Far Cry VR Coming To Zero Latency VR Arcades Next Year

Far Cry VR: Dive Into Insanity is coming to Zero Latency VR arcades exclusively next year.

The news was confirmed during Ubisoft’s Forward stream today. Far Cry VR is set in the same environment as the third game in the series, getting players to team up for a fight on a tropical island. Check out the first trailer for the game below.

We first reported that Zero Latency was working on a game based on one of Ubisoft’s franchises a few months ago. The company is using its own arcade tech to deliver an experience in which players hold rifle-shaped controllers and blow up enemy bases.

Far Cry is far from the first franchise Ubisoft has brought to VR arcades, though it is the first to feature more action-oriented shooter mechanics. The company’s two Assassin’s Creed VR titles instead resemble cooperative escape rooms, and it sounds like the upcoming Prince of Persia VR experience will be along the same lines too. The rumor is Ubisoft is also working on some new at-home VR games too. In fact, it just announced AGOS: A Game Of Space.

Okay, so it might not be a full Far Cry VR game, but we’re definitely interested in this. Exploring Far Cry 3’s island in VR sounds like a treat. There’s no telling when we might see VR arcades back to full operation amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, though.

Will you be getting out to a VR arcade to see Far Cry VR? Let us know in the comments below!

July 28, 2020

The Virtual Arena – Blast from the Past: The VR-1

Observing the immersive Out-of-Home entertainment scene for VRFocus, in his latest Virtual Arena column, industry specialist Kevin Williams turns his gaze back to the influences that have shaped the modern adoption of VR. Charting a brief history of the first major theme park attraction from veteran developer SEGA, and how one of the first VR pioneers in that emerging technology shaped this overlooked, but ground-breaking experience.

The recognition of VR in this current generation may be mistaken by some as being its first innovation into the mainstream, but VR has had several false dawns in the entertainment arena. Just some twenty years ago a major theme park attraction was developed by a major amusement and game developer, using technology inspired through a license with a promoted start-up VR company. History has a habit of repeating itself.

Jumping back to 1994 and at the time SEGA was the leading video amusement and digital game content developer. The Japanese powerhouse was investing in cutting edge technology, scaling down their phenomenal amusement releases and turning them into consumer gaming experiences, even scaling down the microcomputer technology to be converted into gaming consoles based on their expertise.

The drive for the latest technology saw SEGA investigate the emerging technology of VR. At the time VR had migrated from the simulation industry for flight training and had been applied for video amusement utilization. The company Virtuality had grown from start-up to London stock exchange trade corporation and was the leader of a boom in VR deployment in the amusement industry. SEGA decided to jump their competition and license the Virtuality technology to create their own platform.

*The Virtuality SD 2000*. Image Credit: Virtuality

Virtuality and SEGA would pen an extensive agreement that would see the UK specialist working closely with the much-vaunted SEGA GM R&D divisions in Japan, sharing patented technology and unique display and optics designs. Initial work based on the advance Visette head-mounted display. Continuous iterations would be developed from this partnership until SEGA perfected their design to create the ‘Mega Visor Display (MVD)’ – one of the most advanced VR headsets of that generation. Not surpassed in performance until only a few years ago.

*Mega Visor Display (MVD)*. Image credit: Sega

Mega Visor Display (MVD)
Resolution: 756 x 244 pixels
Field of View: 60°(H) x 46.87°(V)
Display Type: Liquid Crystal
Weight: 640 grams

SEGA had been feverishly working on their Amusement Theme Park (ATP) project in the 1990’s – taking the video arcade into a new age, incorporating the latest digital entertainment technology, and encapsulate it in what was described as a “Theme Park in a Box!” A venue that could be dropped into shopping malls, bringing a unique entertainment fixture to this kind of location. Inside were multiple “Zones” offering unique “Mid-Scale Attractions”. The concept evolving into the JOYPOLIS venues (also branded as SEGAWorld), with some nine sites opening in the ’90s, in locations such as Tokyo, London and Sydney, as well as other cities.

VR played its part, as one of the so-called “Mid-Scale Attractions” that populated these ATP was the innovative ‘VR-1’. Based on the concept of a motion simulator ride attraction – SEGA created an eight-seater ride vehicle, with guests using the new Mega Visor Display headset. In this space-themed experience – the players went on a galactic mission, shooting waves of alien vessels, looking where they wanted to shoot. The VR technology while rudimentary, compared to modern systems, still offered a ground-breaking and compelling experience, one of the higher-rated attractions deployed in the JOYPOLIS parks in 1994.

Eventually, the shine of the JOYPOLIS brand would tarnish, and the business foundation it was based on proved uneconomic. A mixture of poor management, instigating bad business decisions soon took their toll, and the collapse of the ATP business reflected a greater failing in the heart of the corporation. SEGA would contract as a global entertainment leader, eventually acquired and merging with Sammy.

