Viveport Unveils New Public Beta Of Viveport Arcade Manager Software

We’ve covered with increasing frequency on VRFocus the rise of the virtual reality (VR) Arcade. The digital out-of-home entertainment (DOE) sector as a whole being a topic that contributor Kevin Williams discusses regularly in his feature series The Virtual Arena. In the last few months alone we’ve had two individual reports on VR arcade/portal locations within London and a multi-part analysis of how the ‘virtual theme park’ came to be.If you’re looking to set up and/or start an arcade however, how exactly do you go about organising what is available on what will amount to be a number of computer systems and VR head-mounted displays (HMDs)? Viveport has some new software that could help matters in the form of the public Beta of the Viveport Arcade Manager. Integrating the Viveport store with a local library of titles arcade managers are able organise what titles are available on a by machine/room basis. Adding or removing titles as needed and presenting the end user with a simplified menu.

Viveport Arcade was first launched back in December 2016 and was listed among a number of services getting upgrades based on user feedback to benefit operators, customers and developers earlier this month. With all developers to receive revenue share for applications on (up from 50-70%) during the Christmas period.

“Viveport Arcade is a simple, intuitive content management system that allows operators to flexibly control their Vive VR stations.” Explains Viveport on their website. “Also included, a self-guided experience allows customers to select their own content through the headset, eliminating your need for additional staff. It’s a comprehensive, effortless way to manage every detail of your investment.”

A trailer has been released showing the software in action which you can see below and you can find out more information on the Viveport website. As always VRFocus will bring you more details on the updates and changes going on with the Viveport service. For all the latest relating to the HTC Vive check out the link to it and other HMDs at the top of VRFocus.com.

April 28, 2017

The Virtual Arena: The Growing VR Out-of-Home Entertainment Dimension – Part 2

In the second part of his three-part feature, Kevin Williams continues his coverage of the development in the VR industries involvement in the Digital Out-of-Home Entertainment (DOE) sector. In this report looking at the American, Japanese and Dubai amusement trades interest in the technology. (You can find Part 1 here.)

Amusement & Attraction Embraces VR

Moving to the Western territories, and the American amusement trade had a major exhibition in Dallas during March; the Amusement Expo saw the usual gathering of traditional amusement pieces, but also new virtual reality (VR) investment. Previously mentioned Universal Sales (UNIS) also made the trip to the American event to show their OMNI Arena VR platform.

This was also held in partnership with the Laser Tag Convention, and one of the new VR systems being presented offers an approach likened to “VR Lasertag”, Zero Latency. The world’s first free-roaming, warehouse-scale, multiple player VR game arenas, (using VR back-packs to create the Arena-Scale experience). Currently successfully in operation on four continents, while seeking to announce its first signing in the UAE. And one of the first commercial versions of the Arena-Scale experience from the company was in Japan, installed in the SEGA JOYPOLIS facility.

Beyond the US shores, the Japanese amusement sector has started to invest in VR initiatives placing investment towards VR as a major component in future expansion. During February’s major Japanese amusement trade event, major corporation BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment revealed that following a VR experimental location, the company would be opening a new and larger version of their VR ZONE in Tokyo. The facility will again be a temportay operation (opening in April and closing in October 2017), the facility designed to house VR attractions specially created by BANDAI NAMCO building on their amusement development skills marrying the latest VR technology.

Other Japanese arcade operators such as TAITO and Capcom revealed that they would be installing the VR Game Stage, powered by HTC hardware. HTC supporting the use of consumer content able to be legally used in commercial entertainment venues through the Viveport Arcade commercial subscription platform for China, and currently on test in Europe and the USA. A similar solution is planned from Valve for SteamVR – while Oculus VR stays opposed to any commercial usage (not prepared at this point to pivot).

