Kitchener startup sees bright future for VR
Kitchener startup Babylon VR sees bright future for virtual technology
KITCHENER — Usman Aaron and Babylon VR are in cockroach mode.
Virtual reality technology has been around for more than 20 years, but it is nearing the point where practical applications combined with low-cost devices will create a market for VR software that will be worth an estimated US$24.5 billion by 2020, according to market research firm Super-Data.
Aaron wants Babylon VR to be ready when that happens. The startup is testing a platform that allows anyone to make an interactive virtual reality experiences in minutes, and share that content on the web.
“There is a saying in the VR industry right now: ‘A lot of startups have to stay in cockroach mode,’ which is just survive, just make it through until this becomes big,” Aaron said. “Once this thing becomes big, things like this will be needed.’”
Aaron, a Wilfrid Laurier University business grad, teamed up with Jack Liu, a University of Waterloo mechanical engineering grad, to found Babylon VR in 2015. The firm is located in the Velocity Garage, the startup accelerator run by UW in the Communitech Hub in downtown Kitchener.
Aaron and Liu developed software for sharing VR tours of homes and condos. Home buyers could use the app to change the colour of walls, cupboards and switch appliances.
But the real estate industry didn’t have much interest, they say. Why spend thousands on devices to make and share interactive virtual reality content when houses and condos are quickly selling for more than the listed prices?
So Aaron and Liu changed plans, and focused on a software platform that allows almost anyone to create VR content and quickly share it on the internet. That pivot was made possible by the release of inexpensive 360degree cameras, virtual reality apps for smartphones and the Google Cardboard virtual reality headset that sells for about $12.
Digital cameras and smartphones helped fuel the popularity of content-sharing platforms such as Facebook, YouTube and Instagram, said Aaron. And 10 years after the rise of social media, he sees a similar trend emerging with inexpensive 360-degree cameras and virtualreality headsets.
But without a platform to easily build and share VR content, you need to learn how to use a game engine, 3D modelling, Photoshop, programming and more. That can be frustrating for people with great ideas, but have no idea how to build their VR content, said Aaron.
The platform Babylon VR built went into testing about two months ago with a select list of companies. The first step is uploading a 360-degree photo. Then interactivity is added by using the drag-and-drop editor, much the way Wix popularized website building. Then you share it using a single web link.
Anyone can view the content on a smartphone or browser, with no VR headset required. The software is free for anyone who wants to create personal content. But companies pay a monthly fee.
For a more immersive experience, Aaron calls up the VR app on his Samsung Galaxy phone and slips the device into a Google Cardboard VR headset. When pressed against the eyes, the viewer sees a 3D rendering of Catalyst137, a hardware accelerator being built in a former warehouse on Glasgow Street in Kitchener.
When you click on a TV hanging on a wall in the VR experience, a promotional video starts playing; it explains what Catalyst137 is all about.
Wix, Word Press and Squarespace made it easy to build websites. That’s what Babylon VR wants to do for virtual reality, said Aaron.
Using 360-degree photographs is fine, but a 360-degree video takes the VR experience to another level, said Aaron. He taps the keys on his laptop, calls up a 360 video and shows the streaming content of a Star Wars speeder racing over the landscape of another planet.
“You can think of the possibilities,” Aaron said. “Imagine a training video. You can have a simulation of a forklift operator.”