Sega Live Creation, the amusement arm of parent company Sega-Sammy, is bringing the Zero Latency VR experience to the Joypolis amusement center in Tokyo, the chain’s flagship branch.

In celebration of the 20th anniversary of Joypolis, a chain of amusement centers across Japan and China, Sega has tapped Zero Latency to set up their free-roaming VR experience as a permanent attraction at the Joypolis in Tokyo, according to an announcement from the company. The attraction will be available at the amusement center starting in July.

Zero Latency is an Australian based firm which has created a wireless, multiplayer VR system that gives players a large expanse around which to roam and a play through custom-made VR experiences. Up to six simultaneous players don a headset, PC backpack, and weapon (all affixed with optically tracked markers) to step into the virtual world. The available playspace far exceeds that of the ‘room-scale’ area afforded by a consumer system like the HTC Vive (Zero Latency is calling it ‘warehouse-scale’).

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See Also: The Void to Power New Ghostbusters VR Experience at Madame Tussauds NY

The company has been operating its Melbourne-based VR attraction in one form or another for a few years now. For the Joypolis installation in Tokyo, Zero Latency says they’re making key upgrades with improved weapons, “next-generation player wearables,” and newer tracking technology.

“When we first tried the Zero Latency experience we were blown away” said Kazuhiko Hayami, Sega Live Creation’s Executive Vice President. “We knew we were witnessing the birth of a new medium, and we wanted to be involved straight away. 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.”

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Ben is the world's most senior professional analyst solely dedicated to the XR industry, having founded Road to VR in 2011—a year before the Oculus Kickstarter sparked a resurgence that led to the modern XR landscape. He has authored more than 3,000 articles chronicling the evolution of the XR industry over more than a decade. With that unique perspective, Ben has been consistently recognized as one of the most influential voices in XR, giving keynotes and joining panel and podcast discussions at key industry events. He is a self-described "journalist and analyst, not evangelist."
  • VRguy
    • traschcanman

      While the concept is nice I wonder how do you keep HMD’s sanitary when multiple users wear them ? Maybe it’s just me but the thought of donning one after others have sweated them all up, contacted them with their hair , and maybe a few sneezes is a big turn off . Even if they have been cleaned between uses , don’t some like the Rift & Vive use foam ? Most units I’ve seen also have a lot of nooks and crannies .

      • VRguy

        The HMD for this application is designed to for public use. First, materials are chosen so that it is easy to clean. Then, if you look at some of the pictures here http://sensics.com/portfolio-posts/goggles-for-public-vr/ you will see that the part that touches the face is easily detachable from the rest of the HMD. This means it can be cleaned or replaced quickly without having to take an HMD off-line.

      • Phil Morris

        Here at Vizuality Studio, people who have been to see us when at exhibitions will have seen that we encourage people to wear one of our ‘designer’ hair nets when donning our wireless HMD. The area that actually touches the skin is made of pleather (faux leather) which is wiped after every use.
        Sanitary considerations was one of the first things that we considered when creating our wHMD.

  • Pete

    OMG!!! Simply amazing!!

  • Alexander Vaught

    Great… Now where is Starcade at?

  • Kai2591

    More Japan news on VR is a good thing.

  • Bruce

    So this is where all the Oculus DK2’s will go!