IMAX Officially Closes its Pilot VR Programme

In a blow to digital out-of-home entertainment (DOE) for the virtual reality (VR) industry, it has been revealed that IMAX Entertainment will now be closing its VR programme, and with it the rest of its VR centres.

MAX VR Centre Pod Layout

This isn’t too shocking a surprise as the company has been slowly shuttering several of its centres over the last few months. IMAX began its location-based VR adventure in 2016 with the completion of a $50 million USD VR fund with several others investors, aiming to open several centres around the world featuring the latest immersive technology.

This was just a pilot programme and it first started to show signs of trouble with the closure of one of its New York locations in June, followed by its Shanghai, China facility soon after. Then in October the other New York location closed, and last month saw IMAX VR in Manchester, UK, close its doors.

Spotted by Variety, IMAX filed a report with the SEC noting its intention to end the programme: “In connection with the Company’s previously announced strategic review of its virtual reality pilot initiative, the Company has decided to close its remaining VR locations and write-off certain VR content investments.”

Imax VR

“With the launch of the IMAX VR centre pilot program our intention was to test a variety of different concepts and locations to determine which approaches work well. After a trial period with VR centres in multiplexes, we have decided to conclude the IMAX VR centre pilot program and close the remaining three locations in Q1 2019,” an IMAX spokesperson told Variety.

These final locations are in Bangkok, Los Angeles and Toronto. This continues IMAX’s VR woes as the company also halted development of a VR camera in conjunction with Google. Should things get better (or worse), VRFocus will bring you the latest announcements and updates.

IMAX Shutters VR Experience Centre in New York, No New VR Investment in 2019

Last year, IMAX opened a number of VR Experience Centres in major cities across the world with the hopes of bringing movie-going crowds high-quality VR games and brand engagement experiences such as ILMxLab’s Star Wars: Trials on Tatoine. Now, the company has shut down their last remaining New York location, and has said they won’t be investing any more into VR during 2019.

As reported by Variety, IMAX says the closure at AMC Kips Bay in New York comes as the conclusion of a pilot test. An IMAX spokesperson told Variety this:

“With the launch of the IMAX VR pilot program our intention was to test a variety of different concepts and locations to determine which approaches work well. After a trial period with VR centres in multiplexes, we have decided to conclude the AMC Kips Bay 15 IMAX VR pilot run.”

This brings the number of closed IMAX VR Centres to a total of three, two locations in New York and another in Shanghai. Only four centres remain: Toronto, LA, Bangkok and Manchester.

Photo courtesy IMAX

In IMAX’s Q3 earnings call last week, CFO Patrick McClymont said the company is “not looking for new business projects. We’re keenly focused on the core business. And that will be approach for next year as well.”

While the earnings call didn’t reveal specifically how their VR locations have performed over the course of the last two years, its ‘New Business’ sector, which includes its VR investments, posted less than half the sales numbers in 2018 in comparison to 2017. IMAX’s ‘New Business’ sector includes the company’s virtual reality initiatives, content licensing and distribution fees of original content, IMAX Home Entertainment, and other business initiatives that are in the development and/or start-up phase.

The earnings call did however reveal that the company’s cost-savings initiative will result in “continued scale-back” of VR and other ‘New Business’.

IMAX’s heavy-handed pay-to-play strategy may be somewhat to blame here. At between $10 – $12 for only 10 minutes of playtime per game, it’s likely not enticing enough for repeat business, as it’s only short enough for a demo of the content, and much more expensive than an IMAX film. The most extreme example: the centre’s four-player room-scale game Curse of Davy Jones costs a staggering $120 for only 30 minutes of gameplay. A $1.50 online booking fee per experience is only adds insult to injury.

Early this summer, IMAX and Google also put a hold on their joint VR camera project, which came only a few weeks after the company closed its Shanghai and second New York VR location.

Whether the cut-backs mean the remaining four locations are due to close as well, we can’t be sure. As a pilot program, it’s been a relatively small exploration into the location-based VR scene in comparison to its core business, which oversees the operation of more than a thousand IMAX theaters worldwide.

