XR Immersive Tech is an immersive entertainment platform that seeks to bridge the gap between the Metaverse and the out-of-home entertainment industry. XR Immersive Tech develops VR attractions, provides software to run VR, and builds experiences/games. We had the pleasure of sitting down with Tim Bieber, the CEO of XR Immersive Tech, to chat about his company, the future of XR, and what he wants to achieve in the web3 space.
Hi Tim, can you tell us about yourself, your career, and how you got involved in the Metaverse space?
“Starting from the beginning, I grew up in perhaps one of the most remote areas in the world through the late 1970s and into the 1980s in Papua New Guinea. It gave me a unique perspective on myself and the world around me.”
“My career path has also had a similar foundation, and after I graduated from college I began working in the software industry, pioneering electronic medical records for physician practices. We were ahead of the game, back in the 1990s, creating a remote telehealth system and being highly involved in what is now called the Web 1.0 movement.
Practically speaking, I felt the potential of the emerging information superhighway and knew it was where I wanted to grow my skills and shepherd in the potential of the new technology. Little did I know how many of those early ideas would feed into the development of Web 3.0 and the metaverse we are seeing today.”
“Stepping back to the Web 2.0 period, I was proudly part of numerous startups I co-founded accomplishing first-in-tech endeavors, specifically within user-generated content, content delivery networks, and community engagement around video sharing. This was pre-Youtube and yet we can see how much that has shaped the last nearly twenty years.”
“Over the years my tenacity for entrepreneurship has seen the creation of five tech start-ups in the media, web, and VR space. Mostly kickstarted by a popular TV series I co-founded that relied on both traditional broadcast (syndication into over 65 countries) and internet streaming paired with fan engagement, web content, and online marketplace.”
“I have an internal drive to create and grow ideas, companies, and people to be the best they can be. Whether it is through mentorship of employees, raising funds for development, or coordinating stages of acquiring or building exits for companies, I have been involved in all aspects of business and product life cycles.”
“Now, as to what’s brought me into the Metaverse space. In 2018 founded a VR company with Lance Priebe (founder of club penguin which he sold to Disney after 18-months of exploding the growth of that social network) where our focus was on live-action VR content with apps for the oculus marketplace as well as mobile VR viewing in the iOS and Google Play app environments.
Add to this our work in documentary and long-form film projects exploring the early days of the tech and pushing boundaries on what was possible using this new form of storytelling and you can see that, really, my interests haven’t changed too greatly since my childhood. I’m an eager explorer. An avid builder. And, I like to believe, a thought leader in this and other fascinating fields.”
“Today I serve as XR Immersive Tech’s CEO and have been responsible for charting a course into the Metaverse leaning heavily on the company’s IP and strengths it has over the past 5 years in the immersive attractions space.
Since stepping into the helm position as CEO we have done a successful IPO and listing and publicly listing the company on three exchanges worldwide (CSE: VRAR, OTC:FNTTF & Frankfurt:79W), completed an acquisition of Synthesis VR; one of the largest VR software and games publishers in the world (powering 300+ VR arcades and 325+ games in the marketplace), launched the worlds first hyper-immersive multiplayer standalone VR attractions (UNCONTAINED) and dramatically expanded the team for the next phase of our explosive growth!”
You are the CEO of XR Immersive Tech, what is XR Immersive Tech? What does your company do?
“XR Immersive Tech is an Immersive Entertainment Platform – We are building a bridge into the metaverse for the out-of-home entertainment industry! Our platform consists of three pillars; We build and sell VR attractions (UNCONTAINED and soon to be many more), we provide software to run VR arcades (Synthesis VR which powers 300+ VR arcades) and we develop experiences/games (for our platform attractions, custom work for brands and we publish 325+ VR games).
The company has been in operation since 2017 and has built custom immersive experiences for some of the world’s largest companies including Intel, Bayer, Capital One, Scotia Bank, the US Food and Drug Administration, Allegiant Airlines, and more.”
