Road to VR

Diversity in VR: Lessons from the Oculus Launchpad Initiative

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Jul 4, 2017

In March 2016, Oculus announced their Oculus Launchpad program with the idea that in order for VR to be successful, then there needs to be a diverse range of content created from diverse set of creators who are informed by different ethnicities, cultural backgrounds, and gender identities. Oculus brought together over 100 diverse content creators for a one-day training, and awarded scholarships to 11 projects from the dozens of prototypes submitted at the end of the program. Oculus Launchpad participant Dale Henry wrote up a detailed critique of the Launchpad program that provided a lot of constructive criticism for improvements that he’d like to see.

Ultra-violent Battle Sim ‘Gorn’ to Hit Steam Early Access July 10th

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Jul 4, 2017

Gorn, the blood-soaked battle simulator from the makers of weird and wild games Broforce (2015) and Genital Jousting (2016), is officially coming to Steam Early Access on July 10th.

Oculus Brings Mixed Reality Capture Support to Rift

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Jul 4, 2017

Photo by Road to VR

Trying to capture what someone is experiencing when they’re head-first in a VR game has been an interesting problem to crack. By matching up live video and a digital environment with the help of a green screen setup though, you can essentially create a video that places you straight in the action—one that better communicates the immersion of a VR game than a simple first-person screen capture. Oculus recently revealed in a blog post that in the past months they’ve been working on bringing native mixed reality capture support to Oculus Rift, and it’s available today for developers to start creating mixed reality videos.

GunnAR Live Fire Test Shows How AR Can Revolutionize Decades-old Combat Procedures

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Jul 4, 2017

The GunnAR system uses augmented reality helmets to visually relay targeting and firing commands to gunners aboard Navy vessels, replacing decades-old methods of giving audible commands by radio which can be hard to hear over the sounds of firing machine guns and through required ear protection.

Apple’s Job Listings Seek ‘VR File Format Engineer’, ‘VR Pipeline Engineer’, & More

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Jul 3, 2017

Based on an image courtesy Apple

Now that Apple is being open about their interest in VR the company is publicly listing new job postings for a number of roles seeking candidates with VR expertise. Two of the latest listings suggest the company is exploring VR video codecs and file formats.

Developer Videos Show Valve’s Knuckles Controllers in Action

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Dominic Brennan

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Jul 3, 2017

New footage of Valve’s new ‘Knuckles’ controllers has emerged over the past few days, as developers begin to test out the new device. The ‘next-gen’ SteamVR controller prototypes represent a major advancement over the current Vive motion controllers, with five finger tracking and an ‘open hand’ grip.

Apple Adds VR Rendering Essentials to MacOS via Metal 2

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Jul 1, 2017

With Apple’s increasing interest in VR on Mac, the company is adding essential features to its new Metal 2 graphics API to support high performance VR on MacOS.

Google Begins Experimenting with VR Ads

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Dominic Brennan

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Jun 30, 2017

google-cardboard-design-lab-app — Image courtesy Google

According to a recent entry on the Google Developers Blog, the company has begun experimenting with advertising formats suitable for placement inside of virtual reality experiences. Focusing on mobile VR platforms, the first idea they’ve shared for a native VR ad is a floating cube that can be optionally engaged with via a tap or gaze.

Projection-mapped Immersive Theater Shows the Future of Live AR Performances

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Jun 30, 2017

There was an amazing projection-mapped, immersive theater piece at Sundance this year by Heartcorps called Riders of the Storyboard. Trained street performers interacted with virtual projection-mapped 2D objects, and through the sleight of hand magic broke these flat objects into the third as glowing 3D props.

HTC Vive & Lenovo Standalone Headsets to be Based on Qualcomm Reference Design, Components Detailed

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Jun 29, 2017

Just about the only thing we know so far about the new Daydream standalone VR headsets in the works from HTC and Lenovo is that they are… in the works. Now however we’re getting a little more clarity about the hardware: both will be built around Qualcomm’s VR headset reference design.

VR World Brings an Open Buffet of 50+ VR Experiences to the Heart of NYC

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Jun 29, 2017

VR World NYC is a new VR arcade that opened on June 24th in New York City right next to the Empire State Building. They have three floors with 55 different VR experiences, and they’re using an all-you-eat buffet business model of paying $39–$49 to have unlimited access to play all of the available experiences. It’s a great opportunity for tourists and New York residents to get their first room-scale and 360 VR experiences, but it also has a bar, plenty of places to hang out, as well as a number of different multi-player social VR experiences.

Oculus Founder Backs ‘Revive’—a Hack for Vive to Play Rift-exclusive Games—With $2K in Monthly Funding

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Jun 28, 2017

Oculus founder Palmer Luckey, who left the company back in March, has backed a crowdfunding campaign for Revive—a hack which allows HTC Vive owners to play games from the Oculus platform—to the tune of $2,000 per month to support its continued development. The action comes in stark contrast to the closed ecosystem approach of the Oculus organization.

‘Drone Hero’ Makes You Feel Like the World’s Best Drone Pilot While Showcasing VR’s Strengths

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Dominic Brennan

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Jun 28, 2017

With an intuitive control scheme and accessible gameplay, this simple and satisfying VR action game for HTC Vive and Oculus Rift and Touch turns out to be an excellent showcase of the fundamental benefits of using VR hardware for gaming. Drone Hero recently launched on Steam Early Access.

Valve’s Knuckles Controllers Get Ergonomic Improvements, Begin Arriving at Devs’ Doorsteps

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Jun 28, 2017

steamvr-knuckle-controller — Image courtesy Cloudhead Games

Having done the core R&D for what would become the Vive controllers, Valve is continuing to iterate on VR input. The company’s new ‘Knuckles’ controllers are not so much ‘held’ as they are ‘worn’, offering users a natural grab and release motion without dropping the controller. Since their debut toward the end of 2016 at the company’s Steam Dev Days event, a Knuckles development kit is now shipping to select developers and brings ergonomic improvements over earlier prototypes.

AR Headset Startup CastAR is Reportedly Shutting Down

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Dominic Brennan

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Jun 27, 2017

According to a report from Polygon, augmented reality company CastAR is heading for a shutdown, laying off staff from the Palo Alto headquarters and its internal AR software development studio in Salt Lake City. CastAR’s consumer hardware was due to launch this year.

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