In a reverse engineering exercise, two students at Utah State University have hacked positional tracking onto a Gear VR headset using SteamVR Tracking technology. Mobile VR solutions like Samsung’s Gear VR currently employ rotational tracking only.
Hyphen Labs is a immersive design collective made up of women of color, and they were showing a sci-fi VR experience at Sundance this year called Neurospeculative Afrofeminism. Their VR experience features black women as some of the pioneers of brain optimization, and you get to experience a futuristic neurocosmotology lab where you can receive transcranial stimulation. As you get this neuroplasticity treatment, you’re transported into a magical world that features speculative products that feature women of color as the center of the design narrative.
Ripstone Games, makers of Pure Chess (2012), are bringing their upcoming sequel Chess Ultra to PlayStationVR, Oculus Rift and HTC Vive. The classic chess game features a number of beautifully rendered environments that will finally make you feel like the rich and magnanimous Grandmaster you always knew you’d become—or a streetwise criminal who’s broken into a closed museum to host underground chess games to the death. That last one sounds way more fun actually, but sadly not a part of the game.
Using language to translate an experience into words is one of the highest levels of abstraction that we know as humans. Using the power of visual metaphor through poetry is able to get to deeper levels of emotion, and virtual reality is able to remove nearly all levels of abstraction by tricking your senses into having a direct sensory experience within your body. Indie VR artist Isaac “Cabbibo” Cohen has started to create a sort of ‘Experiential Poem’ using virtual reality to explore how to invoke complicated emotions that transcend words.
At NVIDIA’s upcoming GTC 2017 conference on May 8-11, the company plans to award $30,000 in cash and prizes to the winners of the VR Content Showcase which is seeking companies focusing on content other than gaming which is using or plans to use Nvidia GPU technology like GameWorks, DesignWorks or VRWorks. Submissions close on March 15th.
OSVR is currently offering the HDK 2 at a 20% price reduction as part of their Academia and Developer Program. The HDK 2 is the most recent iteration of the organization’s open-source VR headset, normally priced at $399.
Realities, a ‘virtual travel’ title that presents near photo-realistic VR captures of real-world locations, has received a major update. In addition to a new explorable location, the software has been overhauled to support forward rendering and improved support for Oculus Rift and Touch.
Among other additions to the console’s base experience, the forthcoming PS4 System Software Update 4.50 will bring improved tracking and 3D Blu-ray playback to Sony’s PlayStation VR headset.
Moving around in VR isn’t a solved problem. In 5 years, the best games and experiences won’t be using point-and-click teleportation. At GDC 2017 last week, I saw two promising new types of experimental locomotion in VR. First was Sprint Vector, which greatly surprised me at its comfort, speed, and fun. And then there was VELOCIBEASTS.
The latest project from VR film specialists Oculus Story Studio. Talking with Ghosts, is a collection of four animated stories, each illustrated and brought to live in virtual reality, designed to bring you into an immersive comic book world.
After announcing the launch of a VR studio last year, Justin Roiland, the co-creator of the hit animated show Rick and Morty, is set to deliver the keynote address at next week’s VRLA Expo 2017, April 14th and 15th.
Tactical Haptics, developers of the Reactive Grip controller, are showing their latest prototypes now with attachments for the Vive Tracker, Oculus Touch, and a custom-built SteamVR Tracking solution. The controller employs a unique solution to haptic feedback which aims to recreate the feeling of friction against objects in your hands rather than just rumble. The company is moving toward bringing a development kit of the device to developers.
Jump scares are universally hated by horror film and game enthusiasts alike for being ‘cheap thrills’, and are oft considered the low-hanging fruit of the genre. Suspense and existential dread however are much harder to manufacture in a horror game, and from what I’ve seen at this year’s GDC, Paranormal Activity: The Lost Soul has it in spades. As it stands, this isn’t some short ‘brand engagement’ piece like we’ve seen in the past either, but rather a true game that’s clearly intending to approach AAA status.
Robo Recall has been given a locomotion mod for those looking for a less-restrictive movement system. Epic Games’ new VR shooter employs a teleport mechanic for movement, but has full mod support, allowing for additional experimental control systems.