Do you have any examples of how XR Immersive Tech has created immersive experiences?
“Among the many experiences that we have under our Escape Room portfolio, we also are launching the UNCONTAINED Hyper-Immersive Experience with a flagship game called DEEP SIGNAL. Set aboard a futuristic spacecraft, up to 6 players will embark on a galaxy-spanning adventure to uncover a mysterious anomaly… and the consequences of that journey. You can see more on UNCONTAINED here and the game here.”
“Over the years working with large brands like Intel, Capital One, Mars, and Bayer Pharmaceutical we have completed some incredible projects. One we are extremely proud of is an immersive (non-VR) experience created for Bayer Pharma as an event activation. It’s an undersea lab submarine built inside a 40-foot shipping container. It was all built on our hyper-immersive platform and controlled by our Uncontained/OS operating system. It’s really actually very mind-blowing what our team creates. “
What does the Metaverse mean for XR Immersive Tech, how will it help enable web3?
“The Metaverse is a big part of XR Immersive Tech’s visions for the present and the future. Fundamentally, the initially (call it phase 1) Metaverse will be immersive social experiences. Today the hardware we have readily available to access the Immersive web 3.0 is VR headsets so we have focused only on VR immersive experiences and specifically fun gaming experiences which will demonstrate the true power of what the Metaverse can and will be.
“Look no further than Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision/Blizzard (the largest acquisition in Tech history at $68.7B) and their CEO Satya Nadella stated that a large reason they acquired them was to form their metaverse and added that “The Metaverse is essentially about creating games”. The social aspect of the Metaverse will obviously be connected experiences like we see from the Massive-multiplayer-online (MMO) eSport gaming world. This is the logical progression of where VR is going anyway. We are putting a lot of investment into these important elements. “
What do you mean by the physical metaverse?
“The metaverse is a virtual environment but if you consider the ultimate definition and goal of the Metaverse it is to create worlds that Look and FEEL like our physical reality.”
“Immersive environments that look like reality are easy today with VR. Making an environment FEEL like physical reality is very hard and has not been a pioneer yet, until today.”
“Our Hyper-immersive systems use environmental and physical haptics (wind, heat, ambient audio, scent, and physical objects you and touch) – making the metaverse not only look but feel real like physical reality.”
How important do you think VR will be in the development of the Metaverse?
“It will be incredibly important, if not also incredibly interesting, to see how much VR is both leading the push into the development of the metaverse in the coming years. Our visions at XR Immersive Tech are to ensure that these steps are taken with all angles considered. As VR technology improves, so will the metaverse experience, and that’s one of the reasons we are pleased to be working with industry and thought leaders who have the pulse on where we can go, for example, we have Alvin Graylin on our board of directors. Alvin is HTC China President and a major thought leader in the VR industry.”
How else are you involved in Web3?
“Outside of our commitment to the development of physical technology, we are also highly invested in our own development of software to make certain the connectivity between our software and hardware, and by extension, our networks, are stable and working effectively. As I noted earlier, we have our own operating system, a player network, among a long list of initiatives that will use Web 3.0 to its fullest potential. Many new products will take full advantage of what Web 3.0 is offering including blockchain, tokens, and NFTs.”
What do you want to achieve in the Metaverse space in the next ten years?
“Idealistically speaking, I want to see the Metaverse become a place where people can experience new and incredible things: whether we focus on the entertainment industry or education and training, there is so much potential to be found in the direction we’re heading. It’s up to us, now, to curate the process so that where we go is a place that more than lives up to the reality we experience already. I imagine a far more unified world and VR technology that has been carefully considered to offer users something remarkable.”
How can our readers find out more?
“For starters, you can check out our site at ImmersiveTech.co where you’ll see all our past work, press releases, and links to our UNCONTAINED and Synthesis VR sites.”
“Your readers can follow me on Linkedin here to follow our latest announcements and progress.”
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