Sega is taking Zero Latency's multi-player virtual reality gaming to Japan
Australian virtual reality startup Zero Latency has received rave reviews, including from Mashable, so it seemed only a matter of time before it went global.
The Melbourne-based company, which built a multi-player, free-roam virtual reality experience in a inner city warehouse, announced a partnership with Sega Live Creation on Tuesday to take its game to Japan.
From July 16, Zero Latency's virtual reality gaming experience will have a permanent home in Tokyo amusement park, Joypolis.
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Zero Latency has created wireless, virtual-reality technology that can track players roaming throughout a warehouse-sized space, unlike most commercially-available headsets such as the HTC Vive, which offer a much smaller perimeter.
Up to six players can be active at once and are visible to each other as avatars. In the game, they can work as a team to complete a mission. In Melbourne, the company offers a zombie shooter game, but it is developing a custom experience for Sega with new content and weapons.
Zero Latency is building a shorter, more arcade-style version of their zombie game for Sega, Tim Ruse, Zero Latency's co-director, told Mashable Australia, with all new environments and characters. It will have a competitive point system and 12 minute rounds.
"When we first tried the Zero Latency experience we were blown away," Kazuhiko Hayami of Sega Live said in a statement. "We are only at the early stages of understanding what free-roam VR is capable of. It's one of the most exciting technologies coming to market today."
Since Mashable Australia's review in late 2015, there have been many improvements to the company's system. "We've got new controllers that are easier to use, new backpacks that were made by military contractors so they're much more comfortable, and new [virtual reality] headsets made by Sensics," Ruse said.
According to Ruse, the Oculus Rift gear they used previously was not robust enough for commercial use. "We've also updated our tracking to make it a lot more accurate -- better cameras, better servers, more tracking markers," he said.
Beyond the Sega collaboration, the company is working on deals that can't yet be announced in the U.S, China, Europe and Australia. They're also about to release two other games in Melbourne: A narrative space station experience that plays with your sense of gravity and a surreal, collaborative puzzle game.
"Things that you can't do in real life or with home VR headsets," Ruse said.
Forget laser tag -- you better hope Zero Latency's technology comes to your local mall.
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Topics Virtual Reality
Ariel Bogle was an associate editor with Mashable in Australia covering technology. Previously, Ariel was associate editor at Future Tense in Washington DC, an editorial initiative between Slate and New America.
