Virtuality Group Plc is hoping the reality of its financial position is only virtual, as it attempts to turn its business through 180 degrees, away from the entertainment business. The Leicester, UK-based company has been a pioneer in the arcade games market, but is now suffering from what it calls the severe downturn in the entertainment business. Virtuality has seen its first half turnover plummet 44% to 3.5m pounds, with losses up to 3.8m pounds from 583,000 pounds last time. The company says much of this was due to production delays in launching new products. Virtuality is now planning to exploit its intellectual property portfolio and license its technology, chairman Denis Ohryn said. He believes the three-dimensional and virtual reality industry is coming of age, with new 3D-enabled personal computers from the likes of Compaq Computer Corp, game systems from Sega Enterprises Ltd, Sony Corp and Nintendo Co Ltd which are virtual reality- capable, and the Internet moving toward three-dimensional visualization or virtual reality.
