spatialcomputing.info

Industry Direct by V-Nova

Industry Direct is our program for sponsors who want to speak directly to the Road to VR newsletter audience. Industry Direct posts are written by sponsors with no involvement from the Road to VR editorial team and do not appear in our front-page editorial feed. Industry Direct sponsors help make Road to VR possible.

Anyone with a PC VR headset is invited to experience V-nova PresenZ, our next-gen VR movie format, by downloading the free ImmersiX app on Steam. See for yourself the power of high-quality CGI converted for true six degrees-of-freedom (6DoF) viewing in VR.

Read on to learn more about how it works.

For nearly a century, filmmakers have dreamed of letting audiences step inside movies, from early 3D experiments to today’s 360° VR. Yet these efforts fell short: traditional VR videos let you look around but not move freely, often causing discomfort and motion sickness. Real-time 3D graphics, meanwhile, can’t match the stunning quality of Hollywood cinematic productions like Mufasa: The Lion King (2024).

Today, the dream of truly immersing viewers in a cinematic story finally comes true. With the launch of the ImmersiX app on Steam and the breakthrough V-Nova PresenZ volumetric movie format, viewers can literally walk inside cinematic worlds, exploring them naturally with six degrees of freedom (6DoF).

Cracking the Code of Cinematic 6DoF

V-Nova PresenZ (pronounced “presence”, a nod to the 1999 film eXistenZ) is a hybrid-rendering volumetric technology. It transforms pre-rendered CGI into a smooth, point-cloud format for comfortable, nausea-free VR exploration. Unlike real-time game graphics, V-Nova PresenZ leverages Hollywood-quality pre-rendered visuals (think Pixar, WETA, or DreamWorks), enabling cinematic lighting, reflections, and animation previously impossible in VR without massive computing power. The difference between hours of rendering per frame versus the milliseconds available to game engines can be strikingly clear.

The result is a genuine virtual-camera experience: viewers can lean, peek, and move naturally around objects. Crucially, since the visuals are volumetric rather than flat video, close-up interactions don’t induce nausea. V-Nova PresenZ finally delivers true presence (that feeling of being there) without traditional VR trade-offs.

How is This Possible?

V-Nova PresenZ slots seamlessly into existing CGI pipelines. Studios continue using standard tools (Maya, Arnold, etc.), simply adding V-Nova’s plugins.

“What sets V-Nova PresenZ apart isn’t just technical innovation, but effortless integration with existing production workflows,” notes Jose Antunes of ProVideoCoalition.

Creating V-Nova PresenZ experiences from completed CGI scenes, including beloved films, is as straightforward as adapting films for IMAX 3D or ScreenX. Existing favorite content can be affordably re-released in immersive VR, unlocking unmatched audience experiences.

Historically, data size has been the primary challenge. Early versions of the format produced massive files impossible to distribute. V-Nova, leaders in advanced compression formats (MPEG-5 LCEVC, SMPTE VC-6), acquired the company that developed PresenZ, and empowered the team with its compression IP. After extensive development with Hollywood studios, V-Nova PresenZ is now a mature solution that efficiently streams at manageable data sizes. In the process, the format earned three prestigious Lumiere Awards from Hollywood’s Advanced Imaging Society.

ImmersiX: You Don’t Want To Miss This (Now on Steam)

Today, viewers can experience V-Nova PresenZ through the ImmersiX app, free on Steam for PC VR headsets. A streaming version for standalone devices (Apple Vision Pro, Meta Quest) arrives this summer, powered by NVIDIA’s GDN streaming infrastructure.

ImmersiX currently features three standout experiences:

• Weightless (free): the world’s first 6DoF music show by Grammy-winning songwriter Diane Warren and pop artist Arilena Ara, immerses you in a cosmic performance, with incredible music.
• Sharkarma: Guardian of the Oceans ($3.99): an interactive underwater thriller directed by veteran animator Cinzia Angelini, places you inside a visually spectacular oceanic survival adventure featuring a massive shark. Sharkarma entertains while informing audiences about the problem of shark finning. Early buyers of Part 1 will receive the full short movie free upon its completion later this year.
• Construct (free): a robot-fight short and Lumiere Award winner, originally created as traditional 2D animation, now remastered into immersive volumetric format.

Major Hollywood studios, equipped with extensive CG libraries, are already actively evaluating the format. DreamWorks Animation recently showcased V-Nova PresenZ excerpts of beloved titles like How to Train Your Dragon (2010) and Abominable (2019), generating industry excitement for the potential of porting Tier 1 content IP to cinematic 6DoF. Leading Hollywood VFX house Luma Pictures is prominently certified as a V-Nova PresenZ partner.

Audience feedback to ImmersiX is essential. Showing viewer interest will directly inform major studios decisions to bring groundbreaking immersive titles to life. Your feedback can thus influence the future of this new medium.

A Glimpse at the Future

ImmersiX’s launch signals cinematic 6DoF’s arrival as a genuine entertainment medium.

“We’re entering a new era where audiences don’t just watch, they step inside movies and shows,” says Guido Meardi, CEO of V-Nova.

Imagine watching your favorite blockbuster movies from within or joining your favorite artists in surreal VFX shows.

Download ImmersiX today on Steam to get a first glimpse of this future. Explore ‘Weightless’ and ‘Construct’ at no cost, and secure early-access pricing for ‘Sharkarma’ (including a free upgrade to the full short upon release). Your support and feedback now will directly shape the future of cinematic VR storytelling. Step inside the story, and help define the next generation of immersive entertainment.

For more information, visit V-nova.