The post IMAX Shutters VR Experience Centre in New York, No New VR Investment in 2019 appeared first on Road to VR.

Nickelodeon’s Social VR Experience SlimeZone Debuts Today at IMAX

This week Nickelodeon revealed it would be updating its mobile videogame Sky Whale with augmented reality (AR) functionality, as well as bringing SlimeZone – its first multiplayer, social VR experience – to select IMAX VR Centres. Today, the SlimeZone roll out has begun, with Nickelodeon confirming it’ll debut exclusively at IMAX VR Centres in Los Angeles, New York City and Toronto.

SlimeZone_GamePlay_1

Created in the Nickelodeon Entertainment Lab, SlimeZone is a multi-player social VR experience that allows kids and families – up to six players at a time – to step inside the Nickelodeon virtual world, play games, watch cartoons and slime friend​s.  After selecting an avatar, users of all ages can slime blast their friends with Nickelodeon’s iconic green slime, play games such as ping pong and basketball, create art projects using glitter streams and colorful paint, and watch fan-favorite Nickelodeon cartoons.

“Our SlimeZone partnership with IMAX lets kids and families interact with Nickelodeon properties and characters by bringing them to life in new and innovative ways,” said Cyma Zarghami, President, Nickelodeon Group in a statement. “This new VR experience will also show the creative community how we are using technology to create unique forms of entertainment for all ages.”

Non-virtual reality players can participate alongside their friends and family as they explore the Nickelodeon world in spectator mode, by flying a virtual drone from a device to slime players.

SlimeZone GamePlay_2

“IMAX VR is designed to be a highly social, group experience – which makes Nickelodeon’s SlimeZone a perfect fit to bring to our centres,” says David Campbell, Executive Vice President of Corporate Development and Theatre Operations, IMAX Corp. “We are excited that IMAX VR players will get exclusive access to this exciting, fun and family-friendly virtual world.”

SlimeZone was built using Epic Games’ Unreal Engine and Nvidia FleX particle system for slime simulation. While  SlimeZone debuts at IMAX VR Centres in Los Angeles, New York City and Toronto today, it’s also scheduled to launch at centers in Shanghai, Bangkok and Manchester (UK) soon. VRFocus will continue its coverage of Nickelodeon and IMAX VR, reporting back with the latest announcements and updates.

IMAX: VR Fulfils the ‘need to wow audiences’

Out-of-home entertainment has suffered a continuing decline for decades, with arcades, cinemas and more becoming less relevant amidst the huge variety of consumption opportunities in the home. However, IMAX Corporation sees virtual reality (VR) as an opportunity to change this, with new entertainment experiences challenging the accepted norm.

Giovanni Dolci, Vice President of Theatre Development, IMAX Corporation, has recently presented his predications for the year ahead. Openly stating that IMAX sees VR as a high-end addition to the company’s business strategy, Dolci believes that the immersive technology employed by the company can offer experiences consumers simply can’t get anywhere else.

“With the ever-changing entertainment landscape, and media being consumed in a multitude of formats, consumers need a reason to leave the comfort of their homes. Now, more than ever, we need to ‘wow’ audiences with immersive experiences and content that captivates them, in a viewing quality far superior to what they can achieve at home,” stated Dolci. “This 24-carat treatment incorporates all aspects of the cinema experience – from the sound quality, visual projection and screen technology, all the way through to the seats you’re sitting in. But it actually begins before you even enter the theatre with filmmakers and content creators pushing the limits of innovation to bring stories to life in incredibly new ways – whether it’s Christopher Nolan strapping cameras to spitfire planes or new virtual reality experiences that allow you to become your favourite character after seeing him or her on screen.”

Justice League VR

IMAX has been utilising VR as a method of extending the cinema experience for some time, most notably with last year’s Justice League VR. This will continue in 2018, but with the addition of new social experiences.

“Over the past few years, virtual reality has moved from an exclusive technology to a mainstream consumer product with very diverse uses. Yet 2017 was the first time that we really started to see the content itself matching the huge potential of this technology breakthrough.

“With developers across the globe focusing on engaging, exciting and meaningful content, we are now beginning to see how VR can make a real impact – especially within the entertainment industry. The next step in the evolution of VR will be making it an inclusive, social experience that you can share with your friends and family, as this is where the demand now lies.”

