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NextVR

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NextVR

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Information
Type Private
Industry Virtual Reality, live event broadcasting
Founded 2009 (as Next3D)
Founder David Cole, DJ Roller
Headquarters Newport Beach, California, U.S. (Laguna Beach until 2016)
Notable Personnel David Cole (CEO), Brad Allen (executive chairman)
Products NextVR app
Parent Apple (from 2020)
Website nextvr.com (defunct)

NextVR was an American virtual reality broadcasting company that captured live sports, concerts and other events in stereoscopic 3D video and streamed them to VR headsets through its own app. It was founded in 2009 as Next3D, a company that made compression and live broadcast technology for 3D television, and moved its research and development toward virtual reality in early 2012.[1][2] The company was based in Laguna Beach, California, and moved to Newport Beach in 2016.[3]

NextVR's app launched on Samsung Gear VR in 2015 and later reached Daydream, PlayStation VR, Windows VR, Oculus Rift, Vive, Oculus Go and Oculus Quest.[4][5] Its broadcast partners included the NBA, Fox Sports, Live Nation, the NHL, WWE and the International Champions Cup.[5] The company raised 115.5 million US dollars across its funding rounds.[6] Apple bought NextVR in 2020 and confirmed the purchase on 14 May 2020 without disclosing terms; the NextVR service shut down.[5][7]

Reviewed 21 October 2026. All 27 cited sources reopened: Next3D origins and 2012 VR shift, founders, seed, Series A and Series B rounds, IBC 2014 RED rig, 2015 live streams, Fox Sports, Live Nation, Time Inc. LIFE VR and NBA deals, 2017-2019 platform rollout, CES 2018 fidelity and volumetric demos, 2019 layoffs, Quest launch, Apple acquisition and shutdown, and 2024-2025 UploadVR follow-ups. About review dates.

History

Next3D (2009-2014)

Next3D was founded in 2009 by David Cole and DJ Roller. Its founders came from film, stereoscopic imaging, location-based entertainment and software development.[1] In June 2013 Engadget reported that the company's business consisted of "real-time processing of 3D broadcasts" and that Next3D was testing live-action content on the Oculus Rift development kit with a rig of two RED 4K cameras fitted with wide-angle fisheye lenses and 3Dio binaural microphones, covering a 180-degree field of view, under a service it called Full-Court.[8] Road to VR later summarized the change of direction: the company had made compression and live broadcasting technology for 3D TV and turned to VR after the 3D TV market declined.[2]

In May 2014 Next3D announced NextStream360, a system for live and on-demand production of 360-degree stereoscopic video delivered over the internet, satellite and mobile networks. The company said it had been testing the technology with broadcasters and sports organizations in professional basketball, golf and college football.[1] The Orange County Business Journal reported in October 2014 that the company, by then named NextVR, had raised a 5 million US dollar seed round from private investors and supplied content to Samsung's Gear VR under a deal with Oculus and Samsung. It also reported that Roller, an award-winning producer, director and cinematographer, had worked with Red Digital Cinema for several years on camera technology.[9]

At IBC 2014 in Amsterdam, NextVR showed a 360-degree stereoscopic camera made of six RED Epic Dragon cameras arranged in three stereo pairs, shooting at up to 6K. Road to VR estimated the camera bodies alone at about 180,000 US dollars (31,200 US dollars each) and the full system with lenses at more than 200,000 US dollars; the rig weighed more than 30 pounds.[10]

Live VR streaming and funding (2015-2016)

In January 2015 NextVR streamed a live feed from a 180-degree camera on the beach at Laguna Beach to an Engadget reviewer in Ann Arbor, Michigan, who watched on a Gear VR with a Galaxy Note 4. Engadget described it as the first attempt at streaming virtual reality from one place to another. The stream ran at 8 Mbps, and Cole said the system could deliver 6K, 80 fps video because it sent only the part of the image the viewer was looking at.[11] With Turner Sports, NextVR streamed the Golden State Warriors' 2015-16 season opener against the New Orleans Pelicans, which the NBA later called the first live professional sports game in VR.[12] The company also streamed CNN's 2015 Democratic presidential debate to Gear VR.[13]

NextVR announced a 30.5 million US dollar Series A round in November 2015. Formation 8 led it, with Time Warner Investments, Comcast Ventures, Peter Guber, RSE Ventures, The Madison Square Garden Company and Dick Clark Productions also investing. Scott Levine of Time Warner Investments joined as a board observer.[13]

