Meta Announces VR Development Deal With James Cameron’s ‘Lightstorm Vision’

This could help to spark more interest in VR, depending on how it develops.

Today, Meta announced a new partnership with Lightstorm Vision, which is the visual effects company headed by legendary filmmaker James Cameron, who brought Terminator (1 and 2), Titanic, the Avatar films and many more to the big screen.

As per Meta:

“Sci-fi adventures. Star-crossed romances. Deep-sea documentaries. Filmmaker and explorer James Cameron is synonymous with all these genres and more. A pioneer in the merging of cutting-edge technology and blockbuster storytelling, Cameron has been at the forefront of innovation within the film industry for 40 years. And today, we’re thrilled to announce a new partnership between his venture, Lightstorm Vision, and Meta, to scale the creation of world-class 3D entertainment experiences spanning live sports and concerts, feature films, and TV series featuring big-name IP on Meta Quest - which will be Lightstorm Vision’s exclusive MR hardware platform.”

Beyond Hollywood blockbusters, Lightstorm Vision has also been developing innovative 3D capture process for live events, which lends itself perfectly to Meta’s evolving VR experiences.

Meta’s hoping that Lightstorm will help it evolve its presentation tools and formats, in order to bring VR into the mainstream.

Which is a big step. Part of the challenge for Meta right now is that there really aren’t that many compelling VR experiences available, which means that there’s not a heap of justification for investing in a Quest headset.

That’s changing over time. The release of big titles like “Batman: Arkham Asylum” is already attracting new users, while Meta’s also working with Rockstar Games on a VR version of the popular “Grand Theft Auto” franchise (currently on hold), among other titles.

That, combined with the steadily decreasing cost of VR headsets is prompting more take-up, while Meta’s also developing new ways for VR and non-VR users to interact, as it looks to tap into the next cohort of gamers whose online gaming experience is as much about being social as it is playing the games themselves.

These are all key steps, and enhanced visual worlds, powered by the team that created Avatar’s “Pandora” can only be a benefit in this respect.

As such, this could be a major announcement, aligning Lightstorm’s vision with Meta’s immersive content ambitions. And that could eventually see all-new VR experiences that really drive take-up.