Road to VR

Live Mixed Reality Demo Shows Seamless Cross-AR/VR Collaboration

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Dominic Brennan

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May 12, 2017

At today’s Microsoft Build 2017 presentation, creators at Cirque du Soleil demonstrated a custom creative toolset on stage using HoloLens technology. The world-class theater production company says the tools can be used to greatly enhance and accelerate the set design process for future shows thanks to real-time local digital collaborative design. But, speaking to Microsoft’s self-described Mixed Reality “spectrum,” it was also demonstrated how a remote VR user could seamless collaborate as if they were standing on stage with the others.

Microsoft: “Holiday 2017 is Going to be Phenomenal”, E3 to See More Mixed Reality Announcements

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May 11, 2017

alex kipman — Alex Kipman, image courtesy Microsoft

Microsoft Technical Fellow and chief inventor of HoloLens, Alex Kipman, took the stage today at Microsoft Build 2017 to show off a number of upcoming mixed reality hardware and software streaming out of the company and its partners. Among the announcements—including pre-orders of Windows Holographic Headsets from Acer and HP and a new VR hand controller—was a teaser for more to come at E3 in June.

‘Battlezone’ Launches on Steam and Oculus Store

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May 11, 2017

Battlezone (2016), the low-poly, high-action reboot of the classic Atari game, launched as a timed exclusive with PlayStation VR when it hit shelves in October of last year. Today owners of HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, and OSVR can now strap into the cockpit of the game’s sci-fi hovertanks.

Microsoft Reveals Motion Controllers for Mixed Reality Headsets Coming This Holiday

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May 11, 2017

Today Microsoft has unveiled their Windows Mixed Reality motion controllers. The controllers fill in a major gap in Microsoft’s strategy to become the “most complete platform across the broadest range of mixed reality devices and experiences.”

Acer & HP Windows Mixed Reality Headset Dev Kits Now Available for Pre-order Starting at $300

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May 11, 2017

windows vr headsets — image courtesy Microsoft

Today Microsoft announced that developers in the US and Canada can now pre-order the Acer ($299) and HP ($329) Mixed Reality headsets from the Microsoft Store. Delivery of the headsets is scheduled for August 2017.

An In-depth Look at Microsoft’s HoloLens & Mixed Reality Ecosystem

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May 11, 2017

The HoloLens is the most impressive augmented reality headset on the market today, and their developer kit is already being deployed into industries ranging from architecture, engineering, design, sales, medicine, and education. Microsoft is taking a holistic approach with Windows Mixed Reality being baked into Windows 10, meaning that developers can create a single application that can run on the HoloLens, on one of their partner VR headsets, on a Surface tablet, or as a desktop app. At Microsoft’s Build conference today, the company is announcing a new OEM VR partner with HP as well as inside-out, six degree-of-freedom input controllers for VR headsets made by Microsoft partners like Acer.

Remastered ‘Half-Life 2’ Coming to Vive & Rift with VR Controller Support via Revamped Mod

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May 11, 2017

Praised as one of the greatest games ever made, the 13 year old Half-Life 2 is a lauded piece of gaming history. But soon you’ll be able to revisit the perils of City 17 using the latest and greatest VR hardware around. A reborn mod project is bringing compatibility for the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive with full motion input support, remastered visuals, a made-for-VR UI, realistic weapon interactions, and more.

Google Acquires Owlchemy Labs, VR Game Studio Behind ‘Rick and Morty VR’, ‘Job Simulator’

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May 11, 2017

job-simulator-psvr — image courtesy Owlchemy Labs

In an interesting move, Google has acquired Owlchemy Labs, makers of the multi-platform hits Job Simulator (2016) and Rick and Morty: Virtual Rick-ality (2017).

