LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Mar 28, 2019--Two Bit Circus, creators of the world’s first Micro-Amusement Park™, today announced a limited engagement with immersive VR-wellness experience, EmbodyMove. EmbodyMove is an official selection of New Frontier Sundance 2019, created in partnership with MAP Design Lab and lululemon Whitespace. Embody leverages emerging technologies to create an approachable and inspiring take on traditional mindful practices. The collection of Embody experiences tie together themes of physical and emotional recovery – using sensors and interactivity to unlock new ways for guests to be proactive in this essential practice. The VR experience takes two players on a shared journey, inspired by the practices of aikido, yoga, and dance movement traditions. This experience brings a new genre of social play to Two Bit Circus.

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Beta Night games are free to play and Two Bit Circus is always free to enter. (Photo: Business Wire)

EmbodyMove will debut at Two Bit Circus’ Beta Night, held at the Micro-Amusement Park in downtown Los Angeles on Tuesday, April 9th, where it will be free to playtest among other Beta games. No reservations are required, however it is recommended that attendees arrive early to secure their spots. After Beta Night, EmbodyMove will take over one of the four private cabanas at Two Bit Circus and remain available for at least one month.

Within the private cabana, this peaceful VR experience takes each pair of participants on a journey through nature while they trade and transform avatars. EmbodyMove’s holographic guide takes users through movements, allowing them to see their bodies as flexible tools. By using only a headset, players are free to focus on creating fluid motions, and pilot the entire experience with their bodies. Pressure-sensing yoga mats track users’ weight distributions, while a camera monitors pose position. The greater accuracy the player completes the pose with, the more the virtual environment changes and evolves around them.

“EmbodyMove utilizes spatial computing to immerse players in an experience centered on movement, wellness, and connectivity to others,” said Melissa Painter, founder of MAP Design Lab. “We’re excited to share Embody with Two Bit Circus’ park goers, and allow the players to connect with one another in new ways through the use of VR technology.”

EmbodyMove is driven entirely by the users’ interactions. Players prompt each other through conversation, mirroring, and environmental channeling, and step together through physical sequences designed to center, balance, extend, and strengthen.

“Following their immersion in EmbodyMove, people feel more connected to their own bodies and the ways they interact with each other in a virtual space,” said Aaron Pulkka, Head of Attractions and Production at Two Bit Circus. “VR is not just about immersing people in battlezones. At Two Bit Circus, we believe that technology can enhance our ability to connect and play together, elbow-to-elbow. EmbodyMove is a great example of how VR/AR/XR can be used in different ways.”

EmbodyMove will be available in the park beginning on April 9th, when Two Bit Circus will be hosting a Beta Night. For more information on upcoming Beta Nights, sign up to receive the Two Bit Circus newsletter or visit https://twobitcircus.com/latest-news/.

For more information on the EMBODY experience and other Two Bit Circus immersive entertainment offerings, visit www.twobitcircus.com.

About MAP Design Lab

Melissa Painter and her MAP Design Lab team are one of the most revered augmented and virtual reality creators, pioneering experiences that have shaped the industry. MAP Design Lab invents and incubates mixed reality experiences and products that inspire human potential through technology. With a particular focus on health, lifelong learning and personal growth their mission is to utilize cutting-edge immersive technology to provide unique experiences that expand the appeal of AR/VR across genders and generations in ways that can improve the user’s overall wellness and brain chemistry.

MAP Design Lab premiered Heroes at New Frontiers in 2017, MOVE Studio in at Future of Storytelling 2017, and In Orbit, built in partnership with NASA and Microsoft, at The Huntington Library and Botanical Gardens, ongoing. MAP’s work has also been featured at Siggraph, Cannes, CES, SXSW, as well as on Microsoft Hololens, Magic Leap, Gear VR Oculus store, Steam, and Windows Mixed Reality.

About lululemon Whitespace

The originator brand for technical yoga apparel, lululemon is a design-led, lifestyle brand focused on unlocking human potential and elevating the world through its products and experiences. lululemon’s Whitespace R&D team is the catalyst for innovation across all aspects of their business, from the creation of new fabrics and technologies to building lululemon’s future guest experience through the discovery and application of industry-shifting initiatives. Created in partnership with MAP Design Lab, Embody is lululemon’s latest venture into applying virtual reality as a tool to support building mindful practices by strengthening mind-body connections in order to unlock new feelings of potential and new access points.

About Two Bit Circus

Two Bit Circus is a band of entertainment and technology enthusiasts searching for the future of fun. Known for fusing the latest immersive tech with the wonder and spectacle of classic circus and carnival, the company is opening the world’s first chain of micro-amusement parks. Filled with a variety of social entertainment that aims to bring people together, elbow-to-elbow, to play, the company combines their love of experiential with a new platform to showcase best-in-class immersive entertainment from all over the globe.

Two Bit Circus’ nonprofit educational organization, Two Bit Circus Foundation, is on a mission to cultivate the next generation of inventors, advance environmental stewardship, and spur community engagement by providing schools and youths of all means with access to STEAM education and hands-on learning.

For more information, visit www.twobitcircus.com or follow @TwoBitCircus and #twobitcircus.

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CONTACT: PR Contacts

104 West for Two Bit Circus

Alissa Bushnell/Allison Heard

[email protected]

KEYWORD: UNITED STATES NORTH AMERICA CALIFORNIA

INDUSTRY KEYWORD: WOMEN ENTERTAINMENT ELECTRONIC GAMES TECHNOLOGY CONSUMER ELECTRONICS HARDWARE SOFTWARE AUDIO/VIDEO HEALTH FITNESS & NUTRITION GENERAL ENTERTAINMENT GENERAL SPORTS CHILDREN TEENS RETAIL FASHION EVENTS/CONCERTS MOBILE ENTERTAINMENT THEME PARKS CONSUMER SPORTS FAMILY GENERAL HEALTH MEN

SOURCE: Two Bit Circus

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PUB: 03/28/2019 09:00 AM/DISC: 03/28/2019 09:00 AM

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