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Sandbox VR Expands Partnership with LOL Entertainment to Open Two Additional Venues of its Premium, Location-Based Virtual Reality Experiences in Washington, D.C. and Baltimore

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Sandbox VR and LOL Entertainment bring the ‘best virtual reality experience on the planet’ to Washington, D.C., and Baltimore

WASHINGTON and BALTIMORE, April 28, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Sandbox VR, the world’s premier destination for premium location-based virtual reality experiences, is expanding its ongoing partnership with LOL Entertainment, opening two new locations, one now open in Washington, D. C. at the CityCenterDC, and another in Baltimore’s Harbor East neighborhood on May 8, 2026. The new East Coast locations will join LOL’s existing roster of Sandbox VR locations in Philadelphia and Houston. With nearly 150K players monthly, Sandbox VR is rapidly growing its global footprint with thriving corporate-owned locations and a robust franchising program, bringing total global locations to more than 80.

Sandbox VR operates both corporate-owned locations and a robust franchise program, and recently hit $300M in lifetime sales while scaling to more than 80 global locations across five continents and 12 countries since launching in 2016. The company is redefining group entertainment with immersive experiences that transform any outing into lasting memories. Built by a team of veteran developers from EA, Sony, and Ubisoft, Sandbox VR delivers full-body immersion through exclusive content and original experiences, including the recently launched Stranger Things: Catalyst, in collaboration with Netflix, and the new Age of Dinosaurs experience in partnership with the Natural History Museum of London and leading dinosaur experts.

“We’re excited to expand our partnership with LOL Entertainment,” said Steve Zhao, CEO and Founder of Sandbox VR. “They’ve proven to be exceptional franchise partners – bringing consistency, creativity, and operational excellence to every opening – and we look forward to seeing these two new venues introduce Sandbox VR to new communities.”

“The East Coast has always been a core part of our growth strategy, and Washington, D.C. and Baltimore are two markets we’re especially excited about,” said Rob Cooper. “Sandbox VR delivers an unmatched group experience, and we’re proud to keep expanding that footprint together.”

The Washington, D.C. location is located at CityCenterDC, 824 9th Street NW, Washington, D.C. 20001, and features five private rooms for virtual reality gameplay, where groups of up to six guests suit up with headsets, haptic vests, and motion sensors for full-body immersion. The Baltimore location will be in the Harbor East neighborhood and will include four private rooms, three of which can accommodate up to six players and one for up to four players. The Sandbox VR technology allows players to see and physically interact with one another, creating the feeling of living inside the action together. The premium experience extends from arrival to exit, with personalized highlight videos allowing guests to relive and share their adventures.

Guests can choose from any of eleven exclusive immersive experiences created by Sandbox VR’s in-house team of video game industry veterans, including Age of Dinosaurs, which features the most realistic 3D dinosaurs ever presented in virtual reality. Additional experiences include Stranger Things: Catalyst, Rebel Moon: The Descent, Deadwood PHOBIA, Deadwood Valley, Deadwood Mansion, Squid Game Virtuals, Seekers of the Shard: Dragonfire, Curse of Davy Jones, Amber Sky 2088 and UFL: Unbound Fighting League.

For more information, visit www.sandboxvr.com

ABOUT SANDBOX VR
Sandbox VR is the world’s premier destination for location-based virtual reality experiences. Operating across 80+ venues around the globe through a robust franchise and corporate-owned model, Sandbox VR attracts nearly 150,000 guests each month. Sandbox VR provides guests the opportunity to step out of everyday reality into unforgettable adventures through exhilarating, group-play immersive experiences. Using a proprietary full-body VR platform, the company develops original and licensed content, including exclusive experiences like Stranger Things: Catalyst and Squid Game Virtuals in collaboration with Netflix, and the Sandbox VR original Deadwood series. With over 5 million tickets sold worldwide, Sandbox VR has become the leader in immersive entertainment, combining premium technology with emotionally engaging storytelling. Recognized as one of Fast Company’s 2024 Most Innovative Companies and the 129th fastest-growing company on the 2024 Inc. 5000 list, Sandbox VR is headquartered in San Francisco with offices in Hong Kong and Vancouver. The company has raised over $138 million from investors, including Andreessen Horowitz, Alibaba Entrepreneurs Fund, Gobi Partners, and Craft, with individual backers including Justin Timberlake, Katy Perry, Kevin Durant, and Will Smith.

About LOL Entertainment
LOL Entertainment is a U.S.-based operator and investor in location-based entertainment, specializing in scaling immersive attractions and experiences across major markets. With expertise in real estate, operations, and marketing, LOL Entertainment partners with world-class brands to expand their footprint and deliver unforgettable guest experiences. Having welcomed more than one million visitors across its portfolio, LOL Entertainment continues to drive growth and innovation in the evolving world of in-person entertainment. To learn more, visit lolentertainment.com.

