Zero Latency VR is celebrating a double milestone this Halloween season: the three-year anniversary of its free-roam zombie survival hit Outbreak and the one-year mark of its spine-chilling haunted house experience, Haunted.
To mark the occasion, the global free-roam virtual reality network brought in an outside expert: Dr. Coltan Scrivner, a research scientist at Arizona State University who specializes in why humans intentionally seek out terrifying experiences for fun.
In three years, Outbreak has thrown wave after wave of the undead at guests across Zero Latency’s venues worldwide. In the year since, Haunted has barely let anyone make it through the lobby without a scream. Between the two, Halloween has become the company’s busiest and loudest season, leading Zero Latency to ask Scrivner a simple question: why do we pay money to be scared on purpose?
Scrivner, author of “Morbidly Curious: A Scientist Explains Why We Can’t Look Away,” studies what he calls “recreational fear,” the psychological sweet spot where dread meets enjoyment that draws people to haunted houses, horror films, and survival games. His research has been featured in The New York Times, CNN, The Economist, NPR, and Scientific American.
“Humans are built to play with the things that frighten us,” said Scrivner. “It’s a great way for us to learn how to better regulate our fear and anxiety. One of the best ways to learn how you and your friends react in stressful situations is to simulate a stressful situation, and immersive VR is unmatched in its ability to safely invoke fear while maintaining a playful psychological frame.”
Scrivner noted that free-roam VR takes horror beyond traditional mediums like film or flat-screen gaming.
“The very best scary games blur the line between fiction and reality,” Scrivner said. “Immersive VR pushes that boundary and opens up a whole new way to play with fear. I have never experienced a horror game as immersive as Haunted or Outbreak. Both of them were scarier — and more fun — than I could have imagined.”
For Zero Latency leadership, the science backs what millions of screaming players have experienced firsthand.
“We’ve had over 11 years to perfect the jump scare, and it turns out you can’t fake it. The science backs it up,” said Tim Ruse, CEO of Zero Latency VR. “If you’re not leaving Outbreak with a slightly elevated heart rate, or leaving Haunted a little rattled, we haven’t done our job. It’s nice to finally have someone with a PhD confirm that’s a good thing.”
To mark the season, Zero Latency is offering two Halloween double-features: a bundle pairing Haunted with the post-apocalyptic shooter game show Undead Arena, and an hour-long zombie survival bundle combining Outbreak with Outbreak 2: Mall Mayhem.
For more information or to find a location near you, visit ZeroLatencyVR.com.
