Ten Years Of Weaving Reality
Over the past decade, Wevr has established itself as a visionary force in the extended reality (XR) landscape, continually pushing the boundaries of digital interactive design. From its inception, the company has crafted a legacy of innovation, beginning with the captivating underwater world of TheBlu. This project evolved from a web application into a breathtaking virtual reality experience, allowing users to come face-to-face with majestic blue whales and explore vibrant coral reefs.
Wevr's creative prowess has blossomed through partnerships with entertainment giants, yielding two enchanting immersive Harry Potter experiences and the whimsical "Gnomes & Goblins," directed by Jon Favreau. The company's dedication to pushing the boundaries of interactive design and XR has garnered them numerous accolades, including SXSW and Proto awards, cementing their status as industry trailblazers.
As Wevr celebrates a decade of creation and collaboration with leading creative talent, they continue to pioneer new frontiers in spatial computing. They're developing advanced platforms like Virtual Studio and expanding into location-based experiences. From underwater adventures to fantastical realms, Wevr's journey showcases the transformative power of immersive technology in storytelling, education, and entertainment—promising an exciting future for virtual experiences. Join us for a ten-year retrospective of key projects and memorable moments from our journey.
The Blu & Oculus DK1
We received our Oculus DK1 early, and our team immediately began porting TheBlu, an AI ocean simulation for desktop, to VR. We had a deep belief that VR could truly provide the highest fidelity experience for enjoying the depths of the ocean and getting close to the most iconic marine life.
Theblu VR on Vive Dev Kit 0
Our creative lab was among the first to receive the groundbreaking Valve & HTC Vive DK0 device. This early access gave us a unique chance to pioneer creative development for TheBlu VR. We leveraged the cutting-edge features of this new hardware to push the boundaries of immersive ocean experiences. Our team's expertise and innovative approach helped us tap into the full potential of this advanced VR technology. This set the stage for revolutionary advancements in virtual reality content creation.
Samsung & Wevr Partner
Samsung strategically invested in Wevr, recognizing VR's potential. This partnership aimed to advance mobile VR technology. Wevr's team collaborated with Samsung experts to develop and launch their first mobile VR product. This collaboration showcased Wevr's expertise and helped shape early mobile VR technology, bringing innovative immersive experiences to a broader audience.
TransportVR Beta
Wevr made history by launching the first-ever independent content creator platform for virtual reality. This groundbreaking initiative empowered creators to develop and distribute their own VR content, fostering innovation and creativity in the rapidly evolving VR landscape.
Samsung, Skybound and Wevr
Skybound Entertainment, Wevr, and Samsung collaborated to create an 11-part virtual reality thriller series titled "Gone". "Gone" represented a significant step forward in interactive VR storytelling, combining elements of traditional filmmaking with new technologies to create an immersive and engaging experience for viewers.
Sundance Selection
Wevr's notable projects, including "TheBlu," "Waves," and "Hard World for Small Things," were selected for Sundance's New Frontier program.
VRLA
At VRLA, we offered an exclusive preview of Valve & HTC's Vive product. This marked the Vive's first public demonstration. In a private room at the event, the Valve and Wevr teams invited select guests to experience the Vive firsthand—a truly groundbreaking moment in VR history.
Waves with Reggie Watts
In our commitment to collaboration with the creative community, we worked with Reggie Watts and his team to create an immersive experience. "Waves" is a journey through Reggie Watts' surreal imagination. Sundance selected "Waves" as part of their New Frontier program, showcasing this surreal trip into his mind. (Official Sundance).
Run The Jewels x NY Times
Our team loves music and the artists who create it. We sought out artists like Run The Jewels who had strong fan engagement and were creatively brave enough to try new things. RTJ proved to be an incredible collaborator for co-creating immersive 360° music videos. The New York Times also stepped in to offer these videos as part of their VR program.
Deepak Chopra on Transport VR
We partnered with Deepak Chopra to explore ideas for creative immersive meditation applications. Using beautiful hand-painted art and guided meditation, these experiences transport viewers into a deeply relaxed state. Chopra asserts, "There's no paradox in finding your true self via virtual reality because everyday reality is a simulation."
G&G with Jon Favreau
Gnomes & Goblins, created by Jon Favreau, is an original indie production from Wevr with MWM and Golem Creations. Nominated for an Emmy in Outstanding Innovation in Interactive Media, G&G pushed the boundaries of player agency interacting with a virtual character in a 6DOF world.
Apex
We discovered Ajan Van Meertin through our creative network and admired his work with Unreal Engine, particularly his visual creation of immersive stories and experiences. We collaborated with Ajan to create "Apex," a deeply avant-garde visual story set to Ajan's musical compositions. The Tribeca Film Festival selected "Apex" to be part of their official program.
Fast Ride
When Time Magazine sought a team capable of creating an experience that would allow race car fans to virtually ride in the world's fastest cars, they turned to Wevr. We delivered an immersive first-person experience that gave fans the ride of a lifetime.
Mad God
Wevr collaborated with legendary Academy Award-winning Phil Tippett to produce and release Mad God. This groundbreaking project marks the first-ever stereoscopic stop-motion VR experience.
Hard World Small Things
Our commitment to working with the most creative and visionary talent led us to director Janicza Bravo. She directed "Hard World for Small Things" with LaKeith Stanfield. The immersive film played at the Sundance Film Festival, Tribeca Film Festival, and AFI Festival in Los Angeles.