Tenaciously, the SEGA corporation has continued to be an amusement powerhouse, with JOYPOLIS still in operation in Japan and China (under the CA SEGA JOYPOLIS division). And still offering VR – though the VR-1 has long since been retired – the venue offers the latest LBE VR with VR Nerds’ ‘Tower Tag’ and the Zero Latency experiences. SEGA’s recent success with the motion picture based on their iconic mascot Sonic revitalizing the brand for a modern generation.

Many have mistaken the fictitious SEGA VR headset for the Genesis, as the only true virtual reality project from the corporation – forgetting this original successful foray in immersive entertainment that was the VR-1 and Mega Visor Display. The lessons that can be learned in design and development from this early first flush of excitement in VR from the 1990s are a history lesson that should not be forgotten; unless the industry wants to repeat its past mistakes again.

July 20, 2020

The Virtual Arena: The LBE VR Reopening Perspective – Part 2

Covering the immersive Out-of-Home entertainment scene for VRFocus, in his latest Virtual Arena column, industry specialist Kevin Williams continues his visits to re-opening VR and immersive entertainment venues – with exclusive access to the new videogame from Zero Latency. In these features, he reports on the latest experiences and the new conditions that the international LBE business is adapting to.

There has been a continuing surge in the development of new free-roaming VR experiences in the location-based entertainment (LBE) sector. A unique platform for the commercial entertainment sphere offering all the aspects most dreamed about from the promise of VR; the ability to play in a social group, immersed in a vibrant virtual world that the users can freely navigate. While for consumers, first the tether, then the limitation of performance has hindered the realisation of this aspect on home hardware. Emerging from lockdown and the LBE VR scene has seen an upswing in new experiences being released.

So, it was obvious that we would be visiting another of these new launches. Located in the Boxpark venue in the shadow of the Wembley Stadium arch in London – one of the latest location-based entertainment venues is nestled on the second floor of this hospitality and entertainment site. Called MeetSpaceVR, the venue is the latest VR experience offering in the capital. The operation includes a dedicated VR arena for free-roam experiences as well as a VR lounge for the playing of VR Escape Room content, and eSports competition (all supported with a private hire bar area) – and this latest game release fits perfectly into this offering.

Zero Latency has been one of the leading innovators in Free-Roaming (Arena Scale) VR experiences – one of the first to launch the concept onto the market and one of the first to roll out a stable of titles with proven player appeal – installed across 45 venues in some 22 countries. The company choosing its partnership with MeetSpaceVR to launch their latest title – Undead Arena VR. This new Arena Scale experience has between four and eight players wearing the HP powered backpack PC, donning HP Reverb G1 headsets with headphones and mic, and wielding the unique Zero Latency weapon.

The new game offers a unique and compelling take on the zombie-blaster. Undead Arena VR is modelled as if the players are taking part in a reality TV show, set after the zombie apocalypse, blasting through waves of the undead achieving scores that at the end will transport the winners to become instant celebrities. A fast pace zombie-wave-shooter, with unique touches and a compelling narrative that proved an enjoyable workout. The players able to swap between machinegun, shotgun, and crossbow to score headshots and wipe-out the most zombies for that all elusive high score.

The 15-minute game begins only after a professional run down of the features and safety elements of using the Zero Latency hardware – and how the players personal weapon works and the scoring principles. Along with the ability to use fire and explosive barrels to hold back the hoards. And then the players are dropped into the heat of the action, progressing through level after level, and Zero Latency using some of their well-known tricks to immerse the player, including moving walkways and rising elevators all simulated virtually.

The game encourages the players to work as a team in order to survive the zombie infestation, and soon into the game the player is fully immersed in the destruction, surviving (with their score intact) the next wave of the undead. The game is targeted at a 13 and older audience, and the action is fast, frantic, and highly addictive – and it is obvious to see that this title lends itself perfectly to becoming its own eSports sensation. A game that will encourage repeat play to see if the score can be improved, and better proficiency with the different weapons achieved for those crucial headshots.

The team behind MeetSpaceVR revealed the extensive efforts they had gone through working with their landlord (BOXPARK) and following the local government guidelines to achieve the July 4th re-opening. The facility now offering 30-minute individual play sessions for the registered guests, with appropriate physical distancing from other groups and team members. The venue currently operating at 20% of pre-COVID capacity – constantly evaluating the process. But was able to reveal that they are seeing a steady return of old and new customers. We would like to thank all involved in making our visit possible.

The explosion in player interest in Arena Scale has not diminished since it appeared on the market. A strong platform that illustrates the separation of what a solitary VR experience can achieve in the home, and the power and immersion of multi-player free-roaming VR experiences in location-based entertainment.

