The Virtual Reality Company
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| The Virtual Reality Company | |
|---|---|
| Information | |
| Industry | Virtual reality and augmented reality content, entertainment |
| Founded | 2014 |
| Founder | Robert Stromberg, Guy Primus, Chris Edwards, Joel Newton |
| Headquarters | Los Angeles, California, United States |
| Notable Personnel | Robert Stromberg (co-founder, Chief Creative Officer), Guy Primus (co-founder; CEO in 2017 and 2018) |
| Products | The Martian VR Experience, Raising a Rukus, Follow Me Dragon, Jurassic World VR Expedition |
| Website | https://thevrcompany.com |
The Virtual Reality Company (VRC) is a Los Angeles content studio and production company that makes virtual reality and augmented reality entertainment. Its press releases state that it was founded in 2014 by four Hollywood veterans: production designer and director Robert Stromberg, entertainment executive Guy Primus, Chris Edwards and Joel Newton.[1][2] Film director Steven Spielberg is listed as one of its advisers, and the company described him in 2016 as an adviser and shareholder.[3]
VRC co-produced The Martian VR Experience (2016) for 20th Century Fox's Fox Innovation Lab, with Stromberg directing.[4] Its own work includes the animated VR series pilot Raising a Rukus (2017) and the iOS augmented reality app Follow Me Dragon (2017). In 2018 it made Jurassic World VR Expedition, a location-based VR attraction, with Universal for Dave & Buster's entertainment centers.[2][5][6]
History
Founding (2014-2015)
Stromberg, whose production design on Avatar and Alice in Wonderland won him two Academy Awards,[1] told VFX Voice in 2024 that Facebook's purchase of Oculus was the turning point. "Oculus was nice enough to show me the tests that they had been working on that were compelling enough for Facebook to take notice. Once I saw them, I immediately started The Virtual Reality Company," he said, adding that he saw VR as "a great narrative storytelling tool" at a time when most discussion was about gaming.[7] He then made a four-minute test he called There, set in a surreal world through which a young girl guides the viewer, with dialogue and a symphonic score.[7]
The company's 2015 to 2017 press releases and press coverage from the same period name four co-founders, all with backgrounds in film and entertainment; the company's current website says only that VRC was "Founded in 2014 by Robert Stromberg".[1][8][9] Edwards led the previsualization studio The Third Floor, which VRC's 2016 funding release described as a partner whose previsualization pipelines VRC could use to prototype its projects.[3]
In July 2015 UploadVR reported that Spielberg had just been added to VRC's website as a member of its advisory board, alongside VR veteran Laurent Scallie, and that the company was raising $22.7 million in early funding.[10] On 18 September 2015 VRC announced a partnership with the mobile headset maker IonVR, which planned to demonstrate its headset at TechCrunch Disrupt in San Francisco on 21 September using an excerpt from THERE, described as "VRC's first release of its original VR content" and planned as a VR series directed by Stromberg.[1]
The Martian VR Experience and funding (2016)
The Martian VR Experience was made by Fox Innovation Lab in partnership with RSA Films and VRC, with Ridley Scott as executive producer and Stromberg as director. The viewer takes the role of astronaut Mark Watney.[4] Road to VR, which tried it at CES in January 2016, wrote that it went beyond "the usual tepid expectations of lazy movie tie-ins".[11] Fox released it on 15 November 2016 for PlayStation VR and for the HTC Vive on Steam at US$19.99.[4]
On 2 June 2016 the motion-seat maker D-BOX Technologies announced that it would work with VRC again after The Martian VR Experience, for which D-BOX had created a motion track for its simulator chairs. The two companies planned several projects, including a feature-length action-adventure VR experience that D-BOX said would likely be released in 2017, and a previsualization interface for the D-BOX motion system in Unreal Engine to be built with The Third Floor.[12]
