RareFaction Interactive

RareFaction Interactive was an independent immersive technology and creative engineering studio based in Los Angeles, California. Established in May 2016, it developed virtual reality and augmented reality applications that combined real-time graphics, interactive design and technical art. Its work spanned scientific visualization, game development support and experiential marketing, with projects ranging from medical research software to event installations.

The studio operated as a technical co-development partner and interactive software laboratory. Its capabilities included software prototyping, application engineering, performance profiling, environment modeling, rigging, procedural animation and custom shader development. It also designed interfaces and interaction systems for applications built with Unity and Unreal Engine, connecting software development with the production of usable real-time 3D assets.

Scientific visualization

A central research collaboration was Virtual Brain Segmenter, also known as VBS or VRAIN, developed with USC neuroimaging researchers and the ICON Lab. The application used virtual reality to help users inspect and correct errors in MRI segmentation through a three-dimensional interface. RareFaction Interactive programmed the application and designed its layer visualization and selection tools, contributing interactive software expertise to a medical research workflow.

Games and experiential projects

For Funktronic Labs’ VR gardening adventure Fujii, the studio contributed technology support and art pipeline development. Its work included level layout prototypes, environment models, musical plant interactions, animation blend trees and performance profiling for mobile VR hardware.

Its commercial projects included Underwater Badminton VR, a two-player Malibu Rum promotional experience produced with Jaunt Studios and deployed at brand events across the United States. For FreemanXP, it developed an enterprise VR suite featuring trade show booth visualizations, an interactive F-16 systems explorer and a 360-degree concert experience. An internal interactive music prototype also explored physics-based composition and voice sampling in VR.

Across these projects, the studio combined bespoke interaction design with engineering and technical art support for research teams, game developers and brand experience producers. Its operating period ended in September 2019.