HBO, Discovery Invest in Holographic-Entertainment Company

LOS ANGELES: Home Box Office (HBO) and Discovery Communications have taken equity stakes in OTOY, with an eye toward the development and distribution of original holographic content.

The investments will fuel the ability of HBO and Discovery to deliver new entertainment experiences to consumers across TV, mobile, web, social and emerging wearable technologies such as virtual and augmented reality. OTOY is currently working with Jon Stewart on the development of upcoming content for HBO built using this platform.

The advisory board at OTOY includes Dr. Eric Schmidt (executive chairman of Google’s new parent company, Alphabet), Samuel J. Palmisano (former chairman, CEO and president of IBM), Ariel Emanuel (co-CEO, WME/IMG) and economist George Gilder.

Stewart said: “OTOY is unbelievable! It’s a limitless mind-blowing creative platform. My dream is to someday understand how they did it!!!”

“HBO prides itself on being at the forefront of entertainment, both in the exceptional content we produce, and in the ways we bring that content to consumers,” said Michael Lombardo, the president of HBO programming. “OTOY has a roadmap for the future of entertainment and technology. Their creativity and drive perfectly aligns with HBO’s. We couldn’t be more excited to invest in OTOY and to work together on original content and amazing experiences for years to come.”

“OTOY technology is a massive breakthrough and we look forward to seeing it take VR and AR experiences, including Discovery VR, to a whole new level,” added Paul Guyardo, the chief commercial officer at Discovery Communications.

“The future of media and entertainment is not going to be constrained by a screen, nor consumed through monolithic apps or platforms,” said Jules Urbach, the founder and CEO of OTOY. “OTOY’s mission is to make holographic and immersive content a mass market proposition for consumers, artists and publishers alike. A key part of this endeavor is unifying production and delivery of content across all possible endpoints, from HTML5, to TV and social, to wearables. With HBO and Discovery as strategic investors and content publishing partners, we couldn’t be more excited to work together to map out the future of entertainment.”