ROTU Entertainment to Gift 500 Meta Quest 2 Headsets to Under-resourced Music Programs with Funding from a Unity Grant
Mentioned at Unity for Humanity Summit 2022, Jam Theory is Providing Music Education
Through the Diverse Power of VR
BOSTON — Nov. 30, 2022 —ROTU Entertainment, has been awarded a $250,000 grant from the Unity Charitable Fund, a fund of Tides foundation, to create the Harmony Program, a year-long initiative gifting 500 Meta Quest 2 headsets to under-resourced music programs, as mentioned at the Unity for Humanity 2022. The tour will visit schools across the country and implement Jam Theory, the metaverse band room exploring the musical building blocks of harmony, rhythm, and melody.
The Harmony Program will visit schools in the United States starting now through November 2023. The tour aims to break down the barrier to access to music education for schools, teachers, and students nationwide with EDU support and free licenses, fostering the re-establishment of music education in school systems. The program projects to impact over 100,000 students in the first two years of its implementation.
A research study will be conducted alongside the tour by Dr. Kerstin Liesenfeld, founder of the Liesenfeld Research Institute (LRI), with the goal of measuring the students' level of music theory retention inside virtual environments and overall learning experience. This study could significantly further the discourse of VR as a teaching tool and the relevance of music education to schools, especially through the utilization of Jam Theory.
ROTU Entertainment hopes the added dimension of VR technology will spread awareness of the educational benefits of music and virtual reality through Jam Theory’s extensive curriculum. The virtual learning environment set in the metaverse encourages students to experiment with the platform’s six different instruments including the piano, drums, bass, theremin, and more.
Adjustable to the student’s music knowledge, the platform utilizes both simple concepts and advanced variations like polyrhythms, melodies, and thematic variations to diversely educate its users. Teachers can implement the curriculum remotely, making it a valuable distanced learning tool. Jam Theory will be available on the Meta Quest 2 with cross-compatibility on the Meta Quest, PCVR, PC, and Mac devices.
“The Harmony Program was founded on the principle that quality music education should be available for everyone,” commented Jason Parks, CEO, ROTU Entertainment. “Understanding music concepts is as essential as any STEM program as it actively shapes millions of lives including future leaders of the world.”
“It’s essential to human culture for children to have an enriching education in the arts,” commented AK Liesenfeld, Creative Producer, ROTU Entertainment. “Music education has been proven to provide soft skills that are useful in a wide range of professions, nurturing skills, including creative thinking, problem-solving, collaboration, time management, responsibility, and dependability. We hope Jam Theory can convince schools that effective music education is attainable, practical, and necessary for our nation’s youth.”
ROTU Entertainment has always upheld a mission to inspire, entertain, and empower humanity inside and out of the virtual world. The team has worked with nonprofits for the past ten years, exposing illegal gold mining practices in the Peruvian Amazon, seen at Cop 20 & 21 United Nations conferences, and most recently releasing the only virtual reality game with a public, nonprofit partnership, IONIA, and donating 5% of all sales to Wildlife Warriors Worldwide.
ROTU Entertainment commences their Harmony Program tour today and will be traveling to schools across the country. To stay updated on the tour’s progress, follow @ROTUVR and @unity on Twitter, subscribe to the ROTU Entertainment YouTube channel, and jam out with friends on the ROTU Entertainment Discord server. Visit www.jamtheory.org to learn more.
About ROTU Entertainment
Based in Boston, Massachusetts, ROTU Entertainment is an immersive entertainment studio striving to define the future of storytelling. A fully remote, ever-evolving network of artists, entrepreneurs, and industry leaders provides ROTU Entertainment with unparalleled access to talent, creativity, and innovation. The team comprises developers with experience working at Valve and Capcom, as well as on renowned games such as Hot Dogs, Horseshoes & Hand Grenades, and République. ROTU Entertainment currently works on IP development as well as pre-visualization and virtual production using Epic Games’ Unreal Engine.
Learn more about ROTU Entertainment, Rhythm of the Universe: IONIA, and EOLIA by visiting the company website or reading their interview on UnrealEngine.com.
Media Contacts
Bailey Mathieu / Haylee Kiedrowski
Stride PR for ROTU Entertainment