Irrational Exuberance
Long-time Wevr collaborator and interactive creator Ben Vance developed "Irrational Exuberance" with Wevr. This HTC Vive experience transports users to imaginary worlds as lone explorers in deep space. "Irrational Exuberance" immerses participants in beautiful, mysterious, and incredible environments. As users traverse stunning, surreal landscapes, they're challenged to uncover the secrets that bind the universe together. Ben's project was officially presented at numerous film festivals, including the prestigious Sundance Film Festival.
Transport VR Release
Wevr Launches First Subscription Service for Cinematic Virtual Reality
TheBlu - Dubai Experience
Wevr's theBlu Lets Dubai Aquarium Visitors Go Beyond The Glass
L.A.’s Natural History Museum
L.A.'s Natural History Museum collaborated with Wevr's team to create an exhibit that takes visitors into the ocean. Wevr's "theBlu: An Underwater VR Experience" at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles offered an immersive, awe-inspiring journey through ocean environments. It allowed visitors to explore the wonders of marine life without scuba diving, showcasing Wevr's innovative approach to virtual reality experiences.
Extravaganza
Wevr continually seeks to explore new creative ideas with innovative collaborators. Transport VR distributed "A Puppet Show from Hell," a satirical short directed by Ethan Shaftel. Starring Paul Scheer and John Gemberling, this production made its public debut, showcasing Wevr's commitment to diverse and cutting-edge content.
Paul Allen & Wevr
Paul Allen and Wevr enter into a multi-year creative collaboration to develop immersive stories for his Holodome project. Wevr's creative and technology teams worked with Paul's team to create and develop shared experiences in a unique projected mapped sphere where nearly the entire space was mapped with visuals.
Splash Damage
Splash Damage is an Interactive VR video production with Warner Bros & Wevr created by Michael Robin
Death Planet Rescue
Holodome sci-fi thriller, where you board a spaceship on a mission into an alien landscape.
Harry Potter VR
Wevr, Warner Bros., and J.K. Rowling forge a partnership to explore VR and interactive immersive storytelling together. This marks the first of its kind for Warner Bros. to work on special location-based immersive experiences that will push the boundaries of storytelling with the Harry Potter franchise.
Epic Games Invests into Wevr
Epic Games invests in Wevr to amplify the studio's unique creation of interactive immersive research and development.
The Blu: Deep Rescue
Wevr's "TheBlu: Deep Rescue" debuts and sells out at Dreamscape's social VR venue.
Harry Potter VR Productions
Warner Bros invests in and partners with Wevr to create immersive stories for key WB franchise products. We start to create two Harry Potter VR projects to be released worldwide.
MainEvent Prototype
Wevr worked with a team to create prototype game format for MainEvent locations. A new mixed reality experience that’s half virtual, half real, and all fun. Play solo or with your friends, no headset required.
NVIDIA, Ericsson, Qualcomm, Wevr collaboration
NVIDIA, Ericsson, Qualcomm, and Wevr have been at the forefront of a collaborative effort to revolutionize virtual reality (VR) experiences through the integration of 5G technology and edge computing. This partnership brings together industry leaders in graphics processing, telecommunications, mobile technology, and immersive content creation.
Warner Bros & Wevr start Matrix VR Prototypes
Wevr partnered with Warner Bros Discovery, John Gaeta (Academy Award winning supervisor on the original The Matrix movie), Epic Games and Weta Digital to produce a transmedia cross-platform real-time 3D proof of concept.
Gnomes & Goblins
Gnomes & Goblins is an original indie production from Wevr with MWM and Golem Creations that offers players a unique opportunity to explore an enchanted virtual world created by Jon Favreau.
Harry Potter VR NYC Release
New York City, hundreds of Harry Potter fans get to experience Harry Potter VR for first time ever. The release of Chaos At Hogwarts and Wizards Take Flight becomes a reality. Both experiences remain sold out for months.
Outlaw NFT Video Game
Wevr created and released a series of multiplayer mini-games to support Outlaw, an NFT game. Outlaw is a larger multiplayer video game developed as a Web3 virtual world.
Wevr Virtual Studio (WVS)
WVS is a platform for interactive creators to easily make, collaborate and share projects. A purpose-built cloud platform for interactive creators and teams using game engines WVS is the easiest, fastest way to create cloud-automated builds for Unreal, Unity, and other game engines. Think of it as your build engineering team in the cloud.
HTC and Epic re-invest in Wevr
10 years after their initial investment in Wevr, HTC continues to back Wevr as pioneers in XR content creators, along with Epic Games. Wevr continues to develop products for the innovative line of Vive XR devices
Present Day
We create immersive experiences around the world with a team of world-class creators and technologists who are passionate about crafting shared experiences using cutting-edge technology. We love what we are doing and we continue to refine and enhance our creative capabilities every day.
Special Thanks
We've had incredible team members and partners who made all Wevr projects possible. We are grateful for them all.
- Aaron Grosky
- Amy Jupiter
- Ben Vance
- Bruce Vaughn
- Cher Wang
- Chiate Lu
- David Eun
- Doug Church
- Ed Sim
- Epic Games Team
- Gigi Pritzker
- HTC Team
- Jake Rowell
- Jason Rubin
- Jeff Jung
- John Gaeta
- Jon Favreau
- Jon Goldman
- Jon Jashni
- Kevin Tsujihara
- Kim Libreri
- Lance Sloane
- Lauren Selig
- Leo Spiegel
- Luis Blackaller
- Peter Martin
- Peter Girardi
- Praveen Gupta
- Ramiro Duran
- Reggie Watts
- Rick Hess
- Scott Reeser
- Scott Yara
- Shane Robinson
- Shauna Witherspoon
- Steve Galle
- Ted Schilowitz
- Thomas Gewecke
- Tony Parisi
- Walter Parkes
- Warner Brothers Team
- Wenchi Chen