But the big development, missed by many in the media was the announcement and reveal of Koei Tecmo, launching their ‘VR Sense’, an experience capsule using a Sony PSVR headset and Move controller (powered by an internal Playstation 4 Pro system). This system was the advance guard on the major announcement that Sony Interactive Entertainment would be creating a specific division to roll out their PSVR platform into the location-based (out-of-home entertainment) sector in several territories. The ultimate example of the pivoting of the consumer approach to VR into the commercial entertainment arena.

Dubai Amusement and Leisure Industry VR Aspirations

Another territory that is embracing the opportunity of deploying DOE VR platforms is the United Arab Emirates (UAE) market, a sector that has seen an incredible investment in theme parks and leisure entertainment venues for their diverse audience. Taking place at the Dubai Entertainment, Amusement and Leisure (DEAL) expo recently, prominent amusement and attraction distributor in the UAE market, gathered the latest new developments to their booth. Veteran distributor and developer ASI showed the Holocube – the multiple enclosure VR game system using the HTC Vive and offering a unique gun interface experience (winner of the Silver Virtual Reality Game BOSA award 2017), and categorized as a “VR Enclosures” approach.

Also on the ASI booth was the WePlayVR system from developers AiSolve, running the VR Backpack experience called ‘The Mayan Adventure’. Also shown was the Yotto Group “VR Game Platform” EXOPLANE an immersive paraglider experience. At the Dubai exhibition, another major distributor in the territory supporting family entertainment center businesses is Warehouse of Games (WOG), the company had on their booth the local developer NUAT’s ‘The VR Cube’ another “VR Enclosures” approach. DEAL exhibitor FUNCO – Fun Entertainment Company, a prominent developer of turn-key solutions for operators wanting to open entertainment centers, partnered with Chinese VR Park developer LEKE VR, showing their full selection of “VR Game Platform” units that were seen foot-foot from the Chinese trade show premier.

Away from the major distributors, several standalone exhibitors showed VR aspirations. These included a “VR Ride Attraction” from Turkish developer AMEGA Entertainment – Cinecoaster 360 VR. This multi-directional motion XD cinema system using mobileVR headsets. Or exhibitor DOF Robotics who showed their HURRICANE 360 VR – a extreme motion platform system using mobileVR systems to represent the virtual experience, (the system a Bronze Virtual Reality Game BOSA award 2017).

Reflecting the interest in the territory to embrace VR in all its facets in the DOE sector, the local developer ImSim, demonstrated a 3DOF racing cockpit with force feedback and a power VR component. Many companies in the West have invested in motor sports network simulator (“Race Room”) ventures – and VR technology seen as a possible replacement to conventional flat screen visualization. American manufacturer CXC Simulations, is another name in this scene, having recently installed a “Race Room” at the Andretti Indoor Karking location in Marrietta. The venue running their latest CXC Motion Pro II VR system, the only VR simulator of its kind in commercial operation in the United States

Returning to the investment made in the UAE market, facilities such as the brand-new Hub Zero have added a major VR element to their interactive entertainment. The wireless multiplayer VR attraction was developed for the facility by VRStudio developer of the VRcade platform (winner of the Gold Virtual Reality Game BOSA award 2017). A leading global VR technology company, located in 11 countries, delivering the first truly wireless, full-range-of-motion, multi-participant, immersive experiences for commercial enterprises.

VRStudio has taken their wireless head-mounted experience into the realms of “VR Dark Ride”. Signing major theme park partnerships with Universal Orlando and most recently with Knott’s Berry Farm and parent company, Cedar Fair – towards opening in South California a specialized VR experience at the park.

The concluding feature covering recent developments in the UK, America and the interest from the Gaming industry on VR based Out-of-Home entertainment, follows shortly.

January 6, 2017

HTC to Offer Monthly Subscription Service for VR Content

Starting in Spring 2017, you’ll be able to pay a flat monthly fee for VR games using the Viveport digital distribution platform. HTC calls itself the first ever global app store to announce a subscription service for VR content.

