(KT’s VR station at the MWC 2016, source: olleh smart blog)

The Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning of South Korea (MSIP) announced on August 3^rd that it selected five consortiums to boost the development of Virtual Reality (VR) content in the nation. A total of KRW 8 billion will be invested: KRW 3.8 billion from the government and the rest from the private sector.  

 VR content will be developed in two areas: Tourism and entertainment.

VR in Tourism

‘VR showrooms’ will be opened at popular tourist attractions, providing content relating Korean Wave and tourism. For this project, two consortiums are selected: KT and d'strict consortiums.

• KT consortium: Five members including KT

- VR content featuring K-pop stars introducing popular places in Korea will be provided at VR showrooms to be opened in popular tourist attractions (e.g. Dongdaemoon, Kwanghwamoon, Suwon)

• d'strict consortium: Five members including d'strict holdings

- VR content introducing old palaces and cultural assets in Seoul, beautiful beaches and scenery of Jeju Island, and more will be presented at VR showrooms (e.g. Sangam, Jeju Island)

VR in Entertainment

For VR in entertainment project that includes games and videos where highest demands are forecasted, three consortiums are selected: Jamong, 3D Factory and UTPLUS Interactive.

• Jamong consortium: Three members including Jamong

- VR content featuring ‘Lightning Man’, a superhero in the popular animation by EBS, and tourist attractions information will be presented at VR showrooms (in Seoul and Daegu)

• 3D Factory consortium: Three members including 3D Factory

- VR content like first person shooter (FPS) and racing games will be released at flagship stores (Daegu)

• UTPLUS Interactive consortium: Three members including UTPLUS Interactive

- VR racing games will be presented at game centers, theme parks, etc. (Daegu)

A person familiar to this project at MSIP explained “This project is important in that it can open up new possibilities of promoting the VR industry and creating revenue models.”