Pulse Evolution and VTEC Laboratories have partnered to develop a personal Head Mounted Display player, intended to provide immersive entertainment access for standard virtual reality systems users to unique live events, such as virtual music concerts, multi-player games and other events set in rich VR environments that can be populated by hyper-realistic digital humans from Pulse Evolution.
The Pulse-VTEC collaboration will principally focus on VTEC’s Virtual Reality Theater Concept, an HMD-based virtual theater system that supports high-resolution movie playback in VR, interactive viewpoints with multiple location support, live streaming and large-audience crowd support.
Yoshihito Ebine is the CEO of VTEC and is former senior general manager of Sony Corporation Strategic Planning. “We are thrilled to announce this unique collaboration with Pulse Evolution,” Ebine said. “Pulse is the gold standard of human animation in a world that is about to be overrun by digital humans. VTEC is uniquely positioned to build the delivery systems of an immersive and interactive VR world, and Pulse is the right partner to build the people we will meet when we get there.”
Hiroyasu Furuse, COO and CTO of VTEC, is the former senior manager of Sony Corporation 4K display and 4K digital cinema business. “I am proud to be working with John Textor and his team at Pulse,” Furuse said. “The fast developing industry of alternative display systems is both impressive and lacking. While there are device alternatives and multiple choices of HMD goggle systems, there are very few end-to-end solutions for enterprise customers and for end-consumers. There are even fewer companies like Pulse Evolution, which can deliver the content and experiences that will make virtual reality a fascinating reality.”
Pulse Evolution’s journey started when the late Tupac Shakur was brought to life in a digital animation performance at the 2012 Coachella Music and Arts Fair. In 2014, Pulse’s digital animation of a new performance by the late Michael Jackson was the highlight of the Billboard Music Awards. Pulse recently announced additional collaborations with the estates of Elvis Presley and Marilyn Monroe that will result in digital animated performances by the late artists in venues around the world.
John Textor, chairman of Pulse Evolution Corporation, welcomed the new partnership with VTEC. “The artists and leaders of Pulse Evolution see a future, revealed by our company name, in which digital humans are pervasive in society,” Textor said. “With so much focus on interactive content, virtual worlds and digital distribution of information and entertainment, there are far too few companies focused on building the people we will meet in the evolving digital domain. Digital humans will be everywhere in this world. They will at times represent us, but they will also provide a relatable interface for artificially intelligent machine thinkers that will interact with us in this brave new world. From their years of leadership and strategic planning at Sony, Ebine-san and Furuse-san have a clear vison of this future and we are so honored that they have invited us along for the ride.”