Announced at VRLA last summer, Viveport is somewhat of a parallel marketplace to Steam, featuring all-VR content across several genres, including information, edutainment, social media, 360˚ video, news, sports, health, travel and shopping. Some content is exclusively published on Viveport, such as the recently released The Physiology of the Eye (2016), an interactive training VR application.

Using the new subscription service, HTC says you’ll be able to download select titles from a curated pool of VR apps of their choosing, a nice idea if you’re new to VR and don’t know where to start once you’ve ripped through all the free and bundled content with your headset.

HTC hasn’t mentioned exactly what their “low monthly fee” will be, or when the service will drop, but we’ll be interested to see what the pool of apps looks like before we throw our money down.

“We’re happy to let VR fans know that the same way they discover and consume content through popular subscription services for music, films, TV and games is coming to virtual reality,” said Rikard Steiber, President of Viveport. “For developers, this is yet another opportunity for them to reach broader audiences – we want to give VR developers as many ways as possible to monetize and feature their content, and this is yet another channel for them to reach new customers on Viveport.”

HTC offers Viveport in two other flavors; a dedicated enterprise app store destined to be filled with VR tools for professionals in areas such as medicine, architecture, design, 3D modeling and workforce training; and Viveport Arcade platform, a digital storefront designed for arcades, cinemas, amusement parks and other location-based entertainment centers wanting to introduce their customers to VR.

HTC currently has more than 1,000 locations where Viveport Arcade is installed, and is expected to grow to more than 5,000 locations globally by the end of this year.

Early signups for Viveport’s subscription service free trails are currently available through the Viveport website.

The post HTC to Offer Monthly Subscription Service for VR Content appeared first on Road to VR.

December 19, 2016

HTC Vive Officially Launches Viveport Arcade Debuting Content on Leke VR’s VRLe Platform

It can be hard to keep up with all of HTC’s virtual reality (VR) initiatives, from Viveport and Viveport M, to Vive X, Vive Studios and the Global Virtual Reality Association. There’s also Viveport Arcade a content management and distribution platform giving VR developers an end-to-end solution for monetizing their content at physical locations. Today HTC Vive has announced the official launch of Viveport Arcade, with the first batch of exclusive Viveport Arcade content available on Leke VR’s VRLe platform.

Through this partnership, Vive and Leke VR will jointly promote the development of the VR offline experience store market, making the content available in all of Leke VR’s offline experience stores through the VRLe platform, while Vive will be in charge of operations management and market support for the content in order to ensure an optimized VR experience for consumers. The partnership also stipulates that different feature content will be recommended to offline users each season.

HTC Vive mixed image

“This strategic partnership between Vive and Leke VR is a clear win-win for the both parties, while also helping to accelerate advancement of the VR industry as a whole in China,” said Alvin W. Graylin, China Regional President of Vive, HTC. “Leke VR has extensive offline channels, while we bring a broad range of high-quality content through Viveport Arcade that has been optimized for out-of-home entertainment. By combining resources, consumers, VR developers and VR arcade operators will all benefit.”

Viveport Arcade is an all-in-one solution that calculates billing by duration of play, ensures accurate revenue allocation between operators and developers, and manages VR content and control charges. With VR’s niche user base developers are continuously striving to find new ways to monetize products, and Viveport Arcade aims to create more diverse profit models and wider user channels for developers, in addition to helping them distribute content. Also, Viveport Arcade will feature high-quality content that cannot be found online, in an aid to prevent piracy and infringement.

HTC Vive and Leke VR will first deploy at 1000 select Leke VR experience stores by the end of 2016, with the aim to bring more VR content to thousands more experience stores across China. The platform initially launches in China and Taiwan, before rolling out to thousands of locations by the end of 2017. HTC has yet to confirm where these locations are likely to be, and if they’ll be outside of Asia.

“The arrival of hundreds of premium Viveport Arcade VR content on the VRLe offline content distribution platform provides offline VR consumers with more diversified user experiences and brings the total number of titles available on the VRLe platform to 300,” said Evan He, CEO and founder of Beijing Leke VR Technology Co., Ltd. “The objective of this strategic partnership between Leke VR and Vive is to jointly promote the development of the VR content ecosystem. With this major boost, the VRLe offline content distribution platform will seek to continue enriching user experiences and cooperate with more VR content partners set on revolutionizing the VR experience.”

