I stumbled on this news piece, which, to be honest, caught my eye for reasons I can’t fully explain. xReality Group—an Aussie tech company doing some futuristic stuff—just landed a whopper of a deal. So, picture this: one of their branches, Operator XR, signs up with the Texas Department of Public Safety. Yep, Texas, where everything’s big, including a contract worth up to $5.71 million AUD, or if you’re like me and think in USD, that’s around $3.7 million. Imagine rolling out VR police training across Texas. Wild, right?
Their OP-2 system, which sounds like something out of a movie, is all about real, immersive training. Think scenario-based exercises aimed at improving decisions during those split-second moments cops face. You know, tactical stuff, de-escalating tense scenes, and figuring out how to work together without missing a beat. Texas DPS—which, by the way, is a massive law enforcement body—is pumped to use this system to sharpen their officers’ skills.
Wayne Jones—I guess he’s the head honcho at xReality—called this deal a “strategic milestone.” High praise, huh? Texas DPS is a big name, so having them on board is apparently a huge win for further American adventures. Jones seems pretty confident this will spur them on to more big things and help prove their platform is ready for wide-scale use.
Kicking off in Q2 2026, the first chunk of the deal worth AUD $4.3 million lands them all the gadgets and gizmos—hardware, software, the whole shebang. Plus, there’s a couple of years of tech support. There’s even an option to keep support going for three more years, hitting that potential $5.71 million mark.
Ah, and it seems Australia’s backing their own—with a recent $2.1 million AUD grant from their government. They’re throwing cash at Operator XR to beef up stuff like real-time feedback and automating scenarios, with a glance towards global certifications. All while pushing the envelope on their AI roadmap over two years. Feels like there’s much more to this story, but for now, I’m left pondering VR police officers. Go figure.
