22 replies to this topic

[The Warrior]

Hey all,

 

I'm curious how many big Harry Potter fans we have around here and I wanted to tell you about a startup company that I'm involved with.

 

My brother-in-law and I started a company called Wizible. We are a tech startup that has been building the technology for a wizard (wand) laser tag game for a couple years. Our original goal was to start out by selling wands (and vests) retail so that consumers could play wand laser tag in any environment. Even though this was where we were starting, our team's overall vision is much larger than that. 

 

Our goal is to bring magic to life by delivering a unique immersive magical experience that you can have anywhere. Not only would you be able to duel against others in a laser tag format with our wands, but they will also be able to be used for a bunch of other things. We are tapping into home automation as well so that you can use that same wand to control lighting, TV's, fans, Blu-ray players, etc in your own home.

 

We will also hopefully be working with several large points of interest in town so that people can take their wands to those points of interest and interact with things in a unique way there as well.

 

Eventually we were planning on getting to the point where we would build our own laser tag arena utilizing our technology. You would be able to use your wand to basically control the environment in the arena (i.e. turning off and on lights, unlocking doors, opening chests, etc.). That is a little bit further down the road now because of the below reasons.

 

Another goal of ours (which we assumed would come a little bit later) was to open our own escape room business. In our escape rooms, not only would you need to solve some puzzles/riddles to advance, you would also have to use wands and actually cast spells to solve puzzles and escape using magic. Well, this particular goal had it's timeline pushed up drastically a few months ago. Wizible is already working on 2 magical escape room experiences!

 

We are debuting our first escape room game next month at a comic con in town. It will be a mobile escape room experience that we can take anywhere and set up for parties, corporate team building events, etc.

 

Our second escape room experience will actually be in our own dedicated building. We already have a lease in place and are building the puzzles now. We hope to be open for full operation by the end of summer.

 

I'd like to ask anybody who is a fan of Harry Potter, Magic, Escape Rooms, Laser Tag, Fantasy RPG, Etc, what you think of all of this. Does this sound like something you'd like?

 

If you are interested in checking out Wizible and learning more about us you can do so on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or YouTube. We would really appreciate more exposure so if you are interested, please like/follow us and share with your friends/family if you think anyone else would be interested in what we're doing.

 

We are most active on Facebook and Instagram but are starting to build on Twitter and we have BIG plans for our YouTube channel. Let's just say that everything we are doing might be connected in some way and it may or may not start to be revealed on our YouTube channel later this year..

 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/wizibleco/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wizibleco/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/wizibleco

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCo2L4vdElfIChFfUSZpFLgw

 

If you have any questions, please feel free to ask me!

[Lysistrata]

I'll be checking this out my friend. This sounds very cool. I was heavily involved in live action role-playing games during the 90's... it was essentially live Dungeons and Dragons. It was a large international organization called the International Fantasy Gaming Society and I was President of the Los Angeles chapter for many years. During Strategicon, we turned a convention ballroom into a live fantasy game, complete with walls, lighting effects, fog machines, and anything else that worked. We had a tremendous amount of fun, and we had the best talented people for scripting and costumes. We had to use padded weapons and call out damage... you have the technology on your side, and a better idea. I'll be watching

[The Warrior]

Thanks buddy. I appreciate that. We’re pretty damn excited about what we’re building.

[DeathMerchant]

This sounds really cool! I was wondering when a company was going to come up with something like this. And actually make it work properly. When Recoil Laser Tag came out that was WiFi based using your phone, I figured it wasn't too long before someone went a step further. I think one of the coolest aspects of this will be it's it won't be bulky equipment, assuming of course you can keep the wand manageable size and the vests are small.

What state are you in or what's state(s) are you planning on starting operations? As I'm sure you already know, renting a storefront in a mall is already immensly popular for doing Escape Rooms. I can just hear kids and teens walking in and screaming, 'Shut up and take my money!'. You are on to something big, and if you can make a reliable product at a reasonable price point, you are going to have one heck of a unique experience.

