Owlchemy Labs co-founder announces new studio AstroBeam to focus on multiplayer virtual reality technology

Devin Reimer, co-founder and former CEO/CTO of Owlchemy Labs, today announced his new studio AstroBeam, focused on multiplayer VR experiences.

在宣布获得来自包括风险投资现实基金和Oculus创始人Nate Mitchell在内的投资者300万美Meta的种子资金后，AstroBeam表示，其重点将是创造“更舒适、更易接近和更人性化的方式，在VR中与朋友一起玩耍和娱乐。” 它将通过专注于手部跟踪和声音沟通与朋友和NPCs探索新的互动社交体验。

The announcement comes nine months after Reimer announced his departure from Owlchemy Labs, where he was a co-founder and served as CEO/CTO. At Owlchemy, Andrew Eiche takes Reimer's place, and the company continues to advance new projects covering similar areas newly defined by AstroBeam.

After Reimer launched the highly successful and groundbreaking early VR game Job Simulator, Owlchemy followed up with several new projects (Vacation Simulator, Rick and Morty: Virtual Rick - Reality) , expanding the studio’s signature core interactive system. In 2017, Google acquired Owlchemy Labs. Despite its new parent company's evolving commitment to broader VR/AR efforts, the studio is still launching projects on various VR platforms, such as Cosmic High School.

In August 2022, Owlchemy announced that it was developing a new hand-tracking focused multiplayer VR game. After several conversations with the developers, and getting hands-on with their hand-tracking interactive demo built on the Simulation Works skeleton earlier this year, it’s clear that hand tracking is the future of VR in Owlchemy Labs’ eyes.

Reimer left Owlchemy just six months after the studio announced it was developing a multiplayer VR experience geared towards hand tracking. Today, Reimer announced AstroBeam, whose Quest focuses on similar aspects, putting his new studio in an interesting position relative to his former studio.

"I'm extremely excited to work on redefining VR multiplayer gaming to make it more accessible, approachable and comfortable for mainstream users," Reimer said in a prepared statement. "I believe a big part of this is input. Interacting directly with the virtual world with your hands and talking to your friends and NPCs naturally will be a huge game-changer in VR."

Simulation Works became a milestone in early VR interaction design, providing a clear path forward for motion controllers and ushering in a new era of controller-based virtual reality experiences. Now, both Owlchemy Labs and AstroBeam are working to redefine interaction once again and advance social VR with a hand tracking framework.

此项工作将与VR硬件的变革同时展开，这些变革是庞大而又互为补充的。苹果VisionPro预计将在“2024年初”推出，其互动方式放弃了控制器，而是创造了一个将眼动追踪和手部追踪融合成一体的直观而全新的系统。虽然Vision Pro将以3500美Meta的高价上市，但报告表明，更便宜的Quest 3 Lite可能在2024年上半年发货，售价仅200美Meta，没有控制器。

You can findAstroBeam websiteRead more about Reimer's new studio on the site, which also lists openings for several developers and artists.