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Fast Company Names Excurio’s Large-Scale Free-Roam VR System LBXR Pulse a Next Big Thing in Tech

Visitors in VR headsets on an LBXR Pulse large-scale free-roam VR floor, with callouts to four Excurio experiences running in parallel. Image: Excurio / LBXR Pulse

Fast Company named LBXR Pulse, Excurio’s large-scale free-roam VR system, a 2026 Next Big Things in Tech honoree, in its AR, VR, XR and Metaverse category.

Excurio is the French producer behind Horizon of Khufu and Tonight with the Impressionists: Paris 1874. Those expeditions run on LBXR Pulse, which Excurio rates at more than 130 visitors at a time.

How LBXR Pulse fits 130 visitors onto one free-roam VR floor

LBXR Pulse runs several experiences in parallel in the same physical space. Those visitors are spread across different titles rather than moving through one together. Excurio compares the arrangement to a cinema multiplex (Ed: if everyone were sitting in the same seats but watching different movies)

Excurio said that capacity is ten times a traditional VR system’s and a world record for free-roam VR.

Excurio said the platform fits irregular and historic venues, including domes and museums, without extensive on-site testing. In September the company opened The Secret of the Pyramid Builders in Tokyo, built on the ScanPyramids survey data.

Where the large-scale VR platform runs today

Excurio puts LBXR Pulse in 40 venues across 17 countries, with more than 5 million visitors hosted. The company is aiming for 50 venues across five continents by early 2027.

Earlier in 2026 the company opened LBXR Pulse to outside creators, studios and IP holders. PHI Studio and Felix & Paul Studios were among the first to use it, with Space Explorers: The ISS Experience. Fever’s Machu Picchu: Journey to the Lost City and Starstruck, made with the Smithsonian, run on it as well.

The Republic of Pirates, the platform’s next Excurio title, launches in November 2026. More of the company’s Immersive Expeditions will follow from 2027.

Fabien Barati on the honour

“Being recognized by Fast Company is an incredible honor and an important validation of what we set out to achieve with LBXR Pulse,” said Fabien Barati, chief executive and co-founder of Excurio. Barati started the company with Emmanuel Guerriero in 2005.

Barati said the platform “removes many of the barriers that have historically limited location-based VR and gives operators and creators the tools to bring ambitious immersive experiences to more people, in more places around the world.”

What this means for operators and investors

Operators sizing a large-scale free-roam VR floor have a supplier figure to test against their own throughput: more than 130 visitors at once, split across titles running in parallel, in 40 venues across 17 countries. Investors tracking the format have Excurio’s target to measure: 50 venues across five continents by early 2027.

FAQ

What is large-scale free-roam VR? Free-roam VR lets visitors walk through a tracked physical space in a headset rather than standing in one spot. Large-scale free-roam VR runs the format across a whole venue.

How many people does Excurio’s large-scale free-roam VR system hold at once? More than 130, by Excurio’s count. The figure is concurrent, and the platform runs several experiences in parallel in the same space.

Which experiences run on LBXR Pulse? Excurio’s own expeditions, including Horizon of Khufu, Tonight with the Impressionists: Paris 1874 and The Secret of the Pyramid Builders. Outside titles on it include Space Explorers: The ISS Experience, from PHI Studio and Felix & Paul Studios, and Fever’s Machu Picchu: Journey to the Lost City and Starstruck.

How many venues use LBXR Pulse? 40 venues across 17 countries, Excurio said, with a target of 50 across five continents by early 2027.

What is Fast Company’s Next Big Things in Tech list? An annual Fast Company award for technologies and the companies behind them. LBXR Pulse is a 2026 honoree in the AR, VR, XR and Metaverse category, alongside Dassault Systèmes and Veyond Metaverse.

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