8i launches Holo with ARKit to bring holograms of real people in Augmented Reality to the iPhone

Holo puts personalities you love in your pocket to unlock an entirely new way to create content in AR; New hologram collections from Jhené Aiko, Jerome Boateng, Harry Shum Jr., and others, now available exclusively on iPhone

World Cup-winning defender Jerome Boateng uses 8i's volumetric video technology to create his hologram Holo puts personalities you love in your pocket to unlock an entirely new way to create content in AR A collection of holograms featuring World Cup-winning defender Jerome Boateng are available in Holo

Holo demonstrates 8i’s volumetric video technology which enables the ARKit development community to create a broad range of compelling human experiences

LOS ANGELES, Sept. 20, 2017 -- Today, 8i announced Holo with ARKit, the first AR app that lets you place 3D holograms of real people and animals in your world, move around and interact with them as if truly there in real life, and create videos and photos to share with friends. Using the power of ARKit and 8i's breakthrough volumetric video technology, Holo unlocks an entirely new way to create content with both real and virtual human performances in AR. 8i also announced new Holo collections exclusively on iPhone from artist Jhené Aiko, pro soccer player Jerome Boateng, Glee star Harry Shum Jr., and other personalities and animals. Holo with ARKit is available worldwide for free download on the App Store for iPhone 6S or later models.

A video accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/01a4f609-2485-4f49-8616-77f34242733c

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/cac34637-1b68-44a8-9534-b9df6fd92470

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/c83afda3-eb4f-40d4-abc3-2a367c7cacb0

A video accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/1072394b-815f-49cd-8054-e4129903db7e

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/f0641354-6217-4803-892c-f1b8dff61b26

“Since we first introduced Holo in June, people have placed more than three million holograms in nearly every country around the globe, demonstrating an appetite for authentic human content in AR,” said Steve Raymond, CEO of 8i. “The arrival of iOS 11 and ARKit marks the first time millions of people can experience true volumetric video on a mass-market consumer device. With ARKit, Apple has ignited a groundswell of enthusiasm from developers reminiscent of the initial introduction of the iPhone, and our team at 8i is excited to enable easy integration of human holograms into their AR apps.  It’s clear that the ways we work and play are going to be deeply impacted by immersive computing in ways we haven’t yet imagined.”

Holograms of Personalities You Love
Holo offers a wide variety of hologram collections in a range of poses, including iconic characters, celebrities, athletes and entertainers, as well as original characters and animals. New hologram collections released today exclusively on the iPhone feature R&B artist Jhené Aiko, and World Cup-winning defender Jerome Boateng; as well as Glee star and dancer Harry Shum Jr., dancer Chachi Gonzales, and influencer Tristan Tales. Holo also features celebrated astronaut Buzz Aldrin, professional skateboarder Nyjah Huston, pop duo Superfruit, mixed martial artist Anderson Silva, among others.

Other hologram collections currently available in Holo feature collaborations with major media and entertainment brands as part of innovative campaigns to engage audiences in AR, including: Viacom Velocity for the 2017 MTV Video Music Awards with a Moon Person collection, Sony Pictures for Spider-Man: Homecoming, Passage Pictures and FilmRise for the critically-acclaimed feature film Marjorie Prime starring Jon Hamm, and Hearst and Cosmopolitan for Magic Mike Live.

Enabling Immersive Human Experiences in AR
8i built Holo to deliver compelling human content in AR to people worldwide. It is the first app built using 8i’s proprietary volumetric video technology. 8i is building the full technology stack for enabling real human content and communication for the immersive computing era, delivering an end-to-end solution for capture, creation, compression and distribution of human holograms on any device or platform. The company is working on tools to enable the AR app development  community to build and deliver a broad range of applications featuring real human content. For developer information, please email [email protected].

Holo with ARKit is available worldwide for free download on the App Store for iPhone 6S or later models at https://itunes.apple.com/app/id1194175772. Earlier models of iPhone can run the updated version of Holo without ARKit functionality.

For assets and additional information, visit: http://bit.ly/2fvTakl.
For video, visit: https://youtu.be/vsECVPUCYt8. 
To learn more, visit thisisholo.com.

About 8i™
8i’s mission is to give people the best way to connect with each other and express themselves through holograms. We provide the easiest way to create and experience human holograms that look real and feel as if they were in the same room. Our proprietary technology transforms video from an array of cameras into a photo-realistic 3D hologram of a human that can be viewed from any angle, on any device for virtual, augmented or mixed reality. We recently launched our mobile AR app, Holo, which lets users add holograms into their world and take videos and photos they can share with friends. Founded in May 2014, 8i is based in Wellington, New Zealand, and Los Angeles. Learn more at http://8i.com/.

MEDIA CONTACTS:
Amy Sezak
[email protected]