For all the latest news on HTC Vive, keep reading VRFocus.

November 25, 2016

All ‘VR players need to work together’ for the Industry to Succeed States HTC

Even with virtual reality’s (VR) enormous growth and future potential it’s still a polarising technology, with some highly invested in its success while others still don’t quite understand it. In the early days of VR’s re-emergence companies closely worked together to ensure it became viable, but with the launches of the major headsets this year that’s all begun to split. But HTC doesn’t think this should be the case, saying recently that everyone still needs to work together to ensure the industry’s future.

Talking to GamesIndustry.biz, Rikard Steiber, president of Viveport and SVP of VR at HTC said: “We are in the early days, and all of the VR players need to work together to make sure virtual reality happens. Rather than competing, we should make it easier for developers to create great content and monetise it. We need to help consumers navigate this field that might be initially confusing. But I do think, people with mobile phones are going to upgrade to some sort of virtual reality experience, I think it’s natural if you have a games console that you’ll upgrade to a more immersive experience, if you have a high-end PC then you’ll want to do this.”

HTC Vive mixed image

HTC has been heavily pushing VR worldwide – especially in China – through initiatives such as Viveport and its accompanying Viveport Developer Awards. There’s also the Viveport M mobile platform, Viveport Arcade and the Vive X Accelerator Program to name just a few.

And Steiber sees Viveport as a multiplatform VR store saying: “Our vision for Viveport is for it to be the leading agnostic virtual reality store. We are not just for Vive, we are for all platforms and devices. We launched in China where some of the US companies struggle having a presence. In China we cover all types of content and we have just launched our mobile VR offering, so we also have Android VR and Daydream applications in there. We also launched our Arcade programme [where people can go to a real-world destination to play VR]. We want to help developers get into China, and safely monetise their content across PC VR, home VR, mobile VR and public location-based VR.”

Rivals such as Oculus and Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) are providing their own support for developers, whether it’s financial or technical. But generally this means exclusive deals secured for their own platforms, ensuring they get a return on their investment by attracting more customers to purchase their headsets.

Some developers such as CCP Games are trying to bridge the gap. EVE: Valkyrie for example is one of the few titles (possibly the only one) that supports cross-platform play over all three of the main headsets.

Whilst it would benefit the VR industry and gamers alike if HTC, Oculus, SIE and others worked together for the betterment of VR, the likely hood it’ll happen is probably slim.

VRFocus will continue its VR coverage, reporting on all the latest news from around the world.

November 3, 2016

HTC Values VR Arcade Business At $100 Million As 120+ Titles Sign Up

HTC Values VR Arcade Business At $100 Million As Viveport Grows To 120+ Titles

HTC’s Viveport is quickly growing from a simple storefront into a much wider-reaching platform, with iterations on PC and mobile. But Viveport is also looking to branch off from selling content to consumer devices in a big way with a push towards arcades that HTC says will be worth “$100 million”.

Viveport Arcade is a service that connects developers and their content to arcades around the world. It allows developers to upload their products to a protected portal of experiences, in the process giving HTC the rights to sell and showcase their work in public spaces. At the same time, venue operators can sign up to the initiative, either online or by contacting HTC directly depending on size. They’ll buy a certain number of minutes of playtime for specific games, the cost of which HTC splits 50/50 with developers. Once customers have used up those minutes, operators can buy more.

Today, HTC announced that two popular Vive experiences, Phosphor Games’ The Brookhaven Experiment and Solfar Studios’ Everest VR, had joined the initiative, which has grown to over 120 titles.

HTC claims the initiative will benefit the VR ecosystem in three ways. “From a user point of view, finally we’re democratizing access to high-end VR experiences,” Rikard Steiber, President of Viveport and SVP of Virtual Reality at HTC, told UploadVR. “For a few bucks anyone can have this experience, and that’s been a big problem before.”

