Even if you’re not familiar with 360° video capturing, you probably have come across YouTube videos with mysterious arrows in the upper corner. They allow you to look around while watching the video as if you were right in the middle of it. BIVROST is a Polish startup that offers a unique system for creating and transmitting such 360° videos in the best quality possible.
“From the beginning of our adventure we knew that we want to create much more than just physical devices,” said Paweł Surgiel, the CEO of BIVROST. “We want to enable people to transport themselves to another video world and show them fully immersive VR experience. Today is the best time to be in the experience creation business and defining the future of making and watching 360° video.”
BIVROST offers the first end-to-end solution for producing and experiencing videos in 360° format. Their core product is the 360o Livestreaming Camera which is simultaneously one of the most cost-efficient solutions available. They also produce camera rigs – systems of 6 joined cameras that allow for recording 360o videos. Their professional camera rig for BlackMagic Cameras is one of only few camera systems in the world that enables filmmakers to create their films in cinematic VR quality. BIVROST’s products support all action cams available on the market such as GoPro or Xiaomi Yi.
Except for recording devices, BIVROST offers video players compatible with several VR headsets. The videos can also be watched on a computer screen. To top it off, they develop analytics software GhostVR together with MUSE, their partner. It will be one of the pioneers in testing VR content, for instance for heat maps creation.
Even though founded only in 2014, BIVROST has already achieved some impressive successes. Since 2015, they are a member of OSVR consortium that brings together VR-oriented companies such as Intel, Microsoft or Razer. Their software was used by Intel at CES 2016 in Las Vegas.
The founders of BIVROST, Paweł Surgiel and Tomasz Gawlik, go back a long time. They met during studies and used to run a successful software house specialized in high-risk IT projects. They both became fascinated by VR and the opportunities for its development. Currently Surgiel is engaged in research and training projects in the field of virtual reality (and builds an Iron Man suit in his free time). Gawlik is a multi-skilled engineer responsible mostly for project management and R&D, including research topics such as stereoscopic perception.
BIVROST has completed beta tests and is now in pre-production phase. The team plans to start a new funding round on CrowdWay crowdfunding platform in the first quarter of 2017 and release the first batch of their products shortly afterwards. Until now, they closed one seed round, raising funds mostly from Arkley VC.