On 17 February 2016 Fox Sports and NextVR announced a five-year deal to broadcast Fox sporting events in VR. It began with the Daytona 500 on 21 February 2016, streamed in the NextVR app on Gear VR. The two companies had earlier run test broadcasts of the U.S. Open golf championship, the Auto Club 400 NASCAR race and a Premier Boxing Champions event.[14] In April 2016 the Orange County Business Journal reported that the company planned to roughly double its staff to about 100 by the end of the year.[15]

On 4 May 2016 NextVR announced a partnership with Live Nation to stream "hundreds" of concerts and performances in VR.[16] SiliconANGLE reported that the deal ran for five years and that NextVR would use a truck that mixed stereoscopic video and 3D audio on the fly before transmitting the feed. Concerts were to be free at first, with pay-per-view programs planned later.[17] A day later, on 5 May 2016, NextVR and Time Inc. announced LIFE VR, a Time Inc. brand of live and on-demand 360-degree video from titles including Time, People, Entertainment Weekly and Sports Illustrated, hosted in the NextVR app. The partners planned three to five events in 2016.[18]

NextVR announced an 80 million US dollar Series B round on 9 August 2016. New investors were China Assets Holdings, Citic Guoan Information Industry, CMC Holdings, Founder H Fund, NetEase, VMS Investment Group, SoftBank and Spectrum 28 Capital, and the earlier backers also took part. The round brought total funding to 115.5 million US dollars. Executive chairman Brad Allen said the money would go to platform development and international expansion, particularly in China.[6] Fortune, citing The Wall Street Journal, described the Series B as money raised from Chinese venture capitalists.[19]

By late October 2016 NextVR had moved from Laguna Beach to Newport Beach, had about 70 employees and had rebranded as a consumer-focused company with a new logo and advertising.[3] On 20 October 2016 NBA Digital and NextVR announced a multiyear partnership making NextVR the "Official LEAGUE PASS VR Partner of the NBA". At least one League Pass game a week was streamed live in VR during the 2016-17 season, starting with the Sacramento Kings against the San Antonio Spurs on 27 October. League Pass subscribers signed in with their credentials in the NextVR app, and broadcasts had their own announcers, several unmanned camera angles and VR graphics.[12]

Platform expansion (2017-2019)

On 3 January 2017 NextVR launched on Google's Daydream platform in the U.S., Canada, the UK, Germany and Australia, and began offering NBA on-demand games and highlights in VR outside the U.S. (excluding China) on Daydream View and Gear VR.[20] In the second half of 2017 the app came to PC VR, starting with Windows VR headsets. In 2018 it became available on the Oculus Rift, on the Vive through Viveport, and on the Oculus Go. It reached SteamVR in February 2019, which Road to VR said put NextVR on every major VR platform.[4] The app was also available on PlayStation VR.[5] Its programming included live event captures, NBA games and original shows such as Paranormal Evidence.[4]

At CES 2018 NextVR showed higher-fidelity playback. Road to VR reported that, in the best case at 8 Mbps, the company could now stream 20 pixels per degree in stereo at 60 fps, up from 8.5, and that it planned to roll the improvement out on Windows VR headsets first. NextVR also showed volumetric video that let a seated viewer move their head positionally inside the footage; new frames were generated on the headset at its refresh rate.[2]

On 14 January 2019 NextVR laid off part of its staff. Cole declined to give a number, called the cuts "a really necessary measure to stay in a position to take advantage of the market at the size where it is now", and said the company had been "built big" for a market that grew less than expected in 2017 and 2018. Live production continued.[21] 9to5Mac later reported that NextVR had failed to raise a Series C round in early 2019 and had cut 40 percent of its staff.[22]

A native Oculus Quest app launched on 29 August 2019. Meta's blog said it was the first platform to use NextVR's PAVE rendering technology, which supported graphic overlays such as statistics and replays, and that it launched with a "Best on Quest" channel and a month of live events. One of these was a Pete Davidson comedy show from New York's Gotham Comedy Club on 10 September, also shown in Oculus Venues.[23] For the 2019-20 NBA season, one game a week was available in stereoscopic 3D in the NextVR app with a League Pass subscription, and non-subscribers could buy a single game.[24]

Acquisition by Apple and shutdown (2020)

On 4 April 2020 9to5Mac reported that Apple was believed to be acquiring NextVR in a deal expected to be valued at about 100 million US dollars. It reported that a shell company believed to be Apple's was hiring most of NextVR's engineers, and that NextVR held more than 40 technology patents.[22] NextVR replaced its website with a message saying it was "heading in a new direction", and on 14 May 2020 Apple confirmed to Bloomberg that it had bought the company, without giving further details or confirming the price.[25][5] Bloomberg reported that NextVR had officially shut down the week before. The Android app was removed from Google Play within hours of Apple's confirmation, while other store listings stayed up at first.[7]