On 10 June 2016 VRC said it had raised $23 million in an equity round. The investment came from Hengxin Mobile Business Co., Ltd., a Beijing mobile services and technology provider, which the company said would give it a platform to distribute its content in the greater China region. VRC listed Metallica singer James Hetfield, Rothenberg Ventures and Elementum Ventures among its other investors.[3] Primus told UploadVR that the company, then about a dozen people, was "building a future version of a studio" and planned "tentpole" VR projects for both other studios and its own ideas.[13] Variety later described the round as a $23 million Series A led by Hengxin and reported that VRC had raised more than $25 million in total.[8]
The funding release said VRC's slate included "an original family-oriented VR program" made with Spielberg.[3] In a keynote at the VR on the Lot conference at Paramount Pictures in October 2016, Stromberg said Spielberg had become an adviser after watching a four-minute cinematic test, and that VRC was "currently one episode into an episodic [VR] family series".[14]
Raising a Rukus (2017)
VRC announced Raising a Rukus in March 2017 as an animated VR series about a brother, a sister and their mischievous pet dog, with 12-minute episodes, some of them with branching narration that lets the viewer follow either sibling.[8] The Hollywood Reporter described it as VRC's first original VR experience. The first episode was directed by Josh Wassung, animated at VRC under Stromberg's creative oversight, and previewed on D-BOX motion seats at CinemaCon in Las Vegas that week; Stromberg said VRC was also talking with studios about licensing properties, but that "our ultimate goal is to be a source of original storytelling."[15] VRC's release credits writers including Guardians of the Galaxy screenwriter Nicole Perlman, composer James Newton Howard and sound by Skywalker Sound. In the pilot, gazing toward the twins Jonas or Amy at a set point decides which of them the viewer follows.[2]
The pilot debuted at the IMAX VR Centre in Los Angeles on 19 May 2017 under a partnership with IMAX.[16] On 25 May 2017 it went on sale for the Samsung Gear VR on the Oculus Store at $3.99.[2] UploadVR's Jamie Feltham wrote that the choice system was so well done "we barely realised we were making choices".[17] In December 2017 Blooloop reported that it was the featured title of a D-BOX VR installation with ten motion seats in the lobby of Cineplex's Scotiabank Theatre Ottawa.[18] At the Advanced Imaging Society's Lumiere Awards in February 2018, Raising a Rukus won Best Location Based VR: Animated.[19]
Follow Me Dragon (2017)
On 20 September 2017 VRC announced Follow Me Dragon, an augmented reality app for iPhone and iPad led by Stromberg. Its dragons dance, jump, play fetch and pose for photos in the user's surroundings; the first character is a dragon named Drake.[5] GearBrain's December 2017 review described it as a free iOS app with no Android version, in which the user feeds the dragon cookies to make it perform tricks and can change its size and color.[20] Stromberg later told VFX Voice that it "became a top download in the app store".[7]
Jurassic World VR Expedition (2018)
Universal and VRC announced Jurassic World VR Expedition on 6 June 2018. It debuted on 14 June at Dave & Buster's centers, ahead of the 22 June theatrical release of Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom. Up to four players wear HTC Vive headsets inside a VR motion simulator for a five-minute expedition to rescue dinosaurs on Isla Nublar. VRC's James Lima wrote and directed it, and Stromberg and Primus were executive producers.[6] UploadVR reported 112 participating locations and a price of $5 per person, with each player using one controller to "tag" dinosaurs.[21] The Hollywood Reporter wrote that it would run at all 114 Dave & Buster's locations in the United States and Canada, that Dave & Buster's funded its development, that VRC licensed the brand from Universal, and that the budget was in the "low seven figures" according to VRC. VRC built the dinosaurs from the digital models that ILM had used for the film, and Primus said VRC and Universal would share in back-end revenue.[22] UploadVR named it the best location-based VR experience of 2018.[23]
Current status
