EEVO, a New York based cinematic VR video platform, is preparing to launch into the world of made-for-VR video with its Netflix-style service. Their hopes: to establish a paid (and therefore instantly monetized) service to immediately attract the most compelling premium content from big studios and Indie producers alike.
Epic Games has today announced that the company will be releasing an Unreal Engine 4.8 preview build next week which will offer support for Valve’s highly anticipated SteamVR / HTC Vive. Epic says that even developers who don’t have access to the HTC Vive headset can start building supported VR experiences with Unreal Engine 4.8.
Unity has officially joined Microsoft in its quest to render the world around us with fantastical interactive 3D imagery, an endeavor made possible by HoloLens, Microsoft’s as yet unreleased augmented reality visor. The game engine will fully support HoloLens and just like the all good things in life, it’s free.
HoloLens, Microsoft’s forthcoming AR headset, was today revisited at the company’s ‘Build 2015’ developer conference. Along with a number of tantalizingly smooth on-stage demos, the company also released a video showing some early prototypes, as well as an exploded model of the ‘mixed reality’ device’s inner workings.
Microsoft’s biggest event of the year, Build 2015, started today and amidst all of the Windows 10 reveals, the company also revisited HoloLens, the augmented reality visor introduced by Microsoft earlier this year.
Valve Software Programmer Joe Ludwig, aka one of the brains behind Team Fortress 2’s ‘VR mode’ and SteamVR, will be giving a talk at this year’s SVVR Expo on the company’s SteamVR APIs, otherwise known as OpenVR.
While other companies are busy building 360 degree camera rigs and hoping for consumer adoption, VR startup LiveLike has a unique approach which uses existing broadcast camera tech in a surprisingly effective way to make you feel like you’re in a luxury box with friends at your favorite sporting event.
OTOY, the studio behind the made-for-VR rendering software OctaneVR, has announced a contest sponsored by Oculus that aims to get the community involved in generating immersive 360-degree panoramas using their software suite. Oculus CTO John Carmack is also signing on to judge the contest which will close 26th July 2015.
Microsoft biggest event of the year ‘Build 2015’ kicks off today and with it brings promise of more information for their intriguing augmented reality headset, Hololens.
According to Epic’s Unreal Engine roadmap, the company is soon to add support for Valve’s SteamVR / HTC Vive platform as well as new features for Sony’s Morpheus VR headset.
Jaunt VR have today announced they’re launching ‘Jaunt Studios’, a venture dedicated to producing immersive cinematic experiences for virtual reality. The new studio will comprise veteran movie makers from the likes of Lucasfilm, ILM and Digital Domain and it will be dedicated entirely to the production of VR related content.
UK code shop Codemasters have today released the latest instalment in their DiRT franchise named ‘Rally‘. The game is out to buy right now on Valve’s Steam Early Access program and it ‘ships’ with Oculus Rift support out of the box.
As a huge fan of the original Colin McRae Rally series by stalwart game developers Codemasters, I was somewhat dismayed to see the franchise ebb ever further away from it’s original rally driving roots. Well, McRae fans rejoice, because the rally is back, it’s on Steam Early Access and it may be Codemasters’ boldest gamble yet.
Continuing in the wake of the company’s previous experiments in VR support with last years release of GRID Autosport, DiRT Rally has shipped with Oculus Rift integration right out of the gate. It’s an extremely encouraging trend to see from such an established developer.
You can snag a copy right now as DiRT Rally represents the first title to be published by Codemasters under Steam’s Early Access program. It’s a bold move for an established company who’s survived countless generations of traditional computer gaming hardware. The team behind the game admit to some trepidation over the decision but that “…it’s really important to us that we make DiRT Rally the best game it can be and we can only do that with your help…”
The title currently offers 17 cars and 36 stages, more will be on the way though delivered (at least initially) for free. Make no mistake though, this is no Sega Rally in the handling department, DiRT Rally is about authenticity and is refreshingly unforgiving as a result.
Obviously we grabbed a copy as soon as I could so we’ll let you know how the VR support stacks up, but (ignoring the VR unfriendly menus) early impressions are good thus far.
There are plenty of options when it comes to social experiences in VR right now. We are all used to big events and gatherings within apps like AltSpace, VRChat, ConVRge, and other well-known titles. But what if you want an intimate, one on one experience? Pete and Andy are planning on making this with TribeVR.
