Beijing – VRrOOm, a fully dedicated Virtual Reality (VR) ecosystem, made its debut at the Beijing International Radio, TV & Film Exhibition (BIRTV). It’s Founder and CEO Louis Cacciuttolo said, “THE AR/VR Market is expected to hit $120 billion by 2020 and the technology is going to be the next big thing for storytelling, beyond gaming. Yet, there are few resources dedicated to facilitate the access to VR and accelerate mass market adoption.”
Louis Cacciuttolo has previously worked for THX as Global Brand VP until March this year and was top executive for international communication agencies such as Saatchi & Saatchi and Ogilvy before joining the cinema industry.
VRrOOm is built around three main pillars: Information, through a digital media platform www.vrroom.buzz, Physical VR experience in cinemas with VRrOOm Sanctum and VR and AR content production.
VRrOOM cinemas will make its presence in China and France this fall and scheduled to open in the U.S. next year. “The general audience understanding of VR is currently limited as most people can’t afford the best equipment and readily available content is scarce. Cinema destinations provide a cost-effective way for most people to experience the best that VR can offer,” Louis Cacciuttolo added.
The first VRrOOm Sanctum theaters will be installed inside traditional cinemas this fall in Beijing and Shanghai thanks to an exclusive partnership sealed with Chinese film industry leader China Film Group’s affiliated company CFEC. The goal is to expand the network at high speed and have dozens of sites installed across key cities of China by the end of 2017. VRrOOm also reached an agreement with French cinema chain CineMovida and two more VRrOOm Sanctum theatres are due to open in France in November. More projects are also currently under discussion in the U.S. and in Europe.
Besides VRrOOm Sanctum, www.vroom.buzz, an information platform in three languages (English, French and Chinese) aimed at introducing the latest VR trends to the general audience, is already operational; the website is powered by an algorithm capable of analysing all posts related to VR, AR and MR on social media and websites worldwide, in real time, providing the company with invaluable market insights.
VRrOOm will also announce in the coming weeks a partnership with a Beijing-based VR/AR content studio. “As the industry is still in its infancy, it is essential to be able to test various content formats and experiments beyond VR, for example in Augmented Reality or Mixed Reality”, explained Louis Cacciuttolo. “VRrOOm Sanctum will be a great platform for experimenting, allowing the company to identify market needs real time and improve the audience’s experience as technology and content creation evolve.”
The success of VR is strongly connected to the “wow” effect of the experience. Offering quality VR cinematic experiences will be an essential factor for the success of VRrOOm ecosystem, especially as the start-up wants to become the world’s top-of-mind resource for what could soon become a new VR lifestyle.
