| Industry | Free Roam Virtual Reality |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2013 |
| Headquarters | Melbourne, Australia |
Number of employees | +100 |
| Website | zerolatencyvr |
Zero Latency VR is a technology company that develops free-roam virtual reality systems. [1] It was founded by Tim Ruse, Scott Vandonkelaar, Kyel Smith, who are currently directors of the company, with Dean Dorrell as the chairman. [2]
The founders' idea to develop a free-roam virtual reality experience first emerged in 2012 following the success of Oculus Rift's kickstarter campaign, [3] and was initially tested as a single-player game called Inversion VR, in early 2013. [4] [5] A prototype of Zero Latency VR's multiplayer free-roam virtual reality system was first demonstrated to the public at Pausefest, a digital innovation conference, in early 2014. [6] [7] Following this, Zero Latency VR secured almost $30,000 from a crowdfunding campaign, [8] as well as a $60,000 grant from Film Victoria. [9] The company subsequently received $1 million in funding from Carthona Capital, a venture capital firm. [10] [11] [12] In February 2015, Zero Latency VR partnered with Dell's gaming division, Alienware, to provide high-performance computer hardware for use in Zero Latency VR's operations. [13] In August 2015, Zero Latency VR opened a VR entertainment venue in North Melbourne, Australia. [14] [15] This was touted as the first such virtual reality facility to be publicly available. [16]
Free-roam virtual reality allows users to move freely in an open space and not be constrained by cables and other immobile equipment. [17] Perceptual tricks such as "Change Blindness Redirection" are used in free-roam virtual reality to create the illusion of a virtual environment larger than what is physically available. [17] Zero Latency VR employs these perceptual tricks at its 400m2 venue in North Melbourne to allow players to travel between 700m and 1 km during a standard game session. [3]
Motion capture technology is used to track the physical location of players, which allows the in-game virtual location of players' avatars to be generated accurately. [7] It took several years to develop the software and hardware allowing players' physical movements to be instantly replicated by their in-game avatars. [18] [19] Proximity sensors are used to warn players of hazards and prevent players from leaving the physical play area. [16]
As of December 2024 [update] , Zero Latency VR has 103 venues in 26 countries. [20]
The company also sells its systems to businesses requiring free-roam virtual reality applications. [9] Due to their cost and complexity, Zero Latency VR's systems are not ideal for private use. [21] [22] Instead, they are intended to be used as public virtual gaming spaces or theme park attractions. [10] [21] [23] Zero Latency VR has also partnered with a real estate group to offer virtual house inspections. [24]
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