VR app store chief to keynote at MIPTV

A keynote speech at MIPTV in April will highlight how phone maker HTC is preparing the first subscription virtual reality market place, and wider trends in the VR content sector.

Rikard Steiber (pictured), who is president of HTC’s Viveport VR app store, will deliver a talk on how his company is planning monetise a market place of around 1,000 VR content experiences that are available for Vive headsets.

The Viveport subscription platform was announced earlier this month, and will allow users to pay a set fee, details of which have not yet been announced, for access to content. Currently Vive users can only pay for content individually.

Further to that, Viveport recently launched a platform that allows VR content to distributed globally in arcades and amusement centres.

Steiber will contend these developments and the range of content experiences on the market shows VR’s potential to become the next mass-adopted medium.

In parallel, MIPTV organiser Reed Midem is hosting the first Immersive Content Leadership Summit, an invitation-only gathering of industry executives looking to shape the rules of monetising VR content in the market and create a sustainable business model.

VR execs from media groups, distributors, producers and manufacturers are expected to attend the event, whose conference sessions will address topics such as social VR and augmented reality.

HTC Vive, Sony, Google Daydream, BBC Studios, Turner, Jaunt VR, Microsoft Hololens, Okio Studios, Marc Dorcel, Vast Media, and Nexus Studios have confirmed their participation.

“VR content today, ranges from immersive story-driven narratives to powerful entertainment experiences,” said Laurine Garaude, director of television division at Reed Midem.

“As such, it is very much part of MIPTV’s DNA to provide the funding blocks for a VR content market place and to foster the development of compelling VR content across the wider entertainment sector.”