VR group lands $1.7m WA Police deal

Law enforcement training has entered a new era, with police turning to virtual reality technologies including replica weapons that can sense movement.

xReality Group has landed the first virtual reality law enforcement training deal in the country, with a $1.7m contract for its VR de-escalation training technology. Picture: Supplied

Training for Australian authorities has entered a new era, now being rolled out via virtual reality providers with replica weapons that vibrate and can sense movement.

ASX-listed virtual reality developer xReality Group (ASX: XRG) has become the first Australian company to land a major contract with a government agency, striking a $1.7m deal with West Australian Police.

The deal is the result of a West Australian government tender put out in March this year which the group won and announced on Monday.

A gamer at Freak VR in Bondi Junction, Sydney.

xReality Group, which operates FREAK virtual reality gaming studios in several shopping centres, iFLY indoor skydiving and corporate events group Red Cartel, is increasingly moving into the law enforcement space. The company will, later this year, present its military training, already seen and under consideration by the ADF, to international militaries at ITSEC 2022 in Orlando, Florida.

The group’s Operator LE software includes virtual reality goggles and a replica of WA Police’s service glock, OC spray and taser, said executive director Kim Hopwood.

“We knew that the people using this technology were not going to be IT people so we made it really simple to use,” he said.

“The whole system packs up into a briefcase, everything runs on just a single handset, there’s no external computer required, and it’s extremely portable.”

xReality Group’s Operator LE kit.

The technology, which will be used to develop and train the state’s 7300 sworn officers who make up 11 per cent of Australia’s total police force, will be sent to the West Australian Police Academy in Joondalup, about 30km north of the Perth CBD, in early 2023.

Mr Hopwood said the current system offered several training programs including a neighbourhood disturbance, an active armed defender, a vehicle stop and a domestic dispute.

It also includes an incident where an assailant is trying to provoke fatal force from police and officers must do all in their power to avoid using such action, Mr Hopwood said.

“The benefit of virtual reality is that it allows you to train scenarios that are quite hard to replicate in real life,” he said.

“(Virtual reality allows officers to train in) dangerous scenarios, scenarios that might involve a crowd of people which could be logistically challenging to organise and to be in a training context that is actually too difficult or dangerous to replicate in real life.”

Western Australia Police Force training development manager Sergeant Mark Crossley said the new system would allow officers to train for difficult situations more frequently.

“We believe the Operator LE Virtual Reality system will complement the Western Australia Police Force existing training programs through its ability to recreate dangerous and logistically challenging scenarios, while also increasing training frequency,” he said.

“The WA Police Force was extremely impressed with Operator’s portability, realistic weapons, and scenarios tailored for Australian policing environments. We are looking forward to implementing the system into our training regime.”

Freak VR in Bondi Junction, Sydney.

XRG chief executive Wayne Jones added he believed his the VR training was of global standard.

“The Operator military and law enforcement products are the best in the world, and we are looking forward to getting it in the hands of those on the front line,” he said.