Makers of The Metaverse: Tim Ruse of Zero Latency On The Future Of The VR, AR & Mixed Reality Industries

An Interview With Fotis Georgiadis

Open Mindedness: You have to be open to things you disagree with or think may not work. When we first started messing around with ramps in VR, I thought it wasn’t going to work. But it turned out to be a key mechanic in our games that truly blew people away. As the CEO, you have enormous power to shut things down, but you need to wield that power very carefully. You have to be humble and accept that you are not always right,

The Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality & Mixed Reality Industries are so exciting. What is coming around the corner? How will these improve our lives? What are the concerns we should keep an eye out for? Aside from entertainment, how can VR or AR help work or other parts of life? To address this, we had the pleasure of interviewing Tim Ruse.

Tim Ruse is the CEO and co-founder of Zero Latency, one of the global leaders in immersive entertainment working at the cutting edge of VR and location-based experiences. Under Ruse’s leadership, the company has experienced massive growth, now offering award-winning, mind-blowing adventures in over 26 countries for up to eight customers at a time. Zero Latency has also partnered with the biggest names in the technology and gaming industry, including HTC, Ubisoft, Microsoft and HP.

Before creating Zero Latency with his partners Scott Vandonkelaar and Kyel Smith, Ruse worked as a project manager and business analyst at Roadhouse Digital, where he was responsible for leading web and mobile development projects for companies in the health care, entertainment and government sectors. He has also held many positions in the legal field, including research and development officer at the Department of Justice and business analyst at Victoria Legal Aid.

Ruse earned a bachelor of business degree in Business Informations Systems from RMIT University. He is currently based in Melbourne, Australia.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would like to get to know you a bit. Can you tell us a bit about your backstory and how you grew up?

I grew up in the most isolated capital city in the world, so there really wasn’t much to do growing up. I have always loved creating–be it art, music or products. I wasn’t a sporty or academic kid, so I spent a lot of my childhood roaming the street in imaginary worlds, playing video games and dreaming of inventions.

I was really into doing installation art projects and playing in bands in my 20’s, and I actually think that those experiences–working together with people to create something special, collaboration and compromise, finding an audience, promotion and monetization–were key skills for the pre-funding years of ZL. All those skills are pivotal to building an early stage business.

Is there a particular book, film, or podcast that made a significant impact on you? Can you share a story or explain why it resonated with you so much?

Neuromancer by William Gibson was a pivotal book for me. His vision of an always on, connected society where data is the most valuable resource and people’s digital lives were as real as their meatspace lives was so compelling. It seemed plausible, but at the same time, so futuristic. As the years went by, and more and more of what he described started to manifest itself IRL, you could see what an amazing visionary he was (and still is). I always wanted to be a part of making the good things in his books a reality. The fact that he wrote it on a typewriter in the early 80’s when people were still debating if the personal computer would be a “thing” made it all the more mind-blowing to me.

Is there a particular story that inspired you to pursue a career in the X Reality industry?

I have always wanted to build a business. When Scott, Kyel and I started Zero Latency, we were actually contemplating starting a drone company; we even had the business plan and funding requirements drawn up. But we were just too pumped about the potential of free-roam VR and thought “well, if it all doesn’t take off, at least we will get to play some awesome games.” I think that passion for the product was really key to the success of ZL. We wanted to manifest the dream into reality to play what we built, as much as we wanted to build a business out of it.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began this career?

There are so many stories. Cruising around San Francisco with one of the guys that started EA games (and helped build some of my favorite childhood PC games) was a highlight.

The day we demoed our system to Michael Dell was definitely a highlight. We were working with Alienware, and he posted a story about it on Facebook. So I DM’d him, not thinking he would reply, but he did, almost immediately! So we set up a demo for him at a TV station in Austin, Texas, and he came and played, which was cool. As any self-respecting founder would do, I pitched him the business. He got back to me with a no, because it wasn’t one of his strategic priorities, though he liked the product. He was also really responsive and considerate, as at the end of the day Zero Latency was a solid six-figure customer for Dell. I thought, here’s a guy that runs one of the biggest tech companies on the planet, and he still has the humbleness to take the time for a little guy like me and to take us seriously. But he is laser focused on the big picture, and won’t get distracted by shiny stuff like VR companies. What I learned from that was focus and customer service.

Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

Our early prototype used magnetometers, which are easily messed with by strong magnetic fields. Our first ever proper public demo was in a venue that sat over a massive railway station. We didn’t realise that until we set up that it was basically a giant electro-magnet. Needless to say, the demo as planned was a write off. So, we pivoted. We rebuild the game from 5x5m to 1mx1m, so it would work in the only space the interference was not as present and Scott re-coded the system to account for the interference. We pulled an all-nighter and got it done.
The public absolutely loved it! I learned that there is almost always a path out of any problem but if you give up, then you are done. Iterate or die was our mantra from then on!

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?

I started thinking about VR years before Zero Latency came to life, but it wasn’t until I met Scott Vandonkeelar and Kyel Smith that it became a reality. Scott and I worked together, and one day over a Subway he said “I’ve had this idea” and he went on to explain the broad strokes of what is now Zero Latency. I was hooked immediately, the vision was so clear, I could taste it.

We started working on our first prototype in Scott’s garage and within 12 months we had our public demo unit up and running. It’s unbelievable to think this all started 10 years ago with a crowdfunding campaign, and we’re now in 56 cities around the world.

Are you working on any exciting new projects now? How do you think that will help people?