In the post-pandemic landscape, concern has been made about the speed of resurgence of this play experience – though initially, the figures look positive that players are returning as can be seen at both MeetSpaceVR and the other opening sites in Europe and the West. There are however some signs that a lack of liquidity of some Arena Scale LBE VR businesses will mean difficult times ahead. It was reported that The VOID, one of the high-profile developers in this field have entered difficult straights. It was revealed that their Californian Downtown Disney District site had permanently closed its doors. Later revealed that the lease termination was because of a breach of the Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures license. All but one of the remaining 17-sites of The VOID had not reopened, other than reports of the Malaysian site located in the Genting resort complex – sources revealing that that site had removed all Disney intellectual property and VR experiences. Once more information is available on this situation, we will share this with our readers.

At the time of visiting the Wembley MeetSpaceVR operation, we took the chance to look at another re-opening site offering VR entertainment. Located on the riverside London-county-hall location, NAMCO Funscape is a bowling, hospitality, and amusement venue – one of the capitals leading entertainment centres prominently placed in London’s’ tourist epicentre close to the well-known London Eye attraction. While the attraction may not be operational yet, the Namco amusement site had opened its doors.

Previously covered by VRFocus – the NAMCO Funland had undergone COVID measures, with the bowling and hospitality elements closed off – and the amusement machines enforcing physical distancing. This, however, did not diminish the interest to try the VR entertainment on offer, with the company operating the only two Bandai Namco VR Zone Portal Mario Kart VR installations in the capital. The site also had their Beat Saber Arcade machine and the Extreme Machine VR experiences. And taking pride of place and being well played during this visit the LAI Games Virtual Rabbid’s machine – all these systems sporting new signage regarding the hygiene necessities of using the venue.

Bandai Namco VR Zone — Image credit: KWP

We look forward to reporting on the other VR ZONE Portal installation at the O2 location once the Bowling Alley sector (along with hotel, gyms and theaters) are permitted to reopen for business after the expected lifting of Governmental restrictions. And we will be visiting several other new sites in the coming days – watch this space for more information.

June 23, 2020

Zero Latency & Ubisoft Working on Free-roaming VR Experience Coming 2021

Ubisoft is well versed in creating virtual reality (VR) location-based entertainment (LBE), with titles like Prince of Persia: The Dagger of Time and Assassin’s Creed Origins: Escape the Lost Pyramid. Today, the company has announced a new partnership with Zero Latency to bring one of its most beloved franchises to free-roam VR.

The title is currently in development but neither Ubisoft nor Zero Latency have confirmed which of Ubisoft’s franchises has been chosen to be made into a free-roaming experience. There’s quite a few to select from but with Zero Latency’s current catalogue of videogames mainly revolving around first-person shooters (FPS), VRFocus would expect something similar. A Tom Clancy title perhaps?

“We are always on the lookout to propose innovative and compelling ways for gamers and non-gamers alike to explore our worlds. We have successfully adapted several franchises to Location-Based VR before and are excited to work with Zero Latency VR on this new experience,” said Deborah Papiernik, VP New Business, Ubisoft, in a statement.

Zero Latency has locations around the world most of which would’ve had to shutter due to local lockdowns due to Covid-19. Like many in this industry its been preparing for the future via partnerships like this one as well as introducing new measures. The company has been installing systems remotely for the first time, guiding clients through the installation process.

“We’re excited to be partnering with Ubisoft to bring a AAA brand to the Zero Latency VR System for the first time. As gamers ourselves, it’s a brand that we’re massive fans of and we’re looking forward to showcasing our new take on it!” adds Tim Ruse, CEO, Zero Latency VR.

As for the rest of the LBE industry, CrazyBunch and Vertigo Arcades announced Ghost Patrol VR which will be rolled out at the end of June and Hologate published Hygiene and Safety Standards in partnership with Cleanbox.

The new VR experience is expected to launch in early 2021. For further updates from Ubisoft and Zero Latency on the new project, keep reading VRFocus.

June 15, 2020

The Virtual Arena: Defining the Next Phase of Immersive LBE (Part 2.)

Covering the immersive Out-of-Home entertainment scene for VRFocus, in his second and concluding part of his latest Virtual Arena column, industry specialist Kevin Williams continues the observations made while many location-based entertainment (LBE) venues remain in lockdown. This section looks at the growth in Arena Scale immersive entertainment and investment towards the sector’s future after lockdown.

While many of the venues are in lockdown, the continued investment in the entertainment business has seen the development and launch of new products that will drive the investment in a sector of VR that has benefited from a strong audience appetite.

One of the first territories to see their VR arcade business emerge from lockdown was Taiwan. In this sector, HTC has opened its chain of Viveland sites. A cross between a VR park and a showroom, these have also expanded into “HTC Viveland XR Super Somatosensory Paradise” – a new popup variant. And it was at one of these sites that Fantahorn Studio debuted ‘Dinosaur Age XR’ – a prehistoric VR motion seat experience. Post-lockdown audiences flocked to try the attraction, underlining the considerable interest still seen in this deployment of the medium.

