Industry Virtual reality Website altvr.com | Products Social software | |
Headquarters Redwood City, California Key people David Gudmundson, Eric Romo, Gavan Wilhite (founders) | ||
AltspaceVR is a software startup company based in Redwood City, California. It develops social software for virtual reality environments. According to technology news outlet The Verge, AltspaceVR is "one of the most fully developed platforms" for virtual social interaction.
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Company
AltspaceVR was founded in 2013, and launched its initial product in May 2015. Before starting it, CEO and co-founder Eric Romo designed rocket engines for the launch company SpaceX. The company uses a freemium business model, where the basic software is given away to consumers for free, and the business then charges for more advanced features.
AltspaceVR has raised a total of $15.7 million in venture capital investment, including a $10.3 million Series A round led by Comcast Ventures. As of 2015, the company had around 20 employees.
Products
AltspaceVR software provides meeting spaces in virtual reality, where users can have conversations, watch videos, play games, and browse the Internet. Virtual avatars in AltspaceVR can automatically mimic a user's body language, through the use of Microsoft's Kinect. The software supports eye tracking, but the necessary hardware is not yet available in most consumer VR headsets.
In February 2016, AltspaceVR launched on the Samsung Gear VR platform, which creates a virtual environment by putting lenses in front of a user's smartphone screen. It is also compatible with the HTC Vive and the Oculus Rift. Technology website Engadget described the software as "something like Second Life for virtual reality".
In April, AltspaceVR released the mobile app "VR Call", for Gear VR-compatible Samsung phones. The app allows users to call each other and have the call take place in a VR environment, similar to a telephone service or Skype.