The Okanagan is one of Canada’s fastest-growing regions for technology.
Two years ago, a study commissioned by Accelerate Okanagan said the tech sector contributed $1.67 billion to the regional economy with nearly 700 businesses and more than 12,000 jobs.
Today, one company that’s contributing to Kelowna’s incredible tech sector growth is Utopia VR, which launched a virtual chatroom called Zombieland.
READ MORE: Okanagan tech sector study: 693 businesses, 12,000 jobs
“Considering we just launched, we think we’re doing pretty good,” said Utopia VR CEO Stuart Gray, adding the company designs and markets virtual worlds, including environments for businesses, such as boardrooms or conference halls.
Zombieland is not a game but is an interactive chat room with a classic Hollywood horror theme.
“Correct,” said Gray. “This is a virtual chat. It’s a themed chat with gaming like technology, animation and graphics.”
The Zombieland experience will work with VR headsets, but you don’t need one to experience it.
“They don’t need an app, they don’t need to download a file,” said Gray.
“It’s very intuitive; you can use your mobile phone, you can use your laptop.”
For now, at least, Zombieland is free.
“We’ve recently launched, so we want to attract users right now,” Gray said.
Gray says Zombieland is just the beginning as the company plans to expand its digital footprint into different virtual worlds.
“We’re going to have an internet entertainment channel, we are going to have a sports channel, we are going to have a history channel,” Gray said.
But until then, you can channel your inner zombie for a free Halloween treat at zombielandvr.com.
As for the future, Accelerate Okanagan says it’s bright for the region.
“The Okanagan is one of the fastest-growing regions here for technology across Canada,” said Brea Lake, CEO of Accelerate Okanagan.
“We’ve seen it now here for six years in a row; we’re growing 15 per cent year after year.”