With its CryEngine technology, Crytek, a prominent company in the gaming sector, opened a technological center at Istanbul's Bahçeşehir University (BAU) for innovative virtual reality (VR) developers and entrepreneurs, as part of the VR First program. Expected to develop significantly in the next 10 years, virtual reality technology is thought to reach a market value of $30 billion by 2020. Crytek's technology plays a key role in VR development, and will shape both content and software. The launch of the VR center happened last week. The collaboration between Crytek and the university aims to show the potential of VR technology, create awareness and design all professional software necessary for VR developers. Based in the university's Galata Campus, the center will be the place where new projects will be designed with the support of AMD, Logitech and MSI, and through the use of advanced CryEngine technology, VR tools and high-tech software.Collaboration platformPrior to a VR technology event in Los Angeles, Cevat Yerli, CEO and the founder of Crytek, came to Istanbul for the launch event. "We are proud to make the first step of VR First program in Turkey at BAU. Through the knowledge that the center will offer and the collaborations with other academic institutions from home and abroad, we aim to create projects with students, developers and researchers on VR technology," he said in his opening speech. Today's VR technology allows users to experience unique and powerful experiences through CryEngine, Yerli said. "We are excited to see what VR developers will introduce by using all opportunities here during the project phase," he said.First center for VRAn international education institution with its campuses and centers in different countries around the world, BAU will be the first center focusing on VR in this region. Enver Yücel, the chairman of the board of trustees at BAU, said: "VR technology will be inevitable in many fields, primarily in education." The two institutions will exchange expertise on game design and development as an intersection of their goals, and they will work on research and development geared toward simulations and experiences, including games for the health sciences and education industry, with projects called Serious Games. The syllabus will be developed together, while know-how transfer and research and development will be a vital impetus, not only for those institutions but also for Turkey to learn the industry, produce and further develop. For more details about VR First, visit the website vrfirst.cryengine.comIstanbul: The new digital 'dot' on the InternetIstanbul, one of the most crowded cities of the world, took a new step to create its own original domain name on the Internet. The senior domain names ".ist" and ".istanbul," which will be used in website addresses, were introduced to the press as well as the world by Istanbul Metropolitan Mayor Kadir Topbaş this week. The investment on new domain names, which is expected to grow with various content, might be a stepping stone toward increasing digital content created in Turkey. At the press conference, Topbaş said their application, which was submitted almost three years ago, has finalized. He said they transferred Istanbultarget="_blank"'>