The VR Free Roam Scene

Following on from the last report and speaking of the new distributors of free-roaming (Arena Scale) platforms, its time to look at the considerable popularity of this application with the entertainment audience pre-pandemic. One of the first and leading providers of this application was Australian based Zero Latency. Not allowing the current global crisis to impact their continued investment in developing its platform, the company used May to announce the launch of its latest title. Called Undead Arena VR, the videogame planned to be installed across their 45 Zero Latency venues internationally, (subject to when each will resume business).

The game offers from one to eight players the chance to play as a team in a post-apocalyptic world, part of a retro 80’s TV game show. Fighting off hordes of zombies to gain the high score and become a celebrity. The developers have jokingly defined the game as Smash TV meets The Hunger Games. Deployed on the latest free-roaming backpack PC platform, the company recently adopting the HP Reverb headset for their latest system. This coming as HP rolls out its new HP Reverb G2 (supported by Valve and Microsoft), offering a strong platform for LBE consideration.

A new free-roaming entrant into the market revealed its platform recently. YULLBE is an advanced backpack VR system, developed between Vicon Motion Systems, VR Coaster and MackNeXT (media development specialists in the Mack Group of companies). The platform supports up to 32 players, fully-body tracked in large arenas, employing Vicon’s advanced camera-based architecture, (architecture already used by Arena Scale operations such as Dreamscape and SandboxVR). The YULLBE system will see its first outing for summer 2020, in Germany, as an attraction next to the Europa-Park and the Rulantica waterpark. Seen as a new fully immersive form of VR entertainment, it is targeted at a broader audience than before. VR Coaster having previously partnered with SPREE Interactive on the Roam&Ride attraction ‘Eurosat Coastiality’.

Recommencement of LBE VR Business

All this preparation is to ready for the staggered re-opening of VR entertainment businesses internationally, as reported in the first part of this feature. There has been even greater scrutiny paid to the safe and appropriate operation of VR technology in the commercial entertainment environment #AfterLockdown.

One of those leading the charge is also one of the largest providers of VR entertainment systems internationally having sold some 400-units of their Hologate Arena tethered enclosure platform. The company has amassed a wealth of experience in best practise of operating and cleaning VR in commercial settings, compiling all this knowledge into a simple guide for operators and developers across the market. The Hologate Hygiene and Safety Standard condensing the essential practice towards checking, operating, and cleaning this technology as well as the wider requirements regarding operating VR simulator rigs. The guide shared with the whole of the industry offers support to all to ensure a common practice in providing the best experience to the paying audience, as the industry emerges from forced hibernation.

Another aspect of Hologate’s support of the impacted VR amusement scene is to backup struggling operators beyond advising them on the best practice in operating their hardware. The company announced that it would be offering two months subscription-free to owners of their hardware to take effect as soon as their venues reopen. This was intended to help ease some of the stresses that hard-pressed facility operators were experiencing as they prepared to reopen their businesses after such a long period of disruption.

Hologate at EAG 2020 — VR teamwork in the latest blaster from HOLOGATE. Image credit: KWP

The reopening of the LBE VR scene has started to gain momentum, in Asia, several venues have thrown open their doors – and with the applying of new health measures has still seen strong interest from the playing audience to enjoy VR. As we mentioned previously, HTC has been promoting its Viveland operation – the company is one of the leading VR headset providers to invest considerably into a lucrative commercial entertainment strategy. While consumer VR has proven a slow burner, the commercial deployment has proven a more productive business model, that others now hope to emulate. Last year the company also pointed to wireless multiplayer LBE VR as “the next big thing”. This was part of a drive to establish the company’s Focus Plus standalone mobile VR platform that had been first to prove the genre.

Looking to the future of LBE deployment, the next phase of VR development has supported this growth of interest on arena-scale VR applications. Beyond the conventional backpack PC approach, we have seen the investment in standalone systems. Initially, this approach was popularized by the HTC Focus Plus, but it has been dominated by interest in the Oculus Quest. However, the restrictions of the platform have impacted some plans for Commercial Entertainment application. But the standalone enterprise market will soon be flooded by a new phase of systems. As revealed by Qualcomm and its new XR2 architecture powering the ‘XR Viewer’ series. Amongst these VR and AR 5G enabled headsets are a number of enterprise-focused systems that point to the future of new arena-scale deployment, with a much higher quality of immersion, pointing to the next phase in mobile VR application.

Now towards the reopening of the shuttered LBE VR businesses, and the recommencement towards the new normal. How the scope of impact that the global health crisis has had on the business of immersive entertainment, and if encumbered head-mounted displays, or the development of unencumbered immersive projection systems will spell the next chapter in the deployment of out-of-home entertainment.

January 16, 2020

The Best Location-Based Centres in the World

Okay, let’s build a complete guide to virtual reality (VR) for a newcomer. First of all, let’s put aside any kind of home use. If you’re a newcomer, you want to try it, nothing more at this point, right? Then, you need a place to go. And there are VR parks, VR arcades, VR centres and VR rooms for you to choose. So where should you go?

Ask yourself these questions.

Did you try VR before?

