The Virtual Reality Company, lead by two-time Academy Award-winning director Robert Stromberg and entertainment industry executive Guy Primus, have announced $23M in venture funding to build original virtual reality content and position the firm as “premiere VR storyteller and industry leader.”
VRC are looking to position themselves at the forefront of virtual reality experience production. One of the company’s first endeavours, The Martian VR Experience, managed to break beyond the usual tepid expectations of lazy movie tie-ins, offering a worthy companion to the original film whilst managing to push some VR experiential boundaries at the same time.
Today, VRC have announced a new $23M investment, from Hengxin Mobile Business Co, a Beijing-based mobile services and technology provider, which they say represents a strategic partnership for “securing for VRC a platform for the distribution of its content in the greater China region.”
I went hands-on with The Martian VR Experience at a special event at CES in Las Vegas in January and was impressed. In my write up of the experience, produced in partnership with Fox Innovation Lab, re-creating the movie’s look and feel in the virtual plane, and have clearly had a lot of fun doing so. Motion control implementation was intuitive and rewarding whilst also adding to immersion and both Oculus Touch and SteamVR controller implementation seemed to work equally well.”
“The limitless potential of the technology has enabled us to unlock characters, dreamscapes and adventures that for decades have been captive thoughts of my imagination. We cannot wait to share these experiences with the world,” explained Stromberg, Co-founder and CCO at VRC.
“VR is no longer just a dream of visionaries,” stated Stromberg, “Leaders across a number of industries, who months ago dismissed VR as a passing fad, are racing to participate in this rapidly evolving landscape. The assurance of VR’s longevity has never been more evident than it is today.”
The Virtual Reality Company has begun carving a niche for themselves, producing high quality, high production value VR experiences. If they can maintain that momentum with this injection of funds, we’re looking forward to seeing what they come up with next.