Neverland Virtual Reality opens
Neverland Virtual Reality opens in West Chester
WEST CHESTER >> A new business in West Chester is allowing customers to escape reality for a little while — into a new experience in virtual reality.
Neverland Virtual Reality, 209 E. Market St., West Chester, opened Oct. 21 — and is Chester County’s only virtual reality location.
In a virtual reality experience, customers select the experience they want, put on a headset and they are fully immersed in the experience. They see only what is in the headset and can move around the virtual space, interacting with it through handheld controllers.
“Your brain doesn’t know the difference between real life or virtual,” said Josh Smith, co-owner. Virtual reality essentially “tricks” your brain into believing that the world viewed through the virtual reality headset is real.
The business is owned by two friends — Brady Bagwan and Smith — who had been looking for a business to start together. Once they discovered virtual reality the business came together quickly — in less than a year.
With two racing simulators and five room scale stations, Neverland Virtual Reality offers a wide variety of experiences for ages 6 and up: including games, racing simulations, traveling to specific locations within GoogleEarth, creating art in 3D, exploring
the Titanic and reliving the journey of Apollo 11’s moon landing.
Bagwan and Smith have known each other since 2003. They met while serving with the U.S. Army in South Korea, maintaining their friendship through a tour of Iraq and once they moved back into civilian life.
It was a visit to a virtual reality arcade in New York City Bagwan made with family in March 2018 that set the pair on their current course.
“It was a Saturday afternoon and the place was packed — it was like being at a nightclub in New York City. There was literally security at the door turning
people away — saying you can’t come in,” Bagwan said.
After that first visit in March, Bagwan started to do some research, and discovered that virtual reality wasn’t “going away,” so he suggested Smith visit a virtual reality arcade.
By May, according to Smith, the pair had decided to pursue virtual reality as a business, and began extensive research. Smith did financial projections and space needs, while Bagwan looked at what the equipment needs would be.
They looked at demographics, talked with virtual reality arcade owners in other parts of the country, and began looking for a location.
They considered Lancaster and West Chester, but ultimately decided West Chester was the better location, based on population
and income figures.
While they initially thought West Chester University would be a good source of customers, Bagwan said the business draws from a much wider demographic.
The upfront research was critical, according to Smith.
“Every small business has a thousand choices to make. Every single one can help determine their success or failure. You have to put the time in to make the decisions,” he said.
The pair said they have a great partnership because they have such different skill sets. Bagwan, who lives in West Bradford, has an undergraduate degree in computer science and an MBA, while Smith, who lives in Hershey, is an attorney.
“Josh dealt with all the real estate, legal, banking, permitting, and payroll and I focused on operations, dealing with the electronics and equipment side of things,” Bagwan said.
By Sept. 1, they had signed a lease on the West Chester space and got to work building the equipment and building out the space.
“The normal timeline for
getting a property is a year. We condensed that down to a couple of months,” Smith said.
“I don’t think we contracted anything in here. We did the walls, floors, fixtures — everything was done by us,” Bagwan added.
By designing and building the computers used at Neverland Virtual Reality, “we’re able to provide significantly better technology because we built them to our specs,” Bagwan said.
“We wanted the technology to be top of the line for what technology can do right now with VR,” Smith added.
In addition, Neverland Virtual Reality uses headsets that are hard-wired, rather than wireless.
“Right now — there are faster speeds and graphics with wired headsets. Later on, as we get feedback, we can pursue wireless,” Bagwan added.
The stations at Neverland Virtual Reality, unlike other virtual reality arcades, are open — with no barriers separating players.
That is thanks to advancements in technology in the year or so since virtual reality
arcades have started to open, according to Smith.
Players won’t bump into each other, however. Once in the headset players see a grid that shows the boundaries of the world they are in.
While the entertainment applications of virtual reality are known, there are other applications that interest Bagwan and Smith, as well; areas like education, training and medicine.
“Neverland Virtual Reality is more than an entertainment venue,” according to the website. “We love this part of our business but this only scrapes the surface for the applications and use cases for virtual reality technology.”
Classroom science labs allow students to study chemistry, physics and space, according to Smith. Because it is an immersive environment, there are no distractions.
“Students can virtually mix, measure and pour in a virtual chemistry space. They can see the response,” he said.
There is also a growing body of research on the use of virtual reality — for veterans with PTSD, pain management and in treatment for opioid addictions and phobias.
The pair is already exploring how to expand their business in those directions — and have had conversations with a West Chester-area charter school, the computer science department of West Chester University and an area psychologist.
Neverland Virtual Reality has five team members. Hours of operation are Tuesday through Friday from 5 to 9 p.m. (other times by reservation); and Saturday and Sunday from 1 to 9 p.m. (10 a.m. to 1 p.m. are private events only). Smith and Bagwan expect the hours to expand.
Reservations are suggested. Private parties and events can also be booked.
For more information about Neverland Virtual Reality visit https://neverlandvr.com/ or www.facebook.com/NeverlandVirtualReality/ or call 610-2419685.