Road to VR

Avatar Creation with Morph3D & Social VR Anecdotes from Chris Madsen

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Aug 9, 2017

Custom avatars in social VR add a lot of fidelity of identity expression and creative flair in applications like VRChat or High Fidelity. Morph3D is a custom avatar solution that offers a number of free avatars within VRChat, but they also have a custom tool where you can customize your own virtual avatar. I had a chance to catch up with Chris “DeepRifer” Madsen, Morph3D’s head of VR/AR at GDC where we talked about some of the reactive avatars that they’re working on.

Coldplay to Livestream ‘Head Full of Dreams’ Concert on Gear VR for Free Next Week

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Aug 9, 2017

coldplay — Image courtesy Live Nation, Samsung

Ever wanted to go to a Coldplay concert? If you own a Gear VR headset, you’ve got a free ticket for the VR livestream of the band’s ‘A Head Full of Dreams’ performance next week.

‘Tron’ Star Jeff Bridges Thinks ‘Tron 3’ Should be the “first virtual reality movie”

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Dominic Brennan

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Aug 9, 2017

Speaking on an Entertainment Weekly radio show to be aired on August 15th, actor Jeff Bridges, star of Tron (1982) and sequel Tron: Legacy (2010), suggested that a third Tron feature should be “the first virtual reality movie.” Posted in a short entry on the Entertainment Weekly website, writer Clark Collis explained that he was prompted to ask about Tron rumours by Bridges’ new collaboration with Tron: Legacy director Joseph Kosinski in upcoming movie Only the Brave.

‘Rez Infinite’ Gets Surprise Launch on PC Today With VR Support and 20% Discount

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Aug 9, 2017

Happy day for Rez (2001) fans—with no prior announcement, the modern remake, Rez Infinite (2016), launches today on PC with optional support for both the HTC Vive and the Oculus Rift. In addition to a 20% launch discount which prices the game at $20 for the first two weeks, players will also nab the Digital Deluxe DLC package for free.

Google is Exploring Ways to Let You Animate Your ‘Blocks’ Creations

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Dominic Brennan

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Aug 9, 2017

google-blocks — Image courtesy Google

Google’s team at Daydream Labs have been prototyping ways of animating objects and characters in Blocks, the company’s recently released VR modelling tool. In a recent entry on the Google Blog, senior UX engineer Logan Olson describes how it could give users the power to “create expressive animations without needing to learn complex animation software.”

3 Impressive WebVR Examples Worth Checking Out With Firefox’s New Support for Vive and Rift

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Aug 8, 2017

webvr-metaverse — Image courtesy Josh Carpenter

Now that the latest release of Firefox supports WebVR on the Vive and Rift by default, you may be wondering what you can do with it. Here’s three examples worth checking out.

Save 55% on ‘Batman: Arkham VR’ Through August 22nd

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Aug 8, 2017

Batman: Arkham VR (2016) is both the first VR Batman game, and the first VR title from developer Rocksteady Studios’—you wouldn’t know it though, given the game’s excellent visuals and well crafted VR design. If you haven’t had a chance to become the Batman just yet, you can pick up the game at a big discount through August 22nd.

VR Puzzler ‘Light Tracer’ Coming to PSVR Next Month

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Dominic Brennan

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Aug 8, 2017

Oasis Games have announced a September release for whimsical VR puzzle-platformer Light Tracer, in a recent post on the PlayStation Blog. The game involves guiding the Princess up a giant tower from the perspective of a ‘godlike entity’, solving puzzles and defeating bosses using an interesting motion control system.

Today’s Firefox Update Brings Rift and Vive WebVR Support to Everyone

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Aug 8, 2017

firefox-webvr — Image courtesy Mozilla

Today is a big day for WebVR as the latest public update to Firefox adds support for the Rift and Vive, making it easy to step into VR experiences that are served directly from the web.

NASA-backed ‘Mars 2030’ Now Available – A Beautiful, Educational Trek That’s Rough Around the Edges

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Dominic Brennan

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Aug 8, 2017

The education-focused Mars 2030 launches today on SteamVR for the HTC Vive and Oculus Rift, soon to come to PSVR. With 40 square kilometers of explorable terrain, the experience successfully achieves its main objective: to make the user feel like they are on Mars. However, while its stunning canvas has great potential, its execution currently suffers from a lack of features, and a number of technical problems.

The Gift Economy Dynamics of ‘Anyland’ & Social VR Anecdotes

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Aug 7, 2017

Anyland is a social VR experience focusing on worldbuilding and avatar creation tools that allow you to create interactive experiences while in VR. They’ve also implemented an open sharing feature that makes it easy to collect objects from the world and share them with other people. Stephanie Mendoza is a VR developer and artist who has spent a lot of time creating worlds and exploring the gift economy dynamics within Anyland, and I had a chance to capture some of her stories and social experiments.

You Can Watch This Week’s ‘Dota 2’ International Championships With Friends in VR

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Aug 7, 2017

Beginning today through the 12th of August is one of the biggest E-sports events of the year, the 2017 International Dota 2 Championships. With a prize pool of more than $23 million, there’s a lot on the line. You can get an inside-the-game front row seat through the Dota 2 VR Hub.

Oculus’ New ‘Stereo Shading Reprojection’ Brings Big Performance Gains to Certain VR Scenes

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Aug 7, 2017

oculus stereo shading reprojection (2) — A finished frame rendered with SSR | Image courtesy Oculus

Oculus is calling its latest rendering tech ‘Stereo Shading Reprojection’, and says that for scenes which are heavy in pixel shading, the approach can save upwards of 20% on GPU performance. The company says the new VR rendering technique can be easily added to Unity-based projects, and that it “shouldn’t be hard to integrate with Unreal and other engines.”

Save 50% on ‘Battlezone’ During Weekend Steam Sale – Now Including HOTAS Support

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Aug 5, 2017

Looking to pick up one of Steam’s most polished VR titles? Battlezone (2016) is on sale for 50% of the usual asking price through August 7th.

Reflecting on AltspaceVR’s Technical Achievements & Social VR Lessons Learned

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Aug 4, 2017

AltspaceVR held its final official Good Bye gathering on Thursday, August 3rd after announcing last week that they had run out of money and their investors decided to not invest any more. News of the social VR platform’s closing rippled throughout the VR community over the past week, and some are wondering if it’s any type of bellwether about the overall health of the VR ecosystem. There have been a number of discussion threads on Oculus subreddit, Vive subreddit, and Twitter that had employees chiming in on imminent plans and the challenges of dealing with trolls and harassment in VR.

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