Kaltura Unveils VR Partner Alliance for the Future of OTT at IBC 2016
Kaltura partners with Inception, 24i Media, Encompass and Harmonic to showcase what future OTT experiences will look like, including VR
New York(07 Sep 2016)
Kaltura, the leading video technology provider, is launching an exciting VR Alliance, in partnership with VR content and distribution company Inception, along with additional partners 24i, Encompass and Harmonic, at IBC 2016, showcasing the future of TV experiences. Visitors to the Kaltura booth will get to see Kaltura’s vision for VR in an OTT world, showcasing how OTT service providers, broadcasters and media companies can engage users with a highly immersive experience utilizing a mix of VR360 and virtual reality content. With the goal of promoting an open ecosystem of technology providers, and app developers, Kaltura continues to onboard relevant OTT players, customers and partners to this new program.
The demonstration at IBC will include VR360 content as well as a virtual store, powered by Inception, whose technology is currently in closed beta and will be officially launched in Q4. The user is transported to a virtual room to watch movies and TV shows.
Kaltura is focused on helping OTT players add engaging features and capabilities to their OTT services, enabling their audiences with the most advanced TV experiences. According to Digi-Capital, VR revenues could reach $30 billion by 2020, and therefore Kaltura expects several OTT customers to add VR functionality to their propositions in the coming year.
“Adding VR experiences will help OTT players to redefine their propositions to gain considerable competitive advantage. The opportunities for creating exciting, immersive viewing experiences for sports events, concerts and other types of content are endless, and also open up new monetization options. Our experience in helping customers negotiate their OTT journeys means that we are ideally placed, together with our ecosystem partners, to help them navigate the emerging VR landscape,” commented Ron Yekutiel, Kaltura Co-founder, Chairman and CEO.
“VR is quickly becoming the best way for consumers to truly immerse themselves in new experiences,” added Benny Arbel, Inception CEO. "In addition to having some of the best VR content, the Inception app has the most cutting edge technology for viewing VR, and we are excited to work with Kaltura to provide this technology to OTT players."
About Kaltura
Kaltura’s mission is to power any video experience. A recognized leader in the OTT TV (Over the Top TV), OVP (Online Video Platform), EdVP (Education Video Platform) and EVP (Enterprise Video Platform) markets, Kaltura has emerged as the fastest growing video platform, and as the one with the widest use-case and appeal. Kaltura is deployed globally in thousands of enterprises, media companies, service providers and educational institutions and engages hundreds of millions of viewers at home, in work, and at school. The company is committed to its core values of openness, flexibility, and collaboration, and is the initiator and backer of the world's leading open-source video-management project, which is home to more than 100,000 community members. For more information visit www.kaltura.com, www.kaltura.org, or www.html5video.org.
About Inception
Inception, currently in closed beta, provides VR entertainment content that brings immersive experiences to life – for everyone. Through original formats and creative programming, Inception is set to be the destination of choice for engaging experiences in heritage, music and culture. For more information, visit www.inceptionvr.com.