Bikramjit Mathuan worked in IT for 12 years for a healthcare software company, living out his passion and traveling across the U.S. to different hospitals. The only downside: he was missing out on important moments with his wife and three kids.

Mathaun decided it was time for a change. Soon enough, he ended up packing his bags and moving him and his family all the way from Cleveland, Ohio, to Forsyth County where he planned to start a new and innovative virtual reality game room, called VR1 Gaming, which opened on Monday, June 1.

Mathaun said his inspiration to open the game room came not only from wanting to spend more time with his family, but also from his passion for technology and electronics.

“I’m one of those people that has to have whatever is new before everyone else has it,” Mathaun said.

Part of that need to have the latest in technology went into Mathaun’s business, and it is the reason he decided on a unique VR gaming experience for his game room. He saw that VR was where gaming was really heading in the future, and he decided to take it one step further.

“I wanted to do something outside of the box and do something that no one is doing,” Mathaun said. “There are VRs out there, but as far as simulators, you won’t find anything like what I have.”

The simulators that Mathaun has set up allow the player to immerse themselves in whatever game they are playing as they slide up and down or left and right to give the feeling of being on a motorcycle, driving a car or even flying through the air.

“It puts you in the mindset of being in the game, but you’re feeling everything,” Mathaun said.

For those that do not want to take part in the simulators, there are also standalone VR games where the player can just wear a headset and use standard VR controllers to play a variety of different games.

Mathaun has even offered to let some community members simply try out the VR games and simulators for those who have never tried it before and may not know if it is an experience they would enjoy.

He has been planning for the game room’s opening for more than two years, bringing all of the games in and getting them set up and working toward a smooth opening at the beginning of June. Of course, he did not plan for the pandemic that began to plague small businesses early in March.

Mathaun said that while he is disappointed he probably will not see as many coming into the game room early on as he initially planned for, he is hopeful for the best.

“Just like with anything, when you get hurt, it takes time,” Mathaun said. “You heal, and you get better.”

Although he opened on June 1, he has pushed his grand opening event back possibly to next year, but he has already started working with other local businesses to get the word out about the game room and help out others in the community.

In the past couple of months, Mathaun has partnered with Riverside Pizza and Sweet & Sassy to begin creating package deals for events such as birthday parties that draw the businesses together.

“I’m all for helping out other businesses even though I’m probably kind of the new kid on the block,” Mathaun said.

Now that the game room is open, Mathuan is excited to see the new store fill up with families from throughout the community looking to just laugh and have fun, and he is even more excited to bring his own kids along to try out the games — one of many moments he hopes to have with his family in his new career and their new home.