Huckletree West – Augmented & Virtual Reality Confabulation

September 5, 2018

New Speakers, New Panellists, New Games – Last Chance To Get Tickets For The Post Gamescom XR Review!

We are but a day away from our Post Gamescom XR Review, which is taking place in London this Thursday at The Realities Centre’s venue at Huckletree West. The review is, among all things, a chance for people to get together, try some virtual reality (VR) and discuss with those working with VR what they are doing and VR’s videogaming path coming out of Gamescom and all that happened there.

You can sign up here incidentally and get a ticket.

Huckletree West (1)[2] Of course you’re like as not aware of things already mentioned on the site which will be in attendence, but as with all events some things change so we have some changes to the card (as it were) to inform you of. The bad news is that Firesprite and their VR videogame The Persistence will no longer be able to attend which is a great shame. Don’t worry though as we’ve some new items to announce as well!

First up is confirmation of one of our talks for the event. Dave Raynard, the CEO of Dream Reality Interactive (DRI) will be talking to attendees about the life of a young development studio in The Terrible Twos: The DRI Story So Far.

“Dream Reality Interactive is two years old. DRI have had the opportunity to work on some amazing projects – and still be in business! In this talk, Dave will speak about their journey and reflect on what went well and where they could have improved.”

DRI will also be at the event showing of their VR title Arca’s Path VR of course, and Dave Raynard will also be contributing to the panel at the end of the evening.
Arca's Path keyArt

Also taking part in the panel will be Sam Watts of Brighton-based developer make[REAL], a familiar face to the VR talk circuit and to VRFocus readers with his recent developer diaries about the studio’s project Pastimes for Pirates. Watts will also be showing off the studio’s hit party game title Loco Dojo at the event. Attendees will be able to adventure into a whimsical world overseen by the mysterious Grand Sensei. Can you stand up to his ‘Table of Trials’?

LocoDojo Screenshot 3_RockyDesert One more member of the Post Gamescom panel has also been announced: Kish Hirani. The CTO of Terra Virtua, Hirani has undertaken roles at Acclaim, BBC Multimedia, THQ, Microsoft and at Sony as their Head of Developer Services, running the PlayStation developer technology services division. Hirani is also a former Chair of BAME in Games and a Board member of Women in Games, so will no doubt have much to say on VR’s direction as we begin to look past 2018 and into 2019.

Our final announcement for now is that we will also be joined on the day by Tara Reddy and Sam Weekes, the co-Founders of LoveShark. Who will be showing off their forthcoming augmented reality (AR) drawing-based videogame LaserDRAW. Look out for them on the day.

LaserDraw - Screenshot We’re still awaiting the confirmation of more developers and speakers so look out for more news. But before that act fast if you want to check out everything at the event tomorrow!

November 13, 2017

What are Investors Looking for in Virtual Reality?

The biggest problem facing start-up companies working in virtual reality (VR) is finding the money to fund their projects. VR is expensive and to get an experience made requires high-end PC’s or laptops, expensive head-mounted displays to test prototypes on, developers that comprehend videogame engines such as Unreal or Unity and with no real proper distribution model for 360 films that can be monetized, the waves are rather rocky and VR is a risky investment. VRFocus speaks to Thomas Gere, there CEO of the Realities Centre in London about investment for VR projects.

Those who are on the ‘in’ within the VR London scene are aware of the Realities Centre, an incubator space for augmented reality (AR) and VR. The Realities Centre has two different spaces dedicated to new immersive technologies. The first centre is located near Moorgate and focuses on training as well as remote collaboration for corporate whilst the second centre is based in Huckletree West in White City, which helps content creators in the creative industries. Since it’s existence last year, the Realities Centre has hosted 18 events. Each event focuses on a particular aspect such as retail or artificial intelligence (A.I.) and links a hackathon as well in order to feel what developers and investors are interested in. This puts Thomas Gere in a position where he can see what investors are looking for and where technology is lacking.

Gere explains that in the last two years he grew frustrated with so many events around VR being so broad, with no real focus to expanding or building upon the existing VR hardware and software. With the Realities Centre he has built a community of over 150 developers, the involvement of 25 corporate companies and over 30 mentors. It doesn’t stop there. The Realities Centre also have an acceleration programme called the Vision Programme. This has been specifically created to improve VR and AR experiences by bringing together innovators that work in the medical or Fintech industries together with start-up companies to share their knowledge on machine learning, computer vision and A.I. to help incubate ideas and potentially spin off new technologies. The programme is starting later this year and in quarter 1. Besides the hackathons and events, the Realities Centre also have academy courses which help introduce the concept of AR and VR to coporates or anybody interested really into making VR or AR applications. They are also starting Microsoft hololens courses, to future proof developers and corporates for mixed reality (MR).

What are investors looking for?

When it comes to B2B investors are looking for any type of technology that is involved in training and education. This is cross media and can range from areas such as medical to engineering.

For longer term projects, investors are looking for applications in retail and mixed reality. In other words the future of user experiences, lighter head-mounted displays, hardware technology or cloud computing.

