Australian virtual reality archaeological startup Lithodomos VR has reportedly raised $900,000 in Australian dollars ($679,000 US) in a seed funding round to rebuild archaeological sites in virtual reality. The virtual reconstructions of the sites will be used in the education, tourism, and entertainment industries.
The startup was founded in the year 2016 by Simon Young, who recently submitted his PhD thesis in archaeology at the University of Melbourne. The aim of the project is to make archaeology an easy job using virtual reality, because then, one can simply walk around ancient buildings as if they were still there, reports UploadVR.
Melbourne-based startup, Lithodomos VR, claims that it creates "breathtaking and archaeologically accurate reconstructions of the ancient world in VR" which can have many applications in the industry. The startup has already bagged contracts for content from Spain for various museum installations, a video of the Berlin Film Festival (VR category), and an app in Jerusalem.
Incubated at Mktplace Ventures, the startup contains a team of computer modellers, archaeologists, and content distributors. The products of the startup are available for ancient sites which attract high-level discussions with leading educational institutions, global hardware and software companies, and archaeologists around the world.
The funding will let Lithodomos VR further capitalize on its role as an archaeology virtual reality company. The company is already expanding in Europe.
Simon Young, the company's founder and CEO, said that their obsession over archaeological accuracy is what makes them stand out. In just a few months, they have grown from little more than an idea to a fully operational VR content production and distribution company with nine team members, he added.
"From the beginning, we have had only one goal: to bring the ancient world to life for everyone using virtual reality. This funding round is the next step forward."
The company has a free app called Ancient World in VR, available now on Google Play for download, and a paid app, Ancient Jerusalem in VR (Google Play, App Store).