SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The San Jose Sharks (@SanJoseSharks) and Zeality Inc. announced today the arrival of an innovative and unique 360-degree, VR fan experience that will allow fans to get a closer, in-depth look at the action, thus enhancing the fan experience. The two companies collaborated to design and implement an immersive and engaging experience for Sharks fans around the world. The Sharks Immersive media experience will be available in the Spring of 2017 through the San Jose Sharks app. The Sharks app is available for download now in the Apple and Google Play app stores by searching San Jose Sharks or visit sjsharks.com/app.
“We are pleased to find in Zeality a partner that aligns with our core values and methodologies to undertake this unique opportunity,” stated Flavil Hampsten, Executive Vice President, Chief Sales and Marketing Officer at the San Jose Sharks. “The mobile strategy of the Sharks is to provide fans with an app that not only delivers game-day functionality but also exclusive and innovative content. Zeality’s cutting-edge approach allows us to deliver an experience unlike any other in Sports.”
The San Jose Sharks virtual reality experience is designed with the Immersive Media Engine technology, spearheaded by Zeality. Zeality’s Immersive Media Engine (IME) is the industry’s most complete cloud based platform, offering a full suite of socially engaging and viral features for VR and 360° content.
This new functionality will give fans a unique insight into the San Jose Sharks, the SAP Center and more. Fans will be able to virtually walk through the Shark head and experience skating onto the ice before the home game; or get an in-depth look into the locker room and how the team prepares for a game. Fans will also be able to record and share their viewing experience within 360 and VR content by way of Zeality’s Re/Lives technology.
“The Immersive Media arena is evolving into an ecosystem that fans around the world can experience,” stated Dipak M. Patel, co-founder and CEO at Zeality. “Our capabilities combined with the content and deep fan base of the Sharks presents a fantastic opportunity to boost the overall experience Sharks fans can get. We are thrilled to work with the San Jose Sharks to make the vision of Immersive Media a reality.”
About the Immersive Media Engine:
The Zeality Immersive Media Engine (IME) is a suite of tools to help media driven organizations seamlessly integrate Immersive Media (VR, 360° photos and videos) experiences into their own iOS and Android applications.
The core of the Immersive Media Engine consists of a number of innovative and viral features built upon a robust cloud platform. Zeality’s core services include: uploading, hosting, video transcoding, adaptive bitrate streaming, and featuring content.
In addition to its core services, the IME includes a number of revolutionary features, including: Re/Lives, the Zeality 360° player, and sharing capabilities. All of these features are designed to bring additional value to your content and deepen engagement with your audiences.
The IME is customizable, flexible, easy to integrate, and co-exists with other SDKs in your applications.
In addition to its robust feature set, the IME leverages an easy to use Management Console, where content creators and publishers can directly manage and measure the effectiveness of their content. The IME’s built in rules engine enables our customers to manage the publishing, curation and control access of their content.
The Immersive Media Engine is now available, making the Immersive Media experience a reality. For more information, please visit the company’s website at www.zeality.co.
About the San Jose Sharks
The San Jose Sharks are a professional ice hockey team in the National Hockey League (NHL) and the reigning Western Conference Champions. As members of the NHL’s Pacific Division, the team plays its home games at SAP Center at San Jose. The Sharks were founded as an expansion team in 1991 and made their NHL debut in the 1991-92 season. To date, the Sharks have won six division titles and made the playoffs in 18 of their first 24 seasons, including 11 the last 12 years. 2016 marked the first time in franchise history that the team made it to the Stanley Cup Final.
About Zeality
Zeality Inc. is the leading provider of innovative cloud solutions for delivering immersive media content across all connected devices. The company offers a full suite of products and services that will help you define the use of immersive media, determine the value of the medium and develop repeatable, scalable models for using VR and 360° videos in your iPhone and Android applications.
The company leverages strong strategic partnerships with production companies, technology corporations, infrastructure organizations, and more, to create multi-directional engagement with a variety of audiences through immersive experiences. Our customers include innovative brands like the San Francisco 49ers, San Jose Sharks, Reebok and others, who are all working to deliver on the promise of Immersive Media. Zeality is available in both the iOS App Store and Google Play Store. For more information, please visit http://zeality.co/.