WEARVR Weekly Top Ten VR Downloads – May #2

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May 22, 2015

FOVE, the eye-tracking VR headset, has reached its crowdfunding goal in less than 4 days time. Stretch goals have yet to be revealed.

Epic’s ‘Showdown’ Demo Runs at 60 FPS on Morpheus After UE4 Optimizations

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Ben Lang

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May 22, 2015

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showdown oculus rift screenshot 2 — 'Showdown' running on PC

Epic’s high fidelity Showdown demo was only barely able to hold framerate on one of the most powerful GPUs in the world when it debuted last September. But now, after optimizations for Unreal Engine 4 on PS4, the demo runs on Morpheus at Sony’s 60 FPS VR target framerate—not bad for a game console that’s approaching its two year anniversary.

Samsung’s Milk VR Gets New Community Channel, Showcases Emerging VR Filmmakers

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May 21, 2015

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Samsung’s VR video streaming platform, Milk VR, is loosening up to make way for community-made content. So you too can potentially get eyeballs on your VR video project through the stock Gear VR app (provided your film makes the grade).

Oculus Announces ‘Connect 2’ Conference as they Gear Up for Consumer VR

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Paul James

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May 21, 2015

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Oculus have announced that their second ‘Connect’ developer event will take place September 23-35 at the Loews Hollywood Hotel in Hollywood, CA and it’s set to prime the industry for VR’s imminent consumer debut.

Oculus’s inaugural ‘Connect’ event last year was a chance for the virtual reality developer community to come together, brush shoulders with both their peers and Oculus staff and get their hands on Oculus’ latest feature prototype, the Crescent Bay.

This year’s event, will follows the recent Rift consumer edition launch announcement and next month’s Pre-E3 “Step into the Rift” press event, and is likely to see Oculus gearing developers up for the Rifts launch in Q1 2016. In fact, the announcement sets a tone designed to bolster VR developers’ confidence who had up until recently struggled to plan their projects in lieu of a solid launch window.

This year’s Connect will feature keynotes from Brendan Iribe, Michael Abrash, and John Carmack, plus everything developers need to know to launch on the Rift and Gear VR.

No itinerary has yet been set, but with not one but two Oculus VR hardware platforms available in the first half of next year (Oculus Rift and Gear VR), there’s no shortage of things to talk about.

As ever, one of the highlights will likely be the keynotes. Expect a signature, schedule-busting keynote from Oculus CTO John Carmack, whose frank and open discussion on mobile VR last year was a must-see for anyone with interest in … well anything geeky at all to be perfectly honest. Chief Scientist Michael Abrash, whose fascinating talks exploring the limits of virtual reality theory rarely disappoint. And of course, CEO Brendan Iribe will likely look forward to key events to follow in the year ahead.

Last years event was unashamedly developer oriented, with minimal press presence and a pre-registration system to ensure the ‘right people’ are in attendance. This year looks to be following a similar course, so if you’re a developer and you’re interested in attending, head over to the sign-up page next month when sign-up forms will be made available.

We’ll keep you up to date on further news as it arrives.

Best of the Oculus Mobile VR Jam 2015 – Part 5: Telescopic, Tana Pura, SoundScape

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May 20, 2015

Now in our 5th installment of our ongoing series covering some of the most promising content to come out of the Oculus Mobile VR Jam, we take a look at three submissions that awake in the user a childlike wonder of life, the Universe, and everything.

FOVE Kickstarter Campaign Raises Over $175,000 in its First 24 Hours

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May 20, 2015

We can’t believe our collective foveae (yes, that’s plural), because in only 24 hours FOVE’s Kickstarter campaign has blown past its halfway mark and beyond. If they haven’t sorted out stretch goals, maybe now is a good time.

Retinad’s Promising VR Ad and Analytics System is Now Backed with a $500,000 Investment

By

Ben Lang

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May 20, 2015

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Retinad, a company working to bring immersive advertising and analytics to virtual reality, has just closed a $500,000 early-stage round to bring their solution to market. Avoiding the worst case banner-in-your-face approach, the company is jumping feet first into VR, bringing immersive (but not invasive) pre-roll ads and useful analytics tools that could be a hit with developers and advertisers alike.

Oculus Announces Mobile VR Jam 2015 Finalists, Public Voting Open Until May 27th

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May 20, 2015

The first round of judging of the Oculus Mobile VR Jam is over, and we now have our finalists—a total of 61 submissions split between two tracks, Games and App/Experiences.

‘Courage’ is a Beautiful, Co-op VR Game Made in 12 Weeks by Students

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Paul James

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May 20, 2015

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A group of students at designed and developed this stunning looking 2 player co-op game in just 12 weeks with a team of 11. The title was created as part of a Game Design module at the University of Derby in the UK.

Built on Unreal Engine 4 and designed from the ground up for the Oculus Rift VR headset, Courage is a suspenseful puzzle game revolving around protagonist ‘Alex’ a young child who’s only companionship in her dream-state is a ghostly dog, representing Alex’s inner-courage. Alex must battle through various chapters, each representing a different fear to conquer.

The team are looking to release a demo for the title “soon”, to be playable on the Oculus Rift DK2. In the mean time, feast your eyes on the world of Courage in the screenshot gallery below. Also, check out the game’s official website right here for more info.

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Oculus Send Invites to “Step into the Rift” Pre-E3 Event, June 11th, 2015

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May 19, 2015

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oculus-rift-cv1-front (enhanced) — The Oculus Rift 'CV1' Consumer Edition

An invite went out today beckoning its recipients to “Step into the Rift” on the 11th of June, 2015 in San Francisco—just a few days before E3 begins in LA. We want to step in. Oh yes, we do.

eMagin Announces 2K×2K ‘Flip Up’ VR Headset, Demoing at AWE 2015

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May 19, 2015

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OLED microdisplay manufacturer eMagin has announced a new VR headset, a small form factor pair of goggles that boast a 2K×2K display. Sounds interesting? It was to John Carmack.

Visualizing the Latest Features Found in Oculus SDK v0.6.0.0

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May 19, 2015

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A clever set of visualizations covering some of the major changes to Oculus’ new software developers kit (SDK) has surfaced, and may help the non-developers among us get a better grip on exactly what these changes mean for VR.

‘FOVE’, The World’s First Eye-Tracking VR Headset Comes to Kickstarter Today

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Paul James

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May 19, 2015

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FOVE is a Japanese technology company who are endeavoring to tackle an issue that will likely become a focus for the VR industry sooner than you think, eye-tracking in virtual reality. The company’s new headset employs gaze-detection for input, and today they launch their first Kickstarter campaign in order to get the hardware out into the community.

Valve’s Joe Ludwig Reps Lighthouse With a Shirt You Wish You Had

By

Ben Lang

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May 19, 2015

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Developers love their shirts and Valve is no exception. Joe Ludwig, a Valve programmer who has been closely involved with the SteamVR project, was spotted today rocking out a shirt with an exploded view of the company’s Lighthouse base station.