Exactly what IMAX is planning for 2018 – beyond the addition of new IMAX VR Centers – is not yet known. VRFocus will of course keep you updated with all the latest details from IMAX Corporation and other out-of-home entertainment providers working within VR.

Glo Inc Secures Funding and IMAX Partnership for VR System

Virtual reality (VR) technology company Glo Inc has concluded a round of funding to secure $3 million (USD) in investment from companies and venture capitalists such as Alibaba Entrepreneurs Fun, CRCM Ventures, Presence Capital and Mindworks Ventures as well as securing a new partnership with IMAX corporation.

The new injection of funds will be used by the company to further develop its library of available content, as well as expand its reach into new territories by deploying its VR system, Glostation in new locations by expanding its licensing and franchising, such as the recently completed deal with IMAX.

IMAX have previously offered Glo Inc’s ‘hyper reality escape room’ at once of its facilities, and soon Glo Inc’s VR experience Deadwood Mansion will be offered at some IMAX VR centres. The experience puts a group of players inside a mansion where a doctor is engaged in dangerous and illegal experiments, resulting in twisted zombie-like creatures.

“GloStation is a highly interactive, social and thrilling virtual reality experience – making it a perfect fit for IMAX’s location-based VR centres,” said Rob Lister, Chief Business Development Officer, IMAX Corp. “Customer feedback on the Deadwood Mansion VR experience at our centre in Los Angeles has been fantastic, and we look forward to working with Glo Inc. to bring GloStation to other IMAX VR Centres around the world.”

“We opened our showroom in Hong Kong late June, and for the next 100 days, we were 100% sold out each single day. Weekend tickets are now booking months in advance into 2018. Now, with this new investment, we will be able to scale our proprietary free-roaming VR system GloStation to cities globally. We’re delighted to be working with IMAX to introduce our experience to their world-class VR centres.” said Steve Zhao, CEO of Glo Inc.

“GloStation provides a unique immersive VR experience that combines the latest VR technologies with highly social elements. Steve is a successful serial entrepreneur with roots in Hong Kong, and we believe Glo will be a leader in the next generation of Hong Kong startups.” commented Cindy Chow, Executive Director of Alibaba Hong Kong Entrepreneurs Fund.

Further news on new partnerships in the world of VR and immersive content will be here on VRFocus.

Star Wars Arrives at Manchester’s IMAX VR Centre

In celebration of the launch of Lucasfilm’s Star Wars: The Last Jedi, fans can now join the Force and step into the Star Wars universe with two virtual reality (VR) experiences at the newly launched IMAX VR Centre at the ODEON at intu Trafford Centre. Star Wars: Droid Repair Bay, the official VR experience for Star Wars: The Last Jedi, and Star Wars: Trials on Tatooine are both now available to all who visit the centre.

Star Wars: Droid Repair Bay screenshot

In Star Wars: Droid Repair Bay participants take on an important role as an astromech technician aboard General Leia’s ship to fix BB-8 and his droid friends. In Star Wars: Trials on Tatooine, users can repair the iconic Millennium Falcon and wield a lightsaber to defend R2-D2 from incoming stormtroopers.

Star Wars: Trials on Tatooine was originally revealed at the Game Developers Conference (GDC), San Francisco, last year, and has since been made available for Oculus Rift and HTC Vive. VRFocus got hands-on with the experience at the time of its reveal, stating in a preview of Star Wars: Trials on Tatooine: “As Stormtroopers approach the player is told to keep R2-D2 out of danger. Any Star Wars fan worth their salt immediately translates this as deflect blaster shots using their newly equipped lightsaber.”

Other VR experiences currently available at the first IMAX VR Experience Centre in Europe include Justice League: An IMAX VR Exclusive, where users step into the shoes of the iconic DC Super Heroes including Batman, Wonder Woman, Superman, Flash and Aquaman; Space Flight, where you can experience the exhilarating feel of a space jet take off; Star Trek: Bridge Crew “Rescue at Perseph”, a multiplayer experience that takes place on board the Federation starship where you are responsible for firing phasers, plotting a course and bringing the ship to warp, and Eagle Flight a multiplayer experience offering the freedom of flight along with the thrill of aerial combat.

