Road to VR

New Procedural Speech Animation From Disney Research Could Make for More Realistic VR Avatars

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Aug 16, 2017

A new paper authored by researchers from Disney Research and several universities describes a new approach to procedural speech animation based on deep learning. The system samples audio recordings of human speech and uses it to automatically generate matching mouth animation. The method has applications ranging from increased efficiency in animation pipelines to making social VR interactions more convincing by animating the speech of avatars in real-time in social VR settings.

Horror & Gore in VR – Designing ‘Killing Floor: Incursion’

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Aug 16, 2017

Killing Floor: Incursion is a horror game featuring lots of gore that is sure to evoke visceral reactions in players. I had a chance to play a demo at GDC 2017, and I can say that it’s definitely an experience that has stuck with me. The mechanics of beating enemies with their dismembered limbs had an extreme amount of blood splattering that it was a mix of being at the same time grossly disturbing and ridiculously comic. I had a chance to talk with project lead Leland Scali about the horror genre in VR, pushing the boundaries of how far to take gore within immersive VR, and their deeper game design process of creating an experience within their Killing Floor universe.

‘EVE: Valkyrie Warzone’ Update Adding Non-VR Mode and PS4/PC Cross Platform Play

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Aug 15, 2017

One of the earliest big exclusive releases for VR, EVE: Valkyrie from CCP Games, continues to evolve and with the latest free expansion dubbed ‘Warzone’ the developers have opened its particular brand of slick online space shooter to players without a VR headset whilst also allowing anyone across both PC and PS4 platforms, with or without a headset to play together.

Navigating Paradox, Reality Bubbles, & Multiple Worldviews with VR

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Aug 15, 2017

Dr. Marilyn Schlitz is a social anthropologist, consciousness researcher, and co-author of the books Consciousness & Healing and Living Deeply. Her anthropological work has been at the frontier of researching how different cultures use various indigenous practices to invoke mind-body interactions for the sake of healing, and she’s come up with higher order frameworks to describe consciousness transformations from spiritual practices. She’s starting to look at how to invoke states of awe & wonder within VR, and whether this will be able to catalyze collective shifts in consciousness.

Strider VR is an Intriguing New Omnidirectional Treadmill Solution

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Dominic Brennan

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Aug 14, 2017

strider-vr — Image courtesy Pathbender

Strider VR uses a novel approach to omnidirectional treadmill design, using a rotatable ball array positioned above a traditional linear treadmill, combined with a Microsoft Kinect 2 sensor. The system is currently available as a development kit from German company Pathbender.

‘VRChat’ Anecdotes and Dealing with Harassment & Tolling in Social VR

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Aug 14, 2017

Gunter S. Thompson has been hosting VR meetups in VRChat for the past three years where he will give guided tours through the latest additions to the VRChat metaverse, and he also hosts a live talk show every Tuesday called ‘Gunter’s Universe.’ I had a chance to catch up with Gunter at SVVR about two months after VRChat launched on Steam on February 1st where we talked about highlights from his social VR adventures, the challenges of dealing with harassment and trolling with VRChat after it’s public launch, and hanging out at the most popular bar in the metaverse, which is called ‘The Great Pug’.

EVE: Valkyrie Now Supports Oculus Touch as a Gamepad Alternative

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Dominic Brennan

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Aug 13, 2017

eve-valkyrie-touch — Image courtesy CCP Games

CCP Games have rolled out a small ‘2017_R3.1’ update this week, enabling work-in-progress support for Oculus Touch. As described on the EVE: Valkyrie website, this attempts to map the gamepad controls to the buttons, triggers and sticks of the Touch controllers, rather than using motion.

Oculus Details ‘Buffered Haptics’ for Advanced Haptics on Touch Controllers

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Aug 13, 2017

oculus-touch-review-11 — Photo by Road to VR

Oculus has added new documentation to their developer knowledge base detailing the ‘buffered haptics’ feature of the Oculus SDK, a method for programming more advanced haptic feedback from the company’s Touch controllers.

HTC is Giving Away a Vive to Celebrate The International Dota 2 Championships

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Aug 13, 2017

If you’ve yet to hop on the VR train, here’s a shot at scoring a free HTC Vive system and some swag from the 2017 International Dota 2 Championships. This giveaway is open to those in North America, Europe, and Taiwan.

‘Star Citizen’ Devs Affirm Eventual VR Support, Say New UI is Designed With VR in Mind

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Aug 12, 2017

Star Citizen may be the world’s most ambitious Early Access project (and quite possibly the next textbook example of Development Hell). For those still holding their breath, the company has recently affirmed that VR support is still planned as an eventual feature, and the game’s developers say that a new UI design is made with VR in mind.

‘Cat Sorter VR’ Hopes to Capitalize on Untapped Demand for Virtual Cat Sorting

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Dominic Brennan

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Aug 11, 2017

Independent game developer and publisher Pawmingo Games has revealed Cat Sorter VR, an absurd game about rebuilding ‘defective’ cats. It will be playable at CatCon 2017 (naturally) in Pasadena, CA this weekend, and launches on Steam and Viveport on August 29th.

Oculus to Talk “Breakthroughs in Spatial Audio Technologies” at Connect Conference

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Aug 10, 2017

oculus rift review photos (5) — Image captured by Road to VR

Oculus Connect 4, the company’s fourth annual developer conference, is set for October 11th and 12th in San Jose, California. There, Oculus will share with developers some of its latest research and developments, including what’s coming to the company’s VR Audio SDK.

NFL Refs Using STRIVR’s VR Training Platform to Prepare for New Season

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Dominic Brennan

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Aug 10, 2017

strivr-labs-nfl — Image courtesy STRIVR

The NFL continues to maintain its strong relationship with VR technology, now employing the STRIVIR platform to train some officials. According to a report by SportTechie, the virtual reality training company has been working with the NFL’s Officiating Development Programs for the past nine months, presenting game scenarios in a VR headset from a referee’s perspective to supplement the limited opportunities for real-world practice.

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.

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