Apple Adds VR Rendering Essentials to MacOS via Metal 2
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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.
‘Front Defense VR’ Review – Room-scale War Will Bring You to Your Knees
Having announced ‘Vive Studios’ at the end of 2016, HTC is steadily building up its first-party VR content offering. After a number of relatively well received titles launched under the umbrella of Vive Studios, we take the latest, Front Defense VR, for a test drive.
Report: Apple Acquires VR & AR Eye-tracking Company SMI
A report from MacRumors provides compelling evidence that Apple has quietly acquired SMI, also known as SensoMotoric Instruments, a company specializing in eye-tracking technology.
Using VR to Diagnose and Treat Concussions with SyncThink
The process of diagnosing a concussion is largely a subjective process of variations of attention, focus, and balance, which means that the existing self-reporting methods are unreliable and easily gamed. Using foundational research from military research, SyncThink has created a portable concussion diagnostic tool that uses a tablet and either a Gear VR or Oculus Rift DK2 fitted with an SMI eye tracker. They claim to be able to objectively detect symptoms of a concussion within 60 seconds through subtle variations of attention and an impaired ability to make predictions of a moving dot within VR. I had a chance to catch up with SyncThink CTO Dan Beeler at TechCrunch Disrupt SF in September 2016 to talk about the science and technology behind their EYE-SYNC product.
Watch: ‘Ancient Amuletor’ Brings Multiplayer VR Tower Defence to PSVR, Launches 27th June
Tower defence title Ancient Amuletor from TiGames is launching for PlayStation VR tomorrow sporting multiplayer co-op and an adorable art style. Here’s a look at the launch trailer.
‘Vive N Chill’ is a Cooling Solution for HTC Vive Users With Sweaty VR Faces
ViveNchill is a new bolt-on cooling system comprising two angled fans that the creators claim will banish foggy, sweaty headset issues for good.
Hands-on: ‘Fallout 4 VR’ Shows Improvements, but I’m Still Not Sold
Entering the Wasteland, sneaking up on a group of raiders and shooting them down with guns in your own two hands, tossing back a Nuka-Cola, hanging out with Dogmeat; these are some the things that get fans excited about playing Fallout 4 VR. And in case you’ve been cryogenically frozen in a nuclear bunker this past year, you should know Fallout 4 (2015) is coming to HTC Vive―that and Bethesda demoed an updated build at this year’s E3, showing off an improved UI that should address some worries about porting the flatscreen game to VR headsets.
