Jaunt: journey to the land of the virtual

Summary

• The origin of the project 
• A very special camera
• Incredible experiences
• Perfect image quality
• And tomorrow?

There is no longer a shadow of a doubt: in 2015, all the fairs and festivals devoted to technological innovation put virtual reality in the spotlight. South by Southwest Interactive (SXSW Interactive) in Austin, Texas was no exception. This interactive media festival, which took place from March 13 to 22, gave pride of place to virtual reality headsets and viewers of all kinds, from the Oculus Rift to Google Cardboard and Gear VR.

But now that virtual reality players are appearing in the market, the new challenge is to give them things to read. And this challenge, an American start-up, Jaunt, is ready to take it up.

The origin of the project 

For this young company, it all started in 2013, in the middle of the canyons of Zion National Park. Tom annau, who would become with Jens Christensen et Arthur Van Hoff one of the co-founders of Jaunt, wanted to keep a precise memory of his trip but was not satisfied with the photographs he could take.

This is where this innovative idea came from: use virtual reality technologies to travel in very real places. The user could thus live or relive intense experiences, anywhere and at any time.

A very special camera

Jaunt, whose name means promenade, has come a long way since then. The company began by creating a camera capable of filming 360 degree scenes. From the recordings of this camera, and from multiple sound recordings, the technical teams can then reconstruct a visual and auditory environment larger than life. And since Jaunt's content is designed for virtual reality headsets that capture the movement of the head, the user can look in all directions and be fully immersed.

Incredible experiences

The virtual experiences that Jaunt offers today are very diverse: diving in deep water, immersion in a photo studio for a shooting de mode or visit a sumptuous suite in a luxurious hotel. One of the most successful apps is undoubtedly The North Face: Climb, which mixes climbing and parachute jumping in a sublime setting. The user finds himself in Yosemite National Park and observes the breathtaking landscape that awaits him, dazzling colors in his eyes, a river flowing below.

In another register, Jaunt also offers to relive the last concert by Paul McCartney, at Candlestick Park in San Fransisco. The company also offers thrills of a different style and the user finds himself sometimes in the crosshairs of FBI agents, sometimes the victim of kidnappers. This is only a brief overview that lets imagine the infinite possibilities of virtual reality, which is only in its infancy.

Perfect image quality

Jaunt's products are particularly noteworthy for their absolutely impeccable image quality, which gives the user the feeling of belonging to the setting rather than just being the spectator. This is unheard of and it is therefore not surprising that Redpoint Ventures, Highland Capital Partners et Google Ventures have invested 31 million in the start-up.

And tomorrow?

And then, if Jaunt creates virtual reality films today, it would soon like to offer interactive content. At first, this could appear as movies where you are the hero, where we would choose the character we want to follow. And then, as soon as virtual reality headsets are equipped with motion sensors, whole worlds that we could explore… That leaves us dreaming to say the least!