‘Interstellar Arc’ might be Las Vegas’ most imaginative experience

Virtual reality has come a long way. What used to be considered science fiction is now truly reality, with VR headsets like Meta’s Quest blending virtual spaces with the tangible. It’s been used in gaming since the ’90s, with VR setups like Forte’s VFX1 Headgear allowing players in first-person shooter games to become a physical part of the game. For many years, the graphics were low-quality, movements jarring and slow, sometimes nauseating.

Let’s jump ahead a few decades to October 2025 and and the launch of Interstellar Arc.

The VR experience just debuted at Area15’s Zone 2: The Terminals in Las Vegas, transporting guests through space — literally — in a jaw-dropping experience.

Creators Paul Raphaël, Félix Lajeunesse and Stephane Rituit know a little something about VR and space. With the Emmy Award-winning Felix & Paul Studios, they’ve sent folks far from Earth with “Space Explorers: The Infinite.”

Interstellar Arc takes the concept deeper. With a loaded (but not overloaded) story, carefully crafted details and a deeply engaging narrative, the one-hour experience was three years in development.

“This show is really the combination of everything we’ve ever learned about how to create a futuristic, groundbreaking virtual reality experience. So we’re extremely excited to bring this to audiences here,” Lajeunesse said. “We’re just opening the show right now, so it’s a big milestone for us. It’s a big moment after three years of work.”

“This experience really pushes the medium of virtual reality as a storytelling medium to a whole other level and we’re extremely excited to share that with audiences.”

So here’s the story: The 23rd Century is now “The Great Delusion,” full of “disruption and imbalance.” Exoplanets are the main goal for humanity now — “life seeks out life.” HEXO is launched, an international mission for interstellar exploration. On the VR journey, a maximum of 170 guests at a time, now in the 25th Century (in Meta Quest 3S-powered headsets), travel to Arcadia, 11 light-years away, on the Interstellar Arc. They awaken 262 years later, approaching Arcadia (or Ross 128b, a real-life exoplanet discovered in 2017) and, in the meantime, explore the namesake Arc.

“The entire story is told in real time, from the minute you’re approaching the building, which is set up like a space port. You’re going to enter the building, you’re going to check in, you’re going into a shuttle, going to fall into cryogenic sleep and you’re going to be taken 11 light-years away from the earth to an exoplanet — humanity’s first outpost beyond the earth,” Raphaël said.

If that sounds intimidating, don’t worry. The VR experience is designed to be comforting and awe-inspiring, with an irridescent fox spirit of sorts to guide the way. And yes, you will undoubtedly try to pet the fox while in VR.

While walking on a gravity-defying ship, users learn all of its lore, which is as detailed as a sci-fi blockbuster for adult enjoyment and full of side quests for all ages. At one point, VR users are faced with a pagoda opening up to a mountain landscape, full of butterflies. Holding out your hand catches a butterfly, appearing truly in one’s hand.

“This journey for audiences (is crafted) to be very comfortable and effortless for them,” Lajeunesse said.

The Arc is impressive, about 14 football fields long, drifting through the universe at 4.2 percent the speed of light (12,000 kilometers per second). It’s a living, breathing environment, or at least it feels that way. Along the way, reach out to collect glyphs, or orbs, and other tasks to feed your space-readiness score, leaving guests with a desire to go around the Arc again.

The experience ends with one final staggering detail: the reveal of the room. Guests remove the headsets to a flat, small room (compared with the Arc). With railings — synced to the ship — to guide folks more or less walking in circles, you can see others interact with the Arc in real time. The reveal exposes the gravity (see what we did there) of the imagination and hard work from Felix & Paul Studios to truly create an immersive experience.

Tickets for Interstellar Arc start at $54 for adults and $39 for children (ages 8 to 12), with a locals or military discount of $44. For more information, visit interstellararc.com.

Contact Kristen DeSilva at kdesilva@reviewjournal.com. Follow @kristendesilva on X.