If yes, hopefully, it wasn’t some low-quality rollercoaster at the mall.

If no, all the experiences in the market are accessible enough for a first-timer so keep calm about that.

Did you feel uncomfortable using VR or 3D-cinema?

You should know that it may happen when you’re in VR, especially if you have already experienced it before. Staff in good locations know what to do if it happens and will help you.

Are you an experienced videogame player?

If yes, ask for challenges because the entry-level experience may look too simple for you.

If no, it’s not a problem. Stick to attraction-like VR. Go to a VR escape room centre or VR theme park with a bunch of VR simulators.

What are your favourite genres?

If you like shooters then go warehouse-scale VR to shoot some zombies. If you’re into Dance Dance Revolution or Guitar Hero, then try a rhythm-based title like Beat Saber. If you are fond of adventures then go to a VR escape room centre.

If you don’t know just ask yourself what do you like to do, what movies are your favourite? And that would be the clue.

Single-player or multiplayer?

Do you want to go it alone? Then head to a VR arcade or VR park. Most will have a varied selection of videogames to suit most tastes and skill level.

If you want to go with company then choose VR escape centres, warehouse-scale VR or check if VR arcade or VR park does have a title that your group would like.

Whom are you gonna take with you?

This is the most important question on the list. Do you want to go with your friends? Will you bring the kids? Or your parents? Or co-workers?

If it’s a kids party, they will love theme parks and will easily adapt to VR in arcades. If you don’t want them to play anything violent then choose wisely. VR escape is a convenient solution since it’s a complete event and you can choose a theme in advance.

If you bring elders with you, choose the most accessible VR escape experience, the one which is more of an attraction than a videogame. Try VR park to see how your old folks will manage a VR swing or a flying simulator.

With colleagues, decide do you want to compete or to cooperate. VR escape is the perfect fit for team building. Some VR arcade games or warehouse-scale VR are good competition. Look at your group. Do your teammates have different videogame experience?

If you’re all experienced in videogames, then go to a VR arcade, and figure it out in the process. And if everyone likes to shoot then just go to warehouse-scale VR. If the diversity is high, either choose a VR park with a lot of attractions or universal experience for everyone which is VR escape game.

If all of you like the same movie may be The VOID will satisfy your needs with its experiences based on famous franchises.

Also, use this scale of action. It’s not universal, and there are exceptions. Start with this lense, try things and then create your own lenses.

0 – A visual experience, less interaction	VR Cinema
1	VR rollercoasters, swings, bungee
2	Short VR experiences like The Void and Dreamscape
3 – Well-balanced	Seated VR escape rooms, VR flying simulators
4	Free-roam VR escape rooms, VR arcades, VR racing
5 – Plenty of interaction, less to experience	VR free-roam shooters

Top locations across the globe

This is list doesn’t pretend to be full in any way. Here are some examples of perfect client management, diversity of content and unique audience appeal.

Europe

Torch VR in Prague, the Czech Republic is the best VR attraction in Prague according to TripAdvisor. The rating is 5 out of 5. You can play both seated and free-roam VR escape games there. If you’re looking for hand-tracking VR it’s the best place in Europe to try.

DNA VR in the first VR arcade in London, UK and it keeps the highest ratings on TripAdvisor. It’s a good choice if you want to try different experiences all in one place. Likewise, Vertigo VR in Milton Keynes, UK is another noteworthy arcade but it has VR escape games onboard. The location has 5 of 5 on TripAdvisor.

Virtual Room has high TripAdvisor ratings in a few VR escape room locations across the globe. One of them is in Paris. If you want to go to time-travelling with your team, it’s a perfect choice.

VR Games Zone in Oslo, Norway is the best VR centre in the country. You can play both seated and free-roam VR escapes there as well as warehouse-scale shooters.

VR Gamehouse is a VR arcade in Amsterdam with the highest TripAdvisor rating, offering VR racing simulators.

Zero Latency is the synonym for warehouse-scale VR, and its Madrid location has an enormous number of reviews. If you’re looking for zombies to shoot, it’s the place.

Asia

VR Star Park in China is the largest Virtual Reality theme park in the world recently featured at VRFocus. Check out Nathie’s video about it. You’ll find all kinds of VR experiences from rollercoasters to bumper cars, from swings to warehouse-scale VR shooters. Go there with teenager kids and elders, friends and colleagues.

Looking for VR escape rooms, check Virtual Room in Singapore.

Before getting $68 million from Andreessen Horowitz, Sandbox VR started its way as Glostation in Hong Kong. The location keeps its ratings high. The experience is a mix of free-roam VR, escape room and hyper-reality. The Singapore location has five stars as well.

Australia

Virtual Reality Rooms in Sydney, Australia is the first centre in the country dedicated to seated VR escape games. This one was the proof of concept for Entermission opening its locations across the USA right now. Also on the recommendation list is Sydney’s Virtual Room owns one of its best centers in Sydney.

