As a member of the COMD Facebook page I frequently check on different posts that are shared and posted. My friend Amera Lulu made a post to let everyone know that she only had a limited number of spots for the VIP Samsung tour, so I immediately signed up because Samsung=Tech and I love technology. So why not? I have a few Samsung products myself and I thought that I should go to get more information about newer and better products/technology. The event was free which is a great bonus, so I don’t know why some people who did sign up not show up because that space could’ve went to someone else.

Before the day of event, I got my outfit ready and planned for the trip to the building(I always plan ahead of going to places because I live a far distance away from the city) so I won’t be late. So that morning I set off to A train, got off on 14 st. & 8th Ave. and started walking towards 13 st. between 9th and  10th Ave. I believe  I was one of the first waiting outside not knowing how we were meeting up and what to do, so I just waited. After a few minutes I saw a group of people forming so I decided to go over and ask if they were waiting for the Samsung VIP tour and they said ‘yes’. Finally a few minutes before the start time Lulu showed up, took attendance and had us take a group picture while we waited for the late-comers. We finally got to go inside of the building and that’s when I saw my friend Josh and didn’t know that he had signed up to come on the tour.

Our tour guide greeted us and we proceeded into the old looking building and that’s when my other friend Rocio showed up as the tour guide just started talking. When we first walked in the space there was a DJ booth to the right of us, some smaller Samsung products in front of us and a Virtual Reality (VR) Simulation to the left of us. Next, the tour guide showed us another simulation called the “VR Tunnel” which was in front of us and asked us if we wanted to try it and we all agreed. I was one of the first and very anxious to try the VR simulation, so I walked up ahead, a gentleman sat me down and I put on the glasses and headphones. For the next, about 5 minutes I went through a series of short videos with 360° views spinning around in a very comfortable chair. The videos were very different from each other like: The first video was a little boat ride in the Phillipines (I believe), the second was a fire-like magician/circus performer, the Third was a HUGE dinosaur in my face in the middle of the jungle, Next was a transition into a Asian home with a family about to eat dinner and last I was pretty much floating the the middle of the universe with stars and star dust. This was the first time I’ve experienced VR and I seemed so real but yet I was intrigued and excited about it.

The next VR simulation was the roller coaster and some people from our group tried it while I was trying the VR Tunnel. This VR Rollercoaster was filmed in San Diego, CA at a Six Flags amusement park. I am afraid of heights and decided to try out the activity and had my mind set on closing my eyes because that’s what I would do in real life on a roller coaster. During this ride it felt as if I was there but there wasn’t because no was wind blowing in my face so that was good. Instead, I closed my eyes and enjoyed the comfortable seat vibration and movement but as far as the liking of the the ride I would say the experience was good overall (I’m just not comfortable with heights).

After everyone finished both activities we talked amongst each other as we moved toward the DJ booth and this HUGE screen in the middle of the room with seats and stairs in front of it. The huge screen was apart of the Instagram ‘Selfie’ station, which is deemed as the “The Biggest Selfie in the world” and is comprised of a few thousand Instagram posts. The screen is in front of some stairs and they use this area sometimes as an event space. A couple of us rushed to take a picture to see how we would look on the screen and then the others took their picture after us (I have a sample of the picture below, it kind of looks pixelated because it is comprised of many different pictures). The next activity was also Instagram related, so we all had to line up and put on shoe covers (which was very interesting but I knew we was gonna step on some kind of shiny floor). So the guy who was monitoring “The Gallery”  had asked the first three people for their Instagram accounts and he gave them the tablet to input their username then we all headed inside. Walking through the doorway of the room it was all reflective and looked sort of like a mirror room at a carnival because all of the floor and walls were a black reflective thing. Inside of the room there where about close to 100 TV’s, phones and tablets displaying the first three people’s Instagram`’s. Another group of us decided to have our Instagram displayed in the room so I had to go out wait in line to have my Instagram displayed. The screens highlight the hashtags you used and pictures kind of like a mash-up.

Next, we went to the second floor of the space and they had an area with tablets, phones and computers that users can test out and use while at the space. Then beyond that was a couple of chairs with VR glasses and headphones to experience another VR simulation but just with still images. Next to this area also the tour guide let us know that Samsung has product accessories for men and women. While we was waiting for the next activity our tour guide explained about the Samsung 360° camera that also takes videos. This camera was apart of our next activity which was themed around the Netflix show “Stranger Things”. They had a booth set-up with mirrors all around with a strange thing popping out of the rear wall, Christmas lights and the Samsung camera in the middle of the booth. We all fit in the booth and the tour guide explained to us further about the camera and took a picture of all of us standing where we stood.

After, that “Stranger Things” Booth we got a tour around a “Stranger Things” living room set-up and next to that they wanted the people to experience a regular living room set-up with Samsung products. Next to this area they have another testing area, a makeshift Samsung kitchen with a wonderful and over the top Samsung refridgerator (with free candy on the counter) and also a laundry room. Next to this area and the staircase is a Cafe filled with coffee, tea and donuts.

This VIP Samsung Experience tour was great and I definitely learned some new things about Samsung and their products and I would definitely recommend this place to anyone I come across because I haven’t seen a place like this yet. Samsung really set the bar high compared to the Apple Store because they don’t have anything like this.