Pierson Alumnus Bruce Vaughn Returns To Tout VR Innovations

Over the summer, “The Chalkroom” and “Aloft,” two virtual reality pieces offered at Guild Hall in East Hampton, received rave reviews from those who experienced them in the museum’s gallery.

They were created by visionary multimedia artist and musician Laurie Anderson in collaboration with digital artist Hsin-Chien Huang and, with nothing more than a pair of goggles and headphones, participants went on amazing adventures to very different and imaginative worlds.

Now, Bruce Vaughn, a fourth-generation Sag Harborite, is poised to launch the next generation of VR technology.

At an October presentation sponsored by the Sag Harbor Partnership and Sag Harbor Cinema Arts Center, Mr. Vaughn returned to Pierson High School, his alma mater, to talk about his work as CEO of Dreamscape Immersive, a cutting-edge interactive VR company that is pushing the boundaries of what’s possible in the medium.

Mr. Vaughn is certainly the epitome of a hometown boy made good. The former head of Walt Disney Imagineering, he started his career just up the road in Wainscott, working for Bran Ferren at Associates & Ferren, a technology and design firm where he learned about camera work and the creation of special effects.

When Ferren’s company was bought by Disney in 1993, Mr. Vaughn headed west to Los Angeles and became part of the team at Walt Disney Imagineering. When asked by human resources to name his favorite Disney theme park ride, Mr. Vaughn admitted that he had never been to a Disney park—and was promptly sent to Disney World in Florida, with a list of attractions to see.

Mr. Vaughn noted that the first thing that struck him about Disney World was the fact that the buildings lining Main Street USA looked an awful lot like those in Sag Harbor, especially The American Hotel.

“I thought, ‘So what? They sent me to see a Main Street that looks like here,’” Mr. Vaughn said. “Then I noticed the whole thing was like a movie, with closeups, long shots and dissolves. It was an Americana town, but there were no bars, bums or dirt. At the end of it all was the castle. The whole park was set up to draw you through, like a film.”

That was how Mr. Vaughn came to understand how theme parks—or VR experiences—could be like movies, with every angle considered and each view consciously art directed, so the audience is invited to step inside and experience a new and different reality.

At Disney, Mr. Vaughn learned even more from one of his heroes, the late John Hench, who had worked alongside Walt Disney from the beginning.

“Hench designed the Space Mountain building, and he would follow the guests through the park to see how they interacted with the attractions,” Mr. Vaughn said. “One day, he saw four grandmothers without kids talking about going on Space Mountain. Two didn’t want to go, and the other two talked them into it.

“When they came off the ride, they were laughing, and three of the women dropped to their knees and kissed the earth,” Mr. Vaughn added. “Hench said, ‘That’s what we do. We make a situation where you’re present and feel alive.’”

It’s an equation that Mr. Vaughn translates into “fear minus death equals fun.” The idea is that combining amusement park rides with cinema tricks and a compelling story while providing a dose of safety and reassurance is a winning combination in attracting audiences.

It’s certainly a formula that has worked for Disney, and now Mr. Vaughn—who was involved in the creation of many popular Disney park attractions, including those tied to films like “Avatar,” “Cars” and “Toy Story”—is betting it will pay off in the world of VR as well.

After a quarter century, Mr. Vaughn left Disney two years ago to join the start up Dreamscape Immersive. Now, as head of the company (which counts Steven Spielberg among its backers), he’s poised to take its VR innovations worldwide.

Recently, Mr. Vaughn and his associates installed a VR experience called “Alien Zoo” in a storefront at a California mall in a trial run of their new wire-free backpack-style technology. The “ride” takes visitors to an other-worldly interplanetary geodesic dome filled with caves, rivers and mountains populated by imaginary creatures, such as giant Megaraffes, salamander-like Frogcats and the intimidating spider-inspired Sicari.

Taking a cue from what he learned about creating themed environments for Disney parks, the space was designed to resemble an explorer’s club lounge, complete with fictional specimens on shelves, walls painted a deep shade of library blue, dark wood accents, and a vintage rug. A departure time board indicated when the next experience would begin and, unlike earlier generations of VR, up to six people could experience the world simultaneously while also interacting with one another.

The trial run was deemed a success. By year’s end, in addition to “Alien Zoo,” there will be two other VR experiences available in Los Angeles—one that allows guests to dive with blue whales, and another that explores the world of cinema. (It is Hollywood, after all.)

“We’ll have new titles every three months, then we’ll begin rolling out across the country and the world in places like Dubai and Asia,” Mr. Vaughn explained.

While these first titles are primarily about entertaining people, Mr. Vaughn sees the future of VR migrating into the realm of health and science—teaching surgical techniques to medical students, for example, treating people with PTSD through meditation, or allowing the disabled to experience the world beyond their physical limitations. One day, it could perhaps even take people back in time, to places like ancient Egypt.

The possibilities are endless, but the reality, noted Mr. Vaughn, is that right now he can put six people in a space at the same time, where they can interact, feel a breeze from fans, smell scents, feel the floor vibrate or be misted by water.

“In the space of about 1,000 square feet, I can make you believe the world is as big as I want,” he said.