The service did not return. In October 2024 UploadVR called it the "long-dead NextVR app" and noted that its listing was still on Meta's store.[26] When Apple announced live Los Angeles Lakers games for Apple Vision Pro in October 2025, UploadVR wrote that Apple had "leveraged its expertise and IP to develop Apple Immersive Video".[27]

Products

The NextVR app was free and carried live and on-demand stereoscopic video organized into channels such as the NBA Channel.[20][4] Some programs required a separate subscription, such as NBA League Pass for live NBA games.[12]

Platform NextVR availability
Samsung Gear VR 2015, first platform[4]
Google Daydream 3 January 2017[20]
Windows Mixed Reality Second half of 2017[4]
PlayStation VR Available by 2020[5]
Oculus Rift 2018[4]
HTC Vive (via Viveport) 2018[4]
Oculus Go 2018[4]
SteamVR February 2019[4]
Oculus Quest 29 August 2019[23]

XR work

NextVR built its own camera rigs and its own compression, transmission and playback software.[2] Its live productions used stereoscopic video, including 180-degree 3D streams of NBA games, and its NBA broadcasts had dedicated announcers, unmanned camera angles and graphics made for VR.[13][12] SiliconANGLE reported in 2016 that the company had more than 36 patents granted or pending.[6] Its partners in sport and entertainment over the years included Fox Sports, Live Nation, NBC Sports, HBO/Golden Boy, Turner Sports and CNN, as well as the NBA, NHL, WWE and the International Champions Cup.[6][5]

