Road to VR

Five Universal Tasks of 3D User Interfaces with Doug Bowman

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Sep 23, 2016

In 1968, Douglas Engelbart gave “The Mother of All Demos” where he gave the first public demonstration of a mouse as a computer control device. For the last 48 years, the mouse and keyboard have remained the primary input devices for human-computer interaction. Virtual and augmented reality represent a new immersive computing paradigm where the equivalent 3D user interfaces are being continually refined as there is a burst of innovation with new input devices.

Hands-on: Capcom’s Resident Evil “Kitchen” Demo is Terrifying on PSVR

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Michael Glombicki

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Sep 23, 2016

resident-evil-7-biohazard — Image courtesy Capcom

Capcom brought its Resident Evil VII “Kitchen” demo to PAX West this year, and Road to VR went hands on to try it out. The demo takes place before the events of Resident Evil VII’s main storyline, and is very much intended for mature audiences only.

Developing a New Eye Interaction Model with Eyefluence

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Sep 23, 2016

I had a chance to do a demo of Eyefluence, which has created a new model for eye interactions within virtual and augmented reality apps. Rather than using the normal eye interaction paradigm of dwelling focus or explicitly winking to select, Eyefluence has developed a more comfortable way to trigger discrete actions with a selection system that’s triggered through natural eye movements. At times it felt magical to feel like the technology was almost reading my mind, while other times it was clear that this is still an early iteration of an emerging visual language that’s is still being developed and defined.

I had a chance to talk with Jim Marggraff, the CEO and founder of Eyefluence, at TechCrunch Disrupt last week where we talked about the strengths and weaknesses of their eye interaction model, as well as some of the applications that were prototyped within the demo.

Futuretown is Bringing Motion Platform Arcade Thrills to VR

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Sep 22, 2016

Taipei based virtual reality company Futuretown is planning to build a out of home destination where you can experience custom built VR game experiences built for and enhanced by 3 different motion platforms.

The Ambitious ‘Loading Human’ is a PlayStation VR Launch Title

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Sep 22, 2016

Ambitious Sci-fi adventure game Loading Human from developers Untold Games is one of the first made-for-VR titles we covered and it’s now been confirmed to be one of the day-one launch titles for the forthcoming PlayStation VR headset on October 13th.

Framestore VR on Digital Lightfield Workflows & VR Ad Campaigns

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Sep 21, 2016

When I was at SIGGRAPH this year, one of the hottest topics was figuring out the workflows for how to deal with the complexity of capturing, processing, and distributing volumetric digital light fields. Otoy’s Jules Urbach had a lot of insights, and a number of different high profile VR agencies like Framestore VR appear to be secretly working on their own processes for how to best capture and display live action volumetric capture.

HoloLens Inside-out Tracking Is Game Changing for AR & VR, and No One Is Talking about It

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Sep 20, 2016

microsoft-hololens — Image courtesy Microsoft

Augmented reality, while growing in buzz, has been around in some form or another for more than two decades. But immersive head-mounted AR for consumers has had one major hurdle that Microsoft may have just solved.

Oculus Touch Price Revealed in London GAME Store

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Sep 20, 2016

Touch, the long awaited natural input controller for the Oculus Rift, still doesn’t have an official price or release date—but a tweet from Nick Summers, associate editor at Engadget UK, has revealed that Oculus Touch is going to be priced at £189.99, at least in Britain.

Leaked Input Device May Explain Why Investors Just Dropped $120 Million into Thalmic Labs

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Sep 20, 2016

Thalmic Labs, makers of the gesture control armband MYO may be working on a new VR controller, a wristband device which senses the position of your fingers. The company is teasing new products after closing a whopping $120 million Series B investment.

Innoactive’s ‘VR Suitcase’ is a Portable, Self-Contained HTC Vive Demo Station

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Sep 19, 2016

Innoactive has answered the call of nomadic VR developers on-the-go with a super slick portable pop-up, self-powered Vive station in a case, it’s called the VR Suitcase and it’ll put a serious dent in your wallet.

PlayStation VR Accessories Hit Major Online Retailers

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Sep 19, 2016

sony-playstation-vr-psvr-virtual-reality — Image courtesy Sony

With the PlayStation VR launch just around the corner—October 13th to be exact—major retailers like Amazon, Best Buy and GameStop have started to stock a few accessories that are sure to keep you charged-up at moment’s notice and travel-ready for those VR evangelist missions to the people who still haven’t tried out virtual reality.

Second-gen Lighthouse Chip Could Improve Tracking, Reduce Cost of HTC Vive 2

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Sep 19, 2016

A new chip that Valve is recommending for use in future SteamVR headsets and accessories brings improved performance and significant power reduction compared to the first generation solution along with potential manufacturing savings.

What Dungeons & Dragons Can Teach Us About Storytelling in VR

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Sep 19, 2016

Dungeons & Dragons is a form of collaborative storytelling that isn’t constrained by time or budget. Because it’s all happening within the theater of the mind, if you can imagine it, then it can be constructed instantaneously within everyone’s imagination. The end result is that each participant is able to express the full extent of their free will to the ‘dungeon master’, who either directly controls their fate or delegates it to a roll of the dice. It’s the ultimate expression of imagination, improvisation, and storytelling that provides a high benchmark and design inspiration for what virtual reality and artificial intelligence can only hope to someday fully replicate within the metaverse.

Spherica’s Stabilization Technology Used in HBO’s ‘Westworld’ VR Experience

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Sep 18, 2016

HBO premiered a VR experience for their new Westworld series at TechCrunch Disrupt, and they used Spherica’s camera stabilization technology in order to pull off an extended live-action tracking shot in VR. Common advice given to new VR filmmakers is to not even try to attempt to move the camera since any shaking or sudden unexpected movements can be a motion sickness trigger. But Spherica has been able to create stabilization platform using a GoPro mount and remote-controlled rover that is able to comfortably move a VR camera through a tracking shot.

‘Metro’ Devs 4A Games Ready to Reveal Oculus Touch Title, First Glimpses Here

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Sep 18, 2016

4A Games, the developers behind the popular sci-fi shooter franchise ‘Metro’, are not only allegedly working on an Oculus Rift title with Touch support, there’s a chance we’ll get to see it soon. In the mean time, this is what we know.

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