Media Contact:
Metro Public Relations for Sandbox VR
sandboxvr@metropublicrelations.com

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Chef Robotics Physical AI Models Can Now Automate Baked Goods Packing

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SAN FRANCISCO, April 29, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Chef Robotics, a leader in physical AI for the food industry, today announced that Chef robots can now automate tray assembly for baked goods packing. The application places baked products, such as burger buns, chocolate chip cookies, biscotti, butter cookies, biscuits, fortune cookies, granola bars, rusks, and shortbreads into trays and packaging containers before sealing.

Watch Chef robots in action.

Baked goods packing has historically been difficult to automate for high-mix production. Each item behaves differently on the production line—a granola bar compresses under the wrong grip, while a biscotti or rusk can crack if placed at the wrong angle. Surface textures range from glazed and smooth to crumbly and irregular, and strict presentation requirements leave little room for error. This variability has made it challenging for automation systems to reliably handle baked goods at production speeds, leaving food manufacturers dependent on manual labor and traditional bakery equipment.

To address this, Chef built its baked goods packing application on its existing piece-picking capability, which uses Chef’s AI-powered computer vision and physical AI models trained across diverse real-world production environments. This allows Chef robots to assess each item’s position, shape, and orientation in real time and determine how to pick the items from the pan and place them quickly and precisely without damaging them.

The baked goods packing application supports four distinct placement capabilities.

First, Chef’s vision system detects the angle at which each item sits in the pan and reorients it after picking, placing it on the tray at the exact angle required, regardless of its original position, enabling retail-ready presentation for SKUs that require precise angular placement.

Second, Chef robots can place multiple baked goods into the same packaging container in a single automated pass, completing full tray assembly without manual intervention.

Third, for packaging containers with multiple small compartments, Chef robots can precisely place items into each designated section, including multiple items in the same compartment, using Chef’s AI vision model to detect compartment positions and orientations in real time.

Fourth, Chef’s vision system identifies the exact center of each tray and places every item at a predefined offset from that center, ensuring a uniform, consistent arrangement across every pack regardless of how trays arrive on the conveyor.

For food manufacturers evaluating bakery systems and baked goods packaging automation, the application offers higher throughput, reduced labor dependency, and consistent presentation across shifts. The capability runs on Chef’s existing robotic hardware and software, allowing manufacturers to deploy it without requiring any changes to their production lines.

Chef’s baked goods packing application is available in the U.S., Canada, Germany, and the UK and is included as part of Chef’s robotics-as-a-service (RaaS) pricing model.

About Chef Robotics
Chef is the first company to have commercialized a scalable AI-driven food robotics solution. With over 104 million servings made in production, Chef leverages ChefOS, an AI platform for food manipulation, to offer a Robotics-as-a-Service solution that helps industry-leading food companies increase production volume and meet demand. Headquartered in San Francisco, CA, Chef aims to empower humans to do what humans do best by accelerating the advent of intelligent machines. Visit https://chefrobotics.ai to learn more.

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/chef-robotics-physical-ai-models-can-now-automate-baked-goods-packing-302756923.html

SOURCE Chef Robotics

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Chef Robotics Physical AI Models Can Now Automate Baked Goods Packing

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SAN FRANCISCO, April 29, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Chef Robotics, a leader in physical AI for the food industry, today announced that Chef robots can now automate tray assembly for baked goods packing. The application places baked products, such as burger buns, chocolate chip cookies, biscotti, butter cookies, biscuits, fortune cookies, granola bars, rusks, and shortbreads into trays and packaging containers before sealing.

Watch Chef robots in action.

Baked goods packing has historically been difficult to automate for high-mix production. Each item behaves differently on the production line—a granola bar compresses under the wrong grip, while a biscotti or rusk can crack if placed at the wrong angle. Surface textures range from glazed and smooth to crumbly and irregular, and strict presentation requirements leave little room for error. This variability has made it challenging for automation systems to reliably handle baked goods at production speeds, leaving food manufacturers dependent on manual labor and traditional bakery equipment.

To address this, Chef built its baked goods packing application on its existing piece-picking capability, which uses Chef’s AI-powered computer vision and physical AI models trained across diverse real-world production environments. This allows Chef robots to assess each item’s position, shape, and orientation in real time and determine how to pick the items from the pan and place them quickly and precisely without damaging them.

The baked goods packing application supports four distinct placement capabilities.

First, Chef’s vision system detects the angle at which each item sits in the pan and reorients it after picking, placing it on the tray at the exact angle required, regardless of its original position, enabling retail-ready presentation for SKUs that require precise angular placement.

