Amsterdam, The Netherlands, September 14, 2018 – The Virtual Reality Industry Forum (VRIF) – one of the XR industry’s foremost trade groups and the leading source of technical expertise in cinematic VR – is showcasing the latest VR innovations at IBC2018.

Highlighting how VR is becoming more accessible, the VRIF Future Zone booth features cutting-edge, interactive demos from members Qualcomm, Nokia/Fraunhofer HHI, and Imeve, all based on the new VRIF technical guidelines.

VRIF President Rob Koenen said: “Our presence at this year’s IBC shows the significant progress we are making towards device- and platform-agnostic VR. The demonstrations at our booth implement elements of VRIF’s guidelines for high-quality, interoperable VR360 services, translating our work from paper to actual implementations.”

Members’ demonstrations include Imeve’s high-quality live streaming VR360 solution, while Fraunhofer HHI and Nokia will jointly present free tools for the production and playback of streaming VR360. Qualcomm will complete the line-up, showcasing spatial audio technologies with standards-based (MPEG-H) Higher Order Ambisonics on a Google Daydream View headset and on a tablet.

“Expectations around VR were inflated two years ago,” continued Koenen. “The outlook is now more realistic and the good news for the industry is that the forecast for VR is healthy. Our exhibit at this year’s IBC demonstrates that standards-based, high-quality VR distribution is now becoming a reality, helping to accelerate adoption and create a buoyant marketplace.

Koenen will discuss the VRIF’s latest developments and the state of the VR industry when he chairs a masterclass on Sunday, September 16 as part of IBC2018. The masterclass will look beyond VR360, discussing upcoming developments like point clouds, lightfield coding and immersive audio, with speakers from Institut MINES-Telecom, Light Field Labs, and Fraunhofer IIS, respectively.

The VRIF membership includes XR influencers, leaders and innovators such as Akamai, Dolby, Ericsson, Fraunhofer, Harmonic, Huawei, Intel, Nokia, Qualcomm, Sky, Sony, Verizon and many more.

With a focus on cinematic VR, the group advocates for consensus around technical standards, encourages interoperability and develops guidelines for best-practices. Through these efforts, the VRIF aims to help bridge the adoption chasm and reduce costs of development and production.

To find out more about the VRIF and view the demonstrations at IBC 2018, visit booth 8.F19 in the Future Zone, Hall 8. The IBC Exhibition takes place at RAI Amsterdam from Friday, September 14 to Tuesday, September 18.