Company:Nomadic

From HandWiki
Short description: Virtual reality entertainment company
Nomadic
Headquarters
San Rafael, California
,
United States
Key people
Number of employees
6 (2017)
Websiteblurtheline.com

Nomadic (sometimes referred to as Nomadic VR or NomadicVR),[1][2][3] is a location-based virtual reality entertainment company based in San Rafael, California, in the United States.

Overview

Nomadic is a virtual reality (VR) entertainment company based in San Rafael, California.[2][4][5] Nomadic partners with film and gaming companies to create virtual reality "arcades",[3] or various commercial brick and mortar locations such as malls and theaters, where participants' tactile and virtual realities are merged.[2] Users wear headsets and computer backpacks to explore virtual environments, and often use physical props as part of the VR narrative.[3][6] Venues host modular sets that can be easily adapted to accommodate regularly-updated VR content.[6][7]

The company's founders have backgrounds in the brand, film, gaming, and retail industries.[2][6] Doug Griffin serves as chief executive officer, and Rick Schulze serves as creative director.[2] John Duncan is the "head of physical production", and Kalon Gutierrez holds the role of "head of growth".[2][8][9]

History

Nomadic's initial $1 million in funding was provided by "family and friends".[8] The company had six full-time employees, as of 2017.[8]

The company unveiled its prototype at the CinemaCon trade show, which is presented by the National Association of Theatre Owners,[1] in Las Vegas in March 2017.[1] In June 2017,[10] Nomadic received $6 million in seed funding from Horizons Ventures, Maveron, Presence Capital, Verus International, and Vulcan Capital,[3][4][11] which was used to hire staff, develop technology, and enter new markets and venues.[2] The company's experience was made available to the general public in the Wonderful Worlds of Whampoa mall in Hong Kong in mid 2017.[12] The Technicolor Experience Center, in Culver City, California, hosted a temporary installation in October.[13] Nomadic plans to launch public location-based VR experiences by early 2018.[2][10]

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 Bishop, Bryan (April 1, 2017). "The movie business is in denial". The Verge (Vox Media). https://www.theverge.com/2017/4/1/15150018/hollywood-movie-theaters-denial-virtual-reality-cinemacon-2017. Retrieved December 16, 2017. 
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 "Marin Co. virtual-reality startup Nomadic gets $6M in funding". North Bay Business Journal. June 12, 2017. http://www.northbaybusinessjournal.com/northbay/marincounty/7092476-181/nomadic-virtual-reality-tech-startup?artslide=0. Retrieved December 16, 2017. 
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Carson, Biz (July 15, 2017). "The 17 best new startups that have launched this year". Business Insider (Axel Springer SE). http://www.businessinsider.com/top-hot-startups-to-launch-in-2017-7/. Retrieved December 16, 2017. 
  4. 4.0 4.1 Schubarth, Cromwell (June 12, 2017). "The Funded: Two acquisitions and six new rounds as week starts". Silicon Valley Business Journal (American City Business Journals). https://www.bizjournals.com/sanjose/news/2017/06/12/the-funded-lexisnexis-buys-ravel-law.html. Retrieved December 16, 2017. 
  5. Griffith, Erin (June 12, 2017). "Term Sheet -- Monday, June 12". Fortune (Time Inc.). ISSN 0015-8259. https://fortune.com/2017/06/12/term-sheet-monday-june-12/. Retrieved December 16, 2017. 
  6. 6.0 6.1 6.2 Sherr, Ian (March 23, 2017). "I shot down drones and jumped between rooftops -- in VR". CBS Interactive. https://www.cnet.com/news/i-shot-down-a-bunch-of-drones-and-jumped-between-rooftops-in-vr-oculus-facebook-sony-htc-valve/. Retrieved December 16, 2017. 
  7. Roettgers, Janko (March 23, 2017). "Virtual Reality You Can Touch: Nomadic Wants to Bring VR Experiences to Malls, Movie Theaters". Variety (Penske Media Corporation). ISSN 0042-2738. OCLC 810134503. https://variety.com/2017/digital/news/nomadic-location-based-vr-1202014101/. Retrieved December 16, 2017. 
  8. 8.0 8.1 8.2 "Can a Location-Based VR Startup Help Revive Shopping Malls and Cinemas?". Fast Company (Mansueto Ventures). March 23, 2017. ISSN 1085-9241. https://www.fastcompany.com/3069107/can-a-location-based-vr-startup-help-revive-shopping-malls-and-cinemas. Retrieved December 16, 2017. 
  9. Lawrence, Christopher (April 5, 2017). "Virtual reality movies, games and ads may be coming to a movie theater near you". Las Vegas Review-Journal. ISSN 1097-1645. https://www.reviewjournal.com/entertainment/entertainment-columns/christopher-lawrence/virtual-reality-movies-games-and-ads-may-be-coming-to-a-movie-theater-near-you-video/. Retrieved December 16, 2017. 
  10. 10.0 10.1 Matney, Lucas (June 12, 2017). "Nomadic nabs $6M for its modular VR system for retail spaces". TechCrunch. https://techcrunch.com/2017/06/12/nomadic-nabs-6m-in-seed-funding-for-its-modular-tactile-vr-system/. Retrieved December 16, 2017. 
  11. Sherr, Ian (June 13, 2017). "A mind-blowing VR arcade won me over. It'll get you too". https://www.cnet.com/news/never-tried-vr-you-will-soon-playstation-vr-oculus-vive-imax/. 
  12. Ye, Josh (July 3, 2017). "Li Ka-shing invites shoppers to touch and feel their way through his mall in virtual reality". South China Morning Post (Alibaba Group). http://www.scmp.com/tech/social-gadgets/article/2101007/li-ka-shing-invites-shoppers-touch-and-feel-their-way-through. Retrieved December 16, 2017. 
  13. Pressberg, Matt (October 27, 2017). "Is This How Virtual Reality Goes Mainstream?". https://www.thewrap.com/virtual-reality-goes-mainstream/. Retrieved December 16, 2017. 

External links