Justice League VR: The Complete Experience screenshot

The IMAX VR Centre is located in the lobby of the ODEON at intu Trafford Centre, and consists of 10 “pods” to allow multiple players to enjoy interactive VR experiences in an extremely social environment. The content at the IMAX VR Centre will be updated regularly, and VRFocus will keep you updated with all the latest details.

IMAX VR Centre Opens at Regal E-Walk Stadium 13 & RPX in Times Square

Regal Entertainment Group, in partnership with IMAX, has unveiled the new IMAX VR Centre at Regal E-Walk Stadium 13 & RPX in Times Square, New York City. Regal’s new IMAX Centre is one of only six in the world, inviting guests to partake in virtual reality (VR) experiences, including movie entertainment content and videogames.

MAX VR Centre Pod Layout

The IMAX VR experience is now available at E-Walk, with a variety of out-of-home experiences and technologies available including 360-degree sound and sophisticated room tracking. The Centre, which will be located on the fourth floor of the Regal E-Walk Stadium 13 multiplex, employs a new design to allow multiple players to enjoy interactive VR experiences in a social environment. The Centre will consist of two “pods,” which are designed to optimise user mobility and interaction in virtual environments and can be adapted for specific content experiences, both single- and multiplayer, as well as a GloStation, a new escape room VR experience that allows up to four players at a time to compete as a unit with free-roam mobility.

“Regal strives to offer the ultimate in cutting-edge technology, and this VR Centre is unlike anything our guests have experienced,” said Ken Thewes, Chief Marketing Officer at Regal Entertainment Group. “Our partnership with IMAX allows us to offer virtual reality options that are in high demand with today’s movie fans, and create bigger and better opportunities for our guests. The IMAX VR Centre is a huge technological leap, and a fantastic advance for the Regal experience.”

“We look forward to expanding our longstanding partnership with Regal to usher in the next evolution of immersive entertainment – starting with the launch of IMAX VR at one of its most prominent multiplexes,” said Mark Welton, President, IMAX Theatres. “As one of the most heavily trafficked tourist destinations in the world, Times Square is an ideal location to introduce IMAX VR to a wide range of audiences from all over the world.”

The VR Centre will continually feature an array of new interactive content experiences that are each expected to range between eight and 15 minutes in length. Additional IMAX VR Centres are planned for 2018, and VRFocus will keep you updated with all the latest details.

IMAX Opens its First European VR Experience Centre in Manchester

IMAX has launched four pilot IMAX virtual reality (VR) experience centres in Los Angeles, New York City, Toronto and Shanghai. Today the company has announced the latest – and the first in Europe – partnering with ODEON Cinemas Group opening a new centre at the intu Trafford Centre in Manchester, UK.

Providing location-based, state-of-the-art VR experiences, the centre is located in the lobby of the ODEON at intu Trafford Centre, employing a new design – proprietary to IMAX – that consists of ten “pods” to allow multiple players to enjoy highly interactive, moveable VR experiences. The pods, which are designed to optimise user mobility and interaction in virtual environments, can be adapted for specific content experiences – whether single or multi-user – and feature HTC Vive headsets, 360-degree sound and roomscale tracking.

IMAX VR Centre

“Our ODEON at the intu Trafford Centre is already one of the most innovative and popular cinemas in Europe, and now the launch of the IMAX VR Experience will make it one of the most unique cinemas in the world,” said Mark Way, Managing Director ODEON Cinemas Group. Our guests will be awe-struck by the power of the IMAX technology and the quality of the content from the world’s most creative studios and developers. We have a great history of working closely with our partners at IMAX to bring guests the very best entertainment, and this is another massive step forward. We’re delighted that our guests in Manchester will the first in Europe to enjoy it, and look forward to welcoming everyone to an unforgettable experience.”

