philip lelyveld The world of entertainment technology

The Twitch of virtual reality: VR live streaming startup VREAL comes out of stealth mode

VREAL's technology allows developers to turn their gaming environments into a theater-like virtual social meeting place, letting game streamers interact with viewers who want to participate in the experience.

For example, I tried out a few demos at VREAL last week, one of which was a mini putt-putt game. I strapped on a HTC Vive headset — VREAL’s technology works for any VR device — that was connected to a PC and was transported to the virtual golf world, where I watched another player make his way around the course. Joining me in real-time was another VREAL employee — I could see her virtual avatar, and we could talk to each other. We were able to move freely around the virtual world using the touch controllers, giving one another virtual fist-bumps when the other player sunk his putt.

It’s clear that VREAL wants to make virtual reality a social experience,...

VREAL’s technology lets developers enable these live streaming interactions without requiring many changes to the game itself, Hooper noted. There are no third-party broadcasting applications, as anyone can broadcast their stream directly through VREAL. The platform is not just for those with VR headsets, either, and also allows for 360-degree and 2D video streams — essentially, viewers using any type of screen can watch a VR gaming experience via VREAL.

“People see other people playing the game, and they get to experience it together,” he said. “That generates excitement around the game.

VREAL, which is launching its beta product this summer, employs 12 people and raised a $3.3 million seed round in November from Upfront Ventures, Vulcan Capital, Presence Capital, IT Farm, Dawn Patrol Ventures and Seattle and Bay Area angel investors.

See the full story here: http://www.geekwire.com/2016/virtual-reality-streaming-startup-vreal-comes-stealth/

Dublin City Council launches 3D Virtual Reality Website

An tArdmhéara Críona Ní Dhálaigh will launch The City and the Rising, a technically innovative new interactive website, at the Mansion House, Dawson Street, Dublin 2, on Tuesday, 26th April, 2016 at 12 noon. This unique website takes the user along the streets of Dublin City before, during and after the 1916 Rising.

The City and the Rising will guide the viewer through the city during the Rising while discovering key events as they unfold.  Through the use of innovative technologies the website offers a graphic insight into how the city’s buildings and streets played a pivotal role in the planning, execution and legacy of the event that was to lead to the creation of the Irish Republic.

“The aim of the The City and the Rising website is to offer an online experience that is visually striking, emotionally engaging and highly memorable; one that will thrill, captivate and inspire audiences, young and old alike. The oculus headset really lets you step back in time to the Dublin of 1916. Siúil siar sa stair, ar shráideanna na cathrach mar a bhí siad le linn an Éirí Amach. It’s not just a learning experience its “edutainment”!  said the Lord Mayor.

The website brings you a specially-created interactive map featuring images, text and videos.  The map lets you explore the Dublin of 1916 and inspect sites such as the GPO, Liberty Hall, St. Stephen’s Green, Dublin Castle and many other locations where the events that influenced the course of the Rising took place.

The website can be found at www.dublincityrising.com

See the full story here: http://www.dublincity.ie/dublin-city-council-launches-3d-virtual-reality-website-0

HTC Just Earmarked $100 Million to Invest in VR Content, Applications Open Today

Vive X is an accelerator created by HTC which the company says aims to “help cultivate, and grow the global VR ecosystem by supporting startups and providing them with expertise, special access to advanced VR technology, financial investment, mentorship and unmatched go-to-market support.”

The company has publicly announced a $100 million fund that will be used to make investments in promising VR companies that join the accelerator. This is one of the largest VR-dedicated investment funds to date. It’s 10 times the amount Oculus had set aside to support indie VR developers last year; where that pot was doled out in a way more traditional to the game industry, the Vive X accelerator takes a more startup-focused approach.

HTC is calling the program a “global accelerator,” and says it will begin intial operations in three cities: Beijing, Taipei, and San Francisco, “with a view to rolling out across other global hubs in the near future.”

At this point it’s unclear if HTC will be using the fund to create Vive-exclusive content agreements—similar to what we’ve seen from Oculus—though it does sound like they will only be considering companies who have something to offer to the Vive platform.

“Our goal is to support a healthy and vibrant ecosystem for the VIVE… ultimately helping the teams turn into valuable content producers or content enablers for the VIVE platform.

