As Virtual Reality gaming takes the industry by storm, we’re seeing an increasing number of VR arcades cropping up in various locations around the world. Hugely popular in China, these arcades are now gaining popularity in the Western world and are a fun thing to do for people of all ages. If you run a VR gaming arcade, you’ll know that the industry was hit hard by the COVID19 pandemic currently sweeping the world. Customers might be more reluctant to visit as they’re worried about the prospect of being in close proximity to other players or sharing headsets and equipment. So, what can you do to COVID19-proof your VR arcade and keep your customers safe and happy?
Plexiglas Guards:
If your arcade features a range of different VR gaming machines it might be difficult to move them into different locations so that your customers can stay the recommended distance apart while playing. Plexiglas guards from Sneezeguardez.com are a great solution as they can be set up in between machines to act as a barrier between players. This eliminates the need for players to keep their distance from one another since any germs will be caught by the barrier.
Private Bookings Only:
If your facility allows for it, it might be worth considering switching to private bookings only model right now. This allows your customers to have peace of mind that they won’t be coming into contact with any strangers while they game. You could hire out the entire arcade to families and groups of trusted friends to use all to themselves rather than allowing people to walk in off the street. This also gives you more control over how many people are using the arcade at any one time and since you can take bookings for set timeslots, you can easily allocate time for deep cleaning in between.
PPE and Temperature Checks:
It’s worth asking all staff members and customers to agree to a temperature check upon entering the arcade. This only takes a few seconds and could indicate whether or not a person has a common COVID19 symptom: a high fever. Anybody with a temperature that’s above normal should be asked to rearrange or take two weeks off to self-isolate if they are an employee. Additionally, you should ask all employees and customers to wear face coverings wherever possible.
Deep Cleaning:
It’s important to allocate more time than you normally would to deep cleaning the arcade after each use, particularly when it comes to any equipment that is shared between customers like VR headsets and controllers. These should be thoroughly cleaned with antiviral cleaning solutions after each use. You may even want to consider investing in a hospital-grade headset cleaning tool like Cleanbox that is designed to thoroughly clean headsets and kill all bacteria and viruses using UV light, without causing any damage to the equipment itself unlike cleaning sprays and wipes.
VR gaming arcades are growing in popularity, so don’t let COVID19 ruin the experience for your arcade customers.
