Road to VR

Samsung and Six Flags Re-up Collaboration with New VR Coasters Combining ‘Mixed Reality’ and ‘Complex Gameplay’

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Dominic Brennan

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Feb 24, 2017

Six Flags Entertainment Corporation—which runs theme park properties across the americas—and Samsung Electronics America, Inc. recently launched a renewed collaboration on new rides at two Six Flags theme parks which place users on real roller coasters while using a VR headset to add virtual visuals. ‘Galactic Attack’, which improves on the existing ‘New Revolution’ VR rides, introduces a ‘mixed reality’ element and ‘complex gameplay’.

ZeniMax Seeks Injunction to Halt Oculus’ Use Rift & Gear VR SDK and More

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Feb 24, 2017

zenimax-v-oculus-logos — Based on a photo courtesy Dallas News

Following a prominent lawsuit between ZeniMax and Facebook/Oculus which resulted in a $500 million award to ZeniMax, the company is now seeking an injunction to prevent Oculus from continuing to use code that was found by the jury to infringe upon ZeniMax’s copyright.

Valve Launches Free Steam Audio SDK Beta to Give VR Apps Immersive 3D Sound

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Feb 23, 2017

Valve today announced the Steam Audio SDK, a spatial audio plugin that the company says is made is designed to “enhance all interactive products, specifically VR applications.” The company has launched a beta of the SDK today supporting Unity, and support for Unreal Engine is on the way.

Samsung’s In-house Incubator to Showcase New VR/AR Experiments at MWC

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Feb 23, 2017

Although the Samsung Galaxy S8 may not make its big entrance at Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona next week, the company will however be presenting a few new VR/AR projects coming direct from their in-house incubator Creative Lab (C-Lab). Just recompense? Maybe not, but there’s at least two in the bunch that ought to raise an eyebrow—and all of them will undoubtedly explode your computer’s spellcheck.

AR Specialist Zappar Nets $3.75m in Funding, Aims to “Democratize Augmented Reality”

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Dominic Brennan

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Feb 23, 2017

Zappar, a London-based developer in the Augmented Reality space, is announcing the closing of its Series A funding round. The $3.75m investment will accelerate the development of several new products along with increased support for ZapWorks, their flagship content creation tool.

On the Hunt for VR’s Killer App with Samsung’s VP of Immersive Products & VR, Nick DiCarlo

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Feb 23, 2017

Everyone in the VR industry can envision a world in the next 10 years that’s radically changed by virtual reality. From healthcare, education, social, training, cinema, gaming, and more, VR has a lot of Killer Use-cases. But it seems most of the industry is in agreement that the Killer App—a single, platform-defining piece of software that compels buyers—has not yet arrived. Samsung’s Nick DiCarlo weighs in on how we might come to find it.

YouTube Spaces Studio Explores the Basics of Mixed Reality Video Capture

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Dominic Brennan

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Feb 23, 2017

Prolific YouTuber Tom Scott recently visited the Mixed Reality Lab at the YouTube Space studio in New York in order to showcase mixed reality capture. The lab is using a technique involving a green screen and a tracked camera to combine real world footage with a virtual reality environment, and helpfully lays out the basic concepts of the technique.

‘Tilt Brush’ Deep Dive + Unanswered Questions about VR Privacy & Google

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Feb 23, 2017

Tilt Brush is Google’s first VR app to launch on the Oculus Rift, and I had a chance to catch up with Tilt Brush product manager Elisabeth Morant. We have a broad discussion about adapting Tilt Brush for the Touch controllers, the Tilt Brush Artist in Residency Program, the Tiltbrush Unity Toolkit, and some of the features coming in the future potentially including a layering system and more non-intuitive and unexpected features similar to audio reactive brushes. I also asked about privacy in VR, but Google has yet to disclose any information about what information they may or may not be capturing from VR users.

Closeup: Next-generation SteamVR Tracking Base Station is “Better in every way”

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Feb 22, 2017

steamvr-tracking-base-station-engineering-sample — Image courtesy PC Gamer

As evidenced by the decision to begin selling SteamVR Tracking base stations directly later this year, Valve aims to continue driving development of the technology. A look at the latest engineering sample of the next-generation base station model shows a new design approach that simplifies the device down to a single rotor and enhances tracking.

On the Hunt for VR’s Killer App with Oculus’ Head of Content, Jason Rubin

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Feb 22, 2017

jason-rubin-3 — Image courtesy Jason Rubin

Everyone in the VR industry can envision a world in the next 10 years that’s radically changed by virtual reality. From healthcare, education, social, training, cinema, gaming, and more, VR has a lot of Killer Use-cases. But it seems most of the industry is in agreement that the Killer App—a single, platform-defining piece of software that compels buyers—has not yet arrived. Oculus’ Jason Rubin weighs in on how we might come to find it.

Gear VR Shooter ‘Drop Dead’ Coming to Rift With Touch Support and Graphics Overhaul

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Feb 22, 2017

One of Gear VR’s most polished shooters is making the leap to the Oculus Rift with full support for Touch and a graphical overhaul.

Valve to Sell Base Stations Directly, Lower Barrier to SteamVR Tracking Development

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Feb 21, 2017

lighthouse-diagram — Inside a Lighthouse base station | Photo courtesy Valve

Valve today announced plans to begin selling SteamVR Tracking base stations directly later this year; the first units on offer are expected to be the new single-rotor models the company recently teased. Valve is also making it easier to develop new tracked products and accessories with SteamVR Tracking by removing the requirement of a $3,000 introductory course.

‘DiRT Rally’ PSVR Support is Here, Limited-time Bundle is the Best Value on Any Platform

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Feb 21, 2017

Having launched initially with VR on the Oculus Rift in 2016, new DiRT Rally DLC adds PSVR support to the acclaimed racing game. The $13 DLC also brings a new ‘Co-Driver Mode’ that lets one player act as the navigator. A $43 Dirt Rally bundle for PS4 includes the base game, three mini DLC packs and the PSVR add-on together, making it a significant value over the $60 Oculus and Steam versions of the game.

Now on Rift, ‘Tilt Brush’ is the First Google App on Facebook’s VR Platform

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Feb 21, 2017

tilt brush — Image courtesy Google

After a long and somewhat awkward period of Google keeping all of their VR apps from Facebook’s VR platforms on desktop (with Rift) and mobile (with Gear VR), Tilt Brush is the first VR olive branch extended across the platform gap between these two major tech competitors.

On the Hunt for VR’s Killer App with Sony’s Head of PlayStation Magic Lab, Richard Marks

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Feb 21, 2017

richard-marks-playstation-magic-lab — Marks at the 2014 reveal of PlayStation VR (codenamed 'Project Morpheus')

Everyone in the VR industry can envision a world in the next 10 years that’s radically changed by virtual reality. From healthcare, education, social, training, cinema, gaming, and more, VR has a lot of Killer Use-cases. But it seems most of the industry is in agreement that the Killer App—a single, platform-defining piece of software that compels buyers—has not yet arrived. Sony’s Richard Marks weighs in on how we might come to find it.

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