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Former PlayStation exec and Sony Studios president Phil Harrison has been named as one of the first investors in VR studio Dream Reality.
The developer was founded last year by industry veteran and former Sony man Dave Ranyard. Alongside Harrison, the company has also secured investment from independent creative company Mother.
We are really excited by the space where AR, VR and AI meet and can see amazing opportunities for new levels of immersion and human interaction," Ranyard said. Having backing from two successful and insightful investors enables us to accelerate our ambitions and is a huge validation of the talented team we have put together."
Mother CEO Michael Wall added: The team that Dave has assembled at dRi represent a brilliant and fundamental part of the future shape of marketing – with the skills to harness emerging technologies and supercharge the potential of brand storytelling. Our recent experience with Stella has only reinforced our view of the importance it will present in the future."
Speaking separately to Eurogamer, Harrison stated that VR as we know it today is just the early incarnation of far greater things to come.
"I don’t believe that any of the devices that are on the market today are going to be the winners 10 years from now. I don’t think any of the devices we see today are going to have the legs to last a 10-year generation," he stated.
"I was having a conversation with Hilmar [Veigar Ptursson] from CCP about this exact issue last night and he came up with a brilliant analogy. He said, ‘VR is like scuba diving in fresh air,’ because you’re wearing all this stuff and it’s a really uncomfortable experience.
"All of the devices need to go through a massive change. Phil Spencer is right when he says, ‘When you’ve got loads of wires sticking out of your head, it’s not going to be a mass market adoption.’"
