MindMaze: The Platform That Will Power Every VR Experience
As companies struggle to catch up to Playstation, Oculus, and HTC, could a unicorn platform that can read your mind quietly overtake them all?
At the end of 2016, more than 6 million virtual reality headsets were in the hands of eager early adopters and tech-savvy consumers.[1] The 2016 Virtual Reality Industry Report predicts that another 35 million headsets will ship between 2017 and 2020.[2] Despite significant interest – and a healthy dose of hype – around augmented and virtual reality hardware and software, experts have yet to come to a consensus on when VR will truly go mainstream.
When the industry finally does reach its consumer tipping point, MindMaze – a multisensory computing platform based in both Switzerland and San Francisco – plans to power all VR experiences. MindMaze Founder and CEO Tej Tadi compares his company to the “Intel Inside model”, noting that he “[wants] all VR to be powered by [MindMaze]. It won’t matter if you have a Magic Leap or another device. Whatever it is, they will want to use our chipset.”[3]
So, how does MindMaze create value?
MindMaze originally spun out of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology. Over the last two years, the company raised $108.5 million at a >$1 billion pre-money valuation to build what it calls a “neural virtual reality platform.” The technology uses inputs from motion sensory activities, neuroscience, haptics, artificial intelligence, and computer vision to create more realistic human-machine interfaces that can be applied across a number of verticals.
MindMaze is dedicated to developing products that help speed overall AR/VR adoption – and is branching out beyond traditional gaming and entertainment use cases to provide solutions in fields like healthcare and education. MindMotion Pro, MindMaze’s very first technological breakthrough, is now engaged in a clinical trial to examine the efficacy of using its VR-based tools to speed rehabilitation for chronic stroke survivors and amputee patients.[4] [5]
How can MindMaze capture value?
By licensing its platform for B2B and B2C applications, MindMaze is already beginning to capture value from partners in the VR ecosystem.[6]
Earlier this month, MindMaze announced that it is now able to more accurately map human expression onto the face of an online avatar. This technology enabled MindMaze to develop a foam insert dubbed “MASK” that works with any VR headset from the Oculus Rift to the Google Daydream. The MASK insert features sensors that pick up subtle movements – like a smile or a furrowed brow – along with electrical impulses, interpreting those signals to create “immersive emotion” in gameplay.[7] If you gasp in real life, your avatar should, too.
MASK does not just match emotions in real-time, though; its system actually predicts the expression you will make, which the company asserts is both “responsive and convincing.”[8] This feature can be integrated into any kind of VR device, regardless of whether it is powered by a personal computer or even a smartphone. The technology is now being licensed to VR developers.
As Oculus, AltspaceVR, vTime, and others continue to focus on making virtual reality more social, Tadi predicts that, “adding emotion to VR experiences will catalyze the sector.”[9]
Moving the Needle on MindMaze
One way that MindMaze can grow its business is by continuing to extend licensing opportunities for partners to leverage its cutting-edge technology in their own VR systems. A more scalable way for MindMaze to reach the long tail of potential partners is through the creation of a software development kit (SDK). An SDK would allow developers to fully integrate MindMaze’s proprietary, “medical-grade” technology inside their own systems to allow for more realistic and integrated gameplay and experiences.[10]
DIGIT has shown us the influence that platform companies like Google, Facebook, and Amazon wield over direct competitors and industry complementors, thanks to strong network effects and high switching costs. Platforms are powerful. The winner of VR is unlikely to be the highest quality / lowest cost headset manufacturer or even the most creative developer of engaging media; instead, the platform that is first to reach and leverage a substantial user base – and power its partners’ VR experiences – is the one that will emerge victorious.
Really interesting idea to be the “Intel Inside” of VR and AR hardware, I hadn’t heard of this company so thanks for sharing! If it is really going to be the Intel of AR and VR, I think the pitch will not only have to be about what additional features MindMaze can bring existing platforms in VR and AR but also how can MindMaze help folks like Oculus and Magic Leap reduce their costs? One of the big reasons I think large companies are going after AR and VR is it helps build their brand as innovators, and it will be hard to outsource innovation at the risk of the brand unless it can have a big impact on the bottom line.
Great post Libby, MindMaze is one of the most promising start-ups out there in the VR space. As you point out in your conclusion, it will be challenging for a small start-up like MindMaze to directly compete with established platforms that have strong network effects and content in place. A key question that remains to be answered is wether the VR eco-system will favor the closed/integrated model (e.g. Apple in smartphone) or the open model (e.g. Android). While the hardware and software are done by specialized players, the Oculus / Samsung and HTC / Valve partnerships currently create two separate integrated models. I wonder wether the Android model can work in VR, in which case MindMaze could potentially be the Android equivalent.
Libby,
I think you’ve hit on something really important here: the platform is what matters – not the device, or even the content. While I do think content is better than physical product (in this case), it is true that the platforms connecting users and powering the overall industry are likely to be the most successful and robust businesses as the sector accelerates.
Aside from its positioning as a platform, I am curious to hear what makes you think that MindMaze will win? What do competitor platforms look like, and how are they likely to advance in the coming months/years? Is anyone else going after this space, with a lead on MindMaze? If so, how can they differentiate?