San Francisco, March 31, 2020 – Paracosma Inc today announces free remote virtual reality (VR) collaboration and event services for companies, events and entertainers impacted by the Covid19 Coronavirus. Utilizing Microsoft’s AltspaceVR social VR platform, Paracosma will build branded AltspaceVR “Worlds” for companies and promoters to use as their custom event space for hosting remote multiuser meetings and events in Virtual Reality.
The global coronavirus pandemic has caused massive disruption to global travel, tradeshows, cultural events, and business operations. All of California, New York and Illinois and ten other states are now under state-wide “stay at home” orders. Italy, France, Spain, Belgium and other countries have imposed country-wide lockdowns. Work-from-home mandates are affecting hundreds of millions of workers. Schools have closed, switching to remote learning. This ‘social distancing’ has forced the cancellation of face-to-face meetings and the necessity for new remote collaboration solutions.
Virtual Reality provides a risk-free environment for business people and consumers to meet “in person” in a virtual office, auditorium, meeting hall or event venue that is accessible to anyone in the world with an Internet-connected AltspaceVR compatible device.
Founded in 2013 and acquired by Microsoft in 2017, AltspaceVR is the oldest and most popular social VR platform providing multiuser meeting spaces in VR. Paracosma is an Augmented and Virtual Reality Service Provider that offers AR and VR Application Development and 3D Content Creation including photorealistic ‘digital twin’ recreations of physical spaces and industrial facilities. Paracosma’s VR applications have been used for enterprise and industrial training and surgery simulation and its 3D models and digital twins have been used for IoT (Internet of Things) data visualization, machine maintenance, photography replacement and other uses.
“We had the great experience of working with AltspaceVR to host our third-annual ‘VR for Good Conference’ entirely virtually on AltspaceVR’s platform,” says Ken Ehrhart, the Founder and CEO of Paracosma. “For the event, we had 1,393 users log on to AltspaceVR, demonstrating the power of scalable, high-quality remote collaboration using VR.”
“We founded ‘VR for Good’ together with Bob Fine from VR Voice because Paracosma’s Mission, is to ‘Make Reality Better Through Virtual Reality’,” continued Mr. Ehrhart. “What better way to help the world respond to the Coronavirus than to use VR to offer an alternative to in-person events.”
As part of its promotional offer, Paracosma will help companies that have implemented work-from-home or travel-ban policies, event organizers that have canceled previously planned tradeshows and concerts and schools that are mandating remote learning as a result of Covid19 to create use-appropriate, custom-branded meeting spaces, known as ‘Worlds’ in AltspaceVR. Built on Microsoft’s scalable AltspaceVR platform, these Worlds can be used for remote collaboration, hosting events and musical performances, and teaching students.
“No essential meeting should be canceled, no musician should lose their audience, and no student should suffer for lack of a meeting venue,” said Mr. Ehrhart, “when an AltspaceVR-compatible VR device can be purchased for less than the cost of a typical plane ticket.”
To take advantage of Paracosma’s VR Collaboration offer, please register at coronavirus.paracosma.com. Provide contact details, upload your company, event, or school logo, provide basic information on your meeting or event requirements (type of space, number of users), and Paracosma will contact you with next steps.
“We have been using AltspaceVR to bring together Paracosma’s employees in the US, Japan and Nepal for daily business meetings in our virtual office World and for company-wide townhall presentations in our virtual auditorium World. We will make these office and auditorium Worlds available immediately to any company wishing to test the immersive power of VR on AltspaceVR’s platform.”
Enterprises requiring more advanced VR collaboration tools or multi-user VR training beyond a simple virtual meeting location can also choose to set up an appointment with a Paracosma representative to discuss custom VR development services.
As part of a broader effort to help those affected by the Coronavirus Pandemic, Paracosma is also giving away its consumer virtual reality game, UnnamedVR, now renamed “Shelter in Place”.
About Paracosma
Founded in 2016, Paracosma is an Augmented and Virtual Reality (AR/VR) Service Provider with offices in the US, Japan and Nepal. Paracosma services include application development, 3D content creation, 360 video production, and project implementation across a broad range of AR & VR platforms. Additionally, Paracosma creates its own content in the gaming, entertainment, tourism, enterprise and education/training spaces. Paracosma also has proprietary technology for producing, viewing, managing and distributing 360-degree photo and video content.
About AltspaceVR
AltspaceVR is one of the pioneers in immersive communications bringing people together in virtual reality from over 160 countries to attend meetups, comedy shows, yoga classes, dance parties, and large-scale events hosted by NBC, Reggie Watts, Justin Roiland, Drew Carey and more. AltspaceVR was acquired by Microsoft in October 2017. With its Mixed Reality Group, Microsoft has become a global leader in Volumetric Video Capture, Mixed Reality Headsets for AR and VR and business collaboration tools.