Road to VR

Inside Sundance Hit ‘SPHERES: Songs of Spacetime’ with Director Eliza McNitt

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Feb 1, 2018

SPHERES: Songs of Spacetime - Still 1 — A still image from SPHERES: Songs of Spacetime by Eliza McNitt, an official selection of the New Frontier VR Experiences program at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival. All photos are copyrighted and may be used by press only for the purpose of news or editorial coverage of Sundance Institute programs. Photos must be accompanied by a credit to the photographer and/or 'Courtesy of Sundance Institute.' Unauthorized use, alteration, reproduction or sale of logos and/or photos is strictly prohibited.

Sundance New Frontier had a solid line-up of VR experiences this year with a number of immersive storytelling innovations including SPHERES: Songs of Spacetime, which takes you on a journey into the center of a black hole. It’s a hero’s journey that provides an embodied experience of the evolution of a star from birth to death with a poetic story written and directed by Eliza McNitt, narrated by Jessica Chastain, and produced by Darren Aronofsky’s Protozoa Pictures.

HTC: Vive Pro is Targeted at Prosumers and Will Be “more expensive” Than Consumer Vive

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Jan 31, 2018

vive pro — Image courtesy HTC

VR/AR expert Antony Vitillo (aka ‘Skarred Ghost‘) got an opportunity to speak with HTC Vive China President Alvin Wang Graylin recently, and while Graylin predictably couldn’t answer the question on everyone’s mind—”how much is Vive Pro going to cost?”—we learned the headset is definitely targeting a prosumer price range that makes it “more expensive than the existing consumer product.”

VirZOOM Closes $5.5M Seed Funding to Develop Second Generation of VR Bike Kit

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Jan 31, 2018

VirZOOM vSports Competition — image courtesy PRNewsfoto/VirZOOM

VirZOOM, makers of VR arcade exercise games and the VirZOOM Bike Controller, announced the successful closure of a $5.5 million seed funding round which the company says will help expand its commercial business worldwide with a second generation of its VZ Module and VZ Sensor, a retrofitting kit for stationary bikes that turns them into VR controllers.

Stanford VR Lab Founder’s Academic Journey with VR, and new Book ‘Experience on Demand’

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Jan 30, 2018

Jeremy Bailenson founding director of Stanford University’s Virtual Human Interaction Lab, and his latest book Experience on Demand traces his academic journey through virtual reality. It’s an intellectual memoir that focuses on his personal work in VR, and the insights that VR provides into human communication dynamics, as well as the impact of VR on our identity, empathy, education, medicine, and our ability to understand complex issues such as global warming and our impact on the environment.

Step Inside the Unabomber Investigation in New Interactive VR Experience

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Jan 30, 2018

unabomber-vr — image courtesy HTC Vive Studios

If you were alive in the ’90s, chances are you’ve heard about Ted Kaczynski, aka the Unabomber, the American domestic terrorist that between 1978 and 1995 killed 3 people, and injured 23 others in a nationwide bombing campaign. Now, HTC Vive Studios and The Newseum, an interactive news museum in Washington, D.C., have come together to produce a VR experience detailing the Unabomber case, which features an interactive inside look at Kaczynski’s infamous Montana cabin where he planned his bombings.

‘Sprint Vector’ Gets February 8th PC Launch Date, Feb 13th for PSVR

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Jan 30, 2018

sprint-vector — image courtesy Survios

Having just celebrated a successful closed beta, which showed off some of the game’s new mechanics and solo challenge mode, Survios now says its infectious footracer Sprint Vector is set to launch on HTC Vive and Oculus Rift on February 8th. PlayStation VR players will have to wait until February 13th to join in the fun.

Google ‘Blocks’ Update Matures Tools for Even Easier 3D Modeling in VR

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Jan 30, 2018

google blocks — images courtesy Google

Google Blocks, the 3D object creation tool for VR/AR app developers, just got a big update that includes new environments, improved object snapping, and a number of experimental features that the company says makes Blocks “more powerful and even easier to use.”

Positron Closes $1.4 Seed Funding to Develop Next Gen of Its VR Motion Chair

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Jan 30, 2018

positron-voyager-2018 — image courtesy Positron

Positron, a Los Angeles-based VR technology studio, announced at Sundance that it closed a $1.4 million seed funding deal to further develop the next generation of the company’s VR motion chair, Voyager. Funding was provided by Lazar Ventures co-founders Cathleen Ihasz and Nicole Ihasz, and OWC.

Xiaomi Mi VR to Support Oculus Mobile SDK, 100% Rev Share in 2018 for Localized Apps

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Jan 30, 2018

xiaomi-mi-vr-standalone-oculus-go — Image courtesy Xiaomi, Oculus

Back at CES, Oculus announced that Chinese electronics giant Xiaomi would exclusively bring its own branded version of the standalone Oculus Go headset to China. The headset will support the Oculus Mobile SDK, meaning existing Gear VR and future Oculus Go apps can be packaged up for sale to the Chinese VR market through Xiaomi’s Mi VR store.

Oculus Hiring Spree Suggests Facebook is Accelerating VR/AR Plans

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Jan 29, 2018

oculus-hallway — Image courtesy Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook

Starting toward the end of 2017, the number of listed job openings at Oculus has nearly tripled, with the current number of openings floating around an all time high.

‘Sprint Vector’ Closed Beta Shows New Modes & Mechanics, Impressive Polish

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Jan 29, 2018

sprint vector closed beta code (4) — Image courtesy Survios

Sprint Vector, the upcoming VR footracing game from Raw Data (2017) studio Survios, went into closed beta last week. Now with a few multiplayer matches under my belt and a number of solo challenges (and possibly some overextended elbows), it’s clear the studio’s so-called “adrenaline platformer” is aiming to impress with a number of new modes, some new mechanics and a thick coat of polish.

Indie VRMMO ‘OrbusVR’ Now on Oculus Home and Steam With Cross Play

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Jan 29, 2018

orbusvr — Image courtesy Orbus Online

OrbusVR, the indie VR MMORPG, is now on Oculus Home, allowing for crossplay between it and the Steam version which launched last month.

‘Star Wars: Jedi Challenges’ for Lenovo Mirage AR Gets First Content Expansion Since Launch

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Jan 29, 2018

lenovo disney star wars ar headset — Image courtesy Lenovo

If you haven’t touched your Lenovo Mirage AR headset since Christmas, now may be the time to jump back in for the latest content expansion to the lightsaber-intensive Star Wars: Jedi Challenges.

5 VR Backpack PCs at a Glance

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Dominic Brennan

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Jan 29, 2018

hp-omen-x-backpack — Image courtesy HP

One of the current barriers to immersion for high-end VR headsets is being tethered to a powerful PC. For now, there are two options if you want to eliminate that pesky cable: a special wireless adapter, or a backpack PC to let the rendering happen directly on your person. Here we take a look at a range of VR backpack computers and what they offer.

Kaleidoscope VR on the Funding Landscape for Cinematic VR

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Jan 27, 2018

first-look — Photo by Kent Bye at Kaleidoscope VR's FIRST LOOK market

After talking to a lot of independent VR storytellers, Kaleidoscope VR’s René Pinnell identified that funding was one of the biggest blockers for continued experimentation. Cinematic VR pieces do not have many established distribution channels yet, and so a lot of the funding has come from larger headset manufacturers like Oculus and select brands like Intel.

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