Los Angeles-based Kilburn Live has acquired Holodome, the 360-degree immersive entertainment business launched as part of late Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen’s holding company Vulcan Inc., and aims to launch new Holodome locations in the near future. Terms of the acquisition weren’t disclosed by the two companies.
“Holodome is an amazing innovation in the live entertainment space, and it’s one that represents tremendous value and unlimited potential,” Kilburn CEO Mark Manuel said in a statement. “We are thrilled to welcome it to our diverse roster of live events and immersive experiences that represent today’s changing entertainment landscape.”
“We’re very proud of what Vulcan achieved in creating the Holodome — a significant advance in shared immersive reality,” added Art Min, vice president of impact at Vulcan Inc. “We’re excited that Holodome will move forward with Kilburn Live, so that more people will have the chance to step into other worlds, both real and imagined.”
Holodome launched a 360-degree video projection dome as part of Seattle’s Museum of Pop Culture in May of last year. The dome offered visitors a chance to experience immersive short films in 360-degrees, without the need to wear VR headsets or other eyewear. In addition to immersive music videos and science-fiction adventures, Holodome also hosted an interactive multiplayer game called “Dome of the Dead.”
The company’s Seattle outpost closed its doors this April after attracting a reported 40,000 visitors. Holodome also showed its technology at the TED conference earlier this year, and Manuel told Variety that we may not have to wait too long for new locations to open. “We hope to have more announcements soon on both locations and content,” he said.
Kilburn Live is a subsidiary of Kilburn Media that is focused on live entertainment. The company recently struck a partnership with Dr. Seuss Enterprises to create the Dr. Seuss Experience, a live entertainment experience that is scheduled to debut in Toronto later this month.
Kilburn isn’t the only company looking to popularize immersive media with 360-degree dome projections. Los Angeles-based veteran dome operator Vortex Immersion Media announced in February that it would open a 2,500-seat dome multiplex in Phoenix next year.