With regards to content, investors are looking at seriable content that can bring in brand loyalty or returning customers. This can be five to ten episodes that have interactivity inside of them and can bring people wanting to come back for more.

Where can UK companies find funding for their projects?

At the moment it is easiest to get money from the US when you are based in the UK. Most early stage investment come from companies such as BoostVC or the VR Fund. It’s taking a little longer to gain traction here in the UK, because going through the traditional routes of finding investment in Tech or Media do not comprehend the technology as it is disruptive or think it’s still too risky. Gere admits this is slowly changing and is happy to see that Digital Catapult and the Arts Council have started to acknowledge the new forms of content with the Creative XR Programme that offers £20,000 to fund a prototype in immersive technology. At the moment this is a small step into the right direction, Gere explains that in Europe and specifically France finding public funding is a lot easier to find due to its structure.

How much can I ask for funding for a VR project?

Besides the £20,000 offered in the Creative XR Programme mentioned above, it’s good to start with £100k – £200k in the UK. This is through traditional early stage VC’s. Gere says that angel groups are not interested in AR and VR, but their funds might be interested. If a project is over £300k it will require going across the Atlantic and bringing in several investors.

The Realities Centre have been working together with various investors in the US, sharing pitchdesks and aiding companies that want incubation with the Realities Centre. Gere says that he has also been working to get Chinese investment. The first centre is located in a Cocoon building – owned by the Chinese, and China has a long history of investing in media companies.

Find out more in the video below where Gere discusses the future for investment next year and how SteamVR is the key to making your VR experience cross-platform.

September 14, 2017

Realities Centre Open new VR Centre in Huckletree West, White City

For those based in London looking for virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR) or mixed reality (MR) experiences, workshops, events or co-working space may have come across the Realities Centre, one of the leading innovation spaces for immersive technologies. Most of their events have been held in the Cocoon network in East London (4 Christopher Street, EC2A 2BS), but since the 7th of September the Realities Centre is also coming to West London in Huckletree West.

The new partnership between Huckletree West and the Realities Centre was celebrated by hosting the event ‘Augmented & Virtual Reality in the Media & Creative Industries’ at Huckletree West (191 Wood Ln, W12 7FP). It offered members of the public a chance to see the new coworking spaces in Huckletree West and try out some Google Tilt Brush in the HTC Vive.

Ultrahaptics also showcased Virtual Reality Magic. Virtual Reality Magic is a VR game that was shown on the HTC Vive which combined Ultrahaptic’s haptic’s technology with the game so players could use their hands to shoot fire or electricity from their hands after learning the spells from your master’s spell book. Watch the trailer below to get an idea of what Ultrahaptics were showing at the Event.

The evening had a number of talks from industry specialists. Thomas Gere, CEO & Founder of the Realities Centre and Gabriela Hersham, CEO of Huckletree announced their partnership and introduced the speakers. The event kicked off with Matthew Drinkwater, Head of Fashion Innovation Agency at London College of Fashion (UAL) discussing how 3D and immersive experiences will disrupt the fashion industry. The even had speakers from Ravensbourne, BBC, Raindance Film Festival and Ultrahaptics discussing how companies were adapting to new technologies and how VR and AR would distrupt various creative sectors. The evening concluded with a panel discussion with Kevin Joyce, Editor of VRFocus hosting panel with the speakers and Dave Haynes from Seedcamp and WaveVR discussing the future of immersive technologies.

To find out more watch the video below.

August 11, 2017

Realities Centre and Huckletree West Announce Co-Working Space Partnership for VR and AR

London, UK-based Realities Centre has built itself up since its launch late last year as one of the leading innovation spaces for virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR) and mixed reality (MR) technologies. Now the centre has announced a new partnership with Huckletree, a coworking space for tech businesses, to provide services relevant to immersive tech at the company’s new digital lifestyle workspace, Huckletree West.

The partnership, commencing 7th September 2017, will begin with an opening event that evening, from 6:30pm – 9:00pm, at Huckletree West, 191 Wood Ln, White City, London W12 7FP. Huckletree West and Realities Centre invites those working in media and creative industries to attend or showcase at an evening of workshops and networking, featuring the debut of the new VR studio. The evening event will also allow the two companies an opportunity to showcase their upcoming programme of activities.

Huckletree West (1)[2]

Thomas Gere, CEO of Realities Centre, said in statement: “We are very excited to work with Huckletree West to focus on supporting individuals and companies who innovate using Augmented and Virtual Reality in the creative and media industry. The UK is a world class creative centre and we are fully committed to help talented people engage and harness immersive technologies.”

Gabriela Hersham, co-founder of Huckletree, said: “We’re delighted to be partnering with Realities Centre to showcase the latest innovations in VR and AR at Huckletree West. Realities Centre’s expertise will be essential in helping our members grow their businesses and expand their knowledge.”

For further info head to the Huckletree website. As ever, keep reading VRFocus for the latest VR news from around the world.