As of October 2026 the company's website still describes VRC as "a content studio and production company" and lists Stromberg as co-founder and Chief Creative Officer. Its most recent featured projects are Jurassic World VR Expedition and Raising a Rukus. The advisers it lists are Spielberg, James Newton Howard, former Georgia Tech president and Smithsonian Secretary G. Wayne Clough, music executive Kevin Morrow, former Activision Blizzard executive George Rose and Laurent Scallie. The contact address is in Marina del Rey, California.[9] In January 2024 VFX Voice described Stromberg as "currently" the co-founder of VRC.[7] The site does not list any project released after 2018, and the feature-length D-BOX project announced in 2016 does not appear on it.[9]
Products
| Year | Title | Format | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | THERE | VR piece | Directed by Stromberg; excerpt demonstrated on the IonVR headset[1] |
| 2016 | The Martian VR Experience | Interactive VR | For Fox Innovation Lab with RSA Films; PlayStation VR and HTC Vive[4] |
| 2017 | Raising a Rukus | Animated VR pilot | IMAX VR Centre Los Angeles, Samsung Gear VR, D-BOX VR installations[2][18] |
| 2017 | Follow Me Dragon | iOS augmented reality app | Free AR virtual pet app[5][20] |
| 2018 | Jurassic World VR Expedition | Location-based VR attraction | With Universal for Dave & Buster's; HTC Vive on a motion simulator[6] |
Awards
| Year | Award | Work |
|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Lumiere Award, Best Location Based VR: Animated (Advanced Imaging Society) | Raising a Rukus[19] |
| 2018 | UploadVR Best of 2018, Best Location-Based VR Experience | Jurassic World VR Expedition[23] |
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 "VRC and IonVR Forge Strategic Partnership". PR Newswire. The Virtual Reality Company. 2015-09-18. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/vrc-and-ionvr-forge-strategic-partnership-300145811.html. Retrieved 2026-10-21.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 "The Virtual Reality Company "Raising a Rukus" for Samsung Gear VR, Powered by Oculus". PR Newswire. The Virtual Reality Company. 2017-05-25. https://prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/the-virtual-reality-company-raising-a-rukus-for-samsung-gear-vr-powered-by-oculus-624367364.html. Retrieved 2026-10-21.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 "Hollywood Insiders Raise $23 Million for VR Content Studio". PR Newswire. The Virtual Reality Company. 2016-06-10. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/hollywood-insiders-raise-23-million-for-vr-content-studio-300282867.html. Retrieved 2026-10-21.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 Umberto Gonzalez (2016-11-14). "Fox Innovation Lab Launches 'The Martian VR Experience'". TheWrap. https://www.thewrap.com/fox-the-martian-vr-experience/. Retrieved 2026-10-21.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 "The Virtual Reality Company Leads the Way into Augmented Reality with "Follow Me Dragon"". PR Newswire. The Virtual Reality Company. 2017-09-20. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/the-virtual-reality-company-leads-the-way-into-augmented-reality-with-follow-me-dragon-300522602.html. Retrieved 2026-10-21.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 "Universal and The Virtual Reality Company Announce Epic New Virtual Reality Game "Jurassic World VR Expedition"". PR Newswire. The Virtual Reality Company. 2018-06-06. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/universal-and-the-virtual-reality-company-announce-epic-new-virtual-reality-game-jurassic-world-vr-expedition-300660662.html. Retrieved 2026-10-21.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 Trevor Hogg (2024-01-09). "Achieving the Proper Balance with Robert Stromberg". VFX Voice. Visual Effects Society. https://vfxvoice.com/achieving-the-proper-balance-with-robert-stromberg/. Retrieved 2026-10-21.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Janko Roettgers (2017-03-27). "Robert Stromberg's VRC Announces Animated VR Series 'Raising a Rukus'". Variety. https://variety.com/2017/digital/news/robert-strombergs-vrc-announces-animated-vr-series-raising-a-ruckus-1202016831/. Retrieved 2026-10-21.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 "The Virtual Reality Company". The Virtual Reality Company. https://thevrcompany.com/. Retrieved 2026-10-21.
