No.4[Last 50 Posts]
http://venturebeat.com/2014/10/07/consumer-oculus-rift-is-more-than-a-few-months-out-while-designers-makes-it-more-comfy/
>Creating a comfortable product is one of the issues that holds back a consumer version of the Rift headset from Oculus VR, according to the company’s chief executive officer Brendan Iribe. In an interview with financial news cable network Bloomberg, Iribe explained that company is close to releasing its first product for consumers, but his team is really focused on making sure that the experience is pleasant for those who use it.
>“To get [comfort] right is really a big challenge,” said Iribe. “We’re just at the point now where we’re confident that we’re there, and it’ll be not too far [from now].”
> acknowledged again that consumer Rift will have a lot in common with Crescent Bay. But he reiterated that the designers still feel like they have a lot of work ahead of them.
>“Well, [the wait is] less than multiple years,” said Iribe. “We can’t say where we are on it, but more than a few months and less than a few years, but it’s pretty soon. We do want to get it right.”They just keep adding and refining features nonstop, really want to make it perfect don't they? We are either going to see the CV1 at the end of 2015 or in 2016 at this rate.
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No.6
http://www.ign.com/articles/2014/10/22/first-360-degree-documentary-to-release-on-oculus-rift
>Called Zero Point, the film is a documentary about the development of virtual reality, depicting everyone from pioneers to the researchers and engineers that have made it possible.
>Zero Point is filmed in 360 degrees, meaning the viewer will be completely surrounded by the camera work and able to look all around themselves at the shot while wearing the Oculus Rift.
>The film will feature several different settings, including a military training camp, a crowded expo hall, and a beach. Each scene has been filmed using a special VR-enabled camera to capture a complete 360 degree scene.
>Zero Point will be available on Steam for $15 USD on October 28 and is compatible with all past and future Oculus Rift development kits. Those who purchase the documentary between October 28 and November 4 will save $3 USD on the final price. No.7
No.8
http://www.roadtovr.com/nimble-sense-kickstarter-virtual-reality-oculus-rift-time-of-flight-input/
>Today Nimble VR launches a Kickstarter campaign for Nimble Sense, a natural input controller that the company says was designed for virtual reality input. And while Nimble Sense doesn’t at first appear to be much different than Leap Motion, the company says they’re using ‘time-of-flight’ depth sensing technology, like what’s used in the Kinect 2, which they say has unique benefits.
>“Our camera captures a dense 3D point cloud every 20 milliseconds that can be used to bring not only hands, but arms, legs, and even your desk into VR,” Rob Wang, co-founder of Nimble VR, told me. “The 3D point cloud of the real world is rendered exactly at the right scale and location in VR—regardless of your IPD. The point cloud can even be shared and visualized by other users for multiplayer / social VR experiences.”
>Nimble Sense will ship with a mount for the Oculus Rift DK2 which smartly takes the place of the unit’s cable cover, meaning there’s no permanent modification needed to mount the sensor. The mount appears to cover two of the Rift’s IR LEDs, which are used for positional tracking, but like the Leap Motion VR Mount, it may not significantly detract from tracking performance.
>Nimble VR reached out early to a few VR developers, including Renaud, to demonstrate that the system can be integrated easily into existing projects. No.9
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http://www.roadtovr.com/world-of-comenius-virtual-reality-education-biology-lesson-leap-motion-oculus-rift-dk2/
>At a school in the Czech Republic on October 20th, a groundbreaking experiment took place. Instead of pens and paper, students sat down with specially adapted VR headsets (Oculus Rift DK2s) that dropped them into a fascinating, immersive, educational experience that allowed them to interact naturally using natural hand gestures. This is the World of Comenius.
>World of Comenius, a project which started life with that goal (to enrich the learning experience) in mind, recently installed seven PCs each with the Oculus Rift DK2 VR headset, with mounted Leap Motion sensors, into a classroom at Mendel Grammar School in Opava City, Czech Republic. The school has a history of adopting progressive technologies that allow them to focus on the needs of their students and explore new and interesting ways to teach.
>For this event, pupils were treated to a virtual biology and anatomy lesson. Donning the Oculus Rift, they’re transported to a virtual classroom with a skeletal model complete with interactive components, like bones and organs. The students reach into this world and can manipulate parts of the model at will, using just their hands.
>All of this means that World of Comenius is incredibly intuitive. With no mouse, keyboards or complicated joypads to familiarise themselves with, students are free to interact with the virtual world as they might the real world, using their hands to pick up, examine, and discard different organs from the dummy.
>After the lesson was done, the World of Comenius team took the opportunity to help evangelise virtual reality further by showing pupils other VR demos, such as Sightline: The Chair. This being school, those who’d already experienced the demo took great delight in shaking the current player’s chair as it reached the final scene, a hair raising moment where the player balances atop a collapsing building. No.10
YouTube embed. Click thumbnail to play.
>Sebastian Kuntz discusses The Value of VR for professional applications at Oculus Connect.
No.11
YouTube embed. Click thumbnail to play.
>Nick Whiting and Nick Donaldson from Epic Games discuss Lessons from integrating the Oculus Rift into Unreal Engine 4 at Oculus Connect.
No.12
YouTube embed. Click thumbnail to play.
>Kamal Sinclair, Chris Milk, Paul Raphaël, and Ikrima Elhassen discuss 360-degree Filmmaking for VR at Oculus Connect.
No.13
YouTube embed. Click thumbnail to play.
>Michael Antonov and Volga Aksoy's discussion on Developing with Oculus: Mastering the Oculus SDK.
No.14
YouTube embed. Click thumbnail to play.
>Learning from Lucky's Tale discussion with Design Director Dan Hurd and CEO Paul Bettner from Playful at Oculus Connect.
No.15
YouTube embed. Click thumbnail to play.
>Audio Engineer, Brian Hook, discusses introducing Audio in Virtual Reality at Oculus Connect.
No.16
YouTube embed. Click thumbnail to play.
>Richard Yao's discussion on The Human Visual System and the Rift at Oculus Connect.
No.17
YouTube embed. Click thumbnail to play.
>Max Cohen and Ryan Rutherford discuss getting started with Gear VR at Oculus Connect.
No.18
YouTube embed. Click thumbnail to play.
>Oculus Director of Film and Media, Eugene Chung, moderates a panel for Film and Storytelling in VR with Robert Stromberg, John Gaeta, Saschka, and Kim Liberi at Oculus Connect.
No.19
YouTube embed. Click thumbnail to play.
>Tom Heath discusses Elevating Your VR at Oculus Connect.
No.20
YouTube embed. Click thumbnail to play.
>Tom Forsyth discusses Developing VR Experiences with the Oculus Rift at Oculus Connect.
No.21
YouTube embed. Click thumbnail to play.
>Nirav Patel discusses Building the First Rift Development Kit at Oculus Connect.
No.27
http://www.techradar.com/news/world-of-tech/zuckerberg-expects-ten-year-plan-for-oculus-rift-1270868
>Apparently Zuck and co., have a long term plan set in place for the Rift headset but it will take awhile before it becomes a household name:
>"It needs to reach a very large scale - 50 to 100 million units - before it will really be a very meaningful thing as a computing platform, so I do think it's going to take a bunch of years to get there. Maybe, I don't know - it's hard to predict exactly - but I don't think it's going to get to 50 or 100 million units in the next few years, right? That'll take a few cycles of the device to get there."
>If ten years sounds a long time, just think about how long it took for Sony and Microsoft to create the PS4 and Xbox One.
>The development kits have also seen various iterations - from SDK 1 to Crystal Cove and so forth - and will likely continue to improve once the beta releases. But again, virtual reality is still a fresh space and you won't see the 100 million units just yet.
>Zuck further elaborates his vision:
>"And when you get to that scale, that's when it starts to be interesting as a business, in terms of developing out of the ecosystem. So when I'm talking about it as a 10-year thing, I'm talking about building the first set of devices, and then building the audience and the ecosystem around that, until it eventually becomes a business."
>The in-house Oculus game dev team is probably helping accelerate the pace, and the funding provided by Facebook may explain the impending beta.
>There are plenty of other VR fish in the sea, but right now Zuck states, "It's still early for Oculus." No.28
http://www.roadtovr.com/epic-games-share-insights-optimizing-showdown-90-fps-oculus-rift-crescent-bay-prototype/
>At Oculus Connect in September, the VR company brought together experts and developers from across the world to talk VR. Among them were developers from Epic Games, creators of Unreal Engine, who shared some of the challenges and solutions to getting the visually stunning Showdown demo to run at 90 FPS on the Oculus Rift Crescent Bay prototype.
>Nick Whiting, lead programmer on VR and visual scripting for UE4, and Nick Donaldson, senior designer at Epic Games, took to the stage at Oculus Connect to talk with an audience of developers about Unreal Engine 4 (UE4) and its integration with the Oculus Rift. Amidst the talk, the two went into detail on the process of optimizing Showdown, a high-fidelity demo built in UE4 that a five man team managed to push to 90 FPS—on a single Nvidia GTX980 GPU, to run on the Oculus Rift Crescent Bay prototype. No.29
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http://www.roadtovr.com/newretroarcade-oculus-rift-dk2-download-arcade-virtual-reality/
>Developer Digital Cybercherries has just released NewRetroArcade, a brilliantly detailed 80′s arcade that’s built in Unreal Engine 4. Inside, players are taken on a nostalgia trip, able to play any one of many working arcade machines representing classic titles. The game supports the Oculus Rift as well as standard monitors.
>NewRetroArcade features a number of playable arcade machines with games from the 80′s and early 90′s. There’s also a playable Gameboy, bowling alley, basketball arcade machines, and even a working dart board. To really take you back, cassette tapes scattered throughout the arcade can be inserted into a boom box to play popular music from the era. Players can even choose to stream internet radio from retro stations within the game.
>The developer says that ample use of Substance Designer, a UE4 plugin, was employed to develop the title’s brilliantly detailed surfaces. The developer says that there has been some initial optimization for keeping framerates high in virtual reality, but players will still need some meaty hardware for smooth playback in VR; the game includes several options for toggling graphical fidelity.
>The game utilizes the Gearboy emulator, a multi-platform Game Boy and Game Boy Color emulator. For legal reasons, the ROMs are not included in the download of NewRetroArcade, but the game automatically downloads them to make the arcade machines playable. No.35
http://www.roadtovr.com/samsung-gear-vr-gets-positional-tracking-via-stem-demod-sfvr-video/
>Samsung’s Gear VR is close to release, if recent rumours are to be believed, and it’s certainly hotly anticipated. At a recent SFVR meetup, Sixense demo’d a solution to the Note 4 powered VR headset’s one glaring feature omission – positional tracking.
>So it was with great interest when a video of a recent SFVR (San Francisco Virtual Reality) meetup surfaced showing a presentation from Amir Ruben (skip to 2h 27m on the video above), CEO and Founder of Sixense, the company behind the Razer Hydra and more recently STEM motion control system. Amir used his time at SFVR to announce that Sixense had been working with Samsung and the Gear VR. Seems Samsung were keen to woo the LA based technology company as members of the Gear VR team flew to see Sixense, previously sceptical of mobile VR as a platform. What Samsung showed them “.. blew our minds” and convinced them that the Gear VR was not only a viable device for delivery virtual reality experiences, but that Sixense should be involved in solving the puzzle of that missing positional tracking.
>Sixense’s Rubin went on to detail the company’s success with not only getting STEM tracking modules working with Gear VR, but claimed that they’ve managed to achieve around 7.5ms latency between STEM and the Note 4 via Bluetooth. This figure is impressively close to the company’s ‘full fat’ PC targeted system, which touts 4.2ms of latency. To bolster these claims and to cement the company’s dedication to Gear VR, the STEM systems due to ship next month to Kickstarter backers around the world will be delivered with Android support, allowing Gear VR developers to get right on creating STEM based Gear VR applications.
>Although Rubin claims the STEM pairing is restricted currently to just one STEM pack, it means that right now applications can be built that leverage’s the freedom this advancement enables. Gear VR is already a tantalising prospect as a wireless VR headset, anyone who’s used the Oculus Rift will know that cables are an impediment to immersion. So now you can move around VR spaces unfettered and with positional tracking. No.37
http://www.roadtovr.com/mozilla-research-vr-launches-mozvr-com-oculus-rift/
>Earlier this year Mozilla began exploring virtual reality capabilities for the web. Now, they have released MozVR.com, which they call “a VR website about VR websites,” in celebration of the 10th anniversary of Firefox. It uses a virtual reality enabled version of Firefox that can navigate seamlessly through VR worlds built and hosted on the web.
>The MozVR website says that the “menus and loading indicators appear as unobtrusive layers that wrap the experience and are easily summoned or dismissed.” With each click of a link, one is teleported from one experience to the next using the Oculus Rift. Moving from site to site is possible without friction as each VR world dissolves into another one. There are no plugins, installations, or interruptions—provided you’re using a VR-enabled build of Firefox or Chromium.
>A couple of demos are already available. An example includes a project called Sechelt that was made with Ricardo Cabello (aka Mr.DOOB). It is a beautiful fly-through of the coast of British Columbia. Another experience titled Information Diving is described as “a visualization of data as art inspired by the work of artist Tatiana Plakhova.” There is also VR Web demo that can be controlled with Leap Motion, as well as an episode of Talk Chat Show Thing, which Mozilla says is the first ever talk show filmed exclusively in virtual reality.
>All that is needed to start exploring the virtual online world is an Oculus Rift and a custom build of Firefox. A few configurations tips are available to help users get the experience working. The Mozilla Research VR team has also uploaded the code to github so eager developers can start experimenting with early demos, boilerplate scenes, and more.
>“We are using the Rift as our initial test and development device, but are committed to device-agnostic Web VR, with support for additional devices coming soon,” writes the Mozilla Research VR team. No.38
http://www.roadtovr.com/samsung-gear-vr-launch-u-s-early-december-breaking/
>The accompanying press-release confirms much that we already know – but does now solidify the software line up that will join the device at retail or shortly thereafter:
>As part of the Marvel’s Avengers: Age of Ultron partnership with Samsung, Gear VR users will gain exclusive access to Tony Stark’s Lab inside the all new Avengers Tower.
>Cirque du Soleil Media presents a 360° live-action 3D VR experience, featuring an act from Zarkana filmed by Felix & Paul Studios.
>DreamWorks VR from DreamWorks Animation allows Samsung Gear VR users to interact and laugh with DreamWorks characters and content in a whole new way like never before.
>Harmonix Music VR takes your music library and transports you to a fully immersive, musically responsive environment, allowing you to relax in a vibrant soundscape and explore visualizations set to your favorite tracks.
>M-GO Advanced, a new paradigm for digital video VR applications, offers an unmatched interactive search and discovery experience with Samsung Gear VR.
>Protocol Zero from DENA enables Samsung Gear VR players to infiltrate enemy grounds undetected in blackout conditions with hi-tech optics including night vision, X-ray vision, and thermal vision.
>Temple Run VR is the latest edition in Imangi’s Temple Run series, challenging Samsung Gear VR players to run as far as they can through a perilous winter wonderland as they escape the clutches of Arctic Demon Monkeys.
>Vevo offers more than 100,000 HD music videos, live concert events and original programming that can be enjoyed in an immersive, full-screen theater experience on Samsung Gear VR.
>WemoLab’s theBluVR allows users to immerse themselves in the dream-like majesty of marine life.
>And of course Oculus’ own Platform based offerings – the wording of the release is interesting though “Samsung Gear VR is powered by Oculus, and will automatically download special Oculus software to the Note 4 when connected for the first time.” – clearly Oculus have made sure that in return for delivering the new device’s sub 20ms latency, they geta foot in the door with regards to selling content direct to Gear VR. Those Oculus apps again:
>Oculus Home – Your VR home screen and content discovery center, which includes a Samsung section
>Oculus Store – An application that lets you browse and download new content from the Oculus platform
>Oculus Cinema – A VR movie theater and cinema where you can watch your favorite movies in an immersive virtual environment
>Oculus 360 Videos and Photos – Be immersed in 360° videos and panoramas like never before from within Gear VR No.40
http://www.roadtovr.com/sdc-2014-samsung-announces-project-beyond-3d-360-camera-vr-breaking/
>Samsung’s Developer Conference has certainly made its presence felt in the VR community today. At the keynote event earlier, Samsung announced that the ‘Innovator Edition’ of their Gear VR headset would be released in ‘early December’.
>In a blog post on their website, Oculus has announced that the headset collaboration with Samsung will retail for $249 with a bluetooth gamepad and $199 standalone. No global pricing has yet been announced. The device will launch firs in the US with other regions to roll out later, but no hint as to when. Nevertheless, you can pre-register your interest in the device (as long as you also own the pre-requisite Samsung Galaxy Note 4 phone on which it relies) right here.
>Oculus claims that this first ‘Innovator Edition’: “..much like the Oculus Rift Development Kit, provides developers and enthusiasts everything they need to build and experiment with the platform before the hardware and software are ready for consumers”. No.50
http://www.roadtovr.com/apple-virtual-reality-job-posting-head-mounted-display-patent/
>If you thought a company like Apple was too big and too busy to concern itself with virtual reality, think again. A new job listing from the company seeks a software engineering who can create “high performance apps that integrate with Virtual Reality systems.”
>Posted at the end of last week, as pointed out by 9to5Mac, the position posted on Apple’s job board seeks an ‘App Engineer’:
>We are looking for a software engineer to develop UI and applications to create next generation software experiences. The individual must be able to take participate in collaborative and iterative UI design through the implementation phases & complete performant user experience code for product delivery. This engineer will create high performance apps that integrate with Virtual Reality systems for prototyping and user testing.
>Familiarity with 3D Graphics programming; OpenGL, DirectX >VR/AR development >Ability to rapidly survey & analyze applications and devices in competitive landscapes >Ability to understand engineering analysis of complex systems and interpret the result in relation to the user experience >Interest in Human Factors and User studies a benefit >Experience in a fast paced, cross functional software environments
>This is a full time position based in Santa Clara, California, right near the company’s famous campus in Cupertino.
>“Ability to rapidly survey & analyze applications and devices in competitive landscapes,” sounds to me a whole lot like ‘you better be able to find out what our competitors are doing in VR and learn from it.’
>While it’s interesting to see that Apple is looking for someone in-house to prototype VR apps, the larger picture is that the ‘casual’ VR space—that of VR smartphone adapters—may be heating up. And this is a bigger deal than those camped in the high-end VR space (Oculus et al.) might realize. It won’t take much more than the integration of made-for-VR sensors and some software tweaks in smartphones to enable the myriad of VR smartphone adapters to deliver a relatively good VR experience. And when that happens, it’ll be the app store wars all over again, with the various players aiming to be the platform for virtual reality apps. With the launch of Cardboard, you could say that Google has already launched the first assault.
>And make no mistake, this is not the first time virtual reality has crossed Apple’s mind. Among several patents filed by the company relating to virtual reality, one filed in 2008 (years before the Oculus Rift) shows a head mounted display would be instantly recognizable to anyone following VR today, including an IPD adjustment dial, and a wired or wireless connection to a mobile device.
>With Facebook/Oculus, Sony, and mobile rivals Google and Samsung all highly interest in VR, this job posting may be evidence that Apple is starting to feel the pressure. In Apple fashion, the company is unlikely to re-invent the wheel, but they’d be sure to slather the experience with a heaping-helping of polish. No.53
http://www.roadtovr.com/oculus-rift-crescent-bay-prototype-heading-svvr-holiday-party-december-11th/
>The SVVR Meetup in Mountain View, CA is getting an early gift this year: Oculus is bringing their latest ‘Crescent Bay’ Rift prototype to the organization’s Holiday Party on December 11th, one of the first opportunities for the public to try the unit. The Holiday Party event also features a lineup of presentations, including the delivery of the first production-ready STEM system which will be given by Sixense to SVVR.
>If you live in the Silicon Valley region and haven’t yet attended an SVVR Meetup, there’s never been a better time to do so. The organization has played host to 15 such gatherings to date, and is seen as a model for virtual reality community gatherings around the world. And now, the SVVR Holiday Party event will provide an opportunity to see Oculus' latest ‘Crescent Bay’ prototype on December 11th. SVVR was also one of the first places that the public could see Sony’s Morpheus VR headset.
>Oculus revealed the Crescent Bay prototype at their inaugural ‘Connect’ developer event in September. The unit has an improved display, optics, and ergonomics, as well as 360 degree positional tracking and integrated headphones. Echoed by others who have had a chance to try the new prototype, our own experience with Crescent Bay left us thoroughly impressed.
>“This has been such a special year for our community and for the VR ecosystem as a whole, so SVVR is going big for our final event of 2014,” SVVR founder Karl Krantz told me.
>The organization’s Holiday Party event will also feature four presentations, including the handoff of the very first production-ready STEM motion controller unit from creator Sixense to SVVR. STEM has been in development since the company ran a successful crowdfunding campaign last year.
>The presentation lineup follow:
>Ethereon – Tony Davidson (Innervision)>Ethereon is a highly immersive virtual adventure filled with novel, puzzle-based interactions that are designed to take full advantage of the upcoming VR revolution. Now on Kickstarter.
>SEEBRIGHT – John Murray (CTO) & Simon Solotko (CMO)>Augmented reality is set to evolve. Coming soon to Kickstarter, Seebright has developed wide field of view display technology for mobile virtual and augmented reality. Seebright is located in Santa Cruz and Palo Alto, California.
>VR Chat – Jesse Joudrey & Graham Gaylor>Jesse & Graham will be explore some of how users are using VRChat to build the experiences they want, as well as give a preview of what our 2.0 SDK will be able to do when it’s released early next year.
>Sixense – Amir Rubin>Sixense is very pleased to take the opportunity of SVVR’s 2014 Holiday Party to provide everyone with an update on their production schedule and upcoming release dates, their current status and plans for mobile support, and, most importantly, to commemorate the release of the STEM System by presenting unit #001/100 to SVVR.
>A series of virtual reality demos will also be available. If you’ve got something cool to show, SVVR’s Open Demo Policy encourages you to bring it along:
>If you have an interesting VR hardware or software project to show off, bring it along for the open demo portion of the event. We provide tables & power. You are welcome to show off your own projects, or to share your favorite demos or applications.
>The SVVR Holiday Party event will be held from 6:30 PM to 10 PM on December 11th at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, CA. Tickets cost $10 and refreshments will be served.
>SVVR is made possible thanks to Gold Sponsors Seebright, Sixense, AltspaceVR, and Technical Illusions (Cast AR), and Silver Sponsors Looksery, Jaunt VR , and Nimble VR. No.70
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http://www.roadtovr.com/first-samsung-gear-vr-footage-emerges-oculus-home-apps-games-shown/
>We’re right on the cusp of moving into the Gear VR launch window Samsung announced at it’s Developers Conference last month. And we’re hearing retail devices are starting to appear. Now comes a series of video walkthroughs of the Gear VR’s user interface and early release software from a Czech website called ‘Samsung Mania‘.
>Oculus Home and Related Apps including Oculus Cinemahttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZ2PBiL-xV0
>The first video starts with a tour of Oculus Home, Gear VR’s current default hub area where you can browse, install and manage your content. It seems that everything in these videos is all from content provided with the device as the Oculus Store is currently offline and unusable.
>The main hub area is clean and uncluttered, with tiles / buttons for ‘Store’ (Complete with Oculus Logo), ‘Samsung Gear VR’ tile, which presumably opens Samsung’s content portal once online, ‘Oculus 360 Videos’, ‘Oculus Cinema’, ‘Oculus 360 Photos’ and ‘Library’. You also have some preview tiles showing (presumably) slides from recently installed content or applications.
>Highlights here are Oculus Cinema (check out the selectable, immersive and animated environments [2:17]) which includes a look at the in-movie user interface and movie selection interface – all very slick indeed. Also, Oculus Cinema is capable of showing multi-screen movies, few and far between I’d imagine, but the astounding looking RUIN is shown here http://vimeo.com/38591304 . Also an interesting peek at the Gear VR settings screen where you can enable pass-through camera and alter ‘standard’ phone operations plus resetting the unit’s orientation.
>360 Photos, 360 Videos and VR Galleryhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gduaSN2o87Y
>Self explanatory in function of course, the 360 Photos and Videos apps are demonstrated here. It looks as if the unit ships with a fair selection of demonstration content to show off the capabilities of each application. Galaxy VR 11 is the first 360 Video launched and it’s a cool journey into the future complete with space travel and am intergalactic game of football. This looks entirely pre-rendered, a trailer for an upcoming game in fact. Also shown is an impressive looking trailer for a natural history film on Iceland. Whether these are in 3D as well as 360 degree format is difficult to judge here. The 360 Photos app gives us a glimpse at some of the interface design language
>Anshar Wars Demohttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tj3KMhyZMB4
>The Gear VR is due for release ‘early December’ according to Samsung, so expect an avalanche of news over the next week or so – including a hands-on look from us. No.76
Gear VR is releasing on monday.
No.77
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http://www.businessinsider.com/story-of-mark-zuckerberg-oculus-rift-2014-12
>Earlier this year, Facebook acquired virtual reality company Oculus for $2 billion.
>Speaking at Business Insider's Ignition conference, Oculus CEO Brendan Iribe told the story of how he first met Mark Zuckerberg.
>"I met Mark personally through the introduction from Marc Andreessen," Iribe said. "And I don’t know how much he regrets this introduction, it was originally, 'Do you want a reference on me?'"
>Oculus was currently raising a round of investment from Andreessen Horowitz so a potential deal with Facebook wasn't even on the horizon yet, but Iribe said he couldn't pass up the chance to meet Zuckerberg.
>"I said yeah, it would be good to talk to someone else who worked with you," Iribe said during an interview at Ignition. "Andreessen said, 'How about Zuck?' And I thought, 'Oh, talking to Zuck, that'd be pretty cool, sure, that'd be great!'"
>Iribe then began talking with Zuckerberg about Oculus and the Oculus Rift virtual reality headset. Zuckerberg was curious about what the popular applications of the Rift headset would be.
>"I said it will start in gaming but it'll eventually go beyond where we really were now, after we got the technology to a very high quality level…you believe, your brain just believes you're really there."
>Iribe said that Zuckerberg was particularly interested in the social aspects of the Rift.
>"You start to feel like you're really there, the next step is to feel like you're there with other people and be face to face, it's the only platform that can deliver that," Iribe said.
>Iribe pressed Zuckerberg to visit the Oculus headquarters for a demo of the Oculus Rift, which he did. When asked what Zuckerberg's first reaction to experiencing the Oculus Rift, Iribe said it took him by surprise.
>"He said, 'Wow, that was a lot better than I was expecting it to be,'" Iribe said. "He came out and said, 'I'd like to help, how can I help?'"
>Iribe said at the early stages, they weren't sure exactly what Zuckerberg's involvement would be, but they quickly realized that their best bet for bringing Oculus to mainstream audiences would be to be acquired by Facebook, a company which offered less restrictions than a potential deal with Google, Sony, or Microsoft. No.81
http://vrfocus.com/archives/9434/official-gear-vr-launch-line-revealed/
>The list includes Anshar Wars, Bombsquad, Darknet, Dreadhalls, Esper, HeroBound: First Steps, Ikarus, Minotaur Rescure VR, Proton Pulse, Romans from Mars and Viral. Oculus VR didn’t specify as to which titles were demos and which were full videogames, although Darknet is certainly the latter. No.82
http://www.roadtovr.com/oculus-acquires-nimble-vr-13th-lab-chris-bregler-computer-vision/
>Yesterday Oculus announced that they’re acquiring Nimble VR, which launched a Kickstarter in October to fund creation of their motion input camera designed for VR headsets. Along with Nimble VR, 13th Lab and Chris Bregler also join the Oculus family.
>Just prior to the end of their Kickstarter campaign, Nimble VR cancelled the project, effectively refunding more than $135,000—more than twice their goal—that had been pledged by backers. The cancellation of the project was accompanied by an update to the campaign:"Today, we’re happy to share that we’ll be joining forces with Oculus, a team that is creating an entirely new medium, platform and industry. We’re excited not only to continue to push at the boundaries of input and user experience in VR, but to do so with the resources and means to make a bigger impact on a larger audience."
>Confirmation came shortly thereafter on a post to the official Oculus blog. The post shows that Nimble VR was part of a slew of acquisitions in the computer vision category, including the Stockholm based 13th Lab, as well as the cinematic visual effects expert Chris Bregler.
>13th Lab, a company focused on real-time 3D tracking of real-world environments for mobile devices, has created some pretty intriguing stuff in the past few months using a smartphone’s stock sensors and cameras.
>Before their acquisition, the heart of their business was in developing applications like their yet unreleased app Rescape, which uses their smartphone-driven computer vision and sensor fusion system through something called SLAM, or simultaneous localization and mapping. Simply put, SLAM lets you determine your position in an unmapped territory, which in turn has allowed the team to create augmented reality applications that no longer depend on the use of a unique marker for virtual object stabilization.
>Oculus’ other addition, Chris Bregler, was up until recently a Professor of Computer Science at NYU’s Courant Institute and director of the NYU Movement Lab, a “motion capture studio and research group dedicated to the analysis and animation of all forms of human movement.” No.89
http://vrfocus.com/archives/9721/youtube-style-vr-platform-vizor-launching-crowdsale-early-next-year/Virtual reality (VR) experiences are set to be delivered in a number of ways once consumer head-mounted displays (HMD) finally start rolling out. Aside from physical releases, Oculus VR itself will be handling a lot of distribution through digital channels. But other outlets are also looking at unique ways of hosting VR experiences. One such company is Vizor, which has recently revealed plans to launch a crowd-sale of its VR platform that allows developers to create and host new apps.
The crowdsale will go live on January 4th 2015, to help fund Vizor. The site is unique in that it is the first platform to provide content creators with the development tools to make VR experiences in what the company describes as a ‘YouTube-style environment’. Developers will be able to create, edit and share their own VR content in their browser through Vizor’s own integrated authoring toolset named Vizorworks.
The idea is to allow these creators to sell their own experiences using the site’s very own digital currency. Those experiences aren’t strictly video, though, as the company explains that the breadth of content will cover video games, apps and cinematic titles that can be either interactive or non-interactive. All-in-all it sounds like an ambitious software portal for VR experiences that could take off when the consumer version of the Oculus Rift finally arrives.
No.92
http://www.ibtimes.com/microsoft-corp-readying-oculus-rift-competitor-xbox-one-unveiling-set-june-2015-1765606
>Microsoft Corporation is reportedly planning to unveil a virtual reality headset to compete with the Oculus Rift. Reports say it will work on the Xbox One, but will it also be compatible with PCs running the company’s upcoming Windows 10 operating system?
>The new version of Windows is due out in 2015, and Digitimes reported last week that Microsoft’s own headset will be revealed in June at the E3 gaming conference, citing sources within the company’s supply chain. Microsoft has refused to comment on the reports, which say the hardware team that handles the company’s Surface tablets was developing the VR headset.
>Demos of a headset had been offered to high-level executives since November, and Microsoft has already offered a version of its Xbox One headset to software developers, according to a report from VRFocus.
>"The demo that I had was at Microsoft's headquarters in a room given over to this [technology], and you had an immersive headset on, and there are characters that appear to be real, and you're interacting with the characters and they're not real, and it's pretty extraordinary," Take-Two Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick told GameSpot last month.
>"I think the technology is really interesting, and it’s definitely something we’ve been playing with for quite a while," Microsoft’s head of Xbox Phil Spencer told IGN in March. Spencer also alluded to the company’s IllumiRoom project in the interview, saying he did not think "every [VR] experience requires goggles on my head,” but said "being able to completely audibly and visually immerse players” could make VR headsets valuable to the console.And like Sony's Morpheus this is also a train-wreck waiting to happen. Expecting the Xboner to render anything at 90fps is laughable.
No.95
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http://www.roadtovr.com/next-major-version-ue4-include-samsung-gear-vr-support-latest-oculus-runtime/The company plans to include support for Gear VR, starting with the next major release of UE4, according to the company’s public roadmap. The current version of Unreal Engine is 4.6.1, so we may see a few minor releases before version 4.7 which is planned to include initial Gear VR support, with “continued optimizations and bugfixes” in following (likely minor) versions.In addition to support for Gear VR, Epic Games notes on the roadmap that they’re working on ‘VR Project Settings’, which will likely come in the form of a template, “making it easier to start a highly performant project, with stripped down rendering setting to make getting to high framerates easier.”UE4 4.7 will also include the latest Oculus Runtime, allowing developers to continue working with the most optimized version out of the box. Oculus notes that “due to the difference in Epic Games / Oculus release schedules, the SDK that comes with UE4 from Epic Games is usually one version older than what we have already released.” The next major update to UE4 (4.7) will bring the engine’s Oculus support in line with the latest version from Oculus (4.4 beta). No.106
YouTube embed. Click thumbnail to play.
Here are some Sony people talking about VR.
No.113
http://www.roadtovr.com/samsung-milk-vr-service-virtual-reality-video/Today Samsung has announced that it’s adding a new member to the company’s family of curiously named ‘Milk’ services. ‘Milk VR‘—joining Milk Music and Milk Video—aims to offer a destination for curated VR video on the company’s Gear VR headset.While Gear VR’s launch lineup was strong, it was also fairly limited. Today Samsung says it’s deploying a “technical preview” of the Milk VR application which will function as a destination for made-for-VR videos. The preview will be available to all Gear VR owners, with a full launch due at an unspecified later date.Samsung says that it wants to build up a destination of “regular VR user viewership.” Based on queues from the way it operates Milk Music and Milk Video Android apps, we’d expect to see Milk VR add more content over time—curated, not all-inclusive.For now it isn’t clear what the initial video lineup will be, what tech it will be shot with, or whether or not it will be mono or stereo (3D) 360 video (though our best guess is on the former, for now). Going forward, there’s certainly an opportunity for Samsung to deploy content filmed with it’s yet-released Project Beyond VR video camera.What we do know is that the videos will be available for download at their full 4k x 2k resolution, or adaptively streamable for those with varying bandwidth. Whatever the case, Samsung says the content offered through Milk VR will encompass genres of music, sports, action, and lifestyle. No.121
>>114Wow, that's actually really cool. I can imagine a lot of crazy stuff with that, or long term improvement of it.
No.122
No.136
>>135Also:
>While it is still some way off its consumer release – Luckey estimates a winter 2015 launchNow that is really vague, does he mean January-February or December? They said a couple of months so it can't be December, but I can't believe they can release it out so soon. Maybe there was a miscommunication?
No.142
Yep, the telegraph were being dummies
No.143
>>142>We never gave them any information on a release date. We checked to see where they got the winter 2015 date, they apologized and said they can't recall where they got that idea.
>Good guys at the Telegraph, really nice photographer.This is from palmer from reddit.
No.146
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http://www.roadtovr.com/news-bits-palmer-luckey-reaffirms-dk2-last-dev-kit-consumer-rift/Palmer Luckey, founder of Oculus and inventor of the Rift, has reaffirmed that there is to be no further developer kits released before the consumer edition is released. In an interview with Kotaku this week, Palmer Luckey has gone on record to confirm that the DK2, launched in March last year and shipped in June, is to be the final developer focussed unit to usher forth from the Irvine based VR company. As ever Palmer was noncommittal when it came to the question of a release for the company’s first consumer version of their VR headset, the Oculus Rift. In the same Interview, Luckey recalls his statement that he would be “disappointed” should the Rift not reach consumers by the close of 2015. “I did say that” he admits before going on to say of the eventual consumer release “we’ve go a vague idea” No.147
http://www.roadtovr.com/ces-2015-fox-debut-wild-vr-360-movie-experience-starring-reese-witherspoon/20th Century Fox are to debut a new VR movie proof of concept featuring Reese Witherspoon to promote the upcoming feature film Wild. The 3 minute experience is to be on show at CES in Las Vegas next week and top Fox executives seem to believe VR movies have a real future.VR movies are a hot topic in Hollywood right now and a recent report indicates that 20th Century Fox are confident that the new platform will offer studios like them a new avenue for exploring cinema.In a recent report from the Hollywood Reporter, Fox Home Entertainment worldwide president Mike Dunn speaks enthusiastically about the future of the format. The recent movie Wild from Fox Searchlight starring Reese Witherspoon charts the story of Cheryl Strayed’s cathartic 1000 mile trek along the Pacific Crest Trail in the US.Fox is to demonstrate the 3 minute narrative experience at CES next week and the VR experience itself is developed by pioneers in the field Paul Raphael and Lajeunesse, also known as Felix & Paul. The pair have developed a 360 camera as well as proprietary post processing software workflow.Working with 5k per eye raw footage, the technology can capture stereoscopic 3D 360 degree footage ideal for VR headsets such as the Oculus Rift and Samsung’s Gear VR. “We developed a camera system. It started out as a rig and now includes a custom camera built with several acquired sensors. And we wrote a new software workflow, not just for [Wild] but for VR production” Raphael told the Hollywood Reporter.The short film sounds largely static and revolves around a contemplative encounter between Strayed and the memory of her mother, played by Laura Dern. The viewer essentially sits alongside the two actors, surrounded by the trail’s scenery with the ability to glance in any direction during the piece.Although ostensibly a promotional project for the movie proper, the language used by Mike Dunn and other Fox execs is encouraging. Ted Galiano, head of post production at Fox says “The movie is no longer just the movie. If we are going to tap into young audiences, we need to make immersive, complementary experiences. … This takes you into the movie rather than just to the movie. What’s exciting to me is it will be different, not a ‘normal’ VR experience, meaning gaming.” No.148
http://www.roadtovr.com/nailcanvasvr-lets-experiment-nail-polish-designs/What to test out different nail polish designs? Get yourself a VR headset, Leap Motion and NailCanvasVR and then have fun.
No.169
http://www.bidnessetc.com/31998-facebooks-fb-oculus-rift-has-caught-consumer-attention-piper-jaffray/Here, have some stats.
>Mr. Munster commented: “Our recent survey suggests consumers are impressed with the current developers version of Oculus Rift, and are willing to pay for it.” The analyst thinks that Occulus Rift will be able to gain the attention of Facebook investors in the next five years, and this will start to affect Facebook’s business model in five to 10 years.
>The analyst recalled that last week, his company had given a demo of Occulus to 40 individuals in Minneapolis. The participants rated the product 8.6 out of 10, and were willing to pay $342 on average to buy the device. No.178
http://vrfocus.com/archives/10145/facebook-picks-speech-recognition-company-wit-ai/Facebook has bought up Wit.ai, a speech recognition start-up company that was first founded 18 months ago.Wit.ai offers a free platform that allows developers to incorporate its free speech recognition technology into app and devices. In fact, more than 6000 developers have already worked with the company. Facebook hasn’t made its plans for the group known to the public, although it isn’t hard to see just how this technology could fit in with the Oculus Rift head-mounted display (HMD), potentially allowing for voice recognition in VR experiences. Again, neither company has confirmed that this is even on the table for Wit.ai, but it’s worth taking note.“It is an incredible acceleration in the execution of our vision,” Wit.ai said of the news. “Facebook has the resources and talent to help us take the next step. Facebook’s mission is to connect everyone and build amazing experiences for the over 1.3 billion people on the platform – technology that understands natural language is a big part of that, and we think we can help.”“We wouldn’t be where we are without the developers, investors, and mentors who believed in us. We want to thank everyone who has been a part of the first leg of this journey. This is just the beginning,” the company concluded.One thing to note is that Oculus VR itself has been making plenty of acquisitions since it was purchased by Facebook, mostly recently taking on hand-tracking company Nimble VR. It’s possible that Oculus Rift support fits into Facebook’s wider plans for Wit.ai but, if that were the case, Oculus VR itself might have bought the company.This is somewhat related to VR, good speech recognition will enhance the VR experience.
No.208
https://twitter.com/ID_AA_Carmack/status/553238861267353600"Stick yaw control is such VR poison that removing it may be the right move – swivel chair/stand or don't play." No.212
No.213
http://www.ibtimes.com/oculus-vr-ceo-brendan-iribe-if-you-dont-have-content-you-dont-sell-hardware-1778140IBTimes: And how important is content to the success of the Oculus Rift?
Iribe: If you don’t have content, you don’t sell hardware. We need a suite of content of really fun, compelling experiences that aren’t just hardcore game-oriented, and when that’s good enough it’ll be an easy decision to go to the consumer market. Today there wouldn’t be enough compelling content to launch. Is that day going to be in 2015 or 2016? We don’t see it yet. There’s also the need for access to the input device. Are we using gamepads or not? It’s a whole different game if it’s a touchscreen, if it’s a gamepad, if it’s a wand, your hand or a gesture. Input really, really does dictate largely what kind of content you develop.
IBTimes: And who will decide input?
Iribe: We’re researching and developing a ton of stuff internally. We’re figuring out what we should provide as input or if there’s something that’s already out there. We don’t see anything in the ecosystem that we would consider consumer quality. A number of companies are doing really cool stuff, but it’s really prototype stage at this point. Let’s see what happens over the next year.
More Q&A in link.
No.214
>>178Does anyone else feel like facebook is a force that needs to be defeated to save humanity?
No.215
>>214You mean Google right? But seriously, the website Facebook is growing weaker and the company isn't as bad as people make it out to be. Sure we will always remember Zuckerberg and the dumbfuck event, but at least they leave alone their bought companies which I wouldn't say the same for Google and Microsoft.
No.221
YouTube embed. Click thumbnail to play.
http://www.stuff.tv/facebook/ces-2015/ces-2015-interview-palmer-luckey-founder-oculus-vr/featureStuff's Will Findlater caught up with Palmer Luckey during CES 2015 to discuss the addition of 'spatial sound' to Crescent Bay's VR mix, how Nimble VR's hand-tracking tech might impact upon the experience and when Rift will be released to the general public. It doesn't sound like it's long away…Little late on this one.
No.230
http://venturebeat.com/2015/01/12/oculus-cofounder-describes-ces-demo-and-what-comes-next-for-virtual-reality-interview/GamesBeat: What have you been doing as far as acquisitions and other parts of the system?
Mitchell: We just acquired Nimble VR and 13th Lab. They are two computer vision companies doing unique work. I can’t go into too much about what they’re working on. One of the things we’ve been transparent about is that it’s pretty likely that their technology won’t make it in for consumer version 1 (CV1). It could never be used even for CV2 or CV3. But we have brought them on to do some stuff, both in Oculus research and in product engineering. Hopefully we’ll see some fruits of their labors in the coming months and years.
GamesBeat: You’re still not showing any input systems, though.
Mitchell: That’s one of the big missing pieces, yeah. One of the things we talked about at Oculus Connect is that input needs to be there for great consumer VR. It’s still the big missing component, the elephant in the room. We want to deliver great input solutions for CV1. We think that’s important, especially for it to be a real consumer device. We haven’t made any announcements quite yet, but it’s something we’re working on.
The interview is long and has lot's of interesting info.
No.232
http://vrfocus.com/archives/10588/realtime-immersion-launching-360-degree-live-streaming-camera-hmds/Virtual reality (VR) videos are on the rise, with 360 degree movies, experiences and more starting to pop up across a wide range of head-mounted displays (HMD). Despite this, there’s yet to be a true commercial 360 degree camera to really leave a mark on the industry. Realtime Immersion (RTI) is hoping to do just that with the launch of its very own 360 degree camera capable of live-streamlining footage without the need for stitching or compression.Surprisingly RTI, seen below, uses a single-sensor camera system which the company claims to be portable and rugged for use in tougher environments. Video can be streamed in real time to a number of devices including HMDs, with the company making specific mention of Samsung and its Gear VR smartphone-based VR HMD. Tablets, smartphones, PCs and more will also be compatible with the system. So far the company has partnered with the likes of Red Bull Media House, NASCAR Racing and concerts at the South by South West festival (SXSW).The company will be launching a new model of the device dubbed the RTI-9 with resolution that it claims is ‘three times greater than HD’. It’s expected to release in Q2 2015.“RTI’s technology will revolutionize the way sports fans and entertainment enthusiasts experience video content by igniting exploration and creating personalized experiences,” said Greg Easley, CEO of RTI. “From the thrill of skiing off a mountain, to standing on stage with your favorite band, to being on the field with a professional sports team, to covering ground with a reporter from a war zone, audiences can experience everything. Viewers will be immersed in video in completely unique and individually controllable ways.” No.239
YouTube embed. Click thumbnail to play.
http://www.theverge.com/2015/1/14/7545859/distracted-driving-toyota-oculus-rift-teendrive365No matter how much we may hate waiting on VR, there's at least one reason to be grateful it's taken so long: old driver's ed classes would almost certainly have been unable to handle this technology responsibly.Consider, for example, Toyota's "TeenDrive365" Oculus Rift experience. Launched at the Detroit Auto Show today, it's an immersive simulation of what distracted driving feels like. You get into a real (but stationary) car, put on a head-mounted display, and steer your way down a virtual highway. Slowly, irritations build up: loud music, ringing phones, your friend trying to make you read a text message. Look away, and you crash.Driving simulators are increasingly common, and like flight sims before them, they can train people to make split-second decisions without the heavy consequences of failure. Usually, this involves flat screens that simulate car windows. The Rift's head tracking makes it an inspired choice here, since Toyota can actually tell if you're not paying attention to the road. The immersion reduces distractions from the outside and can create a sense of urgency — even, in a crash, fear.Now, imagine virtual reality — a technology that at its best can make you feel as if you're really in a world — in the hands of the people behind blood-drenched vehicle safety PSAs like Red Asphalt, Signal 30, or Highways of Agony. It's entirely possible that no one would ever have used a car again.Today, though, this is just part of Toyota's decidedly non-terrifying TeenDrive365 program, whose major current offerings include "safety GIFs" and a series about race car drivers. If you feel the need to try it for yourself, it will be touring auto shows around the US. No.257
http://www.roadtovr.com/youtube-360-video-youtube-of-vr-virtual-reality-360-video-streaming/YouTube is adding support for 360 degree video, a move that could put the video streaming giant in a position to offer the largest cross-platform service of its kind. And when it comes to the topic on who will become the ‘YouTube of VR’, who better to fill the role than YouTube itself?The information comes from an interview between The Verge and an unnamed spokesperson from YouTube: "Ever wanted to get 360 perspectives on a video to see everything going on? That’s why we’re working to support 360 degree videos in the coming weeks."Although it’s not clear whether they mean to include support for VR headsets as well, YouTube’s October addition of 60 Hz video—seen as the bare minimum for a nausea-free VR viewing experience—leads us to believe that they might be approaching the issue piecemeal, essentially testing the waters to gauge consumer interest. The partnership with Giroptic 360 camera, which will be “the first 360 degree camera YouTube will support natively,” also points in this direction.Along with a few startup companies establishing similar user-driven platforms, like Littlstar which has since gone into its beta phase of testing, Samsung’s release of Milk VR last week for the new Gear VR mobile headset might also have something to do with YouTube’s sudden release of information, albeit unofficial in nature. Vyuu and Vcemo are also working on 360 streaming platforms with compatibility with VR headsets.Considering the monolithic video-sharing platform is already a household name and isn’t exactly in a rush to deliver to the ‘prosumers’ among us (the hottest neologism at last week’s CES that I still can’t figure out), it’s no wonder the company has remained more quiet than others on integrating its service into virtual spaces.In the meantime, an official YouTube app for side-by-side viewing on Google Cardboard and Gear VR wouldn’t go amiss either, the former being somewhat supported through Google’s Android Cardboard app, albeit without support for 3D or iOS.I'll believe this once they give us 90fps or even better 120fps videos, otherwise they will only bring nausea.
No.264
http://www.vrcircle.com/post/oculus-3D-audio-coming-to-oculus-rift-dk2-and-gearvrOculus Crescent Bay resolution is higher than DK2. Refresh rate is higher at 90 fps vs. 75 fps. The device is lighter and more comfortable than previous generations.Crescent Bay however is more than just a nicer Head Mounted Display (HMD). Crescent Bay provides 3D positional audio. You may think you've “heard” this before with positional audio from companies such as Creative Labs with their CMSS-3D technology in cards such as the X-Fi. Oculus 3D positional audio however is different. During the Crescent Bay demo I took special note of how it worked. The audio gives you a clear idea of where and how far the sound is away from you. As you lean into something producing the sound it gets a little louder. It no longer sounds like an approximation of 3D audio as it does with Creative CMSS-3D.With the addition of precise head tracking that VR devices provide. It providers audio developers with a greater set of tools to provide the listener a greater sense of VR immersion.Oculus had previously licensed technology from Real Space 3D Audio and integrated it into their SDK.Onto the really good news. Oculus have disclosed that we will not need to wait for the Consumer Version (CV1) to try 3D audio for ourselves. Oculus will release a version of the SDK for the DK2 prior to the CV1 launch.So make sure you have a nice set of headphones on your desk. No.265
http://www.roadtovr.com/news-bits-amd-share-low-latency-vr-rendering-tricks-gdc-2015/GDC 2015 is just around the corner and the event’s conference schedule has revealed that semiconductor giant AMD will be sharing tips and tricks designed to help developers targeting virtual reality to get the best performance for virtual reality from the company’s GPUs.Breakthrough techniques pioneered by Oculus such as Asynchronous Time-warp, a method to improve the so-called motion-to-photons (time taken from head movement to appearance on display) latency, are certainly not exclusive to nVidia.According to GDC’s schedule, AMD are devoting an entire talk at GDC in March entitled “Low Latency and Stutter-Free Rendering in VR and Graphics Applications” to high performance in VR. And if the straight-to-the point title left you in any doubt as to the subject matter, the talk’s summary probably won’t:"This talk will provide a detailed explanation of several mechanisms by which graphics engine developers can dramatically reduce both actual and perceived latency and “stuttering” in graphics and virtual reality applications running on modern GPUs such as those powered by the AMD Graphics Core Next (GCN) architecture. Real world examples of optimized AAA content will be discussed and explained, complete with before and after performance metrics.This talk will give developers the tools and understanding required to exploit modern GPU architectures to take their graphics engines to the next level: extremely low latency, stutter-free, liquid smooth graphics at high frame rates (90-120Hz and beyond)."Click link for more.
No.276
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http://www.roadtovr.com/fove-eye-tracking-vr-headset-hands-on-ces-2015/FOVE, a VR headset prototype in the works by a Japan-based team, is quickly closing the experience gap between itself and the Oculus Rift. If they continue at this pace, they could catch up, and with a trick up their sleeve—eye-tracking.Click link for more, it seems like something close to an actual competitor for the Oculus Rift has finally come. No, the Morpheus is not a competitor since it is tied to a console which means it's doomed to fail.
No.281
>>27If they wait too long another company will release a shitty VR headset and kill all the enthusiasm setting back VR development another couple decades.
No.283
I honestly always comeback to /vir/ for this thread.you're doing a good job OP
No.284
>>283Thanks, it's a bit hard to find something news worthy that wasn't already said a million times, but surprisingly there is always something every week. Once CV1 comes out this board will get way more livelier.
No.285
http://www.roadtovr.com/microsoft-hololens-augemtend-reality-virtual-reality-headset-microsoft-holographic-windows-10/Today at Microsoft’s Windows 10 press event, the company revealed an untethered augmented reality headset called the Microsoft HoloLens to accompany ‘Windows Holographic’, a component of Windows 10.Microsoft has just revealed the HoloLens and says it is fully untethered, including a powerful CPU, GPU, and a dedicated processor that they’re calling the ‘holographic processing unit’ (HPU)—a dedicated chip to handle sensing and interpretation of the real world as revealed by on-board sensors. They’re calling it the “most advanced holographic computer the world has ever seen.”Specs are limited right now, but the company said on stage that the display is “HD” and that the unit supports positional sound and has advanced sensors. In the photos we can see what appears to cameras hiding behind the outer lens.Microsoft showed off a ‘HoloStudio’ app live on stage using the HoloLens device which allowed a user to construct a 3D object, augmented into the real world in front of them, using hand gestures. The AR program appeared to be tracked very steadily in the environment while in use.The company says that Windows 10 has “holographic” APIs built into its core, allowing developers to create applications that are aware of—and projected into—the user’s real world.“Want to create a device powered by human or environment understanding? Build for Windows 10. Oculus, Magic Leap, Glass developers and everyone else, we humbly invite you to come build for Windows 10,” the company said on stage.Microsoft said they’ve been working on the device for “years,” and that the project’s lab was hidden, of all places, under the Microsoft Visitor Center.From Microsoft’s build up to the reveal of the HoloLens, it sounds quite a bit like what the folks at Magic Leap have been teasing. Did Microsoft just beat them to the punch?So yes, Microsoft is harping on “holographic.” Holo-this, holo-that… they’re not holograms in a technical sense, but the company is appealing to the public’s notion of a hologram being computer generated imagery that appears to be free-floating in the actual world. Of course, this is what augmented reality has always meant (but not quite delivered); it seems that Microsoft and others (like Magic Leap) want to dodge around what might be best called the tarnished notion of AR. No.286
>>285How this shit looks through those lens. You know I'm very surprised that Microsoft are trying AR out instead of VR like everyone thought they would have.
No.287
YouTube embed. Click thumbnail to play.
>>286They might and I stress
might be bringing something interesting and useful to the public with the HoloLens.
No.288
http://www.roadtovr.com/wired-calls-microsofts-hololens-amazing-hands/We just covered Microsoft’s surprise reveal of it’s new Augmented Reality headset dubbed ‘Hololens’. It seems tech magazine Wired has already seen the device and is seemingly amazed by what they saw.Windows 10′s promising lineup of new features just got eclipsed completely, at least as far as this journalist is concerned. Microsoft’s Hololens looks every bit the kind of futuristic and fantastical object of desire we enjoy writing about here at Road to VR. It seems though that Hololens is not just a pretty bit of industrial design – Wired has shared details of their hands-on with the device back in October of last year, and they seem mightily impressed.After trying the device itself, it seems Hololens might really be able to deliver the realistic holograms Sci-Fi fans have always dreamt of. In a demo developed in conjunction with NASA, the device’s ability to not only augment but shift reality becomes apparent:"Another scenario lands me on a virtual Mars-scape. Kipman developed it in close collaboration with NASA rocket scientist Jeff Norris, who spent much of the first half of 2014 flying back and forth between Seattle and his Southern California home to help develop the scenario. With a quick upward gesture, I toggle from computer screens that monitor the Curiosity rover’s progress across the planet’s surface to the virtual experience of being on the planet. The ground is a parched, dusty sandstone, and so realistic that as I take a step, my legs begin to quiver. They don’t trust what my eyes are showing them. Behind me, the rover towers seven feet tall, its metal arm reaching out from its body like a tentacle. The sun shines brightly over the rover, creating short black shadows on the ground beneath its legs."The device seems to be aimed as a completely new interface for computing, comprising gesture and voice controls alongside MS’s mysterious ‘light engine’. The Kinect-based capture technology sounds impressive, seems that years of iterating on tech that first appeared for the Xbox 360 may now finally be paying dividends.As for the ‘display’ technology, we can’t wait to find out more details on it, but if the inside-out tracking and scaling abilities of the device hinted at here are correct, MS may well have just unveiled an untethered, inside out positional tracking technology Oculus may find very interesting. No.293
http://www.roadtovr.com/microsoft-windows-universal-apps-work-holograms-hololens/Wondering how Microsoft HoloLens development will work? Microsoft says that HoloLens APIs are built into the core of Windows 10 and that all Universal apps—those built for cross-device capability–will be automatically compatible with the HoloLens AR headset.During the device’s announcement, the company said that HoloLens APIs will be part of every copy of Windows 10, and that all Windows Universal apps will automatically extend to HoloLens.Windows Universal apps, which have been around since Windows 8, are those that are built to extend and operate seamlessly across devices running Windows, from a 23-inch monitor, to an 8-inch tablet, to a 5-inch phone, or even to the Xbox One. As the Windows Dev Center puts it:"Develop once for all Windows devices using a unified Windows runtime and VS tools that allow you to both support experiences unique to a device in XAML, HTML, and DirectX, and share the code that supports those experiences across all devices using C++, C#, or JavaScript. When your work is finished you can you can produce the app packages that you will submit to the Windows Store and Windows Phone Store with a single action to get your app out to customers on any Windows device."This does require that developers follow a particular (optional) development path, but if they do, it allows for a single package deployment across many devices, including Microsoft HoloLens. No.298
http://www.vrcircle.com/post/oculus-rift-consumer-version-release-date-set-this-fall-2015-now-rumoredI suspect this is just the first of many rumors we will hear this year as the Consumer Version (CV1) of the Oculus Rift approaches. If rumors are to be believed we can finally get our hands on the Oculus Rift consumer version this Fall 2015.Previously, it was reported that During the CES 2015 expo. Oculus CEO Brendan Iribe has allegedly told the attendees of the event that they can expect to get their hands at the Oculus Rift this 2015.And now, Cyberland has reported that according to their sources, the production for the Oculus Rift consumer version has begun and that it would be available for everyone to buy sometime this Fall 2015.Here's what to expect on the Oculus Rift consumer version once its release date comes:The Oculus Rift consumer version will feature at greater than 1080p low-persistence-of-vision OLED display (Likely 1440p)Expect there to be 7in displays, with 24-bit colour depth. Unlikely to be wireless, most likely an HDMI power combo cable similar to the current Oculus Crescent Bay prototype.Meanwhile the price for the Oculus Rift consumer version, OVR co-founder Nate Mitchell said:"We want to stay in that $200-$400 price range, that could slide in either direction depending on scale, pre-orders, the components we end up using, business negotiations.""Whatever it is, it's going to be as cheap as possible," added co-founder Palmer Luckey. "That's really the goal." No.300
>>293Those MS adverts tell me nothing about the actual experience or technical specs.
