Mel Slater’s Theory of VR Presence vs an Elemental Theory of Presence

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Image courtesy Digital Catapult

mel-slaterVR Presence researcher Mel Slater is fascinated by what makes the medium of virtual reality unique and different from other communications mediums. He says that VR activates our sensorimotor contingencies in a way that fools our brain that we’re transported into another world, and that what is happening is real. He breaks this into two primary illusions where the Place Illusion answers the question “Am I there?” and the Plausibility Illusion answers the question “Is this happening?” These two illusions happen inside of your mind and are very difficult to study, but Slater has develop an experimental research protocol that draws inspiration from color theory research the combination of the objective spectral distribution as well as an individual’s subjective perception of color.

6 VR Experiences Nominated for 2017 Emmy Awards, Oculus Receives Multiple Nominations

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image courtesy Television Academy

The 69th Emmy Awards nominations are out, and while it’s true the Emmys were created to recognize excellence in the television industry, virtual reality as a medium has been lauded with six total nominations this year, three of which are thanks to content created by Oculus.

nDreams Raises £2.7M to Further Develop VR Games, Signs Deal to Bring Exclusive Content to VR Arcade

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image courtesy nDreams

nDreams, creators of The Assembly and publishers of the upcoming brawler Bloody Zombies, have completed an additional £2 million investment with Mercia Technologies, and £700,000 from private investors to create more VR games. In addition, nDreams has signed a deal to bring exclusive new content to a “leading VR arcade company.” According to a nDreams blog post, the VR arcade content partnership is just one of many recent deals with third-party companies.

‘EVE: Valkyrie’ Gets New ‘Ultra’ Graphics Option Thanks to Nvidia VRWorks

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image courtesy CCP Games

As part of this week’s EVE: Valkyrie update, which includes AI improvements, balance tweaks, and stability fixes, the game has also received some visual optimisations courtesy of Nvidia VRWorks. Suitable for higher-spec Nvidia cards (GTX 1070 and above), the new ‘Ultra Settings’ option enables ‘God rays’, improved cockpit lighting and projectile effects.  

‘Dino Frontier’ Launch Date and Gameplay Trailer Revealed

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image courtesy Uber Entertainment

Uber Entertainment’s ‘second generation’ made-for-VR game Dino Frontier launches on August 1st for PSVR. Detailed in a new post on the PlayStation Blog, the game will be available digitally for $29.99, with a 20% pre-order discount for PlayStation Plus members.

Report: Facebook to Ship a $200 Standalone Mobile VR Headset in 2018

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Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg at the company's F8 conference | Photo courtesy Facebook

According to a report by Bloomberg, Facebook is working on a wireless, standalone VR headset said to target the $200 price range. Citing “people familiar with its development,” the report reveals the Oculus-branded headset, code named ‘Pacific’, will ship sometime next year.

See Every Vive Demo in Action at Bandai Namco’s VR ZONE

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Image courtesy Bandai Namco

Bandai Namco announced last month that the company would be opening its first VR ZONE arcade in Shinjuku, Tokyo. Promising branded VR content playing on HTC Vive, the now publicly open arcade features some big names like Nintendo’s Mario Kart Arcade GP VR, Dragon Ball VR, and Gundam VR—most of which uses special motion platforms and other ‘4D’ sense-fooling gadgetry to beguile would-be VR first-timers. Here, we take a look at all 12 demos available—including trailers—in the company’s 2-story facility.

Unity’s Main Branch Now Supports NVIDIA VRWorks for Enhanced Rendering Features

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The latest release of Unity, version 2017.1 now officially supports NVIDIA’s VRWorks rendering tech. VRWorks contains a number of rendering features unique to the company’s GPUs which are designed to improve performance in VR applications.

Facebook Spaces Now Lets You Broadcast Live from VR to Any Facebook-capable Device

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Facebook today announced their Oculus Rift app Spaces is getting an extra feature, bringing it closer in functionality to the rest of Facebook’s near ubiquitous platform—of course with a few extra ‘VR perks’. Starting today, Facebook is letting Rift owners ‘go Live’ and broadcast in-app video of their session, sharing it with the rest of the Facebook-using world.

‘Mage’s Tale’ Studio inXile Entertainment Raises $4.5M Investment, Open World VR RPG on Horizon

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Image courtesy inXile Entertainment

inXile Entertainment, the studio behind The Bard’s Tale franchise including VR dungeon crawler The Mage’s Tale (2017), today announced they’ve raised a combined investment of $4.5M intended for equity in the company and as funds to develop an unannounced open world survival RPG VR game.

‘Dragon Ball Z VR’ in Action, Go Super Saiyan in Bandai Namco’s VR ZONE

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There’s some weird and wild things showcasing at Bandai Namco’s VR Arcade VR Zone in Shinjuku, Tokyo. To get a better look, Japan-based YouTube channel VJump goes hands-on with Dragon Ball Z VR, giving us a peek into the 40,000 square feet, 2-floor VR arcade and showing just how awesome going Super Saiyan in VR can be.

GoPro Ships First ‘Fusion’ 360 Cameras to 10 Select Broadcasters

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image courtesy GoPro

GoPro’s first batch of Fusion 360 cameras is now headed to some big brands, agencies and content creators as part of a pilot program to help source initial content partners.

Disney Invests in VR Arcade The VOID, Epic Games in 2017 Accelerator

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image courtesy The Walt Disney Company

The Walt Disney Company has announced participants in its 2017 incubator Disney Accelerator, a program intended for early and venture-backed tech startups working in media and entertainment. Among the 11 picked for the company’s 2017 Accelerator is location-based VR arcade The Void and Unreal Engine creator Epic Games.

Video Gives Us a Peek Into the Future of How AR and VR Will Work Together

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image courtesy NormalVR

We’re all waiting for the day when you can put on a singular, tether-free headset and experience all the ‘R’s that VR/AR/MR have to offer—and NormalVR, a “small but focused” group of passionate immersive media creators just gave us a peek into what’s possible when you mash it all together.

‘Legion’ HoloLens Experience Coming to San Diego Comic-Con

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image courtesy FX Networks

FX TV series Legion (2017) is getting an immersive, mixed reality experience powered by Microsoft’s HoloLens, and it’s coming to this year’s San Diego Comic-Con on July 20-23.

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