Latest from Next TV in Mr

LiveLike Scores $9.6M in ‘B’ Round

Jeff Baumgartner — Thu, 15 Feb 2018 18:14:00 +0000

LiveLike, a startup that has developed a VR platform for live TV sporting events, has raised a $9.6 million B round that includes new investors Greycroft Partners and Lepe Partners.

New York-based LiveLike has raised about $15 million so far thanks to backing from other investors such as David Stern, commissioner emeritus of the NBA; Evolution Media; Courtside Ventures; Elysian Park; Dentsu Ventures; and the GC VR Gaming Tracker Fund.

The startup, which is also focusing on augmented reality (AR) and mixed reality (MR) applications, plans to use the fresh funds to help it expand its partnerships, and further build out its product and platform in a way that aims to simplify the experience and to make it more frictionless.

RELATED: Putting VR in a Sporting Mood (subscription required)

It will also work on making its system compatible with more platforms and develop new “in-product experiences” such as fantasy sports integrations and other social-facing elements.

The app, also accessible in 360-degree format on mobile devices, will present a “virtual suite” developed in partnership with LiveLike that will feature multiple camera angles of the match, as well as stats and pre-game VOD features.

The new investment also follows LiveLike’s early work with partners such as Fox Sports that center on the creation of interactive, 3D “virtual suites” that complement the 2D live TV feed while also providing multiple camera angles, stats and some VOD elements.

LiveLike and Fox Sports have teamed on such VR experiences around several sporting events, including last June’s UEFA Champions League final between Real Madrid and Juventus, Super Bowl LI, the 2016 and 2017 Big East Mean’s Basketball Tournaments, the 2016 U.S. Open Championship, the 2016 MLS Cup, the 2016 Bundesliga season opener, and the 2016 Big Ten Football Championship.

RELATED: Fox Sports to Offer UEFA Champions League Final in VR

LiveLike said it plans to announce more media and event partners as well as product enhancements in the coming months.

“LiveLike has been successful because we have built a platform that connects with younger generations seeking a more non-traditional experience,” Andre Lorenceau, founder and CEO of LiveLike, said in a statement. “Thanks to our investors, we are now in a position to hire for key positions and continue delivering a premier next-generation sports OTT platform.”

Michael Davies, SVP field & technical operations at Fox Sports, added: “It has always been in Fox Sports’s DNA to explore different and imaginative ways to serve our fans. To that end, in our nearly two years of working with LiveLike, creating our Fox Sports VR app and working on sports like hockey, football, basketball and soccer, we have found them to be innovative, nimble, and attentive to this exciting and rapidly changing platform. We are looking forward to continuing to imagine the future with them.”

Magic Leap Connects With the NBA and Turner

Jeff Baumgartner — Wed, 14 Feb 2018 01:09:00 +0000

Magic Leap, the well-funded augmented reality/spacial computing startup, has formed a partnership with the NBA and Turner that, they promise, will usher in “the next generation of sports viewing and interactivity.”

Magic Leap’s first sports-focused partnership will center on the Magic Leap One, the startup’s augmented/mixed reality system, and a new NBA App that’s optimized for that platform to transform a flat, 2D experience into one that’s in 3D.

“This partnership will allow us to bring fans a completely new, intimate experience that has never been seen in sports,” Jeff Ruediger, managing director of Magic Leap Screens, explained in this blog post.

By way of example, NBA fans will be able to use that combo, in tandem with Magic Leap’s Screens system, to summon multiple, virtual screens into their field of view, he noted.

“When paired with Magic Leap’s Digital Lightfield technology [which enables digital objects to look lifelike when blended with the real world] and spatial computing, these screens can be shown at any size, and in any location combined with supplemental graphics that allow fans to enjoy their favorite stats, replays and commentary — all without missing the game action,” Ruediger said. “We’ve even used volumetric capture to bring a life-size Shaquille O’Neal presence right into your living room.”

The launch of the new app for Magic Leap’s platform will feature a curated list of archived NBA games and some highlights and clips of teams and players. The NBA, Turner and Magic Leap are also working to bring this experience to live games.

Magic Leap said the new NBA App for its platform is in development, but didn’t announce when it would become available.

The trio made the announcement at Recode’s Code Media conference in Huntington Beach, Calif. A video with O’Neal was also shown with the former NBA great and current analyst with Turner donning Magic Leap specs and explaining how he was able to watch multiple full-court games appear on either side of him in a mixed reality environment.

“It was the most amazing thing,” he said. “I think the NBA, once it gets a hold of this technology, and some of the players … they’re really going to want to integrate their material.”

O’Neal also talked up Magic Leap’s attempt to render him in the MR environment. “When I saw it, it made me feel like I had a twin brother.”

The partnership also comes almost two months after Magic Leap introduced a “Creator’s Edition” version of its platform.

That initial system is composed of Lightwear (the AR glasses/headset); the Lightpack (a device that works with the headset and powers the system’s spatial computing platform); and a controller with haptic feedback.

CES 2018: AR and VR Poised for Record Growth in 2018

Jeff Baumgartner — Thu, 04 Jan 2018 16:28:00 +0000

Sales of headsets and eyewear outfitted for augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) are poised for a record year, according to a new forecast from the Consumer Technology Association (CTA).