See the full story here: http://www.roadtovr.com/htc-vive-x-accelerator-100-million-investment-fund-virtual-reality/

The virtual reality successor to Second Life will open to 3D artists this summer

Today, Linden Lab announced that it's taking applications for a preview of Project Sansar, a VR-creation platform that it first announced last year. If you're a 3D artist or modeler, you can put your name down for a "Creator Preview" that will open this summer.

Sansar is supposed to be a place for people to "create, share, and ultimately monetize their own interactive social experiences" — it's previously been compared to "WordPress for VR."

When it's released, Project Sansar will be competing with a number of other social spaces and creation tools. AltSpace has already built a solid user base on the Gear VR, Oculus Rift, and HTC Vive, and Second Life founder Philip Rosedale — who ended his tenure as Linden Lab CEO in 2008 — built his own VR platform called High Fidelity. But while VR has been hyped for years now, it's still far from a mainstream technology, so there's still plenty of room for development.

See the full story here: http://www.theverge.com/2016/4/26/11502888/linden-lab-project-sansar-vr-early-applications-open

Disney Banks on Virtual Reality for Movies With Nokia Deal

Walt Disney Studios signed a multi-year deal with Nokia to provide virtual reality cameras and related software to the studio’s marketers and filmmakers, who will make VR content linked to Disney’s theatrical releases.

Jamie Voris, Walt Disney Studios chief technology officer, said the company’s aim is to “bring extraordinary experiences to audiences around the world, and specially-created VR content is one more way we can transport people even further into the worlds our filmmakers create.”

Nokia will be providing Disney with its OZO cameras. The equipment, launched in November 2015, was one of the first virtual-reality cameras aimed at professional content creators. It has a real-time VR preview, a kind of “spatial audio” that makes sounds directional and more realistic, and compatibility with professional workflows, as well as multiple head mounted displays.

Nokia and Disney already used the OZO to create two 360-degree videos — a red-carpet broadcast and and a cast interview — for the April premiere of “The Jungle Book.”

See the full story here: https://www.thewrap.com/disney-virtual-reality-movies-nokia-ozo-cameras-deal/

Piecing Together Apple’s Real Virtual Reality Plans

First, Apple is staffing up. In November 2014, Apple posted a job listing for app engineers experienced with 3D graphics, virtual reality, and augmented reality. It specifically asked for developers to build “high-performance apps that integrate with Virtual Reality systems for prototyping and user testing.” Then Apple went on a hiring spree – landing Microsoft MSFT -1.07%’s Nick Thompson, an engineer that worked on the HoloLens audio hardware for three years. Apple hired Bennett Wilburn, another Microsoft employee, who focused on “machine learning technology for human activity recognition.” And finally Graham Myhre, who worked at Lytro developing specialized lenses and sensors. So Apple is recruiting VR rockstars.

Then, the shopping spree continued with a checkbook looking for VR companies to acquire.

In 2013, the company bought PrimeSense, the company that developed the original Xbox Kinect, for $345 million. In 2015, The company acquired Metaio, a German company. Metaio was a relatively well-known augmented reality company, powering many popular AR apps – including AR apps for Ikea and Ferrari. Then, Apple acquired Flyby Media, a company with technology that allows smartphones to ‘see’ the world around them.

So you see the pattern – tech, talent, and teams, all being onboarded at Apple.

And, in a rare development, Apple is sending its emissaries off campus. Stanford University’s Virtual Human Interaction Lab is known as the white hot center of VR/AR development. Jeremy Bailenson is the director of the program. Speaking at the event, the Wall Street Journal reported that Bailenson remarked: “Apple hasn’t come to my lab in 13 years – except they’ve come three times in the last three months. They come and they don’t say a word, but there’s a data point for you.”

See the full story here: http://www.forbes.com/sites/stevenrosenbaum/2016/04/25/apples-secret-weapon-vr/#12a58112a8fc

How Traditional Storytelling Is Ruining Virtual Reality Film

The cinematic VR showcased at the recent Tribeca Film Festival ran the gamut from live-action documentary to animated science fiction. Very few of these experiences were any good. But the real crowd-pleasers, animated fiction like Allumette and Invasion, racked up waitlists as long as eight hours.

