Every weekend VRFocus gathers together vacancies from across the virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR) and mixed reality (MR) industry, in locations around the globe to help make finding that ideal job easier. Below is a selection of roles that are currently accepting applications across a number of disciplines, all within departments and companies that focus on immersive entertainment.
Don’t forget, if there wasn’t anything that took your fancy this week there’s always last week’s listings on The VR Job Hubto check as well.
If you are an employer looking for someone to fill an immersive technology related role – regardless of the industry – don’t forget you can send us the lowdown on the position and we’ll be sure to feature it in that following week’s feature. Details should be sent to Peter Graham (pgraham@vrfocus.com).
We’ll see you next week on VRFocus at the usual time of 3PM (UK) for another selection of jobs from around the world.
The virtual reality (VR), location-based entertainment (LBE) industry has really managed to turn itself around during 2021 with plenty of new content and innovative ideas to attract the public. November’s International Association of Amusement Parks 2021 (IAAPA) Expo showcased what the industry has in store, with Immersive Tech launching its highly portable idea for hyper-reality VR, UNCONTAINED.
Deep Signal screenshot. Image credit Immersive Tech
VRFocus first reported on Immersive Tech’s idea at the beginning of the year, to create an all-in-one, immersive VR attraction inside a shipping container. Thus making it portable whilst offering a relatively small footprint attraction that can be easily dropped in a location such as a car park. In fact, for the IAAPA Expo, the company brought one of the containers along and positioned it on the show floor for guests to demo. It sat there for four days running at full capacity.
The 40-foot container is split into two bays each accommodating six players at once. Guests were able to demo Deep Signal, a videogame designed specifically for UNCONTAINED. As a hyper-reality experience, UNCONTAINED utilises an array of technology and effects to immerse players, from HTC Vive Pro 2 headsets with wireless adaptors to a rumbling floor, headphone-free spatial audio; climate effects like heat and wind, full-body tracking via Vive Trackers; physical interactive elements and hand tracking.
There’s a lot packed into these impressive units, thus enabling Immersive Tech to begin taking orders for next year. “Autobahn Indoor Speedway is excited to enter into a Letter of Intent for up to ten UNCONTAINED VR units,” said Bill Harris, Autobahn’s Director of Development in a statement. We love UNCONTAINED’s unique combination of unmatched hyper-immersive player experience and it’s scalability, allowing us to rapidly add units inside or outside our locations with no operational disruption. UNCONTAINED will give our customers the next level cutting edge experience that they have come to expect from Autobahn Indoor Speedway.”
The Autobahn Indoor Speedway executive team with Tim Bieber, CEO and Steven Dooner, Franchise Director
“We had a great response to the concept and are excited about what our future holds. What excites me – having been an operator for over 40 years – about UNCONTAINED is that you don’t have to decide what elements of your existing center has to change out to be able to add VR. This standalone unit shows up on a truck, sets down outside, and I’m up and operating in a hurry. Set up outside in your parking lot, indoors where space permits, or near your front door for high visibility,” Steven Dooner, Director of Franchise Development at Immersive Tech adds.
Due to the success at IAAPA 2021, Immersive Tech is planning on increasing the number of pre-orders it was going to accept.
Immersive Tech wasn’t the only VR company at the expo, VRsenal was there to showcase its next-generation unmanned VR arcade units with the help of some familiar faces. Attendees got to try Blackwall Labs’ Rhythmatic and I-Illusions’ Space Pirate Trainer.
It’s an exciting time for the LBE VR industry, so for continued updates, keep reading VRFocus.
In this second of a two-part feature in his latest Virtual Arena column, industry specialist Kevin Williams marks the six-year anniversary of HTC’s Vive platform in Commercial Entertainment. Concluding this look, we chart the influence of the Vive in the current LBE marketplace and the future developments for the road ahead.
TheHTC Vive headset had become the de facto VR platform for those looking to enter the LBE VR scene. The original designs of the early part of this phase of development leant themselves more towards one-off creations, aping the pop-up design roots of many of the start-up developers. But the amusement and attraction trade would turn their considerable experience towards making systems that would fit the needs of the entertainment facility operators and prove robust to survive in this unique market.
Growing the Market
A very popular deployment of pay-to-play VR has been LAI Games’ Virtual Rabbids: The Big Ride. The concept of riders experiencing a motion-seat VR experience was not new but was based on the marriage of a 4D virtual experience developed in 2015 by videogame publisher Ubisoft, incorporating their lovable Rabbids IP. The combination led to a successful platform, launched in 2017 that has seen over 500 units fielded internationally. The concept has seen many emulators and has proven to be one of the most prolific VR amusement systems in the market, with many more people having their first VR experience on the ride system.
