Walt Disney Co (NYSE:DIS) is going to embrace virtual reality devices with its own gaming art as the firm’s interactive division is gearing up for Disney Infinity or other video games to make them compatible with virtual reality devices.
According to President of the Disney Interactive, James Pitaro, the firm is looking into the possibility of adopting elements of current labels. He further added that Disney possibly will also develop new games particularly for VR or for other evolving platform called augmented reality.
Virtual reality headset is an immersive device that enables users to feel the computer-generated video like a real physical world. On the other hand augmented-reality technology superimposes computer images into a real-world view. This technology has been hyped for years but hasn’t made a huge mark yet and industry experts are debating whether it will impress the audience this time or not.
Disney Infinity has grabbed $1 billion revenue through the global sales of the game, which entitles different characters from Disney, Pixar and Marvel franchises. Stars Wars game, which is slated to release this fall will be available through different platforms. The game features a “toy box” mode enabling players to mix backdrops and characters from different franchises.
“You could easily imagine a scenario where we were to expand the toy box component of Infinity into AR or VR,” Pitaro said in an interview at the E3 video game conference, although he added Disney does not have that project or any other VR projects in development. Disney is talking to the VR “platforms,” he said, without specifying which companies.
Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB), Sony Corp (ADR) (NYSE:SNE), HTC and some other firms have announced their VR headsets which will come at the end of current year and next year.
Microsoft Corp has showcased its HoloLens AR headset at E3 conference along with demonstration using the Minecraft game.
According to Pitaro, he was inspired by recent advancement in technology and was excited about its potential uses.
“I do not think this is going to be a fad,” Pitaro said.
