Being led by a stranger into a darkened shipping container should be unsettling enough.
Darkfield at Area15 is upping the ante, though, with three immersive audio experiences that take place inside those custom-built shipping containers — in complete darkness.
“We’re excited to bring three of our most celebrated experiences, Séance, Flight and Placebo, to Area15 and introduce audiences to a completely different kind of immersion, one where imagination becomes the special effect and every person leaves with a unique experience,” Glen Neath, Darkfield co-founder and artistic director, said in a statement.
The attraction utilizes 360-degree binaural audio that replicates the effect of sounds moving around the space. When combined with scent and subtle movement, according to the release, those sounds “create intensely psychological worlds the mind instinctively perceives as real.”
“What makes Darkfield so distinctive in Las Vegas is its complete removal of the visual world. Once the light disappears, there is nowhere for the mind to anchor itself,” Nathan Alexander, producer at Darkfield collaborator Realscape Productions, said in a statement. “By immersing guests in authentic physical environments before the lights disappear, Darkfield taps into the brain’s natural tendency to trust what it has already seen, making the psychological journey that follows feel remarkably real.”
For Séance, guests will be seated around a table. They’ll put on headphones before the lights go out. A voice will guide them through a séance, while the soundscape may have them believing something has been conjured into the room.
Flight unfolds inside what looks like an airplane cabin. Jolts will mimic turbulence, while other effects will simulate a flight — until a parallel reality emerges.
As part of Placebo, guests will be offered a pill before they lie down in a clinical setting. What unfolds has been described as “a shared dream on the edge of consciousness.”
Each experience lasts approximately 20 minutes, and they’ll take place from 4 to 10:30 p.m. daily in Area15’s Zone 2. Admission starts at $20 for one experience, $35 for two and $45 for all three Mondays through Thursdays. Rates are $25, $40 and $50 Fridays through Sundays.
Darkfield opens July 23.
Contact Christopher Lawrence at [email protected] or 702-380-4567.