Global Virtual Reality Association: Major Tech Companies Join Forces For Unified Virtual Reality Effort

The major technology companies may be going head to head as they try to sell their virtual reality products, but they’re teaming up to create a new organization surrounding the new entertainment frontier.

The newly formed Global Virtual Reality Association (GVRA) is tech’s attempt to create some uniformity around its virtual ventures and to “unlock and maximize VR’s potential.” Founding companies behind the organization include Google, HTC, Oculus, Samsung, Sony and Acer.

There’s not much by way of details of what the group is planning to do or what its overall purpose is other than giving the biggest players in VR a unified voice in addressing the growth of the medium.

“The association wants to get ahead of challenges with developing and deploying the technology responsibly,” the organization said on its website. “That’s why we feel it’s important to bring together international experts across industry to work collaboratively on global education, potential technical challenges, and promoting best practices in the field.”

According to a press release from the group, GVRA will promote “responsible development and adoption of VR globally,” with members of the group developing best practices in addition to conducting research about VR and the technology that powers it. The group will also act as a resource for consumers and policymakers interested in virtual reality.

The most biggest promise of the new association of VR creators is the possibility of a more unified standard for the hardware and software.

Currently VR platforms operate like gaming consoles in that many games work only with one system. An effort like the GVRA may eventually lead to an experience closer to gaming on PC, where a system can be made up of many different parts but still play the same game.

Oculus, the VR platform purchased by Facebook for $2 billion back in 2014, has implemented DRM (digital rights management) protocols on its titles to prevent users from playing the titles on devices made by other companies—though the effort at one point led to an increase in piracy of its software.

Suspiciously absent from the GVRA’s founding members is Valve, the maker of SteamVR and the Steam gaming platform. Its inclusion would be one of the better indicators of a truly uniformed standard, though its partner in VR production HTC is on board with the association.