January 19, 2022 - For Immediate Release
2022: THE YEAR OF MIXED REALITY
She carefully applied red lipstick as if I weren’t there just inches away. I felt self-conscious, as if I were invading her personal space. Which was crazy, I knew, since I was standing with colleagues in a studio at Microsoft, and she was a hologram. It was close to 10 years ago. Is 2022 the year when mixed reality finally goes mainstream?
At Popins, we believe it is. We presented our first AR music video - a life-like performance from Alec Shaw - as an NFT in June of 2020 and sold out within 24 hours. Since then, we’ve continued to produce and stream performers, from musicians to comedians to dancers and even Santa Claus. Our mindset in 2021 and now in 2022 is one of experimentation and exploration across genres and business models. As co-founders who started at traditional media companies (Sony Pictures, Geffen Records) before joining Xbox and Microsoft we know that the road from DVDs and CDs to Netflix and Spotify was winding and unpredictable. And exhilarating. Looking ahead, we predict that 5G, more accessible VR devices such as glasses and affordable headsets, Web3, and the development of the metaverse will set the scene for an even larger transformation in entertainment. Popins will fuel the coming renaissance in art and culture as it unfolds.
In 2021 Popins formalized as a company, established a name and logo, and got to work. We produced 7 AR music videos from five artists, nine comedy sets from two comedians, an original piece of visual art, an airdrop for our NFT collectors, seven skits of four original dancing characters with in-universe backstories, two physical events, and a total of fifteen performances from eight holiday characters. We partnered with NFT marketplace Rarible and were featured in their newsletter and website twice, established relationships with hospitals that brought virtual Santa and characters to kids in hospitals, built a solution providing branded opportunities for businesses, and supported local non-profits SMASH and Summit Assistance Dogs. And, of course, those are just the bits that will make it to market — we have captured hours and hours and terabytes of data that will never be released, learning from mistakes made along the way that guide us toward a better product.
What’s to come in 2022? Mixed reality will reach the mainstream, and soon people won’t remember a time when video was flat. Artists and creators will continue to surprise us by taking emerging tools and molding them to tell their stories and communicate their ideas in ways we haven’t seen before. We can’t wait!
Please follow Popins to join us on our journey — @popinsdotio on twitter, Instagram, FB, TikTok, and Twitter.
About Popins
Popins takes entertainment to the next level by capturing real people in volumetric video and streaming three-dimensional AR video to smart devices through a proprietary delivery system. With Popins, you can watch augmented reality, record what your phone sees, and even join in to create your own personal mix that you can share on your socials. Check out the How To Popin section of the Popins.io website for more information.
Popins is powered by Omnivor, the world leader in volumetric video streaming and an early T-Mobile Open Innovation Lab partner. Popins’ streaming approach enables users around the world to enjoy the highest quality AR without the necessity of downloading an app.
With Popins, all the world is your stage.
Inquiries: info@popins.io Website: https://popins.io IG: @popinsdotio Twitter: @popinsdotio TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@popinsdotio