We have a huge announcement coming up with a leader in tech innovation. While we can’t share too much about it yet, it will help people connect with others and experience mind-bending worlds in impressive new ways. Our aim has always been to transport people to places that they can only dream of, and do this in the most seamless way possible. Our next release is a quantum leap on this path.

Let’s now shift to the main focus of our interview. The VR, AR and MR industries seem so exciting right now. What are the 3 things in particular that most excite you about the industry? Can you explain or give an example?

The rise of immersive technology: Immersive entertainment is a relatively new trend, but already a huge industry. Audiences continue to value experiences more than anything else, and what’s more immersive than VR? The ability to transport guests to extraordinary worlds is valued now more than ever.

Return to in-person experiences: After a long period of restrictions and social distancing, people are craving human interaction more than ever before. Collaborative group experiences such as Zero Latency allow guests to fulfill that need for human connection and shared excitement. In recent months, we’ve seen more groups visiting Zero Latency to play and engage with each other.

The metaverse: Everyone is talking about Web 3, which reminds me of the early stages of VR technology. While it’s still a work in progress, it is a fascinating concept. The metaverse will be shaped by the technology we use to access it, which could, of course, include virtual reality. I can’t wait to see where it goes from here.

What are the 3 things that concern you about the VR, AR and MR industries? Can you explain? What can be done to address those concerns?

Safety is something that we really need to pay close attention to, especially when it comes to emerging technologies such as the metaverse. In virtual reality worlds, we can guarantee the content and experiences you’ll come across, but it’s different in interconnected spaces. There are measures being taken already to prevent safety threats, of course, and I think we can learn a lot from virtual reality experiences and how the industry has approached these issues.

I think the entertainment aspects of VR, AR and MR are apparent. Can you share with our readers how these industries can help us at work?

A lot of businesses come to Zero Latency for team building and retention events. Sharing experiences in mind-blowing worlds like these is really impactful; people love it! On the productivity side, VR, AR, and MR are changing industries around the world: creativity, commerce, communication. The applications are endless and we’re barely scratching the surface on what’s possible.

Are there other ways that VR, AR and MR can improve our lives? Can you explain?

We’ve noticed many of our customers are using Zero Latency as a workout session, even replacing their gym membership with VR. It’s easy to get fully immersed in these worlds and, without even realizing, they’re running, moving, dodging, carrying weight and burning some calories while having a great time. Not to mention it’s an activity they can enjoy with friends–a much needed way to connect with others after being home for a while.

What are the “myths” that you would like to dispel about working in your industry? Can you explain what you mean?

The biggest myth is that you need to be tech-savvy, or even a gamer, to enjoy VR. We offer a fun experience that anyone can enjoy. Our team takes care of the tech part so everyone can just come in and enjoy an effortless experience.

What are your “5 Things You Need To Create A Highly Successful Career In The VR, AR or MR Industries?” (Please share a story or example for each.)

Customer first: You aren’t building things for you; you are building something for an audience. Understand who that is and how best to service their wants, needs and desires. At the beginning of Zero Latency, we had all these really complex and realistic game-play ideas, but we rapidly realized that people want to have an adventure and feel like an action hero. They don’t want some complex reload mechanic that makes them feel like a noob, even if it’s more realistic. They want to roll in and be the hero.

Tenacity: Building the future is hard and you need to show up everyday with a positive mindset and a belief that it’s possible. There are 1000 reasons why you can’t do a thing, you need to find the way that you can do it. And sometimes that path can be super narrow and hard to see.

Open Mindedness: You have to be open to things you disagree with or think may not work. When we first started messing around with ramps in VR, I thought it wasn’t going to work. But it turned out to be a key mechanic in our games that truly blew people away. As the CEO, you have enormous power to shut things down, but you need to wield that power very carefully. You have to be humble and accept that you are not always right,

Creativity: You need to have a mindset of looking at what the platform is natively and how best to use it. You aren’t building a PC game or a mobile game. You have to look at things differently: Iteration, testing, experimentation and learning are so critical. I always think of “pinch to zoom” as an example of this. It is so obvious now, but for a while tablets had little + and — buttons on them, because people were treating it as a PC. You have to look at it with fresh eyes and see the possibilities that the new medium offers, not how you shoehorn old ideas into the new medium. I think a lot of early VR experiences didn’t have that mindset and they suffered for it, versus something like Beat Saber which is a classic example of thinking from first principles about what the medium is actually good for and what new mechanics it allows.

Reductionist thinking: So many people try and add and add and keep adding to make things better, but then you can end up with complex, bloated and unintuitive products. You have to have the discipline to start at the beginning, “why are we doing this? Is this the best way to do this, knowing what we know now or with the technology we now have?” This can be tough, as it can mean throwing away work or slaughtering sacred cows. But the practise is vital. Something you need to deconstruct to rebuild.

If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be?

Kindness and dialogue. I feel that at the moment, more than ever, we have lots of people yelling at each other from different sides of things. We need to be able to meet in the middle, break bread and hear other people’s points of view. When we are at our best as a species is when we are collaborating with each other and build empathy. Even if you don’t agree with the other person’s point of view,–especially when you don’t agree with the other person’s point of view.

Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would like to have a private breakfast or lunch, and why?

I would say William Gibson. I love his ability to take what’s happening now and take it to its logical extension into the future. The guy is a true prophet for our times.

Thank you so much for these excellent stories and insights. We wish you continued success on your great work!