VRee's Lego-esque toolkit for constructing extended reality (XR) apps
VRee: A Dutch XR Company Revolutionizing Off-the-Shelf SDK Solutions for Immersive Applications
Menno Bischops, co-founder and CTO of VRee, a notable XR company from the Netherlands, traces the origins of his company back to his days as a salesman. After six years, he decided to return to school and pursue a career as a Software Engineer, an opportunity that coincided with the release of the first Oculus VR headset.
Inspired by his new studies, Bischops created a prototype of a virtual arrow solution for TV. This initial foray into Virtual Reality led to collaborations with Game Design and Virtual Reality Students from Fontys Hogescholen Eindhoven, resulting in the award-winning Virtual Archery project.
Fueled by his entrepreneurial spirit, Bischops secured seed investment from Lumo Labs and the BOM (Brabantse Ontwikkelings Maatschappij) in 2016. He co-founded VRee alongside Roy Noten, the lead developer from the VR Archery project.
Bischops, drawing an analogy from space exploration, describes VRee's software development kit as a "LEGO toolbox" for creating XR applications. This approach reduces costs and expedites the deployment process for companies. He analogizes, "Everyone wants to get to the Moon, but nobody wants to build the rocket."
VRee offers an easy-to-use development kit for creating immersive applications. The SDK serves as a software platform for building interactive full-body multiplayer VR applications. Compatible with VR gloves, haptics devices, backpack computers, and major headsets, VRee's solution is utilized for virtual training, serious gaming, digital prototyping, and location-based entertainment.
VR, according to Bischops, enhances learning by enabling users to "experience like they would in real life." VRee has collaborated on several training projects for armed forces, firefighters, and policemen. Immersive training via VR has demonstrated a 80% retention rate, four times higher than non-immersive training.
The vision for VRee is to make XR applications accessible to everyone. By providing ultimate freedom in collaborative VR experiences and compatibility with various headsets and hardware, VRee aims to make every XR project affordable and future-proof.
VRee's solutions have been employed in several immersive training experiences. For instance, Apollo Journey implemented a training for the Dutch fire department using VRee's technology, simulating a domestic fire intervention. Another collaboration with the Dutch Army resulted in a VR multi-user training, accommodating up to 16 simultaneous users.
VRee will be presenting their product at VRDays 2021, showcasing collaborations such as the Army project. Representatives from the Ministry of Defense of the Netherlands, Ewout van Dort and Rob Harrewijn, will be present to demonstrate the Army project on the Virtual Breakout Floor. Online audiences can join the Immersive Tech Week for a glimpse into this collaboration.
In the broader context of XR companies, firms like VRee often emerge from a blend of XR technology expertise, software development, and a desire to offer efficient, accessible tools for businesses to create immersive training and entertainment applications. However, for a detailed timeline and development journey of VRee, official company websites, press releases, or industry-focused interviews would provide the most comprehensive insights.
An entrepreneurial spirit, as exemplified by Menno Bishops, former co-founder and CTO of VRee, led to the establishment of a Dutch XR company. In the realm of finance, Bischops secured early investments to transform the concept of VRee into a reality, merging technology, artificial-intelligence, business, and entrepreneurship to create a software development kit for XR applications, akin to a LEGO toolbox.
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