I don't think anything you could do with this you couldn't do just as well with AR pass-through.
I don't need a PR piece with actors and CG to get interested, just a good product.
No.301
>>300Yeah, in the end Peter Molyneux is right, Microsoft is overhyping the Hololens where they most probably are going to disappoint everyone on arrival just like with the Kinect.
Sad thing is, we would probably still have cared about the Kinect if Microsoft's advertising department wasn't so fucking retarded. They should have marketed them to anything that wasn't video games. the Hololens will share the same fate by the looks of it.
No.302
http://www.roadtovr.com/uk-based-south-west-vr-2015-announced-guests-include-oculus-aardman-unity/SWVR will be on the 24th Feb in Bristol, United Kingdom.
Guests include Callum Underwood, European developer relations manager at Oculus; Phil Harper, creative director at Atlantic Productions’ Alchemy VR; Patrick O’Luanaigh, CEO of nDreams; and Nick Pittom (aka RedofPaw), director of critically acclaimed VR studio Fire Panda.The tech track will offer demonstrations and talks on the usual hot topics in VR such as options for input and facial recognition, plus an opportunity to go hands-on with the likes of Radial G, Salvaged, VR Karts, Gunner, Perfect Beach, Pixel Rift, Smash Hit Plunder, Crystal Rift and Stephen Gray’s Moved by Conflict.SWVR Conference Tickets Available Here:
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/southwest-vr-conference-tickets-14780124751 No.303
http://vrfocus.com/archives/10982/svvr-con-heading-san-jose-convention-center-dates-revealed/For the past two years the Silicon Valley Virtual Reality (SVVR) meetup has proved to be one of the leading gatherings for the VR community, with developers and enthusiasts meeting to discuss the latest advancements with the technology. Then, in May 2014, the group held the first SVVR Conference & Expo at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California, USA. As expected, the event will be returning in 2015, albeit on a much larger scale than organisers Karl Krantz and Nana Usui’s previous shows.As Road to VR reports, SVVR Conference & Expo will be taking place at the San Jose Convention Center in 18th and 19th May 2015. This time the organisers hope to gather some 1,200 VR developers and fans with around 100 VR stands showcasing new hardware and content on the show floor. Tickets are yet to go on sale, although Krantza and Usui hope to offer two tiers, with the lower option being much cheaper than it was in 2014, opening up the event to a wider range of people. For comparison, last year’s event saw 400 attendees with 35 exhibitors. No.305
http://www.roadtovr.com/microsofts-mixed-reality-hololens-garners-mixed-reviews-incredible-apps-diminished-small-field-view/Journalists were treated to three different demos of the HoloLens prototype, which included a Skype chat, an educational visit to Mars, and a modified version of Minecraft where the usual meter-high blocks were reduced to the size of Legos. A fourth application gave a look at HoloStudio, a 3D object building app that would let you use a combination of voice commands and hand gestures to make a 3D-printable model, but was demonstrated for the group by a Microsoft employee likely due to the unfinished nature of the program.Ben Gilbert from Engadget thinks “the resolution is sharp but the field of view is extremely limited.” Disregarding any current physical limitations of the prototype though, Gilbert maintains that “what you do in the headset is impressive,” and that HoloLens offers “an experience full of potential.”Sean Hollister from Gizmodo concludes that HoloLens was “one of the most amazing and tantalizing experiences I’ve ever had with a piece of technology,” but like many other, still has a major gripe with the field of view, calling it “tiny” and “tunnel-vision-narrow.”Wes Fenlon from PC Gamer reports the field of view of the see-through lenses as “disappointingly limiting” and “not immersive at all.” The end of the Minecraft demo struck a chord with Fenlon though, as “the best part of the demo was… when the Microsoft rep encouraged me to dig through a wall and reveal that I could see through it. It made me want to walk through the wall to see more of the cave I’d just uncovered.”Peter Bright from Ars Technica raises another concern all too common to users of full-face VR/AR headsets, citing that it “didn’t really fit on or around my glasses, making them uncomfortable to boot,” an issue that smaller form factor devices, like the now discontinued Google Glass ‘Explorer Edition’, just don’t have a problem with. Custom-made prescription clip-on lenses anyone? Nope. We didn’t think so either.Despite the minor discomfort, Bright says that the Mission to Mars demo “reinforced just how immersive this kind of augmented reality can be; the Martian imagery obliterated most of the room I was in, except for a computer workstation.”Basically, the FOV is shit, otherwise it's at average OK.
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No.308
http://vrfocus.com/archives/10991/microsoft-hololens-something-different-ar-vr/Last week saw the biggest technology reveal of 2015 thus far as Microsoft announced HoloLens, a new see-through head-mounted display (HMD) that projects holograms into real life environments. The company’s reveal has lead to discussion about just how to label the technology, as it avoided using the most obvious term, augmented reality (AR). However is seems as if Microsoft considers HoloLens to be ‘something different’ from both AR and indeed virtual reality (VR) too, if a recent statement from a company spokesperson is to be believed.“Today’s efforts in VR and AR are truly exciting,” a Microsoft representative told Gamespot. “What we are talking about is something different.“Holographic experiences on Windows are about delivering a mixed reality of both your digital world and your real world. We are integrating holograms into the world around you–transforming the ways you create, connect, and explore. We hope holographic experiences on Windows 10 will help drive continued innovation in this category.”Whatever you say MicroShit, we will call it for what it is.
No.309
http://vrfocus.com/archives/11022/oculus-story-studio/So far Oculus Rift virtual reality (VR) head-mounted display (HMD) creator Oculus VR has largely associated its technology with videogames. The company recently released its first internally-developed project in HeroBound: First Steps and intends to keep on working on titles with Head of Studios Jason Rubin. However this week sees Oculus make its first steps into what it calls ‘VR cinema’ with the announcement of a new internal team, Oculus Story Studio. The group’s first 360 degree film, Lost, has also been unveiled.As The Verge reports, Lost is a five-minute real-time computer generated piece that runs on the Crescent Bay prototype of the Oculus Rift. Directed by former Pixar animator Saschka Unself, the experience allows viewers to interact in some ways, altering the story and ultimately the running time. The film will be one display throughout the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, USA this week. In fact, Oculus VR has already launched an Oculus Studio Story app on both iOS and Android allowing those attending the event to register for a slot to see it in person.As for Oculus Story Studio, the company reportedly has around 10 people working in the team. Oculus VR CEO Brendan Iribe reasoned that the division was formed after the company started showcasing the Oculus Rift to members of the Hollywood community, quickly realising that it didn’t have any of its own content to showcase the potential of VR filmmaking. The team plans to stay small so that it can easily adapt to changes in the technology and how that might affect how VR films are created. No.312
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http://vrfocus.com/archives/10968/annapurner-pictures-opens-new-vr-division/Film production and development company, Annapurna Pictures recently created a virtual reality (VR) division in partnership with VRSE.farm. Megan Ellison, the company’s founder has already partnered with artist Chris Milk, renowned for his music videos from large artists like U2, Audioslave and Kanye West to experiment with VR.Ellison is most known for producing highly regarded Hollywood films like True Grit, Zero Dark Thirty and Her. This leap into virtual reality industry is a large step in terms of VR cinema. VRSE.farm will allow select film makers to use VR technology to experiment with.Milk has previously worked with Beck on the ‘Sound and Vision’ 360 degree experience. This was an interactive music performance in which people can choose the spot they sit in to see from a different perspective. It also featured positional audio so users can hear what it would have sounded like from a particular seat. Another one of his projects, Evolution of Verse will be showcased at Sundance this year as part of the New Frontier category, which will be alongside other VR titles.In a statement, Milk had this to say: “Megan has the most vision and foresight of any producer working in cinema today,” Milk said. “I’m humbled and honored to be exploring the virtual reality medium alongside her. We can’t wait to help our fellow filmmakers write a completely new storytelling language.”VRSE.farm plans on releasing an app which will allow people to download VR experiences Milk’s Evolution of Verse. No.313
http://vrfocus.com/archives/11036/nextvr-hosts-first-ever-live-vr-transmission/There’s no doubt that, while virtual reality (VR) video itself is a hugely exciting prospect, live VR transmissions will prove to be one of the key upgrades that VR brings. Families living hundreds of miles away from each other will be able to join together for events and special occasions while others will get to watch sports games, press conferences and more as if they were there. It’s a concept that might not be as far off as one might think; VR video company NextVR has just announced that it has completed the first ever live, broadcast quality VR transmission.The test was conducted over the past weekend in which the company invited a reporter in Michigan, USA to take part in a VR broadcast that transported them to the beach at Laguna Beach, California. The reporter and the team then held a conversation in real time. The broadcast supported a 6K resolution of 80 frames-per-second in stereoscopic 3D. The video ran on the company’s own live-streaming player technology which NextVR notes is ‘demonstrable’ on Samsung’s Gear VR smartphone-based HMD though didn’t confirm this was the device used for the test.“For the first time, with NextVR’s technology, we can transmit – live – three dimensional, high frame-rate video images, as well as the geometry of the world surrounding the camera, which virtually takes the viewer to where the action is and gives feeling of actually being there,” said Dave Cole, Co-founder, NextVR. “It opens up a whole world of possibilities for virtual reality. Imagine if you could have stood on the moon with Neil Armstrong as he took his first step. With this advancement, you WILL be virtually teleported to Mars as mankind takes our first step there.”NextVR didn’t discuss what its plans for the technology going forward involve. Recently the company detailed its own VR concert experience, offering a performance from Coldplay. No.315
http://vrfocus.com/archives/11084/oculus-vr-confirms-gdc-2015-presence-co-hosting-women-games-event/Virtual reality (VR) fans have high expectations for this year’s Game Developers Conference (GDC) in San Francisco, California, USA on 2nd – 6th March. That’s understandable given that last year’s show saw Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE) announce its Project Morpheus head-mounted display (HMD) for PlayStation 4 while Oculus VR lifted the lid on the Oculus Rift HMD’s second development kit (DK2). Specific plans from either of these two companies are yet to be revealed, although Oculus VR has at least confirmed that it will be there with prototypes to showcase.The company has confirmed that it will be showcasing the ‘latest prototypes’ of both the Oculus Rift and Gear VR, the smartphone-based HMD made in partnership with Samsung. This is interesting wording given that it avoids directly naming the Crescent Bay prototype for the Oculus Rift that the team has been showing recently. In fact, Gear VR itself isn’t even a ‘prototype’, having launched for US consumers in December 2014. Could this mean that the company has something new to show on this front?Elsewhere, Oculus VR will be co-hosting its first event with Women in Games International (WIGI). Taking place on 3rd March at The Village (969 Market St, 3rd Floor), attendees will get the chance to meet Oculus VR staff and try out some of the latest demos from the company. Registration for the event is expected to open soon and those interesting can follow the official event page to keep in touch. Oculus VR will also be hosting a number of developer sessions and workshops at GDC, looking at VR rendering, 3D spatialised audio, and the future of the technology.It certainly sounds as if the company has plenty of plans for the event then. Let’s hope that some of them will involve information on the consumer release of the Oculus Rift. No.319
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http://vrfocus.com/archives/11086/oculus-vr-moves-hq-closer-facebook-offices/Oculus VR, the company behind the Oculus Rift virtual reality (VR) head-mounted display (HMD), has a number of offices and facilities based around the USA. While the company continues R&D work in Seattle, Washington, it has mainly become closely associated with the city of Irvine, California, where its headquarters have been based for the past few years. That’s no longer the case however, as it has recently been revealed that the VR specialist has moved some staff out of the old offices and found a spot closer to its parent company, Facebook.The Oculus VR headquarters are now located in Menlo Park, where Facebook’s own head offices can be found. According to Orange County Register the move has been made in order to place key figureheads within Oculus VR closer to the social networking giant, which acquired the company for $2 billion USD back in 2014. All that said, the offices in Irvine are still very much in use, although it’s not clear exactly which departments occupy the space at this point in time. There doesn’t seem to be any changes to other facilities in Seattle, Dallas and Korea.This news likely won’t be of much consequence to the many VR enthusiasts currently awaiting the consumer release of the Oculus Rift. Oculus VR has most recently been showcasing its Crescent Bay prototype for the device, sporting full 360 degree positional tracking, integrated audio and an OLED display that bests the 1080p one found in the second development kit (DK2). The company hasn’t yet revealed any solid launch details although many are hoping that the first consumer HMD will arrive before the end of 2015.Recently Oculus VR confirmed that it will be taking its ‘latest prototypes’ to this year’s Game Developers Conference in March. No.324
http://vrfocus.com/archives/11119/samsung-developing-new-version-gear-vr-galaxy-s6/Samsung’s Gear VR smartphone-based virtual reality (VR) head-mounted display (HMD) has led a short but busy life so far. Having been revealed back in September 2014, the kit, which runs with the company’s Galaxy Note 4 smartphone, launched in the USA the following December. More recently the device has started to appear in its first European territories, though no official announcement of an international release has been made. Even with all of this going on, it appears that the company is prepping a new version of the HMD to accommodate a new smartphone.VRFocus has learned from sources familiar with the matter that Samsung is set to reveal a new version of Gear VR that will work with the company’s as-of-yet unrevealed Galaxy S6, the successor to last year’s flagship Galaxy S5. The device could be revealed as early as April 2015. It’s important to note that this doesn’t appear to be the next iteration of Gear VR itself, rather a new model created for this specific type of phone. Typically, the Galaxy S series of smartphones are smaller than the Galaxy Note series.This could mean that the only real difference between the old and new HMD would be the clip on the front of the device to accommodate the smartphone. VRFocus has been informed that Samsung and partner Oculus VR are working on features such as positional tracking, potentially for a brand new iteration of Gear VR, but it’s not clear that such a feature will be included in this version. Rumours point towards the S6 also using a Quad HD display as seen with the Galaxy Note 4, though this is yet to be confirmed.Meanwhile, the current version of Gear VR is still waiting on the launch of a premium option on the Oculus VR Store that hosts all compatible content. Until then, users are making do with free experiences such as demos and videos. No.327
http://schedule.gdconf.com/session/advanced-vr-renderingValve has been creating advanced prototype VR HMD's since mid-2013 that are more advanced than other developers currently have access to, and this head start has allowed us to gain a ton of VR-specific rendering knowledge that we'd like to share with developers who are actively working on VR or plan to in the near future. This talk will start with the base requirements of VR rendering, and it will progress into advanced rendering topics focusing on both performance and visual quality. First generation consumer HMD's are expected to require renderers to shade over 4 million pixels per frame at a minimum of 90 fps. Due to the wide FOV of these HMD's, each pixel ends up feeling lower resolution than viewing the same image on a monitor and requires better shading algorithms than rendering in non-VR. Higher resolution rendering and higher quality pixels at much higher frame rates than games traditionally target is cause for taking a step back and rethinking many aspects of rendering. Some topics that will be covered include: efficient stereo rendering, reducing rendering latency, saturating the GPU despite synchronization points, reducing pixel cost for low-priority pixels, specular antialiasing, constrained anisotropic lighting, and other tips and tricks relating directly to VR rendering performance and quality.Location: Room 3020, West HallDate: Wednesday, March 4Time: 5:00pm - 6:00pm No.328
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http://www.roadtovr.com/rothenberg-ventures-river-ups-ante-1-3-million-announces-13-vr-startups/Last month, Rothenberg Ventures launched ‘River’, an accelerator through which they committed to investing $100,000 in 10 seed-stage virtual reality startups. Today the company has announced that its decided to bump the inaugural class count up to 13, totalling $1.3 million of investment in the VR ecosystem. Companies joining River hail from countries across the globe, including FOVE, from Japan, a company working on a VR headset capable of eye tracking.The River VR accelerator opened its doors to applications in December. From some 200 applications, the River team whittled away to 13 companies who would be offered a $100,000 investment, three months of workspace at Rothenberg Ventures’ office in San Francisco, and access to a lineup of 24 mentors. Spearheading the River accelerator is Rothenberg Ventures’ Tipatat Chennavasin, Anarghya Vardhana, Dylan Flinn, and Morgan Holland, along with founder Mike Rothenberg and others at the VC firm.“The companies we didn’t take were still really capable and exciting. We could have had a class twice as big and it wouldn’t have been diluted, but we wanted to make sure we could give each the appropriate attention,” said Rothenberg.Applications to join River came in from every continent, Rothenberg told me.“We’ve literally never invested outside of the US. And [with River] we’ve done it 6 or 7 times, all in VR,” he said. “It’s time for us to play well together. [Venture capitalists] do have a very US centric view in the VC ecosystem, partly because there is a lot of investors here, but I think VR could be the level-setter—you can build experiences anywhere and you can be anywhere. It is global and we want to invest globally.”Indeed, most of River’s investments are going into companies based outside of the US. Those of you following along on the Road to VR will note some familiar names included in River’s first group of VR investments: No.332
>>331FOVE (Hardware)Creating a VR headset with eye-trackingDeepStream VR (Healthcare)VR games for pain relief and rehabilitationEmblematic Group (Journalism)Recreating non-fiction events in VRPsious (Healthcare)Platform for mental health practitioners to help patients cure fears using immersion therapy in VRSDK (Training and Travel)Industrial training and travel in VRSolirax (Education)Platform for exploration, discovery and creativity, developer of World of ComeniusEmergentVR (Social Media)Application to create, edit and share 360 VR experiences with the world using mobile phonesVantage VR (Entertainment)180-degree viewing experience for concerts and live eventsTriggar (Hardware)360-degree capture camera and systemReload Studios (Entertainment)Game studio of developers and artists from Disney and Call of DutyInnerspace (Entertainment)High quality content focused on artistic and cultural expressionDISCOVR (Education)Immersive learning experiences about exploring the ancient worldThotwise (Entertainment) – Game studio focusing on exploration and suspense, developer of The HumEach company will be working at least partly in the Rothenberg Ventures office and will meet weekly for a mentor dinner. At the end of the three month program, the 13 startups will be part of Rothenberg Ventures’ ‘Founder Field Day’ event held at AT&T Park in April 2015, followed by an SVVR demo day in May 2015.Mike Rothenberg told me exclusively that the VC firm is already on the verge of committing to a second River class for 2015.“We will do a second batch. We did get 200 applications and the quality was really high. We’ll probably allow rolling applications always, and then the next batch— I’m sure we’ll have to have a couple months in between—but if it happens, it’ll happen again this year.” No.335
>>334http://vrfocus.com/archives/11195/gear-vr-stock-expected-uk-samsung-stores-next-week/It’s been quite a day for Samsung and its Gear VR smartphone-based virtual reality (VR) head-mounted display (HMD). After months of speculation the kit finally launched in the UK today, joining the USA and a handful of other European countries from which it can be bought. In fact, the device has even managed to completely sell out as the day has gone on, with both a standalone and bundle version now out of stock. Fresh stock is expected to arrive on the Samsung UK site next week, and should be arriving in retail stores too.As GearVR.uk reports, a representative of Samsung’s Bradford store has confirmed that stock of the anticipated HMD is ‘expected’ to arrive next week. Online the bundle version of the kit costs £199 GBP and includes one of Samsung’s official Bluetooth controllers which can be used to control many of the experiences available on the platform. There’s also a standalone edition set at £169. It’s not clear if these prices will be the same in-store as they are online.Those in the UK still hoping to get their hands on the kit will have to wait until next week, then. That said, there are demo units of the kit currently being showcased in Samsung stores around the country, so it’s possible to at least have a taster before picking one up. Gear VR runs with the Galaxy Note 4 smartphone which features a 5.7-inch Quad HD display. Owners of the kit are currently awaiting the arrival of a premium option for content. No.336
http://vrfocus.com/archives/11135/disney-imagineering-feature-vr-panel-gdc-2015/The Game Developers Conference (GDC) in San Francisco, California, USA will be kicking off on the 2nd March 2015. Earlier this week, panels were announced featuring a lot in the way of virtual reality (VR). One panel is to do with the use of VR in Disney’s themeparks. Leading these talks is Bei Yang, the creative technical design lead for Disney Imagineering.Taking place on the 5th March at 10:00 PST, Disney’s Yang will be talking about the company’s use of VR over the past 20 years, as well as how this applies to the wider VR industry to this day. Another focus will be head-mounted displays (HMDs) and the design features. During the panel real world examples will be included. Also discussed will be the causes of nausea in VR HMDs and some of the other problems developing and using content. There will be talks on the problems implementing VR from a hardware and software perspective.As shown on the GDC website: “Attendees will learn about some of the practical problems when creating VR experiences for the real world. This will include what causes nausea, what gives a sense of immersion, and the problems that arise when technically implementing VR from both a software and hardware perspective.”Disney had its own virtual reality experience that is intended to bring its Disney World theme park to people who couldn’t travel, called Disney Quest. Instead, users would be able to experience different videogames and casual content. A lot of these included such experiences as Virtual River Cruise in which players would have to make their way down a river avoiding dinosaurs while getting sprayed with water. However it was shut down despite plans to open them up all over America. No.337
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http://www.roadtovr.com/virtuix-omni-preview-production-model-video/I’ve been fortunate to try the Virtuix Omni VR treadmill several times over the course of its development. At every point though, I was testing some variation of the original prototype seen in the company’s highly successful Kickstarter campaign. That is until now—at CES 2015, Virtuix revealed the production version of the Omni, and I got to take it for a stroll (and sprint).At CES 2015, Virtuix revealed the production-ready version of the Omni treadmill. Upgrades from the prior prototype include a safety ring with adjustable height, a more comfortable and ergonomic harness, and IMU-based tracking pods which affix to the user’s shoes (previously the Omni employed capacitive tracking)—and the VR treadmill is now more easily collapsible for stowing away.Click link for more.
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No.341
http://www.roadtovr.com/can-now-clone-gear-vr-test-virtual-reality-apps/International developers have been waiting patiently to buy Samsung’s Gear VR mobile headset internationally ever since the US release on December 8th. Many of them have their virtual reality applications ready to go, yet they have no way to test them without a way to purchase the headset. That was at least until a developer in Australia plugged an Oculus Rift DK1 controller box into the Galaxy Note 4 (the phone that powers the Gear VR headset).Mark Schramm (co-creator of VR Bits) was sitting at home one day at the end of 2014 wondering how he was going to test his company’s new Gear VR demos. So instead of waiting for Samsung and Oculus to figure out an international release date, Schramm started experimenting with other possible options. He began by stripping down one of his extra DK1 headsets, removing the controller box and connecting it to the Note 4. Surprisingly, he found that the phone correctly recognized the headtracking sensor in the DK1.From there, Schramm ordered a developer board covered in sensors (including an IMU) and flashed firmware onto it. This was done with the help of already established Github code that took information learned from the open-sourcing of the Oculus DK1 headset. After that, the board was mounted to a Google Cardboard VR smartphone adapter. With the Note 4 placed into Cardboard, and a strap attached, a Gear VR clone, capable of testing VR applications without Gear VR itself, was born.Schramm documented the entire process through some videos. In addition, all the steps were posted on a website aptly called Open-Gear.com. Since then, a couple of other developers across the globe have created their own Gear VR clones.There is a great video of a ping pong game between the official Gear VR and the cloned version. In it Schramm and a few other VR enthusiasts test out the tracking differences between the two devices by using the pass through camera. It is a joyfully fun experience to watch. (Spoiler: the real Gear VR still wins). No.342
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>>341Although this is a cool project that can allow developers without the Gear VR headset to begin testing their apps, it’s in no way meant to ‘compete’ with Samsung’s Gear VR. It is instead only meant to show that developers can clone the headset and test their apps while they wait for the official headset to get shipped to their doors. Because Open Gear is essentially only taking the information learned from the researchers and developers within Oculus, all the credit should go back to Oculus for the heavy lifting. Still, Mark Schramm showed that is indeed possible to access the Oculus Store without an official Gear VR, which is definitely worth applauding.However, the Gear VR clone has are some crucial limitations. For instance, as the Open-Gear website states, “Open Gear does not seem to trigger the switch into the low persistence mode of the screen correctly (even though it should).” The folks behind Open Gear are working to properly enable low persistence, which greatly reduces blur introduced by the display when the user moves their head.In addition, the “tracker has a much lower update frequency, [so] you wouldn’t get the buttery smooth 1000Hz of the real thing, but it is enough for app testing.” Even more notably, there is no touchpad on the clone which reduces interactivity with some of the VR experiences; but any Bluetooth controller can be synced to the phone as a workaround.Open Gear is a mere stepping stone for app testing, and nothing more (for now).The instructions on how to build you own OpenGear are in the link in the previous post.
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http://www.roadtovr.com/valve-tips-tricks-vr-standards-share-gdc-2015/Valve has skipped this year’s Steam Dev Days, their annual developers conference started back in 2013, and are now focusing all of their energy on the rapidly approaching Game Developers Conference in San Francisco. Alex Vlachos, a senior graphics programmer at Valve, is going to be sharing some hard-earned wisdom about advanced graphical rendering in VR drawn from experience with their in-house VR headset prototypes.GDC is a veritable who’s who of game devs, and not only offers developers a chance to network and make a name for themselves in the gaming world, but it’s also a valuable time to learn about new technologies in the field of game design and how to best implement them. And with 2015 shaping up to be the year that VR finally traverses the perilous chasm standing between VR devkits and the much awaited consumer-grade models, leaders in the sector are trying to put game development on the fast-track.Alex Vlachos, a senior programmer most recently known for Valve’s Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (2012), Portal 2 (2011), and Left 4 Dead 2 (2009), is going to be talking about some fundamental requirements of rendering for consumer-grade VR in his presentation on March 4, entitled ‘Advanced VR Rendering‘. Vlachos is also putting special focus on advanced themes, detailing techniques to enhance visual quality and performance in VR likely related to the difficulties in developing for the yet unspecified high resolution displays soon to come.With the promise of new hardware deemed slick enough for the masses, Valve says devs will soon be expected “to shade over 4 million pixels per frame at a minimum of 90 fps.” The higher specs might also help compensate for image stretching, a necessary process that leaves some parts of the image at a perceptibly lower quality when fitting them to the wide field of view associated with stereoscopic displays.Game Informer reports that Valve will be continuing to push their line of Steam Machines “front and center” at GDC 2015, so it may be that they’re busy making renewed commitments to getting SteamOS, their operating system centered entirely around gaming, into the living room than showing off anything VR-related. Worth mentioning is the fact that Valve’s showroom footprint has also diminished in size since last year’s GDC, going from a single 60×60 space, down to two spaces of a combined square footage of 40×40—something we’re not sure how to address considering the loss of this year’s Steam Dev Days. No.345
http://www.roadtovr.com/leap-motions-latest-demo-gives-power-grab-constellations/In a new technical demo from Leap Motion’s labs, you can use your hands to soar through space and manipulate entire constellations with mere gestures. The Planetarium aims to illustrate ideas in virtual reality user interfaces and demonstrate the versatility of the company’s motion sensing technology.Leap Motion, having clearly decided that virtual reality is the platform its IR motion control platform was made for, is going all out with R&D to lead the way in naturalistic user interfaces in VR.Whilst the stereo IR camera equipped leap motion device, which originally appeared way back in 2010, has always been a device to inspire short-term wonder in those who’ve tried it, there was a sense that it was a technology a little ahead of it’s time. An invention which seemed to be waiting for a companion platform for which it was best suited. Virtual reality, with its as yet unresolved require meant for compelling and naturalistic human input, seems like the perfect choice.Leap Motion VR Developer Mount on HMDLast year, after big improvements in it’s tracking software Leap launched the beta of it’s ‘V2′ tracking API, with more accurate sensing of finger and arm movements, it answered at least some critic’s calls for a more reliable form of gesture based input. The DK2 developer mount followed and later in 2014, the company held it’s virtual reality specific ’3D Jam’ contest in order to find out just what developers could do with it all.But Leap Motion realise that it still needs to lead by example to an extent. During our time with them at CES in January, software demonstrations exploring the capabilities of the device were plentiful, recognising that it’s in software not hardware that the magic really happens. The ‘Widgets Team’ is a group of engineers at Leap tasked with coming up with useful, practical and inspiring ways to use the Leap Motion controller.Planetarium is just such an application from that team’s labs and in a recent blog post (http://blog.leapmotion.com/introducing-planetarium-design-science-behind-vr-widgets-showcase/), project lead Daniel Plemmons details how the app fuses various ‘widgets’, individual user interface controls, to allow the user to manipulate the stars. “I was really curious about seeing how the night sky would look if you could actually sense the difference in distances.” Plemmons explains. “Stars are so far away that the difference in parallax is so small as to be meaningless to the human eye. But if our eyes were a few light-years apart, we’d have a really good sense for the varying distance of stars.” and impressive target for awesome stereoscopy indeed.The project, coded mostly in Plimmons’ spare time, took the engineer into deep detail on how to best represent the stars in our galaxy. “I did some digging and found the HYG star database, a very cleanly formatted CSV database of the brightest stars in the sky (there are billions of stars, we’re rendering just over 100,000).”. Plimmons used the 3D data to map these stars out into Unity 3D space, rendering an accurate picture of the heavens.So what does this have to do with Leap Motion? “Our ultimate goal for the Planetarium project was twofold – to build a demo for Widgets, which would in turn allow us to incubate and improve them in the context of a production application.” says Plimmons “Controlling the planetarium gave us a well defined set of challenges that could stretch to fit our timeline and resources.”The demo, available right now for download here (https://developer.leapmotion.com/gallery/planetarium), throws in some interesting examples of the team’s widgets with controls operated within individually tracked digits, mapped in 3D space and locked to your own hands’ actions. The application’s a great way to emphasise VR’s ability to convey the enormities of space and its celestial objects, in a similar manner to the much lauded Titans of Space. Planetarium however allows you not only to sense the vastness of space, but manipulate it at will too.Expect to see much more of Planetarium as the company’s ‘widget’ team continue to refine and fill it with new ideas and UI inventions as time goes on. No.346
>>345nice, but next time try to put sound on those webm.
Its a pretty nice thread.
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>>346They were originally gifs that were over 15mb, I just converted them to save space.
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http://vrfocus.com/archives/11217/cardboard-hmds-hit-amazon/Last month VRFocus reported on the launch of a new Kickstarter campaign from the creators of I AM Cardboard, a smartphone-based virtual reality (VR) head-mounted display (HMD) that iterates on Google’s own Cardboard HMD concept. The campaign is for the XG VR, a new, studier HMD for use with recent iPhones and most Android devices. While that campaign remains ongoing, the company’s first project is now available to purchase from Amazon, making it one of the first VR HMDs available from the online retailing giant.The kit is available from both UK and US editions of Amazon. There are a number of different models, some of which support Near Field Communications (NFC). One of the most interesting editions is a bigger version of the device that specifically notes support for Samsung’s Galaxy Note 2 and Note 3 smartphones. Both of these handsets are predecessors to the Galaxy Note 4, the latest entry in the enlarged series that works exclusively with Samsung’s own Gear VR HMD.A non-NFC version of I Am Cardboard costs £10.91 GBP/$19.99 USD. NFC-enabled kits are available for £15.95/$24.99. The enlarged version costs £21.95/$25.99. Meanwhile, the XG VR Kickstarter has already passed its $20,000 goal, having raised some $66,818 at the time of writing. The campaign isn’t due to close until 28th February.I really can't take these cardboard VR headsets seriously, but for anyone interested you can get them on Amazon now.
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http://vrfocus.com/archives/11262/nvidia-speak-improving-vr-experience-gdc-2015/Last year graphics processing unit (GPU) manufacturer Nvidia commit itself to the future of virtual reality (VR) with the reveal of its VR Direct initiative and latest products, the GeForce GTX 98 and GTX 970. The company is aiming to provide powerful machines that will stand up to the demanding needs of VR once products such as the Oculus Rift head-mounted display (HMD) release to consumers. In fact, Nvidia will be talking about its work in VR at the 2015 Game Developers Conference (GDC) in San Francisco, California, USA next month.Developer Technology Engineer Nathan Reed will be hosting a sessions titled ‘VR Direct: How NVIDIA Technology Is Improving the VR Experience’ on 4th March at 14:00 PST. “Virtual reality is the next frontier of gaming, and NVIDIA is leading the way by introducing VR Direct, a set of hardware and software technologies designed to cut down graphics latency and accelerate stereo rendering performance,” the event’s description reads. “In this talk, we’ll show how developers can use NVIDIA GPUs and VR Direct to improve the gaming experience on the Oculus Rift and other VR headsets.”GDC 2015 runs from 2nd – 6th March and is already set to feature plenty of VR content for fans and developers alike. Oculus VR will be bringing its ‘latest prototypes’ of both the Oculus Rift and Gear VR HMD to the show as well as sponsoring a Women In Games mixer event. Meanwhile, Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE) will be bringing an ‘update’ on its PlayStation 4 HMD, Project Morpheus. A number of other VR-related sessions are set to take place featuring various developers and industry figureheads. No.361
http://vrfocus.com/archives/11373/google-mattel-announce-reveal-event-tease-possible-new-view-master/For many virtual reality (VR) fans, the Oculus Rift head-mounted display (HMD) isn’t the first time they’ve sampled the technology. Fans of VRFocus’ ‘Losing My VRginity‘ series will recall a number of references to the ill-fated Virtuality machines of the 1990′s as fans’ first taste of what might be possible with the technology. Others will even go as far as to name the View-Master, a classic toy for viewing stereoscopic 3D images, as one of their first glimpses into the concept. Now the company behind the toy has announced a new reveal event that could possibly bring it back.As 9 to 5 Google reports, Mattel has teamed up with Google for an event set to take place at 09:00 EST on 13th February 2015 in New York City, USA. A teaser image for the event, seen below, includes what seems to be a reel similar to those inserted in the original View-Master, along with the message ‘Mattel invites you to view what’s possible with exclusive announcement and product debut.’ No other information about the event has been shared, although it is set to take place a day ahead of the 2015 Toy Fair in Manhattan.Google’s involvement in the announcement is certainly intriguing. The company already has ties to VR with its Google Cardboard, a DIY HMD that users can assemble themselves using mostly household items and their own smartphone. In theory, Cardboard itself is an evolution of the View-Master concept; could the two be working on a device that more closely resembles a true VR kit? Perhaps such a device could focus on bringing VR to a younger audience, something that is yet to really by addressed by other companies.The event is scheduled to take place a week from today. No.362
http://vrfocus.com/archives/11382/oculus-updates-gear-vr-store-international-support/Since the Gear VR smartphone-based virtual reality (VR) head-mounted display (HMD) was first launched in early December 2014 Oculus VR has delivered consistent updates to its Oculus VR Store, the platform from which all compatible content is bought. Generally speaking a handful of updates have arrived once a week, keeping owners busy with new demos and videos. Things are working a little differently this week, however, as Oculus VR has instead decided to update the store itself, adding new functionality.Highlighting the update is international support. This is crucial given that the European rollout of Gear VR is now well underway, having launched in the UK last week and arrived in other territories in the weeks before. Language support for the kit now includes English, French, Italian, German, Spanish (two kinds!), and Korean. These languages can be switched on the 2D Oculus Home app.As Oculus VR’s Bacon VR revealed in the Reddit update post: “With this comes the ability to control which apps are visible in certain regions and set … we’ll call them properties-that-may-have-to-do-with-country-specific-things-like-currency-but-nothing-is-being-announced.”With the update comes a number of small compatibility issues that will require players to reinstall certain titles. These include Anshar Wars, VRtillery, Ikarus and MilkVR. There are also another set of optional updates for Protocol Zero and Proton Pulse. Finally, Nighttime Terror, Bomb Squad, Rocket Toss, Vanguard V, Oculus Cinema, Oculus 360 Videos and Oculus 360 Photos all have their own updates that won’t require any kind of reinstalling.“I’ve been reading all the reddit posts, and I’ve noticed that some people may not use the Oculus 2D app,” Bacon VR revealed. “It totally works and is awesome! In case you don’t use it much, you can browse all of the content and download new games and updates to existing games (like all those I just mentioned!) before you hop into VR.” No.367
http://www.vrcircle.com/post/recommended-minimum-pc-specifications-for-oculus-rift-consumer-version-cv1Although we don't get the actual date. I'll take the hardware they're running their public demos and internal prototypes thank you very much. Palmer states they run their demos on Falcon Northwest Tiki machines. For those not familiar with PC builders, Falcon are considered a high end custom PC builder. The Falcon Northwest Tiki they use is apparently around $2,000 and includes a NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980. In fact the Tiki only takes one graphics card so SLI is not even possible. Heading over to their configuration page I configured a Tiki as close as I could to $2,000 with a GTX 980 included. Essentially it is the base model Tiki with a Core i5 4950 3.3 GHz, 8GB of 1866MHz memory, GTX 980 4GB and 256GB SSD. The specification is as follows:Specifications in link.
Palmer Luckey on Reddit: "There is a lot of incorrect information in this article - Max is a new hire, and he was definitely off on many things. While he is a technical director at Story Studio, he is not directly involved with Rift, nor is he an expert on many of the associated technologies like tracking or low-persistence. I can't clarify with concrete info on a lot of these yet, but suffice to say that May is no special month for the Rift, nor do we have price locked down for CV1. As a more concrete example, we run everything (including internal prototypes) off a regular Falcon Northwest Tiki with a regular GTX 980, which is our preferred rig for shows as well. They cost ~$2,000, not $10,000, and are one of the smallest gaming PCs you can buy. Same goes for wires and tracking technology - we are always researching new things internally, but we are a long ways away from wireless video transmission and alternative tracking technologies getting good enough from VR. I doubt anyone wants CV1 held up for tech that may never come!" No.369
http://vrfocus.com/archives/11468/3d-converstion-vfx-studio-legend3d-announced-vr-division/3D technology has become an integral part of the cinema-going experience in recent years and has obvious ties to virtual reality (VR), in which stereoscopic 3D is used to bring environments to life. It doesn’t come as much of a surprise, then, to hear that California-based Legend3D, an experienced 3D conversion and VFX studio, is now working in VR. The company has today announced a brand new VR division that will see it create immersive experiences in partnership with a range of agencies, retailers and other film studios.Legend3D’s work with 3D technology includes everything from Maleficent and The Lego Movie to the Transformers franchise and the recent The Amazing Spider-Man movies. Despite the announcement being made this week, some of Legend3D’s VR work has already been showcased. The company’s first project, The Recruit: R U In was on display at last month’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES) and can currently be downloaded over on the Milk VR app, a platform for 360 degree videos for viewing on Samsung’s Gear VR HMD.While new projects are yet to be announced, the company did tease that it had obtained a ‘high-profile’ contract from a ‘leading retail brand’. The deal will see Legend3D provide 3D content for the brand. Talks are also ongoing between major studios for more cinematic VR content for showcasing at the likes of San Diego Comic-Con.“The key to successful Virtual Reality is producing innovative content at a high-quality level, and the experience is even more successful when it is delivered in stereoscopic 3D,” said Jared Sandrew, Legend’s Chief Creative Officer. “Legend has utilized our award-winning 3D pipeline to create a natural and creative way to introduce realism in these virtual worlds. Our approach guarantees more creative flexibility for filmmakers and agency creative, while also being easier on both post-production budget and schedule fronts.” No.370
http://vrfocus.com/archives/11439/razer-announces-new-osvr-partners-including-radial-g-dev/Arguably the biggest virtual reality (VR) related announcement of the 2015 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) last month was the reveal of Open-Source Virtual Reality (OSVR). This new initiative, spearheaded by hardware group Razer, brings together a wide range of VR developers, software, hardware and head-mounted displays (HMD) in order to create an accessible platform for content creation. At the time a long list of partners were announced, including the likes of Borderlands developer Gearbox Software. Today sees OSVR reveal some new additions to its group.Among the list of new arrivals is Tammeka Games, the UK-based developer currently working on sci-fi racer Radial-G for the Oculus Rift HMD as well as VR Bits, the indie team currently creating space simulation title Darkfield. There’s also Jaunt, the cinematic VR company behind the likes of The Hobbit VR Experience and more. Cyberith, the team currently working on the Virtualizer omni-directional treadmill is also in. Other additions include SoftKinetic, Lucidscape, Impulsonic, Strafe, Sonic VR, VR Union, Tactical Haptics, VisiSonics and 3D Rudder.One of the most intriguing aspects of OSVR is the group’s very own HMD, the OSVR Hacker Dev Kit. The tech retains the open-source nature of the initiative, as it’s free for anyone to download the schematics and make their own version should they have the necessary materials. For everyone else, the kit will be releasing in June 2015 for $199.99 USD. The kit uses a 5.5-inch, 1080p, 60Hz display that offers a field of view (FOV) of 100 degrees. It isn’t intended for consumer use so much as an accessible VR HMD that will help for cross-platform development and more. No.373
http://vrfocus.com/archives/11526/2015-international-conference-virtual-reality-coming-april/It was only a year ago that virtual reality (VR) technology was seemingly confined to small-scale community meet ups and minor appearances at the likes of E3 when it came to events. Now in 2015 there are a wide range of industry shows for fans to either attend or follow along with, including the likes of the upcoming South West VR Conference (SWVR), Silicon Valley VR Conference and Expo (SVVR) and the recently announced VR Los Angeles Spring Expo (VRLA). Joining that growing this is the 2015 International Conference on Virtual Reality (ICVR).ICVR is set to take place at the Millennium Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles, California, USA on 9th – 10th April. As the event’s website explains (http://www.icvr.org/prog.html), it aims to gather VR insiders such as researchers, engineers, academics and industry professionals to present their work to each other. While the deadline for paper submissions for the event has now passed, it’s still possible to register to attend and learn about these papers.Keynote speakers at the event include Prof. Charles M. Falco of the University of Arizona, Prof. Patrick S. P. Wang of the Northeastern University, and Intel’s Dr. Haowei Liu. All attendees will give a presentation on their respective papers lasting between 10 – 15 minutes. Don’t expect this to be a VR event similar to what’s come before then, instead focusing far more on the technical aspects of the technology. That said, as this early stage in VR’s life, the sharing of this information is vital. No.374
http://www.greenbot.com/article/2882340/lg-giving-away-google-cardboard-clone-with-new-g3-smartphone-purchases.htmlLG is jumping into virtual reality (sort of), giving away a Google Cardboard-inspired headset for those who buy its G3 smartphone.
It’s one of those limited time offers that may sweeten the deal if you’re looking for a new Android phone—our LG G3 review found it to be a pretty solid choice.
Google makes its Cardboard design open source, so LG chose to use that for its own headset, opting for plastic instead of recyclable corrugated paper.
Just like the Cardboard version, LG’s virtual-reality hardware includes a neodymium ring magnet on the side, which pairs with the G3’s internal magnetometer. This way you can control the phone without the need to touch the display.
The build also includes a cutout for LG’s volume rockers on the back of the phone, so you can still adjust the sound while using it. There’s another cutout for the speaker, so nothing gets muffled while checking out a game or virtual reality app.
Along with the VR gear you also get a free code for RoboBliteration, an Android game designed exclusively for playing with virtual reality headsets.
LG says the promotion should roll out throughout February, so keep an eye out for it at your favorite carrier.
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http://www.roadtovr.com/john-carmack-talk-presentation-the-dawn-of-mobile-vr-gdc-2015/John Carmack, legendary developer and CTO of Oculus, will be taking to the stage at GDC 2015 to get technical in a presentation titled ‘The Dawn of Mobile VR’. Carmack, who is known for presentations of detail and length, was closely involved in the development of Samsung’s Gear VR, which is expected to be the focus of the talk.Carmack, who played a key role in the early days of the Rift before joining Oculus, is one of the industry’s most respected developers. When he gets on stage, his talks are long and technical—exactly how his fans would have it. Despite the detail woven throughout, Carmack someone manages to captivate and inform even the novice. He’s also got a penchant for being forthright, happy to point out issues with his own work (even when that work represents his employer).So you can understand why people get excited when Carmack, now Oculus CTO, steps on stage. His next time doing just that will be at GDC 2015 coming up at the beginning of March where he’ll elucidate on ‘The Dawn of Mobile VR’. I couldn’t help but laugh when I saw the official GDC blog make a playful jab at Carmack’s legendary elaborations, noting that he’ll be talking for “at least an hour and a half (and probably longer),” and that it will be followed by a Q&A session “that will last until all questions are answered or everyone is chased out.”The preview of the March 4th talk is brief, but this is surely one we won’t be missing."The dawn of consumer mobile VR is close. Come hear the technical details of making mobile VR a reality; techniques and strategies for maximizing the quality of your VR games, applications, and experiences; and thoughts about the future of VR, including what it means for the mobile ecosystem." No.376
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http://vrfocus.com/archives/11516/11516/Virtual Reality has many applications in the entertainment industry. From films to videogames, developers use the device as a medium to explore narrative and gameplay structures. However, ex-videogame developer Dan Kaufman has taken a new, very different approach from other previous military applications. ‘DARPA Dan’ as he is known, is creating a way to combat cyber attacks using an Oculus Rift head-mounted display (HMD).During CBS’ 60 Minutes programme the show spoke with the head of the Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency’s (DARPA) innovations office. Currently, DARPA has been working on ways to protect people from cyber attacks both for military and consumer use. Shown in the video is a brief demonstration of the Oculus Rift and Razer Hydra motion controllers being used in a defence programme. It is not known what this particular software does, however Kaufman did state that he is “moving people into the world of real science and cyber defence”.The general aim is to create a system which can plug holes in software instantaneously without the need for people to search for them. With so many devices networked to the internet, hackers are able to access anything. Perhaps, with the use of VR it might allow people to identify a hacker or a breach in a system much more effectively.I honestly don't know what the fuck DARPA is doing with all of this, if it was anyone else I would say they saw too much CSI hacking.
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http://uploadvr.com/over-100000-dk2s-sold-since-march-says-ceo-brendan-iribe/In a tweet today from Oculus CEO Brendan Iribe, we got a glimpse into just how many DK2s are out in the wild now, and the answer is a lot!https://twitter.com/brendaniribe/status/565888922362728449The Oculus Rift DK2 was announced at last year’s GDC and started shipping in July. The kit brought with it increased resolution and positional tracking, two major improvements over the previous development kit. At first, the device struggled with a bit of a buggy SDK as eager developers stumbled out of the blocks frustratingly trying to port their experiences over to the new hardware. But in the months since the software (and the hardware) has improved quite a bit and developers have fallen in love with the device.100,000 developer kits in the wild is something that we should all celebrate, it goes to show just how strong the interest in the development community – and community as a whole – has become. And as GDC 2015 approaches, we all wait with baited breath for what is to come. Until then, cheers to the pioneers out there taking the risks necessary to drive this industry forward. No.385
http://vrfocus.com/archives/11644/panasonic-reveals-pc-based-vr-hmd-prototype/It’s becoming less and less surprising to see technology companies announce new virtual reality (VR) head-mounted displays (HMD). Following the reveal that Samsung was entering the industry with its Gear VR HMD, companies such as LG, Archos and more have all announced their own products. Of course, these are all smartphone-based devices, relying on the user’s handset to deliver VR experiences. With that in mind, it’s much more surprising to hear that electronics company Panasonic may be entering the industry with a HMD that’s much closer to the likes of the Oculus Rift.According to Nikkei Technology, Panasonic recently debuted a prototype for a new HMD at a private press event in Tokyo, Japan. However, instead of simply snapping in a smartphone as with many of today’s VR HMDs, this kit connects to a PC just as with the Oculus Rift. The device reportedly boasts an OLED display with a 90 degree field of view (FOV). Instead of using straps as with other HMDs, Panasonic’s device hooks to the user’s ears, resembling a set of glasses. The company states that this allows it to be worn ‘more easily’ than the Oculus Rift.Crucially, the HMD remains in prototype stages, with the company yet to commit to a retail release. That said, it looks like the device will play a part in the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, where Panasonic will use its seven-sensor 360 degree camera to film certain events, including the long jump. With that in mind, it has plenty of time to work on the device if it’s going to consider a potential release around the games. The company is yet to talk about any potential compatibility with VR-enabled PC software.How many more of these shitty competitors will there be? I mean at least OSVR is open source if nothing else, while this one has a low FOV and looks retarded with those hooks.
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http://batman-news.com/2015/02/15/kevin-conroy-paul-dini-sign-onto-the-batman-the-animated-series-virtual-reality-experience/Last fall, Warner Bros. and cloud graphics company OTOY announced a virtual reality experience designed for the Oculus Rift and Samsung GALAXY Gear VR, based on Batman: The Animated Series. The current demo showcases a million cubic meters of the Batcave environment that fans can explore including the main area, dock, garage and trophy room and features vehicles including the Batmobile and Batboat.
The companies also announced that series writer Paul Dini, and original Bruce Wayne/Batman voice actor Kevin Conroy are joining the project, joining previously announced original series producer Bruce Timm. The content is the latest example of next-generation interactive experiences studios are exploring with their IP.
The Batman: The Animated Series virtual reality experience will be available this winter. Check out some images and the full press release below for more info.
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STANFORD, Calif. – February 12, 2015 – Blue Ribbon Content (Warner Bros.’ shortform digital series production unit), DC Entertainment and cloud graphics pioneer OTOY Inc. today treated attendees of Stanford University’s Workshop on Light Field Imaging to a preview of a first-of-its-kind immersive VR experience set in the world of the 1990s animated classic Batman: The Animated Series. The immersive entertainment experience uses OTOY’s breakthrough holographic light field rendering technology to transport viewers to a fully navigable Batcave, faithfully recreating the look and feel of the animated series and realized in stunning detail. The VR experience is the first demonstration of light fields being used to render large, navigable volumetric spaces, with the Batcave featuring a million cubic meters of space to explore.
“Being able to climb inside the Batman: The Animated Series universe, to experience that world as if you’re living in it, is absolutely incredible. Today’s demonstration validates the tremendous storytelling opportunities we have with VR and OTOY’s light field rendering technology,” said Sam Register, who runs Blue Ribbon Content as President, Warner Bros. Animation and Warner Digital Series. “We know that fans around the world are waiting for this, and trust me when I say that it will be worth the wait.”
“Batman: The Animated Series holds a special place in many fans’ hearts, and that’s why it’s been so critical to us at OTOY to perfectly preserve the show’s unique aesthetic in virtual reality using our groundbreaking holographic light field technology,” said Jules Urbach, Founder and CEO, OTOY. “Being huge fans of Batman: The Animated Series ourselves, it’s been a dream come true to work with Warner Bros. and DC Entertainment on this project and we’re excited to share it with all of the fans out there soon.”
The forthcoming Batman: The Animated Series experience will allow fans to explore a detailed adaptation of the original 1992 designs envisioned by series producer Bruce Timm using VR devices such as the Samsung GALAXY Gear VR and the Oculus Rift. Along with Timm, series writer Paul Dini is also involved in the project, and voice actor Kevin Conroy is reprising his role as Bruce Wayne/Batman. In addition to the Batcave, fans can expect a few other surprises in the VR experience which is still set for release this winter.
No.396
http://vrfocus.com/archives/11709/new-patent-reveals-iphone-based-apple-vr-hmd/Many virtual reality (VR) fans have wondered if iPhone and iPad creator Apple might get involved with VR in the future. Last year the company posted a job listing for an App Engineer to work with ‘VR systems’, but no official word on any such project has been revealed. A patent issued today, however, reveals that the company has at least worked on a head-mounted display (HMD) of its own, utilising its iconic smartphone series in much the same that that Samsung’s Gear VR HMD works with the Galaxy Note 4 handset.The patent, uncovered by Patently Apple, details a HMD that links to a ‘portable electronic device’ which is pictured as an iPhone or iPod Touch. The device slots into the HMD to display side-by-side content in 3D, just as can be seen with Gear VR or any number of other smartphone-based HMDs. Crucially, the device appears to be operated using voice controls as well as physical ones. There are also images of ear buds that use advanced haptics to create immersive sound effects for watching movies and more.It’s interesting to note that the patent was first filed on 30th September 2008, six years before Gear VR would be introduced and four years before the Kickstarter crowd-funding campaign for the Oculus Rift. Apple seems to have been considering this for a long time, then. Third-party companies such as Pinć VR have already revealed their own HMDs that run exclusively with the latest iPhones, but Apple’s own interest in the area is undeniably exciting. With the company planning to launch the Apple Watch in the near future, VR fans might not hear anything on a possible official VR HMD from the company for some time. No.397
>>396ok its done.
apple will make the VR reach its limit.
with stuff like "we found secret document of steve jobs that reveil the secret of legendary technology. VR!!!!"
it will make us all butthurt and actual people will believe it.
No.408
http://vrfocus.com/archives/11735/facebook-discusses-apps-vr-recode-conference/At yesterdays Re/Code’s code/media conference, Chris Cox, head of product at Facebook discussed the future of social media and where the acquisition of Oculus VR comes into the picture. Cox discussed that Facebook is developing virtual reality (VR) apps for the Oculus Rift head-mounted display (HMD).During the talks, Cox detailed the importance of more immersion for social networking. The aim seems to not be just sharing information, but also entire experiences. Cox stated: “I mean, virtual reality is pretty cool. We’re working on apps for VR.”Though he was sceptical to discuss specific details, he did state that it is all about the desire to share experience: “When you’re in Facebook, you’re just sending around these bits of experience, a photo, a video, a thought. Virtual reality will allow people to be ‘sending a fuller picture’.”This may suggest the possibility of sharing 360 degree videos. Though, currently the technology is generally expensive and very large. Although this prospect appears to be far off, Cox went on to say: “You’ll do it, Beyoncé will do it.”It is unknown what these apps will entail on release or whether Facebook aims to become a 360 degree VR video provider. However, this does appear to be the next step in Facebook’s plunge into the world of VR. The social media giant seems bent on competing with Youtube as a video sharing platform. No.410
Just wanted to mention that I do obviously know that I have been posting mostly stuff from 'VRFocus' for a while now, but that's because 'VRFocus' has news articles almost everyday and best of all they are short.
I would post news from anywhere else if they had just as much content and/or were short. This is for anyone wondering why there is so much of VRFocus's stuff in this thread.
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No.411
>>410That's fine.
Im on 8chan anyways, might as well stop by every now and again to checkout the new articles and game.
