ObEN and SoftBank Collaborate to Develop New Mobile VR Social Experience

PASADENA, CA, April 03, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- (via Blockchain Wire) ObEN Inc., the artificial intelligence (AI) company creating Personal AI (PAI) technology to revolutionize digital interaction, and SoftBank Corp, a major Japanese communications conglomerate, is excited to introduce a VR communication and social platform at VR/AR/MR World in Tokyo, Japan. 

In collaboration with Salin Co. and wrnch Inc., ObEN and SoftBank have developed a VR platform that allows users to pair an iOS device with the Oculus Go VR headset to communicate with friends and family in a shared VR space, using the platform to watch sports games, live shows, and more. EPIC LIVE PLAY is the first prototype app of its kind aimed at simulating a real shared group experience in a virtual environment.

To achieve this, EPIC LIVE PLAY harnesses ObEN's advanced Personal AI technology, allowing users to create their own 3D intelligent avatar from a simple selfie and short voice recording on their mobile device. ObEN's avatars are designed to look and sound like each individual user. Combined with Salin's VR environment platform, and wrnch's motion capture technology, users can port a lifelike avatar of themselves into EPIC LIVE PLAY. In the environment, they will be able to see, speak to, and interact with the lifelike counterparts of their friends and family, with movements captured in real-time from their smartphone camera.

"VR is an incredibly versatile platform that can transcend space and distance, bringing us closer together in a new virtual medium," said ObEN CEO Nikhil Jain. "The technology depicted in movies, where colleagues all over the world can have virtual meetings as if they were in the same room, or friends hang out in a virtual clubhouse when they are hundreds of miles apart, that is what we are building with EPIC LIVE PLAY."

The prototype platform was created as part of the 3rd round of the SoftBank Innovation Program. The SoftBank Innovation Program combines innovative technology from select companies worldwide with the resources and network of SoftBank, to commercialize these solutions for a global market. ObEN, Salin, and wrnch all participated in the program under the AR/VR category.

For details, please visit SoftBank Innovation Program official website.

For more information about ObEN's technology visit oben.com

About ObEN
ObEN is an artificial intelligence (AI) company developing Personal AI technology that revolutionizes how we interact in the virtual and digital space.The company's technology allows users to create intelligent 3D avatars, known as PAIs, that look, sound, and behave like them. Deployed on the Project PAI blockchain, ObEN's Personal AI (PAI) technology enables users to create, use, and manage their own PAI on a secure, decentralized platform. PAIs can be deployed in mobile apps, AR, VR, and a variety of other digital mediums to provide an ultra-personalized experience in gaming, social media, entertainment, and more. PAIs have been used in projects and collaborations that have reached hundreds of millions of people worldwide, including ObEN's own PAIYO social app on the PAI Blockchain. Founded in 2014, ObEN is a K11, Tencent, and Softbank Ventures portfolio company and is located in Pasadena, California. To learn more about ObEN, please visit oben.com.