Dreamscape Immersive

Dreamscape Immersive is an American entertainment and technology company that develops location-based, story-driven virtual reality experiences. Its core proposition is shared full-roam VR: groups of as many as six participants enter a physical stage environment, wear virtual-reality headsets, and move through a computer-generated world while seeing fully rendered avatars of the other participants. The system combines real-time motion capture, full-body tracking, virtual-reality displays, room-scale physical sets, and tactile props so that users can walk, gesture, cooperate, and interact with objects in a simulated environment. The company was founded in 2016 by film producer Walter Parkes, global live-events producer and investor Kevin Wall, Artanim co-founders Caecilia Charbonnier and Sylvain Chagué, and entrepreneur Ronald Menzel. The underlying technology was created by Charbonnier and Chagué and developed with engineers at Artanim, a Swiss research center specializing in motion-capture technology. Dreamscape initially operated in stealth mode and publicly emerged in February 2017. Bruce Vaughn, previously associated with Disney's Imagineering organization, became chief executive officer, while Aaron Grosky, formerly president of Control Room, became chief operating officer. Its early financing and strategic backing connected immersive VR with entertainment, cinema, retail, and real-estate venues. Initial investors included IMAX, Westfield Malls, three film studios, and Steven Spielberg. AMC Theatres, Nickelodeon, and Majid Al Futtaim later invested. This investor base supported a location-based entertainment model in which premium VR attractions were installed in shopping malls, flagship retail environments, and other public venues rather than distributed solely as consumer software. Dreamscape's first installation, Alien Zoo, opened at the Atrium in Westfield Century City in Los Angeles in February 2018. The company followed it with The Blu: Deep Rescue, developed with TheBlu, and Curse of the Lost Pearl: A Magic Projector Adventure. It also pursued recognizable entertainment properties, including DreamWorks' Dragons Flight Academy VR, released in December 2019, and a Men in Black experience announced in 2019 and released in 2021. These attractions demonstrated the company's emphasis on short-form, socially coordinated adventures built around established fictional worlds or highly accessible narratives. The company expanded through a mixture of permanent venues and branded partnerships. A second U.S. site opened at NorthPark Mall in Dallas in August 2019. International expansion began with a Dubai location at Mall of the Emirates, opened with Majid Al Futtaim in January 2020. Additional U.S. venues opened in Columbus, Ohio, in February 2020 and at Garden State Plaza in Paramus, New Jersey, in December 2021. In 2021, a partnership with WarnerMedia brought two Dreamscape experiences to the Harry Potter New York storefront in Manhattan. Dreamscape also opened a European site in Geneva in July 2022 and a Saudi Arabian location at Riyadh Park Mall in September 2022. The venue network subsequently contracted. The Dallas, Columbus, and Paramus locations closed in 2023, the Dubai site closed in June 2023, and the Los Angeles location closed on March 11, 2024, after which it was replaced by Player One VR World. The Harry Potter New York attractions also closed after approximately 18 months. The Geneva location closed in December 2025. Based on the supplied reference material, Dreamscape currently operates one location in Saudi Arabia. Its brand therefore represents both a proprietary immersive-technology platform and a location-based entertainment business whose footprint has evolved through mall venues, media partnerships, and licensed experiences.

