Extended Reality (XR) is at a pivotal juncture, with its vast potential often constrained by technological and content limitations. Traditional immersive videos, such as 360-degree formats, allow users to look around but lack real three-dimensionality, meaning the ability to interactively change the point of view when looking or moving around. Consequently, our brains rapidly understand that something isn’t quite right and make us feel motion sick.
V-Nova PresenZ addresses these challenges by offering photorealistic, fully immersive Six Degrees of Freedom (6DoF) experiences that just work. Unlike earlier formats, V-Nova PresenZ enables users to move naturally within cinematic-grade virtual scenes—moving towards objects and characters, peering behind them, and experiencing a realistic sense of immersion. Technically speaking, this is achieved by means of a volumetric format, but it does not really matter: when we can forget about the technology behind it, the job was done right. This advancement not only enhances user engagement but also eliminates the motion sickness commonly associated with immersive videos.
MARKET OVERVIEW:
- Size and Growth: The global XR market is experiencing significant expansion. In 2023, the market was valued at approximately USD 142.39 billion and is projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 32.9% from 2024 to 2030. (Grand View Research)
- Currently, around 50 million XR headsets have been sold, with approximately 30 million monthly active users. These users collectively spend about USD 7 billion annually on XR gaming. Considering household access, nearly 100 million individuals have easy access to an XR headset today. Recent advancements in XR headsets, including technical improvements and price reductions, such as the Meta Quest 3S at $299, have expanded the market beyond early adopters. V-Nova PresenZ further broadens this appeal by introducing immersive experiences in movies and music, tapping into entertainment sectors beyond gaming.
- Demographics: While the initial focus has been on Gen Z, Millennials, and tech-forward early adopters, there’s a growing interest among film enthusiasts, music lovers, and the general public. This shift indicates a broader market ready for cinematic, immersive content.
- Opportunity Gap: Despite the growth, there’s a notable scarcity of truly cinematic, immersive content in the XR space. Lean-back narrative media – an industry that collectively moves almost a trillion dollars a year outside of XR – has not yet been able to truly work, with past attempts being marred by technical limitations. V-Nova PresenZ aims to fill this void by delivering high-quality, immersive experiences that resonate with a wider audience.
COLLABORATION WITH MAJOR STUDIOS:
- Targeted Partnerships: V-Nova has been collaborating with major studios to remaster blockbuster CG features and cult classics into the V-Nova PresenZ format. This format provides studios with a new avenue to reach audiences, leveraging existing and past content production investments. Studios already support multiple formats today, adapting their content to suit various theatrical ranging from standard cinema to HDR cinema, stereoscopic 3D cinema, IMAX theatres, or ScreenX. V-Nova PresenZ offers a new opportunity to reach the audience and make them experience content in a completely new and emotionally striking way.
- Studio Collaboration: Several Hollywood studios and large independents are currently working with V-Nova to produce tests of their top brands for the V-Nova PresenZ format. NBCUniversal have already wowed audiences with short excerpts from Dreamworks Animation classics such as How to Train Your Dragon and Abominable ported to V-Nova PresenZ. Industry insiders like award-winning Luma Pictures, Giorgio Stock, former Disney executive and President EMEA of Warner Media, and David Uslan, son of the renowned producer of the Batman movie series, have been working with V-Nova to bring major content IP to this new format. V-Nova Studios has also been collaborating with legendary music author Diane Warren to produce the first-ever cinematic 6DoF launch for her latest song Weightless, performed by Albanian pop star Arilena Ara.
- Value Proposition: V-Nova PresenZ enables an entirely new way of experiencing stories and shows, enhancing replayability, audience feedback, and engagement. By immersing viewers in a 6DoF environment, it transforms passive viewing into an interactive experience.
ORIGINAL CONTENT BY V-NOVA STUDIOS:
- Creative Vision: Similarly to IMAX’s initial content production to showcase its format, V-Nova created V-Nova Studios, a business unit involved in the development and production of original content specifically designed to demonstrate the potential of V-Nova PresenZ. This includes experimenting with various visuals, editing styles, and use cases, ranging from movie shorts to immersive music choreographies.
- Diverse Genres: The studio is exploring a spectrum of experiences and visual styles, encompassing both CG animation and volumetrically captured live action with humans. This diversity aims to cater to varied audience preferences and showcase the versatility of the V-Nova PresenZ format.
PUBLIC INTRODUCTION STRATEGY:
- Gradual Rollout: V-Nova plans a phased approach across various XR platforms, starting with Steam VR and extending to the Quest Store and Apple Vision Store. The strategy includes integrating V-Nova PresenZ experiences into consumer-friendly apps, making them accessible similarly to existing XR experiences. This approach ensures ease of access and encourages widespread adoption. Discussions are underway for opportunities in location-based XR, events, and partnerships with leading XR device manufacturers. Large-scale distribution of V-Nova PresenZ content leverages enhanced XR pixel streaming technology developed in partnership with NVIDIA.
- ImmersiX: V-Nova has set first quarter 2025 for the launch of ImmersiX (from “immersive” and “Six Degrees of Freedom”), an app that will debut on Stream VR to introduce the V-Nova PresenZ Six Degrees of Freedom (6DoF) format to the public. The ImmersiX app will allow audiences to experience the hyper-realistic visuals and unprecedented detail of V-Nova PresenZ and preview a new frontier in storytelling, where viewers don’t just watch—they feel, explore, and connect like never before.
Beyond entertainment, XR companies aim to explore opportunities in next-generation product placement, commerce, and immersive learning. The photorealistic immersion offered by V-Nova PresenZ opens avenues for innovative applications across various sectors.V-Nova is at the forefront of enabling transformative XR content, supported by cutting-edge compression and content delivery technologies. By addressing existing limitations, V-Nova PresenZ sets a new standard for immersive experiences. With its innovative approach, V-Nova PresenZ has the potential to reshape entertainment and beyond, offering immersive experiences that engage and captivate audiences in unprecedented ways.
Guido Meardi is the Co-Founder and CEO of V-Nova, a tech company dedicated to improving data compression and AI processing. A former senior Partner at McKinsey, Meardi was head of the Organization and Operations Practices of the Mediterranean Complex, where he led transformational projects across the globe and was instrumental in setting up some of McKinsey’s own innovation-related business-building activities. Guido holds an MBA from MIT Sloan, where he was a Siebel Scholar, and an M.Sc. in Computer Engineering from Politecnico di Milano, where he was an Intel scholar, and the University of Texas at Austin.
