While virtual reality (VR) technology is undeniably exciting, every aspect of this new medium has a long way to go before it reaches its true potential. VR video is no exception to this rule and a new VR startup company is launching with the aim of helping it along the way. That company is Pixvana, a new group led by veterans of companies like Lucasfilm, Apple, Adobe and Microsoft that’s developer a new cloud-based technology platform to improve viewing VR and augmented reality (AR) video.
Pixvana arrives with a $6 million USD investment that’s led by Madrona Venture Group and also includes participation from Paul Allen’s Vulcan Capital, and angel investors. The company aims to solve challenges involved with producing both VR and AR video with its unrevealed new platform that will be coming to market in 2016 and is said to be compatible with a wide range of head-mounted displays (HMDs).
Included in Pixvana’s founding team is CEO Forest Key, who worked on visual effects at Lucasfilm before moving on to work on Flash and Silverlight. There’s also Chief Product Officer Bill Hensler, CTO and Creative Director Scott Squires and VP of Product Management Sean Safreed.
“There is incredible momentum in the VR space and it is clear that outstanding VR video will be a central pillar to the success of the medium,” Tim Porter, Managing Director, Madrona Venture Group, said of the news. “It’s exciting to back the Pixvana team that has been at the forefront of the massive shifts we have already seen in the industry – from film to digital and from TV to web and mobile video. This team has the experience and vision to create the industry standard technology platform for VR video.”
An official website for the group is now available, where job listings can be found. VRFocus will be following all VR companies in the future, reporting back with the latest updates on them.
-END-
The post Lucasfilm, Apple Veterans Launch VR Startup Pixvana with $6 Mill in Investment appeared first on VRFocus.