IP issues aside, have you looked into marketing different Wand styles and designs? Not necessarily a replica from Harry Potter, but inspired type Wands that wouldn't require paying royalties? I know a few people who spent hundreds of $ buying their kids replica Harry Potter Wands. Sure it looks really cool, but it's a non functioning piece of stained wood which ended up sitting on their desks. I can only fathom how much they would have spent on a fully interactive replica Wand, allowing then to play actual games with their friends.

As Lysistrata touched on LARPing, have you considered marketing a set of products to LARPing communities? If the technology is successful, it theoretically should be easily adapted to Staffs, Bows, Crossbows, and other 'ranged' type weapons. The vests might look out of place so it would have to be a very minimal thing.

I'm really looking forward to seeing this pan out and I will definitely share it with some people I know who are/were heavily involved with the Harry Potter community. Do you have a rough cost estimate for the Escape Room as well as buying your own Wand/Vest? Approximately how far until people are able to purchase their own?

[The Warrior]

Great questions, DM. Wizible is based in Missouri. Everything will be here to start. Being in the Midwest we are basically in a prime spot geographically to deliver an experience for fans that would be similar to what they might get from visiting the Harry Potter sections of the Universal theme parks (minus an actual theme park of course).

Initially there will only be one uniquely, distinct Wizible wand style. The goal would be to get to the point where we could start offering custom wand designs. The design that our team has settled on for the distinct Wizible wand is really attractive. Even though it isn’t made of wood, it has a chiseled wood look on the handle and a wood grain shaft.

We have discussed reaching out to local LARPing communities to pitch the idea to them. When we are ready for more retail mass production we will definitely look to work with them more.

Since we began developing our tech a little over two years ago we have demoed it at atleast a dozen comic con’s and Harry Potter themed events. The response is always the same. When fans see and hear what we’re working on, they freeze, their eyes light up and their mouths drop open. The next question is always “where and when can I buy this?” It’s pretty gratifying. The wands and vests will actually be pretty reasonably priced. Obviously I don’t have hard figures at this point because they will largely depend on who we use for production but our goal is to make a wand and vest package available for under $100. We’ll see where it ends up.

Even though it is still our goal to be mass-producing the tech for retail, that has sort of taken a back seat to our escape room business for the last 6 months. We have been working really hard to build props and puzzles and develop an escape room backstory that fits within a much larger world/story that we are developing. Tickets for our main escape room will be pretty industry standard on price. Somewhere between $25-$30 per ticket.

The other big thing that I alluded to in the OP is our YouTube channel. We are in talks right now about developing and releasing our own web series that would start out on YouTube. The story is really awesome and when people start to watch it and experience our escape rooms they will absolutely see a larger world taking shape.

[Samus]

Sounds like an amazing idea, wish something like that was in the UK. British are crazy HP fans, they'll go crazy

[The Warrior]

For sure. There are certain bits and pieces of what we’re doing that are popping up around the world but no one can do everything that we’re doing.

[Rhizoctonia]

Sounds like a cool idea/concept.  Know you'll been working on it for awhile now, remember you first telling me about it awhile back.  Good to hear things are still progressing and evolving into something bigger.  It's not my real "cup of tea" as never was a big Harry Potter fan or got into the hype, but I definitely know there's a large following that enjoyed the books.  I liked laser tag as a kid with my friends running around our neighborhood and going to laser tag places, not sure if that's still a big thing or not but if so then I can see how this would be a nice addition.  

 

With how there's a growing amount of people also against the likes of gun violence in games, and guns in general, the idea of this being played with a wand and not how I use to play with laser blasters that looked like guns/pistols where you basically were "shooting" each other, you may attract some of those people.

