Where to Find VR at PAX West 2017
The Penny Arcade Expo (PAX) will be back in its hometown of Seattle this September 1st through 4th and Road to VR has again done the heavy lifting of sorting out all the VR things to see at this year’s convention:
Hands-on: ‘VTOL VR’ is a Killer Combo of Cockpit-gameplay and Motion Controllers
Currently available on Steam in Early Access, VTOL VR is a very promising combat flight simulator with a focus on ‘near-future’ vertical take-off and landing aircraft, developed from the ground up for VR and motion controllers. Not only does it demonstrate that motion control is viable for this genre, but it also enables a greater sense of immersion when interacting with secondary cockpit controls.
‘Voltron VR Chronicles’ is Coming to All Major VR Platforms in September
Based on the Voltron: Legendary Defender series from Netflix, DreamWorks is launching a single-player game coming to PSVR, HTC Vive, and Oculus Rift on September 26th. Called Voltron VR Chronices, the game promises to deliver an immersive Voltron narrative alongside the chance to pilot the Blue Lion, stand on the bridge of the Castle Ship, and solve interactive puzzles and challenges.
Otoy Wants to Make Light-field Rendering Affordable with a Supercomputing Cluster You Get Paid to Be Part Of
Otoy has announced the Render Token, a blockchain-based currency that underpins a distributed GPU rendering network. The company hopes to allow idle GPUs on consumer PCs to be tapped for rendering work, earning money for the owner in exchange for their computer’s work. The goal, Otoy says, is to make massive GPU rendering power available at low cost for rendering light-fields and more.
Developer Shows Microsoft’s VR Controllers in Action
Earlier this week we shared our first hands-on with Microsoft’s VR controllers, but at the time the company didn’t allow us to document the session with photos or videos. Now, a developer with the controllers has produced a handy overview that shows how they work and gives a glimpse of them in action.
5 Google ARCore Experiments That Inject Magic into Everyday Life
Google released a preview version of ARCore for Android yesterday, the company’s answer to Apple’s ARKit. Since ARKit was released a few months ago, we’ve seen a bevy of really cool experiments and potential apps to come from developers from all over the world, but now it’s ARCore’s turn to shine.
‘Star Trek: Bridge Crew’ 50% Off for Vive and Rift Until September 5th
Ubisoft’s latest and greatest entry into VR, Star Trek: Bridge Crew (2017), is currently on sale for $25, exactly half the price since its launch back in late May.
Hands-on: Infectiously Weird Movie Creator App ‘Mindshow’ is Now Free on Steam
Mindshow, the app that lets you create animated movies with the use of a VR headset, is now available for general release on Steam following its invite-only alpha. Letting you essentially jump into an avatar, record physical movements, simulate facial expressions, and record audio, the imagination is truly the limit on what stories you can tell.
Sensics Releases High Resolution VR Headset Built Specially for Arcades and Theme Parks
Sensic, a long-time player in virtual reality and co-founder of OSVR, finally released their VR headset destined to make its way to public venues such as theme parks and arcades. Teasing the project late last year, the enterprise-facing headset is touted to be more hygienic, comfortable, and pack a higher resolution display than consumer devices.
VR Health & Exercise Institute Finds Many VR Games Are Better Exercise Than a Treadmill
According to Aaron Stanton, director of the newly-founded Virtual Reality Institute of Health and Exercise, many of the popular VR games and applications are actually more effective at burning calories than a traditional treadmill exercise routine. The organisation recently announced a program to independently assess VR games in a controlled environment, with the aim of publishing the results through a rating system.
‘Bioflight VR’ for Medical Training, Patient Behavior Modification, & Diagnosis
The design team behind Bioflight VR has worked on television shows such as CSI and ER, and they’ve been able to translate their VFX visualization skills into a virtual reality medical education venture. Their original plans were to use virtual reality to help doctors utilize the volumetric information captured in MRIs, CAT scans, and ultrasounds to improve upon medical diagnosis from 2D slices of data, but they started to gain more traction by creating a number of different types of educational VR experiences.
Google Releases ARCore for Android, The Company’s Answer to Apple ARKit
In an answer to Apple’s recently released ARKit, a developer tool used for making augmented reality apps and games that run on newer iPad and iPhones, Google today released a preview of a new Android-compatible software development kit (SDK) called ARCore.
‘Windlands’ Currently 75% Off on Steam, Sale Ends September 4th
Windlands (2016) is a first-person exploration game from Psytech Games, and as one of the first truly great titles to come to all major VR headsets, the temporary $5 price tag on Steam—down from its normal $20—is an absolute steal for what it offers.
Hands-on: ‘Marble Land’ Promises Hours of Complex Physics-based Puzzles, Launching on All Major Platforms
Marble Land is a physics-based puzzle game from Devious Technologies, a Bucharest, Romania based studio. We got a chance at this year’s Gamescom to pop into the unique little puzzler, which is slated to launch in the next few months on HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, PlayStation VR, Samsung Gear VR and Google Daydream.
PlayStation VR All-in Bundle $50 Cheaper Thanks to ‘Free’ Tracking Camera
Amidst all the VR headset price cuts, PlayStation VR is finally seeing a discount, albeit not nearly as dramatic as Oculus Rift’s or HTC Vive’s.
