HTC VIVE™ And New Reality Launch "Tree" On Viveport™ To Fight Deforestation And Climate Change

Global Leaders Experience the "VR for Impact" Title at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland

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Jan 24, 2019, 14:40 ET

DAVOS, Switzerland, Jan. 24, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- HTC VIVE's "VR for Impact" initiative and New Reality Company today announced that the critically acclaimed virtual reality experience, Tree, is set to launch on Viveport on January 24^th. The immersive VR project is currently being showcased at World Economic Forum (WEF) Annual Meeting in Davos this week to the leaders of global society on the HTC VIVE PRO with the VIVE Wireless Adapter. In addition, Viveport has pledged to donate funds from the first 1,000 purchases of Tree to the Rainforest Alliance to support its vital work to conserve the world's most critically threatened tropical rainforests.

In Tree, users experience the Amazon from the point of view of a kapok tree. Viewers grow from a seedling to a mature tree soaring above the canopy line, their arms and body morphing into branches and trunk. The experience brings to light the harrowing realities of tropical deforestation, which is driven primarily by agricultural expansion and generates more carbon emissions than the sum total of all the cars and trucks in the world. Tree was one of the first grant recipients of "VR for Impact" and has earned critical acclaim at prestigious events such as Sundance Film Festival. Starting January 24^th, the first 1,000 VIVE and Oculus Rift owners who download Tree on VIVEPORT for $4.99 will be supporting proven strategies to conserve forests—the most effective climate technology known to humankind. Tree is also available to download via Viveport Subscription, members can now choose the title as one of their five monthly picks.

"The magic with virtual reality is that it has the to power create empathy and awareness around humankind's most pressing problems in new immersive ways," said Rikard Steiber, President of Viveport. "New Reality's Tree is a moving and illuminating experience that serves as an example of how we can use the immersive nature of virtual reality to shine a light on critical issues."

"Virtual reality's greatest capability is to tell powerful stories," said Milica Zec, co-founder of New Reality. "Tree has been able to connect with viewers in an intimate way that has made climate change personal to them. We can't wait for people at home to finally be able to experience this project for the first time," said Winslow Porter, co-founder of New Reality.

Originally launched by HTC VIVE at WEF in 2017, "VR for Impact" is an initiative to drive VR and AR content and technologies that will create positive impact and change in support of the United Nation's Sustainable Development Goals. In 2018, HTC and WEF announced that WEF, in collaboration with a core group of VR/AR leaders and the UN, will drive the "VR for Impact" initiative going forward. As a core member of the group, HTC VIVE continues to design and create experiences as part of the collaborative, ongoing commitment to foster and champion the use of Virtual and Augmented Reality to educate and empower humanity.

For more information on VR for Impact visit: https://vrforimpact.com/.

About HTC VIVE
VIVE is a first-of-its-kind virtual reality platform, built an optimized for room-scale VR and true-to-life interactions. Delivering on the promise of VR with game-changing technology and best-in-class content, Vive has created the strongest ecosystem for VR hardware and software, bringing VR to consumers, developers and enterprises alike. The Vive ecosystem is built around the best VR hardware in market, supported by Vive X, a $100 million accelerator for VR and related technology start-ups, Viveport, a global platform and app store for VR that operates in more than 60 countries, and Vive Studios, its VR content development and publishing initiative.
For more information on Vive, please visit https://www.vive.com.

About New Reality Company
Co-founded by Milica Zec and Winslow Porter, New Reality Co. is a creative studio dedicated to synthesizing storytelling, art and technology into groundbreaking and emotional projects. In 2018 New Reality Company was awarded two Telly Gold Awards, the Hot Docs DocX Audience Award, a Lumiere Award for Best VR Location Based Short and the Webby People's Voice Award for Best VR: Interactive, Game or Real-Time for their project Tree. New Reality utilizes virtual, augmented, mixed and actual reality to tap into positive social change and explore the human experience, with a goal to invigorate viewers whether in a large-scale experiential installation or an intimate at-home viewing.

HTC, the HTC logo are the trademarks of HTC Corporation. All other names of companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.

SOURCE HTC VIVE