21st Century Fox Invests in Smartglasses Company ODG

NEW YORK/SAN FRANCISCO: 21st Century Fox is set to acquire a minority stake in Osterhout Design Group (ODG), a leading augmented and virtual reality and smartglasses designer and manufacturer.

Once the agreement has been finalized, 21st Century Fox will become the principal outside investor in ODG. In addition, the two companies plan to enter into a strategic partnership that brings together ODG’s technologies with 21st Century Fox’s content and storytelling. ODG is currently at CES demonstrating its new high-definition, cinema-wide field of view technology for smartglasses.

“The power of virtual and augmented reality enables us to deliver on our longstanding commitment to bring audiences exciting new creative experiences fueled by next-generation technologies,” said Jim Gianopulos, the chairman and CEO of 20th Century Fox Film, a unit of parent company 21st Century Fox. 

He continued, “Our agreement with ODG underscores the innovation we are bringing to market through our Fox Innovation Lab, most recently with VR experiences for The Martian and Wild. We look forward to partnering with ODG and serving as its lead outside investor as the ODG team pushes the film experience into the future with its high-definition, cinema-wide field of view technology.” 

“We’re excited to have 21st Century Fox join our family and help extend our considerable leadership in AR head-worn computing,” said Ralph Osterhout, the CEO of ODG. “This space is ultimately heading towards widespread consumer adoption and by having 21st Century Fox onboard, we’ll be able to deliver immersive and interactive entertainment experiences that transform how users consume content.”