No.416
http://vrfocus.com/archives/11785/21-vr-events-scheduled-sxsw-2015-luckey-mitchell-oculus-panel/The virtual reality (VR) calendar is packed with so many events all year round that it can be easy to forget some of the shows that the technology will be appearing at. The South By South West (SXSW) festival is one such event, despite having hosted a session with some of the key figureheads behind the Oculus Rift head-mounted display (HMD) for the past two years. Oculus VR is set to return to the event this year along with a huge number of other VR panels that will cover everything from VR videogames to movies and more from 13th – 22nd March 2015.Oculus VR will return for its session that’s becoming something of a tradition for the festival. Oculus Rift creator Palmer Luckey, VP of Product Nate Mitchell and Hardware Engineer Ryan Brown will ‘Explore the Future of Virtual Reality with Oculus‘ at 17:30 CST on 13th March. While the trio will be giving a short talk on the state of Oculus VR and its future, it will once again open the floor to questions from attendees and Twitter. This will serve as a rare chance for many Oculus Rift and Gear VR fans to have their questions answered.Elsewhere there’s no shortage of VR-related events, with the number of sessions beating out even the Game Developers Conference (GDC) which takes place earlier that month. Also hosted on 13th March at 14:30 is ‘The Casual VR Scene‘ with the likes of Ghost Machine and Owlchemy Labs attending. At 17:00 is ‘Suspension of Disbelief in Virtual Reality‘ with a host of big VR names such as Sixense CEO Amir Ruben, Virtuix CEO Jan Goetgeluk, NextGen Interactions’ Jason Jerald and Playful Corp. CEO Paul Bettner.Oculus VR pops up again on 14th March with the ‘Trailblazers in VR Domain‘ session at 12:30. Head of Worldwide Studios Jason Rubin will be part of a panel looking at the future of the technology. Then at 15:30 ‘A Guide to Live Action 360 VR Filmmaking‘ takes place. There are also three panels starting at 17:00. One is ‘Cinema VFX & Immersive VR: Virtual Worlds Converge‘ another is labelled ‘The Future of Porn is 3D Virtual Reality‘ while the final one is named ‘A New Authenticity in a Holographic World‘.Starting at 09:30 on 15th March is ‘Storytelling with the New Screens‘ 11:00 there’s also ‘Cinematic Virtual Reality: Immersive Storytelling‘, which features a number of the crew from New Deal Studios. Then at 12:30 there’s ‘Oculus Effect: How VR Will Change TV and Retail‘. Another VR-related session for the day is ‘HoloGramma: How Tech Can Bring Back Our Departed‘ at 15:30. DocLab will also have two sessions on the day including ‘DocLab Presents: New Frontiers for VR and Interactive NonFiction‘ at 14:00 and ‘DocLab Showcase: How to Play with VR, Physical Spaces and Ink‘ at 15:30.Plenty more sessions can be found on 16th March, including ‘Crashing Oculus Rift and Hacking New VR Experiences‘ at 11:00. Following that there’s ‘Want to Lose Weight? Hang Out with Your Avatar‘ at 12:45. Both ‘Virtual Reality: Video Reinvented‘ and ‘Virtual Reality Journalism‘ take place at 15:30 while ‘Evolving 3D Production Into Immersive Technologies‘ starts at 17:00.Finally, 17th March boasts two VR sessions, one being ‘Mixed Reality Habitats: The New Wired Frontier‘ at 11:00 and the other being ‘Virtual Reality: Building Healthier Social Brains‘ at 17:00. No.417
http://www.quora.com/Why-did-Facebook-acquire-Oculus-VRA very interesting story from first-person perspective by a lady who was at SpaceX for 5 years and then joined Oculus because she saw the future.
No.424
http://uploadvr.com/intel-researchers-point-to-new-method-of-smart-rendering-for-virtual-reality-that-will-make-games-run-faster/In a post on the Intel labs blog today (http://blogs.intel.com/intellabs/2015/02/20/smart-rendering-virtual-reality/), author Daniel Pohl outlined a method for rendering virtual reality games and experiences more efficiently. Consumers want a display where the pixels are undetectable, and according to Michael Abrash, Chief Scientist at Oculus, that will only come with a display that is at least 8k in each eye. This means that systems will need to render for a display 16 times more pixel-dense than what currently is out there, and that requires a good bit of extra firepower from your hardware.In order to render on such high resolution displays, developers are going to need to find as many ways as possible to improve rendering times. The optimization outlined by Intel exploits a phenomena known as distortion astigmatism, which is the reduction of quality toward the edges images viewed through the lenses of HMDs such as the Oculus Rift. When we view something in the Rift only the center of what we see is very sharp, and the edges of the image are distorted and are more blurry. This phenomena is true in VR as well, which led to the research question: “As the center area can be seen best and the outer areas become blurred, why should we render the edges of the image with the same level of detail as the center?”That question led to the team devising a method to decrease the quality of the pixel rendering as it spread from the center of the gaze. The smart rendering method was accomplished by using a method of rendering called ray tracing, as opposed to rasterization which is typically used for games. Ray tracing, is a process through which an image is created by tracing a path of light rays through pixels. In order to achieve a higher quality image, more than one ray can be traced for each pixel. The Intel used “sampling maps” to tell the renderer how many rays to cast for each point on the screen. The sampling map told the renderer to cast four rays in the center, resulting in a high quality render in that area, and lowered it down to one as it reached the outside so the more distorted part of the image could be rendered faster (but with lower quality).One final improvement the researchers tried was to use low-quality rasterization (typically faster than ray tracing) for the outside of the image, and using ray tracing with the sampling map for the center. This hybrid approach resulted in an additional performance improvement.Ultimately the optimizations improved the rendering of the scene from 14 FPS to 54 FPS while maintaining full image quality at the center of the image. An additional optimization could be added using an eye tracking system like the one in FOVE. An eye tracking system would allow the developer to render areas where the user is not looking in a lower level of detail. That way even the center of the image could be rendered faster when the user is not looking at it.Exploiting the limitations of lenses, the human eye, and the human mind will allow developers to render VR images faster. The combination of these optimizations and hardware improvements will allow us to reach our goal of rendering on ultra-high resolution displays at sufficient framerates.Intel says it will provide more details about this method at IEEE VR 2015 in the end of March in Provence, France in a presentation titled “Using Astigmatism in Wide Angle HMDs to Improve Rendering.” No.426
http://uploadvr.com/oculus-currently-has-45-open-positions-for-those-looking-to-build-the-future/Since the Facebook acquisition of Oculus in March of 2014 the company has been rapidly growing its team. We saw Oculus poach Pixar talent for their Story Studio, but they are not stopping that growth anytime soon. Heading towards a – ahem – consumer release the team is only going to keep growing.As of today Oculus currently has 45 positions open to engineers, scientists, graphics programmers, industrial designers and perceptual psychologists who are ready to create the future of virtual reality technology from the ground up. Among the current openings are positions as game engineer and game designer, both of which promise to allow you to be “at the forefront of prototyping, producing and shipping throughout development process.”Some of the perks of working at Oculus: Flexible hours, free food, happy hours, team trips, and free Oculus hardware. Access to the latest VR and AR prototypes and the tools and components to build anything you could possibly imagine. Access to hardware labs full of 3D printers, motion capture hardware, and robots. Access to Palmer Luckey’s exclusive Oculus employee flip flops* Oculus promises, “You’ll have the freedom to explore and attack the infinitely large set of challenges ahead of us, whether that’s tinkering on tweaks to sensor fusion or developing entirely new methods of human-computer interaction.” 35 of the 45 open positions are based out of their main offices in Menlo Park, California. The remaining 10 positions are for their Seattle office.Oculus offers competitive salaries and a full range of benefits including comprehensive health care and 401k. Apply for an open position here (https://www.oculus.com/company/careers/#open-positions).(*Kidding) Post last edited at
No.427
>>424well thats some top tier news I enjoy hearing
No.429
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http://www.roadtovr.com/oculus-rift-creator-dont-get-hyped-possibility-seeing-vr-input-gdc-2015/Palmer Luckey, creator of the Oculus Rift, has preempted any rumors that Oculus might be showing a first-party VR input solution at the upcoming GDC 2015 in March.‘VR input’, a more natural way of interacting with the virtual world beyond abstract input schemes like the gamepad or keyboard and mouse, has been a topic of significant interest ever since the rebirth of VR. For maximum immersion, users should be able to reach out and interact with the virtual world just like they would in the real world. Although there are a number of VR input systems in development, Oculus, the leading consumer VR headset creator, has not endorsed any of them. The company seems to be unsatisfied with available options and while all clues would point to internal development of their own input system, the company hasn’t shown any such system publically.That leaves developers in a tricky place. Adopt a third-party solution, or wait for Oculus to reveal their own input system?The input discussion really started heating up after Oculus released their second development kit, the DK2, which showed a clear path to a consumer version of the headset—except for input. And now, every time a major Oculus-attended industry event rolls around, a preamble of whispers and rumors about such an announcement can be heard.The next such event, GDC 2015, is right around the corner during the first week in March. This time, Oculus creator Palmer Luckey sets the expectation by taking to the comment section of the Oculus Rift subreddit:"Don’t get too hyped on the possibility of seeing anything at GDC. VR input is hard – in some ways, tracking hands well enough to maintain a sense of proprioceptive presence is even more technically challenging than getting perfect head tracking.We will show something if and when we get it working well, but we have to avoid showing off prototypes that are not on a clear path to being shipped at the same or higher quality level. Throwing together very expensive or impossible to manufacture prototypes for internal R&D is one thing, using them to publicly set expectations around the near future is another.Not naming anything specific here, but the history of technology is littered with the corpses of companies that overpromised and underdelivered by shipping real products with real limitations that were glossed over in promotional materials. Oculus can’t afford to do that." No.430
http://vrfocus.com/archives/11802/sony-project-morpheus-really-cool-culmination-different-research-projects/Sony Computer Entertainment’s (SCE) Project Morpheus virtual reality (VR) head-mounted display (HMD) for PlayStation 4 may have been revealed at last year’s Game Developers Conference (GDC), but its origins can be traced much further back than that. Many will recognise technology used in both the PlayStation Move motion controller and Dualshock 4 inside the device. In fact, according to Sony Magic Lab’s Anton Mikhailov, Project Morpheus is ‘a really cool culmination’ of a lot of the company’s past work.Mikhailov stated as much to VRFocus in an interview that will be published in full later this week. “We’ve been working on the tracking product for quite a long time,” he said. “It’s actually an evolved version of the PlayStation Move tracking system, so our work goes back six years now or something. But the current version with the six LEDs on the Morpheus headset, it’s probably about a year and a half old. The camera was designed to handle optical tracking essentially, so we’re able to track many peripherals. We have a lot of experience of PS3 with Move so, when we designed the PS4 camera, we made sure that it’s capable of peripheral tracking.”“Well the camera was designed with tracking peripherals in mind: Morpheus, the Dualshock, the Move controller,” he later added.“The Morpheus project’s been a really cool culmination of all the research projects we’ve been doing lately.”Project Morpheus is set to see a huge focus at the 2015 edition of GDC, which takes place next week in San Francisco, California, USA. SCE has scheduled a number of developer sessions that focus on both the device and VR development as well as arranged an event on 3rd March to showcase the kit. No.431
http://vrfocus.com/archives/11832/kickstarter-campaign-launched-resistance-based-input-realm-system/It’s nearly three years on since the Oculus Rift virtual reality (VR) head-mounted display passed its Kickstarter crowd-funding campaign and input remains an issue for VR videogames. Creating a realistic way of interacting with experiences without breaking immersion is a problem that’s yet to be solved. The REALM System is the latest concept to present itself as a potential solution. This unique, resistance-based technology has recently launched its own Kickstarter campaign (https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/therealmsystem/the-realm-system), looking for some $160,000 AUD.The REALM System consists of a waist belt that fits around the user and is then connected to two handpieces with inbuilt Inertial Measurement Units (IMU) Sensors. These pieces are linked using resistance bands that will adapt to any given the experience to add realism to interacting with objects. It might be that the system provides a convincing feeling of truly wielding a sword and shield in an action experience, or allow users to experience a true sensation of weight as they pick up objects in a puzzle-based videogame.The system’s software development kit (SDK) is compatible with the Unity engine and uses Microsoft’s Kinect motion-sensing camera.Crucially, the REALM System has been designed with support for the Oculus Rift. The system currently has six compatible videogames developed in-house, including a VR Boxing videogame as well as the sword-swinging Zombie Sushi, Tennis, Wood Chop, Realm Fitness and Squat Box. These titles will be included with developer kits for the system, which are currently available for $259 via the crowd-funding campaign. Developers looking to work with more than one system can also pledge $995 to secure a bundle of four kits. Delivery of these initial devices is expected in September 2015. A consumer release is yet to be detailed.The REALM System’s campaign runs until 21st March 2015.You know, depending on how this thing works it might be cool. The one thing missing in all of the current input devices is any sort of feedback, this for now could be adequate. Wish them luck.
No.433
No.434
http://vrfocus.com/archives/11915/nvidia-reveal-new-vr-hmd-gdc-2015/The 2015 Game Developers Conference (GDC) in San Francisco, California, USA, is set to be a huge week for the virtual reality (VR) industry. Both Oculus VR and Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE) will be sharing the latest on their respective head-mounted displays (HMD) while Valve has this week surprised everyone by revealing that it will also be showcasing a SteamVR HMD at the event. But that’s far from all that will be on display at this year’s show; VRFocus understands that Nvidia is preparing to reveal its own HMD next week.VRFocus has learned from multiple sources that the graphics processing unit (GPU) manufacturer will be revealing its very own kit, possibly named Titan VR. The product is being created by the team behind Nvidia’s SHIELD tablet. No other details on the device have been revealed at this time, although VR fans will recall that the company is hosting a GDC session titled ‘VR Direct: How NVIDIA Technology Is Improving the VR Experience’ on 4th March at 14:00 PST. This could well be where the news is made official.“Virtual reality is the next frontier of gaming, and NVIDIA is leading the way by introducing VR Direct, a set of hardware and software technologies designed to cut down graphics latency and accelerate stereo rendering performance,” the event’s description reads. “In this talk, we’ll show how developers can use NVIDIA GPUs and VR Direct to improve the gaming experience on the Oculus Rift and other VR headsets.” Could the last few words referring to ‘other VR headsets’ include the company’s own HMD?There’s no doubt that GDC will be a hugely important week for VR, then.It seems that absolutely everyone and their grandma are now making VR headsets.
No.435
>>432>>433I've grown disillusioned with Valve, they communicate rarely with their costumers, they rarely release any of their own games anymore, and they have disappointed me with their handling (or lack thereof) of the steam machines, controller and OS. If they make this VR headset then great, but I am not hyped one bit.
No.437
http://vrfocus.com/archives/11980/oculus-launches-gear-vr-game-jam-100000-prizes/Videogame development jams have proven to be an effective way of discovering unique, compelling experiences in the past. Virtual reality (VR) videogames are no stranger to the concept, with Leap Motion recently hosting its own competition to support VR compatible titles. This week sees Oculus Rift head-mounted display (HMD) creator Oculus VR announce a brand new competition in the Mobile VR Jam 2015. The contest is aims to support new projects for the Gear VR, a smartphone-based HMD created by Samsung in partnership with Oculus VR.The contest will feature a prize pool of $1,000,000 USD spilt across two different tracks. One will be specifically for VR videogames, the other for VR experiences and apps. Software must be developed for the Innovator’s Edition of Gear VR. The winner of the ‘Platinum’ award in the videogame category will secure some $200,000, while ‘Gold’ videogame winners will earn $100,000. The ‘Silver’ prize for videogames is worth $50,000, while ‘Bronze’ offers $10,000. For apps, ‘Platinum’ gets $100,000, ‘Gold’ earns $50,000, ‘Silver’ is worth $30,000 and ‘Bronze’ earns $10,000.Submissions for the jam open on 13th April 2015 at 12:00 PDT. Entrants must then submit the pitch for their title by 20th April, followed by screenshots to show its progress on 27th April. A video of the project is due on 4th May before the final build must be submitted on 11th May. Judges, who are yet to be announced, will look at the submitted materials to select fund and innovative ideas, with the top 20% of each track going through to the next round. The winners will be announced on 3rd June at 10:00.To work on Gear VR developers will need Oculus VR’s Mobile software development kit (SDK), which can be downloaded from the company’s website. No.438
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http://vrfocus.com/archives/11972/nextvr-aim-live-broadcast-vr-sport/Previously VRFocus reported on the NBA basketball All-Star weekend. NBA commissioned NextVR to create a virtual reality (VR) experience for basketball enthusiasts to experience the game without being there. Now it looks like NextVR have intentions of bringing live sports events to VR head-mounted displays. This is something which has been the subject of much debate as the requirements to stream 360 degree video are quite strenuous.Not only has the company been working with the NBA but now it announced the completion of the second test shoot with the NHL hockey association. On the 21st February the company filmed the NHL Stadium Series LA Kings vs. San Jose Sharks. NextVR has stated the belief that VR will bring a new medium for sports fans to get involved in the action. Rather than seeing it through a screen, sports fans can be watching it as if the audience is on the ice with the hockey team.NextVR is keen on bringing the same experience to a live audience. As a way of bringing sports fans closer to the action, the company is looking at providing live broadcast quality video straight to the VR HMD. The company believes that it alone has the technology to bring this quality live. Next VR states it has patents in video compression, broadcast quality transmission and display of VR content. No.441
http://www.roadtovr.com/new-flat-lens-give-vr-headsets-better-image-quality-making-lighter-compact/The lenses in VR headsets may be getting clearer, lighter, and wafer thing, with the help of a new manufacturing process that uses nanotechnology to not only shrink the thickness of the lens, but also correct for the sort of color distortions common to the lenses currently used in VR headsets.The news came out of Harvard’s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) on Thursday, detailing a technical improvement on a prototype ‘flat lens’, which now uses what they call a “glass substrate and tiny, light-concentrating silicon antennas” to redirect light.The updated design differs from ‘flat lenses’ of the past by using nano-sized silicon antennas to immediately bend incoming light, that thanks to the recent introduction of the electrically insulating material, can now redirect red, green, and blue (the three colors used in displays) light in the visible spectrum at variable angles."What this now means is that complicated effects like color correction, which in a conventional optical system would require light to pass through several thick lenses in sequence, can be achieved in one extremely thin, miniaturized device,” said principal investigator Professor Federico Capasso of SEAS."Taking out the bulky lenses of modern VR headsets and replacing them with the new generation of ‘flat lenses’ could not only significantly reduce the headset’s physical size and weight, but could also entirely remove ‘chromatic aberration’, a misalignment of colors caused by the fact that lenses bend light of different colors at slightly different angles. No.442
>>441The phenomenon has traditionally been corrected by adding a number of lenses to create a bulky achromatic lens setup to shift red, green and blue colors of the spectrum closer to the center focal point. The more lenses, the closer you are to ‘perfect’, but the solution is adds cost, weight, and size with each addition of corrective lenses.An example of chromatic aberration correction from Oculus. Notice the separation of colors toward the edge of this scene. Through the Rift’s lenses, the colors are aligned.Another less weighty method of chromatic aberration correction can be achieved by digitally shifting colors in the software, the method primarily used in consumer VR headsets currently in development that use a single lens, like the Oculus Rift. But it isn’t perfect, and works only when the eye is looking directly into the center of the lens, revealing artifacts of chromatic aberration when users look elsewhere on the lens (as they tend to do naturally when presented with a wide field of view).Founder of Oculus VR Palmer Luckey, said this a little over a year ago in regards to another compact lens solution, the fresnel lens, and oft-proposed solution to reduce the bulk and weight of VR optics:"…they kill contrast, add a variety of annoying artifacts, and don’t actually save all that much weight. They don’t help with form factor, either; Fresnels cannot come close to matching the focal length/magnification of other optics tech.”''
There’s no word yet on when the lens tech will be ready for production—or for what cost—but it’s possible that upgrades of this type could follow a similar path set out for future VR headset displays. As demand for VR grows, the co-opted smartphone screens taken from the mobile ecosystem could give way to more robust, custom-built displays that would offer higher refresh rates, resolution, and a wider field of view.Demand would likely also increase for VR-specific tech in optics, eventually giving lens manufacturers a good reason to throw their chips in with the virtual reality crowd too, but only as soon as the ‘flat lens’ is safely out of the R&D labs and into the marketplace.However, established fields like photography, astronomy, and microscopy could make good use of the new, slimmed down optics, and help bring the technology to market. So VR might have to play second fiddle and keep rummaging through the parts bins of other industries for a while longer—but you know what they say about good things and waiting. No.445
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http://vrfocus.com/archives/11997/starship-announces-cooking-simulation-cybercook-gear-vr/Virtual reality (VR) has already demonstrated its ability to impact user’s everyday lives. That said, VR enthusiasts are yet to see the technology used to enhance cooking. Liverpool-based technology studio Starship is hoping to change that with Cybercook, a new cooking simulation experience coming exclusively to the Gear VR smartphone-based head-mounted display (HMD). The title aims to help users in creating new dishes and preparing ingredients. A demo for the experience launches today over on the Oculus VR Store.Starship claims that Cybercook will allow users to practise every aspect of cookery from slicing and dicing ingredients to ensuring food is cooked just right. As a trailer below shows, the title features time-sensitive mechanics, making sure that players perfect a range of recipes. Crucially, the title will offer in-app purchases of real life cooking equipment and utensils so that players can cook meals for real once mastering them in the virtual realm.“As well as offering an engrossing experience, Cybercook dispels the fear of experimenting in the kitchen,” Starship CEO Martin Kenwright said of the title’s announcement. “You’re involved with every stage of the cookery process. Why learn from a video when you can practice hands-on and without a single bit of waste? In a couple of years, we’ll reach new levels of realism. We’re proud to work with partners like Oculus and Samsung so early on in the VR lifecycle on a Gear VR exclusive.”Cybercook‘s demo, titled, Cybercook Taster is available now from the Oculus VR Store. A cross-platform demo named Cybercook Slice is also on the way, though it’s not clear just which platforms this will be reaching. The full experience is yet to be dated, though it will be on display at the Game Developers Conference (GDC) next week. No.446
>>445http://vrfocus.com/archives/12056/starship-talks-cybercook-vr-cooking/Yesterday saw the announcement of CyberCook, a unique cooking simulation platform that hopes to take cookery classes to the next level with the help of the Gear VR smartphone-based virtual reality (VR) head-mounted display (HMD). The announcement marks one of the first examples of VR technology mixing with the food industry, something that has massive potential going forward. VRFocus recently spoke to CyberCook developer Starship about that potential and more.In the interview the developer’s Mike Humphrey talks about how CyberCook will grow from the CyberCook Taster demo launched this week into a full platform. He also talks about the intriguing in-app purchases for the platform as well as the chance of seeing it come to other HMDs. VRFocus will continue to follow CyberCook closely, reporting back with any further updates from the company.VRFocus: Where did the idea for CyberCook come from?Mike Humphrey: Our CEO, Martin Kenwright had an idea about what possibilities would be created if he mixed his experience of creating world class simulation with the world of food. He came across an image of some prawns that had been digitally produced and it struck him that, while they looked good, they were obviously just a static image and therefore not interactive in any way. It started him wondering what it would be like if we could produce something that looks just as good as the real thing but also be interactive. That’s where the seed of the idea came from.VRFocus: Just how extensive is the list of recipes?Mike Humphrey: In CyberCook Taster, we’re just giving a very small sample of the recipes that will be on offer. The full CyberCook experience should be thought of more as a platform than as a single app with a finite amount of content. We will continue to build a library of recipes, ingredients, cooking and preparation processes, as we build towards a fully equipped virtual kitchen. And that’s just the start. Post last edited at
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>>446VRFocus: Why does CyberCook necessarily have to be a VR experience? Could it not exist on standard displays?Mike Humphrey: The full CyberCook experience is much more than just a VR product, but CyberCook Taster is a purpose built demo, designed from the ground up to work in VR. It is intended to give people just a taste of what the full CyberCook platform will become. CyberCook’s journey on non-VR platforms begins with a very different demo, CyberCook Slice, which will soon be available across multiple mobile devices.VRFocus: How does CyberCook ensure that users will be able to accurately replicate certain actions such as slicing ingredients?Mike Humphrey: Our team is working on a number of cooking and preparation processes as we speak, using our extensive background in simulation technology, along with partnerships in the world of cooking education, to ensure a realistic feel to each specific feature. These processes will be rolled out over time but we also want to engage with our users and bring them into the creative process. We’re realistic in that we understand the complexities of cooking and food preparation, and we know we won’t be delivering every interaction possible in the kitchen right from day one. We want to hear from our users, and build the product to deliver the kind of experience that they really want to engage with.VRFocus: Cookery books may be passive, but they allow users to cook along with a recipe. Do you anticipate users doing this with CyberCook?Mike Humphrey: Absolutely. The app uses an intuitive user interface to guide you through cooking the virtual recipe, which can then be used along with real ingredients in order to cook the actual meal.VRFocus: How will the in-app store work? Have you partnered with a retail company for these purchases?Mike Humphrey: There are multiple threads to the in-app store in CyberCook; it will function as a portal for users to adorn their virtual kitchen with all the latest gadgets, appliances and ingredients, as well as linking directly to retail outlets so that people can purchase the real world companions. It also provides a new way of celebrity chefs delivering their unique cooking style directly to you in CyberCook.VRFocus: You’ve mentioned a CyberCook Slice as a ‘cross-platform’ demo. What platforms will it be coming to?Mike Humphrey: Right now we’re working multiple mobile platforms, as well as VR, taking full advantage of the latest hardware to create something that is truly breathtaking. However, we’ll also be releasing across as many other devices as we can to bring CyberCook to as wide an audience as possible.VRFocus: Could CyberCook head to other head-mounted displays such as the Oculus Rift in time?Mike Humphrey: VR seems to be a natural fit for CyberCook, so we’re happy to explore any options that we’re presented with.VRFocus: Do you have an idea of when Cybercook might release in full?Mike Humphrey: We are going to be rolling out features over the coming months, building towards our final vision for CyberCook. However, our ambitions for the platform are huge, so we know this isn’t going to be a quick process. We want CyberCook to grow as a platform, to become a source of entertainment, education and inspiration for our users and something that they not only keep coming back to, but to become something that they have helped steer and nurture. No.453
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http://uploadvr.com/popcap-co-founder-teams-up-with-ex-microsoft-valve-and-disney-employees-to-form-new-vr-startup/John Vechey, co-founder of the popular mobile game developer/publisher PopCap, has left the company to start a new VR company, Pluto VR. Joining Vechey are Jared Cheshier, Jonathan Geibel and Forest Gibson who bring with them experience working with companies like Microsoft, Valve, and Disney.""The company is not looking to get into the games space, at least not yet. A statement of intention on the website gives a bit of a clue as to what the company is working on:We live in an increasingly connected world. With video-conferencing, social media, and online gaming, we can communicate and play with others like never before. However, talking into a phone, sharing a video, or looking at a webcam aren’t natural ways of communicating and don’t come close to what it is like to sit across the table from someone and share an experience.With augmented and virtual reality technology it is now possible to feel a sense of presence with other people, allowing you to communicate, collaborate, and connect from anywhere in the world, as if you were there in person.This is what Pluto VR is building.""From the sound of things the company will be developing within the social VR space, joining companies like Altspace, Convrge, VRChat, and JanusVR in trying to figure out the best way to connect people in a virtual social environment. It’s a crowded space but one that has lots of room to grow. Pluto VR also mentions that they are also looking to get involved in the augmented reality space, which separates them from the rest of the pack.Augmented Reality communication could be very interesting. With 3D scanning technology becoming improving the way is has been, while also getting cheaper and accessible, it isn’t long before we have photo realistic scanned in avatars of ourselves. In the next couple years you could be talking to your family and see them all around the table with you, augmented in to your world.PlutoVR will be in attendance at GDC, but they will not be showing anything at this time. The company is looking to bring in an Art Director, a 3D Artist, and an Office Manager to help grow their vision. So if you are looking to get involved, be sure to enquire. And remember, Vechey’s last venture exited for $250 million… No.454
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http://www.roadtovr.com/oculus-joseph-chen-leaves-to-join-vr-video-specialists-vrse-works/One of the longest serving members at Oculus, Joe Chen will be a familar face to anyone who has followed that company’s meteoric rise over the last few years. But now, he’s moving to pastures new, jumping ship to VRSE.Works, an organisation specialising in short-form VR experiences.Anyone who has attended industry shows or events where Oculus has been in residence over the last few years (that’ll be most of them then) may well recognise Joe. He’s been Oculus’ Product Lead and Technical Producer since the company’s inception, post Kickstarter in 2012. Joe was often found, can of Red Bull in hand, demonstrating Oculus’ latest hardware to gamers at their stand.It seems though that Joseph is now set to leave the company credited with revitalising the virtual reality industry. In a press release from VRSE.works, who describe themselves as “..an international collection of forward-thinking artists using cutting-edge technology”. the company states:""VRSE.works announced today that Joseph Chen will be joining in a newly created role as Executive Technical Producer. Chen’s understanding of virtual reality and its myriad possibilities makes him an excellent fit for VRSE. Chen has worked alongside an impressive array of creative minds in realizing their visions through virtual reality.""VRSE.works was formed earlier in the year by director Chris Milk and Producers Patrick Milling-Smith and Brian Carmody. An independent production company, VRSE.works seems to be seizing the virtual reality gauntlet with verve and vigour having already seen various projects début at this year’s Sundance Film Festival. Projects like Evolution of Verse a “..photo-realistic CGI-rendered 3-D virtual reality film that takes the viewer on a journey from one beginning to a new beginning.”More recently, VRSE.works partnered with the UN at the World Economic Forum in Davos with their 360 VR video project Clouds Over Sidra, which aimed to highlight the plight of Syrian refuges through an immersive documentary film. The film was screened to delegates at the forum using Samsung’s Gear VR headseat, resulting in some extraordinary images.We’ll miss Joe at our regular Oculus rendezvous, but look forward to seeing what VRSE.Works has in store for virtual reality with Joe now on board. No.455
http://www.roadtovr.com/htc-and-valve-annouces-new-vr-headset-vive-partnership-breaking/At HTC’s ‘Utopia’ event at the Mobile World Conference, the company just announced a partnership with gaming giant Valve, seemingly including the production of a new VR headset. We’re gathering info, but it seems the unit which comprises ’70 sensors’ can provide 360 degree positional tracking, it looks to include inside out tracking.Featuring “the highest quality graphics”, the unit features a 90Hz refresh rate. No details on resolution as yet. Interestingly, the company is also promising a pair of wireless motion controllers designed to be used with the headset.Here’s all our coverage of this new headset so far:>HTC ‘Vive’ SteamVR Headset Image Surfaces>HTC ‘Vive’ Steam VR Headset Available to Developers in Spring>HTC ‘Vive’ Tech Specs Revealed, Dual 1200×1080 Panels @ 90Hz plus “laser position sensor”>Owlchemy Labs Announce New Valve Steam VR Based Project, Debuts at GDC 2015Unsurprisingly, the headset forms part of Valve’s new SteamVR platform, based around Steambox hardware – systems designed to bring high quality PC gaming to the living room. We’re due to find out much more about Valve’s plans for VR at GDC next week.HTC also announced its lineup of partners which include Cloudhead Games, Owchemy Labs, Wemo Labs and Bossa Studios – all presumably working on VR experiences for the Vive. No.456
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http://www.roadtovr.com/owlchemy-labs-announce-new-valve-steam-vr-based-project-debuts-at-gdc-2015/Hot on the heels of HTC’s suprise ‘Vive’ VR Headset announcement – a partnership with Valve, Owlchemy labs has teased it’s newest virtual reality IP, to debut on Valve’s Steam VR platform.Owlchemy labs have been at the forefront of VR games for quite some time now. As the developers of Aaaa! for the Awesome, the futuristic Sky-Diving arcade game which debuted on the Oculus Rift DK1, they proved their skill set with one of the best VR games to date.Now, Owlchemy labs is gearing up for commercial virtual reality, partnering with Valve on their new SteamVR platform – designed to bring PC gaming to the living room. Alongside HTC’s brand new VR Headset ‘Vive’, which sees the Taiwanese mobile giant becoming Valve’s reference hardware manufacturer for VR Hardware, VR looks to be headed to our homes very soon indeed.Not many details yet as to what Owlchemy’s new game / application is, or what we can expect from it in terms of gameplay – other than its name ‘Job Simulator’, but the company did have this to say:>It’s thrilling to play a part in the upcoming explosion of consumer VR and we’re proud to add another amazing opportunity to the list by being one of only a few select developers building content for some of the most incredible VR hardware in the world.Aside from that – we’ll have to content ourselves with images shared on the company’s blog and the teaser video posted above and wait impatiently for news from next week’s Game Developers Conference in San Francisco next week. We of course will be there and will be meeting with Owlchemy to find out the details. No.461
http://vrfocus.com/archives/12172/steam-vr-uses-base-stations-track-physical-location/When Half-Life developer Valve announced that it would be showcasing new virtual reality (VR) technology with its Steam VR system at next week’s Game Developers Conference (GDC), excitement quickly built up. As it turns out, the first details about Steam VR have been revealed today as Taiwanese smartphone maker HTC has revealed its new VR head-mounted display (HMD), HTC Vive, which has been created in partnership with Valve. According to HTC, the HMD will be working with a pair of Steam VR ‘base stations’.The stations are mentioned on the HTC Vive’s official website (http://www.htcvr.com/). The company notes that the developer edition of the HMD will couple with these in order to track the user’s physical location in a space of up to 15 feet by 15 feet. Those that have been following Valve’s work in VR will remember the company’s own HMD, which was located in a ‘Valve Room’ in the company’s offices and used markers on walls and the ceiling to track the user’s position. From the sounds of it, these base stations could be a replacement for those markers.Sadly, an image of the devices hasn’t been revealed, although Valve itself will hopefully have them on display at GDC next week. A limited number of stations are also available at Mobile World Congress (MBW) in Barcelona, Spain, where HTC revealed its HMD. There’s still plenty to learn about this announcement too. Will the company have any further news to share? Are there more components to Valve’s system? Does Steam VR stop with HTC Vive or could it extend to other companies and HMDs? Next week will hopefully reveal all. No.462
>>459http://vrfocus.com/archives/11858/samsung-reveals-galaxy-s6-compatible-gear-vr/As expected, electronics giant Samsung has today revealed a new version of its smartphone-based virtual reality (VR) head-mounted display (HMD), the Gear VR. The company made the reveal at its Unpacked press event in Barcelona, Spain, ahead of both Mobile World Congress (MWC) and the Game Developers Conference (GDC) next week. However this isn’t the next iteration of the device with new features but instead a simple variation that features support for the company’s newly-announced flagship handsets, the Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 edge.The original Gear VR, which released in the US in December 2014 and has been rolling out to other territories throughout 2015, supported the Galaxy Note 4, an enlarged smartphone with a 5.7-inch, Super AMOLED, Quad HD display. The Galaxy S6 and S6 edge has a smaller screen size of 5.1 inches. As such, the device itself is around 15 percent smaller while an 11% increase in pixel density allows for better images. The phone’s octacore chipset , which includess a quad 2.1GHz processor with a Quad 1.5Ghz one will also allow for higher quality experiences. Ultimately, when combined with the new Gear VR, the phone should offer a VR experience that is extremely similar to that of the original Gear VR, albeit with what could prove to be a more popular handset.It appears that the Galaxy S6 version of Gear VR will be able to support the same content that has already launched for the first edition. That said, there’s currently no word on when the new HMD might launch or if it will retain the £169 GBP price point of the original. Samsung and Oculus VR are also said to be working on the next iteration of the device and could possible include features such as positional tracking in the next kit, whenever it may be announced.Oculus VR will be showcasing the ‘latest prototypes’ for both the Oculus Rift and Gear VR HMD this week; it’s not yet clear if that means this new Gear VR will be on display at the show in San Francisco, California, USA. Meanwhile, HTC has revealed the HTC Vive HMD in partnership with Valve. No.463
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http://uploadvr.com/a-new-startup-named-feelreal-is-bringing-a-vr-mask-add-on-to-gdc-that-produces-smells-temperatures-and-vibrations/As the Game Developers Conference (GDC) approaches, the buzz has all been about the many new head mounted displays (HMDs) that are expected to be announced during the event. Valve has released info about what they are called SteamVR; NVIDIA is reported to have something up their sleeves; and everyone wants to know what Oculus is up to. The hype is so high for virtual reality that several small companies are beginning to approach VR for the 1st time.One of those startups coming to GDC with something new is called FeelReal who as their website (http://feelreal.com/) states was founded in Brooklyn, NY. We discovered them on the GDC Exhibitors List online after clicking every other company’s name while looking for something interesting. Out of the blue, FeelReal popped up posting that they will be at booth PL510. They are describing themselves as “an immersive technology company that developed the world’s first fully operating prototype of a revolutionary virtual reality mask for 3D video games and movies that brings virtual reality technology to a new level.” Their website go on to say that the FealReal mask is:>designed for you to fully immerse and experience the smells and senses present in virtual reality games and movies. Playing in our mask you can feel the wind, heat, water mist, vibration and smells that surrounds you in virtual world.>The FEELREAL virtual reality mask makes it easy to connect and interact with other players around the world through the built-in bluetooth microphone. The mask doesn’t touch the skin surface, simply mounted and perfectly matches the design of your VR headset. Play wearing the FEELREAL mask to explore virtual reality with bright senses you’ve never experienced before.Check first link for more info.
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http://vrfocus.com/archives/12215/gear-vr-getting-commerce-store-us-later-month/Today saw Samsung announce a new version of its Gear VR smartphone-based virtual reality (VR) head-mounted display (HMD), supporting the newly-revealed Galaxy S6 and S6 edge smartphones. The kit was announced at Samsung’s Unpacked event in Barcelona, Spain ahead of Mobile World Congress (MBW) this week. A handful of details were confirmed at the time but now Oculus VR, the VR specialists that worked with Samsung on the device has followed up with more details. Specifically, the company has finally revealed when a commerce store for Gear VR will launch in the USA.Taking to its official blog (https://www.oculus.com/blog/gear-vr-innovator-edition-coming-to-galaxy-s6-series/), Oculus VR revealed that a preview of the commerce version of the Oculus VR Store that hosts Gear VR compatible content will be going live this month in the USA. Other countries are expected to follow in the future. The preview will still be limited in some respects, as it appears that developers will not be able to offer in-app purchases at this point in time. The company has also promised a slate of new VR videogames and experiences will be arriving for the preview.“On top of these new games, applications, and experiences, we’re making a number of short films available to stream within Oculus Cinema, including Lunar, Plot Device, and the brand new film, Immersion,” Oculus VR noted on its official blog. “We’re also launching improvements to Oculus 360 Photos with support for stereoscopic panoramas and updated content soon, so stay tuned to see what comes next.” A specific date for the launch of these new videos was not given, though they may fall under the same window at the commerce store.Oculus VR will be showcasing the ‘latest prototype’ of Gear VR at the Game Developers Conference (GDC) next week. It’s not clear if this means the new version of Gear VR or perhaps something else. No.466
http://vrfocus.com/archives/12220/dev-leaves-epic-games-focus-vr-amd/Virtual reality (VR) is most definitely the hot topic of the Game Developers Conference (GDC), San Francisco, this week, and now it appears another hardware vendor is about to play their hand. A noted developer from Epic Games has revealed that he no longer works for the North Carolina based development studio and has instead moved to Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) to ‘focus on VR’.Alongside nVidia’s potential head-mounted display (HMD) announcement, reported by VRFocus last week, competitor AMD are looking set to reveal something new. Timothy Lottes, who had previously worked at nVidia and Epic Games, has publicly announced his decision to leave the latter. In a tweet earlier this week, Lottes stated; ” Very excited to start literally on “what is next”: focusing on VR at AMD!”It’s not yet known what role Lottes will take at AMD, however the company is obviously very keen to reveal their work in the VR sector. The company has already announced a speaker session entitled ‘Low Latency and Stutter-Free Rendering in VR and Graphics Applications’, set to be presented by Layla Mah, Lead Architect of Virtual Reality and Advanced Rendering at AMD, on Wednesday, 4th March 2015. In addition however, a full reveal of AMD’s own VR technology is expected this week. No.468
http://uploadvr.com/an-in-depth-look-at-all-of-the-newly-announced-partners-of-htc-and-valves-vive-vr-hmd/The article is way too long, visit it if you want to see what those partners of HTC and Valve are doing for Vive.
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http://vrfocus.com/archives/12233/razer-planning-vr-announcement-gdc-report-suggests/Undoubtedly one of the biggest stories in the world of virtual reality (VR) in 2015 so far is the announcement of Open-Source Virtual Reality (OSVR). Revealed in January and headed up by videogame technology company Razer, this unique ecosystem is designed to make VR development easier and more accessible by supporting a range of engines, inputs, head-mounted displays (HMD) and more. A handful of announcements about OSVR have been made since its reveal, but it appears that Razer will have more to share at the Game Developers Conference (GDC) this week.That is according to Bloomberg, which notes that Razer ‘plans a virtual-reality announcement this week’. Specifics for the announcement were not mentioned. This could range from anything to new OSVR partners to an update on the ecosystem’s own VR developer HMD, the OSVR Hacker Dev Kit. The latter is set to be put on sale in June 2015 for $199 USD, allowing developers easy access to an HMD. So far Razer hasn’t announced any intentions to create its own consumer VR HMD, but with so many other kits coming to GDC it’s certainly possible.So far the list of companies supporting OSVR include HMD makers such as Vrvana and GameFace, hardware manufacturers like Sixense, LeapMotion and Virtuix and software developers such as Gearbox Software, Tammeka Games and Techland. It’s certainly possible that OSVR will be expanding that list this week with new developers and more. It would certainly be interesting to see some of the newly-announced HMDs such as HTC and Valve’s Vive pledge support for the ecosystem going forward. No.471
http://vrfocus.com/archives/12225/nvidia-vr-hmd-use-x1-super-chip/Last week VRFocus reported that popular graphics processing unit (GPU) manufacturer Nvidia would be announcing its very own virtual reality (VR) head-mounted display (HMD) at the 2015 Game Developers Conference (GDC). Since then the company has announced an event in which it plans to ‘redefine the future of gaming’ on 3rd March. The reveal of the device could be close, then, and VRFocus has learned that, when the HMD is announced, it will be revealed to be running with the company’s Tegra X1 Super Chip.VRFocus understands that the HMD, which may be named Titan VR, will integrate the company’s latest and most advanced mobile processor, which was announced at the 2015 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in January. The chip consists of the NVIDIA Maxwell 256-core GPU as well as an 8 CPU-core, 64-bit ARM CPU that makes it something of a powerhouse for running mobile experiences. It also allows for 4K video playback. Obviously the HMD itself would need a display capable showing 4K resolutions for this to have any impact on the device.Many have speculated that Nvidia’s HMD might be a mobile device with an embedded chipset. This news certainly makes it seem as if that’s the case, bringing the kit more in line with the GameFace wireless HMD than the Oculus Rift or smartphone-based HMDs such as the Gear VR. Previously VRFocus reported that the tech was being developed by the same team behind Nvidia’s SHIELD tablet. Just how much of this will be revealed at Nvidia’s event tomorrow remains to be seen, although fans will be able to watch a live stream of the show as it beings at 19:00 PDT.Nvidia is far from the only company announcing HMDs at GDC 2015. Valve and HTC revealed the Vive kit at Mobile World Congress (MWC) yesterday and will be showing it to developers and publishers this week. No.472
http://vrfocus.com/archives/12241/vive-come-controllers/There’s still plenty to learn about HTC’s Vive virtual reality (VR) head-mounted display (HMD), despite the company yesterday confirming that it will be available to consumers in 2015. One of the most intriguing aspects of the device, which is made in partnership with Valve, is the two controllers that allow players to interact with virtual environments. Pictures of these controllers are yet to surface, it has seemingly confirmed that they will be shipping with the device itself.According to videogame personality Geoff Keighley (https://twitter.com/olicca/status/572074581504212992?s=02) the Vive HMD will come with these two controllers. It’s an interesting point to note given that Oculus Rift HMD maker Oculus VR has recently stated that it may not be offering its own form of VR input for the release of the first consumer version of its kit. Oculus VR is thought to be working with wireless hand-tracking given that the company last year purchased Nimble VR, a tech group working on a sensor that mounts itself to the front of the HMD.Valve will hopefully reveal the controllers in full at the 2015 Game Developers Conference (GDC) in San Francisco, California, USA this week. The company will be showcasing its Steam VR concept to both developers and publishers, with plenty more to be revealed about the system. Following that, Valve will also be talking about the system at EGX Rezzed next week, where the company’s Chet Faliszek will discuss what it has learned from working with Vive developers so far. Faliszek will also conduct a Q&A session. No.473
http://uploadvr.com/now-free-to-all-developers-could-unreal-engine-become-the-new-standard-for-vr/Today Unreal Engine announced that it would be dropping the subscription fee from it’s popular game development engine. This comes on the heels of the news that the company had released a massive new update to UE4 that added a significant amount of better support for VR development.Previously, Unreal Engine cost $19 a month, as well as promising a royalty commitment of 5% of your game’s royalties. That subscription fee has been dropped (although the royalty commitment still remains). Additionally, Unreal is going to gift anyone who was a previous subscriber $30 in credit to spend within their asset marketplace.We have previously reported that Oculus has been developing internally on the Unreal Engine for a while now. In fact, the majority of the demos that they have shown in the past few months have utilized the engine. With this news, the barrier to entry for the engine has been lifted and it could lead to it becoming a far more widely adopted standard. Unreal’s main competition in the VR development space, Unity, still costs $75 a month plus an additional $20 for each team member that you add. Granted, that comes without a royalty commitment. For smaller indie developers, and those learning however that royalty fee is potentially negligible until the game reaches a certain scale.Unreal has lowered the barrier to entry for VR development, and that is a good thing for everyone involved. This can only bring more developers into VR and more experiences. No.475
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http://www.roadtovr.com/htc-vive-steam-vr-google-hbo-lionsgate-content-devlelopers/Yesterday, Valve and HTC revealed the ‘Vive’ VR headset, and there’s some pretty big names already working on content for the headset.According to the Vive website, Google, HBO, and Lionsgate are already working to create content for the new headset which will be “powered by SteamVR.”Google has been involved in the VR scene for some time now, having originally released Google Cardboard as a sort of open project which spread to the tune of 500,000 headsets shipped by the end of 2014, and they recently began hiring a VR team and last month revealed a VR project to breathe new life into Matel’s View-Master.Lionsgate, a production company behind such films as The Hunger Games and The Expendables recently jumped into the VR game, with an announcement that they would be partnering with Samsung Electronics America to produce “INSURGENT – SHATTER REALITY,” a four-minute cinematic 360 video featuring content from the world of Lionsgate’s upcoming film, The Divergent Series: Insurgent (2015). The VR experience is set to roll out exclusively on Samsung’s own Milk VR 360 video platform for Gear VR.This will mark HBO’s first foray into making VR-specific content for the mass market, following their promotional Game of Thrones experience “Ascend the Wall,” a cinematic experience using the Oculus Rift DK1.HTC has also partnered with a number of game studios to fill in the ranks. Cloudhead Games, which is producing a game designed exclusively for VR called The Gallery: The Six Elements.Skillman & Hackett, known for their VR-based painting software, Tilt Brush, which won the 2014 Proto Award for Best GUI. Hopefully we’ll see something of a creative touch coming to the new headset.WEVR, formerly known as WemoLab, has been producing experiences for Gear VR including theBluVR, an underwater experience, as well as a Gear VR exclusive 360 video for the EndeaVR Project, a collaborative effort between the VR company and the California Science Center.Owlchemy Labs has been producing VR games since the DK1 days, with their most well-known game Aaaaaculus! making its trek across to Google Cardboard (Caaaaardboard!), and to the Steam platform with DK2 compatible Aaaaa! For the Awesome. The game studio is now demoing their new game, Job Studio, coming to SteamVR at this year’s GDC in San Francisco.Other studios teaming up with HTC to create new games for Vive include: Dovetail Games Fireproof Games Steel Wool Games Vertigo Games Bossa StudiosThe Taiwanese National Palace Museum will also be creating content for the HTC, also a Taiwan based concern. No.476
http://www.roadtovr.com/gameface-launches-nvidia-k1-based-vr-head-mounted-console-the-ep1/Gameface labs, a company who are focusing on mobile virtual reality, have announced their latest VR headset, to be based on the powerful mobile SoC (System on Chip) the nVidia TK1 and sporting a 1440p Samsung fabricated Super OLED panel.Gameface have been pushing the virtues of mobile and untethered virtual reality for some time now, and for a while had the highest resolution VR headset out there with it’s Mark 5 prototype. Now the company has launched an updated and upgraded version of the Gameface, now labelled as an HMC – that’s Head Mounted Console.The new unit sports a Samsung manufactured 1440p Super AMOLED display running at 60Hz and delivers an impressive sounding 100 degrees FoV – bringing it in line with Samsung’s Galaxy Note 4 based HMD the Gear VR. The refresh rate may however be increased as they work towards the developer kit model.The real news here though is the engine that powers the visuals. Sporting a custom PCB, the EP1 is powered by nVidia’s latest SoC solution, the TK1 (soon to be updated to the TX1). The power-efficient “embedded supercomputer” silicon sports 4G of RAM and the custom PCB bolts on a Hillcrest / Bosch IMU for tracking head motion.The unit comes in at around 445g in weight and sports a custom cooling solution (clearly that processing power generates a little heat), venting out of the top of the unit with airflow generated by a (hopefully quiet) radial fan.nVidia’s Tegra K1 technology, based on their ‘Keplar’ architecture, was announced last year and pushes nVidia’s vision of the GPU as a dual purpose CPU and 3D Rendering engine. Through the use of their CUDA parallel processing pipeline, nVidia are positioning themselves as the go-to force in mobile computing – taking a shot across Intel’s bows. The X1 SoC (present on the TX1 PCB Gameface are aiming to deliver in the developer kit) is more powerful still and made it’s debut at CES in January.It’s interesting to hear the term ‘Head Mounted’ Console being pushed here. It’s actually a useful clarification in the distinctions between tethered, PC or console dependent VR Headsets and entirely self contained portable entertainment units like the Gameface EP1 and Samsung’s Gear VR.Not on display in the EP1 are planned stereoscopic cameras and a new lens solution, which we’ll find out more on soon. For now, the Gameface is targetting content developed for Google’s ‘Cardboard’ initiative and leverages the latest ‘compute APIs’ such as OpenGL 4.5, DirectX 12.0 and CUDA 6. The EP1 will also form part of Razer’s new Open Source Virtual Reality (OSVR) initiative, launched at CES earlier in the year. No.478
http://vrfocus.com/archives/12340/unity-5-released-oculus-support-upcoming/For the past few months videogame developers have been anticipating the launch of Unity 5, the next iteration of the popular development tool set. The wait is now over; Unity 5 has launched. The company’s John Riccitiello announced the news at a press conference at the 2015 Game Developers Conference (GDC) 2015 in San Francisco, California, USA today.Unity 5 boasts a range of updates over Unity 4. Highlighting the update is a new physically-based standard shader that the company claims will make materials ‘look consistent in any lighting environment’. Also included is real-time global illumination that’s been built on Geomerics Englighten technology. The addition allows for dynamic lighting treatments on all supported platforms. HDR Reflection Probes are also now a part of the toolset.Unity’s editor now also features an Audio Mixer to allow for improved control over sound in a videogame. 3D physics have also been improved through the use of PhysX 3.3. A more powerful animator rounds out the new additions.In terms of VR support it appears that Oculus Rift head-mounted display (HMD) integration isn’t yet included. Support for Samsung’s Gear VR is also listed, although it’s not yet clear if this has been added just yet. The engine is available now from Unity’s official website. The tools are available in both Professional and Personal Editions. The latter is a free solution to ‘empower hobbyists’. The Professional Edition costs $75 USD a month for $1,500 for the full package. The company also announced the release of Unity Cloud Build, which allows developers to harness the power of the cloud to aid development.“Unity 5 is a massive step up for Unity that empowers developers to make more beautiful and intricate games that reach bigger audiences, across more platforms,” Riccitiello said of the announcement. “We want _everyone_ to have access to Unity 5 which is why we’ve increased the value of our royalty-free licenses. Unity 5 Professional starts with the power of Unity 5.0 and adds valuable tools such as Unity Cloud Build Pro and Team License. Unity 5 Personal Edition is for the developer just getting started and offers all the power of the engine and editor for free.”Unity 4 was a popular choice for VR developers and no doubt that will remain true with Unity 5 once support it added. A handful of virtual reality (VR) compatible videogames have already been working with the beta of Unity 5 over the past few months. These include Grave from Broken Window Studios and Darkfield from VR Bits. Unity 5′s release comes on the back of the news that Epic Games has released its competing engine, Unreal Engine 4, for free..
No.480
http://vrfocus.com/archives/12336/amd-announces-new-vr-hmd/This week has already seen the announcement of one new virtual reality (VR) head-mounted display (HMD) in the form of the HTC Vive from the Taiwanese smartphone maker and Valve. Though exciting, this HMD is far from the last VR reveal to be made this week. Semiconductor company AMD has just announced its very own VR software development kit (SDK), Liquid VR, at the 2015 Game Developers Conference (GDC) in San Francisco, California, USA.AMD began working on Liquid VR after meeting with Oculus Rift HMD creator Oculus VR 14 months ago. The aim of the kit is to make VR development accessible and combat issues such as simulation sickness. ”You can plug an Oculus Rift into a computer and start 3D rendering directly to the headset, even without Oculus’ SDK,” the company noted during a presentation. The first version of the SDK includes an affinity multi gpu – one GPU per eye rendered simultaneously, avoiding any duplication. The SDK is also said to massively reduce latency and should eliminate judder. It aims to deliver a direct to display seamless plug and play VR experience for any VR headset and includes shaders that minimise stuttering.Crucially, it looks like AMD is partnering closely with Oculus VR for this tech as the SDK was shown running on the Crescent Bay prototype HMD. Anuj Gosalia, Oculus VR Director of Engineering also that it was excited for what AMD was doing with its technology.Company CVP Raja Koduri announced the kit along with the ambition to achieve photorealism in VR experiences. According to AMD the SDK is all about ‘comfort, compatibility and compelling content’. That doesn’t just concern videogames; AMD also envisions its tech being used for education, medical, training, virtual social world’s and other kinds of entertainment..
No.481
http://vrfocus.com/archives/12357/oculus-releases-oculus-live-app-gdc-pax-east/Oculus VR has becoming an increasingly larger presence at videogame and technology industry events over the past year. For some of its most recent shows, the virtual reality (VR) specialist has released dedicated apps that allow users to register a time slot to see its Oculus Rift head-mounted display (HMD) and Gear VR HMD. Today sees the company launch the next iteration of those apps. Instead of focusing on just this week’s Game Developers Conference (GDC), however, it appears that app will be used for all future events going forward.Oculus Live, as the app is called, is available now for free on both the iOS and Android operating systems (OS). Once downloaded, users will be prompted to download a specific plan for an event. Currently available is last January’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES) from Las Vegas, Nevada as well as this week’s GDC in San Francisco, California, covering 4th – 6th March. Finally, there’s also the upcoming PAX East, a videogame expo in Boston, Massachusetts, which runs from 6th – 8th March 2015.The GDC 2015 app allows users to register for Oculus VR Demos, assumedly for the company’s Crescent Bay HMD. A handy list of conference sessions that involved Oculus VR staff is also provided so that attendees can catch all updates from the company throughout the week. The PAX East guide also allows users to schedule sessions to try out both the Crescent Bay and Gear VR. Oculus VR will be located at booth #5068 throughout the event.In terms of Gear VR, Oculus VR has this week launched its commerce store for the device in the US. This preview version of the store features a handful of premium videogames for users to purchase, including the likes of Climax Studios’ Bandit Six and E McNeill’s Darknet. No.482
http://vrfocus.com/archives/12398/valve-announce-free-vr-input-system-lighthouse/Respected videogame developer, publisher and distribution service operator Valve has today announced a further part of their virtual reality (VR) system. In addition to the Steam VR platform and the partnership with HTC, Valve have today announced a new input system codenamed ‘Lighthouse’.Lighthouse is a new room scale tracking system and a VR input system. This refers to the ‘base stations’ discussed following HTC’s reveal of the Vive head-mounted display (HMD) this week. The official press release from the company states:“In order to have a high quality VR experience, you need high resolution, high speed tracking,” said Valve’s Alan Yates. “Lighthouse gives us the ability to do this for an arbitrary number of targets at a low enough BOM cost that it can be incorporated into TVs, monitors, headsets, input devices, or mobile devices.”Further important information comes in the form of the price: Valve intends to make Lighthouse freely available to any hardware manufacturers interested in the technology.“Now that we have Lighthouse, we have an important piece of the puzzle for tackling VR input devices,” said Valve’s Joe Ludwig. “The work on the Steam Controller gave us the base to build upon, so now we have touch and motion as integrated parts of the PC gaming experience.”There has been no talk of a consumer version of Lighthouse, however it would be easy to assume that it would arrive as part of the consumer release of Vive later this year. No.483
http://uploadvr.com/youve-heard-of-ar-and-vr-but-google-is-talking-tr-transmogrified-reality/“This is really the GDC of AR and VR,” says Google’s head game designer Noah Falstein, but Google is looking forward even further to a vision of the future they believe will be defined by what Falstein calls “Transmogrified Reality.” Falstein defines transmogrified reality as the result of a culmination of all the different technologies we are currently developing, VR, AR, HMDs and faster processors, all combined to form one vision of the future. At the center of Google’s vision is Project Tango.This vision isn’t quite a reality yet, but Falstein is incredibly confident that they are “getting close,” and based on some of the amazing things in the video such as live mapping a conference floor with hundreds of people walking around constantly, or even the incredibly impressive point cloud formed from the front of a moving roller coaster. When they showed that, there were a number of audible reactions in the crowd, it was pretty impressive. Tango also is going to have the ability to do real time meshing within Unity, as well as the ability to hyper localize, i.e. determine where in your living room you are standing. All of these pieces culminate together to create experiences that will, as Falstein says, “transmogrify our reality.”But why the new term? Well technically because this technology has the potential, when combined with existing HMD tech, to change what that technology can do. Combining all aspects of the VR and AR together, making it possible to be in a fully virtual version of the world you are in, or in a version that only augments certain aspects of that world. Falstein thinks there will be a convergence in the near future of all of these technologies and that convergence will result in technology that escapes the definition of either VR or AR, and thereby deserves its own term TR.With hints towards future integration in existing HMD technology, Google’s Project Tango is something that the VR/AR community should keep an extremely close eye on. The future is looking like it will truly be “magical.”So fancy AR? Quit making up terms Google.
