Hands-on: Acer Windows Mixed Reality Dev Kit & Datascape
One thing that I got more and more excited about as we got closer and closer to the Microsoft Build 2017 developers conference was finally learning about the new Acer Windows Mixed Reality head-mounted displays (HMD). Brandon Bray, Principal Group Program Manager at Microsoft, had teased us a few weeks earlier at the Vision Summit event in Los Angeles, California, and said there would be a lot more information at Build. Fortunately for us, he was right.
Hands-on: Google's Daydream View Feels Like a Hot & Stiff Pair of Sweatpants on Your Face
While visiting the Made by Google pop-up shop in New York City this morning, I had a chance to try out the new Daydream View virtual reality headset. First impressions are important, and Google's new mobile VR product makes a good one. The headset is made of a soft fabric that most evokes a beloved old college sweater that's well worn but properly cared for. The demo only featured the Slate (darker gray) model, though customers will ultimately be able to choose from either Slate, Snow, and Cr...
News: Adam Cosco's Short Film 'KNIVES' Ups the Ante on Virtual Reality Moviemaking
While you can't turn art into a formula, the film industry has managed to come stupidly close. While many storytelling principles still stand across mediums, successfully crafting a compelling, immersive narrative in virtual reality requires a brand new rulebook. Through trial, error, and success, writer/director/editor Adam Cosco figured out the right rules to follow (and break) in "KNIVES"—his latest 360-degree short film. The film tells an old-fashioned tale of a woman, Kelsey Frye, strugg...
News: Google's Daydream SDK Is Available Now—Here's How to Try It Out
We're set to see the actual debut of Google Daydream on October 4, and it'll hopefully serve as a significant step up from Cardboard—their current virtual reality smartphone platform. If you want to get an early taste, you can set up a development kit—you just need two phones to do it.
News: The Incredible VR Painting Experience Tilt Brush Adds Greater Control, 3D Models & a Word Game
Google's Tilt Brush has proven to be one of the most compelling VR experiences for the HTC Vive, letting you paint with crazy materials like electricity and duct tape. It is clearly an experiment in bringing the joy of imagination to life—or creating some form of virtual LSD—and the app's latest update brings a variety of features that only continue to support that theme. There are few to no rules in virtual reality app development, and that can both be freeing or absolutely paralyzing when t...
News: AltspaceVR's Democracy Plaza Puts You in the Middle of the 2016 Election
Most of us don't get the opportunity to see election coverage first hand, but with virtual reality, we're not as restricted. AltspaceVR has teamed up with NBC News to let you log in on your computer or VR headset and actually take part in the action—just not physically.
News: A New Project Lets Scientists Strap on a Vive & Walk Right into a Cancer Cell
Cancer is a complicated illness, but the more we understand it, the likelier we are to beat it. The 3D Visualisation Aesthetics Lab at the University of New South Wales took to virtual reality to help improve our odds by allowing scientists to walk through virtual representations of actual cancer cells.
News: Play Games & Share Live Experiences in Virtual Worlds with AltspaceVR
People fear virtual reality will isolate us, but the right experience can prove it does the opposite.
News: HTC Vive Project Proton Concept Devices Offer Potential Future High-End & Mobile AR Wearable Options
Part of the fallout from the canceled Mobile World Congress is that a range of products, ideas, and designs slated for reveal in Barcelona are now being showcased without the framing and context of the massive tech gathering.
News: HTC Opens Up Augmented Reality Development for HTC Vive
HTC is entering the augmented reality market through the back door by giving developers access to the stereo front-facing cameras on the Vive and Vive Pro VR headsets.
News: Apple VR Platform for iPhones May Actually Be in the Works
Google and Samsung have been leaving Apple in the dust when it comes to virtual reality gear. However, as the market grows and becomes more impossible to ignore within the tech world, Apple may be forced to play catch up. This could account for the new Apple patent that was granted today.
News: I Entered THE VOID & Its Incredibly Immersive Approach to VR Blew Me Away
What happens when a entrepeneur/theme park creator and special effects artist/magician team up? You get a team crazy enough to create the first true virtual reality theme park (sorry, Six Flags). They only have a single experience so far, but it's already taken a giant leap beyond the wonders we've seen in today's consumer virtual reality headsets.
