The results of the simulator services offered by Talon Simulations LLC can be seen in U.S. Army installations, Dave & Buster’s arcades — and now, the ritzy home down the street.
Altamonte Springs-based Talon offers consulting, installation and support services for virtual-reality motion simulators.
While entertainment centers, like arcades, were its primary customers base before the Covid-19 pandemic, Talon has found success in working with the federal government, as well as high-net-worth gamers who want to upgrade the way they play.
That last customer category may not be who typically is imagined as driving the demand for machines that replicate boats or airplanes. Entertainment and training industries are still Talon’s biggest customers, but individual hobbyist buyers have provided another source of business after on-site entertainment centers were hurt by the pandemic, Talon CEO and co-founder Brandon Naids told Orlando Inno.
Those customers often are caught choosing between systems that cost less than $5,000 or up to $100,000, but Talon falls in the middle by working with systems that cost $20,000-$30,000, Naids said. Typically, customers want high-end flight or racing simulators, he added.
The Covid-19 pandemic and the fact people spent more time at home drew other players into the luxury home simulator market. That included luxury British automaker Aston Martin, which in 2020 released its first home racing simulator. The base cost is equivalent to $62,164.
Talon is emerging from a tough couple of years after the pandemic forced the closure of the firm’s entertainment customers, and business was slow to return to many of them once they did reopen. For example, Dave & Buster’s Entertainment Inc., which hosts 150 simulators supported by Talon, reported a $206 million net loss in the fiscal year that ended Jan. 31, 2021.
However, Talon focused more of its efforts on supporting training simulators used by the U.S. military. The company in 2021 was announced as a subcontractor on a U.S. Air Force immersive training project, and Talon plans to do more training work in the future, Naids said. “The military is starting to invest in these technologies now, so it was good timing.”
Meanwhile, the 7-year-old company has relied on an array of local entrepreneurship programs and tech shows during its existence. They include:
- The National Science Foundation’s I-Corps program at the University of Central Florida
- Accelerator program at Venture Scale Up
- Showcasing at Orlando Science Center’s Otronicon and training trade show I/ITSEC
- Pitch days at 1 Million Cups Orlando
- A variety of UCF business competitions
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