No.484
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I used roadtovr since it's shorter
http://www.roadtovr.com/mindmaze-raises-8-5m-angel-funding-thought-powered-vr-headset/But A more in-depth view is here
http://uploadvr.com/mindleap-brings-medical-grade-brain-machine-interfacing-to-vr-and-ar-gaming/And I advise you to read uploadvr's one since while it's long it's really great article and interview.
MindMaze announced today that it has recently closed an $8.5 million funding round for its “thought-powered VR game system” called MindLeap, a VR/AR headset that uses both electroencephalogram technology (EEG), and integrated 3D motion capture cameras for hand-tracking as a basis for game input.MindMaze is a spin-off company from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL). The company’s headset, MindLeap, is meant to scan and then predict brain and muscle activity in the user via a web of sensing electrodes and head-mounted motion capture cameras, which according to the Switzerland-based company “unleashes the power of players’ minds to enhance gameplay and experiences in both virtual and augmented reality.”MindLeap’s objective is to deliver an intuitive human-computer interface using their ‘medical grade technology’ that is being supervised by Olaf Blanke, scientific advisor to MindMaze and neurologist who has pioneered research at the intersection of cognitive neuroscience and virtual reality at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne in Switzerland. According to Blanke, the technology behind MindLeap is “enabling a whole new era of neurorehabilitation and gamification by tapping into key neural signatures for unparalleled responsiveness.”The company says their new VR/AR headset is coming to developers in late 2015 along with the MindLeap SDK, letting developers integrate the device into games and apps and allowing them to fully leverage the device’s supposed ability to trigger events with the mere act of intention.“MindMaze puts your brain into the game. Never before have neuroscience, virtual reality, augmented reality and 3D full-body motion-capture come together in a games system. Gamers will be able to see, feel and experience virtual gameplay with absolutely no delay or need for controllers,” say Dr. Tej Tadi, founder and CEO of MindMaze.It’s unclear how well the input solutions will work together along with the rest of the yet undisclosed specs on the VR/AR headset, or if it really will offer an intuitive interface between the headset and the user. We expect to get our hands on the technology soon to put it through its paces.This people, is the future. Mindmaze's version might not work perfectly, it might not be ready enough, hell it might also fail and I'm really sure that the Rift or Vive are going to be the giants in the VR market. But make no mistake, this is the correct path for input in VR and these are very very small baby steps to something like Nervegear.
No.485
http://vrfocus.com/archives/12426/ubisoft-join-osvr/Earlier in the week VRFocus reported that videogame technology company Razer had a new announcement to make at the 2015 Game Developers Conference (GDC) in San Francisco, California, USA. At the time it was suggested that the announcement could involve the Open-Source Virtual Reality (OSVR) ecosystem that the company announced in January 2015. Sure enough, OSVR has made an exciting reveal today, announcing a new list of supports to its set up. Among the list is popular publisher Ubisoft.This is the first time that Ubisoft’s name has been directly tied to work in VR. At GDC 2014 the company famously stated that VR would need to sell around 1 million units before it became viable for development. It would appear that the company may have had a change of heart, as it joins a growing number of OSVR supporters. Of course, its involvement doesn’t necessarily confirm that the company is working on VR videogames just yet. Also included on the list is Vuzix, CastAR, Homido, God Head and See Bright. An image of the announcement can be seen below.The OSVR concept brings together a range of VR hardware and software companies in order to make developing VR videogames more accessible than ever. Other supporters include the likes of Borderlands developer Gearbox Software and Leap Motion with its wireless hand-tracking controller. One of the most intriguing factors of the ecosystem is the OSVR Hacker Dev Kit, a printable VR head-mounted display (HMD) that Razer itself plans to start selling in June 2015 for $199 USD. The kit is on display at GDC 2015 this week with Radial-G. No.486
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http://www.roadtovr.com/osvrs-hdk-vr-headset-gets-upgraded-adds-1080p-oled-video-mirroring-and-add-on-positional-tracking/OSVR has today announced that it’s launching the updated HDK v1.1 with components that bring the unit more closely in line with industry leading devices heading either heading or on their way to market. In particular, the new headset boasts a new 1080p OLED panel, providing high-contrast, low-latency imagery within minimal motion blur.Other technical enhancements include the ability to mirror the HDK’s display to another monitor – something that’s currently tricky to achieve at times with the Oculus Rift DK2. Smartphone video connectivity is provided by standard Slimport – enabling HD video to be streamed to the headset directly. You can now also convert standard video to Side by Side format, for viewing through the HDK, on the fly and stream low-latency video signals too.Finally, there will be downloadable schematics made available at the OSVR website, which when printed and furnished with the correct electronics, will provide mountable IR LEDs which can in turn be used forErgonomically the HDK has also evolved, now offering a more elegant facemask design with better support.The HDK goes on sale in June for $199.99. We’ll of course keep you up to date on any further developments. Head over to the OSVR website to lean more. In the mean time, here are those HDK 1.1 updates in full.Improvements: x 1080p OLED display with higher contrast and faster pixel‐switching for lower latency x Improved optical mechanics for easier adjustment to individual preferences x Ergonomic facemask design for optimal comfort x Support for standard 1080p video: Ability to use the HDK with a low‐latency wireless video link Ability to mirror the HDK video feed to external monitor Ability to connect smartphones to the HDK* via a SlimPort or MHL standard adapter Ability to convert standard video to side‐by‐side format in real‐timeNew Faceplate Modules:The following modules have been designed for technology evaluation and can be downloaded from the OSVR Website to be 3D‐Printed or modified for development needs. IR‐LED Faceplate Module – In conjunction with an infrared camera this module will enable positional tracking using pattern detection. Dual‐Camera Faceplate Module – With an integrated dual‐camera system, this module will enable positional tracking and augmented reality applications. To find out more and download the designs, go to www.osvr.com/hardware/ No.487
No.488
http://uploadvr.com/faceshift-announces-wireless-facial-tracking-helmet-and-studio-pro/Faceshift, an impressive markerless facial motion tracking and real-time character animation system has announced the release of a wireless facial tracking helmet, designed by Mocap Design, that can be used alongside third party full-body motion capture systems like Perception Neuron. This enables the accurate capture of facial expressions during full body motion capture, which will allow content creators to capture life-like body and facial animations simultaneously, all while giving the actor the ability to move freely through space. This is being launched alongside their new Faceshift StudioPro software which boasts a badass set of features including wireless control, remote triggering, TimeCode support, batch processing, and realtime face tracking and targeting.The helmet is incredibly lightweight and features carbon arms that allow the user to fit the headset comfortably to their head. The small attached sensor shoots 60 frames per second of both depth and video. The markerless motion capture is made possible by tracking the depth of the face while simultaneously tracking every pixel individually and doing an optical flow over time. According to Doug Griffin of Faceshift, this system works “as well or better” than their desktop version and will be used by professional motion capture studios.In other news, Faceshift is showcasing their non-pro studio version with features accurate facial tracking, streamlined UX, synchronized audio, flexible retargeting, and Intel RealSense support.You can learn more about Faceshift on their beautiful new website, faceshift.com, and following them on twitter @faceshift. No.489
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http://www.roadtovr.com/developers-start-your-engines-gear-vr-goes-retail-next-samsung-product-cycle-breaking/John Carmack, CTO at Oculus is still speaking at GDC 2015, his topic “The Dawn of Mobile Virtual Reality” has included lots of information on his primary project at the virtual reality firm, the Gear VR. He’s also now hinted that, come Samsung’s next product cycle, Gear VR will be headed to retail.John Carmack joined Oculus back in August 2013, under slightly complicated political circumstances, and remained fairly quiet for some time. It was known the ex id co-founder and wizard programmer was working on something to do with mobile VR, but things were kept under wraps for months.After many rumours, it emerged that Carmack’s primary project was actually a collaboration with Samsung’s mobile division. Eventually the Gear VR, a headset powered by the firm’s new Galaxy Note 4 mobile phone, was launched and it was clear that Carmack’s team at Oculus and Samsung had pulled off something amazing. But the initial release, the version currently on sale as the ‘Innovator Edition’ is essentially a very polished developer kit, designed to test the waters and to allow the company and developers to get to grips with the hardware.In his GDC talk, Carmack has now stated that the next product cycle beyond the current Gear VR (i.e. beyond the newly announced S6 and S6 Edge compatible version) will be a retail product. No.493
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http://www.roadtovr.com/oculus-releases-audio-sdk-preview-available-now/As we reported back in January, Oculus are working hard on making sure what you hear in virtual reality is great. Their VR Audio initiative was one of the focusses of Oculus’ CES 2015 presence, where they demo’d updated applications for both Gear VR and their Crescent Bay prototype using spacialised audio, powered by licensed Realspace Audio tech.Oculus have now announced that the Audio Software Developer Kit they’ve developed to ensure compelling 3D spacial audio can be implemented into VR games and applications with the minimum of fuss and pain.A preview version of the Audio SDK is available for download right now at Oculus’ website (https://developer.oculus.com/downloads/#sdk=audio). Oculus says that:
>Great spatialized audio is a powerful amplifier for presence — By providing 3D audio plugins for Unity3D, AudioKinetic Wwise, Firelight FMOD, and VST compatible digital audio workstations, the Oculus Audio SDK provides content creators the tools to immerse players sonically in a virtual world, surrounded by realistically spatialized sounds.Oculus are also stating they’d love to hear developer feedback on the Audio SDK preview. If you’ve tried it and have something to say, head over to their dedicated forum right here (https://forums.oculus.com/viewforum.php?f=76#).Meanwhile, Oculus are demonstrating an impressive Unreal Engine 4 powered demo created by ‘Hobbit’ SFX house Weta Digital on their Crescent Bay feature prototype on the GDC 2015 show floor. You can read about Ben’s experiences with the demo right here (http://www.roadtovr.com/weta-epic-lord-of-the-rings-oculus-rift-crescent-bay-virtual-reality-gdc-2015/). No.500
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http://www.roadtovr.com/video-of-valves-aperture-science-portal-vr-demo-leaked/Steam VR is taking GDC 2015 by storm with the HTC Vive VR Headset being demonstrated along with the dedicated, laser tracked controllers. One of the demo’s is a new, special version of Portal built for virtual reality. Here’s a video of it in action.
This video (presumably secretly filmed) shows a live demonstration the HTC Vive headset plus Steam VR controllers as the player makes his way through a short segment of the Aperture Science VR demo, opening doors and interacting with crazy looking gizmos. Just from a visual standpoint it looks impressive, and although it isn’t clear – we’re presuming this is built on the Source 2 game engine, if so it looks great.
Anyway, sit back and enjoy (for a few seconds). The team at GDC 2015 have tried the demo and will report back very soon on what they think of it. I can let you into a little secret though – it didn’t suck!
No.501
http://uploadvr.com/oculus-releases-crescent-bays-into-the-wild-for-the-first-time-at-gdc/While the Vive seems to have won the hype battle at GDC this year, Oculus has not been without their own tid bits. During John Carmack’s talk yesterday he said “barring something disastrous,” such as Samsung deciding they were done with VR, we would finally get to see the full consumer version of the GearVR with Samsung’s next product cycle, but Oculus’ flagship – their desktop HMD series, was not without its own news updates. For the first time ever, Oculus is showing the Crescent Bay off outside of its own controlled booth environment, and thats potentially significant.Up until this point, we have only seen the Crescent Bay – the latest publicly displayed prototype – a few times, and each of those times it has been in a tightly controlled environment. At Oculus Connect, where the device was debuted, the demoers delicately placed the devices on the heads of the demoees, as they were all handmade. According to Brendan Iribe – Oculus’ CEO, one of those handmade prototypes actually broke in the hotel room before the Connect conference, to illustrate their delicacy.Then the devices made a smaller appearance, and perhaps their closest visit ‘out in the wild,’ when they appeared at SVVR’s Christmas Party. At that event, Oculus set up a makeshift demo room where a long line of eager VR enthusiasts slowly made their way through the demo (Oculus only brought one device).Then at CES Oculus again showed it’s prototype, this time showcasing the new 3D audio capabilities that were enabled through a partnership with Visisonics to bring their RealSpace 3D audio technology to the Rift (Oculus released a preview of that SDK yesterday actually). The newly lengthened demo reel showcased that 3D audio in action with a number of fun demos (the robots fighting with wands was among my favorites). The booths were all soundproofed and darkly lit, as they encapsulated demoees in small private rooms (similar to how they had run the demos before, but with more production value). The demos were also carefully orchestrated, as the devices were still very delicate, with the demoers handling them. Sundance followed a few weeks later with the utterly surprising announcement of Oculus Story Studio. This may have been the most private large scale demos they had run yet, with only about 150 people, at the very most in attendance (including Adrian Grenier of Entourage fame), but even in this more controlled setting, the demoers handled the devices. No.502
>>501But at GDC Oculus has shifted its approach, not only bringing the Crescent Bay out of the room and on to the floor, they let it escape the boundaries of their booth as well. Walking the show floor at GDC it was hard not to spot the silver checked, sleeker looking chassis of the Crescent Bay. Crytek placed a pair of them by the walkway in their booth completely out in the open, showing off an extremely impressive demo called “Back to Dinosaur Island.” Unity showed off the device out in the open as well right across the way, showing off some really cool Unity 5 stuff. Unreal and NVIDIA had Crescent Bays as well, although they each went with the more traditional quiet room approach (which at a conference as busy as GDC isn’t necessarily the wrong move), presumably to ensure the fidelity of the audio during the stunning Thief in the Shadows experience that was done with The Hobbit‘s special effects team, Weta.Beyond seeing the device outside of Oculus’ own booth, it was also interesting to see it outside of Oculus’ own people. At only one of the demos (Crytek) did I spot an official, eyeball shirt wearing Oculus demoer. Furthermore, at each booth the demoer offered to let me put on the device myself including doing all the adjustments. All of these signs point to an increased level of confidence on Oculus’ part in the device, including its sturdiness. Allowing the tracking to be used on the show floor also was pretty big as it showed confidence in it’s ability to perform in a busy environment. And perform well it did, but not flawlessly as I did have a moment of two of slight error in the tracking during my Crytek demo as there was a large number of people mulling around at the time.This should be taken as an encouraging sign of confidence in the device. While GDC did not come with a CV1 release date, it seems to have come with a vote of confidence in the fidelity of the current prototype, which is encouraging as we move forward. Oculus probably won’t release a date for a consumer device until they have a more sturdy grasp of what the input solution is going to be for them, and based on reports from people who have tried Vive, they shouldn’t. As Alex Schwartz of Owlchemy labs, one of the initial partners of the HTC/Valve project, put it to me “once you’ve experienced that input, it’s impossible to go back.” It will be interesting to see if we start spotting the Crescent Bay in the wild more, but this dalliance into the wild is a signal of what is to come. No.506
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http://www.roadtovr.com/haptech-is-bringing-realistic-weapon-recoil-to-a-vr-controller-for-60/HapTech, formerly Striker VR, are specialising in haptic and recoil simulation for use in gaming peripherals. Ben Lang got to try out the company’s new prototype and chat with Founder and President Kyle Monti.We first covered HapTech, formerly known as Striker VR, back in June of last year. The company’s industrial arm, Dekka Technologies, specialise in training weaponry for the military, hardware designed to give new recruits a feel for the real power of recoil felt when firing weapons in reality. The firm saw the rise of virtual reality as an opportunity to enter the consumer market and started designing peripherals that could more cost effectively and more practically be shipped to consumers for that space.The last time Ben caught up with the company was at Oculus Connect last year, where they demonstrated a prototype gun, replicating Halo‘s famous M6 Magnum pistol. The device has an impressive kick and featured a neat reload mechanic, activated by slapping your hand up against the underside of the weapon’s clip.At GDC 2015, they’re back – now branded as HapTech, with a new consumer product lead focus and a brand new early prototype to show. “..we’re in the process of re-branding ourselves. We’re getting a little bit away from the military side, we want to do more gaming things like magic wands, tennis rackets, baseball bats like we’ve been saying we’re gonna do.” The company is apparently working on demonstration products that incorporate their haptic recoil system into a broader range of gaming peripherals, but at GDC they’re sticking with what they know best – guns.HapTech’s demo setup at GDC comprised a DK2 headset and a new, 3D printed ‘futuristic’ assault rifle style weapon. This is another concious effort by the team to segregate their military from their consumer products. “‘HapTech, is one of the way we’re going to distance ourselves from the military a little bit and start ‘gamifying’ ..” Both the DK2 and the weapon use Sixense STEM units to provide positional tracking and orientation of the weapon in virtual space as the player moves around.The tech demo on show is part of a collaboration with development house Otherworld, who took care of producing the first person shooter demonstration and assisted in integrating the STEM tracking with the new weapon prototype. “..we gave them the [3D] model for the gun that we 3D printed … and they skinned it and made it look really cool in the game”.Despite the new focus on bringing the device to the consumer market, when Ben remarked that the new prototype felt even better, Monti confirms “That was something we really tried to focus on so that people felt satisfied in the game …” What’s more, the new prototype is customisable to your tastes in terms of recoil feedback. “..you can change the weight on the slider, you can change how long it’s linear path is to give it a bigger kick so it can accelerate faster and you can actually even bump up the motors.”That’s not the limit to HapTech’s vision for a peripheral that is adaptable. Monti speaks of a multi-use device with multiple grab-points that alter the model the game uses for the weapon. So, if you’re in game and switch between a pistol and a shotgun by altering your stance and grip, it’ll actually feel like it when you fire “..in the game it’ll transform the model and also on the fly re-program the motors.”All of this sounds extremely promising, but Monti saves a surprise for Ben towards the end of the conversation and that’s around the question of cost. “A complete system, with all the electronics and the battery, tracking and everything we hope to make a consumer offering around $60.” An impressive and exciting prospect indeed.If HapTech can bring this level of recoil realism to a complete consumer product, complete with tracking at the price level they’re talking of, it’s hard to imagine how they’d not have a hit on their hands. We’ll keep track of HapTech for more developments as they arise. No.508
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http://www.roadtovr.com/osvrs-yuval-boger-talks-hdk-and-sdk-updates/OSVR has announced at GDC 2015 that it plans to update it’s Hacker Developer Kit (HDK) open source headset to 1.1 bringing with it a collection of enhancements. OSVR’s Yuval Boger walks Ben Lang through the hardware and software advancements since we last met the team at CES 2015.OSVR’s life has been short thus far but it’s growing and evolving quickly. This week, the Open Source Virtual Reality initiative, spearheaded by peripheral company Razer and VR Headset stalwart Sensics, announced some serious progress. Not only have they increased their list of official supporters, adding such companies as games giant Ubisoft and AR start up Technical Illusions (of CastAR fame), they’re also upgrading their flagship HDK product, adding an OLED panel and experimental positional tracking add-ons.Boger is bullish about the OSVR initiative’s progress in such a short time; “Since our launch at CES about 2 months ago we now have about 50 partners, we support I think close to 20 different head mounted displays. Which means that, if you build a Unity project, you can drag in a configuration file for a head mounted display and you’re done!” Illustrating this, as you can see in the video above, is Tammeka Games‘ Radial-G – a project originally built for the Oculus Rift – can be seen running flat out. “..the same Radial-G that you see running in the background, runs on the Vuzix booth right over there with a couple of hours effort to get it done.”That’s the kind of portable capabilities that will appeal to developers, who seem to generally focus on one headset when building new projects.OSVR are also showing a raft of new stuff; “…we’re showing new content partners, games … positional audio, additional input devices. So the list of partners is growing and will continue to grow over the next few months.” says Boger.OSVR is an open source project that aims to add portability for developers by defining standardised ‘interfaces’. “We work with our partners to define the types of interfaces – so for instance an eye-tracking interface, a hand and finger tracking interface – and then people write to that interface and as soon as they do, if an application supports one product it supports all the others.”What about more complex input devices though? Leap Motion is good example of complex input device which doesn’t fit one traditional type of interface. Boger tells Ben “..just like a combination printer / scanner … the Leap implements several interfaces.”And of course the HDK headset, the OSVR reference design if you will, has also received some upgrade love. Along with the announced OLED panel capabilities, the unit gets a removable faceplate (for swapping out panels) and updated IPD and focus knobs which allow the user to adjust focus on a per-eye basis which according to Boger means that “… people with glasses or imperfect vision really like it because they can get a wonderful image.”So, you’re a developer and OSVR has piqued your interest, what should you do? “They should go to osvr.com and sign up.” No.520
http://vrtech.today/facebook-goes-on-a-1200-person-hiring-spree-in-ambitious-drive-to-launch-vr-products/Facebook goes on a 1,200-person hiring spree in ‘ambitious’ drive to launch VR products. Facebook is searching for new employees for their new investment in VR according to Daily Mail. According to job ads on the company’s website Facebook seeks to employ as many as 1,200 people, which would have its total workforce to swell by as much as 14 percent. The hiring spree is likely to bring with it large salaries – it was recently revealed that even entry-level engineers at the company earn $106,000.The manufacturer of virtual-reality headsets, Oculus Rift, which Facebook acquired for two billion last year, has been identified as one of the main areas for this growth. The company has 54 job advertisements posted on the company website. The roles that Facebook are looking for to their VR investments include logistics managers that will work with the global supply chain. This can be interpreted as a sign that the Oculus Rift headset is approaching its commercial launch.The market for virtual reality headsets is still small. But if VR takes off for games, entertainment and communications, Facebook could be at the leading player with the Oculus platform. Apart from VR, Facebook also aims to construct its own satelites and drones capable of delivering internet to developing countries.‘We are an ambitious company run by an ambitious CEO,’ Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg said. ‘Our users are growing and our business is growing and we want to support that,’ she said. No.528
http://vrfocus.com/archives/12657/google-developing-vr-version-android-reports-suggest/Search engine giant Google has already made a name for itself in virtual reality (VR) technology. Last year the company revealed its smartphone-based Cardboard head-mounted display (HMD), a low cost VR solution that has gone on to be used over 500,000 times in one form or another and be incorporated into other products such as the new View-Master. It appears that the company isn’t stopping there, however, and is preparing a new VR compatible version of its popular mobile operating system (OS), Android.A report from Wall Street Journal cites unnamed sources in saying that Google has employed a number of engineers to work on this new version of the device that will apparently be released for free for those already using Android. Google itself is yet to comment on the report, but this could mean that VR users could navigate staples of the Android OS such as the Google Play Store all without the need of removing a given HMD. Combined with a VR compatible menu it could be possible to interact with the OS and compatible videogames and experiences all through an HMD.If true, this could be a sign that Google is ready to take VR as seriously as many of its rivals already are. No possible reveal or release timeframe for the new version of the OS has been mentioned so far. Samsung and Oculus VR has already created VR compatible Android storefronts and more for use with the Gear VR smartphone-based HMD, though this is strictly limited to use with the former’s own handsets. Some VR user interface systems rely on the HMD’s head-tracking solutions, allowing users to look at options they want to select in order to navigate to them. No.530
http://vrfocus.com/archives/12694/medical-realities-virtual-surgeon-first-vr-surgery-recording/Virtual reality (VR) is set to make a big impact on the medical industry in the near future. The technology has a wide range of potential applications, helping with treatment of patients and more. Today sees the announcement of a new company, Medical Realities, which looks to capitalise on using both VR head-mounted displays (HMD) such as the Oculus Rift and augmented reality (AR) for medical training. The company has already announced its first product, The Virtual Surgeon.Announced at the London Wearable Technology Show today, The Virtual Surgeon is the first captured 360 degree recording of a medical operation, intended for use in the UK. It follows a laparoscopic right hemicolectomy procedure as carried about by company co-founder Dr Shafi Ahmed at St Bartholomew’s Hosptial, London. Dr Ahmed is no stranger to using new technologies to enhance medical training; last year saw him perform the first live-stream of an operation using the Google Glass AR HMD, which was watched live by some 13,000 surgical students across 115 countries.“If you look at other simulation training tools currently out there, we have reached a plateau,” Dr Ahmed said of this announcement. “Despite promises, many medical simulators fail to live up to expectation. Virtual reality offers something different. We want to offer a solution where we can deliver effective teaching and training to anyone, anywhere in the world.“Today’s trainees are young, innovative and eager to adopt new technologies in the educating workspace,” he concluded. “This means they are able to pick up the skills necessary and even help to develop techniques moving forward.”Just when and how The Virtual Surgeon will be distributed is yet to be revealed, as is Medical Realities other work in VR. No.531
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http://uploadvr.com/softkinetic-co-founder-100-sure-they-will-solve-positional-tracking-on-mobile-by-end-of-the-year/And they are looking forward to showing it off to John Carmack.Softkinetic, founded in 2007, have been in the gesture recognition business for eight years and in that time they have established themselves as a leader in that field. The company develops solutions on three fronts from hardware, to middleware, to user experiences. If you haven’t heard of them before, don’t worry, they work more behind the scenes with their technology being integrated in the Playstation Move camera as well as within Intel’s RealSense technology. But now the company has shifted its focus into the VR and AR realm and they have some big plans in the future, including providing what they believe will be the solution for positional tracking in mobile VR.In an interview conducted last week at GDC, Eric Krzselo – Softkinetic’s Co-Founder, told me that he was “100 percent,” confident that the company would have a solution for positional tracking in mobile VR. Krzeslo further added that, “by the end of this year, we’ll have something that we’ll be able to present to John Carmack,” who had just reiterated earlier that day during his keynote he had yet to see any working inside-out (where the tracking is done from inside the HMD/Phone as opposed to with a sensor outside the device like with the DK2 or Kinect) positional tracking, but believed it was possible. Noting the 80-20 rule, Krzselo said the company had most of the work done but the last bit was going to be the hardest. While Krzselo recognizes they have some ways to go still, he is extremely confident they will get to “the right level of quality,” by the end of the year. He was also careful to note that sometimes “you never know when you do R&D,” but followed it up by reiterating his confidence, “we think we are going to get there.”A lack of positional tracking – or the ability to look through a space, not just look around it, is one of the major problems that is preventing mobile VR from taking off like a rocket. For those who have tried the Oculus Rift DK2 (or the Vive, Crescent Bay, or Morpheus) and any form of mobile VR (Gear VR, Cardboard, etc.) the difference in experience is massive.This is why figuring out a solution for mobile VR positional tracking is so important. There have been a number of solutions tried, many of them making use of what is called Simultaneous Localization and Mapping, or SLAM. This method uses technology borrowed from robotics to construct and update a map of an environment while simultaneously tracking where the user is within that map. One of the problems that many solutions have run into thus far is they produce an unacceptable amount of jitter – which you can see in this video from Univrses (a solution that uses what is called Monocular SLAM, using one lens). No.532
>>531Softkinetic’s solution, while the details are still internal, uses 3D sensors as opposed to a 2D camera, and according to Krzselo, uses them “in a different way than to use the traditional way people are using 2D sensors, other than SLAM.” This solution, says Krzselo, has eliminated the jitter problem. Using a 3D camera provides a set of challenges, especially when it comes to getting precise detail, but it is a problem that Softkinetic as been working on, especially through the 3D printer scanning that it has been doing with Intel’s RealSense system. Through that work, “[they] have discovered some interesting avenues to very, very accurately, in a very, very stable way get the position of the camera.”The new prototype cameras that Softkinetic is working on (one of which is above) are vastly smaller than the previous editions, and come with an extremely large horizontal field of view, which is vital for things like hand tracking in VR, which Softkinetic is also looking to bring. According to Krzselo the company has internal prototypes with “over 200-degrees horizontal FOV.” To compare, the Microsoft Kinect 2 has a horizontal FOV of 58-degrees, and the Leap Motion (currently the leading hand tracking solution for VR) has a horizontal FOV of 150-degrees. Additionally, the new camera will use an incredibly small amount of power, “0 watts practically,” meaning that it won’t tax mobile batteries, leaving more juice for games and experiences. While these are far from the only specs that will need to be measured, it is clear that this upcoming camera will be a marked improvement over what is currently on the market.Softkinetic is looking to make a strong push into the VR world this year, as Krzselo believes that it truly is the future, “virtual reality is incredibly exciting for the gaming community, as it provides a truly magical engagement with the world around us.” That initiative begins with a partnership with Razer’s OSVR program, which aims to make VR hardware and software Open Source in an effort to make it seemless to integrate various different peripherals into a game or system (think of it as the Android of VR). Developers can begin playing with the software integration using the company’s current generation DepthSense camera the Creative Senz3D (which Krzeslo notes is two years old) which can be integrated using the ReachVR toolkit available on www.reachvr.com. Additionally Softkinetic has adapted its Close Interation Library (CILib) for use with VR and AR environments, which allows for robust tracking solutions that go beyond typical skeletal tracking.Hand and positional tracking are two of the biggest problems in VR because they are two of the things most needed to create a fully immersive experience. We saw a glimpse of the future with the Vive and the advanced lighthouse tracking system, but even that limits your tracking to inside a box. If Softkinetic can make true on its promise to deliver something that Carmack would be proud of, then VR is going to get a lot more expansive. No.536
http://vrfocus.com/archives/12729/oculus-taking-questions-friday-sxsw-panel-livestream-coming/Virtual reality (VR) specialist Oculus VR is known for trying to keep an open channel with its fans, with key staff regularly replying to threads on Reddit and engaging with the community via Twitter. However it’s rare that the company will leave itself open to user questions from its fans at a live event. That said, the company will be doing just that on 13th March 2015 at the South By Southwest (SXSW) panel in Austin, Texas. Oculus VR is now taking questions for its ‘Explore the Future of VR’ panel.The panel gets underway at 17:30 CT and features Oculus Rift head-mounted display (HMD) creator Palmer Luckey along with VP of Product Nate Mitchell and Hardware Engineer Ryan Brown. Paul Bettner of Lucky’s Tale developer Playful Corp will also be joining the show. Oculus VR itself is publishing Lucky’s Tale on PC. Ahead of the event Oculus VR has opened a new Reddit thread (http://www.reddit.com/r/oculus/comments/2yp6lr/questions_wanted_for_the_explore_the_future_of_vr/) where it is fielding questions to be read out. Fans can also submit their queries via Twitter, using #OculusQA. A livestream of the event will also be held via SXSW’s gaming Twitch channel (http://www.twitch.tv/sxswgaming).Oculus VR’s presence at SXSW is becoming something of a tradition, with a similar panel taking place last year. The event should prove to be a big weekend for VR in general, with a huge amount of talks, panels and workshops dedicated to the technology set to take place from 13th – 17th March. Fans can expect sessions ranging from cinematic VR, looking at trailblazers working with the technology and even a talk on ‘Casual VR’, with Oculus VR’s Head of Worldwide Studios, Jason Rubin, also set to make an appearance. Outside of Oculus VR and Playful Corp. speakers include companies such as Jaunt and more. No.540
http://www.roadtovr.com/oculus-confirms-dual-screens-in-crescent-bay-consumer-rift-will-not-be-an-exclusive-platform/In a Q&A session at Austin’s SXSW event, an Oculus panel including VP of Product Nate Mitchell and Oculus founder Palmer Luckey confirmed that their latest feature prototype, ‘Crescent Bay’ does indeed comprise two display panels.SXSW is underway and virtual reality’s presence is more potent than every before at the music, film and interactive entertainment festival underway in Austin, Texas over the next few days.To kick off what looks to be a VR fuelled week, Oculus organised a panel comprising Nate Mitchell, Palmer Luckey, Ryan Brown (Hardware Engineer, Oculus) and Paul Bettner of Playful Corp. (Lucky’s Tale), discussed the “Future of Virtual Reality” and fielded questions from the audience and the community at large.One interesting tidbit in particular, was Mitchell and Luckey’s admission that their most recent public feature prototype, the Crescent Bay headset, does indeed use two display panels. This is a divergence from Oculus’ previous designs which consisted of a single panel – the DK1’s 1280×800, DK2’s 1920×1080 for example. No details on panel specifications of course, but it does mean that the prototype that is thought to bear close resemblance to the eventual consumer version of the Oculus Rift may well opt for this route.Also, to the question of restrictions on content developed for Oculus’ platform, i.e. will the Rift be an exclusive VR headset, Luckey was absolutely adamant this would not be the case.As for competitors entering the fray at GDC 2015? On Valve and HTC’s announcement, not to mention Sony’s new Morpheus prototype, Mitchell was bullish. “[a] rising tide lifts all boats” he said, stating that more competitors and the excitement they generate means more developers enter the market. Nate stated that “As long as VR takes off, we’re in a great position and we’re super excited about that … congrats to the HTC and Valve team and the Morpheus team on their announcements because they were awesome!”However, when asked by a member of the audience whether in light of Gabe Newell’s assertions that their ‘Vive’ headset caused zero nausea, Luckey was more realistic “I do not think that anyone can truly say that nobody will get sick in a VR headset. It doesn’t matter how good you make the hardware. You could flawlessly simulate reality … there’s still things that will make people sick.”Elsewhere, while the panel was generally light on headline news, it was an interesting session which gave some insight into Oculus’ focus and direction, alas though – no sign of a release date just yet. No.541
http://vrfocus.com/archives/12815/oculus-announce-recommended-specification-vr-soon/The Oculus Rift is considered a pioneering device for virtual reality (VR) despite there still not being a consumer version of the head-mounted display (HMD) available. Along with price and launch date for that consumer release, one of the most anticipated announcements relates to the PC hardware that will be needed to eventually run the first consumer version of the Oculus Rift (aka CV1). This information will be coming ‘soon’, according to Oculus VR.Oculus VR are often accredited with the modern revival of VR. Having kickstarted the bandwagon with a crowdfunding campaign, been first to offer both studios and indies a development kit and then constantly updating their SDK to support these teams, Oculus VR are at the forefront of the VR development community. However, despite this support there are a number of details that the development community are demanding. The drip-feed of information will begin soon however, according to Oculus VR VP of Product, Nate Mitchell.Speaking at South by Southwest (SXSW) today, as part of Oculus VR’s ‘Explore the Future of Virtual Reality’ panel, Mitchell fielded questions taken from the audience as well as via the internet to a panel which consisted of Oculus VR’s founder Palmer Luckey and hardware engineer Ryan Brown, as well as Playful Corp.’s Paul Bettner. In this time the panel were asked questions that discussed topics such as the quality of the final version of the Oculus Rift, the release date and the competition.The panel were reluctant to answer questions that hadn’t been tackled before however Mitchell himself did state that the ‘recommended specification’ for PC hardware to run the consumer version of the Oculus Rift would be revealed ‘soon’. Oculus VR are known for regularly offering new details of their work via their official blog, but also with the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) just down the line we could potentially here more about the CV1 in the coming months. No.548
http://vrfocus.com/archives/12818/luckey-backtracks-oculus-rift-2015-comments/The release date for the Oculus Rift virtual reality (VR) head-mounted display (HMD) is one of the most sought after announcements in the entire videogame industry at this point. With the company’s hugely successful Kickstarter crowd-funding campaign taking place in 2012, many had hoped the kit would at least have a solid release date at this point in time. Creator Palmer Luckey once said that something would have to go ‘horribly wrong’ to not have the device out by the end of 2015, but has recently gone back on that statement.Luckey was presented with his previous statement by a fan at Oculus VR’s ‘Explore the Future of Virtual Reality’ panel at the 2015 South by Southwest Festival (SXSW) today. “I’d say that, I did say that before we made a lot of changes to our roadmap and, we’ve expanded a lot of ambition that we had around the product and what we wanted to do,” he replied when asked to comment on the quote. “Us partnering with Facebook allowed us to do a lot of things that we just wouldn’t have been able to do otherwise like hire 300 people to be working on getting the Rift out as quickly as possible to the quality level that we wanted to get it out to.“So I can’t comment on the date one way or another in either direction, but I can say that nothing is going horribly wrong; everything is going horribly right.”Oculus VR recently confirmed that it is preparing to go ‘full consumer’ with its other HMD, the Gear VR, which is made in partnership with Samsung and runs with the company’s latest smartphones. As for the Oculus Rift, Oculus VR is still showcasing its Crescent Bay prototype for the kit at various events. The latest iteration of the device was first shown off in September 2014 with an OLED display, integrated audio and full position tracking. No.552
http://vrfocus.com/archives/12828/valve-clarifies-steamvr-room-scale-requirements/Earlier this month at the 2015 Mobile World Developer (MBW) conference Taiwanese smartphone manufacturer HTC announced the Vive virtual reality (VR) head-mounted display (HMD). The kit was revealed in partnership with Half-Life developer Valve, using the company’s SteamVR system to deliver a ‘Room Scale’ experience that allows for user tracking in an area of up to 15 feet by 15 feet. Now the developer has clarified the requirements of Room Scale, confirming that the tech isn’t limited to one option.''
Valve’s Chet Faliszek recently confirmed as much during a SteamVR-focused session at the 2015 EGX Rezzed event in London, UK. “I’m going to be clear as I’m talking about Room Scale which was what ours is,” Faliszek told a packed audience. “We say 15 feet, which is what a lot of people have heard. That isn’t required; that’s just one version of it. You can be seated, you can be standing, you can have a small room or big room. We like having those options.”It’s hardly surprising to hear that Vive and other SteamVR systems will feature these options. Although the response to the system’s user-tracking has been very positive it would certainly restrict the amount of experiences made possible on Vive were it limited to just that. SteamVR tracks user’s position with the help of two ‘base stations’ that are placed in a room. Players also utilise two position-tracked controllers with the system.Back at the 2015 Game Developers Conference (GDC) Valve confirmed that the HTC Vive isn’t the only HMD using SteamVR. Other devices aren’t ready to be announced just yet, but will be revealed in the future. The Vive will see a developer kit this spring with a consumer version launching holiday 2015. No.553
http://vrfocus.com/archives/12832/oculus-positional-tracking-gear-vr-hard-problem/In some ways Samsung and Oculus VR’s Gear VR smartphone-based virtual reality (VR) head-mounted display (HMD) bests the Oculus Rift HMD’s second developer kit (DK2). Namely, the Super AMOLED display found on the Galaxy Note 4 and Galaxy S6 phones with which the kit runs beat out the DK2′s 1080p OLED screen. But Gear VR does lack one crucial feature found in DK2; positional tracking. It’s something that Oculus VR is working to fix in a future iteration of the device, though it has recently described the issue as a ‘hard problem’.Oculus VR Hardware Engineer Ryan Brown said as much at this week’s ‘Explore the Future of Virtual Reality’ panel at the 2015 South by Southwest Festival (SXSW). Brown called back to Oculus VR CTO John Carmack’s talk at the Game Developers Conference (GDC) earlier this month as he described the work going into bringing positional tracking to Gear VR. “One of the things Carmack also mentioned is positional tracking is something that’s hard with Gear VR and you have to make that with the core, fundamental need to be portable and accessible,” he said.“That’s the whole of point of that product, to get more people exposed to how awesome VR is,” Brown continued. “So it’s a problem we’re working on, it’s a hard problem to do without compromising portability and accessibility but we don’t have anything to announce at this time.”There have already been some third-party solutions to bringing positional tracking to Gear VR. Most notable is Sixsense, which is working to bring its STEM System motion controller to the HMD, enabling positional tracking on the device in the process. Oculus VR has stated on numerous occasions that it is working on a more official fix for the issue, but is yet to commit to its inclusion in the next iteration of the device. The company has however confirmed that the next Gear VR will be a ‘full consumer‘ product. No.554
http://vrfocus.com/archives/12857/crytek-confirm-work-aaa-vr-videogame/One of the highlights of this month’s Game Developer Conference (GDC), San Francisco, was Crytek’s newfound commitment to virtual reality (VR). Having been hedging their bets for far too long, the company promised that the popular CryEngine 3 would offer true support for VR development ‘in a few weeks’, but not only that, the company also showcased their own technical demonstration, Back to Dinosaur Island (http://vrfocus.com/archives/12556/preview-back-dinosaur-island/). However, VRFocus was informed that this was more than a simple tech demo.Speaking about the history of Crytek, Cevat Yerli, CEO and President of Crytek, recalls what he suggests was a ‘pivotal’ moment in videogame graphics: the nVidia GeForce 3 chip. In support of that, Crytek developed a technical demonstration named X-isle – Dinosaur Island back in 2001.“We had a tech demo called Dinosaur Island which we thought was going to be the pivotal moment for game graphics to jump forward, because you had programmable shaders the first time,” states Yerli in an interview with VRFocus. “And so, we said ‘let’s bring back the dinosaur tech demo’ that we ignited – with nVidia – the graphics industry in a way, and lets now apply that to VR, and ‘let’s make that message that we are back to dinosaur island’, back where we started, because I think that’s another 10 years of journey for us.”The demonstration given at GDC – the second of Crytek’s VR demonstrations following an impressive debut at Gamescom, Cologne, in August last year – managed to wow audiences both involved with VR and new to the medium. Showcased on both an Oculus Rift Crescent Bay prototype and the second iteration of the development kit (aka DK2), Back to Dinosaur Island was arguably the most impressive third-party project shown on the Oculus VR head-mounted display (HMD).Talking about future plans for Back to Dinosaur Island, Yerli is obviously excited about its potential. Moving on to the next stage of development comes with understandable trepidation, but Yerli is confident that there is more to come.“I like the idea of as many people as possible seeing the VR experience that we have created,” states Yerli. “It remains to be seen what we can support and in what time frames right now – every VR support is taking a lot of time – but that’s one of the reasons why as CryEngine creator we are inclined to make sure it’s as simple as possible to go on multi-platform. So we’ve got tech and production work to be done, but time will tell on where we’re going to show it next.”Speaking specifically about Back to Dinosaur Island, Yerli is much more candid: “We can’t talk at this point about new IPs, but we are not showing a tech demo here… We have serious plans for VR, but the announcement has to wait a little bit.”Exactly what form Back to Dinosaur Island will take when it evolves into a full videogame product remains to be seen, but the demonstration showcased at GDC was certainly an exciting proposition. No.557
http://vrfocus.com/archives/12904/steamvr-beta-update-makes-way-htc-vive/One could be forgiven for thinking that Valve’s SteamVR system made its debut at the 2015 Game Developers Conference (GDC) earlier this month with the HTC Vive virtual reality (VR) head-mounted display (HMD). In fact, the name SteamVR has been used by the company for a while now, referring to the option to navigate the digital PC store using the Oculus Rift HMD. Today Valve has updated the SteamVR Beta, bringing with it a host of new features and tweaks, some of which pave the way for the arrival of the HTC Vive later in the year.In terms of general updates (http://steamcommunity.com/games/250820/announcements/detail/139948846158885579), SteamVR now features support for VR controllers should they be ‘enumerated by the driver’. There’s also support for discovering devices that have been plugged in after the software has launched. Furthermore, Valve has added support for ‘chaperoning’, a system that allows applications to show users safe areas to move around in when in VR. As many will know, the HTC Vive allows for user tracking in an area of up to 15 feet by 15 feet, suggesting that this system could alert players to when they approach a wall, as seen in the GDC demo.Elsewhere, Valve has added a new component named ‘VR Compositor’, which simplifies the integration of VR support into applications. This system reportedly allows users to transition to one application to another without ‘full screen context changes’. A demo named HelloVR has also been added, allowing users to check that basic VR functionality is working. It should appear as a launch option for SteamVR and supports tracked controllers and ‘tracking reference objects’. Tellingly, only SteamVR’s ‘Lighthouse base stations and controllers’ are supported at the moment.Finally, support for the Oculus VR software development kit (SDK) has been updated, bringing SteamVR up to speed with version 0.4.4. Users will need at least version 0.4.4 of the Oculus runtime to use the software.These updates might seem sudden given that the reveal of the Vive is only a few weeks old, but bear in mind that Valve plans to release SteamVR developer kits this spring and it makes sense. The consumer version of the HTC Vive will be arriving in time for holiday 2015. No.558
http://vrfocus.com/archives/12915/oculus-vr-hosting-vr-keynote-facebook-developer-conference/Arguably the biggest virtual reality (VR) story of 2014 was social networking giant Facebook’s acquisition of Oculus VR for $2 billion USD. The deal has had a huge impact on the Oculus Rift head-mounted display (HMD) creator, allowing it to bring on a large amount of staff to expand operations. That said, the relationship between Oculus VR and Facebook is rarely on public display, with the latter allowing the former to continue working just as it was pre-buyout. However Oculus VR will be playing a part at Facebook’s upcoming developer conference, F8.F8 is set to take place on 25th and 26th March 2015 at the Fort Mason Center in San Francisco, California, USA. Oculus VR will be heading up at talk on 26th March at 10:00 PDT. Chief Scientist Michael Abrash will join Facebook Chief Technology Officer (CTO) Mike Schroepfer in discussing ‘Why Virtual Reality Will Matter to You’.“Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but someday and for the rest of your life – this talk will explain why you’re going to care about virtual reality and what it means for developers,” the talk’s description reads.It’s unlikely that this talk will host any major announcements from the company, which is yet to detail the anticipated consumer version of the Oculus Rift, but Abrash’s speeches always prove insightful. Last year the Oculus VR’s own developer conference, Oculus Connect, the former Valve employee announced Oculus Research, a team dedicated to long-term investigations into how to deliver truly immersive VR. It’s also interesting to note that Abrash’s own work on SteamVR at Valve clearly helped that company to where it is today, preparing to launch the HTC Vive HMD this year.While registration for F8 is now closed, the event’s site (https://fbf8.com/) seems to suggest that fans will be able to stream at least some of the conference. Hopefully this talk will be available for all to view. No.559
http://vrfocus.com/archives/12908/otoy-vr-live-streaming-definitely-consumer-viable-today/Capturing 360 degree video content can be a complex process, consisting of shooting from multiple cameras that record footage that must then be convincingly stitched together. With that mind in, one might assume that live streaming virtual reality (VR) content through a head-mounted display (HMD) is a long way off. Los Angeles-based cloud rendering company OTOY clearly disagrees, as it recently announced (http://vrfocus.com/archives/12128/nhl-otoy-prepping-vr-live-streaming-hockey-games/) that it was working with the NHL to deliver live streamed hockey games. In fact, according to the company, VR live streaming is ‘definitely’ consumer-viable today.OTOY Founder and CEO Jules Urbach recently said as much to VRFocus in an interview that will be published in full later this week. “Live-streamed VR is definitely consumer-viable today,” Urbach noted. “We’ve brought on a world-class team to get this to work now. Our team includes Immersive Media and New Deal Studios and we’ve improved the process not just for live 360 HD VR streams, but we’ve enabled this for 6K. To that end, we filmed the game between the [LA] Kings and [San Jose] Sharks at 6K and we’re testing how that can be streamed live, initially to the Gear VR.”Last month saw OTOY preview its technology at the aforementioned LA Kings and San Jose Sharks game at the Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California. Viewers could watch practice sessions as well as the match itself, with a primary camera being placed above the glass are the arena, displaying a full view of the game. It was also possible to look towards goal posts to be transported just above the position and watch up close as teams scored. It was even possible to get a view from the top of the stadium.OTOY has plans to use experimental light field cameras in the future for higher quality broadcasts. No.567
http://vrfocus.com/archives/12840/oculus-creator-distinction-3d-stereoscopic-vr-video-needed/Oculus VR has become tightly connected with virtual reality (VR) filmmaking in 2015 as the company announced its Oculus Story Studio division. However the VR specialist isn’t using this movie-focused team to develop real-time 3D content, instead leaving that challenge up to other outlets such as Jaunt. That said, Oculus VR does note that, going forward, there needs to be a ‘distinction’ between real 3D video and stereoscopic content.Oculus Rift creator Palmer Luckey stated as much at the South by Southwest (SXSW) festival this weekend. “There’s a lot of incredible teams working on 360 capture technology,” he said. “There’s also less incredible teams working on 360 capture technology. My last tweet was actually about this, how there’s really a distinction between three dimensional video and stereoscopic video, or at least there should be. There isn’t right now; people equate them as the same thing. I think there is a big difference in relying on a hack like just taking two camera views and piping it back to your eyes and actually doing it correctly; understanding and mapping the environment and projecting video onto it.“That’s how you’re going to make real virtual reality video. That’s how you’re going to make VR video that has position tracking, the ability to rotate your head without breaking your eyes. It’s going to be a long road to get there. And we’ve done some R&D with it, there’s a lot of other companies that are doing good R&D on it, but I do think that, hopefully, we’ll be able to watch the Mars landing as a three dimensional video and not a 360 degree or just stereoscopic video.”There are a number of companies working in 360 degree content for HMDs right now, though few of them are working in 3D. Oculus Story Studio itself is more focused on storytelling, using short films such as Lost to explore the best methods. More work from the division is expected to be revealed as the year goes on. No.578
http://vrfocus.com/archives/12984/htc-vive-launch-slightly-higher-price-point/While many virtual reality (VR) fans are begging to find out just when the first truly consumer head-mounted display (HMD) will launch, the question of pricing also remains unanswered. HTC and Valve look to be the first companies to deliver a real consumer HMD with the Vive in holiday 2015, but how much will it cost? HTC itself isn’t saying just yet, but does note that the kit will likely launch at a ‘slightly higher price point’ than some might expect.HTC connected products marketing boss Jeff Gattis said as much to MCV in a recent interview. “We want to deliver the most premium VR experience the world has seen,” he said. “That’s not marketing speak, but more about where Vive is positioned in the market. This is at the high end.“Starting with the premium experience, even if it has a slightly higher price point, is the right thing to do from a strategic point of view. The price can always come down as the market grows. We know there is some pent up demand there, so there’s not so much price sensitivity early on. But to get the broader consumer adoption we’re all hoping for, the industry will have to drive price down to make it more accessible.”In the past Oculus VR has provided a wide $200 USD – $400 price bracket for the Oculus Rift PC HMD. Will the Vive exceed this range? Gattis isn’t saying, but does note the importance of driving the price down in the future. “Whether we do that with Vive, or other form factors and devices, we understand the importance of driving price down to achieve adoption,” he said.Development kits for the Vive are expected to launch in the spring, allowing studios to get to grips with the SteamVR system that the device incorporates. No.586
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http://vrfocus.com/archives/12988/facebook-buyout-ended-oculus-valves-cooperation-report-suggests/The news that Oculus VR was to be purchased by Facebook for $2 billion USD was met with much controversy when it was revealed last year. While many were excited by the announcement, others had a more negative reaction. Minecraft creator Markus Persson, for example, quickly announced that he had cancelled plans for a free version of his title for the Oculus Rift virtual reality (VR) head-mounted display (HMD). According to a report spinning out of the 2015 Game Developers Conference (GDC), the deal also caused conflict between Oculus VR and SteamVR creator Valve.Rock, Paper, Shotgun Managing Editor Graham Smith revealed as much on a recent edition of The Crate & Crowbar podcast. Speaking about the HTC Vive HMD, which was created in partnership with Valve and its SteamVR system, Smith stated that the previously fruitful relationship between Oculus VR and Valve broke down after the former was purchased by Facebook.“I asked an HTC guy, was it hard to change Valve’s mind?” Smith said. “And he said that he didn’t know the full story, but what he’d heard was that everything was cool and then Facebook bought Oculus and then stuff wasn’t so cool anymore. And he described it as Valve went to plan B at that point when Oculus stopped being so forthcoming with stuff. That was kind of interesting, seeing all the different prototypes they’d made in that light.”Previously Valve had said that it didn’t intend to release a consumer product, and would be support Oculus VR itself. Smith’s story seems to suggest that the buyout turned this situation around. He went on to detail the beginnings of Valve and HTC’s relationship at the Steam Dev Days in 2014 in which Valve allowed attendees to see its prototype HMD in a specific room plastered with markers on the walls and ceiling. HTC reportedly approached the company after seeing its work and suggested working together to make it a commercial product. The HTC Vive is the result of that partnership.The Vive is expected to launch in time for holiday 2015, while a release date for the consumer version of the Oculus Rift is yet to be announced. No.587
http://vrfocus.com/archives/12834/luckey-vr-gaming-focused-next-years/When the Oculus Rift virtual reality (VR) head-mounted display (HMD) was first introduced a few years ago, it was very much a videogame-focused device. Since that time the VR industry has rapidly expanded, with the technology now looking to be used in a number of different ways, expanding far beyond videogames. Those that are hoping to primarily use HMDs such as the Oculus Rift for these experiences shouldn’t worry, though, as even the kit’s creator thinks that VR will be gaming-focused for at least ‘the next few years’.Oculus VR founder Palmer Luckey said as much this weekend on Oculus VR’s panel at the South By Southwest Festival (SXSW). “One of the reasons we’re so focused on gaming, besides being gamers today, is that all of the tools and talent to create real-time immersive 3D environments with high fidelity, it is the games industry,” Luckey stated. “It’s game tools and it’s game engines and it’s game programmers. Even as virtual reality expands to things like architecture and social tools and sports or whatever, it’s going to be the games industry that drives that.“And, in a way, it’s not that virtual reality is going to expand to other things as much as the games industry is going to start encompassing a lot more different kinds of content. So you will see other things but right now, today and probably for the next few years, it’s going to be very gaming focused just because that’s where it all is right now.”Oculus VR has placed a huge emphasis on the potential of VR videogames over the past year, hiring Naughty Dog founder Jason Rubin as a Head of Worldwide Studios, looking to develop first-party videogames while the company also publishes other titles such as Lucky’s Tale from Playful Corp. The VR specialist has also taken some of its first major steps outside of videogames in 2015, announcing its film-centric division, Oculus Story Studio. No.606
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http://www.gizmag.com/ceekars-4d-headphones/36566/Virtual reality headsets like the Oculus Rift and the Gear VR are certainly bringing an entirely new level of visual immersion to the world of gaming and beyond, but relatively little has been done so far in terms of auditory immersion. While it’s true that Oculus’ latest prototype is adding positional audio to the equation, the visual side of things is unquestionably getting the lion’s share of focus from VR developers, so one does feel there may be room for more dramatic improvements in the audio domain.
Using a patented "4D sound" technology, Ceekars 4D headphones try to take the idea of surround sound systems further than ever before to make sounds feel like an integral and dynamic part of the environment. For instance, say their creators, Ceekars let gamers experience sound differently depending on where they are in the environment, with noise becoming louder and clearer as they move toward their source or softer if it’s coming from behind a wall or a closed door.
Another noteworthy feature is the use of haptic feedback inside the headphones’ headband. Here, an embedded actuator applies motions, pressures and vibrations based on sound intensity and range, for yet another level of immersion. The idea here is that you can now hear and feel the rumble of a passing train or feel the vibration as a rocket takes off from the ground (or tries to land, for that matter).
The kit includes a controller and a detachable microphone
The headphones come with one pair of Google-inspired budget VR goggles with a frame that, just like in Google’s case, appears to be made out of cardboard. Along with them is also an ergonomic, one-handed remote controller designed to make it easier to move about in your virtual reality worlds without the need to worry about tangling cords.
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http://vrfocus.com/archives/13035/htc-take-vive-world-tour/It hasn’t taken long for the HTC Vive, made in partnership with Half-Life developer Valve, to become one of the most anticipated virtual reality (VR) head-mounted displays (HMD) on the horizon. That’s in part thanks to the user tracking provided by Steam VR and also due to the fact that, unlike most of its competitors, the Vive has a 2015 consumer release date. Both companies have been fairly restrictive in showcasing the device thus far, but HTC will be taking the kit on a world tour to market its launch.HTC connected products global marketing boss Jeff Gattis recently confirmed as much to MCV. Speaking to the site, Gattis revealed plans to bring the kit to locations in the USA, Europe and Asia Pacific for consumers to sample. “We want to set up at popular events, showing up at game shows, developer conferences, universities and letting people try it,” Gattis said. “The challenge for all of us in the VR space is that there is no way to describe it. Nothing comes close to simulating what it’s actually like.“We’re going to make a big push to get this in front of people and let them experience it without having to buy it. That’s also going to help broaden the overall adoption.”Specific dates for the events are yet to be announced, though don’t expect them to take place until much closer to the Vive’s holiday 2015 release as development kits aren’t scheduled to be spent out to studios until later this spring. The Vive offers user tracking in an area of up to 15 feet by 15 feet, though will also allow for seated experiences. The system also features two tracked controllers. At this month’s Game Developers Conference (GDC), Valve showcased a range of demos including on that utilised its popular Portal franchise. No.609
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http://www.slashgear.com/open-source-virtual-reality-gets-massive-with-unity-and-unreal-engine-23374897/Plugins for both Unity 5 and Unreal Engine 4 have been released to the public for OSVR, the Open Source Virtual Reality program. This system was first initiated by the folks at Razer, appearing at CES 2015 with a brand new OSVR Dev Kit virtual reality headset. In the very short time between then and now, they've racked up quite a few heavy-hitting partners. This system also works with Vuzix technology and has racked up partners like Ubisoft, Seven Hill Games, Homido, and castAR.This program also has 3DRudder onboard as a supporter. Also included is Impulsonic, Jaunt, Lucidscape, and Cyberith. VR Bits is onboard with VisiSonics, SoftKinetic, Pixel Titans, and Tammeka Games. Below you'll see a demonstration of the game Radial-G: Racing Revolved as presented by Tammeka Games this past month at GDC 2015.The Open Source Virtual Reality group also has an "Academia Program" which provides 10 OSVR Hacker Development Kits as well as full access to the OSVR source code to any eligible university.This university much have or be in the process of creating a full VR lab. Imagine expanding a brand new lab with 10 brand-spanking-new headsets right off the bat.Have a peek at our first OSVR Hacker Dev Kit hands-on from CES 2015 and stay tuned for more OSVR action in our Virtual Reality tag portal through the future! Post last edited at
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http://www.roadtovr.com/roto-vr-aims-drastically-reduce-sim-sickness-kickstarter-now-live/Roto VR has recently launched a Kickstarter campaign for its rotating chair design that promises to reduce simulator induced nausea, and give the user more control inside the virtual environment without getting tangled up in wires.Roto VR (http://www.rotovr.com/), a London based company, have built a novel take on the office swivel chair that aims to eliminate the most nauseating part of moving around in virtual environments: the dreaded yaw rotation, an unfortunately necessary part of traditional in-game locomotion that requires the user to rotate the virtual world around them while remaining physically stationary. Although some experienced VR enthusiasts have the ability to build up a tolerance to the nausea, not everyone is so lucky, with legendary developer and Oculus CTO John Carmack going as far to call traditional yaw control techniques used by game controllers “VR poison,” saying in a tweet during CES 2015 that “removing it may be the right move — swivel chair/stand or don’t play.” Carmack had previously spoken on what he terms the “yaw navigation issue” during his 2014 Oculus Connect keynote, stating that “…this is a bigger deal than you might imagine”.While game developers have since instituted a number of techniques to mitigate its effect, like “VR comfort mode,” such control schemes often come at the cost of infringing on overall immersion.Roto VR is proposing a solution, and a deceivingly simple one at that. At its most basic level, Roto is a low-profile motorized base with incorporated foot controller that replaces the wheely bit of your office chair, and rotates the seated user in 360 degrees at a max speed of 35 RPMs with an upper limit of 250 lbs of cargo. The most basic model however is decidedly aimed at mobile VR fans, which integrates its controls via Bluetooth for use with wireless VR headsets like Samsung Gear VR and Google Cardboard.The motorized base is modular, good news to anyone who’s spent a large amount of time getting the butt-groves in their gaming chair just right, because Roto features the option to either bring your own chair via their ‘universal chair adapter’, or opt in for a Roto-built chair at the premium of £219 (~$325) extra.Roto VR Kickstarter Campaign (https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/rotovr/roto-taking-virtual-reality-to-the-next-level/description) No.614
>>613This is all well and good for mobile VR users who have no trouble spinning around freely without the constant menace of tangled cords, but what about the tethered VR headsets that rely on HDMI and USB cables for power and data transmission? I sat down with Elliott Myers, a long-time game peripherals designer (formerly of now defunct Gamester) and one of the minds behind Roto to find out more.“One of the biggest problems with virtual reality right now is you put the headset on, but they don’t actually turn around and look behind them. They end up playing it like a normal video game… One of the reasons people don’t turn around is because it requires some sort of physical exertion. There has to be some really big incentive for someone to have to turn around. And what happens is people use that right thumb stick and the world rotates around them, your inner-ear isn’t moving and that induces nausea.”Myers then told me that they’ve combated this by integrating an optional DK2 slip-ring adapter that allows you to plug all cables directly into the base station, letting you spin with vestibular system and afternoon’s lunch thankfully unperturbed. Myers also assured me that Roto works with all games, movies and headsets ‘out of the box’ as a basic right thumbstick input, but if future headsets adopt a different standard besides HDMI and USB connection, the slip-ring adapter will need a corresponding update—not exactly a cheap part to replace at what now costs £100 ($150) extra, although we admittedly haven’t really seen any other cable management solution in the marketplace to compare it to.Things have also certainly changed from their first stab effort in January, a fairly large prototype called VRXplorer that didn’t make it beyond some preliminary market testing. This was in part due to its size, weight and inability to service VR headsets tethered to desktops. Roto VR has since shown an intermediary prototype at SouthWest VR Conference in Bristol that in comparison is greatly reduced in size. Provided Roto reaches its £85,000 ($125,000) funding goal, the final consumer version of the chair base will only be a meager 65cm (25in) diameter x 10cm (4in) height.Funding Tiers (estimated delivery in Nov 2015) £199 Tier – ROTO PLATFORM – Supports Samsung Gear VR & Google Cardboard – Includes Footpad Controls & Bluetooth connectivity for wireless HMDs. £299 Tier – ROTO PLATFORM + TANGLE FREE ADAPTER FOR OCULUS – Also supports Samsung Gear VR & Google Cardboard – Includes Footpad Controls & Bluetooth connectivity for wireless HMDs.Extras (shipping costs included) Add £219 to the base price for Roto Chair Add £160 to the base price for Roto Table Add £369 to the base for Roto Chair & Table No.619
http://vrfocus.com/archives/13098/epic-games-wellcome-trust-launch-big-data-vr-challenge/Virtual reality (VR) technology has a large amount of applications that are almost immediately obvious. Enhancing the handling and use of big data isn’t something that stands out when one first thinks of those applications. That’s why Epic Games, the company behind the popular Unreal Engine 4, and The Wellcome Trust are teaming up to launch ‘The Big Data VR Challenge’, prompting videogame developers to come up with intuitive ways to interact with and make connections between large amounts of data.The Challenge seeks to find a means of effectively handling huge amounts of data for use by scientific communities. Videogame developers have been identified as ideal candidates for the challenge due to their experience in already handling big data. The end result could be hugely beneficial to a number of industries, providing people with the tools to work with data much more effectively.Starting today, VR developers can register interest to take part in the challenge by sending an email over to BigDataVR@bastion.co.uk. Applications will be accepted until midnight GMT on 31st March 2015. From there, six teams will be selected to take part in a kick-off workshop in London, UK on 9th April. Each team will receive $5,000 USD to cover out of pocket expenses. The Challenge will come to an end during the Developer Conference in Brighton, UK from 14th – 16th July. One winner will be awarded $20,000.“Year on year, the games industry continues to improve the science behind these amazing pieces of entertainment,” Epic Games European Territory Manager Mike Gamble said of the Challenge. “The calculations required to recreate a lifelike environment are enormous. Our latest demo enables a player to explore more than 250 square kilometers of open terrain which is all generated in real time, something that would have been unthinkable as little as two years ago. Game developers are continually pushing the boundaries of what is possible, which in a way gives them a strong affinity with science researchers who are trying to define the unknown.” No.622
http://vrfocus.com/archives/13119/osvr-dev-kit-gets-built-hand-tracking-leap-motion/Wireless hand-tracking is positioned to play a large role in virtual reality (VR) in the future. That much was made clear last year when Oculus Rift head-mounted display (HMD) creator Oculus VR bought Nimble VR, a start-up working with the tech. San Francisco-based company Leap Motion has also made huge commitments to VR over the past several months, releasing a mount to attach its hand-tracking sensor to the front of the Oculus Rift and even hosting a VR-focused videogame jam. Today the company is announcing that it is integrating its technology into an actual HMD: the OSVR Hacker Dev Kit.As those that have followed VR in 2015 will know, OSVR stands for Open-Source Virtual Reality. The group, headed up by Razer, aims to bring together a range of HMDs, input systems and software developers to create an accessible ecosystem for VR development. Part of the group’s plans involve the OSVR Hacker Dev Kit, a 3D printable HMD that will also be going on sale in June 2015 for $199.99 USD. Leap Motion itself was one of the first companies to be announced as a part of the group back at the 2015 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in January.Leap Motion integration comes to the OSVR Hacker Dev Kit in the form of an optional faceplate that customers will be able to either purchase with the HMD itself or pick up as a standalone add-on later on. Along with embedded hardware, the faceplate also includes the OSVR motion plugin software. As a result, developers will be able to easily add support for hand-tracking into VR experiences. Existing Leap Motion software can be extended into the OSVR framework and new projects can benefit from a standard set of functions. Both Unity and Unreal Engine 4 will be supported.This also makes Leap Motion the first input-dedicated company to integrate with OSVR, with other such combinations to be announced in the future.“By letting the user connect directly with the VR environment, hand tracking allows virtual reality to be as natural and intuitive as interacting with the real world, giving the user a powerful sense of presence and immersion,” said Michael Buckwald, CEO and Co-founder of Leap Motion. “We’re pleased to partner with OSVR to bring our technology to the OSVR Hacker Dev Kit, helping developers enable the true potential of VR.”Pre-orders for the OSVR Hacker Dev Kit will open in May. No.624
http://vrfocus.com/archives/13129/oculus-share-reaches-2-million-unique-downloads/Those that have followed VRFocus for the past year will likely be well aware of the Oculus VR Share platform. This online portal serves as an accessible hotspot for free virtual reality (VR) experiences that support the Oculus Rift head-mounted display (HMD). From indie-developed experiments to videogame demos and 360 degree videos, the platform has become the ideal place to get started with VR software. This week, Oculus VR has announced that Oculus VR Share has reached 2 million unique downloads.“Oculus Share just crossed 2 million unique downloads!” the company recently noted on its Twitter account. “With 600+ games/apps, the creativity of the VR community is nothing short of awesome!” One of the first releases for the platform was the Oculus Tuscany Demo back in early 2013. The small experience, which lets users walk around a villa in the titular region of Italy, has become something of a staple for first-time VR experiences as it allows users to acclimatise to the technology in a peaceful environment at their own pace.Since that time the platform has seen regular updates, bringing it up to the aforementioned 600+ titles in the space of around two years. Over that time it has accommodated experiences for both the first and second development kit versions of the Oculus Rift.Oculus VR likely has plans for Oculus Share as the company moves towards releasing the consumer version of its Oculus Rift. The company is already working with commerce digital stores; earlier in the month it launched a preview of a premium Oculus VR Store for the Gear VR smartphone-based HMD in the USA. The digital store currently features a handful of paid-for VR videogames, though is yet to support aspects such as in-app purchases. An international rollout for this commerce store is yet to be detailed..
No.625
http://vrfocus.com/archives/13154/facebook-leak-reveals-teleportation-station-f8-conference-oculus-involved/Today marks the start of Facebook’s F8 Developer Conference at the Fort Mason Center in San Francisco, California, USA. Running until 26th March 2015, the event is set to be packed with talks, sessions, workshops and more surrounding the social network giant. VRFocus has already reported on the news that Facebook-owned virtual reality (VR) specialist Oculus VR will be speaking at the show tomorrow, but a leak on an official app has suggested that the company might have something new to display at the event.As revealed by Tech Crunch, a seemingly premature message from the official F8 app makes mention of the reveal of a ‘Teleportation Station’ at the show. There’s no word on what exactly this station is but the name does relate to VR somewhat. Of course, Oculus VR’s Oculus Rift head-mounted display (HMD) aims to transport users to entirely different virtual locations than their current surroundings. With that in mind, it’s easy to see how a link between this station and VR technology can be drawn.Exactly what the Teleportation Station consist of will likely be revealed at 10:00 PT today as Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg takes to the stage for a Keynote speech. His talk will be streamed online. It’s also likely that tomorrow’s Oculus VR-centric session will be streamed. The talk is titled ‘Why Virtual Reality Will Matter to You’ and features Oculus VR Chief Scientist Michael Abrash and Facebook Chief Technology Officer (CTO) Mike Schroepfer. It once again gets underway at 10:00. No.626
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http://vrfocus.com/archives/13158/facebook-start-supporting-spherical-videos-oculus-rift-soon/Today marks the one-year anniversary of Facebook’s acquisition of Oculus Rift virtual reality (VR) head-mounted display (HMD) creator, Oculus VR. It also sees the company’s F8 developer conference kick off in San Francisco, California, USA. Oculus VR has already had a big part to play at the conference; Facebook has announced that it will be bringing spherical video support to its platform in the future and will be supporting the Oculus Rift in the process.Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg confirmed as much in his opening keynote speech at the conference. Zuckerberg noted that, while many think of VR as a peripheral for videogames, video is arguably a more important application of the technology. Thus, Facebook will be bringing spherical videos, in which players can put on the HMD and look around using its head-tracking technology, to users ‘soon’. A picture also showed Oculus VR and Samsung’s Gear VR smartphone-based HMD, suggesting that this device will also support these videos.This marks one of the first direct links between Facebook and Oculus VR, with the former largely remaining distant from the latter in the year that’s followed the acquisition. Details about just how users will be able to upload spherical videos are yet to be announced, but this is the first step towards integrating the Oculus Rift with the Facebook platform itself.360 degree, spherical video content is becoming increasingly important for VR. Oculus VR itself recently announced Oculus Story Studio, which is dedicated to creating immersive storytelling VR experiences.Oculus VR will be hosting its own Keynote talk at F8 tomorrow, titled Facebook to Start Supporting Spherical Videos for Oculus Rift ‘Soon’‘Why Virtual Reality Will Matter to You’ and featuring Oculus VR Chief Scientist Michael Abrash and Facebook Chief Technology Officer (CTO) Mike Schroepfer. It gets underway at 10:00 PT.VR YouTube by Facebook? I hope so, YouTube has been getting more and more shitty year by year.
No.627
A bit late, but
https://f8.facebooklive.com/ is now live. VR news might come from this.
No.628
>>627Never mind, I thought they were going to show at least something on their VR front, but the schedule is shows that they will talk about unimportant crap and ads.
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http://vrfocus.com/archives/13169/nextvr-partners-fox-sports-deliver-nascar-vr/California-based company NextVR is making a serious push to become one of if not the leading name in 360 degree video content for virtual reality (VR) head-mounted displays (HMD). The studio has already worked in VR concerts, recording a show from UK giants, Coldplay, and has partnered with the NBA and NHL for live VR sports broadcasting. This week sees the company announce a new partnership, this time with FOX Sports. The pair have been working together to explore live VR streaming NASCAR events.NextVR’s patented encoding technology was recently used to live stream a NASCAR event at Auto Club Speedway, Fontana, California. The company’s own app was loaded onto a Samsung smartphone and then used with its Gear VR smartphone-based HMD, allowing viewers to watch the event live with head-tracking control, as if they were really there. The footage was shown to executives and producers at FOX Sports in the FOX Sports at-track television compound. Both 180 degree and 360 degree footage was shot, including angles on the pit road and in between the track and pits.“NextVR has spent the last six years perfecting their VR technology, which made them the logical first choice for FOX Sports to partner with for this test,” said Mike Davies, FOX Sports SVP Field Operations. “NextVR currently is one of the only companies with the ability to transmit live in VR, and their technology is built on a broadcast platform, making it infinitely scalable.”NextVR is yet to detail when it might make its work available to consumers. The Gear VR itself is already on the market, albeit in a limited fashion dubbed ‘Innovator’s Edition’. The current version of the kit supports the Galaxy Note 4 enlarged smartphone, although a new version that integrates the Galaxy S6 and S6 edge was also recently confirmed. VRFocus will continue to follow NextVR’s progress closely, reporting back with any further updates from the company. No.630
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http://vrfocus.com/archives/13214/facebook-hints-2015-release-date-oculus-rift/With the HTC Vive virtual reality (VR) head-mounted display (HMD) now confirmed for a launch in 2015, pressure is on for Oculus Rift HMD creator Oculus VR to announce a launch date for its own kit. Most recently Oculus VR founder Palmer Luckey seemed to suggest that the company wouldn’t be launching its kit until 2016. But today at the F8 Developer Conference in San Francisco, California, parent company Facebook once again suggested that the Oculus Rift might indeed be launching in 2015.Facebook CTO Mike Schroepfer suggested as much during his keynote speech this morning. Talking about the role that the Oculus Rift might play in the future, the CTO showed the same video of upcoming VR multiplayer experience EVE: Valkyrie that was first seen at last week’s EVE Fanfest event. Once the video has finished, Schroepfer noted: “You’re going to be doing this this year.”Schroepfer went on to talk about the Crescent Bay prototype version of the Oculus Rift, noting that it is ‘just on the cusp’ on delivering a true feeling of presence and being consumer-ready. The Facebook employee didn’t elaborate on the tease of the release, but did go on to talk about how VR will be integral to Facebook in the future, allowing users to experience memories with others and more.Oculus VR is yet to detail the consumer version of the Oculus Rift. Of course, the company will be releasing its first truly consumer product soon in the form of a new version of the Gear VR smartphone-based HMD. Speaking at the Game Developers Conference (GDC) earlier this month, Oculus VR’s John Carmack confirmed that the company would be going ‘full consumer’ with the next version of the kit, which is expected to be revealed later this year. No.631
>>630Update (3/26/2015, 12:30pm PST): The Outcast Agency, a marketing agency representing Facebook, reached out to point us to a tweet from Schroepfer posted after the keynote saying that he was speaking generally about the state of VR in 2015 and not specifically about the Oculus Rift and Eve Valkyrie. Post last edited at
No.632
http://vrfocus.com/archives/13220/abrash-vr-needs-hit-16k-match-retinal-resolution/Display resolution is critical to creating compelling virtual reality (VR) titles. Anyone that’s used the first development kit (DK1) for the Oculus Rift head-mounted display (HMD) will know that pressing a low resolution screen against a user’s eyes will cause a ‘screen door effect’ in which the pixels themselves can be seen. It’s an issue that will continue to improve as display technology comes along, with recent HMDs using 1080p displays as the next step up and the Oculus Rift’s Crescent Bay prototype beating even that. But, according to Oculus VR’s Michael Abrash, there’s a long way to go before resolution is truly convincing.Speaking at this year’s F8 Facebook Developer Conference in San Francisco, California, USA, Abrash noted that VR HMDs would have to reach 16K resolutions in order to achieve ‘retinal resolution’. “To give you just one example of how much better visuals can get; in order for Crescent Bay to deliver the same pixel density as a monitor at a normal viewing distance, it would have to have a resolution of about 5K by 5K per eye, something like 20 times as many pixels as it currently has,” he said. “In order for it to have retinal resolution at a field of view of 180 degrees, it would have to have something on the order of 16K by 16K resolution, roughly 200 times as many pixels.”Oculus VR is yet to announce the specific resolution for Crescent Bay, though has confirmed that the HMD uses two screens instead of one. The device also features integrated audio and full positional tracking. While not the consumer version of the device, both Oculus VR and Facebook have noted that it is ‘on the cusp’ of what will be released. A launch date for the consumer Oculus Rift is yet to be announced, with rumours of a possible hint of a 2015 launch stemming from F8 recently shot down by Facebook. No.633
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http://vrfocus.com/archives/13277/vive-developer-kits-free-first/When Valve and HTC revealed the Vive virtual reality (VR) head-mounted display earlier in the month, the pair promised to start shipping developer kits this spring, which doesn’t leave much time. Studios will soon be able to sign up for a kit over on an official Vive website, but specific dates on shipping are yet to be detailed. When it comes to price however, it appears that Valve has confirmed that successful applicants for a Vive developer kit will be receiving the device for free, at least at first.Company spokesperson Doug Lombardi has confirmed as much to Ars Technica, stating that developers both ‘big or small’ will be in the running for free kits after signing up on a new site that should be ‘coming soon’. Lombardi then confirmed that approved developers will get a kit for free ‘at least initially’. Kits will be shipping later this spring, but Lombardi didn’t comment on just how big a window studios are looking at to qualify for a free kit, nor how much it might cost when the free kits are gone.This is a surprising move given that Oculus VR, creator of the Oculus Rift HMD, has charged $300 USD and $350 for its two respective development kits (DK1 and DK2) in the past. The company has made the kit widely available to just about anyone willing to pay that price, and has shipped over 100,000 devices in total. A free Vive is certainly an attractive proposition, but will Valve and HTC be able to maintain the same kind of availability that Oculus VR does with demand for a free developer kit?Either way, the company’s reasoning behind the move is obvious, given that the pair hope to launch the Vive in time for holiday 2015 and will need strong software support from the start. No.637
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http://vrfocus.com/archives/13300/vive-developer-sign-site-expected-week/Things are moving fast for HTC and Valve’s virtual reality (VR) new head-mounted display (HMD), HTC Vive. The tech was revealed at the beginning of the month with its creators expected to release a development kit later this spring. That’s set to be followed with a full consumer launch in time for holiday 2015. HTC and Vive will have to move fast in order to ensure a smooth launch, then. Fortunately it seems that the companies are doing just that; sign-ups for the developer edition of the Vive are expected to launch this week.Valve spokesperson Doug Lombardi recently confirmed as much in an interview with Ars Technica. Talking about the unlaunched sign-up site, Lombardi stated that the companies hope to get everything up and running this week. Once it’s live, studios will be able to apply for kits, with Lombardi also revealing that selected teams will be receiving them for free. It’s not clear just how many teams will be able to take advantage of this offer and for what period of time it will be available for. Shipping for the developer edition is also yet to be confirmed.A handful of developers have already been working with the HTC Vive, including the likes of Fireproof Games, Cloudhead Games and Bossa Studios. The HMD offers room-scale position tracking using Valve’s Steam VR system. This consists of a pair of base stations that allow users to walk around a real world area of up to 15 feet by 15 feet and have these movements replicated within the experience. Plenty of developers have expressed interest in working on the device since its reveal, so demand is likely to be extremely high.A solid release date for the HTC Vive’s consumer version is yet to be set. No.638
http://vrfocus.com/archives/13362/smartphone-based-vr-hmd-cmoar-raises-120000-kickstarter/Having already missed out on not one but two Kickstarter crowd-funding campaigns, one might think that a third attempt by Cmoar to raise money for a new smartphone-based virtual reality (VR) head-mounted display (HMD) might be a wasted effort. The company has proven naysayers wrong this week, as it has completed its most recent campaign with some $120,249 USD raised with the help of 539 backers. The success means that Cmoar will be able to start shipping its device to those that backed the project in just a few months’ time.“Cannot express how happy we are that our dream may come true thanks to you!” the company wrote in a Kickstarter update.“We’re aware of the fact that this is just the beginning of the road but you can be sure that we’ll put every effort to give you the high-end product in June!”Following its second attempt at Kickstarter success in 2014, Cmoar reintroduced a vastly improved HMD earlier in 2015. The new device functions as both an augmented reality (AR) and VR HMD that separates itself from competitors with ‘workmanship, price, simplicity of use and, most importantly, external electronics and accessories.’ It is compatible with a Cmoar Game pad motion-sensing controller and claims to support over 150 smartphones, including iPhones. Cmoar has prepped its own content to work with the device such as Cmoar Roller Coaster VR.As stated in the above quote, Cmoar plans to start shipping kits in June 2015. It’s not yet clear when the device will become available for those that didn’t back the Kickstarter campaign. No.639
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http://www.roadtovr.com/gear-vr-now-available-9-countries-paid-store-still-stuck-us-coming-soon/Slowly but surely, Samsung has allowed limited international sale of Gear VR, the companies ‘Innovator Edition’ VR headset. But in comparison to the far reaching nature of the Galaxy Note 4, the smartphone powerhouse behind Gear VR which can be ordered directly from Samsung in a majority of countries, the world market penetration of the quasi-consumer VR headset is still lacking.As some US residents had trouble getting ahold of Gear VR during the device’s December launch due to an unanticipated depletion of stock on the first day, VR enthusiasts from the rest of the world looked on with quiet jealousy. It would be an untold number of months until individual country-specific Samsung websites unlocked their pre-order function, releasing the device to patient international customers who either didn’t want to fiddle with reshipping schemes or grossly inflated prices on Ebay.Below is a list of the 9 countries where Gear VR is either in stock, or currently sold out—along with one single country still advertising pre-order status.Steady Availability: USA $199 – Gear VR $249 – Gamepad Bundle UK £169 – Gear VR £199 – Gamepad Bundle Germany €199 – Gear VR €235 – Gamepad Bundle Netherlands €200 – Gear VR €249 – Gamepad Bundle Italy €199 – Gear VR €249 – Gamepad Bundle €899 – Gamepad Bundle + Note 4 South Korea ₩249,000 – Gear VRSold Out: France €199 – Gear VR (temporarily out of stock) Spain €199 – Gear VR (temporarily out of stock) Australia $249 – Gear VR (temporarily out of stock)Pre-order Available: Sweden 2390 kr – Gear VRAlthough all of these countries (sorry Sweden) have access to the physical device, the paid app store is still only accessible in the US, and can only take US credit cards for payment processing. Gear VR users outside of the United States can still download free apps from the store, but will have to wait yet again for the same sort of red carpet treatment the US market seems to be garnering from the Korean manufacturer.We reached out to Oculus about availability of the paid store outside the US and were told that “[the] international rollout will be announced soon.”Meanwhile, we see different positioning per region of Samsung quasi-consumer ‘Innovator Edition’ device. Here we see some official marketing material that shows Gear VR from three very different perspectives, coming from Australia, the US, and the most commercial example from Spain.And while even Canada and Mexico can’t seem to get their hands on the device in-country from Samsung, Best Buy has announced that they will be bringing Gear VR to over 100 brick-and-mortar stores for demos and sale.Here’s to hoping that the second iteration of Gear VR, supporting both Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge, is going to get into a lot more hands a lot quicker, because VR is too good of a thing to keep to ourselves. No.653
http://vrfocus.com/archives/13413/digital-domain-immersive-media-announce-im360-vr-video-studio/2015 has already been a big year for virtual reality (VR) and 360 degree video content. Back in January Oculus VR announced Oculus Story Studio, a new division entirely devoted to creating immersive CGI video content for its Oculus Rift head-mounted display (HMD). A number of major visual effects studios have also confirmed work in VR and today sees another join the list. Digital Domain Holdings Limited, parent company of Digital Domain, has announced a joint venture with immersive video creator Immersive Media to produce live action, interactive experiences for viewing with an HMD.Digital Domain’s past work includes handling effects for blockbusters such as Iron Man 3, the Transformers trilogy and even Titanic while Immersive Media has created experiences for the likes of Disney ABC and Mountain Dew. The latter even has its own VR capture, production, stitching and publishing platform named imLIVE. The new partnership will see the pair creating applications for clients as well as pursuing other fresh opportunities made possible with VR.Fans may recall that Digital Domain has already worked on a fully CGI rendered, 3D VR film that was showcased at this year’s Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah named Evolution of Verse, which was created in partnership with Chris Milk. This joint venture will see Immersive Media work with Digital Domain to create real-time VR video experiences. The pair are yet to reveal their first project, or suggest possible HMDs that their work could appear on.“We are thrilled to be partnering with the talented people at Digital Domain,” said Myles McGovern, President and CEO, Immersive Media. “It’s an exciting time for virtual reality and Immersive IP is essential in the growing VR space. The combination of these innovative companies will make immediate impact on the rapidly changing world of VR entertainment.” No.656
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http://www.roadtovr.com/googles-cardboard-vr-app-exceeds-1-million-downloads/Google surprised the VR community when it revealed Cardboard, a super low-cost VR smartphone adapter, last year at the company’s annual developer conference. Although started as a hobby-level project, the platform seems to have grown beyond their expectations.The Cardboard app on Android’s Play Store has exceeded 1 million downloads. Actually, it’s now somewhere between 1 million and 5 million downloads, which is as specific as the app page will display. To my knowledge, this makes it the single most downloaded piece of VR software ever.Of course, some portion of users downloading the app may have done it out of curiosity and without actually having their hands on the Cardboard headset. However, with Google announcing in December that more than 500,000 Cardboard units have been shipped, we can make a reasonable guess that the majority of downloads are from actual users.The app, which was launched alongside the reveal of the Cardboard headset, hosts a collection of experiences which serve as an introduction to VR: Earth: Fly where your fancy takes you on Google Earth. Tour Guide: Visit Versailles with a local guide. YouTube: Watch popular YouTube videos on a massive screen. Exhibit: Examine cultural artifacts from every angle. Photo Sphere: Look around the photo spheres you’ve captured. Windy Day: Follow the story (and the hat) in this interactive animated short from Spotlight Stories.Although the virtual reality experience from a smartphone (Note 4 / Gear VR excluded) is nowhere near as compelling as the VR experience from a dedicated VR headset, people using the app seem to enjoy it—at least as far as the reviews are concerned. With more than 31,000 ratings, the app is averaging 4.2 stars out of 5.The Cardboard section of the Play Store now highlights 34 VR apps, with an even greater number to be discovered throughout the rest of the app marketplace (just try searching ‘Cardboard’). However, inconsistencies in performance and input remain a challenge for developers and users. We’re still waiting for someone to announce a phone with sensors that are designed with VR performance in mind.Since launching as a ‘20% time’ project—Google’s famous perk that allows employees to spend 20% of their time on hobby projects—the Cardboard has turned into something serious for the company which began hiring several full time VR engineering positions a few months back (P.S. they still have open VR positions). No.657
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http://www.roadtovr.com/vorpxs-new-virtual-cinema-lets-you-play-non-vr-games-on-a-virtual-big-screen/vorpX news has been thin on the ground just recently, but that’s because the team behind the project have been busy preparing one of the biggest releases yet. v0.8.0, released today, brings with it a raft of new features, including an innovative method to enhance traditional games via an enormous, virtual cinema screen.vorpX, the app that lets you play games not designed for VR on your Oculus Rift, has come a long way since its initial release back in 2013. Since then it’s honed and tweaked its way through several releases, improving compatibility, adding DX11 support and even positional head tracking for the DK2 for some games.Today, version 0.8.0 is released and brings with it another major feature addition which further enhances your ability to enjoy your favourite games – never intended for use in virtual reality – via your Oculus Rift.You can buy vorpX v0.8.0 here http://www.roadtovr.com/buy-vorpx-oculus-rift-3d-driver-roadtovr/The feature is called Virtual Cinema Mode and allows you to play games thrown onto a huge screen, set inside a virtual living room. This means that games not traditionally well suited to playing in VR, titles such as Diablo III, Life Is Strange, Resident Evil Revelations 2, XCOM: Enemy Within. It gives you the illusion of playing on a decadent cinema screen – adding extra impact to the experience. It’s a great feature that has to be seen to be fully appreciated and something we think people will revisit older games with. What’s more, games displayed on the screen are in full stereoscopic 3D too!Existing vorpX users should receive an automatically delivered update upon restarting their vorpX application.Click the first link to see all the fixes and changes made.
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http://vrfocus.com/archives/13519/vr-pinoneer-mark-bolas-speaking-fmx-conference/When fans think of pioneers in the virtual reality (VR) industry, it’s the founding members of Oculus VR that usually come to mind, along with any developers that were first involved with head-mounted displays (HMD) such as the Oculus Rift. But many will also consider Mark Bolas, Director of the Mixed Reality Lab at the Institute for Creative Technologies and an Associate Professor at the USC School of Cinematic Arts, to have played a pivotal role in the technology over the past years. Next month will see Bolas speak out about VR during the FMX 2015 conference.FMX 2015 takes place on 5th – 8th May in Stuttgart, Germany and places specific focus on VR and immersion technologies this year. Bolas will be talking about his work in VR, which includes DIY projects such as FOV2GO, VR2GO and the MxR Unity Package. He has been working in VR for the past three decades, having started a company known as Fakespace Labs, Inc. in 1988, which developed and sold VR hardware to research labs back before the technology could be considered consumer-ready. He will be discussing VR with FMX Associate Ken Perlin on stage.Expect to see plenty more examples of leaders in the VR space step forward to host talks as the technology becomes more popular. After all, Oculus VR is no longer the only pioneer in the space; Sony Computer Entertainment and Valve have both made their own innovations with the Project Morpheus PlayStation 4 HMD and Steam VR system respectively. No.659
http://vrfocus.com/archives/13527/oculus-story-studio-heading-tribeca-film-festival-abrash-hosting-talk/Just as with virtual reality (VR), the film industry’s calendar is packed full of events throughout the year. In fact, the 2015 Sundance Film Festival, which took place earlier in the year in Park City, Utah, USA, saw the two combine as Oculus VR announced Oculus Story Studio. This new division from the company behind the Oculus Rift head-mounted display (HMD) is entirely devoted to creating effective and immersive storytelling experiences in VR. For those that are yet to see its work, Oculus Story Studio will be on display at this month’s Tribeca Film Festival.Oculus VR will be at the event on 24th and 25th April 2015 in New York City, New York, USA. The company will again be showcasing Lost, a piece directed by creative director and former Pixar member Saschka Unseld, running on the most recent Oculus Rift prototype, Crescent Bay. Lost is a short CGI experience that takes players to a moonlit forest and is based around a mysterious creature. Oculus Story Studio is currently working on a number of other project, though is yet to showcase them or mention when they might see a full release.Elsewhere, VR fans can look forward to another talk from Oculus VR Chief Scientist Michael Abrash during the Tribeca Innovation Week. Abrash will feature as part of the ‘Games for Change’ section of the week from 22nd – 24th April. Specific details of his talk are yet to be revealed, although it could be that Abrash touches on similar themes that he first spoke about during a talk at Facebook’s F8 developer conference last month. There the VR figurehead spoke on what needed to happen for VR to become a truly convincing replacement for this reality. No.660
http://vrfocus.com/archives/13537/priovr-aims-june-2015-shipping-post-kickstarter-release/YEI Technology has issued a new update on their funded PrioVR Kickstarter project, indicating a desired shipping date of June 2015. The initial campaign proved to be exceptionally popular, raising over four times its initial $75,000 USD goal. PrioVR is a full virtual reality (VR) suit consisting of sensors, a chest harness, headband, tracking hub and hand controllers with additional elements on higher tier suits. With backers attracted to a wireless package allowing for natural full-body tracking and interaction within a environment in real-time.Delivery on the project has been slower than anticipated. The initial delivery date for PrioVR was a year ago this month with subsequent delays owing to a number of factors, including a production redesign of the system’s ‘Serenity’ hand-controllers. However, according to YEI Technology, feedback during the development cycle has been ‘excellent’. As such throughout this period they have moved into a position where they can consider the PrioVR as a viable consumer product after their Kickstarter obligations are completed.Three ‘post-Kickstarter’ packages have been now confirmed to being produced, based on the same three tiers within the Kickstarter campaign.The Prio-Lite suit will be priced at $395.00 USD. The Prio-Core, which contains an additional four sensors and knee bracers, has a mark-up of $495.00, whilst the Prio-Pro suit which YEI Technology has targeted at users on a ‘Studio and Developer level’ and contains over twice the amount of sensors of the Prio-Lite as well as an additional components will be $645.00. YEI will also be supplying customers who buy the Prio-Pro with a set of replacement cables and two spare sensors. The equivalent, the makers note, of a ‘spare tyre’ for the set.These bonuses are specifically for the post-Kickstarter retail version however, which has led to a backlash from a number of the higher tier backers. The move being described by one as ‘a bit of a slap in the face’ whilst others expressed concern that the June date is yet another delay for the system. No.661
http://vrfocus.com/archives/13479/oculus-vrs-lanman-host-talk-rtp-virtual-reality-enthusiasts/Virtual reality (VR) meetups are not a new thing. Springing up across the globes, what were one casually organised meetings have lead to a sharing of ideas and VR projects en masse. The Raleigh, North Carolina, group has revealed that their next meetup will have a very special headline appearance in the form of Oculus VR’s Douglas Lanman.Lanman, Research Scientist at Oculus VR R&D, will host a talk entitled ‘Thinking Inside the (Head-Mounted) Box: Compact Optics’ at this week’s event. The description of the talk reads: “Are you starting to wonder exactly how HMDs work? This talk will put you inside the (head-mounted) box: providing a tutorial and an open forum to discuss the history of HMD optical designs for both virtual and augmented reality.”At Oculus VR, Lanman’s research is focused on computational displays and imaging systems. An emphasis is placed upon developing compact optics for head-mounted displays, glasses-free 3D displays, light field cameras, and active illumination for 3D reconstruction and interaction.Hosted at the Brooks Building, UNC, RTP Virtual Reality Enthusiasts’ latest event will take place on 9th April 2015, at 12:30pm EDT. You can find out more details on the event’s meetup page (http://www.meetup.com/RTP-Virtual-Reality-Enthusiasts/events/221595322/?a=ea1_grp&rv=ea1&_af=event&_af_eid=221595322) and VRFocus will keep you updated with all the latest talks from Oculus VR personnel. No.662
http://vrfocus.com/archives/13540/westfield-shopping-centre-uses-oculus-rift-promote-fashion-trends/Virtual reality (VR) technology has already proven itself to be a powerful tool for marketing. Head-mounted displays (HMD) such as the Oculus Rift and Google Cardboard have been used to promote everything from cars to drinks over the past few years, and now the tech is turning its attention to fashion. Westfield, a chain of large shopping centres based in London, UK, and interactive experience company Inition have partnered for a new VR experience to showcase the former’s upcoming fashion trends for spring and summer 2015.The experience, which was on display from 2nd – 4th April 2015 at the Westfield Stratford City centre, uses the Oculus Rift to allow users to visit three different worlds based on denim, floral or future-modern fashion trends. In each world users had their hands tracked with the help of the Leap Motion controller, allowing them to explore unique and colourful environments. The floral scene allows players to take in the sights of a picturesque garden while the denim scene presents an urban environment.Inition also developed an application that used Microsoft’s Kinect motion sensor for a mini-game in which players batted away certain items. With the VR technology soon to become consumer-available, expect to see plenty more of these kinds of experiences in the near future. No.665
http://vrfocus.com/archives/13594/chevrolet-announces-oculus-rift-experience/Virtual reality (VR) is already no stranger to the world of automobiles. Not only have head-mounted displays (HMDs) such as the Oculus Rift, Gear VR and Google Cardboard been used to promote the latest from the likes of Lamborghini and more, but the tech has also been integrated into road safety experiences and even allowed fans to take virtual tours of factories. Now it’s the turn of US company Chevrolet to utilise VR, offering the first off-road experience in one of the manufacturer’s pickup trucks. The company labels this VR title The Delivery.Currently on display at the ongoing Bangkok Motor Show, The Delivery transports users from the show floor to a live-action, off-road adventure ride in New Zealand in the Chevrolet Colorado. Users will find themselves placed in the front passenger seat of the specially prepared vehicle. They will then navigate rugged terrain across picturesque scenes and through rivers in order to deliver a mysterious box. Throughout the piece users will have complete control over the camera, allowing them to look anywhere. Once finished, participants can share their experience via social network pages.“We want our customers to experience the capabilities of the Colorado in a tough and rugged environment. It would be impossible to take all our customers on an off-road adventure in New Zealand, so we are bringing the location and the action to them via this virtual reality simulation,” said Una Tan, Marketing Director of Chevrolet Sales Thailand.Chevrolet is also using the event to launch a new top-of-the-line Colorado High Country pickup truck. Expect to see plenty more examples of vehicle manufacturers utilising VR at the technology continues to grow in popularity over the coming months and years. No.668
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http://uploadvr.com/eevo-announces-1m-in-funding-to-build-the-netflix-of-vr/Also planning to launch a content development fund for high-end VR content Eevo is a company with a clear mission, “to bring you the best content virtual reality has to offer.” Today, Eevo told UploadVR that they have successfully raised $1 million in angel funding to accomplish that mission. But Eevo knows they cannot do this alone because in order to build the best curated content streaming service for VR, you are going to need content. That is why Eevo is planning to dedicate nearly a third of its funding to commissioning and licensing content from the top VR content creators.The content development fund will be available to anyone who is currently “producing high end VR content,” and will be essentially limitless in their size scaling to the size necessary for the production and will be addressed on a case by case basis. This is only the start for Eevo, however; according Alejandro Dinsmore, Eevo’s CMO, the company is planning on “raising another significant round soon,” which will also feed into and grow the content producers’ fund.Key to Eevo’s mission is the curation of the content on the site. According to Dinsmore, other options have a mix of good and bad content and often there is more bad than good. “We want to be the ‘Netflix of VR'” says Dinsmore, not necessarily directly competing with them rather, by taking an approach that is similar to Netflix’s streaming a library of carefully curated, high quality content. By not allowing any direct user uploads it creates a space where people will come for only the best of VR content, streamed directly to their devices.Initially Eevo’s platform will launch as an app on the GearVR store, but the company has plans to expand into browser versions in the future in an effort to make the platform as accessible as possible. The company is building their own player for video content as well as “lots of other stuff in house.” Unlike some other streaming content services emerging on the market, Eevo does not plan to initially focus on live events and sports, rather their “main focus is on compelling narrative content.” The company is also looking into the idea of buying equipment for content producers to take advantage of (camera rigs, lighting, etc.) but are currently waiting on the innovation within that field to settle a bit before making that investment. No.669
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>>668Eevo is also working on a robust backend analytics system for content that producers will have access to. According to Dinsmore this is an area the company is “heavily focused on.” The analytics system will collect data at millisecond intervals in order to get incredibly accurate data. Among some of the real time data points that Eevo plans to capture are head position, gaze direction, time looking in a certain area, how a user flows through the content, etc. basically “any type of data [they] can collect, [they] will try to collect.” Eevo will also allow for this data to be easily visualized, using things like heat maps. This analytic data collection will prove vital in helping to quickly develop content that is optimized to be the greatest possible experience. In an industry that is so nascent, producers are still trying to figure out how best to structure narratives in VR, and this analytic data will go a long ways towards helping inform those narratives in the future. Numbers tell some great stories, and stories are what Eevo is all about.As of now, specifics on the model are “subject to change” but Dinsmore did share Eevo’s current position on the matter. “We are very producer focused and are trying to be as generous as possible,” says Dinsmore, “but we are also aware of the high costs associated with hosting content at this scale and fidelity.” The model itself will be a subscription model with revenue splits, but that is also subject to change.As the days fly off the calendar in 2015, one pattern has truly emerged – 2015 is the year for VR content production. Eevo is not alone in issuing funding to content producers. WEVR recently announced a $1 million grant program (offering grants up to $50,000) for VR content producers, and Unreal Engine opened up a $5 million dollar grant program for people developing on their engine. The consumer money isn’t here yet, but it is right around the corner. Programs like these act as the carrot on the stick for developers weary of taking the risk of hopping into VR now. It is a necessary project based influx of cash into the industry that has been sorely needed, now it’s up to the pioneering developers of this content to do what they do best, create stunning, immersive worlds for us to play in. No.673
http://vrfocus.com/archives/13639/uk-hosptial-announces-patientvr-human-factors-training/When discussing virtual reality’s (VR) potential medical applications, uses in the likes of surgery and immediate treatment are what first spring to mind. However a UK-based hospital is to become one of the first too look at other uses for the technology. The team at Torbay Hospital in South Devon has created PatientVR, a new training series that uses head-mounted displays (HMDs) such as the Oculus Rift to give doctors, nurses and more some insight into the ‘human factors’ involved in treating patients.PatientVR is a proposed series of films, the first of which puts viewers in the shoes of a fictional patient that begins to experience chest pains. Filmed in 360 degrees, users assume the role of this patient as they are taken via ambulance to the Emergency Department and then onto an operating theatre. The aim of the video is to help those treating such patients to better understand their feelings and emotions as they are presented with a range of distressing events and information.“Patients can sometimes be overwhelmed by what is happening around them and the PatientVR concept is about placing doctors, nurses and other frontline staff in the patient’s shoes,” project developer Nick Peres said.“For some time, our clinical skills team has been using mannequins in staff training, and although the mannequins can blink, breath, bleed and speak, they cannot portray what the patient feels or sees. Virtual reality is big news currently in the gaming and entertainment industry and whilst studying for a PhD I started to look at how we could use virtual reality to help represent the patient voice in medical education and training.”At the hospital itself this footage can be viewed on the second development kit (DK2) for the Oculus Rift. Having watched the film, staff discuss the patient’s state of mind, staff actions and interactions. More films are planned, covering other potential situations and even on sharing bad news to patients’ loved ones. The hospital hopes to eventually use these videos to design environments to comfort patients and give nervous people trial runs of experiences. As for surgery, another medical VR experience titled The Virtual Surgeon was recently revealed. No.679
http://vrfocus.com/archives/13688/nextvr-hosting-first-global-vr-broadcast-nab-conference/Virtual reality (VR) video company NextVR has set about making itself a household name in 2015 thus far. January saw the team host the first live VR broadcast (http://vrfocus.com/archives/11036/nextvr-hosts-first-ever-live-vr-transmission/) and since then it has worked with the likes of NBA and NASCAR to deliver live streamed sports broadcasting in VR. Next week will also see NextVR take its next big step as the company plans to deliver the first live global broadcast in VR, taken from the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA from 11th – 16th April.NextVR plans to host a daily broadcast from RED Digital Cinema’s #SL1517 booth. The broadcast will be streamed to head-mounted displays (HMDs) in RED’s international offices, including the United Kingdom, Germany, China, India and even the company’s flagship stores based in New York and Los Angeles. RED employees and customers will be able to view the footage. RED itself will be announcing its new RED WEAPON camera at NAB, the latest entry in its series of devices to boast a 6K DRAGON sensor.“RED consistently ups the ante on the NAB show floor and we’re proud to help them take it a step further this year with our first ever global VR broadcast,” said DJ Roller, co-founder, NextVR. “We use RED cameras with our technology to produce the highest quality content for our viewers, so we are thrilled to be here partnering with RED at NAB.”NextVR recently confirmed that it will be using light field technology to add positional tracking to its live VR videos. No.682
http://vrfocus.com/archives/13782/slush-play-event-combine-videogames-virtual-reality/A new event in the global videogame conference calendar has been announced today: Slush PLAY is designed to create a melting pot for both videogames and virtual reality (VR) professionals. Alongside two days of talks covering topics from leadership and strategy to funding, marketing and sales, ten of the most prominent startups will partake in a pitching competition.Slush is an investor and startup event organised annually in Helsinki, Finland. For the first time, Slush is heading overseas to Reykjavik for Slush PLAY, which will be the first Slush event to focus primarily on videogames and VR. The non-profit event will function as a meeting point for Nordic gaming companies and investors from all around the world.The conference will also feature two days of talks with themes ranging from leadership and strategy to funding, marketing and sales within videogames and VR. Speakers at the event include CEO of CCP Games, Hilmar Veigar Pétursson, Founder and CEO of Plain Vanilla Games, Þorsteinn Fridriksson, General Partner at London Venture Partners, David Gardner and Founder and CEO of Microtask, Ville Miettinen.“The Icelandic startup scene is dynamic, dense and growing,” says Salóme Guðmundsdóttir, CEO of Klak Innovit, the company that serves a dual role of nurturing Icelandic talent and forging relationships between entrepreneurs and investors. “Our goal.” Salóme explains, “Is to accelerate businesses for high growth and to connect Icelandic startups to leading experts and startup communities abroad.”The event will be held in Reykjavik, Iceland, on 28th-29th April 2015, and has been organised in conjunction with the Slush executive team, Klak Innovit and the Nordic Gaming Institute. The venue will be the newly renovated venue Gamla Bíó in the heart of the city, and tickets are currently on sale at http://play.slush.org/. No.683
http://vrfocus.com/archives/13694/perception-neuron-begin-shipping-two-weeks-time/It’s just under seven months now since virtual reality (VR) compatible motion capture system, Perception Neuron, ended its hugely successful Kickstarter crowd-funding campaign. The company behind the system managed to raise from $571,908 USD with the help of 1,329 backers. At the time of the campaign the company had hoped to start shipping its first kits in February 2015. It didn’t quite make that target but isn’t far behind, as Perception Neuron is now expected to make its first shipments in a few weeks’ time.The company has confirmed that the first shipments will commence between the third and fourth weeks of April. That could mean anything from just three to 17 days away. The company is unable to give a more exact date as it is in the process of testing each and every package coming off of the factory line. Once the kits are approved they will be packed, transported to Hong Kong, sorted and then sent. The company expects shipments to take anywhere between seven and 16 days depending on destination. Early bird backers will have their kits shipped first, followed by SuperVR backers. Other orders will follow on afterwards.Project Neuron utilises a number of miniature trackers named Neurons. These Neurons are equipped with gyroscopes, accelerometers, magnetometers for accurate motion tracking. Up to 30 Nurons can be tracked at one time, with users able to strap them where they see fit on their body. When combined with VR head-mounted displays (HMDs) such as the Oculus Rift, Perception Neuron offers an extensive form of motion-tracked input. The tech ships with support for Oculus VR’s software development kit (SDK), allowing developers to easily integrate it into experiences. Support for other HMDs is yet to be confirmed. No.691
http://vrfocus.com/archives/13748/deep-getting-training-mode-teach-players-diaphragmatic-breathing-vr/There are two upcoming virtual reality (VR) videogames that utilise biometric data as a means of control and influence. One is Nevermind, the heart rate-sensing horror title from Flying Mollusk. At the other end of the scale is Deep from indie developer Owen Harris. Instead of teaching players to control their fear, Deep requires them use diaphragmatic breathing techniques in order to progress through a beautiful underwater world. But how will players that haven’t had training in this style of breathing cope? That’s something the developer is currently addressing.Harris is currently working on a training mode that will teach players how to breathe when playing Deep. Along with the Oculus Rift head-mounted display (HMD), players will have a sensor strapped around them that is able to record data on their diaphragm, allowing the videogame to accurately measure how well they are performing. Harris told VRFocus a little bit about this mode and the challenges of making this a focus of a videogame in an interview that will be published in full later this week.“There is a big design problem with the game at the moment in that if you already know how to do the style of breathing that we’re going for here, you can kind of get into it quite quickly and start enjoying it almost straight away,” Harris stated. “But if you haven’t done diaphragmatic breathing or yoga before or anything like that, it can be a little bit stressful. So the next thing we’re building is a training mode, and that’s going to actually teach you, in a kinda step by step way, how to do this type of breathing so you’ll be ready for the larger experience.”With this mode in place, Deep could become one of the key examples of how VR can go further than just immersing players in their videogame experiences, also improving their well-being. No.692
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http://www.roadtovr.com/intel-makes-multimillion-dollar-investment-in-vr-enterprise-developer-worldviz/Today WorldViz has announced that it received a “multimillion” dollar Series A investment from Intel Capital, the investment arm of the famed chip manufacturer. The company wouldn’t specify the exact amount, but says that the money will be used to “advance the development and distribution of WorldViz’s virtual reality applications for the enterprise.”As far as the startup world goes, WorldViz is a bit old for a Series A. Founded in 2002, the 13 year old company is well established in the professional VR space, and says they’ve deployed their VR technology to more than 1,500 companies, academic institutions, and government agencies, including Fortune 500s. Although VR has long existed in the enterprise space, it seems that the resurgence of consumer VR is opening doors across the entire ecosystem.“Intel’s commitment to WorldViz is a strong statement that the enterprise virtual reality market is poised for rapid expansion and WorldViz is positioned to capture this growth,” said Andy Beall, CEO of WorldViz.As the sole investor of the deal, it’s Intel’s policy not to specify the exact amount of an investment. When I asked WorldViz, they wouldn’t even narrow it down to millions, tens of millions, or even hundreds of millions. However, in 2014 Intel Capital invested $359 million in 125 deals, averaging $2.87 million per investment, which leads me to believe that the deal doesn’t reach into the category of tens of hundreds of millions.WorldViz designs and deploys custom VR systems for enterprise based on client needs. The systems are powered by their own Vizard VR toolkit which creates virtual scenes that can be viewed and controlled with more than 100 supported motion input devices, VR headsets, 3D displays, CAVEs, haptic devices, eye trackers, and more, including their own ‘Precision Position Tracking‘ system, capable of tracking users in a space more than 150 feet squared, according to the company. Among their 1,500 clients is Stanford, who WorldViz helped to deploy the Virtual Human Interaction Lab.I spoke with WorldViz CEO Andy Beall who told me that the proliferation of consumer VR has benefits for the professional space as well.“For the majority of our past customers, one of the things on the bill of materials [for clients wanting to deploy a VR system] would be a $40,000 headset,” Beall told me. “If you look at modern headsets, it’s a big plus… that’s one less barrier for entry for budget. There’s enough press right now that there’s some uncertainty among buyers about timing—’should I wait six months?’—[now] when you’re talking to a business person it’s easy to say, ‘buy the $300 headset today and get the next one in six months!'”Added recently to the impressive list of hardware supported by the company’s Vizard software are well known consumer devices like the Oculus Rift VR headset and the Razer Hydra motion input controller. The company has a freely available Demo Pack which you can used to step into experiences created with their software, should you have a Rift handy. No.693
>>692Although their software supports consumer hardware, WorldViz plans to focus primarily on growth in the enterprise space where one of the key challenges is getting complex models and data into virtual reality.“[Virtual reality is] a really fast changing field and that’s why for the first time we decided to consider funding; we need to strengthen and deepen our ties into business and solve the content workflow issues right now,” Beall told me. “Because really I think whoever nails that will be serving the customer needs the best and the fastest. The bottleneck for business users is getting their work into a virtual experience in hours instead of a months.”And once the content is virtualized, the next major challenge is telling the computer which devices should be responsible for viewing and controlling it.“Let’s say I want to have my viewpoint and I have two controllers and I want to see my hands, and it’s all different devices. Then I want to be able to fly around [the virtual space] and I want to be able to walk around the physical space, and have the cave update correctly for my perspective, but I also want to be able to navigate within the virtual space,” Beall said as he walked me through an example of how complicated control across a broad array of devices can become. “Now I may want to have my virtual viewpoint leave my physical viewpoint and follow an animation path. When you add all of those elements, it’s easy to hit a limitation or, if you’re trying to dive down to your underlying coding, to just get buried in the math. I think we’ve tackled this and accomplished it better than anyone has for the breath of devices we’re supporting,” he continued.Even with enterprise as the focus, as consumer VR becomes easier to use for the everyday user the company is considering applying a bit of its expertise to such experiences.“I think more and more people are going to want to sit down in SketchUp and create a model of their kitchen [for instance], so we’re toying with some ideas of making some viewers really easy to use and dangling those out for the consumer market to gain some visibility,” Beall said.For Intel’s part, the investment in aligns with the company’s push toward ‘perceptual computing’, which aims to create more natural interactions between people and computers.“Our investment in WorldViz is consistent with Intel’s strategy to advance natural computing experiences, including virtual reality technology,” said Gregory Bryant, vice president of Intel’s Client Computing Group and general manager of Desktop Client Platforms. “Enterprises have barely tapped the potential of virtual reality, and WorldViz has demonstrated both a technical and business vision to drive adoption of virtual reality in professional settings, anchored on Intel Architecture.”Having hosted AltspaceVR at their CES 2015 booth and CCP’s Eve Valkyrie the year before that, Intel has been watching the growing virtual reality space closely over the last few years. It’s likely that this is just one of many VR investments to come from the company. Post last edited at
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http://www.roadtovr.com/altspacevr-htc-vive-steam-vr-gear-vr-cross-platform/I recently sat down with “Cymatic” Bruce Wooden, Developer & Community Relations Manager at AltspaceVR, a social virtual reality space that allows users to connect and communicate with voice chat and shared web browsing. While the software currently supports the Oculus Rift VR headset, Wooden tells me that the company is committing to cross-platform support for the HTC Vive and is currently experimenting with a version for Samsung’s Gear VR.With cross-platform support, VR users with could connect to the same Altspace server and communicate with each other regardless of hardware differences. Though the company is committing to support for the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive / SteamVR, experiments with Samsung’s mobile Gear VR headset are still pending optimization trials prior to the company making a firm commitment for support.In addition to new headsets, the company is also experimenting with input devices. The latest build of Altspace supports both the Leap Motion and the Kinect v2. I got to test the newest build and saw my arms and hands as tracked by the Kinect, allowing for coarse gesturing to other Altspace users, like waving, high fives, fist bumps, and handshakes with ghosts. Switching to the Leap Motion provided a similar experience but added fidelity down to the finger level, allowing me to gesture with more detail by pointing, counting on my fingers, or expressing my sincere dissatisfaction via a cross-cultural expression of disapproval involving one of my fingers.In the latest build I also saw the new examples of the software’s interesting web interface which allows 3D content to be deployed from the web such that multiple users can interact with it in a synchronized way. For example, I saw a giant chess board that was rendered into the game world looking like a 3D object just like any other, but Wooden told me that it was rendering right from a webpage with familiar web tech like Javascript and three.js. When other players moved the chess pieces, I could see the same pieces moving on my screen.Altspace has been available as a semi-private beta that’s opened its doors to users for special weekend events—like a recent virtual Superbowl party—but has returned to a private state shortly thereafter. Wooden told me that the company plans to soon move to a perpetually open beta where users will be able to use the platform whenever they please.“I would say we’re looking at a few more of those beta access weekends until we’re at the point that we’re feeling comfortable enough to keep it open,” he said.Back in September 2014, AltspaceVR announced that they’d raised $5.2 million in seed funding to develop their social VR platform. The company as several full time jobs listed on their careers page. No.696
http://vrfocus.com/archives/13918/reddit-co-founder-teases-reddit-vr/Reddit has played a pivitol part in the revival of virtual reality (VR) technology over the past few years, providing one central location for the community to meet up and discuss the latest news and announcements. In fact, the VR areas of the site are so popular that Oculus VR itself uses it to post official updates to its Oculus VR Share platform for the Oculus Rift head-mounted display (HMD) and the Oculus VR Store for the Gear VR smartphone-based HMD. Now one of the site’s co-founders has teased that a possible VR version could be on the way.Reddit’s Alexis Ohanian recent made the tease via his Instagram account. Ohanian posted an image of himself with a friend using the Gear VR, as seen below. The image was accompanied with the message “Just @catsweaters testing out @reddit VR…”It’s not known if Ohanian’s message is serious or a joke on his part. Just how Reddit could translate to VR is unclear, as static web pages would need to be somehow transformed into a medium that’s comfortable for VR users, including support for head-tracking.That said, VR has obvious applications for social sites such as this. While fans can only guess how Reddit might change to accommodate VR, Oculus VR owner Facebook has already revealed plans to support spherical videos on its own social networking site. VR is set to make a big impact on the way people consume social media in the coming years; could a potential Reddit VR app be the first example of this?Oh, I can imagine how hilarious it would be to downvote someone face-to-face, not that I would use that site except for a few exceptions.
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http://vrfocus.com/archives/13916/facebook-ceo-shares-vision-oculus-vr/Arguably the defining moment of virtual reality’s (VR) short history since its revival was the purchase of Oculus VR by social networking giant Facebook. CEO Mark Zuckerberg made the decision to acquire the VR specialists for some $2 billion USD. As a result, Oculus VR launched a massive hiring campaign, greatly expanding its team, and has even featured at recent events such as Facebook’s F8 developer event. But just what is Zuckerberg’s vision for Oculus VR and the Oculus Rift?That’s a question one Facebook user put towards the CEO during a recent Q&A session on the site itself. (https://www.facebook.com/zuck/posts/10102028100357421)“Our mission to give people the power to experience anything,” Zuckerberg replied. “Even if you don’t have the ability to travel somewhere, or to be with someone in person, or even if something is physically impossible to build in our analog world, the goal is to help build a medium that will give you the ability to do all of these things you might not otherwise be able to do. This will be incredibly powerful as a communication medium as well. Just like we capture photos and videos today and then share them on the internet to let others experience them too, we’ll be able to capture whole 3D scenes and create new environments and then share those with people as well. It will be pretty wild.”Back at F8, Zuckerberg revealed plans to bring spherical photos and videos to Facebook with support for the Oculus Rift. This will allow users to upload 360 degree content and then have friends put on the head-mounted display (HMD) and feel as if they’re a part of the scene, using the device’s head-tracking technology to have free control over where they look. Zuckerberg didn’t state when this feature would arrive but it appears to be the first instance of the company directly using the Oculus Rift. No.699
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http://www.roadtovr.com/google-acquires-tilt-brush-developer-and-thrive-audio-to-add-to-vr-team/Google has today announced that it’s acquired two VR companies to add to its growing internal virtual reality team: Skillman & Hackett, the studio behind Tilt Brush, and Thrive Audio.Skillman & Hackett, winners of the ‘Best GUI’ at the 2014 Proto Awards, are responsible for the innovative Tilt Brush app which has seen incarnations on the Oculus Rift, HTC Vive / SteamVR, and—yes you guessed it—Google Cardboard.Tilt Brush allows users to draw in VR using three dimensions, with paint, light, and textures. On desktop versions of the app, users can create scenes within the software. The Cardboard version of the app, Tilt Brush Gallery, allows Android users to play back the creation of those scenes in VR.There’s no word on whether or not the studio will continue production on Tilt Brush post-acquisition, but it would be a shame to not see the HTC Vive / SteamVR version of Tilt Brush come to life, as it was one of the most impressive experiences to be demoed on the platform.Google is also picking up Thrive Audio, a company born out of the School of Engineering in Dublin’s Trinity College, specializing in positional audio. Their site does a great job of succinctly explaining their audio tech, which is designed to create realistic surround sound for VR: Thrive comprises of a set of C++ implemented core functions based on proprietary Digital Signal Processing (DSP) algorithms which perform the task of faithfully recreating an auditory environment at the listeners ears. The algorithms can roughly be divided among four key sections: *Encoding the incoming audio into a Thrive Soundfield format. This allows Thrive to localize an infinite number of sources with no loss of efficiency. *Processing the encoded sounds with sets of advanced dynamic audio filters which can account for all aspects of spatial hearing, from room reflections to anthropometrics. *Dynamic rotation of the complex soundfield around the listener while maintaining all room acoustic cues. This step is controlled by the user movement data collected from the VR headset. *Decoding of the Thrive Soundfield data into a pair of binaural spatial headphone channels. These are then fed to the users headphones just like conventional left right audio channels.Thrive says they’ve filed two patents for their audio technology, alongside papers published in multiple peer reviewed journals.Google hasn’t said specifically, but we’re expecting that they’re interested in integrating Thrive into the Cardboard SDK such that all developers will have access to high quality positional audio. Oculus pulled a similar move last year when it announced it would license RealSpace 3D Audio from VisiSonics.Google is not expected to disclosed the monetary details of the acquisitions. The company continues to hire for their VR team through their official job website.Too bad, it was a really good piece of software. Don't hope for anything good by Google that's software orientated, YouTube should be a clear sign of that.
No.700
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http://www.roadtovr.com/works-with-google-cardboard-virtual-reality-android-smartphone/Today Google is taking the wraps off of a new certification program for VR smartphone adapters. ‘Works with Google Cardboard’ will allow Cardboard VR apps to adjust specifically for a given VR smartphone adapter and help users see which adapters are certified for use with those apps.Google Cardboard is literally a cardboard holder which turns a smartphone into a rudimentary but very inexpensive VR headset. When the company announced the project back in 2014, it put the plans to create the device out in the open and encouraged third-party companies and DIYers to manufacture viewers based on the design.Having launched Cardboard less than a year ago, the idea has gained quite a bit of momentum with multiple third-party companies—like DODOcase and I AM Cardboard—selling variations of the device. However, with different characteristics among each headset, like the focal distance or the distance between the lenses, Cardboard apps may not offer the ideal experience because the on-screen rendering doesn’t match those characteristics.Google’s new ‘Works with Google Cardboard’ program is designed to fix this issue. Makers of Cardboard variants (or those not event based on the design) will be able to define the essential characteristics of their VR smartphone adapter using a Cardboard profiler tool, and Google will spit out a QR code to be displayed on the device. Users will be able to use the official Cardboard app to scan the code, loading the settings and allowing apps built with the Cardboard SDK to automatically adapt to that specific headset.Follow the link for more details, it's 2 pages long.
No.701
http://vrfocus.com/archives/13959/oculus-coder-teases-interesting-sdk-update-incoming/As Oculus VR continues to improve upon its Oculus Rift head-mounted display (HMD), so too does it update the software development kit (SDK) for the device, making sure that those that work with it can take full advantage of any improvements. Most of the time these updates prove to be incremental, adding a handful of new features to streamline development for the Oculus Rift and increase compatibility. However, according to a member of the Oculus VR team, the next SDK update should prove to be ‘very interesting’.Oculus VR coder Tom Forsyth recently took to Twitter to reveal that he is ‘bracing’ himself for the arrival of the next SDK update. “Man, the next SDK update is going to be very interesting,” Forsyth wrote. “Bracing myself.” A possible release window for this latest SDK was not revealed.Just what could be included in the update? Oculus VR has stated that it doesn’t intend to release any new hardware for the Oculus Rift until the consumer edition of the kit, meaning the SDK likely won’t be preparing for any new features from the HMD itself. The more likely option is that it will somehow change certain software compatibility features.Oculus VR releases these SDKs for free, meaning anyone that owns one of the Oculus Rift’s second development kits (DK2) can easily download them and jump into VR creation. The consumer version of the Oculus Rift is yet to be revealed or dated. Oculus VR will be going ‘full consumer’ with the next iteration of its smartphone-based HMD, Gear VR, made in partnership with Samsung. What this means for the consumer release of the Oculus rift is unclear at this time. No.705
http://www.roadtovr.com/china-virtual-reality-worlds-largest-market-has-seen-vr-and-its-in-love/China’s VR scene is heating up.Shanghai just had its largest VR event to date. The second SHVR event (named as an homage to Silicon Valley’s largest community gathering, SVVR) had over 300 attendees, scores of demos and speakers, and a live VR meetup on VRchat in collaboration with the Brisbane community.The event began as an open call: whoever wanted to demo or speak was welcome to come, and they could invite their friends.With minimal publicity, the event went viral. According to Ben Rudick, co-founder of Transist Labs which hosted the event, “We were overwhelmed by the response. Originally we planned for a maximum of 100 attendees. Those spots were filled in just hours. So we lifted the RSVPs caps and quickly hit 500. We had to cut it off; any more and we’d get shut down for fire code violations.”There was a myriad of hardware on display, both mainstream (five Oculus Rift DK2s, and Samsung’s Gear VR) and homegrown China-made products including VR mobile holders (Virglass), optical tracking (YuanChuan , 原川), VR/AR glasses (LiXin Optical) among others. Several content developers were showcasing their work as well, such as game developer and VR evangelist Tianshe (天舍) with their zombie roller-coaster (met with screams and applause), Galar Technology with a VR FPS (complete with a motion-tracked assault rifle), panoramic video from ShiYe Media, and even an interactive VR modern art piece.The Shanghai event is the most recent data point of a clear trend: VR is exploding in China, both in terms of public interest and hardware/software development. Last fall, the VRPlay Expo in Beijing had over 1,200 attendees. Baidu Tieba (Chinese reddit) has thousands of subscribers on its VR forum. Oculus Rift DK2s are fetching prices upwards of US$1,000 on Chinese auction sites.Hundreds of teams across China are working on VR hardware. While some of it is copying existing products, there’s innovation as well. Chinese teams are hacking together VR headsets, omni-directional treadmills, tracking and input devices, reactive chairs, VR mobile holders, and everything else under the sun. Notable companies include Noitom Technology (which raised $571,908 on Kickstarter last year for their motion tracking device), KAT (omni-directional treadmill and racing chair), and Dexmo and Ximmerse (both working on VR interaction hardware).One of the biggest players in China is BaoFeng MoJing, a pure-play VR company and affiliate of the billion-dollar BaoFeng Technologies. BaoFeng MoJing launched a VR smartphone adapter as well as raising $10 million to continue their VR work. But, they’ll face stiff competition: on April 14th, LeTV, a public Chinese company with a $12 billion market cap, announced its own VR smartphone adapter to be released in a couple of months.While content is lagging behind the hardware, there’s progress here as well. Tianshe Media (天舍), one of the organizers of the SHVR event, is developing a VR multiplayer adventure game for the Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, and Morpheus using the UE4 engine. BaoFeng Mojing, mentioned above, is partnering with indie VR developers to distribute their games; at last count, they’re offering 26 Chinese-made, original VR games. With the entire gaming market in China estimated at $17.9 billion, there’s likely much more to come. Beyond games, at least three Chinese animation companies are working in VR, with plans to invest millions in the space.When the SHVR event finally ended after five hours, the organizers had to forcefully herd people out the door. Building on the flood of interest, they are now planning a much larger event for this summer and even considering a permanent VR incubator to support early-stage developers. No.706
YouTube embed. Click thumbnail to play.
>>704I totally forgot about Light Field photography after a few cameras were released and not much happened with it asides from interesting technical demos. The way this can be used in VR combined with eye tracking could make it the next big thing that makes current stereoscopic video seem as ancient and red and blue glasses.
It's a shame these cameras cost a fortune though.
No.707
>>706>cameras cost a fortuneFor now, but like anything that gets bought in many quantities it will get cheaper. Not that it matters for any broadcast company and ones invested in video creation since the camera's cost is negligible.
No.708
http://vrfocus.com/archives/14122/nokia-working-vr-report-suggests/
Finnish company Nokia used to be a household name in the mobile phone business. That fact has changed over the past few years as Microsoft announced that it was to acquire this arm of the company back in 2013, taking over the Lumia, X and Asha brands. Nokia itself still very much exists, however, and is reportedly planning a return to the mobile phone market next year, along with taking its first steps into the world of virtual reality (VR) technology.
That is according to Re/code, which cites two sources that have been briefed on Nokia’s plans. The site reports that Nokia Technologies, one of the three arms of the company that remained following Microsoft’s buyout, is spearheading the move. Specific details about the company’s work in VR were not revealed. It could of course be that Nokia is planning a smartphone-based head-mounted display (HMD) similar to what can be seen with Samsung’s Gear VR, LG’s HMD for its G3 handset and other such companies, though this isn’t confirmed.
If true then don’t expect to hear more on the VR project until next year. Richard Kerris, a former Nokia executive, teased to Re/code that the company has ‘a lot of great stuff in development,’ though didn’t reveal any specific products. “It gave me complete confidence that Nokia is a company that is not going away,” Kerris said.
It certainly sounds as if Nokia is planning to make some big moves, then, but could it really be looking at VR?
No.709
http://www.roadtovr.com/googles-chief-technology-advocate-joins-wearlity-sky-ceo-kickstarter-passes-60000/
Wearality Sky has surpassed half of its crowdfunding goal of $100,000 for their VR smartphone adapter, a device that offers a 150 degree field of view (FOV) for 5–6 inch phones. With former Google Chief Technology Advocate Michael Jones signing on as new CEO of the startup, adding to the already major league cast of the project, the sky’s the limit (sorry).
Wearality Sky’s main selling point is all about the optics, which offers an impressive 150 degree horizontal FOV, a size that comes close to covering the entire span of the human eyes’ natural FOV of ~180 degrees, according to the company. Arguably more important though is the portability of these high FOV frames, which feature a fold-up design that lets you store it easily in a space as small as a front shirt pocket so you can always have it at the ready for whenever a relative or friend inevitably says “VR? I’ve never tried that.”
Wearality Sky on Kickstarter (https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/wearality/wearality-sky-limitless-vr/)
As Wearality’s Kickstarter campaign has surged past the half-way mark, a new face has appeared to take on the job of CEO for the new startup: Michael Jones, former Chief Technology Advocate of Google. Jones originally came to Google through the 2004 acquisition of his company Keyhole Corp, the minds that developed the technology used today in Google Earth. Jones also previously served as chief technologist of Google Maps, Earth, and Local Search.
Jones has replaced David A. Smith as CEO, who is concurrently working as Chief Innovation Officer at Lockheed Martin. Signed on to the project is also long-time VR advocate and developer Mark Bolas, director of the ‘MxR’ Mixed-Reality Lab at USC and lead on the FOV2GO project, an early Cardboard-like smartphone adapter, and one of the projects that Rift inventor Palmer Luckey worked on in his pre-Oculus days. Long-time computer scientist Alan Kay is advising on the project, joining Vi Hart, founder of eleVR.
Along with the new CEO, Wearality has also added a few more goodies since the last time we checked in with the campaign. ‘Early Adopter’ dev kits now feature removable blinders that help close off the open rim design of the device, helping to limit the amount of light enters from the outside world and increasing immersion. We’d like to see more of a closed design eventually but there’s a balance between performance and portability to be considered.
The $69 basic funding tier is still available at the time of this writing, which the company says is a “significant reduction [in cost] from expected retail.” Check out Wearlity Sky’s Kickstarter for more additional reward tiers.
No.710
http://vrfocus.com/archives/14217/sign-ups-open-htc-vive-developer-kit-edition/
Taiwanese smartphone manufacturer HTC shocked the virtual reality (VR) industry last month with news that it was partnering with Steam owner Valve to create a brand new head-mounted display (HMD), the HTC Vive. Not only was this surprise team-up taking place but development kits for the device were announced to be arriving in spring 2015, with a full consumer release happening in time for holiday 2015. This week sees the development kit move one step closer to release as Valve has posted the sign-up form to register interest in receiving a device.
Studios can now head to Steam to apply for a HTC Vive Developer Edition kit. Instead of allowing almost anyone to purchase a device as with the development kits for the Oculus Rift HMD, Valve requires developers to enter their company name along with a description of their VR project, its estimated launch date and the size of the team involved with making it. Valve will use this information to allocate kits throughout spring and summer 2015, with new units being shipped every few weeks. Successful applicants will receive kits free of charge.
“The Steam VR Developer Community is for developers with an HTC Vive Developer Edition kit,” an update on Steam notes. “This Community will be publically visible, so even if you have not received a dev kit, you can read the messages and follow along with development. Posting is for active developers only, so that the information is relevant to developers who are using the same dev kit, sharing their knowledge and helping us work through improvements.”
The company also reiterated that the consumer version of the HTC Vive would be arriving later in 2015, though didn’t offer a more specific launch date past the already-known holiday 2015 window.
No.711
http://uploadvr.com/vrideo-virtual-reality-streaming-video-youtube/
One of the earliest and most talked about ideas for VR is “the YouTube of VR,” a service that would allow for people to upload and share 360 video content online – and make it viewable in virtual reality. The space rapidly became crowded with a number of different people taking approaches of varying success, then in March YouTube announced 360 video support and many assumed that the “YouTube of VR” would, in fact, be YouTube. With a seriously large purse, this could definitely be the case but that isn’t going to stop another contender who also stepped into the ring in March from trying to be the David to their Goliath.
VRideo (http://www.vrideo.com/) is a new online 360 video and virtual experience streaming service that has already jolted itself to the front of the class. Boasting a polished web UI, 3D video and WebVR support (meaning that it can support the Oculus Rift) – VRideo may be one of the most complete solutions on the market now.
VRideo boasts one of the best looking web UI's we have seen for 360 streaming services
Alex Rosenfeld, VRideo’s founder and CEO, set out to create “the most fully built-out and realized product in the space for our creators and audiences.” Going about that, VRideo’s focus has been on two major things, creating the best possible user experience and providing content creators with the best possible toolkit – not just for uploading their projects, but for managing their presence online as well.
For creators, this means access to a whole slew of features. These include things you would expect to see from a modern video site like the ability to manage multiple channels (Allen DeBevoise, the co-founder of Machima, is an investor – many credit him with establishing the multi-channel network on YouTube), playlists, detailed categorization, custom URLs, etc. Beyond some of the things you might expect, there are also some features that are unique to VRideo such as the ability to set the orientation for your video (i.e. you can set the start point so that the user is focused on what you want them to be focused on in the content right off the bat) as well as stereoscopic 3D video support.
No.712
>>711
As of writing, VRideo has the ability to stream in up to 4k but the feature is currently turned off because most users don’t have the ability to support 4k playback yet. That being said, the limited amount of content that is currently available in 2k (the highest current resolution on the site) plays smoothly and looks fantastic. In fact you can try out one of the 2K videos right here (see these instructions for VR playback (http://support.vrideo.com/knowledgebase/articles/503390)):
On the user experience side VRideo is also quite excellent. Currently the experience can be viewed using both a DK2 and a Google Cardboard with excellent support for both with WebVR. The process on desktop is stupidly simple – once you have set up WebVR all you have to do is press the little eye icon and ‘BAM’ you are in virtual reality mode. The VR mode even has a very basic UI (which will be improved upon soon) that allows you to pause and play the video, change the volume and browse a limited selection of recommended videos (based on what you are watching). This represents the barebones for what will eventually become a much more thoroughly built out UI in the near future.
The team is also hard at work on an app for VRideo that will make the content more natively accessible on the desktop, with a more thoroughly built UI. This is part of the team’s effort to make the platform as universally accessible as possible, says Rosenfeld “We’re building our native VR experience to be easily extendable across the many VR headsets coming to market over the next year, including the Gear VR, HTC Vive, Oculus Rift CV1, and Sony Morpheus. We’re looking forward to being able to share more.” Right now the content can be enjoyed on DK2, Cardboard, and on the GearVR (by downloading the videos directly). Currently, YouTube doesn’t support any of the major headsets natively, but that is likely to change in the future.
To date, VRideo has raised over $1.8 million from a rather illustrious list of investors to help build this platform out. The list includes people like the Vice Chair of Viacom and CBS, the Co-founder & Chairman of Machinima, the Chairman of Buzzfeed, the Co-founder & CEO of Thrillist, the former CEO of the Huffington Post, the former Chief Digital Officer of News Corp, the former SVP of Technology at Time Warner, the Co-founder of PriceGrabber, and hip-hop legend Nasir (“Nas”) Jones. This investor list may prove to be one of VRideo’s secret weapons, as every one of these individuals has strong ties to the entertainment industry – and as the medium matures, access to high-end content will be key. Says Rosenfeld, “we have unique access to and relationships with creative, major brands, and media giants who are starting to activate in VR,” and those connections will be key.
At this point, however, much of what is currently available isn’t worth watching, with stitching and other issues abounding on some of the most amateur content. That being said there is still some content worth highlighting. Browsing through the videos available I found a few that definitely stood above the rest, Chernobyl – a 360 experience taking you through the famous site by Cinemactive, for example felt quite comfortable with little noticeable stitching. Travel experiences also tend to play well, with the environment demos by Atmosphaeres being among my favorites. The good content, however, is still harshly contrasted by the bad and it would be nice to have a way that users could rate based on quality of the video itself rather than quality of content.
Right now it’s far far too early to declare a winner in the virtual reality streaming service war. The battle lines are still being drawn and we are still at a stage where nobody has much ammunition, but the stockpiles of content are coming. Having used each of the available services for watching streaming 360 video, right now it is hard to say anyone is doing it better than VRideo, and with the improvements that are coming down the pipeline (we should be seeing a full preview of the desktop app at SVVR) that may not change for the foreseeable future.
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No.715
http://vrfocus.com/archives/14248/facebook-early-discuss-shipping-oculus-rift/
Valve and HTC are planning to ship a consumer version of the Vive virtual reality (VR) head-mounted display (HMD) by the end of the year, Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE) has attached a Q1/Q2 2016 release for its Project Morpheus kit and Samsung and Oculus VR have suggested that a consumer version of the Gear VR is on the way soon. That’s three major HMDs with release windows but the Oculus Rift, considered to be the device responsible for VR’s recent revival, is still yet to see its own launch date. Fans may be hoping for news of that launch soon but, according to Oculus VR owner Facebook, that shouldn’t hold their breath.
As reported by Gamasutra, Facebook CFO David Wehner recently stated that it was ‘very early’ to be discussing large-scale shipments of the anticipated HMD. “We have not announced any specific plans for shipment volumes in 2015 related to Oculus,” Wehner said in response to an analyst question during a recent Facebook earning’s call. “Oculus is very much in the development stage, so it’s very early to be talking about large shipment volumes.”
This statement was later followed by one from CEO Mark Zuckerberg that largely repeated Wehner’s comments: “So we have not announced any specific plans for shipment volumes in 2015 related to Oculus,” Zuckerberg said. “I just note that Oculus is very much in the development stage, so it’s early to be talking about large shipment volumes, and our expense guidance reflects any volumes that we might do in 2015.
Oculus VR debuted the latest prototype version of the Oculus Rift, dubbed Crescent Bay, at its Oculus Connect development conference in September 2014. Since that time both the company and Facebook have avoided making comments about a possible 2015 launch for the consumer version of the kit.
No.716
http://vrfocus.com/archives/14279/gear-vr-s6-release-date-confirmed/
Back in March 2015 Samsung confirmed that it was developing a new version of its Gear VR smartphone-based virtual reality (VR) head-mounted display (HMD) for use with its latest flagship handsets, the Galaxy S6 and S6 edge. The company and its partner, Oculus VR, have been relatively quiet on the kit since its reveal at the 2015 Mobile World Congress (MWC) event, but have today finally confirmed a release date for it along with when fans can lay down a pre-order.
The Gear VR Innovator Edition for S6 will start taking pre-orders tomorrow, 24th April 2015 from BestBuy.com and is expected to be available to buy online from the same site and Samsung.com/GearVR on 8th May. Those looking to pick the device up from a physical retailer can head to a Best Buy from 15th May. Stock at these stores will be limited at first but expand over the course of this summer. Note that these dates likely only apply to the US at this point in time.
“We’re excited to bring our amazing virtual reality offerings to even more people with the Gear VR Innovator Edition for S 6,” said Nick DiCarlo, vice president and general manager of immersive products and virtual reality at Samsung Electronics America. “The continued expansion and availability of the Gear VR platform is a strong signal to VR developers and content creators about the viability of this new opportunity. Along with our great partners Oculus and Best Buy, we’re pushing this mobile VR revolution forward and are grateful to work with the amazingly open and passionate VR community.”
Though this new Gear VR succeeds the original version, which supported the Galaxy Note 4 smartphone, it’s still dubbed as an ‘Innovator Edition’ intended for early adopters and developers. Oculus VR recently revealed that it would be going ‘full consumer’ with the next iteration of the device, which it suggested would be revealed in Samsung’s next product cycle update. Traditionally speaking, Samsung’s second annual update arrives in September.
No.719
YouTube embed. Click thumbnail to play.
http://www.roadtovr.com/widescale-tracking-real-props-make-even-immersive-vr-experience/
Kenzan, a Geneva based 3D visual effects company, has recently released a video showing a curious motion capture installation that could have you discovering a pharaoh’s tomb in a setting that blends the physical world with the virtual. The company calls it Real Virtuality.
Kenzan partnered with Artanim, a motion capture (mocap) company also working out of Geneva, to create the project. The experience relies on Artanim’s mocap system, which comes complete with multiple retro-reflective markers for feet, hands, and props such that the infrared cameras can establish the place of those objects in the physical world.
Real Virtuality uses only a few markers (the little grey ball things) because according to Artanim, the number of markers “must be minimal to keep the visitor’s setup time as short as possible, while ensuring a good tracking accuracy.”
The companies behind the joint venture say Real Virtuality would be ideal for museums, art installations, and general gaming applications like virtual paintball or laser tag.
“We aim at combining a dedicated virtual space with a real one, and merge the visual and audio input provided by the VR headsets with the sense of touch and smell that only physical objects can offer. This would be achieved by combining VR headsets with a physical decor and interactive objects.”
While consumers are unlikely to have such a setup in the home, a system like this would be great for a VR arcade or themepark. Creators of such experiences could easily rearrange the physical walls and props into limitless configurations, allowing for rapid prototyping of VR attractions by reducing design and manufacturing costs by moving much of it to a virtual canvas.
No.720
http://www.roadtovr.com/samsung-gear-vr-for-s6-hands-on-the-best-picture-quality-weve-ever-seen/
We had the Samsung Gear VR team in our office recently and they gave us a hands on look at the new Gear VR headset for the Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge. Here are some of the notable improvements.
First of all, the headset is lighter and the phone connector is tighter. Apparently it’s 15% percent smaller than the original Gear VR for Note 4. Newly added is a silent fan that helps keep the lenses fog free.
One thing we noticed and totally appreciate is the USB port on the bottom of the headset, which allows you to charge while the phone is plugged into the unit. We do a lot of events and having a plug on the outside is going to come in handy for keeping the phones powered throughout the day. The original Gear VR didn’t have a plug on the outside, you had to remove the phone to charge.
The focus wheel on top of the Gear VR for S6 gives you an extra 10-20% more tuning ability over the original. This diopter adjustment brings the virtual reality image into focus without the need for glasses, offering a more comfortable view and increasing the field of view by allowing the lenses closer to the user’s eyes than if they were wearing glasses.
For those of you that always had a hard time locating the trackpad on the side of the unit, they have added a small tactile bump, which is great for finding the center of the pad. The trackpad feels like it’s been indented a little more, making the edges more pronounced.
We got to look at some of our latest work on the Galaxy S6 which fits beautifully in the headset. I have to say that it delivers the best picture quality we’ve ever seen in a VR headset. The 577 PPI pixel density of the S6’s 2560×1440 display is fantastic, removing the screendoor effect that has plagued headsets for years (the Note 4 used in the original Gear VR has a larger display of the same resolution, resulting in a lower pixel density). The future looks great.
The Samsung Gear VR for S6 is now available for pre-order from Best Buy and will be available for sale from BestBuy.com and Samsung.com starting on May 8th.
No.721
http://www.roadtovr.com/facebook-earnings-call-oculus-rift-release-date-2015-launc/
A report regarding a Facebook earnings call from Gamasutra earlier this week painted a dim picture for an Oculus Rift 2015 release date. However, an equity analyst who spoke with Road to VR says that the call didn’t rule out a 2015 launch.
For those just tuning in to the Oculus story, here’s a recap: Oculus (the company) launched largely out of a highly successful 2012 Kickstarter which raised money for a development kit of their Rift VR headset (the DK1), which launched in 2013. This was followed by a second development kit (the DK2) in 2014. Shortly thereafter, Oculus was acquired by Facebook for $2 billion. The company’s developers and supporters have been eagerly anticipating the announcement of the consumer version of the Oculus Rift, the so called ‘CV1′.
In recent months, the progress seen from serious competitors like Valve (launching the HTC Vive in Q4, 2015) and Sony (launching Morpheus in Q2 2016) have only raised the stakes. Now almost 5 months into 2015, Oculus has remained tight lipped about a release date, leaving outsiders with nothing but to scrutinize any evidence which might hint at the date. The question on the minds of many: 2015 or 2016? (I’m sure you can guess which is preferred by most).
A report from Gamasutra earlier this week regarding the Facebook Q1 2015 Earnings call purported that a 2015 Oculus Rift release was unlikely based on statements made in the call; the article opened:
"It doesn’t sound like Oculus will ship the consumer version of its Oculus Rift VR headset this year, or at least not in very large quantities."
It went on to quote from the call what may seem like a damning exchange for a possible Oculus Rift 2015 release date:
"Q: Mark, does the opex [operating expense] guide assume an Oculus product for consumers this calendar year? And will the initial product focus on gaming, or more around the experiences you showed at F8 around non-gaming, like that Saturday Night Live demo?"
"A: Ben, let me take the opex guidance question. So we have not announced any specific plans for shipment volumes in 2015 related to Oculus. I just note that Oculus is very much in the development stage, so it’s early to be talking about large shipment volumes, and our expense guidance reflects any volumes that we might do in 2015."
But according to an equity analyst who listened in to the earnings call, the language used here is specific and can’t be interpreted colloquially.
“…there is no information here that rules out Oculus shipping in 2015,” said the analyst, who asked not to be identified. The analyst delved into the context of the comments starting by reviewing the statement by Facebook that led to the question (Q, above):
"Turning to expense guidance. We are tightening our expense guidance range modestly based on better visibility into our annual spending… Our expense outlook reflects the broad range of investments that we’re making in both our services and infrastructure as we continue to enhance the core experiences on Facebook and Instagram, grow our messaging products, strengthen our advertising business globally and invest in long-term growth areas like Oculus and internet.org."
No.722
>>721
“What this means is that they are providing an updated projection for what they expect expenses to be in 2015. This projection includes everything they expect to be spending on, including Oculus,” said the analyst.
Regarding the answer (A, above), the analyst told me that the language doesn’t support the conclusion that the consumer Oculus Rift won’t ship in 2015.
“This means that there are no publicly disclosed plans for Oculus shipping this year. Maybe it will, maybe it won’t, but [Facebook doesn’t] want to discuss it, including what the volumes might be. If you are asking if Oculus is included in the spending plans mentioned above, the answer is yes,” the analyst said. “Gamasutra and many others seem to have misinterpreted ‘We don’t want to tell you’ as ‘No CV1 in 2015′.”
The analyst, who has a personal investment in Facebook stock but does not cover the company directly (nor does their firm), had their own thoughts about the situation.
“While it’s concerning that they aren’t talking about it with only about eight months left in the year, you simply can’t draw any conclusions from the exact language they used in the call. For context, Apple is the same way—they don’t talk about new products at all, yet they ship new iPhones every year,” they said. “If no Oculus CV1 was announced at E3 [in June], I would be personally concerned since that is traditionally where you would announce something big, although again, Apple announces iPhones like a month or two before release so who knows what model Facebook and Zuck will follow, maybe they will host their own launch events.”
Oculus declined to comment about the Gamasutra article and the Facebook earnings call.
At the very end of 2014, Oculus founder Palmer Luckey reaffirmed that the DK2 would be the last development kit before the Oculus Rift CV1 would launch.
Last month, Facebook CTO Mike Schroepfer seemed to drop a major hint of a 2015 Oculus Rift launch during a keynote at Facebook’s F8 developer conference. Schroepfer later denied speaking specifically about Oculus and said that he was talking generally about “PC hardware available this year [that can] create these [VR] experiences.”
No.733
http://vrfocus.com/archives/14302/air-new-zealand-uses-oculus-rift-showcase-aircraft-future/
Many would say that the Oculus Rift virtual reality (VR) head-mounted display (HMD) is the future, transforming videogames, movies, travel, medicine, education and much more. Others are already using the Oculus Rift to actually show the future. For example, Air New Zealand, a national airline organisation and flag carrier of New Zealand, has used the kit to showcase a possible future for inflight entertainment on its aircraft. The piece features as part of the company’s celebrations for its 75th Anniversary, taking place this year.
As Stuff reports, the company is hosting an exhibition at the Te Papa Museum in Wellington until 7th June 2015. Part of this showcase is the Virtual Flight Lab, which sits players in a mock cabin and allows them to strap on an Oculus Rift. As seen in the picture above (provided by Stuff), users will find themselves in a virtual aircraft from the future, which features a full view of the passenger’s surroundings both in and out of the craft. The seats in front of users go above and beyond the traditional tiny screen, with the entire backs of chairs turned into interact menus that display flight information and more. The aircraft will eventually take users to exotic destinations.
This is just one more example in a growing list of using the Oculus Rift and other HMDs to promote brands. VR is becoming a powerful tool for companies to use to capture an audience’s attention. The tech has already seen a wide range of uses in other areas of the travel industry, including giving customers the chance to sample a trip to South Africa and other regions of the world before committing to a holiday. Expect to see plenty more examples of VR being used for these kinds of promotions as the technology grows in popularity..
No.735
http://vrfocus.com/archives/14394/oculus-vrs-nate-mitchell-speak-disrupt-ny-next-week/
There are a lot of questions facing virtual reality (VR) specialist, Oculus VR, at the moment. Many of these are to do with the highly-anticipated and yet still unrevealed consumer version of the Oculus Rift head-mounted display (HMD). With the HTC Vive HMD gearing up for a holiday 2015 launch and the consumer version of Oculus VR’s other kit, Gear VR, likely to hit soon, many want to know when the device will finally be revealed. VP of product Nate Mitchell will likely face these questions and more next week as he attends the Disrupt NY event in New York, USA.
Disrupt NY is organised by Tech Crunch and takes place from 4th – 6th May 2015 at the Manhattan Center. Mitchell himself has a large role in Oculus VR as one of its co-founders and is often a public face for the company at events such as E3 and its own developer conference, Oculus Connect. He’s also in charge of aspects such as the recently-announced Oculus Story Studio, a new film-focused division of the company currently working on titles such as Lost. Mitchell is well-positioned to talk about Oculus VR, then, and will hopefully provide more insight at the event.
Oculus VR’s most recent iteration of the Oculus Rift is its Crescent Bay prototype, revealed at Oculus Connect in September 2014. The kit utilises two screens but also boasts full 360 degree positional tracking along with integrated audio. The company won’t be releasing any further development kits and has since replaced the second such kit, DK2, with Crescent Bay kits at various events. Back at Oculus Connect it was noted that, while Crescent Bay is not the consumer version of the device, it’s close to what consumers can expect.
Other speakers at Disrupt NY include Tinder’s Sean Rad, FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler, and Vine’s Jason Mante. Tickets to the event are still on sale.
No.736
File: E3_1.png (251.41 KB, 650x350, 13:7, E3_1.png)
http://vrfocus.com/archives/14419/oculus-e3/
It’s just over a month and a half now until the biggest event in the videogame calendar, E3. The expo, which will see virtually every major player in the industry gather under one roof, takes place from 16th – 19th June 2015, promising reveals of brand new titles and more. Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE) has already confirmed that it will have more to show for its Project Morpheus virtual reality (VR) head-mounted display (HMD) for PlayStation 4 at the event, and now Oculus VR has teased that it will also have some big news to share.
The company suggested as much in a new update for its Oculus Rift HMD Kickstarter backers, made available by Reddit user VRJon. A lengthy post is mainly used to explain the ‘Render the Meatverse’ competition that Oculus VR announced alongside OTOY earlier today. However, as the post’s conclusion notes: “It’s 6 weeks until E3 2015, and we can’t wait to share what we’ve been working on. We’re looking forward to seeing you at the show!”
What could Oculus VR be teasing for the show? Given the tease being made on the Kickstarter page, it certainly seems as if any news would relate to the Oculus Rift over Oculus VR’s other HMD, the Gear VR. Last year saw Oculus VR push its videogame focus at the event, revealing Playful Corp.’s Lucky’s Tale and announcing that it had hired Naughty Dog founder Jason Rubin as its Head of Worldwide Studios. Could an update on Rubin’s work, along with any new titles, feature at the show?
Of course, the most sought-after news is details and a release date for the consumer version of the Oculus Rift. Project Morpheus is set to arrive in the first half of 2016 and Valve and HTC’s Vive will be available for Holiday 2015, leaving many wondering just when the device will finally arrive. Will E3 prove to be the venue for the much-anticipated reveal?
No.737
http://vrfocus.com/archives/14447/oculus-focus-full-gamesexperiences-rift-launch/
There’s one burning question on the minds of just about every virtual reality (VR) developer and fan at the moment; when is the consumer version of the Oculus Rift head-mounted display (HMD) going to launch? Valve and HTC have set a holiday 2015 window for the PC-based Vive while Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE) is gearing up for the first half of 2016 with its Project Morpheus PlayStation 4 HMD, but Oculus VR remains silent. Those worried about the launch line up for the device have been reassured today, however, as the company has reiterated that it’s focus is currently on ‘full games/experiences’.
Callum Underwood, who handles Content for Oculus VR, recently stated as much in a call out to developers over on Twitter. “Remember – if you’re working on cool stuff for VR, let me know about it!” Underwood noted. “Focus is on full games/experiences for launch.”
A number of developers have noted their intentions to be ready for the launch of the Oculus Rift, although it remains to be seen if they will be able to do this once a timeframe is given. Oculus VR itself is working to publish content on the platform including EVE: Valkyrie from CCP Games and Lucky’s Tale from Playful Corp. Last year the company also announced that it had hired Naughty Dog founder Jason Rubin to head up its Worldwide Studios efforts, creating its own first-party content for the device.
Oculus VR recently teased that it would be making new announcements (http://vrfocus.com/archives/14419/oculus-e3/) at this year’s E3 expo from 16th – 19th June.
No.738
http://vrfocus.com/archives/14482/feelreal-launches-kickstarter-multisensory-vr-mask-nirvana-helmet/
Back at the 2015 Game Developers Conference (GDC) in March FellReal unveiled a unique addition to virtual reality (VR) head-mounted displays (HMDs) in the FeelReal VR Mask. The kit stole headlines with its much-touted feature that allows users to smell the atmospheres of environments that they visit in VR. Today sees FellReal launch a Kickstarter crowd-funding campaign (https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/feelreal/feelreal-vr-mask-and-helmet), seeking $50,000 USD to aid production of the kit along with a brand new product that adds even more features to the concept, the Nivrana VR Helmet.
The FeelReal Mask fits to any HMD, covering the lower half of a user’s face, and then manipulates airflows to simulate temperatures, splashes water mists to add immersion to wet environments and, includes a microphone for communication in multiplayer titles. Easily the most intriguing component of the mask though is an ‘odour generator’ that allows players to smell the environments that they visit, aiming to create an even deeper sense of immersion than what’s currently possible with HMDs alone.
Intriguingly, the FeelReal Nirvana VR Helmet takes the form of a new, smartphone-based HMD that covers the user’s entire head. This allows for a range of new features to add to the FeelReal experience including a 3D audio system. The mask itself appears to attach this helmet, meaning it can be used separately.
Early versions of the FEELREAL Mask developer kit are currently available for $250 over on Kickstarter and are expected to arrive in July 2015 with seven unique smells and the Feelreal Player used to configure smells and effects to experiences. An early prototype version of the Helmet is available for $500 for shipping in August in 2015.
Truly unfortunate that you'll look like a gimp by wearing both a headset and mask, but maybe it's worth it so that you can get full immersion?
No.739
File: Jaunt_1.jpg (20.56 KB, 630x355, 126:71, Jaunt_1.jpg)
http://vrfocus.com/archives/14480/jaunt-hires-lucasfilm-alumni-form-jaunt-studios/
One of the leading names in cinematic virtual reality (VR) video content over the past year is Jaunt. In recent months the company has released a slew of content onto head-mounted displays (HMDs) such as the Oculus Rift and Google Cardboard. Videos have ranged from live performances from artists such as Sir Paul McCartney and Jack White to adventure videos made in partnership with The North Face. Today sees Jaunt take the next step in its journey as it announces a new creative arm named Jaunt Studios.
Jaunt Studios is set to focus on creating new live-action VR experiences, both with the help of content partners and with an increased focus on original, narrative VR content. To form the new division, the company has hired former figureheads as Lucasfilm including CTO Cliff Plumer, COO and General Counsel David Anderman and Head of Corporate Communications Miles Perkins. Plumer comes on board as Head of Jaunt Studios. The new team will be based in Los Angeles, California, USA.
“Entertainment and the way we consume content of all kinds, from film to music to sports, is evolving quickly, especially with the proliferation of smartphones. Virtual reality is already playing a huge role in the future of media and this is just the beginning,” said Jens Christensen, CEO of Jaunt. “Jaunt Studios will allow us to put more specific resources and expertise behind creative content, while at the same time the Jaunt team in Silicon Valley can continue to build best-of-class technology.”
The team’s first two projects will be made in collaboration with Condé Nast Entertainment, working on two series that explore Condé Nast’s travel, lifestyle, fashion, sports, and technology content. Further details on the content will be announced in the coming months.
No.740
http://www.roadtovr.com/htc-vive-steam-vr-support-morpheus-features-unreal-engine-4/
According to Epic’s Unreal Engine roadmap, the company is soon to add support for Valve’s SteamVR / HTC Vive platform as well as new features for Sony’s Morpheus VR headset.
With strong existing support for both the Oculus Rift and Gear VR, Epic has been hard at work to make their Unreal Engine 4 appealing to virtual reality developers. Epic is largely competing with Unity, with both engines having professed support for the Rift as far back as Oculus’ 2012 Kickstarter. The two engines power the majority of real-time VR experiences currently available.
Epic’s latest move in the hopes of being the premier VR development engine is adding support for SteamVR / HTC Vive, Valve’s virtual reality system that made huge waves in the VR space after its reveal at GDC 2015 in March. Valve recently solicited signups for the Developer Edition of the VR platform (http://www.roadtovr.com/htc-vive-developer-edition-signups-open-steamvr-free-selected-devs-not-for-sale/).
According to Epic’s official UE4 Roadmap (https://trello.com/b/gHooNW9I/ue4-roadmap), the company is working on “Steam VR How-To” documentation for the platform’s integration with the engine. Similarly, the company has detailed documentation (https://docs.unrealengine.com/latest/INT/Platforms/VR/) for developers working with the Oculus Rift and Gear VR.
The task was added to the roadmap on April 24th by Katie McGovern, a senior producer on Unreal Engine, and the card indicates that the company plans to complete the task in April or May.
Also of note is another task added by McGovern on the same day which simply says “Supporting new Morpheus features,” which is also planned for completion in April or May. We’re left with little to go on here but one guess is that Epic may be adding support for Morpheus’ ‘Asynchronous Reprojection’, allowing developers to target native 120Hz or 60Hz experiences that are reprojected for 120Hz display. Sony announced this feature at GDC 2015.
No.741
http://vrfocus.com/archives/14468/oculus-vr-hires-former-valve-google-employees/
Following its acquisition by social networking giant Facebook last year, Oculus VR went on something of a hiring spree. In the months that followed the announcement the company managed to take on board high-profile developers and engineers such as Valve’s Michael Abrash and former THQ CEO and Naughty Dog founder Jason Rubin. The company has been quieter on the hiring front in 2015, however, but has this week welcomed two new people into the fold.
First up is Mary Lou Jepsen, the engineer behind the One Laptop Per Child $100 laptop and leader of Google’s ‘moonshot’ display projects. Her specific position hasn’t been announced but, given her work in display technology, it could well be that Jepsen will focus on improving screens within the Oculus Rift virtual reality (VR) head-mounted display (HMD).
“Virtual reality has been seen as a niche product for the wealthy,” Jepsen said of her appointment. “Like One Laptop Per Child’s vision of computers for the poorest children, we imagine VR as an enabling technology, a platform for mass adoption, for women and men, adults and children, rich and poor, everywhere.”
The second hire is Anna Sweet, another Valve employee to make the jump to the VR specialist, even with the announcement of Valve’s own HMD, Vive. Sweet joins Oculus VR as Head of Developer Strategy, having previously led Steam software and hardware programmes.
“The first time I put on a VR headset, I knew it was the next thing I wanted to work on — it was the same feeling I had when my parents bought me a Tandy when I was a kid,” said Sweet. “The ways in which VR can impact our lives is boundless, and I’m extremely excited to work with the world class team at Oculus to build the VR platforms and experiences that will shape the future of technology. I look forward to helping support and enable partners and developers across many industries to be a part of that.”
Oculus VR is currently gearing up to show its latest work to the world at E3 2015.
No.742
YouTube embed. Click thumbnail to play.
http://vrfocus.com/archives/14497/gopro-turns-attention-vr-acquires-kolor-360-video-platform/
360 video is becoming an increasingly important part of the virtual reality (VR) landscape. Using multi-sensor camera rigs, users are able to shoot video that can be stitched together and then viewed within a head-mounted display (HMD) to give viewers a feeling of visiting new locations in real life. Many of the videos that viewers will have seen in the past will have been shot using multiple GoPro cameras that have been attached to a rig. This week sees GoPro itself become more directly connected with VR as it has announced an acquisition of 360 video player company, Kolor.
Kolor’s work includes 360 video stitching software as well as a free platform that already features support for the Oculus Rift HMD on its PC-based player and smartphone-based HMDs via an Android and iOS app. Kolor employees will now operate under GoPro and maintain operations at the company’s headquarters in Savoie, France. As part of the announcement, GoPro has revealed a new 360 degree video titled ‘Land, Air and Sea’, which can currently be seen below via Youtube. The video will also arrive on both the Oculus Rift and Samsung’s Gear VR HMD in the future.
“We are excited to welcome Kolor to GoPro,” said Nicholas Woodman, GoPro’s founder and CEO. “GoPro’s capture devices and Kolor’s software will combine to deliver exciting and highly accessible solutions for capturing, creating and sharing spherical content.”
No.743
File: url.jpg (208.33 KB, 530x424, 5:4, url.jpg)
https://vimeo.com/126275510
John Carmack at The University of Texas at Dallas on April 9, 2015
He's talking about VR obviously.
No.744
http://www.gizmag.com/hands-omni-haptic-glove-lets-gamers-feel-virtual-objects/37188/
While virtual reality has progressed leaps and bounds in the past few years, with motion-based inputs and a plethora of promising VR headsets close on the horizon, our ability to actually feel what we see in virtual worlds remains limited – especially in the consumer space. But a team of engineering students at Rice University is trying to solve this problem with a haptic glove that lets you feel virtual objects and environments like they're actually there.
The Hands Omni glove is being targeted at gamers, with VR-focused gaming technology company Virtuix – famous for the Virtuix Omni treadmill – sponsoring work to turn it into a commercial product.
Right now it's just a prototype, however. "What we’ve made is a glove that uses air to inflate bladders underneath your fingers," says mechanical engineering student Thor Walker. "So you can hook this up to a video game and when you reach out and grab a virtual object, it feels like you’re actually grabbing that object."
The glove provides a sense of touch through bladders beneath the fingertips that expand an…
The glove fits on your right hand and works without any external wires or cables. It provides haptic feedback through bladders in the fingertips that expand and contract to give the sense that you're holding or touching an object. The ring and pinky fingers trigger pressure as one in the prototype, which is fairly consistent with their limited independence in the human hand, while the other fingers and thumb can receive separate signals.
The Hands Omni glove weighs around 350 g (12 oz), which its creators say makes it light enough to be comfortable on your hand even for long sessions. "The user will hardly know it's there," says team member Kevin Koch.
It's not yet ready for the public, though. Walker compares the current state of the project to Google Cardboard – it works, but it needs further development before it's ready to sell to a general consumer audience.
You can see a video of the glove in action below.
No.745
http://vrfocus.com/archives/14536/epic-ship-steamvr-support-unreal-engine-4-8-preview/
Epic Games has made several significant changes to its popular virtual reality (VR) compatible engine, Unreal Engine 4, in 2015. While new updates have arrived at regular intervals, the company also took the chance at the Game Developers Conference (GDC) in March to reveal that the engine would be made available for free. Yet another important addition is due to arrive next week, as Epic Games ships the first preview release of Unreal Engine 4.8, which will include official support for Valve’s SteamVR system.
The company notes that Unreal Engine 4.8 will feature ‘plug-and-play’ integration with SteamVR, allowing for easy development across the system’s unique features. This includes the room-scale tracking, in which users can walk around in an area of up to 15 feet by 15 feet and have those movements replicated in-game thanks to a laser-based tracking solution known as Lighthouse. Support for SteamVR’s input solution, a pair of motion-tracked controllers, is also included while there’s also integration into Blueprint visual scripting and native code so developers need not depend on programmers for its use.
Developers will be able to test and utilise these features for themselves with the first head-mounted display (HMD) to use SteamVR, the HTC Vive. The kit recently opened sign up pages for studios to apply for a free developer edition of the device. Units are expected to ship in the near future and continue to go out throughout summer 2015. The kit itself is expected to launch in time for holiday 2015.
“Epic is once again taking a leadership position in the technology solution space by embracing the industry-wide momentum toward VR,” said Gabe Newell of Valve. “With SteamVR integrated into its engine tech, Epic is making it that much easier for Unreal Engine developers to be successful.”
No.746
http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=news_item&px=OpenVR-SDK-Valve-Release
'''Valve Software today released the OpenVR SDK, an API and runtime that allows accessing virtual reality hardware from multiple vendors without requiring the applications be specifically targeting that platform.
The OpenVR SDK is basically an abstraction layer for game/application developers to easily target that in turn has back-end support for the HTC Vive Developer Edition, SteamVR controller, and Lighthouse.
More details on the OpenVR SDK can be found via today's announcement while this VR software development kit is hosted over on GitHub.'''
https://github.com/ValveSoftware/openvr
It's been out for a day and it's already shaping up to be better than OSVR.
No.747
No.750
File: GearVR_2.png (99.4 KB, 630x346, 315:173, GearVR_2.png)
http://vrfocus.com/archives/14622/s6-gear-vr-get-content-note-4-version-due-performance-reasons/
When Samsung revealed a new version of its Gear VR smartphone-based virtual reality (VR) head-mounted display (HMD) back in March 2015, it confirmed that all previous content would support the device. The new iteration of the kit swaps compatibility with the Galaxy Note 4 enlarged handset for the company’s latest flagship phone, the Galaxy S6 and its curved spin-off, S6 Edge. One might assume that Samsung would keep this parity between the two HMDs in place going forward. That doesn’t seem to be the case, however; certain content released for Gear VR in the past week is only compatible with the newer HMD.
Reports of the situation first came in with this week’s reveal of Battle for Avengers Tower, which made specific note of the Gear VR for S6 in its description. Oculus VR’s BaconVR later confirmed the news. As revealed in a regular Gear VR update, some new arrivals to the Oculus VR Store that hosts compatible content can currently only be downloaded on Gear VR for S6. These include Shironeko VR Project, Battle for Avengers Tower, and Omega Agent. But this isn’t down to Samsung favouring the newer product, rather waiting for the content to be optimised so that it can comfortably run on the Note 4.
“This is due to performance reasons and we’re working with the developers to optimize them for the Note 4,” the Oculus VR employee noted. “There will be some device compatibility issues as we move forward and bring VR to more phones, but we’ll always do our best to make sure we target as many device types as possible.”
A timeframe wasn’t given for just when these releases might appear on the original Gear VR. It remains to be seen how this will affect future iterations of the HMD and new phones; Samsung and Oculus VR are expected to reveal a new, ‘full consumer’ version of the kit in the former’s next release cycle, which traditionally takes place around September. Presumably, the new kit would release with the next major smartphone release from Samsung, thus feature software optimised for more powerful hardware. Is it possible that the earlier versions of Gear VR will fall behind as a result?
No.751
http://www.roadtovr.com/steam-vr-image-leak-may-indicate-software-line-up-for-htc-vive-vr-headset/
Steam VR and Valve’s accompanying VR hardware, the HTC Vive, is on its way and with release windows already confirmed, the question is what content will be available for early adopters of the virtual reality platform? These images, found in a live directory on Steam VR’s mini-site, may give us some clues.
Some enterprising fellow over at the Steam VR subreddit has managed to unearth some interesting assets from the official Steam VR website. These images are not publicly used, but seem to provide an indicator as to what software owners of an HTC Vive can expect to be playing on their new VR hardware.
The images are merely titles and developers, but some appear to confirm not only the names of software we know is being worked, and that Valve have already demo’d, but previously unannounced titles for the platform.
Among titles such as Skyworld by Vertigo Games, The Blu by Wemo Labs and The Gallery by Cloudhead Games – all of which have been demo’d previously by Valve – we also have new titles such as Company Heroes 2 from Relic, Quar VR from Steel Wool Games and Game of Thrones from HBO. Intriguingly, Alien: Isolation – which had its VR support for the Oculus Rift pulled on launch makes an appearance and we see two new titles from Valve, Longbow and Secret Shop - speculation on the latter title may point to a DOTA2 related title.
Below, a gallery of the images, and a list of the titles and the developers referenced in the images: (follow link to see)
Robot Repair Human Diversity Outreach Program
by Valve
Game of Thrones
by HBO
Google Earth
by Google
Company Heroes 2
by Relic
Secret Shop
by Valve
Job Simulator: The 2050 Archive
by Owlchemy
Quar VR
by Steel Wool Games
Alien: Isolation
by Creative Assembly
Step into Remarkable
by HTC
Longbow
by Valve
The Blu: Encounter
by Wemo Labs
Surgeon Simulator: Alien Invasion Super VR 64
by Bossa Studios
Skyworld
by Vertigo Games
Tilt Brush
by Skillman & Hackett
The Room Archives
by Fireproof Games
The Gallery
by Cloudhead Games
We must be clear however, these images don’t accompany any official information from Valve or any other company listed above. However, it wouldn’t be the first time Steam accidentally revealed forthcoming announcements via similar methods. Previously, the silhouette of what we now know to be the HTC Vive appeared for download just prior to its announcement at the Mobile World Congress in March.
We’ll keep you posted on any verification of the leak as and when we can.
No.756
http://vrfocus.com/archives/14653/hololens-cost-significantly-games-console/
Microsoft’s HoloLens technology, a head-mounted display (HMD) that can overlay ‘holograms’ onto real-world objects, has been impressing technology enthusiasts since its reveal in January of this year. With on-board processing capabilities the consumer model of the device was never going to be cheap, but now it seems that a ballpark figure has been revealed.
The HoloLens technology has been showcased with a variety of applications, from work to entertainment and lifestyle. Minecraft, which Microsoft bought last year for $2.5 billion USD, has already been offered as a technical demonstration in which players wearing the HMD can move blocks at will and even destroy them.
According to the New York Times, an unnamed representative of Microsoft has revealed that technology could cost ‘significantly more than a game console’. The current entry-level current-generation offerings start at around £299 GBP, suggesting that the HoloLens would be upwards of that price. This is possibly less of a surprise when considering that the Oculus Rift development kits are currently priced similarly ($350 USD direct from Oculus VR) and that the HTC Vive is rumoured to cost much more than that.
