Non-Profit, Immersive Technology Alliance Gets Ready to Standardize Virtual Reality

TORONTO, ON--(Marketwired - Jan 5, 2015) - The Immersive Technology Alliance (ITA) is currently forming working groups to make effective quality assurance and software compatibility standards for virtual reality (VR) devices. Defined industry standards will allow content makers to confidently produce experiences for all immersive solutions and community platforms.

"The ITA is a unique forum for diverse companies to identify collaborative opportunities to accelerate the mainstream adoption of virtual and augmented reality. Consumer-ready VR and AR will require many interoperating standards, and Khronos looks forward to working with the ITA to help make that vision a reality," said Neil Trevett, President, Khronos Group (makers of OpenGL).

Early ITA participants include ImmersiON-VRelia, YEI Technology (PrioVR), FOVE, VRVANA, Siliconarts, Next Galaxy Corp, University of Central Florida and more. A private ITA CES 2015 meeting will reveal additional participating technology leaders.

ITA membership is collating and developing the required knowledge that will define a measurable experience and specification to aim for and be rated against. The compatibility standard will follow: created internally or passed on to a qualified industry-wide standards body. This standard will help fulfill the quality assurance specification.

"ITA standards are reminiscent of the work we did in the early days of digital cinema to get the industry to adopt the format. This will be a major catalyst for the widespread adoption by content makers and consumers alike," said Mary Spio, CEO, Next Galaxy Corp.

"Less time content makers spend on reinventing the wheel and more time spent on valuable differentiation of their products will accelerate the industry. The more informed debate and varied discussion we can have in the creation of standards the better," said Alan Price, President of The ITA.

"Academia has been working on VR for over 30 years. This is an invaluable contribution for creating Virtual Reality Standards and supporting developers and industry," said Dr. Joseph LaViola, Director of the Interactive Systems & User Experience Research Cluster of Excellence at the University of Central Florida.

"VR experiences should provide the best user experience possible independently of hardware choice. The only way is by standardizing the interaction among the different layers, cameras, sensors, HMDs, Human Interface Devices, Mobile phones, and more. The ITA has the structure, people, tenure and know-how to build the big picture and put the industry first," said Manuel R. Gutierrez Novelo, CEO of ImmersiON-VRelia.

"We look forward to contributing to a collective standard that will allow content and platform providers to confidently support the imminent explosion of immersive hardware accessories. This is a critical foundation piece for the next big thing in gaming and simulation," said Francesca Hartop, CEO of YEI Technology.

"The ITA provides a unique platform for both hardware makers and content producers in that it not only supports traditional high profile technologies, but also embraces emerging next-generation technologies that have potential for success," said Colin Shin, CMO of Siliconarts.

"This is our chance to get the sharpest minds together and do something amazing. Everyone would benefit from a non-partisan proof-of-quality seal, and an eventual industry-wide VR standard would help make sure that creating and selling exceptional virtual reality content is easy and efficient on all solutions," said Bertrand Nepveu, CEO of VRVANA.

All qualified parties are welcome to participate and ensure that the upcoming standards are both effective and durable. CES 2015 Meetings with ITA representatives can be scheduled below: