Auto VR Sound Generation via Physics Simulations and Machine Learning

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ming-linDr. Ming Lin has been working on realtime physics simulations before physics engines were cool. Ming is now actively researching how to simulate audio in real-time. Rather than recording or generating sounds that are then simulated within a virtual environment, Dr. Ming and her students are pioneering methods for “coupling sound synthesis with sound propagation to automatically generate realistic aural content for virtual environments.” She’s also using machine learning techniques to be able to extract the material properties of the environment from a sound recording.

I had a chance to catch up with Ming after she presented some of her SynCoPation techniques as a part of her keynote at the IEEE VR academic conference in March. You can read more about some of her virtual sound simulation work in the “Interactive Sound Rendering” section of her vast amount of VR-related research.

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‘Rick and Morty: Virtual Rick-ality’ Announced for HTC Vive

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Rick and Morty co-creator Justin Roiland today revealed a teaser for an upcoming VR game called Rick and Morty: Virtual Rick-ality based on the cartoon’s lovably weird universe. The HTC Vive demo of the game will make its debut at this year’s Comic-Con in San Diego.

‘Raw Data’ Deep Dive: Alongside Early Access Launch, Devs Reveal Four Heroes, Weapons, and Abilities

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The long anticipated Raw Data by developer Survios launches for the HTC Vive on Steam today in Early Access. We sat down with Survios to get an inside look at what players can expect now and in the future from this hero-based action combat game.

What ‘Pokémon Go’ Could Be Like if it Was Really Augmented Reality

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Pokémon Go, the latest “AR” infused sequel to the classic Nintendo franchise is sweeping the world on mobile phone platforms. But what would it look like running on a dedicated augmented reality headset? Developer CapitolaVR decided to find out by building a Pokemon Go inspired test game for their brand new Microsoft HoloLens.

Sony: “Nearly All PSVR Titles Will Support DualShock 4 Controllers”

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Sony is gearing up for the PlayStation VR’s launch this October, but you shouldn’t be boxing up your DualShock 4 gamepad in favor of the Move motion controller just yet. According to a statement from Sony issued to Eurogamer, you’ll be able use the DS4 in all PSVR games to come.

The State of VR with Unity’s Pete Moss on Voices of VR’s 400th Episode

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pete-mossPete Moss is known as the “VR Dude” within Unity, and has long seen the potential of virtual reality. He’s really been on the frontlines of this virtual reality revolution over the past 3-4 years creating a bridge between the hardware manufacturers and content creators. I had a chance to sit down with Pete at the Intel Buzz Workshop a few weeks back to let him reflect on the consumer launch of virtual reality, and some of the emerging trends that he sees. VR locomotion is still a big open problem that he’s actively researching, and he encourages people to reach to him if you have innovative ideas. He also shares his perspective of the future of audio in VR, and the vital role that VR artists will play in expanding our minds.

DiRT Rally Devs Say Lack of Vive Support Not Due to Oculus Exclusivity Deal

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Codemasters have responded officially to Road to VR on why DiRT Rally, which recently received Oculus Rift VR support, lacks support for the rival SteamVR based HTC Vive system.

NVIDIA’s ‘VR Funhouse’ is Proof That Good Physics Can Make Great VR

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Nvidia’s VR Funhouse is a virtual sandbox chasing reality, one designed to demonstrate how GPU accelerated physics can enhance presence in immersive environments. It’s released for free today on Steam, but is it any fun?

Unity Raises $181 Million Series C in Anticipation of VR/AR Growth

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Unity Technologies has announced a $181 million Series C investment led by DFJ Growth, a venture capital firm with the likes of Twitter and Tesla in their portfolio, in order to continue their dominance of the game engine market. Unity claims to have 45% of the “full feature game engine market” and even more in the mobile 3D gaming space (yes, Pokémon Go is running on Unity).

VRLA Summer Expo Bringing Reggie Watts, VR Rave, and More to LA August 5th and 6th

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VRLA Summer Expo is back and aims to be bigger and better than ever. Coming to the LA Convention Center August 5th and 6th, the event we be host to keynote speaker Reggie Watts, a ‘VR Rave’, and more than 100 VR and AR exhibitors. Tickets are on sale now and 50 Road to VR readers can save 15% on Pro Passes to the event.

OSSIC & 3D Audio as the Next Frontier of Immersion

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Jason-RiggsTwo years ago, not very many people were thinking about how important audio was going to be for consumer VR. Jason Riggs was pitching what would eventually become OSSIC by claiming that it was going to be the Oculus for audio headphones. Two years later, his prophecy came true when his OSSIC X Headphones raised over $2.7 million dollars on Kickstarter, surpassing Oculus as the largest virtual reality crowdfunding campaign ever.

There’s clearly a lot of demand for high-end, immersive audio for VR, and Jason’s vision for where he wants to see the future of spatialized audio go has started to be realized. Beyond the VR applications of OSSIC X headphones, part of their success was that it could also have an immediate impact on existing 2D games with spatialized sound as well as recreating the sound of a home theater sound system.

I had a chance to catch up with OSSIC founder and CEO Jason Riggs at SVVR Conference where we talked about the technology behind OSSIC, dynamic HRTF measurements, how to quantitatively and qualitatively measure the accuracy of their 3D audio solution, and the challenges facing a potential open standard for 3D audio and that contain audio objects.

DiRT Rally VR Gets HTC Vive Support Via Revive

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Less than 24 hours after release, DiRT Rally VR has received support from Revive, allowing HTC Vive owners to enjoy Codemasters’ excellent racing title on their VR headsets.

Oculus CEO: “Well over 5,000” Touch Dev Kits Shipping to Developers Before Launch

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image courtesy Oculus

Oculus Touch isn’t here for consumers just yet, as the company just narrowed their launch window down to Q4 of this year. But if you’re a developer, you might just get your hands on a Touch dev kit in the very near future.

Oculus Says All Rift Pre-Orders Shipped, Narrows Touch Launch to Q4

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Looking to put the Rift launch behind them, a fiasco that had many pre-order customers waiting several months for their headsets to arrive at their doorstep, Oculus today revealed that they’ve finally caught up to demand, and will be shipping new orders as soon as they receive them.

Oculus Announces Connect 3 Dev Conference, Registration Coming Soon

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If you’re panning on attending this year’s Oculus Connect developer conference in San Jose, CA, you can now officially mark your calendars for October 5-7 for what Oculus is billing as their “largest developer conference yet.”

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