I Made This: Parinitaa Rajgarhiaa explains why Zero Latency is the best VR experience in India

Redefining reality

Lianne Dhalla 30 Nov 2022 12:32 PM

Parinitaa Rajgarhiaa takes us behind the scenes to explain the joys and perils of owning and founding Zero Latency India – a studio gaming VR experience. Recovering from the turbulence of surviving a pandemic as a business, less than a year into its success, she gives us some insight into franchising this company in India and what it takes to be a woman building this business from the ground up.

 

How much space does one require to set up something like this and do specific games require specific amounts of space for you to set this up?

Zero Latency requires a minimum of 1600 sq. feet to 2200 sq. feet, depending on whether it has a pillar or is pillarless. We have a space the size of a tennis court, it can be either square or rectangular. That’s free to vary from space to space. For all the games you are moving around the space freely and actively at all points in time. The openness of the space definitely adds to the joy of the gaming experience.


Are you likely to tie up with any of the Indian game developers? Is there any future partnering with these Indian game devs?

There are many game devs coming to India and while there are conferences being held with them, there are still some ways to go to get them into studio gaming. The gaming space is still mainly online and very console driven. Ubisoft has developed Far Cry for Zero Latency on a global level and we have hosted them in the past, but hopefully, it will be a reality soon enough.


With VR technology moving away from cables how do you plan to move with it?

Zero Latency was launched in 2012 and all the equipment has been wireless from the first day. While there is a backpack used right now, Zero Latency Global has launched Gen 3, which will just include a headset and controller. India should be getting the tech soon enough once the company returns to business as usual, which took a big hit during the pandemic.


What are your future plans when it comes to expanding?

This business is entirely self-made and funded by me, so when we are ready to take the next step, we plan to expand to Delhi, Chennai and Banglore, in addition to our pre-existing branches in Mumbai and Hyderabad. We are a franchise so we must meet the exact requirements and specifications set by Zero Latency globally. It is a long and tedious process, but we have successfully managed it in the past and will continue to do so in the future.

Our Experience

Apart from being a phenomenal outlet for all our internal aggression here at the Stuff HQ, Zero Latency provided a unique experience. It was incredibly immersive and physically demanding (or hey, maybe we are just unfit from sitting behind our desks all day!). The PvP and PvE both provided violence in a good dose and offered plenty of zombies to kill everywhere you looked. We’d be lying if we said we were any good, but with the guidance of the lads down at Zero Latency, we survived more than a few rounds of all the games we tried. The VR headsets fit snugly and the guns were surprisingly lightweight. 

The space itself felt endless once you were under the spell of the simulated world and the high-quality audio allowed for all the yelling to be crystal clear. All games allowed for team chatter which means if you’re a party of four or more, there’s a sense of coordination and teamwork that can be achieved while feeding bullets to zombies. The backpacks held the computer and weren’t too heavy, but definitely added a bit to our weight training for the week. It did get slightly warm as the laptop heated up but let’s put that down to all our aggression coming out. We were running from spawn points to the mission area in PvE games, meanwhile, some of our in-house gaming experts were crouching to trick the other party into losing sight of the head (virtual ones of course). This really works up your body and mind in ways you never thought would be possible. Sweat? Be prepared for that! All in all, a very entertaining and immersive experience. Definitely worth a night out with your gaming friends or anyone really! Be warned, it is to your body exactly what a gym is to an athlete, so come prepared.