Looking at the difference between the good and bad VR, I started to glean some insight into the nascent artform. No one has even come close to mastering the medium, but it’s clear that holding on to the traditional rules of storytelling is a surefire way to make disappointing VR.

See the full story here: http://motherboard.vice.com/en_uk/read/tribeca-film-festival-2016-virtual-reality-film

Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality M&A Private Equity Investment, and Patent Filing Analysis

See the full story, with a link to buy the report, here: http://news.sys-con.com/node/3782743

Extensive research (which includes both primary and secondary) has been carried out to determine and verify the global market deals for several segments of the augmented reality and virtual reality market. Break-up of profile of primary participants is given below as:

- By Company Type: Tier 1 - 45%, Tier 2-33% and Tier 3-22%
- By Designation: C-level - 42%, Director-level– 33%, Others-25%
- By Region: Americas-39%, Europe-25%, Asia-Pacific - 29%, RoW-7%

A number of research institutes are carrying out research in the augmented reality and virtual reality applications market for various products and applications. Some research institutes are being funded by the companies and some are being funded by the government which would be a valuable opportunity for the AR and VR tech industry players to tap the market.

Following companies are profiled in the report that includes merger and acquisition deals section:
1. Facebook Incorporation (U.S.)
2. Apple Inc. (U.S.)
3. Microsoft Corporation (U.S.)
4. Intel Corporation (U.S.)
5. Blippar Inc. (U.S.)
6. Qualcomm Inc. (U.S.)
7. Daqri LLC (U.S.)
8. Atheer Inc. (U.S.)
9. PTC (U.S.)
10. Cyberglove Systems Inc. (U.S.)

Following companies that were involved in the investments have been profiled on the basis of the investment amount that was funded in the company:
1. MAGIC LEAP INC. (U.S.)
2. Jaunt Inc. (U.S.)
3. Avegant Corporation (U.S.)
4. Matterport Inc. (U.S.)
5. Playful Corporation (U.S.)
6. Mindmaze SA (U.S.)
7. NextVR Inc. (U.S.)
8. SKULLY Inc. (U.S.)
9. Meta Co. (U.S.)
10. WEVR Inc. (U.S.)
11. Legend3D Inc. (U.S.)

VRStudios raises another $3M for enterprise virtual reality platform, plans to expand overseas

The startup originally launched five years ago as a virtual reality gaming company called VRcade. In July 2014, that LLC was restructured as VRstudios Inc. with a revamped business model that expanded beyond gaming and into additional commercial enterprise simulation opportunities.

Late last year, it began shipping and installing systems in places like the U.S., China, and France to customers who are using the technology to solve business needs, whether it’s a pre-construction walk-through for architects or a gaming environment at a family fun center.

The company is one of many new up-and-coming virtual reality startups in Seattle. Others include Envelop VR, Pluto VR, Pixvana, VREAL, Convrge and Endeavor One.

See the full story here: http://www.geekwire.com/2016/vrstudios-raises-another-3m-enterprise-virtual-reality-platform-plans-expand-overseas/

EON Reality And The Governor Of The State Of Mexico Announce New Virtual Reality Center Focused On Education, Health, And Safety

EON Reality Inc., the world leader in Virtual Reality based knowledge transfer for industry, education, and edutainment, announced an investment into the State of Mexico, together with a local partner, for an Interactive Digital Center (IDC) to produce Virtual and Augmented Reality content and train future AR and VR professionals. The IDC aims to empower the local population in the State of Mexico through improved knowledge transfer, create high quality jobs, and build a bridge to employment for students in the local EON Entrepreneur School.

“We are excited to bring our technology and VR knowledge to the State of Mexico,” said Dan Lejerskar, Chairman of EON Reality. “We believe that knowledge is a Human Right and over our seventeen years of business we have worked to bring knowledge via VR and AR to people around the world. This is a great platform to help bring applications like EON Experience AVR to Spanish speaking communities in North and Central America.”

EON Reality Mexico is scheduled to open around the middle of September and is currently taking applications for its EON Entrepreneur School.

See the full story here: http://www.eonreality.com/press-releases/eon-reality-governor-state-mexico-announce-new-virtual-reality-center-focused-education-health-safety/