On the TechWaterloo stage ×1
First seen on the TechWaterloo stage in 2017. Every talk is searchable — ask the archive about Chuang ↗
In their words
To explain that in simpler terms, it's basically arcade 2.0. In the old days we had arcades that people went to to experience console games, because console gaming machines and computers were not affordable yet.
When you have a location-based business that offers VR as an experience rather than a product, you're offering a service that's affordable. You don't have to take ownership in the product — you just want to try it.
Around the web ×1
Quick answers
Who is Chuang Li?
Co-founder of Mirage VR, the Kitchener free-roam virtual reality company that came out of Velocity, the University of Waterloo's incubator, and opened a hyperreality experience centre in the city's downtown. He presented at TechWaterloo in February 2017.
Why did a VR founder title his talk "Shorting VR"?
He called it clickbait himself, then made the argument anyway. On the TechWaterloo stage in February 2017 he presented 2016 headset sales — roughly a quarter of a million Oculus Rifts, half a million HTC Vives and three quarters of a million PlayStation VR units, which he called a disappointment — noted that Rift and Vive sales had flatlined across two months of that year while investment into the category tripled, and concluded that consumer VR was running ahead of the demand for it.
What did he think the opportunity was instead?
Location-based VR — "basically arcade 2.0". His argument was that good VR then cost $1,000 to $2,000 and needed space most people do not have at home, so selling it as an experience rather than a product solved both the price and the accessibility problem at once, and let the operator build a customised environment around it.
What happened to Mirage VR?
It is written here in the past tense: miragevr.ca has not resolved to the company since at least August 2026, and no closure date is on the public record. Imprint, the University of Waterloo student paper, covered the Kitchener centre's opening in November 2017.