I’m interested in reimagining the ordinary into the extraordinary.
In the news
Super proud to see our hit game we made 17 years ago at Heavy Iron / THQ remastered and released across all systems by THQ Nordic and Purple Lamp. Thank you to all the amazing fans who have pushed to make this happen!
Seeking to understand how the global pandemic has affected business on all levels, LMU's External Relations and Partnerships team asked CEOs and senior executives to share their COVID-19 experiences in online Q&As. These interviews share the issues, changes, losses, and gains for these businesses during this unprecedented time.
A new PC VR app called SPACES allows users to join Zoom meetings and other video calls from within VR.
The attraction-filled Two Bit Circus in Los Angeles now has the Spaces VR ride Terminator Salvation available …
Best known for Terminator Salvation: Fight For The Future, Spaces is a startup co-founded by Shiraz Akmal and Brad Herman, former Dreamworks veterans who ran a division called DreamLab focused on new kinds of immersive experiences.
Today Jeremy welcomes Shiraz Akmal into the Green Room. Shiraz is the CEO of Spaces a VR experience that is blossoming around the globe! Check out Spaces at www.Spaces.com!
“From what I have a sense of, there’s still a lot of investment pouring in from the platform holders,” said Shiraz Akmal, CEO of VR startup Spaces.
Shiraz Akmal and Brad Herman both worked at DreamWorks Animation on immersive experiences, and will bring their expertise to Spaces as CEO and CTO, respectively. Right now they’re funded to around $3 million and have a $30 million joint venture with Songcheng Performance Development Co., a Chinese amusement park operator.
“…A space is a unit of virtual or mixed reality. The idea of a space is the building block for VR. Design spaces rather than pages.”
DreamWorks’ Shiraz Akmal said the goal is to make new experiences like Dragon Flight, a virtual reality game for Oculus Rift based on the movie “How to Train Your Dragon” that lets players sit on a saddle and feel like they’re flying.
“How do we make this more accessible?” Akmal asked. “How do we make this consumer-friendly?”
Shiraz Akmal was in Berlin to showcase what DreamWorks Animation Studios’ new DreamLab has been up to. Akmal spent 25 years developing games, including nine years at publisher THQ as vice president of operations in product development. He was also a founding member of Heavy Iron Studios, which THQ acquired in 1999
“This is kind of the first thing we are able to share publicly,” said Shiraz Akmal, head of business and product development for DreamLab at a media event for the film Friday at the Four Seasons Hotel in Beverly Hills.
Thoughts…
Getting my first assembler was like being reborn, getting superpowers and it was glorious
Being a developer "on someone's platform" may ultimately mean running your app in their data center, not just using their APIs.