Dreamscape Immersive was established in 2016 as an effort to turn advanced motion-capture research into a premium, socially shared entertainment format. Its founders combined film production, live events, entrepreneurship, and immersive-technology expertise. Walter Parkes brought experience from film production; Kevin Wall contributed live-events and investment experience; Caecilia Charbonnier and Sylvain Chagué brought the technology developed through Artanim, the Swiss motion-capture research center they co-founded; and Ronald Menzel joined as an entrepreneur. The company was headquartered in Culver City, California. Dreamscape's central technical concept differed from conventional seated or tethered VR. Participants could enter a dedicated stage with physical boundaries and props, wear headsets, and move around while their bodies were tracked in real time. Software translated their movements into avatars inside a shared three-dimensional environment. Groups of up to six people could therefore see and respond to one another while undertaking a common narrative objective. The combination of body mapping, real-world set elements, and virtual imagery was intended to make the experience feel more like a theatrical or cinematic attraction than a standalone video game. After launching in mid-2016, Dreamscape operated privately for a period and emerged from stealth in February 2017. Bruce Vaughn, formerly associated with Disney Imagineering, was appointed CEO, and Aaron Grosky, formerly president of Control Room, became COO. Early investors included IMAX, Westfield Malls, three film studios, and Steven Spielberg. AMC Theatres, Nickelodeon, and Majid Al Futtaim later became investors or strategic participants. The mix of cinema, retail, media, and entertainment partners reflected Dreamscape's intended distribution model: install sophisticated VR attractions in high-traffic public venues and use recognizable stories to encourage group visits. The first Dreamscape attraction, Alien Zoo, opened at the Atrium in Westfield Century City in Los Angeles in February 2018. Subsequent offerings included The Blu: Deep Rescue, created in partnership with TheBlu, and Curse of the Lost Pearl: A Magic Projector Adventure. These attractions established the company's early formula of compact, cooperative adventures rather than open-ended consumer VR software. Dreamscape also pursued major entertainment licenses. DreamWorks' Dragons Flight Academy VR was released in December 2019, and a Men in Black experience announced in June 2019 was released in 2021. The company expanded its physical footprint in 2019 and 2020. A second permanent U.S. location opened at NorthPark Mall in Dallas in August 2019. In January 2020, Dreamscape and Majid Al Futtaim opened a venue at Mall of the Emirates in Dubai, marking its first international site. A Columbus, Ohio, location opened in February 2020. In July 2021, Dreamscape partnered with WarnerMedia to place two experiences inside the Harry Potter New York storefront in Manhattan's Flatiron District. A further U.S. venue opened at Garden State Plaza in Paramus, New Jersey, in December 2021. International development continued with the opening of a European location at Confédération Centre in Geneva in July 2022. In September 2022, Dreamscape again worked with Majid Al Futtaim to open at Riyadh Park Mall in Saudi Arabia. However, the network later narrowed. The Dallas site closed in January 2023, and the Columbus, Dubai, and Paramus locations closed during 2023. The Harry Potter New York attractions closed after approximately 18 months. Dreamscape's Los Angeles site closed on March 11, 2024, and was replaced by Player One VR World. The Geneva location closed in December 2025. The supplied reference material identifies the Saudi Arabian venue as the company's remaining operating location. Dreamscape's history consequently reflects both the promise of location-based social VR and the operational challenge of maintaining specialized attractions across mall and branded-retail networks.

• 2025

  Geneva location closes

  [1]Dreamscape Immersiveen.wikipedia.org

  The Geneva site closes in December.

• 2024

  Los Angeles location closes

  [1]Dreamscape Immersiveen.wikipedia.org

  The original Los Angeles venue closes and is replaced by Player One VR World.

• 2023

  Several venues close

  [1]Dreamscape Immersiveen.wikipedia.org

  The Dallas, Columbus, Paramus, and Dubai locations close.

• 2022

  Geneva and Riyadh expansion

  [1]Dreamscape Immersiveen.wikipedia.org

  Dreamscape opens in Geneva and launches a Riyadh Park Mall venue with Majid Al Futtaim.

• 2021

  Harry Potter New York partnership

  [1]Dreamscape Immersiveen.wikipedia.org

  Two Dreamscape experiences open inside the Harry Potter New York storefront through a WarnerMedia partnership.

• 2020

  International expansion begins

  [1]Dreamscape Immersiveen.wikipedia.org

  Dreamscape opens at Mall of the Emirates in Dubai with Majid Al Futtaim.

• 2019

  Dallas venue opens

  [1]Dreamscape Immersiveen.wikipedia.org

  Dreamscape opens its second permanent location at NorthPark Mall.

• 2018

  First installation opens in Los Angeles

  [1]Dreamscape Immersiveen.wikipedia.org

  Alien Zoo opens at the Atrium in Westfield Century City.

• 2017

  Company emerges from stealth

  [1]Dreamscape Immersiveen.wikipedia.org

  Dreamscape publicly introduces its shared full-roam VR concept after operating privately for a period.

• 2016

  Dreamscape Immersive is launched

  [1]Dreamscape Immersiveen.wikipedia.org

  The company is founded by Walter Parkes, Kevin Wall, Caecilia Charbonnier, Sylvain Chagué, and Ronald Menzel.

Premium, social, story-led immersive entertainment that combines cinematic intellectual property with multi-user full-body VR and physical stage environments.

• Full-roam virtual reality attraction · 2018

  Alien Zoo

  Alien Zoo was Dreamscape Immersive's first public VR installation. Opened in Los Angeles in February 2018, it established the company's location-based format: small groups entered a dedicated physical space, were tracked throughout the experience, and explored a shared virtual environment together. The attraction served as an early demonstration of Dreamscape's combination of cinematic storytelling, full-body motion capture, room-scale staging, and collaborative play.

