NextVR, a company specializing in live VR broadcasting of sports and entertainment content, have finally launched their app for the Vive via Viveport after being available for several years on other platforms. The app is also soon to launch on the Oculus Rift.

NextVR is a leading figure in the world of VR video, offering some of the highest quality and best produced made-for-VR video content you’ll find anywhere. And while the company’s app has been available on mobile VR platforms like Gear VR and Daydream for quite some time, as well as PSVR and Windows VR, the biggest base of PC VR users (Rift and Vive) have been left out in the cold.

That changes today as NextVR has finally brought their app to the Vive via Viveport, offering up the company’s roster of mostly sports and event-based video content to Vive users—like the recently released NBA highlight reel—as well as opportunities to watch future live programming. The Rift isn’t far behind either, the company tells Road to VR, and details on a Steam release are expected soon as well.

Image courtesy NextVR

Earlier this year NextVR also demonstrated upcoming support for 6DOF video and impressive higher resolution content which takes better advantage of higher resolution displays in headsets like the Samsung Odyssey and Vive Pro. The company said at the time that high res content would become available in early 2018, so we’re hoping to see it crop up sooner rather than later. 6DOF content is also expected this year.

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So what’s kept NextVR from Vive and Rift users for so long? CEO David Cole told me that the company made a strategic decision to start with mobile platforms first, to focus their efforts on creating optimized playback even on the least powerful devices. Cole said that, to achieve top quality and smooth playback, the company writes native applications for each platform they build for, rather than building upon engines like Unity or Unreal. Starting with the limitations of the most constrained devices made it easier to eventually bring the app to more powerful headsets, he said, and acknowledged that the company has heard many requests from PC VR users to be able to watch NextVR content.

Given the launch on Viveport, the NextVR app is now available on Vive, Windows VR, Gear VR, Oculus Go, Daydream, and PSVR.

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Ben Lang
Ben is the world's most senior professional analyst solely dedicated to the XR industry, having founded Road to VR in 2011—a year before the Oculus Kickstarter sparked a resurgence that led to the modern XR landscape. He has authored more than 3,000 articles chronicling the evolution of the XR industry over more than a decade. With that unique perspective, Ben has been consistently recognized as one of the most influential voices in XR, giving keynotes and joining panel and podcast discussions at key industry events. He is a self-described "journalist and analyst, not evangelist."