HEXXU Options Screenplay for First Original Virtual Reality Film, Serves as Shared Pipeline for Content Creation

ATLANTA, Sept. 9, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- If developers of augmented reality and virtual reality hardware devices could hang a sign in their front window, it would probably say this.

Now wanted: Content.

Augmented reality and virtual reality are widely regarded as the future of entertainment, with Facebook's $2 billion purchase of Oculus, Google's investment in Magic Leap, Microsoft's HoloLens and others making headlines. But each of these ventures will need one critical element to achieve mass consumer demand – high-quality content.

The HEX process – producing stories for traditional media, augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) – is the foundation of Atlanta-based HEXXU Studios. Instead of focusing on just one of these formats, HEXXU is embracing and delivering solutions for all three of these formats, providing a full spectrum of original stories and experiences from which to choose. As a shared pipeline for content creation, the HEX process concentrates resources and mitigates expenses while providing multiple outputs.

"The future of entertainment is approaching escape velocity, and we are engineering the next frontier of cost-effective content creation," said Richard Oesterreicher, President & CEO of HEXXU. "We are primed to explore how each format changes the way people connect to characters and environments. For the audience, each format offers a different way to experience the same story in an alternative art form while also changing the tools the filmmaker has available to tell the story." 

HEXXU recently signed an option for its first original film, titled OBI, from local award-winning screenwriter Wiley McCain. OBI is the first film that will be produced and released in all three formats simultaneously. "OBI, being such a powerful, moving and visual story, is a great example to experience in more than one way," Oesterreicher added.

This animated short film will be released in all three formats.  The traditional media form will be available to watch in a theater or on a television, computer or mobile device. The traditional form will be extended with AR experiences to enhance the story for audiences with Microsoft HoloLens, Magic Leap or other mixed-reality devices. OBI will also be released as a stand-alone VR narrative film to experience on devices such as Oculus Rift, Sony Morpheus or similar VR devices. In VR form, the user can move and adjust their view – just like watching a stage play where the audience can move on the stage. 

"HEXXU has the perfect team to not only move the art of film forward, but to also move the film viewing experience further inward. I am excited that audiences will get to experience the OBI story, but I am ecstatic that HEXXU will be delivering that experience," screenwriter McCain said.

HEXXU starts by embracing traditional content creation in its current form with traditional media. A parallel part of the process is to create sequences that enhance the story experience through the addition of AR content, objects, characters and environmental features in and around the audience. This optional form of immersion requires some form of wearable or visor. But the "face race" has already begun with heavy-hitters such as Microsoft's HoloLens and Google's investment in Magic Leap leading the charge in what analysts like Digi-Capital's Managing Director Tim Merel predict will be a $120B market in five years.

The final experience option – VR, or immersive multimedia – creates an environment that simulates physical presence in imagined worlds and lets the audience interact with the story in that world. This experience requires a full Head Mounted Display (HMD) for viewing. With Facebook's Oculus Rift and Sony's Morpheus entering the market, content will be needed that borders on the realm of game experiences but also offers cinematic quality to drive a $30B market adoption in five years.

Utilizing HEXXU's patent-pending technology to create content this way is likely to raise many eyebrows. "The bedrock of our approach stems from the fact that we are first and foremost a technology company; the result being cinematic content creation. Imagine a world where you are sitting with the characters in a narrative and share the same point of view, the same experience and journey; you no longer watch the story but you are part of the story. This completely immersive experience goes far beyond storytelling. Simply stated, it will revolutionize an entire industry," added Carl W. Childers, VP of Marketing for HEXXU.

The HEXXU team averages 2-3 decades of experience each and has worked for companies like Microsoft, Softimage, Disney, DreamWorks, Warner Bros. and Sony Pictures. Its team members are creative technologists, visual effects artists, 3D modelers and animators, as well as real-time graphics experts and problem solvers – and they are already creating the high-quality content that mass consumer adoption of AR and VR hardware devices will demand.

To learn more, please visit www.hexxu.com.

Contact: Carl W. Childers
(404) 348-8475
Email

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