Australia is also a homeland of Zero Latency, so go check its Melbourne location to know if there are any zombies left to be shot.

America

The biggest arcade in America is VR World, New York. It has all kinds of VR arcade games, plus some VR escapes and free-roam shooting titles. Virtual Room’s third-best VR escape centre is located in Los Angeles.

Avengers: Damage Control, Star Wars: Secrets of the Empire, Ghostbusters: Dimension, Ralph Breaks the Internet and Jumanji: Reverse the Curse. These are the franchises you can visit at The VOID facilities. Their locations are well spread across the USA. Visit them if you want a short experience in a well-known universe. And in Dreamscape, you can visit an alien zoo with exotic animals for 15 minutes. There are locations in Los Angeles and Dallas.

Bonus

There is no point listing all the Hologate locations here. Plus it’s hard to understand what locations are actually good since there are no reviews at TripAdvisor or Yelp. But if you want to shoot with your pals at each other, try Tower Tag at one of those. There are accessible across the globe.

November 26, 2019

Virtual Arena: London Calling LBE – VR’s Venue Explosion! (Part 2.)

In the latest coverage of the immersive Out-of-Home entertainment scene for VRFocus, in his latest Virtual Arena column, Kevin Williams reports on an eruption of brand new Location-Based Entertainment (LBE) VR entertainment properties making the capital their home. In this second part of this three-part report, we look at the emergence of new VR arcades in the capital, as well as the popularity of Arena-Scale gaming within many of these new offerings.

After covering previous the new start-up located in one of the many London arches (see the Electronic Theatre report in part 1), there is also another VR offering that was visited recently. Located in Haggerston, North London, the Otherworld VR is a unique adaptation on the VR arcade approach growing in popularity across the globe. Developed by The Dream Corporation, this VR entertainment venue attempts to offer a unique experience, while building off the proven aspects of pay-to-play VR.

OtherWorld outside — The entrance to OtherWorld VR. Source: KWP.

Launched this year, the unique element of the delivery of the VR experiences is how Dream Corporation has developed its unique launcher, offering some 16 different VR videogames, reached by the user traversing a virtual island. Another unique element is the VR platforms themselves “Immersion Rooms” comprise a number of SFX elements married to the VR games to offer what the company like to call “sense-hacking” experiences. The site comprising 14 of these unique cylindrical VR pods – all powered by HTC Vive Pro headsets.

The key aspect of the overall venue is its marriage to a strong hospitality element, the Otherworld VR venue comprising a special bar and touchscreen ordering element. The Dream Corporation partnered with Red Deer on interior design, in what has been described as a “neon jungle“. Focused on the individual, but predominately for group hire of the space, looking at an average £30-per player price range for a 55-minute experience. The Dream Corporation having raised some $1.3 million to date, agreeing to terms for two additional UK sites and the commencement of a European expansion.

OtherWorld inside — View of the 14 Immersive Rooms at the OtherWorld VR venue. Source: KWP.

More conventional Free Roam VR entertainment has been created by UK operator MeetspaceVR in cooperation with Australia’s Zero Latency, who have opened recently at the Box Park location at Wembley Park, London. This venue is the latest deployment of an Arena-Scale (Free Roam) VR experience offering a chance for groups of up to 8-players to simultaneously experience the latest in true free-roaming VR experiences.

Deploying the popular Zero Latency platform, allows groups of players to select from five of the free-roaming VR experiences filling the 20 x 10m “warehouse-scale” arena. Players wearing the latest PC backpacks and using HP Reverb headsets (this being the new ‘gen2’ VR hardware from the company). MeetspaceVR offering 30-minute gameplay experiences, at on average some £30-per player.

An aspect of the deployment of the MeetspaceVR venue is the inclusion of VR eSports (vSports), that will see the Zero Latency system as well as standalone Vive VR terminals and eSport PC stations offering a competitive environment to the VR venue. There are also plans for the site to include VR escape gaming, creating a dedicated overall VR entertainment offering. Given the great success of their cooperation in the UK, Zero Latency and MeetspaceVR are already in expansion talks for further venues in Q1 and Q2 of 2020, including Birmingham and Manchester locations.

MeetSpaceVR outside — Outside MeetspaceVR. Source: KWP.

MeetSpaceVR inside — The new MeetspaceVR and the players deep in competitive VR action. Source: KWP.

One of the other new VR arcade locations to throw open their doors this year are NAVRTAR – the company was the first site to offer a free-roam VR and bar experience in the capital. Located in a retail unit in London’s Ealing area. The venue offers three distinctive VR offerings, first with VR demo stations to allow players to get their VR feet, then with dedicated private booths, and finally with an Arena-Scale five-player HP backpack, and Oculus CV1 headset experience – this system provided by developer VRArcade – with NAVRTAR offering this from £28 per person. NAVRTAR has been specially designed to offer a social group experience, being one of the first VR arcades in this sector to comprise a dedicated hospitality component.