 

I'm curious however if the Harry Potter idea is on it's way out though?  This is not me trying to be negative, but given the books/movies are over and been over for awhile, do you think the hype of them is starting to fade?  I know the Harry Potter rides and attractions at the large theme parks are still a hit, but I am curious if you think since it's been awhile since Harry Potter was the big thing if the attraction to the idea of wizard/harry potter is slowly going to die out.  Obviously wizards and such have been around for a long time before HP, hell I use to always want to be a wizard as a kid, so guess there has always been an attraction to it, but HP surely grew that tremendously.

 

Is your gear similar to what is out there already?  Are yours going to be capable to work with existing say vests and such out there?  I know when we played, we all had a mixed bag of guns and gear, but they all worked with each other.  Is yours similar in that aspect or is someone going to have to buy all new equipment to play with your wands?

[brewersalliance]

That sounds really cool! Especially the escape room thing! It could easily attracted people from all different ages. Adults and kids alike love HP so it sounds like you're on to something here!

Which comicon are you doing the mobile escape room at?

[DeathMerchant]

Great questions, DM. Wizible is based in Missouri. Everything will be here to start. Being in the Midwest we are basically in a prime spot geographically to deliver an experience for fans that would be similar to what they might get from visiting the Harry Potter sections of the Universal theme parks (minus an actual theme park of course).

Initially there will only be one uniquely, distinct Wizible wand style. The goal would be to get to the point where we could start offering custom wand designs. The design that our team has settled on for the distinct Wizible wand is really attractive. Even though it isn’t made of wood, it has a chiseled wood look on the handle and a wood grain shaft.

We have discussed reaching out to local LARPing communities to pitch the idea to them. When we are ready for more retail mass production we will definitely look to work with them more.

Since we began developing our tech a little over two years ago we have demoed it at atleast a dozen comic con’s and Harry Potter themed events. The response is always the same. When fans see and hear what we’re working on, they freeze, their eyes light up and their mouths drop open. The next question is always “where and when can I buy this?” It’s pretty gratifying. The wands and vests will actually be pretty reasonably priced. Obviously I don’t have hard figures at this point because they will largely depend on who we use for production but our goal is to make a wand and vest package available for under $100. We’ll see where it ends up.

Even though it is still our goal to be mass-producing the tech for retail, that has sort of taken a back seat to our escape room business for the last 6 months. We have been working really hard to build props and puzzles and develop an escape room backstory that fits within a much larger world/story that we are developing. Tickets for our main escape room will be pretty industry standard on price. Somewhere between $25-$30 per ticket.

The other big thing that I alluded to in the OP is our YouTube channel. We are in talks right now about developing and releasing our own web series that would start out on YouTube. The story is really awesome and when people start to watch it and experience our escape rooms they will absolutely see a larger world taking shape.

I noticed your YouTube video, has a link to the GoFundMe Page, but it gives a Page Not Found Error. I had to find it by searching manually.

 

https://www.gofundme.com/wizible-wand-laser-tag

[The Warrior]

Sounds like a cool idea/concept.  Know you'll been working on it for awhile now, remember you first telling me about it awhile back.  Good to hear things are still progressing and evolving into something bigger.  It's not my real "cup of tea" as never was a big Harry Potter fan or got into the hype, but I definitely know there's a large following that enjoyed the books.  I liked laser tag as a kid with my friends running around our neighborhood and going to laser tag places, not sure if that's still a big thing or not but if so then I can see how this would be a nice addition.  

 

With how there's a growing amount of people also against the likes of gun violence in games, and guns in general, the idea of this being played with a wand and not how I use to play with laser blasters that looked like guns/pistols where you basically were "shooting" each other, you may attract some of those people.

 

I'm curious however if the Harry Potter idea is on it's way out though?  This is not me trying to be negative, but given the books/movies are over and been over for awhile, do you think the hype of them is starting to fade?  I know the Harry Potter rides and attractions at the large theme parks are still a hit, but I am curious if you think since it's been awhile since Harry Potter was the big thing if the attraction to the idea of wizard/harry potter is slowly going to die out.  Obviously wizards and such have been around for a long time before HP, hell I use to always want to be a wizard as a kid, so guess there has always been an attraction to it, but HP surely grew that tremendously.