Many amusement manufacturers have looked to deploy VR in a fieldable amusement suitable package, and we have seen shooting, and driving games deployed with VR hardware. On most occasions the headset of choice has been the HTC Vive, gaining a reputation as a reliable go-to platform for this kind of deployment. Companies like IGS having launched a combination of racing game, motion-driver-cockpit and VR effects experience, with the release of OVERTAKE VR. The machine marking a major point in the LBE VR scene, where amusement operators started to see VR experiences as a reliable revenue generator.
One of the leading developers in the VR attraction scene is HOLOGATE – the company is famous for its ‘HOLOGATE Arena’ that has proven to be one of the most successful fielded platforms in the sector, with over 400 units operational internationally. The company launched its first system in 2017 and utilized the HTC Vive – comprising a tethered enclosure for four players. The company has established a large library of content, supporting its platform with an infrastructure to support operators, and ensure player enjoyment. Adding VR escape gaming and competitive titles to the roster. Constantly building to grow their installed base with new releases, such as announcing Slugterra, now on its systems worldwide.
Designing near mini-attraction platforms utilizing VR have driven many operators and developers, also marrying these new systems to well-known IP broadening the appeal. This can be seen by another large installation of VR attractions, developed for the Urban Entertainment facility chain, Dave & Buster’s. Working with VRstudios, along with several manufacturers, they created a multi-player motion simulator system. First released as the Jurassic World VR Expedition, the system used a motion base, HTC Vive and controllers to play in the virtual recreation of the movie. The company would go on to install over 100 simulators across their chain of facilities with other experiences based on movie IP such as Men in Black, Terminator, and Star Trek Discovery.
Venturing into the Jurassic World in VR
The theme park sector has still been infatuated with the opportunity that immersive technology represents, though the limitations of the current VR hardware still present a difficult challenge to overcome. The deployment of more convenient head-mounted displays (HMD) has seen the development of new technology based on the Vive. Critically acclaimed The Twilight Saga: Midnight Ride, developed by Framestore, an attraction launched at Lionsgate Entertainment World in 2019, comprises a unique modular design of the HTC Vive headset for usage on large throughput attractions. The simple head strap and separate display unit ease cleaning and operation. Uniquely configured headsets only for LBE application, illustrating the influence of the sector.
The unique VR tethered attraction experience
When discussing the influence of HTC’s VR efforts in commercial entertainment it is important not to just look at the HTC Vive. The company has also seen its Vive Focus deployed as a VR entertainment system. Companies such as Modal VR installed their PING videogame experience at venues back in 2018. And more recently developer Pillow’s Willow VR Studio and its highly active Exodus Burned has also utilized a Vive Focus headset approach. These standalone VR game platforms utilized the capabilities of the Focus and pointed towards an opportunity for free-roaming VR experiences that used lower performance VR hardware, so cutting the tether or removing the backpack PC. This development opening the door to the next generation of VR entertainment innovation.
HTC Vive Focus plays its part in LBE
Current Generation
Most recently the VR amusement platform has been refined to offer a self-service kiosk approach, with the deployment of tethered automatically retractable headsets. Leading the development of this approach has been VRsenal, who have launched their VR kiosks system, originally with Beat Saber Arcade. Underpinning the influence of strong IP, and VRsenal have worked with ILMxLAB and Nomadicto launch Lightsaber Dojo: A Star Wars VR Experience. Eagerly anticipated, offering the thrills of a fast pace game based on a popular brand.
The creation of more free-roaming VR experiences has captivated the latest investment into immersive entertainment. With the reopening of facilities and new investment has seen advanced developments building on the lessons learned. The opening of the heavily-publicised AREA15 location in Las Vegas has revealed one of their secret projects, with the launch of OZ Immersive – a multiple player platform developed by BackLight studios. The system based on the experience that the company has gathered in developing other Arena Scale attractions (such as ToyLand) and their line-up of VR escape games. The release of this first system is part of a rollout across other venues.
Virtual escape gaming shaping the future
While not everyone in the entertainment scene has the available space to install a hyper-reality experience on-site, there is a definite draw to have one of these platforms in the entertainment mix. With that in mind,Immersive Tech has revealed its plans to roll out its ‘UNCONTAINED’ VR platform. Housed in a shipping container, this allows a facility to install a VR experience within a matter of hours. The game platform being launched at the end of the year has already generated much excitement, utilizing a mix of Escape Room entertainment and immersive reality excitement. The company developing containers that house two play space for up to three players each, using wireless HTC Vive Pros.
Building the Next-Generation
Some observers would feel HTC stumble in trying to grow in the casual VR scene with its Cosmos series, launched back in 2019. A platform that was poorly defined, and badly constructed for what the then market expected, the system would even fall flat for consideration for commercial deployment. This impetus would see HTC redouble their investment into the space and focus on the core business elements that established the HTC Vive as such a pivotal system.
In redefining its future direction, HTC would reveal this year at ViveCon a new strategy in the space. Launching the HTC Vive Pro 2 that built on many of the successful elements of the original Vive hardware but offered greatly enhanced visual performance and an ability to include the latest immersive features such as facial tracking, wireless adapters and much more. A recognizable continuation of the Vive Pro series.