- ↑ "Steven Spielberg Signs on as Advisor to "The Virtual Reality Company"". UploadVR. 2015-07-13. https://uploadvr.com/steven-spielberg-vr-entertainment. Retrieved 2026-10-21.
- ↑ Paul James (2016-06-10). "VRC Raises $23M to "Build the First Great VR Content Studio"". Road to VR. https://www.roadtovr.com/vrc-raises-23m-to-build-the-first-great-vr-content-studio/. Retrieved 2026-10-21.
- ↑ "D-BOX Technologies Announces Partnership With the Virtual Reality Company to Create Unprecedented Virtual Reality Experiences". Newswire. D-BOX Technologies. 2016-06-02. https://www.newswire.com/news/d-box-technologies-announces-partnership-with-the-virtual-reality-11571743. Retrieved 2026-10-21.
- ↑ Ian Hamilton (2016-06-09). "Steven Spielberg-backed Virtual Reality Company Raises $23 Million". UploadVR. https://uploadvr.com/steven-spielberg-backed-virtual-reality-company-raises-23-million/. Retrieved 2026-10-21.
- ↑ Matt Grobar (2016-10-13). "Steven Spielberg's Reaction To VR: He Was "A Kid Again," Robert Stromberg Says". Deadline. https://deadline.com/2016/10/steven-spielberg-virtual-reality-project-robert-stromberg-1201835872/. Retrieved 2026-10-21.
- ↑ Carolyn Giardina (2017-03-27). "CinemaCon: Virtual Reality Company, D-Box Partner on VR Motion Experience". The Hollywood Reporter. https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/cinemacon-virtual-reality-company-d-box-partner-vr-motion-experience-988745/. Retrieved 2026-10-21.
- ↑ "The Virtual Reality's New VR Experience, Raising a Rukus, Debuts At IMAX". socaltech.com. 2017-05-18. https://socaltech.com/the_virtual_reality_s_new_vr_experience_raising_a_rukus_debuts_at_imax/s-0070450.html. Retrieved 2026-10-21.
- ↑ Jamie Feltham (2017-05-25). "VR Company's Raising A Rukus Now Available on Gear, in IMAX Centers". UploadVR. https://uploadvr.com/vr-companys-raising-rukus-now-available-gear-imax-centers/. Retrieved 2026-10-21.
- ↑ 18.0 18.1 "D-Box powers immersive VR cinematic experience at Cineplex movie theatre, Canada". Blooloop. 2017-12-05. https://blooloop.com/technology/news/immersive-cinematic-vr-experience-d-box/. Retrieved 2026-10-21.
- ↑ 19.0 19.1 Ian Hamilton (2018-02-12). "2018 Lumiere Awards Recognize Owlchemy, VRC, Sony And Others For VR/AR". UploadVR. https://uploadvr.com/lumiere-awards-2018-vr-ar/. Retrieved 2026-10-21.
- ↑ 20.0 20.1 Amber Wang (2017-12-11). "Review: "Follow Me Dragon" AR app is a virtual pet to call your own". GearBrain. https://www.gearbrain.com/review-follow-me-dragon-app-2516473995.html. Retrieved 2026-10-21.
- ↑ Ian Hamilton (2018-06-05). "Dave & Buster's Installs Impressive Jurassic World VR Expedition At 112 Locations". UploadVR. https://uploadvr.com/jurassic-world-expedition-vrc/. Retrieved 2026-10-21.
- ↑ Carolyn Giardina (2018-06-06). "'Jurassic World' Virtual Reality Experience to Debut at Dave & Buster's". The Hollywood Reporter. https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/jurassic-world-virtual-reality-experience-debuts-1117631/. Retrieved 2026-10-21.
- ↑ 23.0 23.1 David Jagneaux (2019-01-01). "UploadVR's Best Of 2018 VR Award Winners". UploadVR. https://uploadvr.com/best-vr-2018-winners/. Retrieved 2026-10-21.