The CTA said it expects sales of AR and VR headsets and eyewear to reach a record 4.9 million units in the U.S. in 2018, a more than 25% increase from 2017. Those sales will produce about $1.2 billion in revenues, a 10% increase from 2016, CTA added.

The organization noted that it expects sales of consumer-focused AR eyewear to “accelerate considerably” within the next five years.

The CTA announced its VR/AR projections ahead of a U.S. Consumer Technology Sales and Forecasts report that will be released at CES, which is set to run Jan. 9-12 in Las Vegas.

The CTA will also expand the space dedicated to AR and VR at next week’s show, noting that its Augmented Reality Marketplace will grow to a record 10,900 net square feet, making it 10% larger than that at the 2017 gadgetfest. Meanwhile, the show’s Gaming & Virtual Reality Marketplace, will expand to 34,100 net square feet, an 18% year-on-year increase.

The association also noted that its AR/VR Working Group, operating under its Technology & Standards Program, will “soon” wrap up work on technical definitions covering a “broad spectrum” for those industries, including MR, XR, outside-in tracking and Six Degrees of Freedom (6DoF).

Last year, that working group stamped the following definitions:

-Augmented Reality (AR) overlays digitally-created content into the user's real-world environment

-Mixed Reality (MR) is an experience that seamlessly blends the user's real-world environment and digitally-created content, where both environments can coexist and interact with each other

-Virtual Reality (VR) creates a digital environment that replaces the user's real-world environment

RELATED: Apple Snares Mixed Reality Headset Company

Reps. Launch Virtual Reality Caucus

john.eggerton@futurenet.com (John Eggerton) — Wed, 03 May 2017 15:10:00 +0000

A group of legislators has formed a new "reality" caucus focused on the new realities of AR, VR and MR

Reps. Yvette Clarke (D-N.Y.), Suzan DelBene (D-Wash.), Bill Flores (R-Tex.), Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) and Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) have teamed up to launch the Congressional Caucus on Virtual, Augmented and Mixed Reality Technologies.

As these technologies continue to advance and grow, this ‘Reality Caucus’ will work to foster information sharing between Congress and our nation’s world-leading technology industry," the legislators said in a joint statement. "These technologies have shown tremendous potential for innovation in the fields of entertainment, education and healthcare. As these technologies develop, questions will inevitably rise in privacy, intellectual property and other areas. This is an opportunity to educate our colleagues and others to ensure Congress is doing all it can to encourage – rather than hinder – these enterprising fields."

The creation of the caucus comes less than a week after NCTA: The Internet & Television Association, held a half-day conference for legislators and other policymakers shining a spotlight on those technologies and the broadband networks that make them possible.

An NCTA spokesperson confirmed that both Clarke and Lieu attended its Near Future conference spotlighting VR and AR, among other technologies.

Global VR Hardware Revenues to Reach $3.6B in 2017: Forecast

Jeff Baumgartner — Fri, 24 Feb 2017 16:48:00 +0000

Virtual reality hardware is poised to hit $3.6 billion in 2017, and surge to $37.7 billion by 2020, SuperData Research predicts in a new consumer report focused on the emerging sector.

The firm, which sees hardware to outpace VR software sales until 2020, expects VR software/service revenues to reach almost $1 billion this year.

The study also predicts that 21 million “premium” VR headsets will ship this year, more than tripling 2016’s totals, while 59 million “light” mobile VR headsets will ship in 2017, versus 84 million in 2016. A recent study from Strategy Analytics also found that mobile VR platforms are still way out in front, but represent a small share of overall VR revenues.

RELATED: High-End VR Platforms Struggling for Market Share

SuperData Research, which puts Google Daydream in the “premium” category, expects 6.8 million of those devices to get into consumer hands this year.

And while retail demos are the most popular way U.S. consumers get interested in VR before buying products, “poorly managed” demos and people with little knowledge of those products is having the opposite effect by causing friction and lowering adoption and interest.

RELATED: Analyst: Best Buy Oculus Demo Shutdown 'Doesn't Bode Well'

On the augmented realty (AR) end of the market, Pokémon Go earned 96% of all AR software revenue in 2016, the research firm said.

SuperData Research also predicts that Mixed Reality and AR will earn a combined $30.4 billion in 2020, and that MR devices will eventually overtake VR revenues.

Emmys 2016: Surprise Drama Wins: Rami Malek for Best Actor, Tatiana Maslany for Best Actress

thomas.umstead@futurenet.com (R. Thomas Umstead) — Mon, 19 Sep 2016 02:43:00 +0000

In a two major upsets, Rami Malek won the Emmy for best actor in a drama series for his role in USA’s Mr. Robot, while Tatiana Maslany won for best actress in a drama for her role in BBC America's Orphan Black.

Malek, in his first Emmy nomination in the category, beat out a strong lineup of actors including Kyle Chandler (Bloodline), Bob Odenkirk (Better Call Saul) Matthew Rhys (The Americans), Kevin Spacey (House of Cards) for the award.

Masalany topped last year's Emmy winner in the category, Viola Davis, as well as Taraji P Henson (Empire), Keri Russell (The Americans), Robin Wright (House Of Cards), and Claire Danes (Homeland).