Second, Chef robots can place multiple baked goods into the same packaging container in a single automated pass, completing full tray assembly without manual intervention.

Third, for packaging containers with multiple small compartments, Chef robots can precisely place items into each designated section, including multiple items in the same compartment, using Chef’s AI vision model to detect compartment positions and orientations in real time.

Fourth, Chef’s vision system identifies the exact center of each tray and places every item at a predefined offset from that center, ensuring a uniform, consistent arrangement across every pack regardless of how trays arrive on the conveyor.

For food manufacturers evaluating bakery systems and baked goods packaging automation, the application offers higher throughput, reduced labor dependency, and consistent presentation across shifts. The capability runs on Chef’s existing robotic hardware and software, allowing manufacturers to deploy it without requiring any changes to their production lines.

Chef’s baked goods packing application is available in the U.S., Canada, Germany, and the UK and is included as part of Chef’s robotics-as-a-service (RaaS) pricing model.

About Chef Robotics
Chef is the first company to have commercialized a scalable AI-driven food robotics solution. With over 104 million servings made in production, Chef leverages ChefOS, an AI platform for food manipulation, to offer a Robotics-as-a-Service solution that helps industry-leading food companies increase production volume and meet demand. Headquartered in San Francisco, CA, Chef aims to empower humans to do what humans do best by accelerating the advent of intelligent machines. Visit https://chefrobotics.ai to learn more.

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/chef-robotics-physical-ai-models-can-now-automate-baked-goods-packing-302756923.html

SOURCE Chef Robotics

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Air Products to Expand Industrial Gas Supply for Samsung Electronics’ Next-Generation Semiconductor Fab in South Korea

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New investment underscores the company’s long-term commitment to Korea and its leading role in the global semiconductor industry 

LEHIGH VALLEY, Pa., April 29, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Air Products (NYSE:APD), a world-leading industrial gases company and serving Samsung globally, today announced it has been selected by Samsung to supply industrial gases for its new advanced semiconductor fab in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, South Korea.

Under the agreement, Air Products will build, own and operate multiple state-of-the-art production facilities and a bulk specialty gas supply system to supply nitrogen, oxygen, argon, and hydrogen for Samsung’s new semiconductor fab. The new facilities are expected to come onstream in multiple phases from 2028 through 2030.

Air Products has a long track record of executing multiple phase expansions in Pyeongtaek to support Samsung’s growing manufacturing needs. This latest project represents Air Products’ largest investment to date in the semiconductor industry and will establish Pyeongtaek as the company’s single largest operations site globally supporting the electronics industry. 

“Air Products is honored to be selected once again by Samsung and to have their continued confidence as a trusted partner supporting their strategic growth plans,” said SR Kim, President, Air Products Korea. “This significant investment reinforces Air Products’ role as a leading global supplier to the semiconductor industry and underscores our long-standing commitment to supporting our strategic customers with safety, reliability, efficiency and excellent service.”

Air Products has served the global electronics industry for more than 40 years, supplying industrial gases safely and reliably to many of the world’s leading technology companies. The company has operated in Korea for more than 50 years and has established a strong position in electronics and manufacturing sectors.

About Air Products

Air Products (NYSE: APD) is a world-leading industrial gases company in operation for over 85 years focused on serving energy, environmental, and emerging markets and generating a cleaner future. The Company supplies essential industrial gases, related equipment and applications expertise to customers in dozens of industries, including refining, chemicals, metals, electronics, manufacturing, medical and food. As the leading global supplier of hydrogen, Air Products also develops, engineers, builds, owns and operates some of the world’s largest clean hydrogen projects, supporting the transition to low- and zero-carbon energy in the industrial and heavy-duty transportation sectors. Through its sale of equipment businesses, the Company also provides turbomachinery, membrane systems and cryogenic containers globally.

Air Products had fiscal 2025 sales of $12 billion from operations in approximately 50 countries. For more information, visit airproducts.com or follow us on LinkedInXFacebook or Instagram.

This release contains “forward-looking statements” within the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are based on management’s expectations and assumptions as of the date of this release and are not guarantees of future performance. While forward-looking statements are made in good faith and based on assumptions, expectations and projections that management believes are reasonable based on currently available information, actual performance and financial results may differ materially from projections and estimates expressed in the forward-looking statements because of many factors, including the risk factors described in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2025 and other factors disclosed in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Except as required by law, we disclaim any obligation or undertaking to update or revise any forward-looking statements contained herein to reflect any change in the assumptions, beliefs or expectations or any change in events, conditions or circumstances upon which any such forward-looking statements are based.

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/air-products-to-expand-industrial-gas-supply-for-samsung-electronics-next-generation-semiconductor-fab-in-south-korea-302757497.html

SOURCE Air Products

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