Sensorium

Sensorium is a virtual reality (VR) technology developer founded in 2018. The company develops the concept of a virtual universe in which users can attend concerts and parties. Users during the VR broadcast can not only monitor performances, but also communicate with each other, as well as make purchases and update their avatarks using blockchain technology. The multi-user environment is available through the HTC Vive and Oculus Rift headsets.

History

2022: Project launch shifted to 3rd quarter

The international project of the metaverse Sensorium in the spring of 2021 announced the launch before the end of 2021, but by May 2022 it had not started. The company itself refrained from commenting on TAdviser.

The launch of Sensorium was supposed to take place in 2021, but was postponed to 2022

In 2021, Sensorium signed contracts with a number of electronic musicians - Armin van Buren, David Guetta, Karl Cox, Eric Priedz and others - and began to "digitize" them. Musicians will be able to give "real" concerts on the virtual site of the project. In addition, Sensorium is developing "virtual" musicians for whom the neural network will write music. The sale of tickets for concerts should become one of the main sources of income for the metaverse.

A source familiar with the situation told TAdviser in April 2022 that the restrictions associated with Covid-19 made their adjustments, the schedule for digitizing artists in the USA and Europe has shifted, so it takes more time to launch the VR version.

Sensorium adjusted the product release schedule and was the first to release a mobile application (already available in stores), where users can talk with avatars controlled by artificial intelligence.

The company continues beta testing, improving user mechanics and interfaces, the start was postponed to Q3 2022. According to the source, Sensorium was created as an international business headquartered in Zug (Switzerland), and is aimed at an English-speaking audience. For creation of NPC (non-player character, not game character) the company uses the pretrained neuronet of GPT-3 of the American company OpenAI.

The development of Sensorium is led by teams in Russia, Canada and the USA. In Moscow, a motion capture studio is based, working on the movements of avatars. The metaverse is created based on OpenXR standards and will be launched on most of the most common VR gadgets, however, the developer guarantees correct work only for HTC and Oculus helmets. In addition, Sensorium is available on PC. Moreover, the mechanics for VR headsets and a household computer may differ slightly. The metaverse supports up to 16 participants in one session.

2020: Investments from Mikhail Prokhorov

On August 17, 2020, Sensorium announced the attraction of $100 million in total investments over the entire period of its existence. The press release notes that businessman Mikhail Prokhorov became the first investor and helped the company alone. Who else invested in the startup is not specified.

Prokhorov himself expects the explosive growth of the market for integrating virtual reality and artificial intelligence technologies in the next 10 years.

Mikhail Prokhorov invested in the developer of VR technologies

Combining VR and AI provides unique opportunities to develop new platforms where users can seamlessly interact with and among virtual environments. We are confident that the development of a new way of communication in the virtual world, along with unlimited opportunities for self-realization in this digital environment, are unprecedented opportunities for business, "said the Russian entrepreneur, whose words are quoted by the Sensorium press service.[1]

In 2021, Prokhorov's company plans to open  the Sensorium Hall multifunctional concert complex in Moscow worth more than $200 million, Vladimir  Kedrinsky, general director of Fan General,  which is implementing the project, told Forbes.  According to the plan, the venue will accommodate up to 8,000 people and will be able to transform into a concert hall, event hall or exhibition room.

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