Tag: virtual reality

The new VR experience is set to debut in Los Angeles later this year.

The theatre company, famed for its massive projection systems and IMAX cameras recently announced that it intends to launch several IMAX virtual reality entertainment locations around the world later this year, starting with its first in Los Angeles, reported the Wall Street Journal.

IMAX has partnered with Google and Starbreeze AB to bring its mainstream VR plans to life.

To launch its virtual reality entertainment in locations like malls and multiplexes across the United States and in other parts of the world like China, the company has formed new partnerships in the tech community and intends to use its connections with movie theatres and movie industry talent.

IMAX has partnered with Google and announced late last week that it has plans to collaborate with Google on a camera that will capture 360 degree images designed to be experienced in virtual reality via VR headsets. It is anticipated that this camera will be ready for commercial use in approximately 18 months.

In addition to Google, IMAX has partnered with Starbreeze AB, a Swedish technology developer, and will use its VR headsets to provide the immersive experience. To start, the IMAX VR experience will involve games, but the company hopes that it will be able to motivate filmmakers to the use the camera it is developing with Google to create other entertainment content, too.

The IMAX virtual reality experience is part of a much bigger strategy to expand the brand beyond movies.

According to Richard Gelfond, IMAX Chief Executive, the company’s move into the VR industry is part of its much larger strategy to evolve the company beyond the movie industry.

Gelfond said that “Virtual reality in the home is going to be a crowded space, but we thought the idea of doing VR in the multiplex of the future was a place where we can provide a superior experience and a social experience, which are the same reasons people go to movies.”

That being said, while IMAX virtual reality could be an actual reality soon don’t expect this VR experience to come cheap. While none of the official details have been hammered out, Gelfond said that he is particularly interested in developing VR content that is linked to film franchises because this would naturally appeal to move goers. The cost: he imagines 10 minute VR experiences costing between $7 and $10.

Game designers in Newfoundland are breaking ground with a new type of virtual reality (VR) game.

Other Ocean Interactive, a game studio based out of St. John’s, Newfoundland is developing a VR video game called Giant Cop: Justice Above All. This interactive game will be one of the world’s first commercial virtual reality games and is a new type of game that promises to change how a player sees the world…mostly because they’re actually a giant police officer in charge of keeping a tiny-sized city safe.

Solve murders and literally throw criminals in jail.

The game, which is slated for a fall release will transform players into a giant police officer when they put on a compatible VR headset. The object of the game is to patrol the tiny streets of Micro City. In the open world game, players control the actions of Giant Cop with their physical movements as they move around the virtual landscape, which requires them to walk around in their own physical environment. The goal of the player is to manage the city as they see fit. They can enforce the law with a soft hand or an iron fist. How the citizens of the city view the player depends on the player’s actions.

According to Other Ocean Interactive’s studio head Ryan Hale, “If you’re not a careful giant cop, you might actually hurt the city that you’re trying to protect.”

Giant Cop was inspired by popular 1970’s and 1980’s cop shows, like Shaft and Starsky and Hutch, and is a satire of these shows as well as humorous take on modern day events like NSA digging through phone data or email.

The game’s producer Stephen Jeffers explained that “Almost like the old TV shows. We drew a lot of inspiration from things like Starsky and Hutch and Streets of San-Francisco.” Jeffers says that despite the unique VR experience, the game is propelled by its storytelling, reported CBC News.

The studio behind the upcoming VR video game wants to keep its operations local.

Other Ocean has been pushed into the spotlight due to the buzz surrounding its upcoming game. However, even though the studio, one of the pioneers in the VR industry, has now evolved from a local level to a global scale, Jeffers said that the company hires locally and wants to keep people in Newfoundland, preventing them from leaving the island for work.

Giant Cop is presently in development for several virtual reality platforms. Among these include the PlayStation VR, Vive and Oculus. Ocean plans to release its VR video game in the fall, just in time for the 2016 holiday season.