Road to VR

Automated Avatar Stylization to Counter the Uncanny Valley

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Jun 1, 2016

Betty Mohler is a researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics, and she had some keen insights on the nature of the uncanny valley being connected to expectations in my previous interview with her. I caught up with her again at the 2016 IEEE VR academic conference where she was talking about a recent paper about Appealing female avatars from 3D body scans: Perceptual effects of stylization in which the authors used an automated way to stylize a 3D scan across a variety of different animated art styles, and found that most women preferred to have at least some stylization in their avatar. I talk to Betty about these findings, some of the associated ethical issues, and how this 3D avatar research could be applied to help treat people with eating disorders and body dimorphic disorder.

HTC’s First Vive Game ‘Front Defense’ is a WWII Gallery Shooter

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Jun 1, 2016

Computex 2016 is under way and HTC are out on the show floor in full force with a collection of titles showing off their Vive VR system. One of the titles developed by the company, playable for the first time, is a new title developed closely with HTC, a WWII gallery shooter called Front Defense. Here it is in action.

‘Tactera’ Review

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If you’re the sort of person that played the forerunners of the real-time strategy genre, like the ’90s PC classic Command & Conquer (1995), you’ll be pleasantly surprised with Tactera, a fast-paced mobile RTS game today released for Gear VR. Although it’s missing the flash and vast number of unit/base options of its spiritual predecessors, don’t let the apparent simplicity fool you. The game is a real study in balance.

AMD Announces RX 480 GPU at $199 Targeting ‘the next 3-4 years’ of VR

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May 31, 2016

At Computex 2016 today, AMD took to the stage to reveal their latest GPU, the RX 480. Priced at starting at $199, the company says they designed the card to help make the first 100 million PCs ready for VR.

VR Documentary Filmmaking on Trial at Hot Docs 2016

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May 31, 2016

Virtual reality filmmaking is in its infancy but one Brendan McCourt reports from the Hot Docs Festival in Toronto where virtual reality as a documentary filmmaker platform was on trial. Can VR really become the “empathy machine” some are claiming? Or might its immersive properties become the enemy of transparency?

‘VR Human Anatomy’ to Give Medical Students a ‘Hands-On’ Using Oculus Touch

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May 31, 2016

Vedavi, a medical animation studio working closely with the University of Zurich, wants students to drop the heavy books and plastic models and pick up a pair of Oculus Touch controllers later this year with their highly detailed anatomy software, VR Human Anatomy.

Save Babies from Imminent Danger in Rescuties! VR

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Michael Glombicki

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May 30, 2016

If you’ve always thought of yourself as a hero, one that could step up to the plate when danger rears its head, Rescuties! VR may well be the game for you. Save babies and other helpless creatures in this daft yet fun looking VR game, currently in the final stages of its Kickstarter campaign.

The Fearless Creativity of ‘Lucid Trips’ is Exactly What VR Needs to Thrive

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May 30, 2016

Born out of a lengthy period of experimentation, Lucid Trips begins with a novel method of locomotion and follows through with a unique approach to game design and multiplayer interactivity.

ILMxLAB Discuss Pioneering VR Storytelling with Star Wars and Beyond

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May 30, 2016

Ben Lang sits down with John Gaeta and Vicki Beck to discuss Lucasfilm’s focus on immersive storytelling with the formation of ILMxLab last year, and their constant experimentation in the immersive entertainment space.

MythBusters’ Adam Savage Steps Inside Nvidia’s ‘VR Funhouse’ Physics Playground

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May 30, 2016

Nvidia takes Mythbuster’s Adam Savage inside their VR Funhouse application which is a sandbox for new technologies made possible with the company’s latest Pascal-based GPUs.

HP and MSI Show Off ‘PC on Your Back’ for Untethered Rift and Vive Sessions

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May 29, 2016

HP and MSI are working on concept ‘PC on your back’ projects (often known as backtops) which opens the door to untethered PC-level virtual reality experiences by allowing you to carry around your VR experience without those trailing cables.

Online Harassment and Trolling in Virtual Spaces

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May 28, 2016

During Google’s Daydream Labs presentation at Google I/O, they discussed how to deal with different types of trolling behaviors. Suzanne Leibrick is a VR user interface and user experience designer, who has experienced different types of online harassment within virtual spaces. As a response to this, she wrote up a number of different suggestions in a post titled Social VR solutions. I had a chance to catch up with her at Google I/O to talk about some of these technical solutions, as well as how to create more open and welcoming social VR spaces.

Report: Developer Confirms Work on Xbox One VR Title for 2017

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May 28, 2016

xbox-one-vr-microsoft-virtual-reality — Photo courtesy Aurich Lawson / Ars Technica

VR on Xbox One rumors are gaining momentum as Ars Technica reports that an unnamed game developer is working on a VR title for Microsoft’s game console.

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Out Now for $699, Here’s Why You Should Wait

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May 28, 2016

One of Nvidia’s most important GPU launches in years is under way with the first card based on the company’s latest 16nm ‘Pascal’ architecture, the GeForce GTX 1080, available to buy now in its ‘Founders Edition’ form. But if you can resist the urge to buy now, here are some good reasons to wait.

Review: Time Machine VR

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A virus is spreading across the world infecting all in its path. Millions are dead. This pandemic is referred to as the ‘Jurassic flu’ named for the time period from which it originated. Scientists have thrown all of the best minds and current medical research at the virus with no success. When humanity is down on its luck and its back is against a wall there is only one thing to do: travel back in time and gather scientific data on creatures of the past in hopes that it will yield a cure to the current pandemic.

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