 

Is your gear similar to what is out there already?  Are yours going to be capable to work with existing say vests and such out there?  I know when we played, we all had a mixed bag of guns and gear, but they all worked with each other.  Is yours similar in that aspect or is someone going to have to buy all new equipment to play with your wands?

The Harry Potter craze is very much alive. It's true that the main Harry Potter series (7 books, 8 movies) ended several years ago but the world is very much alive. There are the Fantastic Beasts movies now. The second one came out in November I think and there is still another to come in that series. After that I fully expect their to be additional spinoffs set in the wizarding world. The following is far too large and they are making way too much money for them not to continue. Even if they didn't continue, Harry Potter was a cultural phenomenon that will stand the test of time. Think along the lines of how popular Star Wars still is today.

 

Even so, Wizible as a company is not infringing on the Harry Potter franchise. Nothing that we are doing is Harry Potter or claims to be associated with Harry Potter. We are just capitalizing on the success of the wizarding world. As you mentioned, wizards, magic, wands, fantasy, RPG's - these are things that have been around and will be around forever. Hell, for all we know, the Wizible franchise might be the next big thing. I'm pretty excited about the story we are developing.

 

Our technology is sort of similar to other things that have been on the market for years but it will be much more advanced. Traditional equipment will not work with our tech.

 

That sounds really cool! Especially the escape room thing! It could easily attracted people from all different ages. Adults and kids alike love HP so it sounds like you're on to something here!

Which comicon are you doing the mobile escape room at?

The escape rooms are honestly what has us the most excited right now. The escape room industry is booming and profits can be really high if you have a good concept. Ours will be unlike anything else in the industry. Most escape rooms give you a quick 20 second backstory about "you're trapped in this room and need to escape because XYZ" but that is all you get. Our escapes will be a part of a much larger story and they will allow us to really draw people into that world and place them into the middle of part of that story. Not to mention the fact that half of our escape room will require the use of magic to escape. 

 

The comic con we have coming up is a smaller local con in St. Louis but it is going to give us a perfect test market for the experience. We'll basically be beta testing the experience on this group and use their feedback to improve upon things if necessary. If all goes well, Wizible will be holding our own event in March where we will be running our already existing fans through the experience.

 

 

Great questions, DM. Wizible is based in Missouri. Everything will be here to start. Being in the Midwest we are basically in a prime spot geographically to deliver an experience for fans that would be similar to what they might get from visiting the Harry Potter sections of the Universal theme parks (minus an actual theme park of course).

Initially there will only be one uniquely, distinct Wizible wand style. The goal would be to get to the point where we could start offering custom wand designs. The design that our team has settled on for the distinct Wizible wand is really attractive. Even though it isn’t made of wood, it has a chiseled wood look on the handle and a wood grain shaft.

We have discussed reaching out to local LARPing communities to pitch the idea to them. When we are ready for more retail mass production we will definitely look to work with them more.

Since we began developing our tech a little over two years ago we have demoed it at atleast a dozen comic con’s and Harry Potter themed events. The response is always the same. When fans see and hear what we’re working on, they freeze, their eyes light up and their mouths drop open. The next question is always “where and when can I buy this?” It’s pretty gratifying. The wands and vests will actually be pretty reasonably priced. Obviously I don’t have hard figures at this point because they will largely depend on who we use for production but our goal is to make a wand and vest package available for under $100. We’ll see where it ends up.

Even though it is still our goal to be mass-producing the tech for retail, that has sort of taken a back seat to our escape room business for the last 6 months. We have been working really hard to build props and puzzles and develop an escape room backstory that fits within a much larger world/story that we are developing. Tickets for our main escape room will be pretty industry standard on price. Somewhere between $25-$30 per ticket.