News: Apple Just Patented This Silly Sunglasses-Lookin' VR Headset for the iPhone
Apple's plans for virtual, mixed, and augmented reality have remained a mystery for some time, but now we at least have some idea of what they're thinking about. UploadVR uncovered a patent showing a VR headset design that looks like a thick pair of sunglasses and utilizes an iPhone to provide an experience similar to the Samsung Gear VR.
News: Get Trippy on the Vive with OmniPudding's Cube-Based Particle Simulator
Want proof that user experiences matter? Look no further than the HTC Vive and Omnipudding's particle generator, GPU Cubes VR, which lets you interact with thousands of colorful, cubic particles in a black void. If this was a simulator for your computer only, controlled with a mouse or keyboard, you'd be bored in seconds—but it's just simple, instant fun on the Vive.
News: Leap Motion's Interaction Engine Brings Natural Gestures into Virtual Worlds
Leap Motion created gesture control for all sorts of things, including virtual reality, long ago, but developers must build in support for their tracking peripheral to use its full potential. As a result, they've created an "Interaction Engine" for Unity, the primary platform for developing virtual and mixed reality experiences, to try and take gesture interaction to the next level.
News: Google's Daydream May Materialize in Just Two Weeks
We've heard a bit about Google Daydream—the new smartphone-based virtual reality platform that is supposed to provide a markedly better experience than Cardboard—but don't really know what it'll look like. Engadget claims we could find out in just a couple of weeks, since Android Nougat is already out, a necessary component of Daydream.
News: Windows Holographic Is Coming to Intel's Project Alloy Cord-Cutting Headset
Most popular virtual reality headsets, like the HTC Vive and Oculus Rift, require a tethered connection to the computer and that imposes some obvious restrictions on how much we can move in our space. We'd all prefer a simpler, untethered option, and Intel wants to provide just that.
News: Microsoft Windows Gets the Virtual Reality Treatment with Envelop VR
Most of us work with a single monitor, but even with one or two extras, they still offer a rather confined workspace. Virtual reality, however, doesn't have such boundaries. As a result, VR headsets can work as excellent productivity tools. Windows can't just adapt on its own, however, so Envelop VR stepped in and created a new working environment to allow the desktop to expand beyond its traditional, rectangular bounds.
News: Virtual Reality Will Change How We Experience Music
Virtual reality, along with its siblings, has the opportunity to profoundly change the way we interact with all things digital. As a visual medium, we often don't think about the impact on audio, but it plays a significant role nevertheless. When it comes to music—and music videos—the possibilities are enormous.
News: Valve Opens the Gates for Third-Party HTC Vive Controllers
The HTC Vive and Valve's SteamVR make for one of the more compelling virtual reality experiences, mixing in real-world motion tracking with the immersive headset. But third-party manufacturers couldn't tap into the Vive's full potential and make creative new peripherals—until now.
News: Idealens Standalone Headset Makes VR Mobile Without a Phone
When you think about consumer VR headsets, you either imagine a computer-tethered powerhouse like the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive, or something portable yet limited that utilizes your smartphone like Google Cardboard. Somehow, we haven't seen much in-between, but the Idealens aims to fill that gap.
News: Google Chrome Is Nearly Ready to Become Your Virtual Reality Browser
Mozilla helped get the ball rolling with WebVR, but support for the technology has been notably absent in Google Chrome until recently. Now, the latest Chromium developer build offers limited support.
News: Boring (Yet Mesmerizing) VR Experiences Could Calm Anxiety & Reduce Pain
Opioids, or narcotic painkillers, serve as our primary method for alleviating physical distress. They also happen to be a leading cause of death due to their addictive nature. AppliedVR hopes to introduce a safer alternative: virtual reality gaming. They utilize the existing Samsung Gear VR for the hardware, but provides specialized software that offers up a distracting experience that fosters greater pain ignorance.
News: The Manus VR Gloves Bring Full Hand Tracking into the Virtual World
Most virtual and mixed reality headsets offer unnatural controls, making you use awkward movements or physical devices to control the holographic elements in your direct view. This doesn't make a lot of sense because using your hands is more natural, so Manus developed a set of gloves that solves that problem entirely.
News: CyberPong Updates the Classic Game for VR on the Vive
Pong, one of the simplest video games ever created, has managed to evolve in some crazy ways over time, from the original basic 2D version and colorful Breakout sequel, to the PlayStation game with power-ups and 3D graphics, and now Cyberpong VR—a virtual reality game on the HTC Vive—where you act as the paddle instead of just moving it into place with a controller.