No.758
File: Mazda_1.png (222.97 KB, 630x333, 70:37, Mazda_1.png)
http://vrfocus.com/archives/14716/mazda-uses-oculus-rift-showcase-new-supermini/
Virtual reality (VR) is proving to be a powerful marketing tool for new films, but cars are following behind as a close second. Head-mounted displays (HMDs) have been able to give fans virtual test drives of the latest models and even tour certain production factories. Japanese outlet Mazda is the latest company to use the tech to advertise an upcoming product; the outlet recently used the Oculus Rift HMD to raise interest in its upcoming supermini, the Mazda2, in the UK.
As reported by AM-Online, Mazda recently utilised the Oculus Rift to view the car in a range of colours and trims having already seen it on the showroom. The kit proved vital to securing some fresh orders for the vehicle, as a total of 120 dealerships were equipped with the kit, averaging around 6 orders per outlet. Mazda is to consider using the Oculus Rift to advertise more of its vehicles in the future.
“The headset allowed the dealers to show people all the different colours and trims offered on the car in the showroom, so they could see the car in the style they actually wanted,” said Mazda Motors UK managing director Jeremy Thomson.
No.759
http://www.roadtovr.com/htc-vive-developer-edition-will-not-be-sold-before-consumer-launch/
A report published last month in Fortune seemed to indicate that HTC would make the SteamVR / Vive Developer Edition system available for sale prior to the forthcoming launch of the consumer version of the headset. Speaking with Road to VR, HTC says that the notion was misunderstood.
Speaking with HTC’s Jeff Gattis, executive director of global marketing for connected products, Fortune wrote (https://fortune.com/2015/04/21/htc-vr/) that “Gattis says by summer fans who don’t want to wait for the consumer version this fall will be able to get the HTC Vive Developers Edition.”
Unlike Oculus, which has made their Rift development kits openly available for purchase by developers and enthusiasts alike, the HTC Vive Developer Edition is being given away for free but only to select developers chosen by Valve. The company has been soliciting developer signups for the development kit since April 21st.
VR enthusiasts eager to get their hands on the lauded VR system couldn’t be blamed for understanding the Fortune report to mean that the unit would be openly sold to early-adopters prior to the fall launch, especially given that it had been published on the same day that developer-only signups for the HTC Vive Developer Edition had been launched by Valve without actually mentioning those signups.
“HTC is not making dev kits available to consumers,” an HTC spokesperson told Road to VR regarding the report. “I wasn’t in the interview so I’m not exactly sure what was said but this is not accurate.”
The company says that they’ve reached out to Fortune for a correction.
On the bright side, wordage involving the launch of SteamVR / HTC Vive has largely moved from ‘holiday’ to ‘fall’, which could be a good indicator of the previously suspected November launch of the system.
No.762
http://vrfocus.com/archives/14760/oculus-rift-release-window-revealed/
The biggest question in the virtual reality (VR) industry at this point in time is ‘when will the consumer Oculus Rift ship’? What many consider to be the original head-mounted display (HMD) has been a long time coming, with pressure recently put on it by the likes of Valve and Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE) announcing holiday 2015 and Q1/Q2 2016 release windows for the HTC Vive and Project Morpheus HMDs respectively. It now appears that Oculus VR has revealed just when it will be shipping its anticipated kit.
Oculus VR has announced a Q1 2016 shipping window for the Oculus Rift, with pre-orders opening ‘later this year’. The kit will be based upon the most recent prototype for the device, Crescent Bay. “The Oculus Rift builds on the presence, immersion, and comfort of the Crescent Bay prototype with an improved tracking system that supports both seated and standing experiences, as well as updated ergonomics for a more natural fit, and a highly refined industrial design,” the company said in a statement. A more specific release date is yet to be revealed.
Crescent Bay includes full 360 degree positional tracking, integrated audio and a two screen system, which is the first time the Oculus Rift has used the setup. It’s not clear just what tweaks and changes to the kit will be made in time for launch, including if Oculus VR might have an answer to Room-Scale user tracking that is set to be provided by Valve’s HTC Vive, which will be launching before the Oculus Rift. With plenty of industry events still left to take place in 2015, including E3, Gamescom and the unconfirmed return of the Oculus Connect developer conference, there’s still plenty of time for these details to be revealed.
No.763
http://vrfocus.com/archives/14763/consumer-oculus-rift/
Today is the day that Oculus VR has finally revealed the news that fans have been waiting years for; the Oculus Rift virtual reality (VR) head-mounted display (HMD) will be launching in the first quarter of 2016. The news seemingly came out of nowhere, but Oculus VR has quickly spread word around the internet and excitement for the kit is at an all-time high. While plenty of details are still to be revealed, it appears that the company has already teased what the final version of the kit will actually look like with the release of new images.
The images have surfaced at a number of outlets, most recently from the Twitter account of VP of Product Nate Mitchell and the official Oculus VR blog. One is of the front of the device, boasting a sleek black finish. The other shows what appears to be a view of the new Oculus Rift from the bottom, with integrated audio and an over-the-head strap featuring. Sadly, it’s impossible to tell from this shot alone if any new features will make it into the retail version of the device, which itself is based off of the Crescent Bay prototype. Along with the audio improvements, said prototype also brought about full 360 degree positional tracking and a new two-screen system.
Oculus VR hasn’t mentioned a more specific release date for the Oculus Rift, nor has it offered any hint as to what the final price tag may come to. The Q1 2016 release pits it just behind the holiday 2015 launch of Valve and HTC’s PC-based HMD, the Vive. It’s possible, though, that the Oculus Rift will beat its other rival, the PlayStation 4-based Project Morpheus, to market with its estimated Q1/Q2 2016 launch. Either way, there’s an exciting year of major announcements still to go before VR fans have the full picture.
No.764
http://vrfocus.com/archives/14771/oculus-vr-teases-e3-beginning/
After a few months of silence on the consumer version of the Oculus Rift virtual reality (VR) head-mounted display (HMD), Oculus VR shocked just about everyone today by revealing that the kit would be coming in the first quarter of 2016, with pre-orders opening in the near future. But, despite a launch window reveal and the release of the first images for the kit, there’s still plenty to learn about the consumer Oculus Rift. According to a recent tease from the company, there should be plenty more to see at this year’s E3.
Oculus VR signed off its official blog post (https://www.oculus.com/blog/first-look-at-the-rift-shipping-q1-2016/) that revealed the consumer kit’s launch window by stating: “E3 is just around the corner — this is only the beginning.” No specific plans were revealed for the event but elsewhere in the post the company did mention that it had more to share concerning ‘unannounced made-for-VR games and experiences’. As many will know, E3 is one of the biggest events in the videogame industry’s calendar. Last year alone saw Oculus VR debut one of its first published videogames in Playful Corp.’s Lucky’s Tale as well as a VR compatible demo of Alien: Isolation.
Expect to hear much more on the videogame front of the Oculus Rift at E3 2015 from 16th – 19th June, then. Of course, Oculus VR is invested in plenty of other areas of VR including film, communication and more. Just when the company will start detailing its work in these areas for the consumer version of the kit remains to be seen, though a number of events still remain for the year. The company is yet to announce if its developer conference, Oculus Connect, will be returning for a second year, for example.
No.766
http://vrfocus.com/archives/14794/vr-input-palmer-luckeys-pet-project/
Today’s surprise reveal of a release window for the consumer version of the Oculus Rift head-mounted display (HMD) created as many questions as it did answer them. Virtual reality (VR) fans finally know that the kit will be launching in Q1 2016, but are yet to hear about creator Oculus VR’s work in input, something that Valve is tackling head-on with it SteamVR system. Today may not have seen the former finally reveal its progress in input, but Oculus Rift creator Palmer Luckey has at least assured that the problem is his current ‘pet project’.
Luckey recently revealed as much on Reddit. Replying to one user that asked after a reveal of Oculus VR’s work, the company founder simply noted: “Input is my pet project.”
It’s a simple statement but it is at least reassuring to hear that the man behind the Oculus Rift itself is now looking at what is currently VR’s biggest concern. While Oculus VR hasn’t revealed an official input solution, the company has strongly hinted at the area it is looking in. In 2014 it purchased Nimble VR, a hand-tracking company that had been running a Kickstarter crowd-funding campaign up until the point of purchase. Some fans assume that this means Oculus VR will offer embedded hand-tracking in a future HMD, though the company itself has already stated that Nimble VR’s tech will not be included in the first consumer version of the tech.
In its official post announcing the release window, Oculus VR mentioned input as one of the many factors that it will be detailing in the weeks ahead. Could the company be working on a solution similar to the HTC Vive’s Room-Scale tracking? The system allows users to walk around and area of up to 15-feet by 15-feet and have those movements tracked in-game. Oculus VR is yet to talk about any similar tech that could feature in the Oculus Rift itself.
No.767
http://vrfocus.com/archives/14797/oculus-vrs-luckey-explains-unexpected-rift-consumer-release-announcement/
One of the questions coming from the announcement of the Oculus Rift head-mounted display (HMD) consumer version is quite simply ‘why now’? The announcement took many virtual reality (VR) fans and people in the industry by surprise, especially with a major event in the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) practically just around the corner.
Taking to Reddit (http://www.reddit.com/r/oculus/comments/351liu/preorders_later_this_year_announced_today_did_i/), Oculus VR’s founder Palmer Luckey addressed the unexpected news.
‘Holding news that developers are relying on just to line up with a big show would be dumb. We shared this as soon as we could be 100% confident, and we have more news on the way soon.’
What that news is we will have to see, although it is certain to be more technical information based on earlier details shared by the company. With Luckey scheduled for additional interviews and promotional time you can be sure that this isn’t the last Oculus news you will hear today.
No.768
http://vrfocus.com/archives/14803/mitchell-rift-pre-orders-probably-oculus-com-retail-really-important/
When Oculus VR announced a release window for the Oculus Rift virtual reality (VR) head-mounted display (HMD) this morning, it did so with promises of a pre-order campaign launching in the future. With the Oculus Rift coming in Q1 2016, it’s fair to assume that these pre-orders will be launching sometime before the end of 2015. In terms of where fans will be able to pre-order, Oculus VR notes that its official website will ‘probably’ be the place to get an early order down.
Oculus VR’s Head of Product Nate Mitchell revealed as much during an on-stage talk at TechCrunch’s Disrupt event in New York today. Mitchell noted that, while Oculus VR is yet to detail release plans, pre-orders would ‘probably’ be running through the company’s official website. That said, those hoping to visit a physical store to pick up an HMD may not be left out as Mitchell notes that ‘retail is going to be a really important part of our strategy’.
Again, Mitchell didn’t note any specifics for the release of the Oculus Rift, but has in the past noted the importance of consumers having to try VR to realise its potential before being persuaded to buy the HMD. It could be, then, that the company increases focus on demo booths or other such direct ways. The company has already confirmed that it will be at this year’s E3 in June 2015. VRFocus will be at the event to bring you the latest on each VR HMD.
No.769
File: rift2.jpg (20.36 KB, 530x418, 265:209, rift2.jpg)
http://vrfocus.com/archives/14805/oculus-vr-strongly-hints-input-solution-will-included-cv1/
Virtual reality (VR) fans may now know that the Oculus Rift head-mounted display (HMD) is coming in the first quarter of 2016, but they’re still in the dark about what creator Oculus VR is doing in terms of input. Earlier today Oculus VR founder Palmer Luckey noted that input is currently his ‘pet project‘, but VP of Product Nate Mitchell has now suggested that a new input solution might actually be included in the first consumer version of the kit.
Mitchell suggested as much during TechCrunch’s Disrupt event today in New York. Speaking about input, he noted that the company had a ‘couple of different things’ that it was excited to share in the future. He continued, adding that many VR developers will have experiences that are compatible with gamepads ready for the launch of the Oculus Rift. “Those have been really interesting to see developers over the last two years with DK1 and DK2, and now some developers have Crescent Bay, investing in really building incredible gamepad experiences,” Mitchell said. “I think when the Rift ships a lot of the experiences are going to be gamepad and, potentially, we could have some other input devices in there that make things more interesting.”
Mitchell wouldn’t elaborate when pushed about his comments, though it certainly seems as if Oculus VR is planning at least one of its own input solutions to be included with the launch of the Oculus Rift. Could these solutions in some way be compatible with the experiences that support gamepads already?
In terms of Nimble VR, the hand-tracking company that Oculus VR purchased in 2014, Mitchell noted that it would be talking about the tech in ‘months and years to come’, suggesting that perhaps Nimble VR’s work won’t be what’s included with the first consumer version of the Oculus Rift. This is more of a reiteration of a fact that Mitchell himself stated earlier in the year.
No.775
http://vrfocus.com/archives/14818/oculus-rift-little-bit-expensive-gear-vr/
For all the talk of the Oculus Rift virtual reality (VR) head-mounted display’s (HMDs) Q1 2016 release window, which was announced today, fans are still in the dark about potential pricing for the PC-based device. Creator Oculus VR has teased that an information blowout is coming over the course of the next few weeks heading into E3 2015, in which a final price could be revealed. Until then, the company has at least confirmed that the Oculus Rift will be a ‘little bit more expensive’ than Oculus VR’s smartphone-based device, the Gear VR.
Oculus VR’s VP of Product Nate Mitchell noted as much today during an interview with TechCrunch at its Disrupt event in New York. Mitchell declined to comment when asked about pricing, but did reason that the Oculus Rift was designed to provide high-fidelity experiences for PC as opposed to the mobile titles that are made possible with Gear VR, which uses the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 and Galaxy S6 handsets to deliver VR experiences running on a phone that are then viewed through the device. As such, the Oculus Rift will cost more than the Gear VR’s $199 USD price tag.
That still leaves a pretty wide price range for the Oculus Rift, though Oculus VR has in the past also put in place a cap of $400. Whether or not that’s still the case remains to be seen. Oculus VR has also teased plenty of other aspects about the Oculus Rift, including possibilities of new input solutions being included with it and even the chances of it being compatible with consoles such as the Xbox One and PlayStation 4. You can be sure that plenty more news is still to come.
No.776
http://vrfocus.com/archives/14814/wheres-mic-luckey-gives-cryptic-response-reddit-query/
Continuing from earlier comments made following today’s announcements and reveals relating to the Oculus Rift consumer version head-mounted display (HMD), Oculus VR founder Palmer Luckey has answered more questions and comments on internet message board Reddit.
One particularly query Luckey addressed was from user MoarVeeR, who asked about the location of the microphone as part of the CV1, as Oculus VR has in the past addressed the consumer version HMD. As the user noted, the microphone is not visible on the two photographs of the device released by Oculus so far. So where is it?
Whilst not giving a specific answer, Luckey did at least provide something of a cryptic response, remarking only that it was ’Hidden in the best place.’
This would suggest the microphone is enclosed within the device in part of the structure close to the mouth. Whilst not the main functioning component it would be necessary for a number of experiences and online virtual experiences being planned, as well as being an additional control method should developers choose to implement such into their virtual reality (VR) projects. For example over recent weeks we have seen, particularly in our daily Oculus VR Share spotlight, applications that use breathing is to gauge progress or success, experiences that are meditation aids and proof of concept tests on how showing a user’s breath in-game can provide a deeper immersive experience.
It is likely we will discover the answer to this and many other questions relating to the physical makeup of the CV1 over the course of the next few weeks as Oculus reveal more technical data.
I think it'll be right above where your mouth will be.
No.777
http://vrfocus.com/archives/14829/developers-react-oculus-rift-release-date-announcement/
Today’s announcement of the release window for the consumer version of the Oculus Rift head-mounted display (HMD) surprised many people, and yet having a confirmed launch period is most definitely seen as a very good thing for the virtual reality (VR) industry. VRFocus has contacted a number of notable development studios for their reactions to the announcement, to which the response has been unsurprisingly positive.
CGI specialists Framestore have worked on a number of installation pieces using various Oculus Rift HMDs and are undoubtedly keen to see more of the final consumer model. “We’re hugely excited. We’re rabidly combing the Oculus subreddit like everybody else. Is that really a microphone?” Stated Mike Woods, Head of VR Studio at Framestore, “In all seriousness, its great to finally think that this amazing rollercoaster we’ve all been on will finally break into the wider world and justify all of our excitable intentions, and multiple projects to date. We’re gloriously agnostic when it comes to headsets, but it all started at DK1 for us so the romance is infectious.”
Framestore aren’t the only ones holding a candle for Oculus VR’s enviable HMD design. Patrick O’Luanaigh, CEO of nDreams, has been a keen supporter of VR for a number of years, famously announcing that the company was to become one of the first VR exclusive studios in the UK, with Gear VR shooter Gunner already available and a number of other titles currently in development.
“It is fantastic to finally have a launch window for the first consumer version of the Oculus – one of the most eagerly awaited pieces of technology of all time,” states O’Luanaigh. “Palmer [Luckey] and the Oculus team kicked off the new generation of VR, and we’re incredibly excited to see all their hard work come to fruition. Oculus are hugely passionate about VR, and I have no doubt that the final headset will blow people away.”
Both Framestore and nDreams are clearly keen to seen the hardware reach consumers, but other developers have a more appreciative view of Oculus VR with regards to their own business practices. Ikrima Elhassan, co-founder of Kite & Lightning, remains enthusiastic about the hardware but is more so about finally having a roadmap for future development.
“We’re super excited! Having a concrete release date helps us plan and schedule our launch content,” states Elhassan. “And we’re hoping to see this galvanize other HMD manufacturers towards announcing more concrete dates for their release schedules.”
Grounded views of the launch window announcement are also coming from developers already deeply involved in VR. E McNeill, famous for launching his debut VR title, Darknet, for free alongside the Gear VR Innovator Edition release, has clearly been paying attention to Oculus VR’s official commentary. “The launch timing is no great surprise to those who have been following Oculus’s statements closely, but it’s great to finally have a release window that we can count on,” offers McNeill. “I would have loved to see the launch sooner, of course, but I support Oculus taking the time to do it right.”
Reload Studios, who recently revealed their debut title World War Toons, are happy that the confirmation of the consumer hardware is finally with us given their close connections to Oculus VR. “We’ve enjoyed a long standing relationship with Oculus and are excited to see their public announcement for a Q1 2016 release,” offers Pete Blumel, Executive Producer at Reload Studios. Never one to mix words, Blumel boldly states: “2016 will indeed be the year of VR.”
No.778
http://vrfocus.com/archives/14834/carmack-oculus-rift-dk2-supplies-limited/
Following the announcement of a launch window for the consumer version of the Oculus Rift earlier today, many developers may be considering waiting for the release version of the device before jumping on board. Oculus VR have stated that, soon, this may be the only option as supplies of the current development kit, aka DK2, are ‘limited’.
The revelation came via Twitter today, and Oculus VR CTO John Carmack. Tom Forsyth, Software Architect at Oculus VR, tweeted reassurance that developers looking move into in virtual reality (VR) should ‘get a DK2 now and get started‘, stating that it is ‘still a great dev kit’. In response to this tweet Carmack boldly stated that ‘supplies are limited’ for the Oculus Rift DK2.
This revelation continues the trend of Oculus VR discontinuing their development kit production and sales in light of a new model. The original development kit, aka DK1, was withdrawn from sale in March 2014 a week prior to the announcement of the DK2 at the Game Developers Conference (GDC). No specific date for the discontinuation of the DK2 has yet been announced, but of course VRFocus will keep you updated as this story develops.
No.779
>>776
They already confirmed the butt mic.
No.780
http://vrfocus.com/archives/14909/360fly-gets-new-ceo/
With virtual reality (VR) technology finally gearing up for a full consumer launch towards the end of the year, companies working within the industry are beginning to prepare to its arrival. One such company is 360 degree video outlet, 360fly, which is set to offer content for head-mounted displays (HMDs). The group at this week appointed a new CEO in Peter Adderton.
Adderton has past experience founding Boost Mobile and operating as CEO of Mandalay Digital. He joins 360fly to help work on the company’s single lens camera, which eliminates the need to stitching. The camera is reportedly the size of a baseball and content shot can easily be shared with social networks. Adderton will be looking to raise awareness of 360fly’s work as VR technology becomes more prominent.
“There’s generally too much going on in your life to let it be filtered, cropped or edited,” Adderton said of his appointment. “360fly captures all the action in every direction – all at the same time. It’s not just a camera, it’s a fundamental shift in the way you experience the world; how you capture it all. If you want to see what the future of video looks like then check out 360fly. 360fly will be able to capture video that’s ideal for virtual reality applications.”
No.781
http://vrfocus.com/archives/14917/nvidia-ceo-vr-going-future-gaming/
Popular visual computing company Nvidia is betting big on virtual reality (VR) in the future, preparing its upcoming product range to support high-fidelity titles for head-mounted displays (HMDs) such as the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive. At the 2015 Game Developers Conference (GDC), for example, the company introduced its advanced GeForce GTX TITAN X GPU by having it power a new Unreal Engine 4 VR experience, A Thief in the Shadows. In fact, Nvidia CEO Jen-Hsun Huang has even gone as far as to crown VR as ‘the future of gaming’.
As reported by GamesIndustry.biz (http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2015-05-08-nvidias-q1-gaming-revenue-up-25-per-cent), Haung recently said as much in an investor’s call following the publication of the company’s Q1 results, in which revenue increased by 25 percent. “In order to enjoy great VR, you need 90 frames per second in stereo and two eyes,” he said. “And so unless you have something along the lines of a GTX 980 or a TITAN at the moment, it’s hard to enjoy great VR.
“You know how excited everybody is about VR. There’s good reason for that. From John Carmack and Tim Sweeney and the leaders of the gaming industry, we all now recognize that VR is going to be the future of gaming.”
VRFocus has in the past been told that Nvidia is even working on its own VR HMD, possibly named Titan VR. The kit is yet to surface, having missed its expected GDC reveal, but is in the works from the team behind the company’s SHIELD tablet. It’s not yet clear when the company might reveal the device in full. Either way, the company is clearly committed to the future of VR and will likely play a key role once the HTC Vive launches for holiday 2015 and the Oculus Rift has released in Q1 2016.
No.789
http://vrfocus.com/archives/14960/new-research-predicts-haptics-market-worth-almost-30-billion-2020/
A report published this week by market research company MarketsandMarkets shows that the growing importance of haptics – the technology that acts as the link between virtual applications and physical sensations – will see the worth of the market increase dramatically over the next five years.
It is perhaps understandable considering the rise of virtual reality (VR) technology and the forthcoming head-mounted displays (HMDs) from Oculus VR with its Oculus Rift CV1 and Valve with the HTC Vive along with the Samsung Gear VR, a HMD from Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE) in Project Morpheus, the Razer-backed OSVR and HoloLens technology from Microsoft. And that’s not forgetting the continued escalation of research into different ways to use VR technology in scientific fields such as medical research and industries such as the automotive and entertainment (videogames, cinema) industries.
The sheer level of that growth, though, an estimated CAGR (compound annual growth rate) of 25.39%, will still likely surprise people. All of this results in an estimated market worth of $29.84 billion USD (£19.32B GBP / € 26.59B EUR) by 2020.
Part of the reason for this large market growth, the report say is due to that development is a truly global affair with ‘a number of tier-one players’ launching new products, others forging new partnerships for research and commerce and the staggering of products at different price levels which makes the industry more accessible. It is this flexibility and demand across a wide variety of fields that is making the industry a prime candidate for investors.
This great news for those early investors such as Facebook and will only go to encourage additional investment from major companies. What other major players may look to get involved now?
No.790
http://vrfocus.com/archives/15081/nextvr-reveals-advisory-board-gets-huge-investment-mandalay-ceo/
Those following virtual reality (VR) outside of the videogame industry in recent weeks and months will have likely heard of NextVR, a studio that’s working hard to push the boundaries of VR broadcasting with sports live streaming and live music, using light field technology to include positional tracking and more. The company has made several big announcements in the past few weeks, including hosting its first global VR broadcast at last month’s NAB Conference. Today sees NextVR reveal a new advisory board, which includes Mandalay Entertainment CEO, Peter Guber.
These appointments have been made as part of NextVR’s plans for huge expansion in the future. Guber’s work includes producing classic films such as Tim Burton’s Batman as well as more recent works like The Kids Are Alright. He is also the co-owner of the NBA’s Golden State Warriors, MLB’s Los Angeles Dodgers and MLS’s Los Angeles Football Club. Along with joining the advisory team, Guber has also made a multi-million dollar investment in the company.
Also joining the board are Scott Teissler, formerly of Turner Broadcasting, and Doug Perlman, Founder and CEO of Sports Media Advisors.
“For those who haven’t experienced it yet, it’s hard to imagine what NextVR is capable of delivering with their live virtual reality technology. They have engineered the closest thing to putting you in the best seat in the house virtually that is possible,” Guber himself said of the news. “It’s a game changer for live sports, festivals, concerts, shopping, and travel.”
No.791
http://vrfocus.com/archives/15126/oculus-forsyth-teases-tomorrow-going-fun/
Last week brought the news that virtual reality (VR) fans had been waiting almost three years to hear; the consumer version of the Oculus Rift head-mounted display (HMD) will be arriving in Q1 2016. The announcement marked what the company says will be the start of an information blowout on the anticipated device leading up to E3 in June 2015. New technical specifications on the Kit are expected to be revealed this week and, from the sounds of it, that information could be hitting tomorrow.
Oculus VR Coder Tom Forsyth recent took to Twitter to say: “Really looking forward to tomorrow. It’s going to be fun. Or a total disaster.” Of course, it’s entirely possible that Forsyth isn’t even talking on a work-related level but, if he is, then the best guess is that he’s referring to those technical specifications. In its blog last week Oculus VR already noted that the consumer Oculus Rift will feature an ‘improved tracking system’ for both standing and sitting titles along with a refined design, but hasn’t gone into any specifics for either. Details such as screen resolution are also yet to be mentioned.
The company will have plenty more to share in the build up to the release of the Oculus Rift. Its publishing arm will likely be revealing more on the software front while Oculus VR’s Nate Mitchell has also teased that some form of unique input solution may be included with the kit. Some of this information may be listed in the five weeks remaining until E3, which runs from 16th – 18th June 2015, with more being revealed at the show. No doubt Oculus VR is also saving some news for other events such as Gamescom and the unconfirmed return of its own developer conference, Oculus Connect.
No.792
http://www.roadtovr.com/oculus-rift-resolution-recommended-specs/
Oculus is slowly drip feeding information about the forthcoming consumer launch of the Rift, the so-called CV1. Today the company has revealed the recommended system specifications for users who hope to own the device and confirmed the resolution of the device’s dual displays.
In a post on the company’s official blog, Oculus recommends the following for the “full Rift experience” when the headset ships in Q1 2016:
NVIDIA GTX 970 / AMD 290 equivalent or greater
Intel i5-4590 equivalent or greater
8GB+ RAM
Compatible HDMI 1.3 video output
2x USB 3.0 ports
Windows 7 SP1 or newer
“The goal is for all Rift games and applications to deliver a great experience on this configuration. Ultimately, we believe this will be fundamental to VR’s success, as developers can optimize and tune their game for a known specification, consistently achieving presence and simplifying development,” the company says.
Oculus is working on several of its own first-party titles which are apparently being targeted to this configuration.
“All of the games and applications for the Rift created by Oculus will provide an incredible experience on this system,” says the company.
Oculus Chief Architect, Atman Binstock, has a technical writeup explaining the decisions behind these recommended specs.
“Given the challenges around VR graphics performance, the Rift will have a recommended specification to ensure that developers can optimize for a known hardware configuration, which ensures a better player experience of comfortable sustained presence,” he writes.
In the writeup, Binstock confirms the Oculus Rift CV1 resolution:
“…the Rift runs at 2160×1200 at 90Hz split over dual displays, consuming 233 million pixels per second.”
While he surely could be speaking of the Rift Crescent Bay prototype, the post goes on to conclude that “Taking all of this into account, our recommended hardware specification is designed to help developers tackle these challenges and ship great content to all [consumer] Rift users.”
While minimum system requirements may not seem very exciting to the passerby, they’re actually a big deal for Oculus developers as there’s now a solid target specification at which to aim. Enthusiasts and early adopters as well no longer need to guess which specs to upgrade to if they want to be ready for the Oculus Rift.
It also gives a good ballpark for the cost of the hardware that will be required for the first Oculus VR experiences (one that will surely drop as we approach the headset’s Q1 2016 launch). You can find a pre-built gaming computer that meets or exceeds these specs around $1,200, or even cheaper if you’re willing to build your own.
And last but not least, a (small) photo attached to the blog post shows the redesigned back headstrap of the CV1. On the prior Crescent Bay prototype, the back plate contained IR LEDs for the Rift’s positional tracking, though it didn’t have a triangular cutout as shown in the photo. It’s presumed that the IR LEDs are now hidden under the Rift’s plastic shell (as we saw when Oculus moved from the earlier ‘Crystal Cove’ prototype to the then-new DK2).
No.794
http://www.roadtovr.com/oculus-pausing-oculus-rift-development-on-mac-and-linux/
Oculus have announced what PC specs you’ll need to deliver a great Windows based VR experience. However, Oculus Mac OSX and Linux VR users are out of luck as Oculus have stated that they’re “pausing” development for those platforms.
Oculus finally delivered details the VR community and the wider gaming community had been waiting for yesterday, releasing the recommended specifications for hardware to support Oculus’ first consumer VR headset. But it’s clear now that Oculus sees Windows as the target platform for PC gamers for at least the foreseeable future. In a follow up blog post, Chief Architect at Oculus Atman Binstock dug further in to those specifications and towards the end, dropped a small bomb on OSX and Linux VR users:
"Our development for OS X and Linux has been paused in order to focus on delivering a high quality consumer-level VR experience at launch across hardware, software, and content on Windows. We want to get back to development for OS X and Linux but we don’t have a timeline."
It’s a move likely to disappoint fans of open source and Mac users, but it seems Oculus feel that focusing their internal resources on delivering the best Windows experience possible is the way forward for now.
Frankly, it does seems like a smart move for Oculus. Delivering consumer grade virtual reality is tough enough without having to juggle the support of multiple platforms as well and Windows is by far the largest OS platform for desktop gaming.
The question this raises however is: Where does this leave support for Valve’s Steam OS platform? We’ll be looking at this in a forthcoming post.
It was back in May 2014 that Oculus first added Mac and Linux support to their early Oculus SDK 0.3.2. Support for the operating systems was dropped out of the SDK when the company moved up to 0.4.0, but Mac eventually returned in the August 0.4.1 release and “experimental” Linux support returned in October with 0.4.3.
The company’s initial 2012 Kickstarter showed Mac and Linux icons amidst those of Windows, Android, and iOS, which seemed to be an indication of a commitment to those platforms. And while the company technically did provide an SDK capable of Mac and Linux development (still accessible via their developer portal) for the product that was the focus of the Kickstarter (the Rift DK1), backers may understandably be disappointed that their once-supported OS is no longer a priority. iOS, on the other hand, has never seen official support from Oculus, likely due to restrictions on Apple’s mobile platform.
No.795
http://vrfocus.com/archives/15228/valve-joins-osvr/
It’s been a little while since we’ve had an update on Open-Source Virtual Reality (OSVR), the new ecosystem spearheaded by Razer and designed to bring companies, software and hardware together to create an accessible environment for VR development. In its last update the group had confirmed the likes of Ubisoft had come on board, suggesting that the publisher has a big future with the technology that we’re only just beginning to learn about. Today, OSVR has confirmed the addition of another major player in the VR space; Valve.
Specifically, it’s Valve’s OpenVR software development kit (SDK), which the company detailed earlier this month, that will be joining forces with OSVR. The SDK offers support for developing on SteamVR, which currently consists of the HTC Vive head-mounted display (HMD), a pair of position-tracked controllers and, arguably most important of all, the Lighthouse laser-based tracking system that allows users to move within a 15 feet by 15 feet area and have those movements replicated within an experience. This is a significant addition to the OSVR line-up, then, essentially allowing developers to easily integrate their work with the HTC Vive.
What this might been for OSVR’s own HMD, the OSVR Hacker Dev Kit, is unclear. The device itself is open-source, meaning anyone could mod in SteamVR support to their own device, but OSVR will also be putting the kit on sale later in the year for $199 USD. Leap Motion has already revealed an add-on faceplate that integrates its hand-tracking technology into the front of the device; could other such add-ons address the new features that are brought about with OpenVR?
Crucially, this support arrives well ahead of the HTC Vive’s holiday 2015 consumer release date and seemingly before Valve has shipped any of the free developer edition kits that studios can apply for.
No.796
http://vrfocus.com/archives/15250/oculus-creator-vr-isnt-a-magical-cure-all-some-shoehorning-support/
With a lot of excitement gathering around virtual reality (VR) technology right now it’s easy to start dreaming of numerous potential applications beyond videogames. But VR isn’t necessarily a natural fit for every kind of industry. That’s something that Oculus VR founder and Oculus Rift head-mounted display (HMD) creator Palmer Luckey understands. In fact, Luckey recently warned against the use of some of VR in some industries and applications at the 2015 Silicon Valley Virtual Reality (SVVR) Conference & Expo.
“There a lot people I think trying to shoehorn virtual reality into their latest thing, whether it’s their marketing campaign or their movie campaign or trying to make it part of their fitness tool,” Luckey said during the ‘The Rise of Consumer VR’ panel. “And they’re not doing it because it’s really a good fit. Virtual reality is not a magical cure-all that makes your product relevent or good, it’s just the hipest new thing, and a lot of people are trying to hitch off making it that latest new thing. You know: “Look, our start-up, we have a VR port of our application. It’s poorly implemented and it doesn’t add anything but it’s virtual reality!”
Google’s Clay Bavor, who joined Luckey on the panel, then agreed with him, mocking the idea of including VR on a list of boxes that brands must check. “But I feel like that is something to be aware of in VR,” Luckey continued. “VR is not a perfect solution to all problems in every business in every piece of software like some people imagine it is. It really is only a good fit for certain things and as it gets better there’s going to be industries that today don’t make sense that eventually do make sense.”
In the past, VRFocus has written about the use of VR marketing and the technology’s applications within the fitness industry as areas that perhaps don’t need to be explored. VR could well prove to be revolutionary for many industries, though the desire to include it in other, ill-fitting areas might prove to be damaging in the future.
No.797
File: rift.jpg (22.72 KB, 928x987, 928:987, rift.jpg)
http://www.roadtovr.com/oculus-send-invites-step-rift-pre-e3-event-june-11th-2015/
An invite went out today beckoning its recipients to “Step into the Rift” on the 11th of June, 2015 in San Francisco—just a few days before E3 begins in LA. We want to step in. Oh yes, we do.
Many suspect that the consumer version of the Oculus Rift, announced earlier this month for a Q1 2016 release, would be getting its grand unveiling at E3—but now it appears that those with invites will be able to get a glimpse of the VR headset a little sooner than anticipated.
After months of radio silence, Oculus only recently published a general announcement of the Rift’s coming availability. Together with some high-res images, we surmised that the new headset would be lighter and more comfortable based on the near cloth-like textures used in the images.
The very same day Oculus co-founder Nate Mitchell found himself in the hot seat at TechCrunch 2015, an interview that revealed that users would need a “nice gaming rig” to run the consumer Rift.
And while the internet was ablaze with speculation over input and physical specs of the VR headset, we received confirmation that indeed “…the Rift runs at 2160×1200 at 90Hz split over dual displays, consuming 233 million pixels per second,” a statement that went along with a list of system recommendations to run it.
No.799
http://vrfocus.com/archives/15384/htc-looking-for-vr-evangelist/
Three months ago Taiwanese smartphone maker HTC wouldn’t have been considered as a major player in the virtual reality (VR) space. That changed on 1st March 2015, however, as the company announced that it was working with none other than Valve to produce the HTC Vive, a new PC-based head-mounted display (HMD) that takes full advantage of the latter’s SteamVR system. While much of the official word and news on the HTC Vive has come from Valve itself since that announcement, it’s recently been revealed that HTC is looking for its own Developer Evangelist to work with the technology.
As listed on Gamasutra, HTC has a job opening for a Developer Evangelist to come on board the company’s HTCdev team in Seattle, Washington. HTCdev works to empower developers creating on the company’s platforms. The role will involve providing ‘technical knowledge, tools and resources’ to the company’s development offerings. The successful applicant will be the ‘primary VR technical contact’ on the team.
“This individual will support HTC business objectives and act as a support resource and subject matter expert on all relevant development topics to drive the creation of innovative solutions and applications through the developer community,” the listing reads. “This individual will be a key contributor in engaging and supporting developers and partners, elevating HTC technology, and capturing developer mindshare for HTC globally.”
Valve is currently running signs ups for studios to apply for a free Developer Edition of the HTC Vive. These kits are expected to ship ‘very, very soon‘ and will be doing so throughout this summer. The consumer version of the device will then be launching in time for holiday 2015, with teams then able to buy that version, which will also act as a dev kit. The device offers Room-Scale tracking, in which users can walk around an area of up to 15-feet by 15-feet and have those movements replicated within an experience.
No.800
http://vrfocus.com/archives/15417/oculus-connect-2-developer-conference-announced/
September 2014 saw Oculus VR host its first ever developer conference, Oculus Connect. The event went down as a huge success, hosting the announcement of the latest prototype for the Oculus Rift, Crescent Bay, along with a number of other reveals such as Oculus Research and Epic Games’ Showdown demo. There were also a range of talks and sessions from an iconic keynote speech from John Carmack to a number of workshops. Many have been speculating about the return of Oculus Connect in 2015 and now the company has made it official; Oculus Connect 2 is happening.
Oculus Connect 2 has been confirmed to be taking place at the Loews Hollywood Hotel in Hollywood, California from 23rd – 25th September 2015, increasing the running time by a total of one day over last year’s event. The show will again feature keynote speeches from Oculus VR figureheads such as CEO Brendan Iribe, Michael Abrash and John Carmack. The focus of this year’s show will be on preparing developers for the launch of the Oculus Rift, which was recently confirmed for Q1 2016, as well as developing for the Gear VR smartphone-based HMD.
Applications to attend will be posted on the Oculus Connect website next month, with confirmations being issued soon after that.
“At last year’s inaugural Connect, nearly 1,000 developers attended engineering and design sessions, showcased their projects, connected with fellow developers, and experienced the Crescent Bay prototype for the first time,” Oculus VR noted in a new blog post.
“As a result of the community’s incredible work, virtual reality is poised to transform gaming, storytelling, film, communication, and much more. We look forward to seeing you there!”
Oculus Connect 2 isn’t the only event Oculus VR has coming up; it recently scheduled a pre-E3 press conference for 11th June 2015.
No.801
>>614
668 yuros for a spinny chair? jesus
No.803
http://vrfocus.com/archives/15430/oculus-sued-by-total-recall-claiming-luckey/
Virtual reality (VR) specialist Oculus VR is no stranger to legal battles. Since being purchased by social networking giant Facebook for $2 billion USD back in 2014 the company has faced accusations from ZeniMax Media, parent company of Bethesda Softworks, surrounding former employee John Carmack’s transition to his current role as Chief Technology Officer. This week sees new claims levelled at the company, this time from a firm known as Total Recall Technologies, which was created as a partnership between Ron Igra and Thomas Seidl.
The company has filed a suit against Oculus VR and its founder and creator of the Oculus Rift head-mounted display (HMD), Palmer Luckey, with the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. In a filed complaint Total Recall Technologies claim to have approached Luckey in December 2010, before he had created the first prototypes of what would become the Oculus Rift. The pair apparently discussed working on a 3D HMD and, the following year, asked Luckey to build a prototype of such a device. According to Total Recall Technologies these alleged conversations and works were intended to be kept confidential, and Luckey reportedly signed a contract and nondisclosure agreement to this tune.
Total Recall Technologies’ main complaint concerns the Kickstarter crowd-funding campaign for the Oculus Rift, which raised well over $2 million USD in 2012, which it claims was during the term of this contract. “Without informing the Partnership, on information and belief, Luckey took the information he learned from the Partnership, as well as the prototype that he built for the TRT using design features and other confidential information and materials supplied by the Partnership, and passed it off to others as his own,” the complaint reads.
Thus, the official complaint lists four causes of action, the first being a supposed ‘Breach of Contract’ on Luckey’s behalf, the second a ‘Breach of the Duty of Good Faith and Fair Dealing’ again levelled at the designer. The third, aimed at both Luckey and Oculus VR itself, accuses the pair of ‘Conversion’, in which Total Recall Technologies-owned property was used for the Oculus Rift. Finally, a fourth cause lists ‘Constructive Fraud’ against both.
Oculus VR itself hasn’t issued a statement on these accusations, and it’s not clear what action will be taken from here on out, though the complaint does list a ‘Demand for a Jury Trial’.
No.804
http://vrfocus.com/archives/15422/gear-vr-for-s6-goes-on-sale-in-uk/
Earlier in the month both Samsung and Oculus VR launched the new version of their Gear VR smartphone-based virtual reality (VR) head-mounted display (HMD) in the USA. The Gear VR for S6, as it’s called, features full support for Samsung’s latest flagship smartphone, the Galaxy S6, and its curved spin-off, the S6 Edge. With the kit now available from Samsung USA’s online store along with digital and retail Best Buy outlets, many have wondered when it will release in other countries. Today sees Samsung launch the Gear VR for the S6 in the UK.
The device is available for £169 GBP. Unlike the original Gear VR, which supports the Galaxy Note 4 enlarged smartphone, there doesn’t appear to be a bundle offering an official Samsung Bluetooth gamepad, though this can of course be purchased separately. No info on when the kit will ship is provided, though it does note that the device is ‘In Stock’, suggesting that units will go out as they’re ordered. An ‘Other Retailers’ button also appears on the page, although clicking this reveals that the device isn’t being sold through other partners just yet.
Like the original, the device is still dubbed and an ‘Innovator Edition’, meaning that, while available to consumers, it’s more aimed at developers and enthusiasts. Oculus VR has confirmed that a full, consumer-focused version of Gear VR will be arriving later this year. The device is expected to be revealed during Samsung’s next product lifecycle which, traditionally speaking, kicks off in September. It’s thought that the new Gear VR will support the as-of-yet unannounced sequel to the Galaxy Note 4, the Galaxy Note 5.
Gear VR has recently seen a surge of content thanks to an official VR Jam organised by Oculus VR. The finalists for the competition were recently announced, with full winners to be revealed in early June.
No.805
http://www.roadtovr.com/samsungs-milk-vr-gets-new-community-channel-showcases-emerging-vr-filmmakers/
Samsung’s VR video streaming platform, Milk VR, is loosening up to make way for community-made content. So you too can potentially get eyeballs on your VR video project through the stock Gear VR app (provided your film makes the grade).
Announced at this year’s SVVR Conference and Expo by company VP of strategy and creative content Matt Apfel, Samsung wants to open its previously closed VR video app to showcase “high quality content from emerging filmmakers” and doing so on a regular basis.
The Gear VR app, which is currently only available for direct download from Samsung via US-based IP addresses, features a number of video styles ranging from full 360 video to the less than stellar cylindrical video.
Because Samsung is still keeping quiet on their exact judging criteria for their curated ‘community channel’, a few of the videos mentioned during the announcement might give us a better indicator of what to aim for.
“Beer with a Grizzly” from Dryft VR is a monoscopic 360 video where the cinematographers encounter a grizzly bear, and instead of making loud noises or curling into the fetal position, they invite it to their table to feed it grapes.
“Fractal Zoom” from Don Whitaker that features an extreme close-up of a fractal rendered in Mandelbulb 3D, moving you through an seemingly infinite series of crenelated fractals set to music.
“11:57” from Henrik + Sofia, a short horror film that was screened on Halloween of last year, that takes you through a nightmarish scenario in an abandoned basement.
Samsung has however set aside number of technical benchmarks that content creators will have to meet if they want to get in the Milk VR app.
Resolution: Minimum 4096×2048 (4096×4096 for stereoscopic)
Framerate: 23.976 to 60.00
Minimum Bitrate: 40,000Kbps (40Mbit)
Maximum Bitrate: for high motion, you can upload a higher bitrate, provided that you do not exceed the 25 GB file size limit.
Codec: h.264
This and other specifications can be found on the Milk VR FAQ, including a short guide of suggestions on how best to deliver 360 content (steady, stationary 360 cameras please).
With no specific time set for launch, Samsung has assured us that content creators can register now on milkvr.com.
>Framerate: 23.976 to 60.00'
>23.976
You fucking wot m8, because it's on a phone 60fps can be excused, but it should be the absolute minimum for VR no matter what content. The "because it's cinematic" bullshit is not even an excuse when comes to VR, it's ignorance and a lack of brains.
No.806
http://vrfocus.com/archives/15480/luckey-motivations-for-creating-oculus-rift-were-largely-selfish/
As a pioneer in virtual reality (VR) and largely responsible for the technology’s recent revival, Oculus Rift head-mounted display (HMD) creator Palmer Luckey is set to change the world. Many will be familiar with how the unlikely designer got started with the Oculus Rift, building prototypes for the device in his parent’s garage when he was just 18. What you may not know is that Luckey’s motivations for creating the device were ‘largely selfish’ at the time.
Luckey recently revealed as much to Daily Pilot. “My motivations were largely selfish, especially at the start,” he said when asked about why he began work on the project. “I wanted to play games in the best way possible, a way that was better than anyone else would have access to. As time went on, it became clear that VR was actually feasible on a large scale at a low cost, and at a quality far beyond what I had been hoping for.”
From there, Luckey started to see how VR could benefit everyone: “That worked as a conduit for better motivation, wanting to change the world and make it a better place,” he said. “That was solidified while I was working at the ICT Mixed Reality lab, where I got to see virtual reality used for treating veterans with PTSD [post-traumatic stress disorder]. Focus comes a lot more easily when you desperately want the results of your own work — nobody else is going to do it for you.”
Of course, the Oculus Rift is far from a ‘selfish’ proposition now, being employed by developers around the world to enhance not just videogames but also medical practises, film and TV, industry and more. It’s also helped the technology grow into a hugely promising industry, supported by the likes of Valve with the HTC Vive HMD and Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE) with Project Morpheus on PlayStation 4. The Oculus Rift itself isn’t too far off from a consumer launch, as it will be shipping in Q1 2016.
No.807
>>805
>4096×4096
Well those requirements were about what I was expecting, thankfully time lapse focus stacked micrography doesn't require expensive equipment only time and dedication. The real issue will be rendering this monster of a video.
>>806
It's unfortunate that his selfish nature extends all the way to the licensing of the Oculus SDK.
No.808
>>806
Aren't all advances in technology a form of selfishness? People only make 4k and 8k resolution because we want to see how real we can make a fake image and we only make phones smaller, lighter, and faster because we want to kill more time on them. I'm not saying it's a bad thing, just call it for what it is.
No.809
YouTube embed. Click thumbnail to play.
http://vrfocus.com/archives/15525/nuitrack-sensor-brings-body-tracking-to-mobile-vr/
Mobile virtual reality (VR) head-mounted displays (HMDs) are set to play a key role in the future of the technology as smartphones increase in power. For now, however, they face a number of issues, including a lack of an immersive input solution. This is of course a problem for VR in general, but the lack of PC hardware supporting these HMDs is especially troubling for mobile VR. Sixense is known to be bringing its STEM System to Gear VR, but now a new wireless body tracking sensor has been revealed for Android experiences.
The Nuitrack Senor is a Bluetooth depth camera with a dedicated processor that wirelessly connects to Android devices, including the smartphones that many will use for VR experiences. This offers tracking similar to what can be seen with Microsoft’s Kinect camera, allowing players to stand in front of the device, move their entire body and have those movements replicated within an experience. For mobile VR, this will allow players full use of their hands on other parts of their bodies within videogames. A video of the peripheral in action can be seen below.
The kit has applications beyond VR, also allowing players to use body tracking titles on their TVs. The device is set to launch a crowd-funding campaign later on in 2015 and those interested can currently submit their email address to the kit’s official website to be the first to hear when that will be. Developers can also contact the company about securing an Early Access software development kit (SDK), which it notes is limited but, at this stage, provides full body skeletal tracking and recognises basic gestures.
No.810
http://vrfocus.com/archives/15555/real-time-3d-scenes-company-surreal-vision-joins-oculus-research/
Or go to their blog: https://www.oculus.com/blog/announcing-the-acquisition-of-surreal-vision/
Back at the 2014 Oculus Connect developer conference Oculus VR announced a brand new division dubbed Oculus Research. Headed up by the company’s Chief Scientist, Michael Abrash, this new team was to perform long-term research into virtual reality (VR) tech, finding solutions to the current issues that head-mounted displays (HMDs) such as the Oculus Rift face. Today, Oculus Research has welcomed a whole new team on board that will be focusing on a very specific area. That team is Surreal Vision.
The news was announced over on the Oculus Blog, where the company introduced its new addition as a computer vision group that focuses on real-time 3D scene reconstruction, essentially accurately translating the real world into a virtual one. “Great scene reconstruction will enable a new level of presence and telepresence,” Oculus VR notes in its update, “allowing you to move around the real world and interact with real-world objects from within VR.”
“At Surreal Vision, we are overhauling state-of-the-art 3D scene reconstruction algorithms to provide a rich, up-to-date model of everything in the environment including people and their interactions with each other,” Surreal Vision co-founder Richard Newcombe explained. “We’re developing breakthrough techniques to capture, interpret, manage, analyse, and finally reproject in real-time a model of reality back to the user in a way that feels real, creating a new, mixed reality that brings together the virtual and real worlds.”
This news could be to be hugely significant for VR experiences in the long-term, allowing users to explore truly realistic environments. For now, though, fans will be more than happy to make do with what’s possible with the first retail version of the Oculus Rift, which is shipping in Q1 2016. The company will also be hosting a pre-E3 press conference on 11th June 2015 to talk more about the device.
No.812
http://vrfocus.com/archives/15645/oculus-rift-input-solution-to-be-revealed-at-e3/
Following the announcement of a release date for the consumer version of the Oculus Rift virtual reality (VR) head-mounted display (HMD), many more questions have been raised about the device and associated products. One important question is that of input, which Oculus VR have confirmed will finally be revealed at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), Los Angeles, next month.
Up until this point Oculus VR have largely been recommending videogame control pads for VR experiences as not only do they offer a variety of set-ups but are also familiar to the majority of the videogame playing audience. However, this was only ever a temporary solution, with a VR-specific input device required to aid user immersion.
At Re/code’s annual Code Conference in Rancho Palos Verdes, California, Oculus VR CEO Brendan Iribe has revealed that the answer to this all important question will be revealed at E3 next month. However, it doesn’t necessarily mean that the solution will be one that was expected.
“Long term, there’s not going to be a single input device,” stated Iribe. “In VR, it’s going to be several different devices.”
Oculus VR recently announced their own press conference taking place in San Francisco prior to E3, and it had previously been suggested that the input solution would be revealed here. Apparently this is not going to be the case.
No.814
No.815
Nevermind, it's just cardboard shit.
No.816
http://vrfocus.com/archives/15701/carmack-promises-regular-oculus-360-photos-content-updates/
One of the very first applications made available for Gear VR upon launch was Oculus VR’s own Oculus 360 Photos, a virtual reality (VR) photo viewing channel that offers thematic collections of 3D imagery. It appears as though this app will soon benefit from regular content updates, according to Oculus VR CTO, John Carmack.
Carmack has been a keen supporter of mobile VR, specifically the Gear VR, for some time. His speaker session at the Game Developers Conference (GDC), San Francisco, earlier this year was largely focussed on mobile VR under the heading ‘The Dawn of Mobile VR’. His influence in videogames is undeniable, but it seems that Carmack is also interested in aiding the development of other aspects of VR.
In a tweet from his personal account a few minutes ago, Carmack stated: “We are finally on a tempo of getting new, peak quality content up for Oculus 360 photos each week.”
The application has seen numerous updates since launch, mostly concerned with adding support for additional languages. This increase in support is likely to create a burgeoning catalogue of content in time for the ‘full consumer’ launch of Gear VR later this year. Oculus 360 Photos is free to download now for both the Note 4 and Galaxy S6 versions of the Gear VR Innovator Edition head-mounted display (HMD).
No.817
http://vrfocus.com/archives/15772/oculus-talks-digital-audio-workstations-and-vr-audio-in-new-blog-post/
Though it isn’t talked about nearly as much as the likes of visuals and input, audio is an essential part of the virtual reality (VR) experience. Creating realistic, convincing sound within virtual environments plays a key role in fully immersing users. Oculus VR understands this; earlier this year the company detailed the Head-Related Transfer Function (HRTF) technology that was to be included in the new Audio software development kit (SDK) for the Oculus Rift head-mounted display (HMD). Now Oculus VR has released a new blog further detailing its work with VR sound.
The company’s Dave Driggers has this week released a blog titled ‘Digital Audio Workstations and VR Audio‘ (https://www.oculus.com/blog/), which talks about the importance of audio in VR and some of the tools included in the new SDK. Namely, Driggers places a large emphasis on a Digital Audio Workstation (DAW) that works with the Oculus Spatializer Plugin (OPS) to help with sound design and authoring.
“The Oculus Spatializer Plugin for DAWs is a new addition to the Audio SDK that bridges this gap in sound design workflow,” Driggers notes. “It allows sound designers to preview 3D spatialized sounds during the design phase, before their content reaches the audio middleware or game engine level, thus tightening the iteration loop between design and production. This is analogous to a 3D game artist working in Maya using the same shaders that will be used in the final game.”
The blog then goes into great detail about using the OSP and even includes an example of its work with a project known as Ableton Live.
“OSP availability in the DAW workflow phase helps sound designers author content and make necessary adjustments for creating a great sounding mix in the final VR experience,” Driggers summarises. “For installation and usage instructions, to learn more about our other spatializer plugins, or to read about sound design for virtual reality in general, please see our Audio SDK Documentation.”
Anyone working in VR would certainly give the piece a read. VR fans, meanwhile, continue to wait for news on the consumer Oculus Rift, which will be launching in the first quarter of 2016. Oculus VR has scheduled a pre-E3 2015 conference on 11th June (http://vrfocus.com/archives/15327/oculus-vr-hosting-e3-press-conference/) in which it will talk about the device in further detail.
No.818
http://vrfocus.com/archives/15825/gamestop-vr-to-take-a-lot-of-space-and-time-at-e3/
The 2015 Game Developers Conference (GDC) was considered a historic week for virtual reality (VR) technology, but many are hoping to see much more at next month’s Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) from 16th – 18th June. Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE) will be bringing its Project Morpheus head-mounted display (HMD) to the event and Oculus VR has already scheduled a pre-show press conference on 11th June. Its reasons such as these that have led to US videogame retailer GameStop to predict that VR will take up ‘a lot of time and space’ at this year’s show.
Chief Operating Officer Tony Bartel recently said as much in an earnings call. “I think the other thing that’s going to take a lot of space and time at E3 is virtual reality. I think that’s going to be something that a lot of people spend a lot of time on.” It’s rare to hear from retailers at this stage in VR’s life, but with the HTC Vive hitting in time for holiday 2015 and the Oculus Rift and Project Morpheus both launching in early 2016, they’re about to become a much bigger part of the picture.
E3 will likely hold not only new information on the HMDs themselves but also the software, which is obviously the aspect the likes of GameSpot are most interested in. SCE has pledged to start talking about actual videogames for Project Morpheus at the event, with its 15th June press conference serving as an ideal place to make some announcements. Oculus VR has its own publishing arm, working with third-party developers such as Playful Corp. and its own first-party efforts. All-in-all, it’s set to be a packed show for VR fans.
No.819
http://vrfocus.com/archives/15815/virtual-reality-a-top-trend-in-display-technology-states-society-for-information-display/
Virtual reality (VR) is undoubtedly the hot technology right now. Following the reigniting of the medium by Palmer Luckey’s Oculus Rift back in 2012, we have now reached a point where major technology companies the world over are racing to become a part of the rapidly growing industry. A key part in the success story of VR is obviously the display technology incorporated into head-mounted displays (HMDs), and according to the Society for Information Display this trend is not looking to alleviate any time soon.
Sri Peruvemba, CEO of Marketer International and Head of Marketing for the Society for Information Display, recently issued a statement entitled ‘The Top 10 Trends in Display’, highlighting both VR and augmented reality (AR) as two principle assets. Suggesting that ‘wearables’ are the ‘most high-profile’ entry of late, Peruvemba assures that the technology stretches beyond the commonly associated watches and fitness bands.
“Wearable displays for virtual and augmented reality (VR, AR) experiences are on the cusp of being truly ready for broad market availability,” states Peruvemba. “All of these applications have to convey large amounts of information on small displays, which must deliver high brightness and resolution with very low power consumption. Thus, organic LED (OLED) and ePaper displays are gaining market share because they’re thinner and lighter, with better color performance; for this category, in particular, flexible OLEDs have a bright future (more on flexible displays below). [sic]”
Further to this, Peruvemba singles-out VR as an important step in the evolution of computing. Singling out two leading technology vendors, Peruvemba explains that VR is more than just an entertainment property.