NAVRTAR image1 — NAVRTAR’s new location. Source: KWP

NAVRTAR image2 — Kevin Williams’ fresh from playing Zombie Apocalypse at NAVRTAR. Source: KWP.

The popularity of Arena-Scale VR experiences has grown across the industry – with news that the poster-boy for this application, The VOID and their “Hyper-Reality” film based free-roaming experience planning on opening a permanent location in London in the coming months. This builds on the previous “Pop-up” of their ‘Star Wars: Secrets of the Empire’ that saw a temporary installation back in December 2017 at the Shepherd’s Bush, Westfield shopping centre. While the other big name in Arena-Scale VR installations, Sandbox VR, has also revealed plans for a new London opening, also in a couple of weeks, following its own major injection of financial investment.

Interest in this aspect of the technology and the LBE VR scene, in general, will be reflected in the coming new-look EAG International Expo 2020, taking place on the 14-16 January at London’s ExCeL. The leading trade gathering for the attraction and amusement trade, a special one-day conference has been organized by leading developers in this sector – promoting the new opportunities that LBE VR is offering the European and International sectors. Arena-Scale development, and the latest standalone VR experiences playing a major part of the event.

The next part of our coverage of developments in this sector follows shortly.

October 25, 2019

Hands-On With Zero Latency’s Inside Out Tracking Multiplayer Arena

Zero Latency provides systems for warehouse-scale, location-based VR experiences in cities across the world, letting you and up to seven others roam around a huge area with physical prop guns you can use in-game. It is kind of like a cooperative VR version of laser tag.

The idea is that you and your friends can move around freely in the warehouse, using a backpack PC to avoid tethered wires. Most of the experiences are co-op, but they also offer a fairly new PvP experience which we tried out in February. As a whole, we’ve had mixed results with Zero Latency in the past. The game design has been mixed in quality, and their original open-source-based VR headsets weren’t the greatest when used in conjunction with their proprietary tracking system.

zero latency OS vr — Pictured: The original Zero Latency system, using OS VR and external tracking

Zero Latency, however, announced they were going to overhaul the system away from the OSVR headsets to a second generation that uses HP hardware as part of a deal they struck earlier in the year. After my last visit a few months ago, Zero Latency invited me back to their North Melbourne location – one of a few that adopted the new Gen 2 system already.

The upgrade includes new HP computer backpacks and headsets. In some cases, that means the headsets will be HP Reverbs. For five of the current Gen 2-ready locations, however, the older HP VR headsets were used running Microsoft’s Mixed Reality system. The North Melbourne location was one of those five. Zero Latency says future upgraded locations will use Reverb.

I asked Zero Latency CEO Tim Ruse why they chose to go with the Reverb, as opposed to other options.

“Probably the resolution and the quality,” he said. “It’s a really good headset and it’s pretty comfortable compared to other stuff that’s out there. And it goes really well with the HP backpack.”

Ruse noted each of the 38 Zero Latency locations is run by a licensed owner and it is up to each location to choose their upgrade path.

zero latency hp mixed reality — Pictured: The new Zero Latency system in North Melbourne, featuring HP Mixed Reality headsets and a Windows controller mounted to the gun prop.

The original Zero Latency system used OSVR headsets with a gun peripheral and glowing balls mounted on the top of both. Tracking was done externally for each player via overhead mounted cameras tracking the glowing balls. There are also blue patterns on the floor used to help determine position.

The HP headsets feature two outward facing cameras that provide inside-out tracking similar to an Oculus Quest, Rift S, Cosmos and others. According to Zero Latency, the new HP headsets still use the existing blue patterns on the floor to help determine your position in the play area and relative to others but, crucially, all of this tracking is all done on the players’ headset alone and no longer uses the external cameras mounted overhead from the Gen 1 system. The headset’s inside-out tracking system also tracks a Windows controller mounted to the gun prop, instead of the old glowing balls.

“The gun is essentially [now] locally tracked,” he said. “Before, it was the positions travelling through the tracking system and back out. Whereas, your perception of the gun is [now] all local. It’s going all through the WMR tracking specifically, not out through an external tracking system. It feels way snappier.”

I could really feel the difference and it is one of the most noticeable improvements of the new system. The guns now feel snappy and sharp with low latency. Most important, they feel really fun to use. I felt in control of my aim the whole time and I didn’t get as frustrated with aiming as I did in the old system. The gun-play seemed much more skill-based and I was talking long range shots that didn’t seem possible with the original OSVR setup.

Inside Out Arena Scale Limitations

While I found the overall experience improved with the HP-based system compared with the first generation of Zero Latency, I also noted limitations. There were a few instances, for example, where a player’s gun would appear lodged in the ground, far away from where they were standing with the prop. The fix was to just look directly at the gun prop and move it around a bit.

