At a glance

YBVR has rebranded as YB to reflect its expansion beyond VR headsets into AI glasses, wearables, and other platforms for immersive sports, music, and cultural experiences. This change highlights the company's growth from a single technology focus to a broader range of immersive media offerings, collaborating with major sports and cultural organisations worldwide. YB now operates through three divisions: YB Studios for content creation, YB Sports for partnerships, and YB Tech for technology development.

The company behind Xtadium and CultVRe is expanding its capabilities, building for AI glasses, wearables, phones, domes and planetariums, across sport, music and culture.

YBVR, the company that pioneered streaming live events into VR headsets across the world, has officially rebranded as YB. The new name drops ‘VR’ as the company brings its immersive sport, music and culture experiences to a widening range of screens, from XR devices and spatial computing platforms to smart wearables, AI glasses, domes and planetariums.

The change reflects how the business has grown from a single technology into a company that produces cutting-edge content, builds technologies that take the viewing experience further than ever before, and collaborates with the largest sports and cultural organisations across the globe. It also mirrors how the appetite for immersive tech has advanced and how people now want to consume their content.

YB’s work centres on immersive media, capturing and producing video and experiences that place audiences inside an event rather than watching from afar. These experiences are then delivered across VR headsets, mobile and connected devices.

“YBVR was the right name for where we started, but it no longer represents everything we have become,” said Héctor Prieto, CEO and Co-Founder of YB. “We started by asking how technology could bring someone closer to a live event. That question has become much bigger.”

YB is now organised around three businesses that can operate independently or together:

• YB Studios is the creative and production arm, making content across sport, music, culture and entertainment, from live productions and films to branded experiences. In August it captured the total solar eclipse in León for release on CultVRe.
• YB Sports builds long-term partnerships with leagues, clubs, rights holders and sports organisations. Its work most recently includes City Space, Manchester City’s channel on Xtadium, which this summer brought fans player interviews, training sessions and behind-the-scenes content from the club’s Asia Tour in Hong Kong and Seoul.
• YB Tech develops and operates the technology behind YB’s experiences, including YB Media Center, which manages and distributes content across live and on-demand environments. Its YB Labs team explores emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence and next-generation formats.

Together, they allow YB to work on a project from the rights deal and creative idea through to production, live delivery and the audience.

The new name keeps the initials of Yerba Buena Avenue in Silicon Valley, where the company’s story began a decade ago. Its patented technology, built when virtual reality was still emerging, delivered live events into VR headsets.

YB’s products continue to include Xtadium and Xtadium Music, its sport and music platforms, and CultVRe, the culture platform launched in June on iOS, Android and Meta Quest.

Over the coming months, YB plans to announce new partnerships, productions and technology initiatives across sport, culture, entertainment and emerging platforms, building on projects already underway.

“The technology will continue to change, but our ambition remains the same. We are passionate about bringing people closer to the moments that matter,” added Prieto. “YB represents the company we are today, but more importantly, the company we are building for the next decade.”

Find out more about YB’s story.

Editorial insight

YB’s rebrand points to the broadening horizons for immersive media as it moves beyond the confines of virtual reality headsets. As the company expands its reach to AI glasses, wearables, and large-format venues, it is positioning itself to capture audiences across a growing array of devices and settings, reflecting the diversification of consumer technology and viewing habits.

For rights holders and content producers in sport, music and culture, the shift signals new opportunities to engage audiences by delivering live and on-demand experiences in formats that can be tailored to different environments. The company’s move to a more platform-agnostic identity also aligns with wider industry efforts to future-proof content delivery as spatial computing and AI-enabled devices gain ground.

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