Today Google is getting serious about Cardboard. The simple VR smartphone adapter debuted at the company’s annual I/O 2014 conference earlier this year. What started out as a ‘20% project’, essentially a hobby, is turning into something significant.
Virtuix has just announced that it has secured $2.7M of investment as the commercial launch of its omni-directional treadmill, the Omni approaches.
As more cinematic VR content emerges from early pioneers, traditional filmmakers are starting to catch on to the massive potential that virtual reality holds for immersive storytelling. However, the ‘flat screen’ is a very mature medium, one which has conventions that have been honed over more than a century. Filming cinematic VR content, on the other hand, requires filmmakers to play by a new rulebook.
Nimble Sense, the hand tracking controller designed to work with head mounted displays, has surpassed its first stretch goal of $120,000, nearly doubling its base funding goal of $62,500. With only a few days left until the crowdfunding campaign closes, the team behind the mountable sensor are undoubtedly rubbing their virtual hands together in anticipation of what comes next after such a successful Kickstarter — and for backers, that means getting a few more dials to play with that could substantially widen the device’s functionality.
See Also: Nimble Sense Kickstarter Aims to Bring Time-of-Flight Depth-sensing Tech to VR on the Cheap
Nimble Sense, a device not much larger than a pack of gum, houses an IR (infrared) laser and IR depth camera that was originally designed to sense object movement at the default range of 2.3 ft (70c m), or about the distance from the DK2’s onboard sensor array to the hand of a fully extended arm.
Now that the Kickstarter campaign has eked past its stretch goal, Nimble VR is expanding the device’s functionality (without overclocking it) and opening up the camera’s settings up to make it “a hacker/developer/computer vision-friendly camera.”
To keep within a nominal operating levels however (i.e. not lighting your head on fire) they’ve opted to keep the same power settings. To accommodate this limiting factor, they’re exchanging a lower frame-rate for a longer camera exposure time which will effectively give the device a longer viewing range. The team plans on supporting three specific ranges; 2.3ft/70cm, 3.25ft/100cm, and 4.92ft/150cm — most likely pushing the little USB device’s capability to the very edge of usability.
Along with increased range, they will be supporting low level camera controls with frame rates ranging from 1Hz to 45Hz, and shutter speed controls ranging from 0.1ms to 4ms exposures, potentially allowing developers to use the depth-sensing device for a wide variety of applications not limited to its main feature of VR-centric skeletal hand tracking. It’s an effort by Nimble VR to coax potential developers into using Nimble Sense to do things like guide wheeled robots, track props, or even the user’s feet (because … feet… that’s why).
To send the Kickstarter even further into high gear, Nimble VR has added 250 more spots to their level 1 pledge tier which starts at $99 — getting you a Nimble Sense, 7ft USB cable, and A DK2 mount that cleverly utilizes the DK2’s native cable cover.
It does seem that, despite being a relative newcomer to the scene, Nimble Sense are all set to give Leap Motion a run for their money. All they need now is some sort of 3D Jam to find some killer content.
We’ve been fortunate to get our hands on the highly anticipated Samsung Gear VR headset and we’ve got a full breakdown of the unit’s in’s and out’s. This is one you don’t want to miss.
Well, it’s finally here! After much anticipation, Samsung and Oculus have finally made their Gear VR headset available for purchase. I took the opportunity to sit down with Ben Lang, editor and chief of Road to VR, and Ritchie Djamhur, well-known gadget YouTuber, to talk about the release and the many facets of Gear VR.
Well, the cat is out of the bag, Samsung Gear VR is now officially available to buy online and if you’re looking to buy , you can save a little money too.
Today is the day that essentially the first consumer VR headset launched in the last decade becomes available. That headset is Samsung’s Gear VR, created in collaboration with Oculus. Join us for an unboxing of this impressive device.
After over months of rumours and an official unveiling at IFA 2014 just 3 months ago, Samsung’s Note 4 based VR Headset Gear VR is now finally available to buy.
It seems Samsung were true to their word when they proclaimed that its first VR Headset would be available ‘Early December’ back at SDC this year. A Gear VR sales page is now online, allowing prospective owners to get their hands on the unit for $199.
Last week Ritchie Djamhur shared with us his thoughts on experiencing movies using Samsung’s soon-to-be-launched VR Headset, Gear VR. He’s back again, this time with a video walk-through on managing apps for the virtual reality headset as well as some settings and features of special note.
Developer Three One Zero has released the first trailer for its ‘astronaut in peril’ title ADR1FT, which also promises ground-up Oculus Rift support. Debuting at the Video Game Awards this year, it looks pretty special too.
One of the busiest developers on the scene right now, Tomáš Mariančík (aka Frooxius), has just released a new version of his hit VR experience ‘Sightline: The Chair’ with added integration with 3DCeption, a “real-time binaural synthesis engine”. We asked him for his thoughts on 3DCeption and the importance of convincing positional audio in VR.
Apple is investing in additional VR savvy, with more job postings trickling out of the multinational tech giant’s own internal job site. Although Apple hasn’t left us with many clues as to what they might be working on at their Santa Clara campus skunksworks, the particular position of ‘VR/AR Programmer’ may offer valuable insight into just how important the burgeoning technology is soon to become to the company.
A new PC peripheral company based in France is launching a feet-controlled 3D navigation and motion control device that wants to get the lower half of your body in the game, freeing up your hands for the more important things in virtual life, like hand tracking and eating nachos without getting the keyboard dirty (not necessarily in that order).
