MONTREAL, July 11, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Galilei, a new company of Concordia University, announces the creation of XR:MTL, an Innovation Factory focused on XR technologies. Hosted at Concordia University, this initiative is co-founded by Galilei, which will manage the operations of the Factory, and Ubisoft, the world-leading creator and developer of interactive entertainment.

The Factory’s focus will be on developing applications that have clear market potential. It will bring together corporations, academia and startups to catalyze and accelerate open and commercially targeted innovation, including the creation of new ventures and novel experiences across industries. This will be achieved through joint development projects, product piloting partnerships, and knowledge sharing activities.

“A new and more mature wave of experiences is emerging. XR technology will find its way into our everyday lives and impact the future of work in many industries. Montreal’s combination of world-class research, technical and creative talent positions us to become a global leader for XR”, said Stéphane Marceau, CEO of Galilei.

Ubisoft is creating “L’Atelier XR”, a space inside the Factory aimed at collaborating with the Montreal XR ecosystem. “Ubisoft has been investing in Virtual Reality for several years and has emerged as a world leader in the field of XR entertainment. We have developed and championed core technological advancements to bring XR closer to the public. For Ubisoft, XR:MTL represents a great platform to build new services and commercial applications, to extend our XR talent base and capabilities, as well as to build a new network of innovation driven partners”, said Deborah Papiernik, Vice-President, New Business at Ubisoft.

“We have been working for years with the VR technology as it evolved. We feel it is now the best time to create the future of Virtual, Augmented and Mixed Reality, in concert with Montreal’s emerging and talented community”, said Olivier Palmieri, Game Director at Ubisoft, and Director of L’Atelier XR.

XR:MTL has established global partnerships including Oculus, Montreal-based entertainment tech leaders; D-BOX (TSE: DBO ) and Triotech, as well as several hand-picked startups including Aperium, Ova, The Phenomena, VRTracker and Pixelbug. Solutions and experiences developed will span multiple sectors that leverage XR technologies, including the entertainment, healthcare, aerospace, education and other industries.

To further XR:MTL’s mission for open innovation, a partnership with Prompt Quebec - a non-profit consortium that facilitates collaboration and financing between businesses and the public research sector - has also been formed to support projects enabling the future of XR on 5G networks.

About Galilei : The Open Innovation Company. We create innovation collisions between corporations, startups and academia. We build communities and open platforms where innovators converge to produce disruptive market innovation. These orchestrated collisions lead to the creation of disruptive ventures, breakthrough products and applied market innovations.  The Galilei team is comprised of former Tech Founders & CEOs, Community developers, Corporate Innovation Executives and Tech investors. Galilei is a Concordia University Company.

About Ubisoft : Ubisoft is a leading creator, publisher and distributor of interactive entertainment and services, with a rich portfolio of world-renowned brands, including Assassin’s Creed, Just Dance, Watch_Dogs, Tom Clancy’s video game series, Rayman and Far Cry. The teams throughout Ubisoft’s worldwide network of studios and business offices are committed to delivering original and memorable gaming experiences across all popular platforms, including consoles, mobile phones, tablets and PCs. For the 2017-18 fiscal year Ubisoft generated sales of €1,732 million. To learn more, please visit www.ubisoftgroup.com .     

For further information: 

Galilei: James Pearson Corporate Partnerships media@galilei.ca

Ubisoft: Jeanne Le Cours-Hébert Conseillère, Communications externes (514) 490-2000 ext. 8315 jeanne.le-cours-hebert@ubisoft.com