South Korean wireless telecommunications operator SK Telecom Co. Ltd. announced today that it will introduce “oksusu Social VR,” its newest virtual reality platform that will gather users together to watch video content in a social space.

The company said in its release that the system would debut at Mobile World Congress 2018 to be held in Barcelona Feb. 26 to March 1.

With oksusu VR, people from around the world can gather together in a virtual space in order to watch content as if they were in the same room together. The experience offers the equivalent of an 80-inch high-definition television in a virtual world. In the case of SK Telecom’s flagship, this could take place in a futuristic “sports bar” where dozens of avatars could sit around, mingle and converse while gazing up at the huge screen. The company also plans to extend this technology out to encompass other similar experiences in shopping, music sharing and concert attendance.

To show the breadth of the platform’s capability, SK Telecom intends to demonstrate three different social spaces at MWC 2018: a “League of Legends” video game content, a concert video by SM Entertainment and a baseball game featuring the SK Wyverns.

The platform is also expected to upgrade image quality using upcoming 5K telecommunications technology to allow ultrahigh-speed data transmission capable of providing 8K, or 7,680 by 4,320 pixels, video content for VR viewers. In comparison, Oculus Rift resolution is 1,080 by 1,200 pixels and the HTC Vive delivers 2,880 by 1,600 pixels.This platform would grow into 8K headsets such as the still-in-development 8K Pimax VR headset.

With expectations of such high data throughput, the platform is also intended to allow massive populations in these virtual worlds. As a result, it should be capable of rendering hundreds of people together in a single space to make concerts, sports games and movie theaters more of a convincing experience.

To build the virtual space this social viewing of content takes place in, SK Telecom has also adapted its “T real Avatar __framework,” which produces lifelike mimicry of body movement for gestures as well as facial and emotional expressions. The platform will convey these expressions onto the 3-D avatar in the virtual space to make the space feel more real.

As the VR industry has grown, social media and data companies have begun to explore its social experience. This offering from SK Telecom is similar to Oculus Rooms and Parties, a social feature in Oculus Rift headsets that allows multiple users to join together in their own virtual rooms. Last year, Facebook Spaces launched to provide support for multiple people in a single virtual space where they can interact, react and display videos to one another.

Enterprise and industrial applications of this feature have also begun to develop, such as IrisVR Inc.’s multiuser VR meeting software and Visual Vocal’s enterprise mobile VR solution. Another notable example includes Rumii from DogHeadSimulations, a business collaborative VR space platform co-founded by Chance Glasco, also co-founder of Infinity Ward Inc., developer of several “Call of Duty” video game titles.

The augmented reality and virtual reality industry topped $2.3 billion last year, according to a report from the Venture Reality Fund, and it was driven primarily by the entertainment and enterprise markets. If this continues to stay true, SK Telecom’s push further into VR will fit right in by providing virtual spaces for consumers to be entertained or business staff to gather for meetings.

SK Telecom has plans to commercialize oksusu Social VR and will expand the platform usage for commerce, advertisements, entertainment and other industries. However, the company is keeping quiet about the details for now.

Image: SK Telecom