VR Education launches re-built Apollo 11 experience

Education-focussed virtual reality (VR) technology company VR Education announced the launch of Apollo 11 HD on the HTC Vive, Oculus Rift and Windows Mixed Reality platforms on Monday.

The AIM-traded firm said it anticipated that the PlayStation VR version would be available in the second quarter of 2019.

It said the new high definition version built on its award-winning Apollo 11 VR showcase experience, which was developed in 2016 and provided users the ability to witness the moon landing first-hand in virtual reality, from the viewpoint of the US astronaut Neil Armstrong.

As at 31 October, the original Apollo 11 VR showcase experience had been downloaded around 145,000 times across all the various sales platforms.

VR Education said the new HD version was a complete rebuild of all assets from the original experience, with new models, new textures and new animations.

“The original Apollo 11 VR showcase experience has been a great success, bringing additional revenue to the group and also effectively showcasing our technology in advance of the launch of our ENGAGE platform in December,” said chief executive officer David Whelan.

“Apollo 11 is still in demand across a variety of platforms and we are confident that this new HD version will stimulate further interest.”

Whelan said the original Apollo 11 was built when the company had a small team of three working for the group

“This new version enhances the user experience greatly as we have had the time and expertise to give the experience a level of polish not achievable before, due to new technology and overall talent available at VR Education today.

“The coming year represents the 50th anniversary of the moon walk and we believe Apollo 11 HD will be in high demand throughout the next 12 months and beyond.”