How would you like to experience virtual reality as it happens? Live VR? NextVR has built technology can immerse anyone into the energy and the passion of a live event. Should you want to work here?
How many of your friends or family have smartphones? All of them, right? How about HDTVs? Probably most of them anyway? There’s probably a good portion that have the latest Xbox or PlayStation, too not to mention various other high-tech gadgets. Now, how many of them had these things ten years ago? That number probably drops drastically. Go back 15 years and you’re probably using one hand to count.
That’s how technology goes. Bleeding-edgers are few and far between, and even investors shy away for the first few months or years with the next big thing. Then someone jumps in head first, the money starts flowing in, devices become available at the big box stores for fairly reasonable prices, and the next thing you know everyopne’s walking around with a bluetooth headset in their ear. (side note: please don’t be one of those people).
Now, let’s revisit the initial question for a second. How many of your friends have a Samsung Gear VR headset? I’m gonna guess none. Or maybe one. But they’re not that expensive, so what’s the holdup? Content.
Virtual Reality has been promised as long as flying cars and jetpacks, but here we sit without both of those (check the links, however). But even though US investors are still unsure about pouring money into VR, Asian investors — particularly China — are opening their wallets at record speeds for what truly is the next big thing.
And they’re giving that money to NextVR, the company driving the thing people are really waiting for — VR content worth viewing. As you know,Media Jobs is always looking for the next big thing when it comes to employment opportunities, and we have an inkling that jobs at NextVR are going to be hot commodities in the near future. What kind of content are they creating, you ask? Well, in reality (pardon the pun) they’re not really creating content, their adapting it to make it more awesome and more available.
For instance, let’s say you wanted to see that one-time reunion concert of your all-time favorite band, but it’s happening across the globe and you just can’t justify the cost. NextVR might bring you a VR version of the show — live, as it’s happening — and you could watch it right in your home and feel like you’re there. How awesome is that? Or maybe the Super Bowl, or the US open, or the Kentucky Derby. Actually, they’ve already done test runs with the latter two. And, they’ve inked a deal with Live Nation to broadcast ‘hundreds’ of concerts in VR in the future, with the first one this summer.
Having recently nabbed another $80 million in a second round of funding, they’re well on their way to making Samsung very happy — since right now the Gear VR is the only compatible headset. Never fear, however, because there are over 100 companies in China making similar products right this very minute, and NextVR says that plenty will be compatible soon.
So if you’re looking for a job in VR but have been soured on the results so far, you may want to send a resume over to NextVR. They look poised to do some hiring soon. And the rest of us are looking forward to kicking back on our couches, donning our VR headsets, and enjoying the Journey/Doobie Brothers concert up close and personal. Or is that just me?