For developers, Steiber states that Viveport Arcade is a “safe way” to monetize VR content in arcades, offering DRM protection, securing money collection through its own systems, and providing them with statistics. The middle-man approach also streamlines the process of deploying creator’s content to arcades and helps combat unauthorized commercial use of their experiences.

Operators around the world, meanwhile, get easy access to a wide variety of VR content at a “very, very small cost”, according to Steiber. If a small business, in possession of perhaps 10 Vive headsets, wishes to utilize the platform they can simply do it online through Viveport Arcade and not have to reach out to developers individually. Larger organizations can do the same, though may need to get in direct contact with HTC to do so.

The advantages for these businesses will also grow over time; Steiber says that content may expand beyond Vive in the near future and open to other platforms like the Oculus Rift and mobile devices.

“We think this is a $100 million opportunity at least for the next two years. So it’s money here and now,” Steiber said. HTC expects “thousands” of arcade stations to utilize Viveport Arcade by the end of next year, though right now it’s only operating in pilot centers, like the Viveland arcade in Taipei that we reported on yesterday. The company will gather feedback from these tests, and then there are plans for another arcade center in Europe, though Steiber wouldn’t share exactly where. A US roll out should happen next year.

HTC will also be looking to invest in “made for arcade” VR experiences, be they new projects or adaptations of existing ones that get users into games faster. Speaking to UploadVR, Thor Gunnarsson, Co-Founder and Business Development Director at Solfar Studios said he expects the platform to provide “meaningful sources of revenue” in the years to come, though noted it was too early to ascribe numbers to that right now.

November 3, 2016

The Brookhaven Experiment and Everest VR Coming to Viveport Arcade

When HTC launched Viveport back in August the selection of experiences available was fairly reasonable. After which it introduced Viveport Arcade, a content management and distribution platform giving virtual reality (VR) developers an end-to-end solution for monetizing their content at physical locations such as arcades, internet cafes, theatres and shopping centres. Today the company has announced it’ll be expanding the content line up for Viveport Arcade with the introduction of Phosphor Games’ The Brookhaven Experiment and Sólfar Studios’ Everest VR.

Phosphor Games’ The Brookhaven Experiment, has proven to be a popular title as a fast-paced zombie survival videogame, ideally suited for arcades. Receiving ‘Very Positive’ feedback from the Steam community, the hectic shooter for HTC Vive is a good showcase of the headset.

Everest VR image 1

While Sólfar Studios’ Everest VR guides adventurers through several sequences while ascending Mt. Everest, including notable milestones and interactive events from Base Camp, the Khumbu Icefall, Hillary Step, Camp Four, and the ascent to the summit.

“Viveport Arcade will represent a more than $100 million market opportunity for VR developers in the next two years,” said Rikard Steiber, President of Viveport and SVP of Virtual Reality at HTC. “From the largest amusement centers to arcade installations at family entertainment locations, virtual reality is clearly becoming the next big draw for entertainment. We believe this will be a cornerstone in democratizing access to high-end virtual reality and turning curious consumers into longtime fans.”

“Arcade distribution is going to prove very important for VR and we’re thrilled to be partnered with HTC to lead the charge on Viveport Arcade,” said Justin Corcoran, CEO of Phosphor Games Studio. “As developers, getting our content in the right consumer friendly locations gives us the chance to reach bigger and broader audiences globally, empowering us to continue creating great VR experiences.”

Viveport Arcade is set to launch initially in China and Taiwan before rolling out to thousands of locations by the end of 2017, creating revenue opportunities for VR developers, and greater access to VR for the public.

For all the latest HTC Vive, Viveport and Viveport Arcade news, keep reading VRFocus.

