Stories from Tri-City News headlines of decades past will be a recurring feature as the publication marks its 40th anniversary in 2024.
Thirty years ago, a Port Coquitlam high tech company seemed to have developed the latest sensation to draw customers into local pubs.
VR Technologies placed its one-of-a-kind portable virtual reality system into Moonraker’s Pub in New Westminster for a field trial and it was a hit.
“We had the phone ringing off the hook all day,” Moonraker’s manager Gord Frondell told the Tri-City News, adding the pub was filled with so many patrons curious to check out the device they had to wait about an hour before they could strap on the bulky helmet and get immersed in games like Cube Crusher.
One customer, who travelled from Richmond to check the system out, said he felt on the leading edge of a new technology.
“I’m going to be able to say I was there at the beginning.”
Another said she enjoyed the game’s music that piped into the helmet through stereo headphones.
VR Technology’s Robin Vossenar, who was on hand at the pub to help demonstrate some of virtual reality’s features, said the feedback was overwhelming.
“The next games I’m working on will be far more interactive,” he said. “I’m working on one where you can move around as well as look.”
The Tri-City News has covered civic affairs, local crime, festivals, events, personalities, sports and arts in Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam and Port Moody since 1983. Bound back issues of the paper are available at the Coquitlam Archives, while digital versions of several past years can be found at issuu.com.
