Until that glimpse of magic grows to be a two-hour, star-studded film, Mr. Christensen is hopeful that virtual reality will evolve on the big screen and become a normal part of our daily lives, as most technology has already proved itself to be.
The new influx of investor money will help the VR firm “to significantly scale up VR production, and advance their professional-grade camera hardware and software production tools, delivering content to the widest array of mobile devices and VR hardware in the industry”, said Palo Alto, Calif.-based Jaunt in a statement. Their challenge now? Making sure that consumers have something to do with their new high-tech gadgets.
Investors include Disney, China’s CMC Capital Partners and Evolution Media Partners, a partnership of CAA-backed Evolution Media Capital, TPG Growth and Participant Media.
Jaunt have been fairly prolific with their release of their own 360 video content, across multiple VR platforms. For those unfamiliar with Jaunt, they are a company that specializes in creating cameras that can shoot video in 360-degrees, which is more or less a requirement for virtual reality content.
The startup’s ultimate goal is what makes Disney’s investment on Monday significant: Jaunt wants to make virtual reality the next way we watch movies and television.
But don’t expect to be wearing a VR headset in theaters just yet.
Jaunt leads the industry in innovation through its unrivaled end-to-end solution for creating and distributing premium live-action VR. Although today’s announcement will boost the hopes of film enthusiasts and tech gurus alike, Mr. Christensen said VR still has a long way to go before the release of a VR motion picture.
Jaunt isn’t the only company attracting these types of investments.
“With these new additions, Jaunt’s investor group offers a global network of deep ties to the largest brands, franchises, talent and technologies, across all entertainment and media, as well as partners who add unique perspective and experience as Jaunt continues to expand and innovate.”
“We’re so early in the creation of this new medium from the storytelling perspective that the filmmakers playing around in this space are going through the process of experimentation of what is storytelling”, the adviser says. Scripted VR is also a pretty thorough revamping of how Hollywood tells stories. Back in the spring, it recruited some LucasFilms vets and started a studio.
“I find virtual reality to be the most compelling new visual medium to come onto the entertainment landscape in my lifetime”, said Rick Hess, the 50-year-old head of Evolution Media.