Valve’s ‘Lighthouse’ tracking system relies on an array of sensors which detect laser sweeps from the accompanying base stations. Valve has shown a glimpse of the latest iteration of the sensors which are remarkably small compared to earlier prototypes.
Futuremark, the 3D performance benchmarking company behind 3DMark, is working on VRMark, a virtual reality specific test the capabilities of your gaming PC and VR headset, using some ingenious hardware.
Starbreeze announced at VRLA’s Winter Expo yesterday project ‘Starcade’ to bring their wide FOV, high resolution in-house developed VR headset to more consumers by way of public arcade style venues. Frank He caught up with their CTO Emmanuel Marquez to find out more.
Starbreeze Studios, a videogame publisher which recently entered the VR arena with their StarVR headset, announced that they’ll be opening a VR arcade venue in Los Angeles, CA called Project StarCade. The goal of the venue is to “make premium VR experiences accessible for the masses” and showcase the company’s VR headset.
VR broadcasting company NextVR has partnered with FOX Sports to bring tonight’s Premier Boxing Champions live in virtual reality to the Gear VR headset. You can watch it for free starting at 8PM ET tonight (Saturday, January 23rd).
Are snow storms threatening your existence, your livelihood, your sanity? Well, we can’t help with that in the slightest, but we do know of some good VR beaches you can visit as the storm rages outside.
On my way out to cover VR at Sundance this week, I had a chance to try out THE VOID, one of the most advanced out-of-home VR systems today in an industrial park in the middle of Utah. The VOID goes beyond room-scale with their minimum 60×60′ stage which employs ‘redirected walking’ techniques in order to trick you into thinking you’re walking in an even larger physical space.
Oculus says that getting the Rift into “broad retail around the world” is going to be critical to the success of the Rift headset and VR in general. The company plans to have a retail presence starting in April.
According to a recent report by Digi-Capital, investors have injected some pretty big bucks into companies focusing on augmented and virtual reality lately. A total of $686 million in 2015 alone. The most interesting bit: they aren’t counting Magic Leap.
Czech developers Dreadlocks, the company behind crowd funded RPG Dex, have launched their latest Kickstarter campaign for Ghost Theory, a VR focussed horror title that casts you as a clairvoyant paranormal investigator.
Apple has reportedly hired a highly respected virtual reality researchers Doug Bowman, as it continues to trail behind other major company’s in the virtual reality race
Eric Romo is the founder and CEO of AltspaceVR, a company aiming to make virtual reality social. He shares his story of how he got interested in the potential of social VR long before the 2012 Oculus Kickstarter.
