VRMedia Technology has launched as a virtual reality technology and content creation company. Based in Los Angeles and Austin, VRMedia is a joint venture between MC Capital Advisors, an affiliate of Media Content Capital, a private equity fund focused on investments across the global media landscape, and computer graphics pioneer Greg Passmore and his company PassmoreVR, which specializes in 3D VR technology and high-quality VR content.

VRMedia develops high-performance software and hardware for creating, processing and playing superior-quality virtual reality content for entertainment, commercial and industrial settings such as film festivals, schools, factories and hospitals. With that mission in mind, VRMedia has launched its first product, an ultra-high resolution VR player app called Kraken. This will be the first and only player currently able to run at the industry’s highest resolutions (8k 2D and 4k x 4k 3D) and support both video and still images in 2D and 3D, with hardware GPU support for High Volume Easily Configured (HVEC) systems and most modern codecs.

Kraken addresses issues with current VR player options that deliver inconsistent and often poor video quality, force content creators to provide their materials for free, are either made publicly available or are poorly secured, and display video/banner ads or watermarks from uninvolved third parties.

VRMedia will license its private-label Kraken player to a variety of venues, providing a high degree of security and allowing a customizable user interface (UI) and branded art. Already in use by such virtual reality film festival partners as Ocean Gala and VR Fest, Kraken has also been utilized by museums, schools and medical facilities to name a few for its educational purposes. In partnership with a prominent teaching hospital, VRMedia is producing a series of VR medical training videos, beginning with the layout of trauma surgical units, with 360-degree educational videos on neonatal care units and other medical environments to follow.

VRMedia is currently developing proprietary innovations to help VR content creators simplify the process of building their virtual reality worlds, including a high-end VR camera and a suite of post-production tools for seamless 360-degree 3D VR content.

“Professional VR video producers are usually disappointed when seeing their hard work on a VR headset. Compression issues and resolution reductions in 3D all contribute to a sub-par experience, as well as the immature state of production tools,” says Greg Passmore. “We are dramatically reducing production with a more predictable, rapid-flow pipeline bookended with our own high performance player and a new professional 3D camera.”

Sasha Shapiro, Managing Director of Media Content Capital also adds, “Kraken is a very unique VR player. It is probably one of the most important products that the VR market needs today. Now, with Kraken, the only ultra-high resolution VR player in the market, VR content creators can present the quality of their produced VR experience at a level nobody has seen before.”