Free-roaming Star Wars VR experience hits London's Westfield this winter

If you’ve always wanted to don a Stormtrooper uniform and storm an Imperial base, then you’re going to want to get yourself to London’s Westfield this winter. 

From December 16, there is going to be an immersive VR experience called Star Wars: Secrets of the Empire, brought to you by VR arcade creator The Void.

VR is great, but one of the main problems with it is that your human body can’t move freely in the real world in a way that matches the virtual world, and so you get motion sickness from ‘artificial’ modes of movement. 

Do. Or do not. There is no try.

The Void solves this by creating real-life settings that reflect the dimensions of the virtual space, then strap you into a suit that contains a gaming rig capable of VR, and a blaster. Once you strap on the headset, you’re transported to the world of Star Wars, and because you’re not tethered to anything, you can walk freely.

In the mission, you’ll be disguised as a Stormtrooper on a mission to steal secrets from the Empire. For a taster of what to expect, check out this video created by Lucasarts and The Void:

Tickets are £32.50 per person, and can be booked on official London The Void website. Star Wars: Secrets of the Empire will run for 12 weeks starting December 16 in The Atrium at Westfield (Shepherd’s Bush). Which isn’t a long time to wait and hopefully isn’t a city far, far away from you. 

Andrew London

Andrew London is a writer at Velocity Partners. Prior to Velocity Partners, he was a staff writer at Future plc.