OSVR HDK 2 Headset Gets Detailed Teardown – Scores High in Repairability
The venerable iFixit has done it again: taken a brand new, perfectly good VR headset and ripped it apart for our pleasure.
‘Envelop’ Launches Open Beta of Immersive Windows Desktop Platform for Vive and Rift
Envelop, the virtual reality desktop platform for Windows, has launched as a public beta for anyone with a Vive or Rift to enjoy.
‘Wake Up’ is a Surreal, Immersive Vive Puzzler with Killer Sound Design
Wake Up from Austrian developers Black Cell is a new, surreal subversion of the traditional puzzle and exploration genres sporting some beautiful art direction and some arresting sound design.
‘Aerofly FS2’ Brings Ultra Realistic Flight Simulation to Rift and Vive
Aerofly from developers IPACS is a flight simulator which aims to bring realistic visuals to the VR-enabled civilian flight-sim genre, and it looks stunning.
3 New VR Arcades Hit Utah, Ohio, and Washington, DC
VR Arcades are beginning to make their spread across the US, offering users timed access to consumer VR systems and an array of games.
Research on VR Presence & Plausibility with VR Technical Achievement Award Winner Anthony Steed
One of the gold standards of a VR experience is being able to achieve Presence, but Presence is an elusive concept to precisely define. Mel Slater is one of the leading researchers into Presence and says that it’s a combination of the ‘Place Illusion’ and ‘Presence Illusion’, which Richard Skarbez elaborates by saying that the Place Illusion represents the degree of immersion that you feel by being transported to another place, and the Plausibility Illusion is the degree to which you feel that that the overall scene matches your expectations for coherence.
Preview: ‘Wands’ is a Magical Steampunk Dueler for Gear VR
Frank He goes hands on with Wands, a new PvP Gear VR title from NUX Studios which pitches you against your opponent in a magical duel to the death.
Valve Boss Gabe Newell: ‘For the last year I’ve spent most of my time with the VR team’
At the opening ceremony of Valve’s DOTA 2 tournament, Valve head Gabe Newell explained that he’s been focusing much of his attention on the company’s VR initiatives.
AMD’s Roy Taylor on New GPUs, Tools, & Consumer VR Pods
I had a chance to catch up with AMD’s Roy Taylor, VP of Alliances, Content, and VR, at VRLA to hear more about AMD’s recent announcements, their open source philosophy, their support for VR storytellers, and the upcoming VR on the Lot event on October 13 & 14th that will be helping to educate the film industry about VR.
NextVR Raises $80 Million with an Eye on International Expansion
NextVR, a firm specializing in live VR streaming, has today announced an $80 million Series B investment with which the company aims to expand international operations.
Walt Disney’s Patrick Osborne on ‘Pearl’, a Powerful VR Story about Selfless Service
People were waiting in lines for over an hour to see Pearl both at SIGGRAPH and VRLA, which is one of the best narrative VR experiences that I’ve seen so far. The central character in the story is a car named Pearl who gives selfless service to her father and daughter musician owners. The experience traces Pearl’s selfless service spanning a wide range of emotional memories doing mundane chores, road trip adventures, and key turning points in their lives. It takes inspiration from Shel Silverstein’s The Giving Tree, and it proved to be a powerful, moving, and emotional experience for many people watching it was SIGGRAPH and VRLA.
OSVR Co-founder on the Future of Open Source Virtual Reality
OSVR is an open source software platform and VR headset. Sensics and Razer launched OSVR 18 months ago with the intent of democratizing VR. Our goal is to provide an open alternative to walled-garden, single-device approaches.
Striker VR Shows off Working Prototype of ARENA Infinity Haptic VR Gun
Striker VR’s ARENA Infinity is a haptic VR gun which can simulate various weapon fire modes and other haptic effects. After revealing the design of the accessory back in April, the company is now showing off a working prototype.
‘Mindshow’ Revealed by Visionary VR – Stage, Animate, and Record Your Own Stories in VR
Visionary VR today revealed Mindshow at VRLA Summer Expo 2016. The application aims to give anyone access to simple tools to tell stories in virtual reality.
