iMyth

Tag: Imax

  • State of VR Arcades

    State of VR Arcades

    I just bumped into an interesting article today written by Ian Sherr for CNET talking about his experiences with VR Arcades. VR Arcades are very similar to what iMyth is trying to create. The big difference is that the VR Arcade are positioning for smaller term, fast experiences where as iMyth is striving for longer episodic experiences. VR Arcades such as the IMAX VR Arcade have already made a presence in Los Angeles and are opening another facility in New York in the near future.  Companies such as Dreamscape Interactive will be joining in the competition in the very near future.

    The author goes on to describe his experience with Nomadic VR. I documented  Nomadic a couple of months ago. Nomadic is positioning itself to create Turn-key systems based on theatrical props and sets borrowed from the movie industry. They are looking for industry partners but only if your are big enough to register a blip on their screen :). Sherr believes that location based experiences such as IMAX, Dreamscape and Nomadic will be the big winners with the advent of the VR Arcade. SO far VR has failed to capture the dollars of the mass public. Could VR Arcades be the answer? I believe so!

    There are some cynics to be sure. Sean Kelley, an associate at investment and advisory company The Rain Group, said while his firm has made bets on entertainment and live events, it’s not yet convinced VR arcades are going to be a big draw. “The biggest issue with these VR arcades is not demand or content or whether the experience is cool, it’s throughput,” he said. There are already signs some arcade chains are failing, and part of that is because they just don’t make enough money, he added. “You have to put enough people through.” Throughput is very much a problem. I believe the answer to this is creating a higher end product with a far greater production value than be achieved in the home. In my opinion, “High-End” VR is better than no VR and people will be will to pay for experiences outside of the box.

  • IMAX VR Posting Initial Numbers

    IMAX VR Posting Initial Numbers

    This posting is really to help keep track of numbers which will be used to structure iMyth’s budget and business plan.

    From an article posted by Upload VR, IMAX LA VR Center Sees 15,000 Admissions Since January, we can get some initial understanding of the public response to immerse experiences.

    IMAX claims that it has 15,000 admissions in its immersive center at the Bridge in LA. what this number really relates to is the number of individual experiences sold not to unique visitors. That means with tickets selling between $7 to $10 for VR content, we can roughly guess that IMAX may have cleared $100,000 in ticket sales during its first few months of operation. Notably, that includes a soft launch at an IMAX VR location unconnected to a movie theater — future locations will be connected to theaters and might see more foot traffic as a result.

    IMAX will be competing directly against Dreamscape Immersive as they rush to create experiences based on Feature film releases. While iMyth is not immediatly aiming towards this market, it is interesting to see how things will develop.

  • Immersive Entertainment Market Building Attention

    Immersive Entertainment Market Building Attention

    I posted an article yesterday, Immersive Market Heating Up,  about the on-coming impact immersive experiences will make in the world of entertainment. Almost as providence, Forbes posted a similar article, Imax Opens New Virtual Reality Site,  not about The Void but about Imax’s contribution to this new industry. In a nutshell it would seem the folks at Forbes would agree with my rants.

    Early this year in Los Angeles, with little fanfare but huge implications for the future of entertainment, virtual reality took its first big leap toward finally becoming a permanent part of mainstream gaming, cinema, and media in general as IMAX opened their first public VR Centre.

    Not Unlike other VR Arcades that are starting to open around the world, Imax gives the users plenty of options to select their desired experiences and then leads them to staging areas where they are immersed in the gaming/ride experience. While I have not had the opportunity to experience the facility first hand, it definitely seems Imax spared nothing when creating futuristic, space-age like entertainment chambers. One thing I really like about this layout is that it encourages third person participation or rather “observation”. Folks can observe the action either behind barrier half walls or through observation monitors.