In terms of content IMAX will provide the Experience Centre with an ongoing array of new, interactive experiences that range between 8 to 15 minutes in length. To begin with, the ODEON at intu Trafford Centre will include IMAX VR exclusive runs of Ubisoft’s Star Trek: Bridge Crew Rescue at Perseph and the newly launched Justice League, an IMAX VR exclusive from Warner Bros. It’ll also feature Survios’ Raw Data and Eagle Flight.

“We are excited to join forces with our longtime partner ODEON to unveil the next evolution of immersive entertainment in Europe – starting with the launch of the IMAX VR Centre in Manchester,” added Giovanni Dolci, Managing Director, Europe & Africa, IMAX Corporation. “IMAX VR brings the best VR technology and content together in a highly social and interactive setting that will let you and your friends become a part of the experience like never before.”

For further info and to buy tickets head to the IMAX VR at ODEON website. For any further updates, keep reading VRFocus.

Cineplax and IMAX VR Centre Now Open

Earlier this year, Cineplex and IMAX announced a partnership to bring a virtual reality (VR) centre to Toronto, Canada. The centre at Scotiabank Theatre has now been unveiled, and will offer location-based VR experiences to visitors.

The Scotiabank Centre will offer a combination of movie-based VR tie-in content and VR videogames in an immersive, multi-dimensional setting. Facilities on offer include a Player’s Lounge where visitors can relax and get to know other players, and ten specially designed VR pods which have been created to allow user mobility and interaction in virtual environments, and which can be modified to suit the needs of specific content, both single and multi-player.

“As one of our country’s leading entertainment destinations, we are always looking for new ways to evolve and offer a variety of innovative experiences to our guests,” said Ellis Jacob, President and CEO, Cineplex. “We are proud to continue our partnership with IMAX for the launch of Canada’s first VR Centre and excited to demonstrate once again that we are more than just movies.”

“We are excited to be launching Canada’s first IMAX VR Centre at such an iconic location as the Scotiabank Theatre Toronto with our longstanding partner, Cineplex,” said Mark Welton, President, IMAX Theatres. “Together, we look forward to ushering in the next evolution of immersive entertainment and bringing the highly social and interactive IMAX VR experience to audiences in Toronto.”

MAX VR Centre Pod Layout

Sessions in the VR Centre are expected to last between seven and fifteen minutes, with content provided by the many partnerships IMAX has fostered with filmmakers and videogame developers. Content already expected to be coming to the IMAX VR Centre includes Star Trek: Bridge Crew, Archangel, and Justice League: An IMAX VR Exclusive.

Tickets for IMAX VR experiences at the Scotiabank Theatre can be purchased on-site. Further information can be found on the Cineplex website.

VRFocus will bring you further information IMAX VR projects as it becomes available.

Star Trek: Bridge Crew “Rescue at Perseph” Now Available at IMAX VR Centre Los Angeles

Ubisoft and Red Storm Entertainment released Star Trek: Bridge Crew earlier this year to universal acclaim. Now the virtual reality (VR) title has made its way to the IMAX VR Experience centre in Los Angeles, California along with a new mission, Rescue at Perseph.

Just like the home version, IMAX VR’s Star Trek: Bridge Crew is a four player experience with each person taking on the roles of Helm, Tactical, Engineering, or Captain.

In Star Trek: Bridge Crew – Rescue at Perseph the official synopsis explains: “Your mission: explore a largely uncharted sector of space known as The Trench, in hopes of locating a suitable new home world for the decimated Vulcan populace. The Trench contains stunning beauty and undiscovered wonders, but also strange anomalies and dangers yet unknown. The Klingon Empire is also active in the region, and their purpose is undoubtedly a threat to the Federation’s plans. It’s up to you and your crew to chart the sector to determine the Klingons’ aims, and to secure a peaceful Federation presence.”

Currently only available to play at the IMAX VR centre in Los Angeles, Star Trek: Bridge Crew – Rescue at Perseph will also come to the centres in New York and Shanghai soon. IMAX also plans on opening further centres in Toronto, UK, and other locations across the globe in the coming months.

The Los Angeles IMAX VR centre also features several other experiences including: Raw Data, John Wick Chronicles, Deadwood Mansion and Eagle Flight.

For the latest updates from IMAX VR, keep reading VRFocus.