News: vTime Brings Human Interaction to Virtual Reality
One of the major criticisms of virtual reality, and much modern technology in general, is the antisocial nature it creates. But vTime wants to overcome the isolating nature of VR headsets with a virtual hangout space for you and your friends.
News: This Accessory Lets You Control Almost Any VR Headset with Gestures
The Oculus Rift's virtual experiences become a little less immersive when you're barely moving in a chair with a headset on, playing on a gamepad—but you don't have to accept that reality anymore.
News: Oculus Releases Minecraft for the Samsung Gear VR
The team behind Minecraft, the popular open-world game beloved for its freedom to create and build, has teamed up with Oculus to release an official edition that takes you even further into the block-based world using a Samsung Gear VR headset. While the Oculus Rift version itself is still forthcoming, Gear VR users can play right now.
News: Watch This Woman Freak the Hell Out in Horror VR
Virtual reality and horror were meant for each other. You'll get all the positive aspects of experiencing a terrifying situation such as excitement and an adrenaline rush, without any of the real-life consequences, like being ripped to shreds by a herd of flesh-eating monsters.
News: Facebook Will Have AR Integrated with Oculus in 10 Years
Facebook announced at its F8 Developer's Conference on April 12th that, in addition to the VR-ready Oculus Rift we have today, it plans to bring Augmented Reality (AR) into the fold of their social machine.
News: VR in the OR—Watch Live Surgery on April 14th in 360 Degrees
If you've ever wanted to be right in the thick of an operating room, you're about to get your chance. On Thursday, April 14th, you'll be able to watch a VR live stream of a tumor removal surgery. With their 360-degree camera, you'll be able to see the entire operating table and its surroundings.
News: Oculus Is Collecting a Scary Amount of Data for Facebook
The highly anticipated VR headset hasn't been on the market long, but there's an issue that has some consumers, and even government officials, concerned about the Oculus Rift. You probably guessed the issue surrounds privacy and the extensive, not-so-secret way that it's collecting your personal data. The privacy concerns came about as various customers and media outlets took notice of the rather lengthy Terms and Services that pop up once you strap yourself into the Rift headset.
News: This Is the Easiest Way to Try Out HTC's Vive Right Now
If you've been debating on whether or not HTC's new virtual reality headset, the Vive, is worth the $800 price tag, then you'll be able to find out for yourself soon enough.
How To: 10 Virtual Reality Apps to Get You Started with Google Cardboard
Virtual reality is all the rage these days, especially with devices like the Oculus Rift, Gear VR, and HTC Vive hitting shelves lately. But before any of those fancy, expensive headsets ever made it to the market, Google came up with a thrifty and inventive substitute in the form of Google Cardboard.
News: The Oculus Rift Is Finally Out—Here Are Its Biggest Downsides
The Oculus Rift is finally shipping to customers in more than 20 countries, and we're getting a good idea of how the device holds up from the initial reviews. You'll see some common threads throughout: along with an impressive virtual reality experience, the device is very comfortable with a solid design.
News: Oculus Demos Minecraft for Gear VR, Complete with a Side of Nausea
Since its purchase by Microsoft in 2014, Minecraft has regularly been pushed to new platforms such as Windows 10, Wii U, and Fire TV. In that spirit, Microsoft-owned Mojang has been developing virtual- and augmented-reality versions of the blocky sandbox game.
News: Fly with Superman Thanks to This Integrative Roller Coaster Experience
Six Flags is teaming up with Samsung to make riding a roller coaster a little more thrilling, and quite possibly a little more nauseating as well.
How To: Hack Skateboard for Virtual Reality
An accelerometer/gyro goes onto an Arduino board and transmits the angular motion of the skateboard via Bluetooth to a virtual reality game I made for Android phones and Google Cardboard.
News: McDonald's Is Making Happy Meal Boxes That Transform into VR Headsets
Another day, another company hopping on the virtual reality bandwagon. Today, it's fast food behemoth McDonald's, which is testing limited edition Happy Meal boxes that you can turn into a VR headset by punching out a couple holes and tearing along a few perforated seams. The resulting headset is a lot like Google Cardboard, with the lingering scent of fry grease.
News: Oculus Rift Preorders Finally Begin on January 6th
Virtual reality technology company Oculus VR announced that it will begin accepting preorders for its long-awaited Oculus Rift headset beginning Wednesday, January 6th, at 8 a.m. Pacific time.
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