Omnideck now open at Tulsa VR arcade: 'People are going to come here just for this' – Tulsa World

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Aura Entertainment owner Shai Kaiser plays a game on an Omnideck at Aaru Entertainment on Friday, Dec. 2, 2022.
Artist Stepphanie Valencia does a virtual reality painting during a new conference at Aaru on Wednesday in Tulsa. Aaru is a virtual reality arcade, cafe and bar, and game development studio downtown.
Shai Kaiser, who calls himself a “huge nerd,” has a passion for virtual reality.
“Gaming has a special place in a lot of people’s hearts,” he said. “It gives us opportunities to experience things we wouldn’t have otherwise, and the moral reasoning skills we can learn from video games are the single most important part.”
Kaiser, whose first name is pronounced “Shy,” is helping others live out that enthusiasm at Aaru Entertainment, a virtual reality gaming center at 7 N. Cheyenne Ave.
Encompassing a VR arcade, café-bar and game development studio, the roughly 5,000-square-foot Aaru opened in October.
Aaru Entertainment owner Shai Kaiser demonstrates his companies’ omnideck virtual reality experience which is the first in the country open to the public for gaming on Friday, December 2, 2022, in Tulsa, Okla.
In early December the facility’s centerpiece, the Omnideck, became operational, offering an immersive virtual reality experience.
Tulsa County Commissioner Karen Keith said the Omnideck will be a unique draw for Tulsa.
“People are going to come here just for this, just to experience it,” she said.
The Omnideck is a 16-sided, motorized, omni-directional treadmill created in Sweden. Typically used for academic research and high-level military training and simulations, Aaru says it is the first such device in the world to be made available for commercial use.
“We will be licensing the absolute top-tier games, the ones pushing technology the furthest, namely ‘Half-Life: Alyx’ and ‘Blade & Sorcery,’” Kaiser said.
Featuring concrete floors, exposed brick and a mezzanine and constructed in a structure more than a century old, Aaru has six private arcade rooms. 
“In the short term, we are building a community and subsidizing costs through the coffee, bar and the VR arcade rental,” said Kaiser, a 26-year-old grandson of Tulsa philanthropist George Kaiser. “In the medium term, we want to build our in-game projects that we have validated through extensive testing and polishing and be able to sell those on the global market.
“But in the long term, we would like to get into streaming as a platform. Streaming has the potential for explosive growth.”
Aaru will employ 10 people initially, said Kaiser, who said he wants to expand to 50 employees in four years. Future programming will include eSports tournaments, cosplay events and game jams. Memberships that incentivize regular visits will be available.
Built in what is being labeled the “Technology District,” Aaru sits just south of Holberton School, a software engineering institute. The studio also is across the street from the proposed new 112,000-square-foot headquarters for 36 Degrees North, which the nonprofit is scheduled to complete in 2024.
Funding for Aaru is through local bank loans and the Tulsa Economic Development Corporation.
“We’re thrilled to offer a program in augmented reality and virtual reality,” said Libby Ediger, CEO and executive director of Holberton. “Having this incredible cafe, game development studio and really community hub literally next door to this school means a couple of tangible things for our students.
“One, it’s a demonstration that the jobs of the future are here today and available to them. We also see the location of the school as an opportunity for our students to dream about what they could build in virtual reality, in augmented reality.”
Aura Entertainment owner Shai Kaiser plays a game on an Omnideck at Aaru Entertainment on Friday, Dec. 2, 2022.
Aura Entertainment owner Shai Kaiser plays a game on an Omnideck at Aaru Entertainment on Friday, Dec. 2, 2022.
Aura Entertainment owner Shai Kaiser plays a game on an Omnideck at Aaru Entertainment on Friday, Dec. 2, 2022.
Aura Entertainment owner Shai Kaiser puts on a headset before playing a game on an Omnideck at Aaru Entertainment on Friday, Dec. 2, 2022.
Aura Entertainment owner Shai Kaiser plays with an interactive light wall at Aaru Entertainment on Friday, Dec. 2, 2022.
Aura Entertainment owner Shai Kaiser plays a game on an Omnideck at Aaru Entertainment on Friday, Dec. 2, 2022.
Aura Entertainment owner Shai Kaiser plays a game on an Omnideck at Aaru Entertainment on Friday, Dec. 2, 2022.
Aura Entertainment Jessica Dewane monitors a VR game at Aaru Entertainment on Friday, Dec. 2, 2022.
Aura Entertainment owner Shai Kaiser plays with an interactive light wall at Aaru Entertainment on Friday, Dec. 2, 2022.
An employee walks by an interactive light wall at Aaru Entertainment on Friday, Dec. 2, 2022.
Artist Stepphanie Valencia does a virtual reality painting during a new conference at Aaru on Wednesday in Tulsa. Aaru is a virtual reality arcade, cafe and bar, and game development studio downtown.
Peter Thor with Omnifinity walks on an omnidirectional treadmill while discussing the Omnideck room the during a new conference at Aaru Wednesday, Oct. 12 in Tulsa. Aaru is a virtual reality arcade, cafe and bar, and game development studio downtown.
Aaru studio, a virtual reality gaming center at 7 N. Cheyenne Ave., is pictured Wednesday. Aaru is a virtual reality arcade, cafe and bar, and game development studio.
rhett.morgan@tulsaworld.com
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Aura Entertainment owner Shai Kaiser plays a game on an Omnideck at Aaru Entertainment on Friday, Dec. 2, 2022.
Artist Stepphanie Valencia does a virtual reality painting during a new conference at Aaru on Wednesday in Tulsa. Aaru is a virtual reality arcade, cafe and bar, and game development studio downtown.
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