KOCHI: Virtual reality is touted as the next level of gaming after PC and console games. A new venture in the world of virtual reality games is iB cricket.And, offering this experience is iB Cricket Arcade at Edappally. The arcade has been set up here after Pune and Chennai and is the first of its kind virtual reality gaming centre in Kerala. 

The team behind the game is a group of graduates from IITs and IIMs who ventured into the world of virtual reality after their stint at MNCs. "Cricket lovers will obviously be attracted to it. What we hope is that gamers will start playing it and slowly turn this into entertainment which will attract all kinds of audience," Hareen Yara, E-VP Business Development, iB Hubs said.

Virtual reality technology is still finding its feet when it comes to gaming and iB cricket is an effort in the right direction according to the developers. "The founder (Vasanth) is an alumnus of IIT Hyderabad and Trivikram, CEO of the company, is an alumnus of IIT Delhi. Notably, Trivikram has previously turned down an offer of more than INR 1 crore by a reputed MNC prior to co-founding ProYuga," Yara said. 

The gameplay of iB cricket is largely focused on batting scenarios and it offers a 360-degree view as a batsman. The VR headset allows gamers to check the field set up by moving around their head to look around the ground. After playing shots, the gamers can see where the ball is going and the point of contact made with the bat. 

It is an engaging experience and the developers say that the level of difficulty increases from a basic level to the international level. The arcade at Kochi offers the seventh version of the game. "We are now using the seventh version of the game and the developers are looking to take it up to 24 versions," Vignesh Shaj, Business Executive of iB Cricket said. 

The arcade is expected to get up and running in the coming days. "The best thing is that anybody can play and there is no age limit. We thought that we will target those aged between 12 to 30 but what we see is that those in their 50s are also playing it," Hareen said.