October 17, 2016

Exclusive: HTC Makes Big Play For VR Content Distribution In China

HTC held joint developer forum at Alibaba’s Cloud computing conference this weekend in China and had a number of big things to say about what their plans are to help grow the VR ecosystem, including becoming a “publisher” for VR content to experience centers as well as launching a beta of their Viveport platform for mobile called, Viveport M.

Speaking exclusively with UploadVR, Viveport President and SVP of Virtual Reality Rikard Steiber says Viveport M aims to “help western developers and Asian developers to bring quality mobile VR experiences to the Chinese market.”

Steiber says that HTC’s vision with Viveport M is to be “platform and device agnostic” but that the app will initially work within the Android ecosystem. Viveport M fills a hole in China, where the likes Google’s Play Store (and upcoming Daydream platform) and Samsung’s Gear VR store have struggled due to restrictions from the government on apps and websites from countries outside of China.

A preview of the Viveport M interface in VR

Mobile VR has already been taking off in a major way in China, which ranks as the largest smartphone market in the world. We’ve heard enormous figures suggested in Chinese investment circles for the size of the VR market there, with sources suggesting headset shipments there far exceed the United States. As Steiber tells us, “VR is very big there… it is [HTC’s] priority to help developers tap into that market.”

Somewhat similar to Google, HTC intends to provide consumers and developers with “guidelines” as to what specific smartphone hardware is required for a good VR experiences – though the aim is for it to reach as many phones as possible. HTC declined to comment whether they would be creating their own mobile VR hardware to go alongside the platform.

HTC will look to expand the reach of the platform alongside their “partner,” Alibaba. According to Steiber, HTC is “looking to work with [Alibaba] to get more content” on the Viveport store, as well as on a few other projects he could not provide specifics on at this time. Youku, the Chinese equivalent to YouTube which is owned by Alibaba Group, can be seen as a main option within the Viveport M user interface.

“It is more about tapping into [Alibaba’s] developer community and getting them very engaged in VR,” he says.

This is not the only partnership HTC has struck with Alibaba, whose founder Jack Ma opened the developer conference. Earlier this year we reported that HTC has partnered with Alibaba Cloud to help with streaming VR content. It would appear that this is a further extension of that partnership, allowing HTC to better deliver Mobile VR content through Viveport M. Alibaba themselves are also working on a VR eCommerce platform, dubbed Buy+. They showed off a concept earlier this year and announced this weekend a VR payment system where a user pays by nodding their head.

Currently, HTC plans to launch Viveport M only in the Chinese market and declined to comment on any plans for expansion into international markets.

“Thousands” of VR Arcades by the end of 2017

In addition to Viveport M, HTC also announced that they will allow developers the opportunity to “opt in to have HTC be your publisher in the arcade market” with Viveport Arcades.

“The arcade market is a great monetization opportunity for developers,” Steiber says, “the [arcade] model is showing great promise in terms of penetration.” HTC intends to launch Viveport Arcades in “hundreds of locations” in the asian market by the end of the year with “a couple thousand” to come by the end of 2017. Most of these will be activations within preexisting locations such as arcades, internet cafes, and karaoke bars but HTC is also building a “reference design” store in Taipei.

Developers that opt in to the program will receive marketing and distribution help from HTC in exchange for a “50-50 revenue split” with the company, which Steiber says “is the same as Viveport.” The revenue will be calculated on a per minute of playtime basis. HTC says it is still working on the pricing model and will “suggest” one to partner locations.

HTC is looking to help developers navigate the Chinese market, which Steiber notes is “notoriously difficult to break into,” through this program, but the Viveport Arcade has its eyes set globally. “The pilot programs will exist first in China and Taipei,” Steiber says, “but we are in partnership talks with people in the US and Europe as well.”

According to HTC, over 100 developers from the US and China have signed up for the publishing program already and they aren’t all developing exclusively for HTC’s own VR hardware platform, the HTC Vive. The program initially is beginning with the company’s own hardware but Steiber says, “Viveport wants to be a device agnostic platform.”

Developers can opt in for the program at developer.viveport.com.