Revive Creator Joins OpenXR Initiative ‘to help create a truly open VR standard’
The Guardian Launches VR-illustrated 360 Short Film ‘Sea Prayer’
Acclaimed author Khaled Hosseini’s short story inspired by Alan Kurdi—the three-year-old Syrian refugee who drowned in the Mediterranean Sea in 2015—has been illustrated using Tilt Brush for a unique 360 degree short film. Sea Prayer is the latest of several thought-provoking VR experiences from The Guardian VR team.
Capturing Holocaust Testimony in VR: A Behind the Scenes Look at ‘The Last Goodbye’
One of the most emotionally-moving VR experiences that I’ve had in VR was bearing witness to Holocaust survivor Pinchas Gutter share his experiences at the Majdanek Concentration Camp in The Last Goodbye. Gutter not only provides a guided tour, but he is able to achieve a level emotional catharsis through the process of sharing his story that his virtual presence within the experience, amplified my own sense of emotional and social presence, which is what helped to make it such a profoundly moving VR experience. The Last Goodbye uses a unique blend of photogrammetry and billboarded stereo video that helped to transport me into a room-scale experience of multiple key locations at the Majdanek Camp as Gutter shared his memories of being there as an 11-year old child.
How VR, AR, & AI Can Change Education Forever – Part 1, Today’s Problems
Education is an odd bird: we all know it could be better, while at the same time it is the best it has ever been in human history. For the last two centuries the world went through a great expansion in learning: our literacy rate skyrocketed from 12% to 88% worldwide, and Primary, Secondary and Tertiary education have all seen drastic growth (in schools and students), breaking records on almost a yearly basis.
‘Sparc’ Developer CCP Games to “Talk About Additional Platform Support Later This Year”
This is Your Last Chance to Buy an Oculus Rift on Sale for $400
Oculus has given the Rift & Touch their biggest discount yet: $400 to get you both the Rift headset and the Touch controllers, and a slew of bundled content. The company now confirms they’ll be ending the sale on September 4th, making it your last chance to get the headset and controller bundle before it returns to the new price of $500.
‘Eternity Warriors VR’ Coming to Steam Early Access this Month
Eternity Warriors, the mobile game series, is making its way to VR soon with the aptly named Eternity Warriors VR, a first-person co-op hack-and-slash coming to Steam Early Access later this month.
Oracle is Bringing AR and VR Visualization to Its Enterprise IoT Platform
Oracle, one of the world’s largest companies, announced new capabilities for their Oracle Cloud enterprise platform that’s designed to give large businesses a bird’s-eye view of their entire operation through comprehensive monitoring of digital and physical assets. Along with the new capabilities the company demonstrated how AR and VR can be leveraged for added intelligence.
Rift Summer Sale Drives Record Gains, Highest Steam Market Share Yet
According to the latest figures from Valve’s Hardware & Software Survey, the Oculus Rift has set a new record for its highest historical market share on Steam, almost certainly driven by a major sale which has also brought the headset its largest ever share increase from one month to the next. While the HTC Vive continues to hold the majority share, the Rift is approaching striking distance.
Pre-orders for TPCast Wireless VR Add-on Now Available in Europe
TPCast, the wireless streaming device that lets HTC Vive owners play VR games cable-free, is now available for pre-order in most of continental Europe starting at €349 (or the regional equivalent) and the United States at $299.
‘The Settlers of Catan’ is Coming Soon to Rift and Gear VR, More Platforms to Follow
Iconic multiplayer board game The Settlers of Catan is making the leap to VR. Coming this holiday season to Oculus Rift and Samsung Gear VR, the game is aptly named Catan VR.
‘Duck Season’ Releasing on Steam and Oculus Store September 14th, New Gameplay Trailer Here
Duck Season is a first-person adventure game created by Stress Level Zero, developers of multiplayer shooter Hover Junkers (2016). While it’s hard to pin down exactly what sort of game it is with its unique, nostalgia-inducing narrative style and horror elements, we’ll be finding out soon enough, because Duck Season is slated to release on Steam and the Oculus Store on September 14th.
Oculus is Capping off Its Summer Rift Sale with Deals on Top Games
The ‘Summer of Rift’ is coming to a close, with Oculus announcing today that September 4th is the last day to nab the $400 Summer Rift sale price. The cap off the eight week headset sale, Oculus is running an ‘End of Summer Weekend Sale’ featuring two bundle deals and 30 individual titles on sale.
Lenovo Mirage AR Headset Veers Into ‘Expensive Gimmick’ Territory With ‘Star Wars: Jedi Challenges’ as Sole Title
Lenovo Mirage AR headset is now available for pre-order at BestBuy.com and Lenovo.com for $200, which includes a Lightsaber controller, base station, and the star of the show: a collection of games called Star Wars: Jedi Challenges. But will it be enough to attract would-be Jedi to the augmented reality side of the Force and keep them there?
