What Marisa Garris's seat on AAMA's XR committee means for FEC operators

If you've been to an amusement industry trade show in North America recently, there's a good chance you've crossed paths with Marisa Garris. She's Valo Motion's Business Development Manager for North America, and her job, as she puts it, is to spot what others in the industry might miss.

Now she's doing that at a larger table.

Marisa was recently appointed to the Mixed Reality (XR) and Immersive Technology Committee of the American Amusement Machine Association (AAMA). 

AAMA is the international non-profit trade organization representing manufacturers, distributors, suppliers, and operators across the coin-operated amusement industry. 

The Mixed Reality (XR) committee is responsible for developing education and manufacturing standards for mixed-reality technology in the industry. XR, for context, is the evolved umbrella term for what the industry used to call just virtual reality. It now covers augmented and mixed reality as well.

Her appointment to that committee is a signal worth paying attention to. The people in those rooms bring decades of hands-on expertise and wide industry networks to shape how new technology actually gets adopted on the ground. They turn what could stay as abstract innovation into practical standards that work for real operators running real venues. 

Having someone whose day job is listening to those operators at that table means the people writing the standards actually understand the people who have to live by them.

We sat down with Marisa to hear what she's been seeing on the ground. What she shared is worth reading if you run a family entertainment center, a bowling alley, an amusement park, or any active indoor entertainment venue.

The staffing problem every FEC operator is trying to solve right now

Marisa has been with Valo Motion for about two and a half years (at the time of this interview, March 2026). A lot of that time has been spent at industry shows, in conversations with operators across North America, understanding what's actually keeping them up at night.

The answer is consistent: staffing.

One of the biggest challenges operators face right now is rising staffing costs and overall team expenses," she says. "The more we can produce unattended, intuitive attractions, the more it frees up team members to focus on other parts of the guest experience."

You already know this pressure. Finding reliable staff is hard. Retaining them is expensive. Every attraction that requires a dedicated employee to run shrinks your margin on that square footage. So before you invest in anything new, you're asking: Does this thing run itself?

READ ALSO: How automated scheduling reduces workload for FEC operators

Why Valo Motion's unattended attraction philosophy was ahead of the FEC industry

Here's what makes the timing interesting. Valo Motion has been building unattended, intuitive attractions since before staffing became a crisis.

It started ten years ago with ValoClimb, which grew out of founder Raine's postdoctoral research. ValoJump followed, focused on active indoor entertainment. Then came ValoArena, which brought Valo Motion more directly into the family entertainment center market.

Before some of the current challenges emerged in the industry, Valo Motion was already solving many of the unspoken needs of operators," Marisa explains. "As markets have tightened, those qualities have become even more relevant."

In this case, the product philosophy didn't pivot to fit the market. The market caught up to the philosophy.

New content updates also mean the attractions stay fresh without you having to reinvent the offering yourself. Guests keep coming back because the experience changes and there is something they would love sharing with their loved ones. You don't have to chase that yourself.

WORTH YOUR TIME: Mixed reality is the future of FECs

What US FEC operators gain when Finnish product design meets local market knowledge

Valo Motion is based in Finland, and Marisa, thinks that shapes the product more than most people realize.

Finland tends to be very forward thinking and willing to approach problems differently," she says. "People are curious and open to exploring new ways of doing things.”

That curiosity runs through the company structure, which is deliberately flat. Ideas move across the organization rather than getting stuck in approval layers. Marisa noticed: "Leadership encourages people to show up authentically and contribute their perspectives without judgment."

For Marisa, that flat structure has a direct impact on how well Valo Motion actually serves operators. Her job is to spot what others might miss: the pain points operators are quietly dealing with, the trends worth paying attention to, and the insights worth bringing back to the product team. Because the organization structure is flat, those field insights land somewhere real. They shape products.

It also helps that we operate our own family entertainment center, ValoHalli. That allows us to deploy new technologies and test them ourselves before bringing them to the market. Being operators gives us a real understanding of the needs and challenges our customers face.”

Marisa adds, "The team also brings international diversity to the table, with people from many parts of the world contributing perspectives that wouldn't exist in a more homogeneous organization. The internal culture is built on the idea that good ideas can come from anywhere, and that no idea is a bad idea."

One thing that might surprise people is that the company has already won multiple Brass Ring Awards," Marisa notes. "We do not spend a lot of time talking about our achievements publicly. Our focus tends to be on helping the industry and supporting operators. That restraint says more about the culture than any award could."

How ValoPark solves the space, staffing, and cost challenges FEC operators face today

If you're an operator competing for the same real estate as everyone else, working with high ceilings and large footprints, and watching staffing and insurance costs climb, Marisa's recommendation is direct.

"We meet many of the unspoken needs operators are facing today. Valo Motion attractions enable new revenue streams and bring active entertainment into traditional venues with relatively low capital and operational costs."

That's what ValoPark was designed around.

Ten years of building operator-first attractions, running our own FEC, and listening to what the market actually needs led here. ValoPark reflects all of it.

Marisa's appointment to AAMA's XR and Immersive Technology Committee puts one of the industry's most operator-focused voices in the room where immersive technology standards get written. For operators across North America, that's worth knowing.

If you want to follow her work or talk to her directly about what Valo Motion can do for your venue in the US, write her at marisa@valomotion.com

READ ALSO: How to curate a winning entertainment mix for your FEC