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Next3D streams 3D video to Oculus Rift". Hypergrid Business. Next3D (press release). 2014-05-08. https://www.hypergridbusiness.com/2014/05/next3d-streams-3d-video-to-oculus-rift/. Retrieved 2026-10-21.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Ben Lang (2018-02-08). "NextVR's Latest Tech is Bringing New Levels of Fidelity to VR Video". Road to VR. https://www.roadtovr.com/nextvr-latest-tech-is-bringing-new-levels-of-fidelity-to-vr-video/. Retrieved 2026-10-21.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "NextVR Goes Beyond Tech to Tell Own Story". Orange County Business Journal. 2016-10-30. https://www.ocbj.com/news/weekly-news/nextvr-goes-beyond-tech-tell-own-story/. Retrieved 2026-10-21.
  4. ↑ 4.00 4.01 4.02 4.03 4.04 4.05 4.06 4.07 4.08 4.09 Ben Lang (2019-02-24). "NextVR Finally Available on Vive via SteamVR". Road to VR. https://roadtovr.com/nextvr-finally-available-vive-via-steamvr/. Retrieved 2026-10-21.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 Scott Hayden (2020-05-15). "Apple Confirms Acquisition of VR Live Streaming Company NextVR". Road to VR. https://www.roadtovr.com/report-apple-nextvr-acqusition/. Retrieved 2026-10-21.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 Duncan Riley (2016-08-09). "Live virtual reality streaming startup NextVR takes $80m Series B as part of push into Asia". SiliconANGLE. https://siliconangle.com/?p=291223. Retrieved 2026-10-21.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Ben Schoon (2020-05-15). "NextVR Android app pulled from Google Play hours after Apple confirms acquisition". 9to5Google. https://9to5google.com/2020/05/15/nextvr-android-app-pulled-from-google-play-hours-after-apple-confirms-acquisition/. Retrieved 2026-10-21.
  8. ↑ Ben Drawbaugh (2013-06-18). "Next3D's plan to bring recorded video to the Oculus Rift". Engadget. https://www.engadget.com/2013-06-18-next3d-recorded-video-plans-oculus-rift-virtual-reality.html. Retrieved 2026-10-21.
  9. ↑ "Virtual Reality Check". Orange County Business Journal. 2014-10-12. https://www.ocbj.com/manufacturing/virtual-reality-check/. Retrieved 2026-10-21.
  10. ↑ Ben Lang (2014-09-12). "NextVR's Stereoscopic 360-degree VR Cam Uses $180,000 Worth of RED 6K Cameras". Road to VR. https://roadtovr.com/?p=162657. Retrieved 2026-10-21.
  11. ↑ Richard Lawler (2015-01-26). "The first live VR broadcast brought the beach to my backyard". Engadget. https://www.engadget.com/2015-01-26-first-live-vr-broadcast-next-vr.html. Retrieved 2026-10-21.
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 "NBA Digital and NextVR to deliver one live game per week in virtual reality". NBA Communications. National Basketball Association. 2016-10-20. https://pr.nba.com/nba-digital-nextvr-virtual-reality. Retrieved 2026-10-21.
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 Scott Hayden (2015-11-13). "NextVR Raises $30.5M to Accelerate Broadcast VR Development". Road to VR. https://roadtovr.com/nextvr-raises-30-5m-accelerate-broadcast-vr-development/. Retrieved 2026-10-21.
  14. ↑ Joe Durbin (2016-02-17). "Multi-Year Broadcast Deal Between FOX Sports and NextVR Kicks Off With Daytona 500". UploadVR. https://uploadvr.com/nextvr-signs-multi-year-broadcast-deal-with-fox-sports/. Retrieved 2026-10-21.
  15. ↑ "NextVR Plans to Double Work Force as Sector Heats Up". Orange County Business Journal. 2016-04-03. https://www.ocbj.com/news/weekly-news/nextvr-plans-double-work-force-sector-heats/. Retrieved 2026-10-21.
  16. ↑ Lucas Matney (2016-05-04). "NextVR gets ready to drop the bass with live VR concerts". TechCrunch. https://techcrunch.com/2016/05/04/nextvr-gets-ready-to-drop-the-bass-with-live-vr-concerts. Retrieved 2026-10-21.
  17. ↑ Duncan Riley (2016-05-09). "Live Nation and NextVR sign deal to stream live concerts in virtual reality". SiliconANGLE. https://siliconangle.com/?p=278938. Retrieved 2026-10-21.
  18. ↑ Scott Hayden (2016-05-05). "NextVR and TIME Inc. Partner to Bring 360 Content From Major Magazine Brands". Road to VR. https://roadtovr.com/?p=164863. Retrieved 2026-10-21.
  19. ↑ Chauncey L. Alcorn (2016-08-10). "Why Chinese Investors Are Pouring Money Into This California Virtual Reality Startup". Fortune. https://fortune.com/2016/08/10/nextvr-chinese-investors. Retrieved 2026-10-21.
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 20.2 "NextVR Expands To Daydream by Google; Launches NBA Video-On-Demand Content Internationally in Virtual Reality". Streaming Media. NextVR (press release). 2017-01-03. https://streamingmedia.com/PressRelease/NextVR-Expands-To-Daydream-by-Google;-Launches-NBA-Video-On-Demand-Content-Internationally-in-Virtual-Reality_43261.aspx. Retrieved 2026-10-21.
  21. ↑ Ian Hamilton (2019-01-14). "NextVR Held Significant Layoffs Today". UploadVR. https://uploadvr.com/nextvr-significant-layoffs/. Retrieved 2026-10-21.
  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 Zac Hall (2020-04-04). "Exclusive: NextVR acquired by Apple (Updated)". 9to5Mac. https://9to5mac.com/2020/05/14/apple-nextr-ar-headset/. Retrieved 2026-10-21.
  23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 "SeptembVR to RemembVR: NextVR Brings LIVE Events and Curated Content to Oculus Quest". Meta Quest Blog. Meta Platforms. 2019-08-29. https://www.meta.com/blog/septembvr-to-remembvr-nextvr-brings-live-events-and-curated-content-to-oculus-quest/. Retrieved 2026-10-21.
  24. ↑ Harry Baker (2019-09-29). "NBA 2019-20 Games Available In Oculus Venues and NextVR". UploadVR. https://uploadvr.com/nba-games-oculus-nextvr/. Retrieved 2026-10-21.
  25. ↑ Harry Baker (2020-05-14). "Apple Reportedly Acquires 3D VR Streaming Company NextVR". UploadVR. https://uploadvr.com/report-apple-acquires-nextvr/. Retrieved 2026-10-21.
  26. ↑ Ian Hamilton (2024-10-21). "NBA All-Star Game On Apple Vision Pro Recalls NextVR, For Better And Worse". UploadVR. https://uploadvr.com/nba-apple-vision-pro-nextvr. Retrieved 2026-10-21.
  27. ↑ David Heaney (2025-10-09). "Apple Vision Pro Is Getting Live Apple Immersive LA Lakers NBA Games". UploadVR. https://www.uploadvr.com/apple-vision-pro-la-leakers-live-apple-immersive-announcement/. Retrieved 2026-10-21.
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