During the VRLA event in Los Angeles today Vulcan Inc. debuted the Holodome, a “shared immersive reality platform” that appears to be a dome-like installation groups of people can enter to be ensconced in a 360-degree audiovisual experience.
The big thing here, for game devs, is that the folks at Vulcan (not to be confused with the Vulkan graphics API) are also offering up a Holodome SDK that’s basically a Unity plug-in which the companys claims “translates typical game design elements for the Holodome.”
“For example, it abstracts dome specific conversions and calibration to help the game developer focus on their interaction and design,” reads a press release hyping up the Holodome. It goes on to note that the Holodome SDK includes things like controller APIs so folks inside the ‘Dome can interact with what they’re seeing, and support for displaying raycasts of those input devices so players can get visual feedback on what they’re doing.
If you’re curious to see what this thing looks like, the folks at Vulcan (which, incidentally, is a private company with a bunch of diverse interests that was started by Microsoft cofounder Paul Allen back in the ’80s) plan to set up a “preview” Holodome at Seattle’s Museum of Pop Culture tomorrow, with a “creators edition” going up in Los Angeles next month.
They’re also on the prowl for people who can make Holodome experiences, and devs who are interested in getting in touch can do so via the Holodome website.