Valve and Pixvana Bring High-quality Adaptive VR Video to Steam, Beta Launches Today

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May 10, 2017

Pixvana, makers of the cloud-based 360 video creation studio SPIN, today announced that their software services—integrated at the core of Valve’s own Steam 360 Video Player—will be launching today into beta. This effectively lets SPIN users publish their VR videos directly to the Steam Store, but more importantly means VR headset owners will be able to browse and watch high-quality streaming content (up to 12K) directly in Steam using their Steam VR-supported headset.

NVIDIA Demonstrates Experimental 16,000Hz AR Display

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May 10, 2017

While virtual reality surely has high performance requirements to maintain a comfortable experience, immersive AR may ultimately require a greater level of performance if we’re to achieve the theoretical ideal.

In First Interview Since Leaving Oculus, Founder Palmer Luckey Talks VR’s Mobile Future, Facebook, and Cosplay

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May 10, 2017

palmer luckey (3) — Photo courtesy MoguraVR

Having founded Oculus in 2012 and been an important face for the company throughout its growth from fledgling startup to $2 billion acquisition by Facebook and beyond, it was a shock to see Palmer Luckey leave the company just two months ago. Having shied away from the public eye since September 2016 after the ousting of a polarizing political position, Luckey has gone on record in an interview for the first time since leaving the company.

This Pulsating ‘Haptic Skin’ is Somewhat Creepy, Mostly Awesome

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May 9, 2017

Omnipulse is a new haptic technology out of Cornell’s Organic Robotics Lab which uses an array of embedded pneumatic actuators to create haptic feedback which feels quite ‘organic’ compared to the more ‘mechanical’ of many other haptic technologies out there. With the ability to form the flexible Omnipulse skin into arbitrary shapes, the technology could be integrated into VR controllers, gloves, or potentially even haptic VR suits.

Microsoft Technical Evangelist on Presence in VR Game Design

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May 9, 2017

The Microsoft Build conference starts this week, and I expect that we’ll be learning more about the HoloLens as well as Microsoft’s Windows Mixed Reality operating system. Microsoft has been evangelizing about virtual reality the past couple of years now, and I had a chance to catch up with Microsoft Technical Evangelist Kat Harris at PAX West last Fall. She’s been teaching VR 101 development courses at different conferences, and we talk about what she’s been telling game designers about maintaining presence, building immersive experiences, and how to deal with some of the biggest breakers of presence including VR locomotion and the uncanny valley. We also discuss the limits of virtual reality when it comes to haptics, uncanny narrative, the future of artificial intelligence in enabling collaborative role-playing, and the power of world building & storytelling in games like Minecraft.

Preview: ‘Arden’s Wake’ the Latest Work From ‘Alumette’ Creator Penrose Studios

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May 9, 2017

arden's wake penrose studios (1) — Photo courtesy Penrose Studios

Penrose Studios’ latest VR film work, Arden’s Wake: The Prologue, has debuted at TriBeCa Film Festival’s Virtual Arcade. As “Prologue” implies, Arden’s Wake will be released in episodic form, though the final number of ‘episodes’ in the series, as well as whether or not Penrose might have other stories to tell in the world of Arden’s Wake, has yet to be decided, according to the project’s director and Penrose founder and CEO Eugene Chung.

VirZOOM Partners With AMD to Bring VR Fitness Bikes to Locations Across the Globe

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May 8, 2017

VirZOOM vSports Competition — image courtesy PRNewsfoto/VirZOOM

Pedaling a stationary bike is kind of a sad metaphor for life: try as you may, you’re never going anywhere. But thanks to virtual reality, there might be an exercise machine coming to your local gym or arcade that promises to gamify what many people not only find to be an existential commentary on their personal failings, but also a painfully boring experience. VirZOOM, makers of VR arcade exercise games and the VirZOOM Bike Controller, recently announced a partnership with AMD that promises to provide the graphical horsepower to drive VirZOOM experiences in gyms and arcades, bringing their collection of VR games to gym-quality upright and recumbent bikes around the world.

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