We Build Custom VR Experiences That Open in a Browser

A client asked me a while back whether we could put their own branding inside a VR experience. Not one of the games we load onto the headsets, something of theirs. At the time, the honest answer was no, or at least not for a budget that made any sense for them.

That has changed. We're now building custom VR experiences using WebXR, and the short version is that it runs in a browser and is much more affordable than it was a year ago, thanks to developments in the technology.

What WebXR actually means

Normally VR means an app. Someone builds it, it goes through a store, you download it onto a headset, and it only runs on that headset.

WebXR skips all of that. The experience lives at a web address. You open the link, and you're in it.

On a Meta Quest, that's the headset's own browser. On a laptop or a phone, the same link gives you a version you can look around with a mouse, or by moving the phone. One link, no install, nothing to approve, nothing to keep updated.

Why that matters if you're a business

The hard part of VR has never been the headset. It's getting the thing in front of people.

If you want twenty staff to run through a VR induction, or a hundred people at an expo stand to see your product, an app download is a wall. Someone has to make an account, find the app, wait for it to install, then hand the headset to the next person and hope it still works.

Now you can email it, put it behind a QR code on a stand, drop it into a listing, or send it to a client three hours away who has no headset at all.

It starts in your lobby

Before anyone plays anything, they arrive somewhere. We build that somewhere.

We call it the startup room — a branded lobby that belongs to you. Your logo. Your colours. A theatre-scale screen looping your showreel, your product video or your brand film. Your photography on the walls. Lighting and ambient audio set so the space feels designed rather than assembled.

It's the VR equivalent of a well-built stand, except the visitor is standing inside it at a scale no pull-up banner can reach. Add a polished animated logo reveal on entry and the first five seconds do more brand work than a brochure ever will.

From the lobby, they choose where to go. A competition. A product walkthrough. A training scenario. A 360° tour of your factory or site. One headset, one link, several experiences behind a door you designed.

What we can build with it

• Branded product VR showrooms — something people can walk around rather than scroll past
• VR property and space walkthroughs, which sit alongside the 360 virtual tours we already do
• Training and induction scenarios, where people practise something before doing it for real
• Expo and event stands that give people something to do instead of another pull-up banner
• Education and demonstration pieces. Showing how something works when the real thing is too big, too far away or too expensive to bring into a room

The pieces that go inside

Whatever the experience is, it's assembled from the same kit of parts:

• A branded welcome environment with your messaging and clear instructions
• An animated logo reveal built from your high-resolution artwork
• Ambient lighting, audio cues and smooth fading transitions between scenes
• Visible timers, progress indicators and responsive feedback
• Scoring, completion times and a leaderboard operated locally at your stand
• Immersive 360° environments, sourced and licensed for you
• Progressive reveals, multiple-choice questions and guided answer selection
• Integration of your own approved images, video and copy

A recent brief

Here's the shape of a real one. A professional services business came to us wanting an exhibition activation for a national industry conference — something that would stop people walking past, create friendly competition, and say something about their expertise rather than just their logo.

We designed two challenges, selectable from a single branded lobby.

The first was a fast location game built to showcase how widely they operate. Participants land in a series of immersive 360° environments and work out where in the world they are from the architecture, the street signs, the businesses, the landscape. Difficulty ramps up across the set, with a running timer and time penalties for wrong answers.

The second tied directly to their own field. Participants are shown a professional image from their line of work that starts heavily obscured and progressively resolves, and they try to identify what they're looking at before it becomes obvious. The earlier you call it, the better you score.

Both ended on a shared leaderboard, which is what turns a stand demo into a reason for people to come back and beat a colleague.

That's the pattern for most of this work: take something true about the business and make it playable.

The part that makes us a bit different

Plenty of people can build a WebXR experience. Not many of them can also courier you three, five or ten headsets on Tuesday.

We've been hiring VR gear across New Zealand since 2021, so we've already sorted the equipment, the delivery and the return freight. If you need the experience built and the hardware physically in the room on the day, that's one conversation instead of three.

It also means we configure and test the finished experience on the actual headsets before they're dispatched. What arrives at your venue is a device that already works.

What it isn't

WebXR won't match a big native VR title for graphics, but if you're using the Quest range, the results can be surprisingly good and much more affordable. However, if you need super photoreal visuals and high frame rates in a headset, a browser is the wrong tool.

It also isn't a five-minute job. A simple branded room is quicker than a full training module, but it's still development work with a scope, a timeline and a cost.

And it's newer than native VR, so behaviour varies a bit between browsers and devices. We test for that, but it's fair to know going in.

How we quote it

Every project is priced individually, because the cost is driven by what you actually want:

• How many separate experiences sit behind the lobby
• How much is custom-built versus assembled from existing components
• Whether 360° environments need sourcing and licensing
• How much content you supply versus how much we produce
• Whether you need equipment, freight and staff training as well as the build

If it's for a fixed event date, talk to us early — development, preview, revisions and testing all need to happen before the headsets ship.

Frequently asked questions

What is WebXR?

WebXR is a web standard that lets virtual and augmented reality run inside a web browser. Instead of installing an app, you open a link and the experience loads in the headset's browser. The same link also works on a phone or computer in a non-immersive view.

How is a WebXR experience different from a VR app?

A VR app has to be packaged, distributed and installed on each headset, and updating it means updating every device. A WebXR experience is hosted online — there's nothing to install, and an update is live the next time the link is opened.

What is a startup room?

It's the branded lobby a participant arrives in before they do anything else. It carries your logo, colours, lighting, photography and a large screen for looping video, and it's where they choose which experience to enter. It's the first impression your brand makes inside the headset.

Do participants need to install anything?

No. That's the point of WebXR. The headset opens a link and the experience runs in the browser — no accounts, no downloads, no app store.

Do we need our own headsets?

No. We can supply Meta Quest headsets already configured and tested with your experience, along with protective covers, cleaning products, freight both ways and staff training. If you already own headsets, we can configure those instead.

Do we need Wi-Fi at the venue?

Yes — a reliable Wi-Fi connection or a mobile hotspot is required. We optimise and preload key assets so the experience runs smoothly, but the initial load needs a connection. It's worth confirming venue Wi-Fi early.

Can people watch on a screen?

Yes, the headset view can be cast to a monitor so onlookers can follow along. For competitions we recommend using this selectively, so people waiting can't see the answers.

How much does custom VR development cost?

It's quoted per project. The main drivers are how many experiences sit behind the lobby, how much is custom-built versus assembled, whether 360° environments need sourcing and licensing, how much content you supply, and whether you need equipment, freight and training as well as the build.

Where do you work?

Development is delivered remotely, so we can build for clients anywhere. Headsets are couriered anywhere in New Zealand, and on-site support is available for events by arrangement.

Want to talk about it?

If you've got something in mind — a product you want people to walk around, a space you want to show without a site visit, a scenario you want staff to practise, a stand that actually stops people — tell me what you're picturing.

The easiest is the contact page, or email info@virtualrealityhire.co.nz.

Happy to tell you if it's a good fit, and just as happy to tell you if it isn't.