The other big thing that I alluded to in the OP is our YouTube channel. We are in talks right now about developing and releasing our own web series that would start out on YouTube. The story is really awesome and when people start to watch it and experience our escape rooms they will absolutely see a larger world taking shape.

I noticed your YouTube video, has a link to the GoFundMe Page, but it gives a Page Not Found Error. I had to find it by searching manually.

 

https://www.gofundme.com/wizible-wand-laser-tag

 

Correct. We had a GoFundMe campaign running last year but decided to pull it down to focus on something else first. We will probably run a new GoFundMe campaign or possibly a Kickstarter campaign after we open the escape room business.

[Nadarr]

UUUUMmmm.....YYYYYYYYYYYEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSSSSS! You say HP and I am there. I will have to read all of this when I get off work, but from what I read this sounds so amazing.

[DeathMerchant]

Sounds like a cool idea/concept.  Know you'll been working on it for awhile now, remember you first telling me about it awhile back.  Good to hear things are still progressing and evolving into something bigger.  It's not my real "cup of tea" as never was a big Harry Potter fan or got into the hype, but I definitely know there's a large following that enjoyed the books.  I liked laser tag as a kid with my friends running around our neighborhood and going to laser tag places, not sure if that's still a big thing or not but if so then I can see how this would be a nice addition.  
 
With how there's a growing amount of people also against the likes of gun violence in games, and guns in general, the idea of this being played with a wand and not how I use to play with laser blasters that looked like guns/pistols where you basically were "shooting" each other, you may attract some of those people.
 
I'm curious however if the Harry Potter idea is on it's way out though?  This is not me trying to be negative, but given the books/movies are over and been over for awhile, do you think the hype of them is starting to fade?  I know the Harry Potter rides and attractions at the large theme parks are still a hit, but I am curious if you think since it's been awhile since Harry Potter was the big thing if the attraction to the idea of wizard/harry potter is slowly going to die out.  Obviously wizards and such have been around for a long time before HP, hell I use to always want to be a wizard as a kid, so guess there has always been an attraction to it, but HP surely grew that tremendously.
 
Is your gear similar to what is out there already?  Are yours going to be capable to work with existing say vests and such out there?  I know when we played, we all had a mixed bag of guns and gear, but they all worked with each other.  Is yours similar in that aspect or is someone going to have to buy all new equipment to play with your wands?

The Harry Potter craze is very much alive. It's true that the main Harry Potter series (7 books, 8 movies) ended several years ago but the world is very much alive. There are the Fantastic Beasts movies now. The second one came out in November I think and there is still another to come in that series. After that I fully expect their to be additional spinoffs set in the wizarding world. The following is far too large and they are making way too much money for them not to continue. Even if they didn't continue, Harry Potter was a cultural phenomenon that will stand the test of time. Think along the lines of how popular Star Wars still is today.
 
Even so, Wizible as a company is not infringing on the Harry Potter franchise. Nothing that we are doing is Harry Potter or claims to be associated with Harry Potter. We are just capitalizing on the success of the wizarding world. As you mentioned, wizards, magic, wands, fantasy, RPG's - these are things that have been around and will be around forever. Hell, for all we know, the Wizible franchise might be the next big thing. I'm pretty excited about the story we are developing.
 
Our technology is sort of similar to other things that have been on the market for years but it will be much more advanced. Traditional equipment will not work with our tech.
 

That sounds really cool! Especially the escape room thing! It could easily attracted people from all different ages. Adults and kids alike love HP so it sounds like you're on to something here!

Which comicon are you doing the mobile escape room at?

The escape rooms are honestly what has us the most excited right now. The escape room industry is booming and profits can be really high if you have a good concept. Ours will be unlike anything else in the industry. Most escape rooms give you a quick 20 second backstory about "you're trapped in this room and need to escape because XYZ" but that is all you get. Our escapes will be a part of a much larger story and they will allow us to really draw people into that world and place them into the middle of part of that story. Not to mention the fact that half of our escape room will require the use of magic to escape. 
 