At the same time the company announced the launch of Vive Business, a dedicated division focused on the support of Enterprise users, with SDK support and the creation of an Independent Software Vendor (ISV) partnership program. During ViveCon HTC held several panel sessions covering the key areas of commercial support, including a session on LBE and Arts that saw an appearance by HOLOGATE, describing how they see the LBE VR landscape going forward.
One of the ISV partners that did not get coverage in the Western response to ViveCon, was the Chinese LBE VR facility developerImmersive World. With some 14-stores in the territory, the operation offers a free-roaming style entertainment experience and has worked alongside HTC, looking at an ISV to incorporate the new headset technology, and grow their facility business. This is an example of the LBE business that HTC continues to nurture and proves a profitable revenue stream.
In conclusion, HTC has proven itself against many of its naysayers. Where many felt that only consumer VR sales would establish the market, the adoption of supporting the growth of immersive entertainment in the Out-of-Home landscape has grown a vital market share. And introduced much innovation.
We look forward to seeing how the HTC Vive Pro 2 will fit into the updating and reinvestment in the commercial entertainment landscape. But also, we hope that the new Vive Focus 3 will take its place with the other standalone VR headsets looking at this market as a profitable vertical. Out-of-Home entertainment preparing for a new renaissance as the audiences return.
Location-based entertainment (LBE) might not be doing great at the moment due to continual lockdowns but that doesn’t mean to say companies have given up. In fact they’re coming up with new ways to expand the industry. The latest to be announced is UNCONTAINED VR, an innovative idea from Immersive Tech due to launch this year.
Immersive Tech’s UNCONTAINED has been designed to meet demand from its Family Entertainment Centre (FEC) clients for COVID-safe outdoor attractions. A free-roam VR arcade built into a shipping container, the setup accommodates up to six players whilst providing environmental haptic feedback via blasts of heat and cold, motion floors, and physical object interactions.
Occupying a maximum of 5 parking spots and easy to transport, Immersive Tech created UNCONTAINED from the ground-up to be COVID safe. To this end, the outdoor attraction has disinfecting UV lights, minimal touchpoints with antimicrobial surfaces, disposable VR headset masks, high air recirculation, and air scrubbing filtration.
“The new UNCONTAINED VR experience is well-positioned with technology and clients to ‘fill the void’ left by ‘The VOID’ location-based VR attractions following its permanent closure in 2020. It’s unfortunate that ‘The VOID’ was unable to succeed in finding a sustainable business model and continue to innovate for the LBVR industry,” said Immersive Tech CEO Tim Bieber in a statement. UNCONTAINED is the next strategic step to bring free-roam hyper-immersive VR experiences to a wider audience, backed further with a scalable franchise business model.”
Leaps by Bayer. Image credit Immersive Tech
“UNCONTAINED leverages the experience that Immersive Tech has gained over the past four years in creating & launching highly successful interactive escape rooms for Family Entertainment Centers and Fortune 500 global brands for activations at events like X-Games,” adds Jeff Jang, Chief Creative Officer. “We have a major fundamental advantage based on our understanding of shipping containers as highlighted in their recent 3-room escape experience for Leaps by Bayer, a Bayer Pharmaceutical company, in 2020 built in a 40’ container.”
Based in Vancouver, Canada, Immersive Tech is backed by local fund Victory Square Technologies (VST). They plan to launch UNCONTAINED this summer with a public listing planned for Q2 2021.
As Immersive Tech reveal further details regarding the VR content and where the containers are going to appear, VRFocus will let you know.
Microsoft has revealed that its file sharing and digital collaborative work platform, SharePoint, is getting a VR Maker Tool later this year, dubbed SharePoint Spaces.
The tool was originally revealed back during the SharePoint Virtual Summit in 2018 but is nearing release generally across the gamut of widely-used VR headsets including the Oculus Quest and Microsoft’s own HoloLens AR headset. Currently it’s in private preview now but is expanding beyond that soon and is expected to launch in the first half of 2020, as spotted by Virtual Reality Times.
According to Microsoft’s own official description, SharePoint Space allows you to:
“Build immersive experiences with point-and-click simplicity; start with smart templates that have beautiful surroundings, ambient sounds, rich textures, and lighting. Then add content, which can include 2D files and documents or images you may already have in SharePoint. Immerse yourself in mixed reality, focus your attention, engage your senses, and spark your curiosity and imagination. Unlock new scenarios for communication, learning, and collaboration.”
Reportedly it will be seamlessly integrated with SharePoint proper in a very intuitive way. For example, once something is uploaded into a folder it will be immediately viewable in a VR space. SharePoint Spaces will also support immersive content like 360 photos and videos, as well as 3D models and objects. You can connect together pieces of information to make courses and information flows without needing any programming knowledge — it’s all point-and-click based inside SharePoint Spaces itself.
Would your company benefit from having a VR workspace like SharePoint Spaces? Let us know if this is appealing to you down in the comments below!
