AMD Launches Open Source Ray Traced VR Audio Tech ‘TrueAudio Next’
AMD has announced TrueAudio Next a “scalable” physics-based audio rendering engine for generating environmentally accurate, GPU accelerated audio for virtual reality.
Dual Wield Guns and Magic in this Cool Oculus Touch Game Prototype
Guns are cool. Magic is cool. Motion controls are cool. Combine all three with virtual reality and you have a prototype experience that looks, well, really cool!
Oculus: Touch is “Fully Capable” of Roomscale Tracking, But Skeptical It’s “Absolutely Necessary for VR”
As the launch of Oculus Touch approaches later this year, the company is sticking firm to its plan to focus on standing, front-facing VR experiences for motion input. Though it’s claimed that Touch can match the ‘roomscale’ tracking of the HTC Vive, Oculus is skeptical that such a large tracking space will appeal widely to customers.
‘Driveclub VR’ Confirmed Exclusively for PlayStation VR in 2016
Following the unfortunate closure of developer Evolution Studios earlier this year, the fate of the VR version of their 2014 PS4 exclusive Driveclub was unclear, but thankfully work has continued by an internal Sony team, and the game is expected to arrive by the end of the year.
Documenting the Evolution of VR Headsets with Zenka’s Sculptures
The artist Zenka has been documenting the evolution of virtual reality by making raku sculptures of VR headsets. She’s also created an interactive timeline of some of the major VR and AR headsets. Technology has been progressing so quickly that looking back at cell phones from 10-20 years ago starts to feel like ancient history. Zenka feels the same way about VR and AR headsets as we start to see more patents like Sony’s smart eye contacts or Google’s cyborg eye implants.
‘iRacing’ to Expand VR Support to HTC Vive in September Update
With a couple of weeks remaining in the current season, sim racing enthusiasts are beginning to anticipate iRacing’s next quarterly update, and Road to VR has received confirmation that it will include expanded VR support. Having rolled out its initial consumer VR update in June for the Oculus Rift, iRacing will add support for the HTC Vive headset in the next build, tentatively scheduled for September 6th.
Hands-on: ‘Crossout’ VR – Customize and Steer Your Death Truck with Oculus Touch
Crossout, the upcoming free-to-play vehicle combat game from the makers of War Thunder (2012), is coming to VR, and while there isn’t a verifiable timeline for public release on the table just yet, we got a first look at an early version of the game’s VR mode, which incorporates Oculus Touch, at this year’s Gamescom in Cologne, Germany.
‘Bigscreen’ Launches on Oculus Home, Update Brings Custom Avatars and More
Bigscreen, the social VR app which brings you and your computer’s desktop into VR with your friends, is launching on Oculus Home today and getting an update with new features and better performance.
Preview: ‘Alice VR’ is a Reality Bending Sci-Fi Puzzler for Rift and Vive
Alice VR is a sci-fi exploration puzzle game from Carbon Studio coming out soon for Oculus Rift, HTC Vive and OSVR. I was taken through three levels of the game, which studio co-founder and Art Director Aleksander Caban says is more or less in its final form now, barring professional voice overs and some bug fixes, that is.
PowerClaw is a Haptic Glove Ready To Freeze, Burn, and Shock You (Virtually)
PowerClaw is a haptic glove that lets you feel heat, cold, and a number of sensations on the tips of your fingers. Coming to Gamescom 2016 right after the recent launch of their IndieGogo campaign, the team is now showing off a near finished version of their hardware in hopes that the burgeoning virtual reality industry will make way for a glove that effectively lets you feel VR.
Hands-on: Crytek’s ‘The Climb’ with Oculus Touch Feels Like an Entirely New Experience
The Climb is a climbing simulator game from Crytek designed for the Oculus Rift. Originally premiering in April using the Xbox controller, The Climb is getting an update to work with Oculus Touch, the company’s yet released hand controller.
Khronos Group President Neil Trevett on glTF: The ‘JPEG for 3D Objects’
The Khronos Group announced that the open standard of glTF was gaining momentum by some of the key players within the graphics industry before SIGGRAPH this year. glTF provides a standardized baseline and interchange format to deliver 3D content to different tools and services; it’s been described as being analogous to the flexible and widely used JPEG format for images. The traction for a glTF open standard means that one of the fundamental building blocks for the metaverse is coming into place.
This VR Experiment Generates Beautiful Worlds From Your Biometrics
STRATA is a new virtual reality experiment from The Mill that taps into biometric data—heart rate, breathing etc.—and produces beautiful procedurally generated worlds to match.
Telling Stories in VR with Improv Acting and ‘Mindshow’
At VRLA Summer Expo 2016, Visionary VR premiered Mindshow, an interactive storytelling platform which allows users to animate and voice characters by inhabiting those character’s bodies.
I had a chance to catch up with Visionary VR and VRLA co-founder Cosmo Scharf, where we talked about some of the inspiration behind Minshow including the Buddhist philosophy of Alan Watts and the post-symbolic, direct experience ideas from Terence McKenna.
Oculus Rift to Hit Stores in Europe and Canada from September 20th
Soon you’ll be able to walk into a regular store in Europe and Canada and pick up an Oculus Rift headset, according to a tweet from the company’s CEO Brendan Iribe.