The comic con we have coming up is a smaller local con in St. Louis but it is going to give us a perfect test market for the experience. We'll basically be beta testing the experience on this group and use their feedback to improve upon things if necessary. If all goes well, Wizible will be holding our own event in March where we will be running our already existing fans through the experience.
 

 

Great questions, DM. Wizible is based in Missouri. Everything will be here to start. Being in the Midwest we are basically in a prime spot geographically to deliver an experience for fans that would be similar to what they might get from visiting the Harry Potter sections of the Universal theme parks (minus an actual theme park of course).

Initially there will only be one uniquely, distinct Wizible wand style. The goal would be to get to the point where we could start offering custom wand designs. The design that our team has settled on for the distinct Wizible wand is really attractive. Even though it isn’t made of wood, it has a chiseled wood look on the handle and a wood grain shaft.

We have discussed reaching out to local LARPing communities to pitch the idea to them. When we are ready for more retail mass production we will definitely look to work with them more.

Since we began developing our tech a little over two years ago we have demoed it at atleast a dozen comic con’s and Harry Potter themed events. The response is always the same. When fans see and hear what we’re working on, they freeze, their eyes light up and their mouths drop open. The next question is always “where and when can I buy this?” It’s pretty gratifying. The wands and vests will actually be pretty reasonably priced. Obviously I don’t have hard figures at this point because they will largely depend on who we use for production but our goal is to make a wand and vest package available for under $100. We’ll see where it ends up.

Even though it is still our goal to be mass-producing the tech for retail, that has sort of taken a back seat to our escape room business for the last 6 months. We have been working really hard to build props and puzzles and develop an escape room backstory that fits within a much larger world/story that we are developing. Tickets for our main escape room will be pretty industry standard on price. Somewhere between $25-$30 per ticket.

The other big thing that I alluded to in the OP is our YouTube channel. We are in talks right now about developing and releasing our own web series that would start out on YouTube. The story is really awesome and when people start to watch it and experience our escape rooms they will absolutely see a larger world taking shape.

I noticed your YouTube video, has a link to the GoFundMe Page, but it gives a Page Not Found Error. I had to find it by searching manually.

 
https://www.gofundme.com/wizible-wand-laser-tag
 

Correct. We had a GoFundMe campaign running last year but decided to pull it down to focus on something else first. We will probably run a new GoFundMe campaign or possibly a Kickstarter campaign after we open the escape room business.

Any chance some of us IRONers will be able to take part in a Beta Test, geographical location aside? I would personally very much enjoy testing the Wands + Vests and hosting a few 'games' with some of my die hard Harry Potter friends.

[The Warrior]

I think I can probably arrange that.  Share our social media pages and quick story with those friends. I'd love to hear their feedback and expand our following.

[DeathMerchant]

I think I can probably arrange that.  Share our social media pages and quick story with those friends. I'd love to hear their feedback and expand our following.

Will do! I'll get ahold of them over the weekend and get back to you next week with their answers/questions.

[The Warrior]

Sounds good.

[Nadarr]

TW, I actually play Quidditch in the Houston area. Texas is a huge contributor to the US quidditch world and I know so many people who would be incredibly interested in this. I will share all of this on my local Quid page and scrounge up some interest for you. With that said, I am extremely interested and want these things. I am a huge HP fan (currently have 2 tattoos with an entire sock piece on the way) and believe you have a brilliant idea. I can't wait to see this hit the market and be able to participate in your escape rooms eventually. If you need any photography done, let me know. Missouri is only like 10 hours away and I would be more than happy to make that drive to help out a fellow IRONer.

[The Warrior]

That would be awesome. I’d love to talk to you more about it.

[Nadarr]

That would be awesome. I’d love to talk to you more about it.

 

Yeah you can message me here or on discord. Either works for me.

[The Warrior]

What sort of photography do you usually do? How long have you been playing quidditch?