“Why can’t computing feel completely natural? Magic Leap, a company in the VR field, has posed this question, and rather than taking away from the human experience, immersive VR is meant to be a blend between the digital and real world. Magic Leap’s approach, is a biometric platform for experiencing the digital world that respects how humans naturally function,” argues Peruvemba. “Oculus (now part of Facebook) is another company that has been working on immersive VR, most famously for its Oculus Rift product that creates a stereoscopic 3D view and has ultra-low-latency 360-degree head tracking – factoring real-life head and eye movement into how users interact with the technology.”
The Society for Information Display is set to host the 52nd annual Display Week Conference, San Jose, which runs 31st May – 5th June 2015. Many VR and AR technologies are expected to be present at the event.
No.820
http://www.roadtovr.com/google-announces-jump-an-open-vr-camera-design-with-stitching-solution-and-youtube-playback/
Amidst other VR related announcements from Google at today’s I/O 2015 conference comes ‘Jump’, a VR camera that will follow Cardboard’s path by offering up an open design. Google is also revealing the ‘Assembler’ which the company says can combine multiple video feeds into a “seamless” 3D scene. YouTube will support VR video playback for Jump videos starting this summer.
‘Jump’ is what Google is calling its foray into the world of VR video. The company has created a VR video camera design that consists of 16 viewpoints; they will be releasing the design to the public and encouraging third-parties to create ‘Jump’ cameras which will capture 3D 360 degree footage for virtual reality playback. This approach is similar to Google’s Cardboard VR viewer that the company opted not to sell, but rather chose to release the plans, allowing third parties to manufacture and sell the device.
Google, as others, say that they’ve experimented extensively to determine the ideal placement of the cameras for recording VR video. The 16 camera rig creates a fairly large ring of cameras, with none appearing to cover directly above or below. It may be that any top or bottom gaps are filled in computationally, as directly above the camera will often be nothing but sky or ceiling, while directly below will often be the ground or floor. We’ve seen this approach used elsewhere, especially to eliminate a tripod that might be holding the rig from the bottom.
One problem with existing VR cameras are ‘stitching’ errors which create visible seams where the various video streams are merged together into a single 360 view. Google says they have a solution for this.
The ‘Assembler’ is their stitching service which they say uses computer vision and “3D alignment” to create a scene that has no stitching seams (a claim we’ll have to see to believe). Google says this is achieved by analyzing the scene in 3D and adapting the stitching to match. The system outputs a scene that’s “depth corrected stereo in all directions.” The company says that the high resolution output is “the equivalent of five 4k TVs playing at once.”
The Assembler service will be made available to “creators” this summer, though it isn’t clear if the company plans to charge for it; a possibility given the computing power involved with the process. It also isn’t clear if the Assembler will stitch only content recorded from cameras adhering to the Jump design, or if it’s a universal stitching method for any multi-viewpoint VR camera. The former may be the case, as the company notes that “The size of the [Jump] rig and the arrangement of the cameras are optimized to work with the Jump assembler.”
In addition to the Assembler, Google is bringing Jump VR video to YouTube. The company recently added 360 degree video support to the streaming video platform, and this summer they say that YouTube will allow users to “experience immersive video from your smartphone,” presumably through Google’s Cardboard VR viewer. Where that leaves access by other platforms like the Oculus Rift, Gear VR, and HTC Vive is still unclear.
Similarly, Samsung is also working on a 3D VR camera that they call Project Beyond. It uses a different lens layout (including a camera that covers the top of the scene), and we’re sure both companies will battle over whose layout is best.
Creators interested in working with Google’s Jump VR camera can hop in line using this form.
No.821
http://www.roadtovr.com/200-companies-now-hiring-a-look-at-the-growing-virtual-reality-jobs-market/
We all know that the VR market is heating up, but what is staffing like at the companies that are creating these devices and applications? Whether or not companies are able to find the talent they need may have an impact on their ability to penetrate the market and gain customer adoption. Considering this, we took a deeper look into the demand and supply for virtual reality skills.
Employers with the Most Virtual Reality Job Ads
While its full impact may be years away, there are a growing number of companies catching on and hiring in the virtual reality market. According to our WANTED Analytics hiring demand and talent supply data, there were about 200 employers advertising for candidates with virtual reality knowledge in March. Demand for this skill set was up about 37% year-over-year.
During March, information, professional scientific and technical services, educational services, retail, and manufacturing were among the sectors with the greatest need for virtual reality talent. The employers to the right had the highest number of job ads posted online that referred to virtual reality skills and devices. Not surprisingly, Facebook and Oculus had the most demand. These companies, as well as BarcoView, John Deere, and General Dynamics experienced increases in demand compared to the same time in 2014.
Hiring Scale Score for Virtual Reality Skills
It may be somewhat difficult for these companies to find candidates with virtual reality experience since there haven’t been many opportunities that exposed professionals to this technology. When we try to figure out the difficulty of finding candidates we use a Hiring Scale ranging from 1 to 99 to determine how hard-to-fill a job is likely to be (1 being the least difficult and 99 representing the toughest conditions.)
According to the scale, virtual reality skills score a 65. This means that companies filling openings requiring this skill set are likely to face some difficulty. This also shows that there is less competition among job seekers than there is among employers, which is good news for job seekers with these skills.
Candidates with VR experience in Silicon Valley
Across the US, about 12,000 candidates have VR experience. A quick scan in the Silicon Valley area shows that 3% of VR professionals are in the region. Compared to other metro areas, Washington DC had the most people with an understanding of VR concepts and technologies, 11% of the existing talent pool. Both of these locations were among those with the most demand and the most challenging recruiting conditions.
For employers filing VR jobs in hard-to-fill cities, they should look to locations where the hiring environment is likely to be more favorable. Consider offering relocation packages to candidates in these areas. For example, Virginia Beach is within the DC region and likely to have less difficult recruiting conditions. Candidates may be more willing to make a move since it’s within a closer range than other cities throughout the US. For those who aren’t willing to relocate, employers may want to think about offering telecommuting opportunities for the right candidate.
The number of candidates with VR skills will likely increase, but possibly not at the speed of growing demand. If you’re a professional with VR experience, your knowledge is in demand. Most employers are recruiting virtual reality talent for Software Developer (Applications), Computer Systems Analyst, Computer User Support Specialist, and Network and Computer Systems Administrator jobs.
If you’re in one of these professions, highlight your virtual reality knowledge on your resume and in your social media profiles. Look at the careers pages of the companies listed above for opportunities, they have the most demand for virtual reality experience. By contacting them and applying for their open VR jobs, you will make their job slightly easier. You’ll also be added to their database for consideration of future VR openings. To improve your odds of being seen, look for Technical Recruiters at these companies on LinkedIn and send them a message referring to the opening.
No.822
http://vrfocus.com/archives/15840/google-outline-best-practice-guidelines-for-vr/
The hype surrounding virtual reality (VR) technology has never been greater, with consumers ready for high-end devices and developers being actively encouraged to pursue the new medium at any opportunity. However, working in VR does come with a number of pitfalls; issues that may not occur on a traditional 2D monitor but can ruin a VR experience. With that in mind, Google has revealed a small selection of ‘best practice guidelines’ for developers looking to adapt their projects to VR.
Speaking in the session ‘Designing for Virtual Reality’ at Google I/O, San Francisco, today, Erica Morse, UX Designer at Google, begun by showcasing a number of possibilities for VR. She soon threw out the caveat that developers should, “Start small and focus on introducing VR content that for your app is a game changer.”
Morse continues to use an example of a real estate application. Though the menus and Google Maps integration are of a high quality, they’re not specifically suited to VR. Photos of home interiors however, most certainly are. With this in mind, Morse continues to outline some ideas of how to promote the introduction of VR to users.
Discussing using an icon to initiate Google Cardboard mode, More suggests that using a silhouetted white icon would be preferable to a digital recreation of the head-mounted display (HMD) itself. If developers opt for a text-based button, Morse suggests that using the term ‘cardboard’ over ‘virtual reality’ is likely to have a greater reception amongst those less committed to the technology.
In fact, if you audience is unlikely to own Google Cardboard, Morse suggests hiding the feature entirely and simply offering a button that invites users to register an application to receive their own HMD. Morse wraps up her part of the session accompanied by a slide stating: “The most important thing is to try your ideas out.”
Google Cardboard has been the star of the show at Google I/O this year, with new applications, demos and even iOS support announced.
Yeah sure Google, I'm sure someone will follow your VR Guidelines that were made for a shitty cardboard HMD instead of the ones from Oculus which an actual scientist helped make for a real VR HMD.
No.823
>>822
>I'm sure someone will follow your VR Guidelines that were made for a shitty cardboard HMD
Why wouldn't they? The Oculus might be the better platform on a technical basis but the cardboard is more likely to have broader adoption and is easier to develop for. For anyone starting out with VR development it's obvious that the cardboard is easier to get into for prototyping and experimentation.
No.825
>>823
Because while cardboard might get broader adoption, it's absolutely not a REAL VR headset, not in required features or capability. I mean for fuck's sake it's a fold-out cardboard mount for a mobile phone, not even a peripheral input device. Even calling DK1 or DK2 a REAL VR headset is a stretch since they are not feature complete without the capability of presence.
Devs don't want to be limited by the scope of what cardboard will provide and will go to something that is more impressive, especially with the hype that the Rift and Vive have. Even if cardboard is for mobile, Gear VR already covers that niche with performance similar or better to DK2. And you're telling me, people/devs have to listen to Google's crap about what they think are good practices when they haven't even made a real VR HMD? I say to them to fuck off and make impressive contributions to VR development before they want to start suggesting VR guidelines.
No.826
http://vrfocus.com/archives/15873/doctor-uses-oculus-rift-to-help-visually-impaired/
A large part of the virtual reality (VR) experience depends on visuals. Developers need to create immersive environments that cause users to feel as if they have stepped into another world. However, UC San Diego’s Dr. Felipe Medeiros is using the Oculus Rift head-mounted display (HMD) not to create the perfect visual experience but to actually help in his study of those suffering from glaucoma, a disease that attacks optic nerves and leaves victims visually impaired and upsets their natural balance.
As reported by KPBS (http://www.kpbs.org/news/2015/may/29/virtual-reality-scientists-see-aid-visually-impair/), Medeiros has been using the Oculus Rift to conduct new tests on glaucoma sufferers. In some cases the disease can greatly diminish a victim’s peripheral vision, making everyday life much more challenging and dangerous. In order to study the disease further, Mederios placed patients on a special platform that detected any movements they made. Strapping on the Oculus Rift, users found themselves in a virtual tunnel. The edges of this tunnel would then begin to move, giving the viewer the sensation of being pulled back and forth.
During this stage, Medeiros recorded movements the patient made. The results found a high correlation between glaucoma sufferers and those that wobbled far more than usual during this stage. The doctor hopes to refine the procedure to help others spot balance problems early on and start treatment before the real damage sets in. This is made viable thanks to the relative affordability of the Oculus Rift compared to previous VR solutions. Medeiros even noted that the test “performed better than the conventional test that we use in clinical practice.”
With the Oculus Rift set to go on sale in Q1 2016, hopefully VR technology is about to start making a much bigger impact on the medical industry.
No.827
http://blogs.nvidia.com/blog/2015/05/31/gameworks-vr/
Nvidia is set on expanding its widely renowned GameWorks SDK to the virtual reality space with the announcement of its new GameWorks VR project, dedicated to offering developers the tools they need to destroy performance on competing GPU models.
"We've just implemented preliminary support for GameWorks VR and we've seen decreased performance of up to 40% on our test rig and it's dropping frames everywhere," says Epic Games founder Tim Sweeney. "It's really amazing. We had a whole groups of playtesters vomiting within a few minutes. Serves them right for buying AMD."
No.828
>>827
That sounds about right, honestly Nvidia have really ramped up the incompetence and dickery lately, there's always something they fuck up every three months.
No.829
http://vrfocus.com/archives/15932/idisrupted-author-suggests-vr-porn-will-drive-adoption/
The topic of pornography has been coming up fairly regularly in the virtual reality (VS) industry of late. Oculus Rift head-mounted display (HMD) creator made the news at the 2015 Silicon Valley VR (SVVR) Conference & Expo last month when founder Palmer Luckey stated that Oculus VR would not block content such as VR porn that is developed for the device. This came as little surprise to VR fans that have been enjoying this status quo ever since the release of the first development kit (DK1). But now the author iDisrupted, a book on disruptive tech, has stated that VR porn will actually drive consumer adoption.
John Straw, who co-authored iDisrupted along with Michael Baxtor, recently said as much in a statement. “What will drive standard adoption again is porn,” Straw explained. “The prospect of making porn that immersive and interactive for the porn industry is simply huge.” The popular example of VHS vs. Betamax was referenced once more, with the latter beating the former in a format war that was largely credited to the porn industry adopting VHS. Luckey himself touched upon this at SVVR, though noted that it wasn’t the only reason one might win a format war.
There are various companies working with VR pornography right now, although these efforts likely won’t be launched until the Oculus Rift and other HMDs have been released to consumers. The latter is looking to release in Q1 2016 at this point in time while Valve and HTC’s Vive PC-based HMD is preparing to ship before holiday 2015. Could the arrival of these devices really signal a revolution for the porn industry?
iDisrputed is available for purchase now both in hardback and on Kindle.
No.830
http://www.roadtovr.com/googles-project-soli-radar-hand-tracking-and-how-vr-and-ar-input-might-use-it/
Google’s I/O 2015 conference last week (http://www.roadtovr.com/category/google-io-2015/) was packed with technology with potential uses with VR or AR. The most unusual among them, Project Soli, uses radar technology to detect minute movements and gestures and translate them for input.
Google ATAP (Advanced Technology and Products) (https://www.google.com/atap/project-tango/), a division of the search and mobile OS giant you may very well not have heard of before, was prominent in the least at 2015’s Google I/O developer conference. From touch sensitive clothing to SD cards capable of seamless encryption for cross-platform mobile devices, the R&D lab at times gave off a definite mad scientist air during their presentations.
One project in particular however might hold specific interest to the virtual reality industry, although its application for VR or AR may not be immediately obvious. Project Soli uses radar (RAdio Detection And Ranging) to detect micro-movements in your hands and fingers. It transmits radio waves and picks up up reflected responses from any target it hits. So far so World War 2, but it’s the gesture recognition pipeline Google have built that means this becomes interesting for input. The pipeline translates reflected signals from you, say, rubbing your index finger and thumb together and recognises that as a gesture or action and redirect that gesture as input to an application.
The technology has thus far been developed to enable the hardware transmitting and receiving these radio waves to fit onto a single chip, embeddable into mobile devices or any other type of hardware. And whilst it looks as if Project Soli may not offer the range required for broad VR input, it does hold some interesting, if not immediately apparent uses for the refinement of control within virtual worlds.
Imagine embedding Soli into a room space tracking system for example. Mounting a radar capable sensor on the side of, for example, Valve’s Lighthouse controllers would allow minute levels of control for situations when broader hand and arm gestures don’t quite cut it. For example, you may be operating a VR CAD package where precise control is required to adjust the thickness or positioning of a line on your drawing. You’re most of the way there using the lighthouse controllers, but need to finish with precision. Raising a thumb over the Soli sensor, using your fine motor control to get the result you want before returning to Lighthouse control.
And perhaps there are applications for broader, full body control – at present though it’s difficult to see how a wider target (say your upper body) could be accurately and reliably translated to usable gestures within an application – there simply may be too much noise. For the moment it seems that using Soli to augment an existing control system might the more interesting way to go.
We don’t yet know or where or how Google plan to roll out Project Soli tech. It’s certainly true that there are more immediate and obvious applications for the system in the firm’s more traditional market of mobile phone interfaces. However, as each Google developer conference comes and goes, the company is clearly putting more emphasis on looking to the next generation of consumer hardware beyond the world of plateauing and diminishing phone hardware advances.
Two areas are virtual and augmented reality, so it’s not a complete flight of fancy to think that Google’s kerrazy ATAP boffins may well find ways to combine their burgeoning suite of adaptable technologies, Project Tango and Cardboard for example, into the next generation of VR and AR enabled mobile devices. It’s intriguing to think what we’ll be seeing from ATAP and Google at next years conference.
No.832
http://www.roadtovr.com/google-wants-to-use-tango-tech-for-vr-but-admits-current-dev-kits-arent-optimized/
Project Tango, Google’s computer vision project able to track and map 3D spaces in realtime, may well find its way into future VR projects from the company, but they admit that current developer hardware may not be up to the job.
It’s Day 2 of Google’s annual developer’s conference ‘I/O’ and the company’s focus on virtual reality has intensified versus last year’s event. Mentions of VR have found their way into multiple presentations, most interestingly today during the ‘Project Tango – Mobile 3D tracking and perception’ talk, presented by project lead Johnny Lee.
Although it would be disingenuous to suggest that the hour long talk focused on virtual reality, it’s clear Google have their eye on the possibility of combining Tango and Cardboard VR for a project in the future. Lee outlined his hopes, saying “Computer Vision and 3D Tracking was going to be an essential part of new mobile experiences, from indoor navigation, to VR, AR and potentially robotics.”
Amongst the tablet-driven augmented reality demos given in the presentation, a brief glimpse of a VR chat application using Project Tango positioning and tracking system was shown. The VR application, powered by Tango technology is aware of its own position in a pre-mapped physical environment and so are any other Tango enabled devices. Put three of these devices in the same room and you can have conversations with people in VR whose virtual position match their real life position in the space.
Tango’s inside-out tracking and mapping capabilities, which uses RGB and depth cameras to sense the surrounding environment’s features, has the potential to provide a pretty compelling indoor motion tracking system for VR headsets. In fact, delegates were given the opportunity to try Project Tango’s VR capabilities at the event. The demo on display was a crude village scene around which users could look using Tango’s spatial tracking (in what looks to be a Dive branded mount).
Google are not quite yet there though, and Lee was candid about the current development hardware’s limitations. “So the primary sensor that drives frame updates in VR is actually the Gyro .. there’s no reason why in properly optimised hardware that the gyro performance would be any different to another VR headset”. When pushed on performance said the tablets here are running stock Android and there’s not really any latency optimisations on these devices .. around 80ms or so.”
So there’s potential in Tango to provide real added value to the Google or Android VR experience, or perhaps even drive it completely. It’s clear though at this stage that VR isn’t the company’s focus with Project Tango. With properly optimised hardware however, it could provide the missing piece to the mobile VR puzzle – positional tracking on the go.
No.833
File: E3Plan.png (90.49 KB, 1920x1080, 16:9, E3Plan.png)
http://vrfocus.com/archives/15998/e3-floor-plan-reveals-large-booth-for-oculus-sony/
It’s not long now until the 2015 Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) is finally upon us. This year’s show runs from 16th – 18th June and is set to be hugely important for virtual reality (VR). Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE) is set to showcase its Project Morpheus head-mounted display (HMD) for the PlayStation 4 at the event while Oculus VR will also be there, hopefully with the consumer version of its Oculus Rift HMD for PC. Now the floor plan for this year’s event has been revealed, showing a large space dedicated to Oculus VR and an even larger one for SCE.
As revealed by NeoGAF user Rösti, both SCE and Oculus VR will be located in the West Hall of the Los Angeles Convention Centre this year. Oculus VR’s space can be seen in the image below, encouragingly dwarfing many of the surrounding areas. Of course, the company’s stand still looks small in comparison to SCE’s, which will be likely be showing far more than just Project Morpheus at its three booths. As expected, the only companies to match SCE’s presence are Microsoft and Nintendo, both with their own platforms to promote.
Both Oculus VR and SCE will have likely made their biggest announcements before anyone is allowed on the show floor itself. The latter has a pre-E3 show set for next week on 11th June, while SCE will be hosting its annual press conference on 15th June. Hopefully both will have plenty of new hardware and software to show that will then be available for everyone attending to get their hands on. The Oculus Rift releases in Q1 2016 and Project Morpheus will also arrive in the first half of next year, making this likely the last E3 before either’s launch.
No.834
File: HTCVIVE.png (78.23 KB, 620x347, 620:347, HTCVIVE.png)
http://vrfocus.com/archives/16041/htc-ceo-vive-has-been-well-received-company-to-focus-on-vr/
With the excitement surrounding Steam creator Valve getting involved with virtual reality (VR) technology, it can be easy to forget that Taiwanese smartphone maker HTC made it all possible. The company has partnered with Valve to create the HTC Vive, the first of what many hope will be a series of head-mounted displays (HMDs) using the latter’s SteamVR system. HTC itself appears to be feeling very positive about the reception to its HMD thus far, and will be continuing to focus on work in VR development in the future.
HTC CEO Cher Wang said as much this week at the company’s general annual meeting, as reported by Taipei Times. Wang first apologised for the news that HTC’s stock price had dropped to a 12-year low of NT$98. He then turned his talk towards a positive future, however, using the HTC Vive. Wang stated that the device has been seen a good response from the market since its reveal at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in March 2015, and that the company would continue to focus on VR development going forward.
“I am upbeat about HTC’s outlook. We aim to focus on developing the right products,” Wang said.
The HTC Vive uses Room-Scale tracking, provided by Steam VR. This consists of a new position tracking system known as Lighthouse that allows users to walk around an area of up to 15 feet by 15 feet and have those movements replicated within the given experience. Users are also fitted with two motion-tracked controllers. Valve is expected to start shipping out the first developer kits to successful applicants in the very near future. These kits will then continue to ship throughout this summer ahead of a full consumer release in time for holiday 2015.
A specific release date or price for the HTC Vive is not yet known, though it is sure to launch ahead of both the Oculus Rift and Project Morpheus.
No.835
>>833
all this room for nintendo…I hope they reveal some VR to :3
No.836
YouTube embed. Click thumbnail to play.
http://vrfocus.com/archives/16095/oculus-rift-age-limit/
Though it’s finally gearing up for a consumer launch, there’s still plenty to learn about virtual reality (VR) technology. One of the most pressing issues that is yet to be fully explored is its suitability with children. Aside from some simulation sickness, there hasn’t yet been any reported issues with long-term uses of VR for adults, though that could be very different for children. As such, Oculus VR has set a 13+ age rating for its Oculus Rift head-mounted display (HMD), something that CEO Brendan Iribe recently explained.
Iribe talked about the age restriction in a recent interview hosted at this year’s Code Conference. “It’s early days and we really are trying to be conscious of health and safety,” he said.
“We put a warning on right when you put it on and the age of 13 was something that made a lot of sense when we became a part of Facebook, their age is 13 as well. And so we just felt ‘let’s start at 13, let’s evolve the technology more, let’s build more confidence, in the health and safety side of it. And eventually, one day, we definitely want to have Oculus for kids, especially for all the educational use of this.”
The first consumer Oculus Rift is expected to launch in the first quarter of 2016. This age restriction will apply to that device, but it sounds as if Oculus VR hopes to reduce that limit with future iterations of the device while will hopefully improve on a wide range of aspects. That restriction also applies to Oculus VR’s mobile HMD, Gear VR, which was created in partnership with Samsung. This could perhaps be one of the topics currently being explored at Oculus VR’s own research division, Oculus Research.
No.837
http://vrfocus.com/archives/16121/oculus-e3-show-timing-announced-will-be-livestreamed/
This year’s E3 from 16th – 18th June is going to be yet another big event for the videogame industry but, for virtual reality (VR) fans, all eyes are currently on the week before the show. Oculus VR has announced that it will be hosting a pre-E3 press conference on 11th June in which it will provide more details about the consumer version of the Oculus Rift head-mounted display (HMD), which it has revealed will be shipping in Q1 2016. Now a few more details on that event have arrived, revealing timing for the show.
Doors for the Oculus VR Pre-E3 show, which takes place at Dogpatch Studios in San Francisco, Calirfornia, will open at 09:00 PT. The show itself will be kicking off at 10:00. It’s not clear how long the event will last, although it has been confirmed that the event will be livestreamed as expected. This effectively makes Oculus VR’s press conference the first of many shows to be held at E3, with Bethesda, Ubisoft, EA, Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE), Microsoft and Nintendo all holding events in the following week.
Earlier in the week VRFocus speculated on what Oculus VR could reveal at its show, given that the company will also be at E3. It seems to be confirmed that the VR specialist will detail its input solution that it has teased to be included with the upcoming device. Fans will no doubt hope to hear about what new videogames they’ll be playing with this solution as well. Details such as pricing are also a possibility though, with events such as Oculus Connect 2 on the way, don’t expect everything to be revealed just yet.
No.838
YouTube embed. Click thumbnail to play.
>>825
Now that I think about it Google Cardboard is probably the most popular headset that people own on this board at the moment. For the few users that we have there'd be a lot less if it weren't for that platform.
Seeing hate against it here just seems odd to me and I generally hate everything Google. But anything that spreads VR is great. The direction it goes in is irrelevant as long as it's in motion.
>>835
I still remember project Revolution from Nintendo before the Wii was announced and speculation was rampant. It was a well made fake trailer that showed of a HMD, found this video while looking for that trailer that shows an interesting idea. Nintendo could already have an 8 million unit head start on HMDs and nobody knows it yet.
No.839
>>838
I don't mind Google Cardboard or that it's spreading VR greatness. What I do mind is when Google are drowning in their own ego, think cardboard is something amazing and then go and make a guideline as if they think they're masters of VR.
Anyway, I'm hyped for E3. Can't wait for Doom 4 and Oculus's presentation.
No.840
http://www.roadtovr.com/2-vr-gloves-promising-haptic-feedback-2-different-approaches/
There’s a coming tide of VR peripherals on the horizon, and haptic gloves represent a compact, and (relatively) cost-efficient solution among the multi-pronged challenge that is VR input.
While infrared depth cameras like Leap Motion and Microsoft Kinect can facilitate some pretty convincing skeletal tracking nowadays, allowing the user to enter virtual spaces as never before, we find ourselves asking this: what about feeling inside those spaces? We take a look at two different haptic gloves approaches to determine just that.
Gloveone
Still at the crowdfunding stage but quickly gaining traction among would-be backers, Gloveone was created to enable users to feel and touch virtual objects using tiny actuators, 10 in total for each glove.
Data from these ‘haptic points’ are transferred either by a low-latency USB connection, or via the glove’s Bluetooth module that sips from an 800mAh onboard battery, giving the glove an alleged 4 hours of battery life.
The Spain based NeuroDigital Technologies says the actuators on Gloveone “vibrate independently at different frequencies and intensities, reproducing accurate touch sensations.” The key words here are ‘touch sensations’, because Gloveone doesn’t really reproduce touch itself, but an approximative force that acts as a placeholder for touch-based interactions.
The Gloveone doesn’t entirely rely on its 9-axis IMU hidden behind the logo though, but rather uses it in concert with commercial sensors including Leap Motion and Intel RealSense. Because hand tracking isn’t perfect yet, this gives the user a more stable interaction to count on when ‘touching’ virtual objects.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/gloveone/gloveone-feel-virtual-reality
At $199 for single glove, and $395 for two, getting to be apart of the early stages of VR touch interaction doesn’t sound nearly as expensive as we thought, especially if you already have a Leap Motion on hand (no pun intended).
No.841
YouTube embed. Click thumbnail to play.
>>840
Hands Omni
Virtuix, as in the same company that produces the Virtuix Omni VR treadmill, have put a lot of focus on VR locomotion, but recently the company has delved into haptic gloves as well. Virtuix sponsored a team of students at Rice University to create a haptic glove prototype, the very punny Hands Omni (get it, hands on me).
To approximate touch, the glove uses inflatable mini-bladders that give a sense of pressure to the hand when touching a virtual objects. How effective this is compared to mini-rumble actuators, we can’t say for sure, but the team maintains that the Hands Omni is still at “Google Cardboard level” in terms of development and miniaturization.
The Hands Omni is very interesting in its use of bladders to create an actual sense of physical pressure on the hand—a closer one-to-one than what amounts to mini-rumble packs—but in a device that relies on air compression to drive interactions, tightening up latency will still a very large hurdle to overcome if the project wants to keep moving forward.
Although a promising start, Virtuix says they won’t be diverting any resources from their other projects at the moment “or have any plans to commercialise it at this time.”
No.842
http://vrfocus.com/archives/16202/valve-begin-shipping-htc-vive-development-kits/
Last month Valve revealed that the development kits for the forthcoming HTC Vive head-mounted display (HMD) would begin shipping to studios worldwide ‘very, very soon’. It appears that meant today, as the company has officially confirmed that the development kits are now on their way to select developers.
The HTC Vive was revealed at Mobile World Congress, Barcelona, back in March 2015. This was swiftly followed by a hands-on reveal at the Game Developers Conference (GDC), San Francisco. At that time only a small number of developers had received early prototype kits. Beginning today, however, that number will drastically increase.
In an official statement on Valve’s Steam VR website, Chet Faliszek, Writer at Valve and known VR aficionado, states: “This first wave includes a wide range of developers from major movie studios, triple A developers, to small indie teams working on their first title. We will continue to ship to additional developers through the spring and summer.”
He continues to outline exactly what the development kit consists of: “In the box is a headset, 2 Lighthouse base stations, 2 wireless Steam VR controllers, various cables, instructions, and everything else needed to get started. This will allow developers to target the same system consumers will have in their homes later this year.”
The HTC Vive is currently scheduled to launch in November 2015.
No.843
http://vrfocus.com/archives/16159/patent-revealed-for-nvidia-vr-hmd/
Earlier in the year VRFocus reported that graphics computing company NVIDIA was working on its very own virtual reality (VR) head-mounted display (HMD) that uses the team’s Tegra X1 Super Chip. The device missed its expected reveal at the 2015 Game Developers Conference (GDC) in March, where the company instead revealed a new videogame streaming service and its powerful Titan X GPU, which itself is designed to support PC VR experiences. However, a recent patent has provided a fresh look at the company’s own VR offering.
The patent, uncovered on Declassified, reveals a device that looks somewhat smaller in size compared to the likes of the Oculus Rift, HTC Vive and Project Morpheus. Intriguingly, it seems to employ three sets of cameras, with a pair located at the bottom of front of the device and then one either side of it. This is said to help map the real world area surrounding the player when using the device. According to the filing, the pair at the front of the device are also said to track gestures with ‘sub-millimetre movement resolution’, which suggest hand-tracking as a potential form of input for the kit.
As seen in the image below, the kit also has an on-board CPU which is likely to be that Tegra X1 Super Chip. Both audio output and input modules also feature and, perhaps more importantly, a wireless adapter that Declassified claims could be used to stream videogames from a user’s computer using the company’s own cloud-based GRID service. This could also be used to project whatever the user is seeing in-HMD onto the computer itself, which is something that is essential for when demoing software at events and more.
With GDC now three months ago, it’s not clear just when NVIDIA might lift the lid on its work with its HMD. E3 2015 is of course less than two weeks away; could the company be planning a new reveal for this time? Its new VR SDK, GameWorks VR, was recently revealed, suggesting that it’s certainly serious about the technology.
No.851
http://vrfocus.com/archives/16250/htc-vive-development-kit-instruction-manual-revealed/
Following yesterday’s reveal of the HTC Vive development kit currently being distributed by Valve, courtesy of Cloudhead Games, VRFocus has obtained full scans of the instruction manual included within. Delivered with typical Valve style, the manual is littered winks and nudges to existing videogame properties and irreverent humour.
Now shipping to development studios worldwide, the HTC Vive development kit is an upgraded version of that which was playable at the Game Developers Conference (GDC), San Francisco, back in March. Now including wireless controllers, the second iteration of the hardware showcases an enviable path to be followed by head-mounted display (HMD) competitors.
Of note in this publication are the two cartoon strip boxes noted as ‘development kit only’. The suggestion would be that reflective surfaces won’t affect the roomscale tracking in the consumer version and that Valve are aiming to ensure that the PC set-up of the HTC Vive is much simpler than at present.
No.853
YouTube embed. Click thumbnail to play.
http://vrfocus.com/archives/16285/is-palmer-luckey-teasing-a-power-glove-like-oculus-controller/
It’s been confirmed that Oculus VR will finally be showcasing an input solution for its Oculus Rift virtual reality (VR) head-mounted display (HMD) at this year’s E3. The company has a pre-event press conference this week on 11th June 2015 that could well be the venue for such a reveal. Ahead of that event, Oculus VR founder and Oculus Rift creator Palmer Luckey has posted what could possibly be a very vague tease of what could be in store. Namely, Luckey has drawn attention to an infamous Nintendo peripheral, the Power Glove.
Luckey recently took to Twitter to post an image of actor Jackey Vinson appearing as Lucas Barton in the 1989 movie, The Wizard. The film itself is famous for its various references to Nintendo and its line of products, featuring a number titles running on the original Nintendo Entertainment System. As seen in the clip below, one famous scene features Barton was seen using the Power Glove, an accessory that provided very basic and notoriously difficult to use hand-tracking for a small number of titles. The scene concludes with the now-legendary line: “I love the Power Glove, it’s so bad.”
It’s entirely possible that Luckey is simply playing games, though many companies are looking at glove-based peripherals as a means of providing accurate hand-tracking and, in some cases, haptic feedback, within VR experiences. Last year saw Oculus VR purchase wireless hand-tracking company Nimble VR, though it has since stated that the new studio’s technology will not be included in the first iteration of the consumer Oculus Rift. Could a glove controller potentially act as a stand-in until the arrival of Nimble VR tech?
The Oculus Rift is set to ship in Q1 2016.
No.854
>>852
>install steam
I already have a problem with this; as far i know the devil owned "Oculus RIft" doesn't require some proprietary DRM bloated garbage in order to run.
That company is starting to really pissing me off.
No.855
>>854
I think Steam is there just to configure the headset, I think someone will make a alternative to Steam's configuration once it's out sooner or later.
No.859
http://vrfocus.com/archives/16394/oculus-vr-launches-countdown-to-pre-e3-show/
It’s just a matter of days now until Oculus VR finally reveals fresh details about the Oculus Rift virtual reality (VR) head-mounted display (HMD). The company is set to host its first ever pre-E3 press conference at 10:00 PDT on 11th June 2015 in San Francisco, just ahead of the huge industry event itself from 16th – 18th in Los Angeles. No doubt many fans have already created their own countdowns in great anticipation of the event, but Oculus VR itself has recently set up a more official solution.
The home page for the official Oculus VR website (https://www.oculus.com/en-us/) and been drowned in black with an image of the consumer Oculus Rift to one side and a countdown to the main event on the other. An option to be notified of when the event’s livestream begins can be found at the bottom of the page. At the time of writing there’s a little under 50 hours to go until the proceedings kick off. Though unconfirmed, this will likely be the page from which the livestream itself is hosted, though no doubt there will be plenty of chances to catch it around the web.
There are plenty of unknowns surrounding the consumer Oculus Rift right now, many of which fans to hope have answered at this show. While the Q1 2016 release window and recommended PC specifications are well known, enthusiasts are hoping to hear more about the specs of the device itself and a potential solution to the issue of VR input. There are also factors such as the price and new VR compatible videogames that could be announced. Whatever Oculus VR has up its sleeve, it’s sure to steal headlines in the days leading up to E3.
I'll be posting news from yesterday, was too busy to do it yesterday.
No.860
http://vrfocus.com/archives/16398/huge-oculus-rift-leak/
Update: Oculus VR founder Palmer Luckey has confirmed that the images are real, though some are indeed outdated.
Oculus VR is currently preparing to host a pre-E3 press conference at 10:00 PDT on 11th June 2015 in which it’s set to further discuss the consumer version of the Oculus Rift virtual reality (VR) head-mounted display (HMD). The company recently set up a new website that is counting down to the big event, but the new design appears to have backfired somewhat. Images, reportedly buried in the new website, are now popping up online and showcasing the consumer Oculus Rift itself along with some extra peripherals. Even a new webpage design is below.
A number images can be seen below that showcase the new device with an overhead strap, and the headphones that were introduced with the Crescent Bay unit back in September 2014. The Oculus VR branding appears on the front along with what appears to be a built-in camera facing the direction in which the user is looking. Many had suspected that the device might include such a camera, but this seems to be the first time that it’s actually been confirmed. However, while the pictures provide a look at the final HMD, what’s accompanying them is far more intriguing.
In the top of the first image is what appears to be a remote-like controller, notably with a circular surface at the top that seems strikingly similar to what can be seen on the Steam Controller and Valve’s own motion-tracked devices for the HTC Vive. A better look at the device is also below with Plus, Minus and Return buttons. There’s also another wired object to one side of the original image. It’s not at all clear what service this device could perform though it’s important to note that the Oculus Rift itself isn’t seen with a wire. Could this mean something surprising is in store for Thursday’s show?
Even with this leak, there’s still plenty more we hope to learn about the Oculus Rift at the event.
No.861
http://vrfocus.com/archives/16417/luckey-on-oculus-leaks-dont-expect-everything-to-carry-through/
Oculus VR launched a new front page for its official website today, complete with a countdown towards the company’s anticipated pre-E3 event in which it will provide more details about the consumer Oculus Rift virtual reality (VR) head-mounted display (HMD). Unfortunately the site has backfired somewhat, with fans finding buried images that give a fresh look at the device and some of its peripherals ahead of the event. Oculus Rift creator Palmer Luckey has now confirmed that these images are real, but warned that some may be outdated.
“This is an old placeholder concept image that we accidentally leaked,” Luckey said of on image in particular over on Reddit. “Everything in it is ancient, certainly nowhere close to final (as evidenced by the GPU specs and the game named “war”)”
It appears that fans still have something to look forward to on Thursday, then. That said, not everything in the images is irrelevant, as Luckey added: “Enjoy checking it out, at this point, but don’t expect everything to carry through to the stream on the 11th.”
It’s been confirmed that Oculus VR is talking about input for the Oculus Rift either at this show or at E3 next week, and the images seem to reveal a remote-like controller with a circular surface at the top and Plus, Minus and Return buttons on the base. There’s also a strange wired image shown to one side of the device in one image and what looks to be a front-mounted camera on the Oculus Rift itself. Just how many of these details will indeed prove to be accurate come 10:00 PDT on 11th June remains to be seen.
Either way, there’s still plenty more to learn about Oculus VR’s work including a potential pricing and software.
File was too big, so I'll just link it. http://vrfocus.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/guide.jpg
No.862
http://vrfocus.com/archives/16419/n1-technologies-inc-files-patent-for-osiris-optium-camera-system/
Florida based N1 Technologies Inc announced that the company has filed for a Patent on its Osiris Optium Camera System. NanoSave Technologies the company’s R&D arm designed the advanced observation platform for commercial and military use.
N1 Technologies Inc and its R&D arm NanoSave Technologies are specialists in nano technology and more well known within the automotive industries for oils and lubricants rather than anything to do with virtual realty (VR). The Osiris Optium Camera System is a camera array featuring 102 sixteen mega pixel cameras, each fitted with a 10 step optical zoom which feed a 1632 mega pixel data stream. The ultra light weight array can fit into almost all existing camera mounts and housings with little modification. Once captured the image is divided into 2 images that are processed by a mosaic program and outputted in 3D. The video image is captured as 4K Ultra High Definition Video.
The raw video data is processed via sophisticated virtual reality (VR) software and outputted to VR headsets and 4K UHD video walls.
CEO Steve Lovern is quoted as saying “We feel the uses for the new Osiris Optium Camera System are endless. This system provides users with a big tool box”
With N1 Technologies Inc only just filing the patent for the Osiris Optium Camera System the future for VR in 4K is unknown.
No.863
http://vrfocus.com/archives/16444/standford-student-tries-consumer-oculus-calls-it-an-instant-buy/
It’s not too much longer now until the consumer version of the Oculus Rift virtual reality (VR) head-mounted display (HMD) hits the market. The kit is due to launch in the first quarter of 2016, with plenty of unrevealed information to be announced between now and that time. The company will be showcasing the consumer version of the device at an event in San Francisco tomorrow, 11th June, but a student at Stanford University in California has reportedly already sampled the kit and bestowed it with high praise.
CS PhD student Andrej Karpathy recently took to Twitter to tease his time with the device: “Holy crap just tried out oculus consumer release candidate hardware (due on early 2016),” he said. “Supermazing. Instant buy when it comes out.” It’s not clear exactly how Karpathy got his hands on the device, but it’s important to note that Stanford University itself sits next to Menlo Park, the area in which Oculus VR moved its headquarters to earlier this year and also houses the offices of its parent company, Facebook. It’s certainly encouraging to hear such positive impressions about the device this early on.
Yesterday saw a number of image leaks spin out of a new Oculus VR website. Founder Palmer Luckey has already branded some of these shots as ‘ancient’, but they do showcase some intriguing features such as a remote-like controller with a circular surface and three buttons as well as a front-mounted camera on the kit itself. Just which of these pictures are still relevant will be revealed at tomorrow’s event, which kicks off at 10:00 PT. Oculus VR is expected to talk about the kit in great detail before heading to E3 in Los Angeles next week.
No.864
http://vrfocus.com/archives/16369/project-morpheus-e3/
Next week sees the biggest event in the videogame calendar, E3, take place in Los Angeles, California. Videogame fans can expect the latest updates from every major publisher and a wide range of developers both big and small. All eyes are on Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE) in particular, as the company is set to provide more details on its Project Morpheus virtual reality (VR) head-mounted display (HMD) for the PlayStation 4 at the show. In fact, VRFocus has recently learned just about much of a focus the company will be devoting to its device at this year’s event.
VRFocus has been told by sources close to SCE that Project Morpheus will be seeing a ‘big push’ at the company’s annual press conference on 15th June 2015. Following that, ‘around half’ of its booth space, which is already known to be sizeable, will be devoted to showing the device. Videogames on display are said to be ‘first-party and exclusive Morpheus titles’ only, meaning anything also appearing on the Oculus Rift or HTC Vive won’t be featured. Many of these titles will have likely already been revealed in that press conference.
Full first-party videogames are something that Project Morpheus hasn’t seen yet. While a handful of third-party projects have been revealed, the closest thing to first-party content seen on the device are the range of tech demos from SCE London Studio that have accompanied the kit to many of its showcases over the past year.
SCE has already confirmed that Project Morpheus will be releasing in the first half of 2016. Back at the 2015 Game Developers Conference (GDC) in March the company introduced a new prototype for the kit, which boasted a 1080p OLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate that allows for some videogames to be ‘reprojected’ at this framerate.
No.865
http://vrfocus.com/archives/16470/27-companies-showing-arvr-at-e3-including-microsoft-ubisoft/
It’s no secret that E3 2015, which gets underway with a day of press conferences next week on 15th June, will be a big one for virtual reality (VR) technology. Oculus VR is firing early this week with its own pre-show conference on 11th June detailing the consumer Oculus Rift head-mounted display (HMD) and Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE) will be making a significant push for its Project Morpheus at its own show. In fact, it’s now been revealed that there will be some 27 companies showcasing work in either VR or augmented reality (AR) at this year’s show in Los Angeles, California.
That figure was revealed by Polygon, which discovered with the help of the show’s organiser, the Entertainment Software Association (ESA), that about ten percent of the 274 companies at this year’s event will be showcasing work in VR or AR. The ESA has even provided an insight into which companies are on that list, revealing that Microsoft will indeed be bringing its HoloLens mixed reality (MR) device to the show while French publishing giant Ubisoft will be revealing its own work within VR. The latter pledged support to VR earlier in the year while the former is yet to talk about how HoloLens might fit in with its Xbox One console.
Other companies on the list include Crytek, the developer behind Crysis that has previously revealed its Back to Dinosaur Island VR demo on the Oculus Rift and gaming peripheral maker Razer, which heads up the Open-Source Virtual Reality (OSVR) ecosystem. Combine that with some of the indie developers that have confirmed that they’re heading to the show and there’s a lot of VR to cover at the event.
No.868
http://vrfocus.com/archives/16493/futuremark-announce-virtual-reality-benchmark-program/
Futuremark has today annuounced a new benchmark tool developed specifically for virtual reality (VR) software. Simply titled ‘VRMark’, the program uses a combination of software and hardware to measure performance, latency, and accuracy. Designed primarily for manufacturers, analysts and press, the VRMark benchmark will test a system’s ability to deliver high quality VR experiences.
VRMark will test a VR system’s ability to deliver a consistently high frame-rate across a range of quality settings and content types. VR is highly sensitive to variations in frame-rate, and as such a smooth and stable output is crucial to providing a comfortable VR experience. In addition, VRMark will measure frame latency and the responsiveness and accuracy of the sensors present in the headset. Low latency is a key factor in achieving the feeling of presence in a VR world and avoiding motion sickness.
With development under way, Futuremark is inviting VR system manufacturers to join its Benchmark Development Program (BDP). Members will have exclusive access to VRMark throughout its development and provide input to Futuremark at every stage from specification to public release.
“There are already more than a dozen different head-mounted displays for VR at various stages of completion. Analysts forecast that VR will reach 10.8 million users by the end of 2016. But delivering a great VR experience relies on overcoming significant performance challenges,” said Jukka Mäkinen, Managing Director at Futuremark. “With VRMark, we’re aiming to help everyone, from industry engineers and press reviewers to the end user at home, discover the best performing VR technology.
Futuremark’s BDP is an initiative for building partnerships with leading hardware and technology manufacturers. The VRMark Benchmark Development Program will complement Futuremark’s existing 3DMark and PCMark Programs, which count AMD, Intel, Microsoft, NVIDIA, Samsung and other leading technology companies as members.
Companies creating VR hardware and software, and others with an interest in VR system performance, are invited to apply for BDP membership today at http://www.futuremark.com/bdp.
No.880
File: ViveAd.jpg (22.11 KB, 600x400, 3:2, ViveAd.jpg)
http://vrfocus.com/archives/16529/htc-vive-is-amazing-compared-to-rivals-re-vive-confusion-to-be-addressed/
Much of the talk surrounding Valve and HTC’s Vive virtual reality (VR) head-mounted display thus far has been aimed towards developers. Since its reveal back in March 2015 studios have been seeking news on the developer edition of the kit, which has finally started to arrive at some team’s offices this month. With these free kits now being distributed and continuing to take arrive throughout this summer, the companies can start to look towards the actual consumer release of the device for holiday 2015. With that in mind, it appears that an advertising campaign for the kit is now underway that will clear up some confusion surrounding the device.
An advert for the HTC Vive can be seen on the back of a recent issue of business innovation magazine, MISC, as seen below. As revealed by HTC’s Shen Ye, it features the striking imagery that was first seen in the promotional materials used for the kit’s reveal at HTC’s Mobile World Congress (MWC) press conference on 1st May 2015. The image appears to be of a user walking through a virtual landscape. It also features the slogan ‘Rethink Reality’. Will we start to see more of these adverts arriving in the weeks and months to come in the build up to launch?
Interestingly, it also clearly holds the ‘HTC RE Vive’ label that was first seen at the kit’s announcement. This caused confusion at the time, with many wondering if the device was simply named HTC Vive or should indeed include the ‘RE’ section. This confusion popped up again with the release of these images, though Ye stepped in to reassure: “I know it’s confusing (and it’s in the works).”
Finally, he also branded the device as ‘amazing’ when stacked up against its rivals, saying “after you get a chance to try Vive, you will understand how amazing it is compared to the competition.”
No.881
File: DKs1-0.jpg (46.53 KB, 600x800, 3:4, DKs1.jpg)
File: DKs2-1.jpg (47.51 KB, 600x800, 3:4, DKs2.jpg)
http://vrfocus.com/archives/16550/oculus-reveals-development-kit-shipping-statistics/
The eyes of the virtual reality (VR) community are currently on Oculus VR as it reveals more about the consumer version of its Oculus Rift head-mounted display (HMD) today at its pre-E3 press conference in Los Angeles, California. The show is set to start at 10:00 PDT, thus press are now taking their seats in preparation. The venue for the event is littered with promotional material for Oculus VR. One particularly interesting stand reveals some specifics about the shipments of the kit’s first two development kits for the device, which have been in developer’s hands since late 2012.
The images, first post online by VR developer tipatat, can be seen below. The first development kit (DK1) shipped 56,334 units in its lifespan, which ranged from late 2012 to early 2014 when its successor, development kit 2 (DK2) was announced. In its roughly year and a half of time on the scene, the kit was shipped to 114 countries including those in North America, which easily had the most kits at 27,746 Europe, Asia, Oceania, South America, Africa, the Caribbean Island and Central America, which had just 6 kits shipped to it. DK1 is now considered to be something of a relic by the VR community.
DK2, which added pivotal new features such as a 1080p OLED display and positional tracking, has had slightly less shipment time than DK1, and yet still easily doubles it with 118,930. This device has reached 137 countries including a staggering 56,590 units shipped to North America alone. Again, Central America had the least shipments, this time acquiring 31 units. The kit can still be purchased today for $350 USD, though it’s unclear if this will remain the case for long with the consumer version of the device now rapidly approaching.
No.882
http://vrfocus.com/archives/16578/oculus-home-revealed/
The Oculus Rift needs a dedicated store for players to find virtual reality (VR) content. Oculus VR itself is planning to provide its own solution to this, and that solution is Oculus Home. Oculus VR’s Nate Mitchell announced the service today at the company’s pre-E3 show in Los Angeles, California.
Oculus Home has been built for VR first and foremost and is the go-to point for ‘everything Oculus’. Players will drop straight into Oculus Home when they put on their device. From here they’ll be able to look at their own library or shop for other VR titles. It even includes a VR scene mode that allows players to get a sense of presence without having to buy the full title. A 2D interface for the device is also coming. Mitchell confirmed that the interface will be seen once more at the Oculus Connect 2 developers conference.
I'm not thrilled about this. I would like just my desktop in VR form please.
No.883
http://www.roadtovr.com/oculus-reveals-oculus-touch-half-moon-prototype-vr-input-controller-breaking/
Today at the company’s ‘Step into the Rift’ pre-E3 event in San Francisco, Oculus revealed what they’re calling ‘Oculus Touch’, the company’s VR-specific input controller.
The prototype revealed at the event was dubbed ‘Half Moon’ by Oculus and uses the same “constellation” IR LED tracking technology as used by the Rift headset. The unit also includes an inward facing “sensor matrix” which can detect common hand gestures like waving or giving the thumbs up.
Oculus founder Palmer Luckey took to the stage at today’s event to reveal the prototype controllers which Oculus developers have been eagerly waiting for. Not relying on motion tracking or gesture input alone, the Oculus Touch Half Moon prototype controller has an analogue stick, two buttons, an index trigger finger, and what Luckey called a ‘hand trigger’ that rests near the middle finger.
Luckey suggested that this hand-trigger would become the common method for grabbing virtual items, leaving the trigger finger free for other actions like shooting or activating whatever was held.
The Oculus Touch controllers are mirrors of each other, Luckey said, as well as wireless. 6DOF motion tracking is achieved with both IR LED’s seen on the ‘crossguard’ style ring that envelops the user’s hand as well as an IMU. The Oculus Touch controllers will presumably be tracked using the same positional tracking camera that senses the headset.
Oculus didn’t mention whether or not the controllers would be included with the Oculus Rift consumer device, despite confirming that and Xbox One controller would accompany each headset.
The company didn’t demonstrate the new controller or show it in use. Neither price nor Oculus Touch release date has been confirmed, but Luckey said that the new controllers will be shown off at next week’s E3 conference.
No.884
http://vrfocus.com/archives/16589/oculus-to-invest-10000000-in-indie-devs/
Indie developers are incredibly important to the Oculus Rift virtual reality (VR) head-mounted display (HMD). The community was the first to reach out and support the device when its development kit launched back in 2012. Oculus VR is looking to keep its momentum with indie developers building, and has today launched an ambitious new investment scheme with will see it commit over $100,000,000 to these developers.
The news was announced during Oculus VR’s pre-E3 press conference today in Los Angeles, California. The company didn’t reveal specifics, but developers should definitely start looking out for how Oculus VR could help their VR projects at some point in the future.
No.885
http://vrfocus.com/archives/16591/luckey-reveals-oculus-touch-shipping-window/
Oculus VR’s biggest surprise at its pre-E3 press conference today was easily Oculus Touch, its brand new input solution for its Oculus Rift virtual reality (VR) head-mounted display (HMD). The immediate feedback from the VR community seems to be a hugely positiv, with many taking to the tracked pair of controllers well. However, while the Oculus Rift itself will be shipping in Q1 2016, fans will have to wait just a little bit longer to get their hands on touch.
Oculus VR founder and Oculus Rift creator Palmer Luckey has revealed that the Oculus Touch will be shipping in the first half of 2016. Pre-orders for the device will open later in the year alongside the Oculus Rift itself. The kit features two buttons and an analogue stick on each device and sensors to recognise gestures. Potential pricing for the kit is yet to be announced.
As for the Oculus Rift itself, the device will be shipping with an Xbox One controller. Windows 10 streaming will even allow players to stream their Xbox One videogames into the device in a virtual cinema. VRFocus will continue to follow the Oculus Rift, Oculus Touch and Oculus VR closely, reporting back with the latest updates.
No.897
http://www.roadtovr.com/a-look-under-the-hood-of-the-oculus-rift-revealed-in-new-photos/
Along with the latest batch of photos for the Oculus Rift consumer headset, we get a high resolution look under the shell of the hotly anticipated device.
Oculus has never been shy about showing what’s under the hood. When they revealed the Rift DK2 development kit back in March, 2014, they showed bare photos of the unit’s circuit board, proudly stamped with the company logo.
Last year at their inaugural developer conference, Oculus Connect, the company open-sourced the Oculus Rift DK1 development kit by putting the entirety of its design, from the shell to the circuity to the firmware, online for anyone to use.
Also back in 2014, when iFixit got their hands on the DK2, they pried it open and uncovered that hidden inside the headset was the screen of the Samsung Galaxy Note 3, apparently plucked right from the production line as the device’s touchscreen was still attached. This interesting foreshadowing heralded the work between Oculus and Samsung on the Gear VR headset that was revealed later that year.
The consumer Oculus Rift is confirmed to be using dual 1080×1200 OLED displays. It hasn’t been confirmed, but we’d guess that Samsung remains the manufacturer.
No.898
http://www.roadtovr.com/infiniteye-210-degree-vr-headset-becomes-star-vr-this-is-what-it-look-like-breaking/
InfinitEye is back! Today, Starbreeze announces that their VR Headset sporting a mammoth 210 degree horizontal field of view will become ‘StarVR‘.
Well this was a pleasant surprise. Just hours after landing in LA for next week’s E3 Expo, Stephane Portes co-founder of of the ‘long-in-stealth-mode’ InfinitEye project contacts me with some exciting news.
18 months after our exclusive first hands on with the team’s early prototype sporting an impressive super-wide field of view, the team have announced that they’ve been acquired by Starbreeze to form a new project comprising InfinitEye’s technology
The unit claims not only that stellar 210 degree horizontal FOV, but an impressive 130 degrees vertical FOV to match. The unit is comprised of Dual 5.5 inch LCD panels creating a total 5120×1440 resolution (2 x QHD panels). The headset now also features positional head tracking, using what looks to be fiducial markers and an outside-in camera system. The positional tracking extends to 360 degrees.
As before, the headset leverages Fresnel lenses, aligned with the displays in a canted formation to immerse the user’s field of view. Other points of note is the overhauled head harness, which looked altogether more secure and the system now offers a sealed viewing area. During my original play tests the headset was effectively open at the edges leading to light leakage.
Starbreeze Studios is an independent creator, publisher and distributor of high quality entertainment products, headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden. The company’s CEO said of the move “InfinitEye’s team is extremely dedicated and competent. The ultra-wide field-of-view in their HMD corresponds to man’s own, which lays the foundation for an authentic experience. By bringing InfinitEye into Starbreeze and together with our newly acquired Valhalla engine, we will be able to create great entertainment of a kind that has not been experienced before,”
What’s more, the new StarVR system will be available to try at E3 with an impressive sounding exclusive experience based around The Walking Dead. The new game is developed exclusively for the new VR headset by Starbreeze and will leverage that panoramic VR I spoke of 18 months ago to terrify the player.
Speaking to Road to VR, Co-founder Stephane Portes said on behalf of the InfinitEye team “Finally after working in stealth mode for so long we are proud to join Starbreeze to bring you the most immersive experience with kickass content. Visit us at E3 2015 to try out The Walking Dead in VR with a 210° field of view!”
We’ll be going hands-on with the new StarVR headset and the Walking Dead experience very soon – we’ll of course report back our experiences.
This only makes me wonder what are the downsides.
No.900
>>898
hot damn! That looks really promising
No.903
>>900
Remember, we have no idea whether if it has an OLED display, is low persistence, or has a refresh rate at or above 90Hz. Until we get confirmation on those I will remain skeptical of these high specs.
No.918