3D VR video is a standard the industry needs to set soon. Fortunately, one of the major companies working in this field is growing to help that happen.
VOKE VR has today announced that is has brought on David Aufhauser as Chief Strategy and Product Officer. Aufhauser has more than 20 years’ experience in the digital media industry, including time spent at Yahoo!, AOL, Justin.tv and, most recently, Pac-12 Networks, where he served as General Manager and Vice President of digital operation for the sports broadcasting company. That makes him an ideal fit to help establish VOKE VR as a premiere VR entertainment broadcaster. There he’ll be responsible for following through a plan to bring the company’s products to market.
The move comes after VOKE closed a Series A round of funding, which was led by Intel Capital. The company plans to make further hires to expand its team and has even moved into a new headquarters in Santa Clara, California. In a press release, VOKE Co-Founder and CEO Sankar Jayaram said that Aufhauser had already been “very valuable” to the team.
VOKE offers livestreaming of 360 degree 3D content, and is largely looking towards sports broadcasting right now along with other forms of live entertainment. With its custom rig the group can shoot high resolution 180 or 360 degree content that you can then view within a VR headset, looking around as if you were really there. Perhaps the most promising aspect of the company’s tech is the ability to add augmented reality content to live feeds, perhaps allowing people to view scores during matches and more.
VOKE already has two 360 apps available in Soccer-4U and iStadium, and previously partnered with Turner Sports to broadcast a live feed of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Final Four matches.
VOKE isn’t the only word in VR livestreaming, though, as the company will likely face stiff competition from NextVR going forward. Last week the latter company received a $20 million investment from Chinese group CITIC Guoan.
