Oculus Hiring Spree Suggests Facebook is Accelerating VR/AR Plans
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
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
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
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
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
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.
A Glimpse of the New Vive Pro Controllers & SteamVR Tracking 2.0 Base Stations
While HTC is planning to launch the Vive Pro headset itself starting in Q1, the full package including the headset, controllers, and new SteamVR Tracking 2.0 base stations won’t come until later in the year. Until then, here’s a glimpse that comes to us from Alvin Wang Graylin, HTC’s Vive China president, who recently took the kit to a Vive developer meetup in the region.
Oculus Research Reveals New Multi-focal Display Tech
Oculus Research, the company’s R&D division, recently published a paper that goes deeper into their eye tracking-assisted, multi-focal display tech, detailing the creation of something they dub a “perceptual” testbed.
Studio Behind ‘SUPERHOT’ Looking for More VR Developers
It’s amazing how well SUPERHOT (2016), the unforgettably stylized action game, worked when translated to virtual reality. Now, the developers at SUPERHOT Team are looking to get more hands on deck as they dive deeper into the world of VR development.
Light Field Lab Announces $7 Million Investment to Develop Light Field Displays
Light Field Lab, a company founded by ex-Lytro veterans, announced the successful completion of a $7 million seed funding round that will help the company further develop a light field-based holographic display. The seed round was led by Khosla Ventures and Sherpa Capital, with participation by R7 Partners.
The Key Technology Behind Varjo’s High-res ‘Bionic Display’ Headset
Varjo is a relatively new name to the VR scene, but the company is certainly making a buzz, having quickly raised some $15 million in venture capital touting the promise of delivering a VR headset achieving retina resolution at the center of the field of view. But how exactly does it work? A new graphic shows the key tech behind the company’s headset.
Lytro Picks up Limitless Team to Build Tools to Work With Light-fields in Game Engines
Limitless, a company developing content and tools for creating cinematic VR experiences, has joined Lytro to build out tools for combining light-fields and real-time rendering directly in game engines.
Sixense Still Struggling With Manufacturing for Years-delayed VR Controller Kickstarter
Oculus-funded VR Experience ‘SPHERES’ Sold at Sundance in “Seven-Figure Deal”
SPHERES, a three-chapter space experience from Darren Aronofsky’s Protozoa Pictures, was just bought by VR finance and distribution firm CityLights in what Variety describes as a “seven-figure deal.”
Pimax “8K” Headset Kickstarter Deliveries Delayed to Q2
Following their appearance with a new “8K” prototype at CES 2018, Pimax’s latest update says that backers won’t see their finished headsets until Q2, delaying the initially expected delivery date by several months.
