MIPTV to Spotlight VR with Keynote from Head of Viveport

PARIS: The MIPTV 2017 program will feature a special emphasis on virtual reality (VR), including a keynote address from Rikard Steiber, the president of Viveport at HTC Vive.

MIPTV, which will be held from April 3 to 6, will spearhead its focus on virtual reality with Steiber’s keynote speech, in which he will discuss the different content plays that are growing the VR ecosystem. With Viveport, HTC built a VR app store and content-delivery platform that is both consumer- and enterprise-facing. The app store will soon be the first to introduce a subscription model for VR, helping consumers navigate through more than 1,000 pieces of content currently available in the marketplace. Viveport recently launched a platform to distribute VR content globally into arcades and amusement centers.

MIPTV is also hosting the inaugural Immersive Content Leadership Summit. The invitation-only gathering of industry pioneers will shape the rules of VR’s transactional content marketplace and explore how to turn the VR content economy into a sustainable ecosystem. The roundtable summit will feature VR executives from media groups, content distributors, producers and manufacturers.

Additionally, the conference program will include a series of panels looking at VR through the lens of existing genres, as well as topics such as social VR and augmented reality. Alongside HTC Vive, participating companies include Sony, Google Daydream, BBC Studios, Turner, Rewind, Jaunt VR, Microsoft Hololens, 30 Ninjas, Start VR, Altspace VR, Okio Studio, MediaMonks, Blend Media, LIVELIKE VR, XTremeVideo, Marc Dorcel, VAST MEDIA and Nexus Studio.

“VR content today ranges from immersive story-driven narratives to powerful entertainment experiences,” said Laurine Garaude, the director of the television division at Reed MIDEM, organizer of MIPTV. “As such, it is very much part of MIPTV’s DNA to provide the funding blocks for a VR content marketplace and to foster the development of compelling VR content across the wider entertainment sector.”