    All of the experiences available to the facility were produced by third-party production studios. Includes tiles are Star Wars: Trials On Tatooine, John Wick Chronicles, Eagle Flight, Raw Data, The Walk, Rabbids VR Ride, Knockout League, Archangle and Star Trek: Bridge Crew.

    The article’s author, Mark Hughes, observes how this will easily catch on to the mass market and be used not only for games but for live sporting events, concerts and other events participants are not able or will to participate in directly. Another interesting application I had not thought about is these VR experiences could compliment cinematic movies. By releasing at the same time as the film, the experience could empower the participant to become part of the action in the film and either re-act the moments of key excite or even re-create their own outcomes.

    Rob Lister, Chief Development Officer at IMAX foresees not installing these experiences inside IMAX theaters but in-conjunction with them. They realize there is plenty of available and unused retail space available for the taking. People want external, social experiences. IMAX intends to create a very stylized brand that consumers will learn to recognize.

    IMAX has big plans for expanding their VR facilities around the world. They have raised a $50M fund with industry partners to build 25-30 facilities over the next 3 years. The emphasis will be on AAA content, including prominent Hollywood studio content. However, they are not going to focus solely on film content. They anticipate that gaming will be huge in this space and that is another major category they will be pursuing with companies such as Skydance and Ubisoft.

    It would definitely appear the race for Immersive Experiences is heating up. Will the front runners grow to be market giants or will they be pioneers who get shot from the back? From now it’s too hard to guess. For now all I can advise is get your VR headset, go off to your favorite VR Arcade center and have a good time.

  • Immersive Experience Market Heating Up

    Immersive Experience Market Heating Up

    I just read an article from the New York times, “With New Invention, VR’s Potential for Magic Gets Real“. It is an interesting article that gives a little background information about The Void, in Lindon Utah , and it gives a quick introduction of what else is going on in this new industry.

    The article goes on to expose some financial data that I have not seen elsewhere. The article claims The Void’s Ghostbuster Experience at Madame Tussauds New York has sold more than 43,000 tickets since July, which translates to nearly $900,000 in revenue. Up until this point, The Void has been funded by Ken Bretschneider who has already invested millions of his own into the endeavor; (Rumored $12-$15 Million). The Void is now working with the Raine Group, a merchant bank known for its investment in Vice and ties to the William Morris Endeavor talent agency, to raise expansion funding. There are also rumors about mall owners and theme park operators.

    The Void also sees itself as a new draw for dying malls, where anchor stores have been closing. Multiplexes, many of which are overbuilt, could convert auditoriums into stages. Film companies, eager for new ways to market movies and keep franchises alive between chapters, could turn to the Void as well.

    The competition in this arena is building as well. Last week, Imax said it planned to open six V.R. centers this year, some in partnership with AMC Theaters and Regal Entertainment, at a cost of up to $400,000 each, not including real estate. Last December, her in good old Orlando, Zero Latency opened its first installation. I have yet to encounter numbers associated with this arrangement.

    The competition in this new arena is building.  Last week, Imax said it planned to open six V.R. centers this year, some in partnership with AMC Theaters and Regal Entertainment, at a cost of up to $400,000 each, not including real estate. “Virtual reality is a complex ecosystem that’s in need of a jump-start, and we’re here to provide the spark,” said Rich Gelfond, Imax’s chief executive. Also announced last week was Dreamscape Immersive, which hopes to open its first center dedicated to virtual reality experiences in the fall. It has cobbled together $11 million in funding from companies like 21st Century Fox, Westfield Corporation and Warner Bros. Mr. Spielberg is also involved.

    The Void is fairly confident it will be able to stay a leader in this medium due to its three year lead exploring this new technology. I think they may have a point. This is a brand new medium in the realm of trans-media storytelling. All the rules are different and must be explored. The Void has a talented team of form VFX people and stage magicians. Luckily, iMyth is also endowed with talented individuals with considerable experience. With its first prototype, “The Courier”, iMyth now has a foundation with which it can start learning and mastering the nuances of this new field.