South Korea's largest virtual reality event will kick off in the southern port city of Busan later this week to showcase the latest technologies and content as the country aims to become a global powerhouse in the sector, the government said Wednesday.
Busan VR Festival 2017, the first of its kind, will take place at the Busan Exhibition & Convention Center from Thursday to Saturday, the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning said.
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"This event is aimed at creating various VR content and different business models to help expand the VR market," said Lee Sang-hak, an ICT ministry official in charge of the event.
The exhibition hall will feature various events where leading VR firms from both home and abroad will showcase state-of-the-art content, services, and new technologies.
On the sideline of the exhibition, various forums on VR topics will be held where officials and academics will meet and exchange information.
The ministry said it will also assist local VR companies to make inroad into the global market by providing more investment money.
Earlier, the South Korean government announced that it will push to nurture the VR sector to narrow the technology gap with market leader the United States by 2020.
The ministry said it will spend a total of 400 billion won ($360 million) by 2020, as the government moves to consolidate R&D efforts by various firms and government institutions. (Yonhap)