India. The launch was in partnership with HP India, the company responsible for providing the virtual reality technology to PVR. In the next two months, the two companies will introduce three such VR lounges in Mumbai and another three in Bangalore, said Sanjeev Kumar Bijli, Joint Managing Director, PVR at the event.
With this initiative PVR becomes India's first multiplex to bring in an immersive and interactive content blurring the lines between what's real and what's not to its consumers, said the press statement. This will let users to experience the 10-15 minutes movies in virtual reality as they wait for their film to begin.
The lounge at PVR ECX has four VR pods that includes content from various different genres like drama, fiction, sci-fi, horror, action etc. The patrons who have purchased the movie tickets at PVR ECX can avail the facilities of VR lounge for free for the first two week. Thereafter, the tickets will be priced at Rs 100 inclusive of taxes.
"Virtual reality is the dawn of the new era that opens up limitless possibilities of pure entertainment. Being the innovators in the realm of cinema, it is our continuous endeavor to be in sync with world's latest technologies. We are delighted to partner with HP given their unmatched expertise in the technology domain," said Ajay Bijli, Chairman and Managing Director of PVR, at the launch.
Such VR lounges is a big trend in the US and it is for the first time it is introduced in India, said Sumeer Chandra, COO, HP India. "India will not be trailing this trend but will lead it in next few years."
Ketan Patel, Sr. Director, Personal Systems, HP Inc. India said, "HP's innovation in the area of VR is yet another first from us where we continuously strive to provide the latest technology and world class experience to our customers." He added that the company will soon launch VR-ready laptops too.
PVR currently operates a cinema circuit comprising of 570 screens at 124 properties across 49 cities in India.
