Immersive Systems

Immersive Systems Inc. is a Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania software company building ImmerseOS, a digital experience and spatial computing platform that combines data, media and social content with interactive visualization and motion graphics. The platform supplies a framework and reusable components for building data-driven multimedia stories, interactive visualizations and digitally enhanced environments, and is designed so applications can span mobile, connected TV, AR/VR and large-format touchscreen surfaces. A serverless cloud service unifies data and digital media assets that are otherwise siloed across internal systems and third-party APIs, powering both consumer applications and authoring tools.

Two applications are built on the platform. Immersive Esports, described by the company as patent-pending, targets what it calls a two-sided problem in esports: fans have difficulty following teams and players across a fragmented ecosystem of leagues and tournaments, while leagues and teams struggle to engage fans and monetize digital assets. The app presents schedules, brackets, stats, highlights and team engagement features, and was offered through a beta sign-up program. Immersive Sports applies the same zooming timeline and data visualization components to NBA schedules, game results and player statistics, with media and highlight integration described as the next development step. The company also offers narrative and experience design and mobile/XR visualization application work.

Founding story

The company was founded in June 2017 by Jason Simmons and Sandra J Smith. Simmons, CEO, is a designer and technologist whose prior work spans start-ups and clients including DARPA, the Andy Warhol Museum and the Boston Red Sox; he previously taught user experience and interaction design at Carnegie Mellon University and graduated from Rochester Institute of Technology. Smith, president, spent 12 years in sales, business development and marketing at software companies in the US and Europe before moving into entertainment, producing theatrical films for Universal Pictures and 20th Century Fox, documentaries for Warner Bros and Netflix, and the Wild West Comedy Festival in Nashville.

Business model

The company sells consumer-facing interactive applications and platform-based experiences intended to generate value from clients' data and content assets, positioning leagues and teams to drive fan engagement and revenue from their digital assets. ImmerseOS is described as extensible and customizable to support additional esports titles and professional sports leagues.

Sources describe monetizable fan experiences and new revenue opportunities for leagues and teams, plus client engagements for narrative and experience design, but do not state pricing or contract structures.

Traction

The Gust profile lists the company as prototype ready with five employees and names numerous previous investors, most marked unconfirmed, including Entrepreneurs Roundtable Accelerator and Techstars / Rakuten Accelerator. Prior client work cited by the company includes the Andy Warhol Museum and the Boston Red Sox. The company was recruiting a senior engineer to build out an engineering team for its esports media platform.