The creation of a public research center dedicated to virtual reality was suggested for the first time by Jacques Tisseau, at the time the director of the Computer Engineering Laboratory (LI2) at Brest National Engineering School (ENIB), during the final semester of 1996.

The project took shape during the preparation of the Contrat de Plan Etat-Région (CPER 2000-2006), a national development project, in October 1998.

It was retained within the framework of the CPER 2000-2006 (research section) in April 2000 and reinforced by a decision from the CIADT (an interdepartmental development committee) in May 2000.

The CERV was financed up to 3.8M€ by the French government (MEN and FNADT), local and regional councils (CR, CG, CUB) and the European Union (FEDER).

The detailed program for the project was finalized in March 2001 and the jury for the architectural and engineering competitions gave its verdict in January 2002.

Calls for tender began in September 2002 and building work began in February 2003.

The researchers from L12 began working at the site in June 2004.