Company:ElseVR
| Type | Division |
|---|---|
| Industry | Virtual reality |
| Founded | 2015 |
| Headquarters | Goa , |
Key people | Template:Unbulleted |
ElseVR is a virtual and augmented reality platform headquartered in Goa, India.[1][2] It was established in 2015 by Memesys Culture Lab, a cinema and new media studio at the intersection of science, philosophy and culture.
In 2017, the company launched its virtual reality app called ElseVR channel, a platform for stories in mixed reality.[3][4][5]
Background
The idea of ElseVR was born when its co-founder Anand Gandhi toured the US in 2014, delivering lectures at Stanford and MIT. He was invited by AR company Daqri to speak about the future of AR and VR, which got him thoroughly invested in the future of virtual realities.[6][7]
Gandhi gathered together a team of writers, filmmakers, journalists, and tech experts and started Memesys Culture Lab in 2015.[8] Co-founded by Zain Memon, Vinay Shukla, Khushboo Ranka, Neil Pagedar, and Pooja Shetty, the company, in 2015, raised initial investment capital from Round Glass Partners to produce broadcast quality AR and VR content from India .[9]
In February 2016, the company appointed Shubhangi Swarup, a journalist,[4] as executive editor, and Zain Memon as tech-and-platform head of ElseVR.[10]
In February 2017, the company released its first app for the virtual reality headset. This was followed by the launch of six documentaries including Cost of Coal,[8] Right To Pray,[3] When Borders Move, Yeh Ballet, Submerged, and Caste is Not a Rumour.[1][2]
In the same year, the company made a collaboration with Amnesty International India and Oxfam India and installed VR booths at the Mumbai Metro stations to engage the commuters with VR documentaries, putting them at the center of important narratives like floods, mining and displacement, Dalit protests and feminist movements.[1]
Films
In 2016, the company released the first batch of six VR documentaries made by Memesys Culture Lab on ElseVR, a VR journalism and documentary platform.
Documentary films
| Year | Title | Director | Premier | Language | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Right to Pray | Khushboo Ranka | 9 September 2016 | Hindi | [11] |
| 2017 | Caste Is Not a Rumour | Naomi Shah, Pourush Turel | 3 February 2017 | Hindi | |
| 2017 | The Cost of Coal | Faiza Ahmad Khan, Aruna Chandrashekhar | 4 February 2017 | Hindi | [12] |
| 2017 | Submerged | Nishtha Jain | 6 February 2017 | Hindi | |
| 2017 | Yeh ballet | Sooni Taraporevala | 7 June 2017 | Hindi, English | [13] |
| 2017 | When Borders Move | Shubhangi Swarup | 10 August 2017 | Hindi, Urdu, Kashmiri |
Khushboo Ranka's Right to Pray was selected to be screened at the Indian Panorama during the 47th International Film Festival of India (IFFI), held in November 2016 in Goa[11]
The ElseVR team also created two behind-the-scenes documentaries, Dhaakad and Inside Dangal, on the making of Aamir Khan's Dangal.[1][2]
Sooni Taraporevala is presently developing the concept of Yeh Ballet into a feature film produced by Siddharth Roy Kapur’s Roy Kapur Films (RKF).[14]
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 "India's first VR platform booths launched at Mumbai metro stations" (in en). Deccan Chronicle. 15 February 2017. https://www.deccanchronicle.com/technology/in-other-news/150217/indias-first-vr-platform-booths-launched-at-mumbai-metro-stations.html.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 "Experience insightful short films in a virtual reality avatar" (in en). Mid-day. 23 May 2017. https://www.mid-day.com/articles/experience-insightful-short-films-in-a-virtual-reality-avatar-culture-news/18272179.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 "A 360 degree view of India’s hinterland". The New Indian Express. https://www.newindianexpress.com/cities/kochi/2017/mar/14/a-360-degree-view-of-indias-hinterland-1581329.html.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 "Anand Gandhi launches platform for virtual reality content". Mangalorean. 27 October 2016. https://www.mangalorean.com/anand-gandhi-launches-platform-for-virtual-reality-content/.
- ↑ Bureau, GizBot (6 February 2017). "Memesys Culture Labs launches VR app" (in en). Gizbot. https://www.gizbot.com/apps/news/memesys-culture-labs-launches-vr-app-038108.html.
- ↑ Dundoo, Sangeetha Devi (21 July 2015). "Get ready for experiential viewing" (in en-IN). The Hindu. https://www.thehindu.com/features/videos-in-virtual-reality-format-says-anand-gandhi/article7447754.ece.
- ↑ Guha, Kunal (12 July 2015). "Grist for the mills" (in en). Mumbai Mirror. https://mumbaimirror.indiatimes.com/others/sunday-read/grist-for-the-mills/articleshow/48038930.cms.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Ghosh, Sankhayan (22 July 2016). "Lounge preview: A VR family in Mumbai" (in en). Mint. https://www.livemint.com/Leisure/RsjcS3qjfdViZoXiKX3fIO/Lounge-preview-A-VR-family-in-Mumbai.html.
- ↑ "Anand Gandhi set to launch India's first mega virtual reality lab" (in en). Mid Day. 22 May 2016. https://www.mid-day.com/articles/anand-gandhi-set-to-launch-indias-first-mega-virtual-reality-lab/17259194.
- ↑ Balasubramanian, Malavika (12 July 2019). "When politics on celluloid spills over to a board game" (in en-IN). The Hindu. https://www.thehindu.com/society/anand-gandhi-zain-memon-memesys-culture-lab-shasn-board-game/article28407953.ece.
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 "‘Right to Pray’ India’s First Virtual Reality Film Will Be at TIFF" (in en). The Quint. 25 August 2016. https://www.thequint.com/entertainment/right-to-pray-toronto-film-festival-anand-gandhi-khusboo-ranka-virtual-reality-documentary.
- ↑ "THE COST OF COAL: Using virtual reality to tell the story of India’s coal-mining affected communitie". Amnesty International India. https://amnesty.org.in/news-update/cost-coal-using-virtual-reality-tell-story-indias-coal-mining-affected-communitie/.
- ↑ "Yeh Ballet movie review: Sooni Taraporevala cleverly blends the personal with the political, fiction with reality- Entertainment News, Firstpost" (in en). Firstpost. 21 February 2020. https://www.firstpost.com/entertainment/yeh-ballet-movie-review-sooni-taraporevala-cleverly-blends-the-personal-with-the-political-fiction-with-reality-8057911.html.
- ↑ "Sooni Taraporevala on taking the leap of faith with Netflix’s Yeh Ballet". Elle (India). https://elle.in/article/sooni-taraporevala-yeh-ballet/.
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