Time Machine VR is an action adventure title from Papo and Yo developers Minority Media, which puts you in the shows of a time-travelling scientist searching for an ancient cure for a modern day plague. It’s a native VR game for the Oculus Rift and it looks stunning.
Oculus’ recently released 0.7 SDK and Runtime Drivers were a significant step forward in technology for the company, offering up major enhancements for Rift users. AMD and NVIDIA have now both launched drivers which allow Rift developers and users alike to unlock ‘Direct Driver Mode’, a high performance, low latency way to render to the Oculus Rift headset.
Dexta Robotics, a technology company with presence in the US, China and the UK, has announced the latest iteration of its Dexmo input glove. A new video released demonstrates some of the glove’s capabilities, as a user is shown manipulating blocks in a virtual environment powered by an Oculus Rift headset.
Distance and its developer, Seattle based Refract Studios, are at PAX 2015 to demonstrate their unique futuristic survival racer in VR at a booth that you will not be able to miss.
Ubisoft’s Montreal office is making some pretty big strides toward prototyping VR games to discover just how far they can push the boundaries of controls and narrative in the virtual space. Olivier Palmieri, game director and head of the Ubisoft Montreal VR team, put me through my paces with the studio’s updated Eagle’s Flight prototype and a narrative experience based on Far Cry 3‘s main villain, Vaas.
Looking for something fun to play in VR? We’ve got the top 10 downloads from the last week on the WEARVR app marketplace, a cross-platform repository of virtual reality experiences.
VRBloX is a virtual reality puzzle game where the object is to build a tower to the target height. VRBloX supports full head tracking and allows you a unique viewpoint on a traditional puzzle game.
Its as simple as looking at the block you wish to move, picking it up and dropping it where ever you want to start building! If it’s too unstable, it will topple over!
Platforms: Oculus Rift DK1/DK2 (Windows)
Enjoy the Boursin Sensorium virtual reality experience as you journey through a decadent fridge packed full of delicious foods and Boursin ingredients. Sweep through the herb forest, duck beneath the towering vegetables, wind around giant bottles of bubbly, and dive into the cheese – we promise this is a journey like no other!
Platforms: Oculus Rift DK1/DK2 (Windows)
Follow the story of Null as he embarks on an epic adventure; In a retro VR experience previously only possible with the power of your imagination.
A first-person “list and click” RPG with turn-based combat takes you back to one of yesteryear’s favorite genres; packed with all of the colorful pixels and raspy melodies of the time. Null of Hope is a full and vivid RPG experience which offers a wide variety of exciting environments, characters, monsters, items and skills. Watch your environment bend to the whims of the game, making you question where the game ends and the real world begins. Designed from concept for virtual reality, Null of Hope is poised to be the definitive retro VR experience, challenged only by the nostalgic memories of your past.
Platforms: Oculus Rift DK2 (Windows)
Bali, the famed Island of the Gods, with its varied landscape of hills and mountains, rugged coastlines and sandy beaches, lush rice terraces and barren volcanic hillsides all providing a picturesque backdrop to its colourful, deeply spiritual and unique culture, stakes a serious claim to be paradise on earth. Join INTREPID360 on a journey through this incredible island, from Sunrise to Sunset. Relax, take a deep breath, and enjoy your trip.
Platforms: Oculus Rift DK1/DK2 (Windows/Mac)
Step right up and take a ride through the corridors of a haunted mansion. You can sit back and relax, but that’s easier said than done. It’s the haunted carnival ride you remember from your childhood, with a VR twist.
This is a short preview version, and you can experience the 1st part of the ride right now. More coming soon!
Platforms: Oculus Rift DK2 (Windows)
DinoTrek is a Virtual Reality immersive experience showing what it might have been like to live during the time of the dinosaurs! It is designed for Google Cardboard, by Geomedia, Inc. and HIVE VR.
Platforms: Oculus Rift DK2 (Windows), Android, iOS
This is Leeco Studio’s impressive first project on UE4 using 3ds Max, Marvelous Designer, Photoshop and Speedtree.
Platforms: Oculus Rift DK2 (Windows)
Inspired by Taroko Gorge in Taiwan. Take a relaxing boat ride on calm waters through nature with this short VR tech demo.
Platforms: Oculus Rift DK2 (Windows)
“The Hum:Abductions – VR Proof of Concept” is a VR experience created – by Totwise Studios – to share with you a first insight of their efforts creating The Hum:Abductions – the alien abduction horror game in which they are working. You will take the role of a man who will discover the terrible situation of his family, while beginning a journey to the unknown.
This Proof of Concept is not intended to show actual gameplay features from the final game
Platforms: Oculus Rift DK2 (Windows)
Did you wake up this morning with an urge to view all eight Starship Enterprise models in glorious virtual reality? We thought so….
This is just a fun little project thrown together by a Star Trek fan. Each of the ships is the correct size relative to one another, but their scale is set to 1:100.
See Also: Preview – ‘Enterprises’ a VR History of Star Trek’s Most Beloved Ship
Platforms: Rift DK2 (Windows)
Attendees of Immersed Europe could get their chance to step into the shoes of Tom Cruise on his action packed ride off the side of Airbus A400M Atlas in the new Mission: Impossible Rogue Nation (2015).
The latest v0.7 release of Oculus’ Software Development Kit and Runtime Driver is now here, bringing with it multiple enhancements alongside preliminary Windows 10 support.
Ubisoft has announced a partnership with MM Company, a Ukraine based start-up that has developed a chair specifically for use with VR headsets. The chair, called the MMOne, works along three axis and is able to rotate 45 degrees left and right, raise 45 degrees and revolve 360 degrees.
Discovery Communications, known for its cadre of cable television channels and outdoors-focused programming, has released a VR video app for iOS and Android devices and Samsung Gear via Milk VR. The app’s website also emphasizes that it is “Coming soon on Oculus.”
Evan Suma is an assistant professor at the University of Southern California Institute of Creative Technologies. He was at IEEE VR presenting a poster on “Towards Context-Sensitive Reorientation for Real Walking in Virtual Reality” led by his USC ICT students Timofey Grechkin & Mahdi Azmandian.
