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Theia Interactive Awarded Epic MegaGrant

Second Grant the company has been awarded will accelerate development of BigRoom, their new collaborative VR tool.

Theia Interactive has received an Epic MegaGrant for the research and development of its new collaborative VR tool, BigRoom. Created for use with Epic’s Unreal Engine, the VR tool will make it easy to create and share online meeting rooms where VR and desktop users can interact, review designs, and explore and edit projects created in Unreal. BigRoom is currently in a closed beta. The grant will expedite the development of the product through a series of new hires and additional funds for research.

Epic MegaGrants was first launched in 2019 to continue Epic Games’ long-standing commitment to the success of all creators and is designed to service and assist game developers; enterprise professionals; media and entertainment creators; students; educators; and tool developers doing outstanding work with Unreal Engine or enhancing open-source capabilities for the 3D graphics community.

“Theia is working toward bringing real-time rendering and collaboration tools to the virtual design review process for multiple industries,” commented Theia Interactive founder & CEO, Bill Fishkin. “This Epic MegaGrant will help us improve the integration with Unreal Engine and deliver the next generation collaborative VR platform with BigRoom.”

This is Theia’s second MegaGrant, and affirms a strong, ongoing relationship between the two companies. Theia Interactive was founded in 2014 as a visualization company, working within Unreal Engine to build high-fidelity immersive environments for AEC, retail, automotive, aerospace, and other industries. In 2018, the company branched into the software market with the commercialization of Optim, a formerly proprietary tool that helps speed up content creation and improve workflow in Unreal Engine.

The company continued experimenting with the collaborative potential of Unreal, and in 2020, launched its first multi-user collaborative VR template, allowing Unreal users to convene and interact within their projects in both VR and desktop mode. BigRoom is set to take that a step further. An open beta will be announced soon.

Source: Theia Interactive