• Partnered VR experience

  The Blu: Deep Rescue

  The Blu: Deep Rescue was developed in partnership with TheBlu. It adapted an ocean-oriented virtual world into a cooperative, location-based Dreamscape experience. The attraction used the company's multi-user tracking and immersive staging to place participants in a shared underwater scenario, illustrating how Dreamscape could work with existing digital worlds and creative partners rather than relying exclusively on internally originated stories.

• Story-based VR attraction

  Curse of the Lost Pearl: A Magic Projector Adventure

  Curse of the Lost Pearl: A Magic Projector Adventure is a cooperative Dreamscape attraction built around a fantasy-adventure premise. Like the company's other offerings, it was designed for groups sharing a virtual environment while moving through a physical stage equipped for tracked interaction. The title represents Dreamscape's effort to position full-roam VR as an accessible, narrative entertainment product for mall and flagship venues.

• Licensed franchise VR experience · 2019

  Dragons Flight Academy VR

  Released in December 2019, Dragons Flight Academy VR brought Dreamscape's full-roam format to DreamWorks' Dragons franchise. The experience used a familiar family-entertainment property to support group participation and themed immersion. Its release showed the company's strategy of combining proprietary tracking and stage technology with recognizable intellectual property supplied by major entertainment companies.

• Licensed franchise VR experience · 2021

  Men in Black VR experience

  The Men in Black VR experience was announced in 2019 and released in 2021. It extended Dreamscape's licensing strategy into a science-fiction action property and used the company's shared, tracked VR format to place multiple visitors inside a coordinated franchise scenario. The attraction was part of Dreamscape's broader effort to make premium location-based VR appealing through well-known film and entertainment brands.

• 2022Riyadh Park Mall launch

  Saudi Arabia

  Dreamscape and Majid Al Futtaim opened a location at Riyadh Park Mall, extending the brand into Saudi Arabia.

  Outcome. The supplied reference identifies Saudi Arabia as Dreamscape's remaining operating market.

  Source
• 2021Harry Potter New York immersive attractions

  United States

  Dreamscape partnered with WarnerMedia to install two immersive experiences inside the Harry Potter New York storefront in Manhattan's Flatiron District. The collaboration connected Dreamscape's full-roam VR system with a major franchise retail environment.

  Outcome. Both attractions closed after approximately 18 months.

  Source
• 2020Majid Al Futtaim international expansion

  United Arab Emirates

  Dreamscape and Majid Al Futtaim opened the company's first international location at Mall of the Emirates in Dubai.

  Outcome. The Dubai location later closed in June 2023.

  Source

• 2022

  Continue Middle Eastern expansionStrategy

  Background

  After opening in Dubai, Dreamscape continued working with Majid Al Futtaim on regional venue development.

  Action taken

  A new Dreamscape location opened at Riyadh Park Mall in Saudi Arabia.

  Aftermath

  Following the closure of several other venues, Saudi Arabia became the company's identified remaining operating market.

  Source

• 2020

  Pursue international mall partnershipsStrategy

  Background

  Dreamscape's venue model depended on partnerships with major shopping and entertainment operators.

  Action taken

  The company partnered with Majid Al Futtaim to open at Mall of the Emirates in Dubai.

  Aftermath

  The move established Dreamscape's first international location and was followed by later activity in Saudi Arabia.

  Source

• 2019

  Expand through entertainment franchises and mall venuesStrategy

  Background

  Dreamscape sought to scale a specialized VR platform by combining recognizable intellectual property with high-traffic retail locations.

  Action taken

  The company released Dragons Flight Academy VR, announced a Men in Black experience, and opened a Dallas venue.

  Aftermath

  The approach expanded Dreamscape's content portfolio and physical presence before later venue closures reduced its network.

  Source

• 2018

  Launch the first public attractionProduct launch

  Background

  After operating in stealth mode, Dreamscape needed a public demonstration of its shared full-roam VR platform.

  Action taken

  The company opened Alien Zoo at Westfield Century City in Los Angeles.

  Aftermath

  Alien Zoo established Dreamscape's first permanent public installation and became the starting point for subsequent attractions and venue expansion.

  Source

• 2016

  Adopt a location-based shared VR modelStrategy

  Background

  The company was created around technology combining real-time motion capture, full-body mapping, VR headsets, physical stage sets, and multi-user interaction.

  Action taken

  Dreamscape developed premium, group-oriented attractions for dedicated venues rather than positioning its core offering as ordinary home VR software.

  Aftermath

  The strategy led to installations in malls, branded retail spaces, and international entertainment venues.

  Source

1. 1Dreamscape Immersiveen.wikipedia.org