My head movement also seemed susceptible to occasional frame drops and momentary freezes. Fast actions also resulted in my movements sometimes feeling like they were smoothed over, or “averaged out”, when translated back onto the screen – the finer detail and incremental movements of my head sometimes felt like they were lost in translation during a big sweeping motion. When I approached a physical wall, the positional tracking went haywire. Despite all this, I did find the overall experience to be quite a bit better than the first generation — a change likely attributable to the abandonment of OSVR hardware.

I would expect some casual VR players to come away impressed by the upgrade. The gun props feels much more responsive and the experience is notably more fun because of that. But there are still more improvements needed to iron out occasional tracking glitches in an inside-out-based system at this scale.

The post Hands-On With Zero Latency’s Inside Out Tracking Multiplayer Arena appeared first on UploadVR.

October 6, 2019

The VR Job Hub: First Contact Entertainment, Zero Latency, Zubr & Atkins

October is here and the chill has quickly set in as the nights become longer. For those who love the sunshine, this week’s VR Job Hub has a plentiful selection of opportunities in both the US – on the west coast – and in Australia.

Location	Company	Role	Link
Santa Monica, US	First Contact Entertainment	Technical Producer/Project Manager	Click Here to Apply
Santa Monica, US	First Contact Entertainment	Game UI Engineer	Click Here to Apply
Santa Monica, US	First Contact Entertainment	Senior Game Server Engineer	Click Here to Apply
Santa Monica, US	First Contact Entertainment	Senior Gameplay Programmer	Click Here to Apply
Santa Monica, US	First Contact Entertainment	Gameplay Programmer	Click Here to Apply
Santa Monica, US	First Contact Entertainment	Senior Platform Engineer	Click Here to Apply
Santa Monica, US	First Contact Entertainment	Producer/Project Manager	Click Here to Apply
Santa Monica, US	First Contact Entertainment	Tech Artist	Click Here to Apply
Santa Monica, US	First Contact Entertainment	Art Outsource Manager	Click Here to Apply
Melbourne, Australia	Zero Latency	Build Technician	Click Here to Apply
Sydney, Australia	Zero Latency	Team Leaders	Click Here to Apply
Sydney, Australia	Zero Latency	Financial Accountant	Click Here to Apply
Bristol, UK	Zubr	Studio Coordinator	Click Here to Apply
Bristol, UK	Atkins	Interactive Technologies Lead	Click Here to Apply

Don’t forget, if there wasn’t anything that took your fancy this week there’s always last week’s listings on The VR Job Hub to check as well.

If you are an employer looking for someone to fill an immersive technology related role – regardless of the industry – don’t forget you can send us the lowdown on the position and we’ll be sure to feature it in that following week’s feature. Details should be sent to Peter Graham (pgraham@vrfocus.com).

We’ll see you next week on VRFocus at the usual time of 3PM (UK) for another selection of jobs from around the world.

October 3, 2019

Zero Latency to Open its First London VR Location in October

Originally from Australia, Zero Latency has rapidly expanded its warehouse-scale virtual reality (VR) experience across the world, landing on UK shores in Nottingham last year. Now the location-based entertainment (LBE) provider has announced plans to open a second UK location, this time in London at the end of October.

Zero Latency

Offering complete free-roaming multiplayer VR experiences, the upcoming location at Boxpark Wembley will be a 400sq meter arena for up to eight players at once. They’ll be able to don backpack PC’s, headsets and headphones to run around the massive area, either teaming up to shoot each other or deadly enemies.

With each videogame offering 30-minute play sessions, groups will be able to dive into Sol Raiders a PvP sports experience. Two teams of up to four players go head-to-head across three fast-paced, virtual battlegrounds as they and their friends fight each other for control of a power source called Sol.

Other titles being offered are:

Zombie Survival – Picture this: you’re bunkered in a fort and surrounded by a mass of zombies. Can you stay alive until the rescue team arrives? An experience for thrill-seekers.
Outbreak Origins – Prepare yourself for epic battles. A deadly virus is wreaking havoc, causing hordes of zombies to take over the city. The dead are walking and your squad needs to do something quick
Singularity – Space, the final frontier. Ever wondered how you’d fair against killer robots and rogue drones? You and your mates will investigate a secret military space station and take on the Terminators
Engineerium – Perfect for first-timers and virtual reality experimenters. Ease you and your mates into VR through this avatar-like, fantasy world that combines platform and maze challenges

Zero Latency

“We’re thrilled to bring the world’s most advanced social gaming experience, Zero Latency, to London,” said John Lilley, CEO of MeetspaceVR in a statement. “Free roam VR is the future of group social entertainment attractions – we believe gaming is better when played together. The adrenaline-pumping experience caters to a wide audience from avid-gamers to first-time visitors. We are looking forward to opening our doors in the UK’s capital in October and unleashing a horde of virtual zombies on visitors.”

Zero Latency will open at MeetspaceVR, Box Park, Olympic Way, Wembley Park, London from Saturday 26^th October. Ticket prices start from £19.95 GBP and can be booked on the official site. For further Zero Latency updates, keep reading VRFocus.