Atari co-founder starts virtual reality company

Atari co-founder Nolan Bushnell co-founded the VR company Modal VR with two others. The aim of the company is to set up a VR platform for the business market using hardware and software. Bushnell makes the comparison with Star Trek’s holodeck.

Modal VR develops mobile hardware, among other things, so that multiple users can be in a room in the same virtual environment. The company also focuses on technology for tracking the movements of those users in space, for which they have to wear special suits.

The company does not provide much information about the underlying system. The central component is the VR Fabricator, which supports the processing of the tracking and voice commands of up to ten users simultaneously. Modal VR wants to keep the development of this in its own hands, but will supply licenses to manufacturers who want to produce accessories. The software platform also develops Modal VR itself, but content for the platform can be developed with Unity 3D and the Unreal Engine.

Modal VR is thinking, among other things, of applications for arcade halls, where the holodeck-like experience could be combined with laser gaming. In addition, the spaces could be used for training for emergency services and the army. The company is also considering use for educational purposes, museums and esports.

For now, there is only a prototype of the platform. Nolan Bushnell is best known as the co-founder of Atari in the 1970s. He starts Modal VR with inventor Jason Crawford, who becomes CEO of the company.