Our Story
The lab had to go outside
Live Aware Labs started as a user research agency for geo-located AR games. Those get played outdoors and on the move, so that is where the studies had to happen.
Nothing existed to run a playtest like that, so we built it. Our early software streamed a participant's screen, their point of view and their voice at the same time, from wherever they happened to be. A virtual lab gave the developers somewhere to watch from and ride along. Around it went the tools to actually run the research, and for a while some custom hardware of our own.
The tools became the point
Developers and other researchers grew more and more interested in what we had built to support the services we were running.
Somewhere in there the tooling stopped being a means to an end. We wanted researchers and developers to have tools built for the way they actually work. And we wanted that at every stage of development: not only once there is a build ready for external players, but back in pre-production when the only people playing are the internal team.
Close partnerships with several studios, and the feedback that came with them, shaped what we built. We launched Live Aware as a product in early 2023.
The tools went to work
In October 2024, we raised $4.8 million in funding led by Transcend, alongside a16z Games Speedrun and Lifelike Capital.
Today, leading studios and research firms rely on Live Aware for UX research, build reviews, daily internal playtesting, QA, and more. We're proud to support incredible teams across the industry, including ArenaNet, GSC Game World, Interpret, Believer Entertainment, and Roboto Games.
As we look ahead, we're continuing to build powerful new capabilities for Live Aware. Assuming we can tear ourselves away from playtesting all the amazing games our partners are creating.
THE TEAM
Nathan Wheeler
CEO
David Berger
CTO
Rosie Frankowski
Director of Business Operations
INVESTORS
Transcend
Lifelike Capital
