Road to VR

Magic Leap Closes $542m Series B Investment, Now Soliciting Developers for Its “Digital Lightfield” Wearable

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Oct 21, 2014

According to a press release revealed today, Magic Leap has closed a $524 million Series B funding round led by Google; the deal had been rumored as of last week. Magic Leap, which has been in stealth since its inception, is being a bit more wordy now that the deal has closed (but hardly less vague). The company is now soliciting developers on its website and says that “under the appropriate non-disclosures, we’d love to talk possibilities.”

Optimizing Games for VR Is About Finding Creative Solutions – Darknet Developer Shares His Insights

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Matthew Terndrup

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Oct 21, 2014

E McNeill is a virtual reality developer based in San Diego, California who is working on a cyberpunk hacking game known as Darknet. Originally intended for the Oculus Rift, McNeil is now also porting the game to Samsung’s mobile Gear VR headset. Running the game at the required 60 FPS on a cell phone is a challenge that takes creative optimizations; McNeil shares some of his inventive solutions.

Racing in Assetto Corsa on the Oculus Rift DK2 is a Flawed Revelation

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Oct 21, 2014

Oculus have prescribed that for this generation of its VR headsets, the target experience is resolutely a seated one. This means that racing games are a match made in heaven for the DK2. And, after a period of drought for VR racers, Kunos Simulazioni’s visually sumptuous racer Assetto Corsa was recently updated to RC1 and with it came Oculus Rift DK2 support.

Riftmax Theater Heads to Kickstarter to Improve the Social VR Theater Experience

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Oct 18, 2014

Riftmax Theater is one of the most interesting projects currently underway for virtual reality. The software acts as a theater for both videos and live performances, where users can come together from across the world to watch a film or be part of a live production, all with the immersive power of VR. The developers have been supporting the community with their software since the early days of the Oculus Rift and are now headed to Kickstarter to take it to the next level.

‘Guided Meditation’ Proves That ‘VR Relaxation’ Will Almost Certainly Become Its Own Genre

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Oct 17, 2014

Oculus Rift Meditation Costa Del Sol — Costa Del Sol

Guided Meditation is a free Oculus Rift DK2 app which transports players to beautiful environments while gentle narration instructs meditative techniques. If we didn’t already have enough evidence from serene titles like Eden River HD, Guided Meditation is all the proof we need to see that ‘VR Relaxation’ will become its own genre.

‘Cineveo’ VR Movie Theater 0.9.5 Beta Brings File Browser, Support for Latest Oculus SDK, and More

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Oct 17, 2014

Cineveo is a virtual reality movie theater for the Oculus Rift DK1 and DK2 that allows users to watch existing 2D and 3D media. The software has been recently updated to version 0.9.5 which adds a much desired file browser, support for the latest Oculus SDK, and several other tweaks.

‘World of Comenius’ Demonstrates Powerful Educational Interaction with Leap Motion and Oculus Rift

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Oct 17, 2014

We recently covered a (at that point unnamed) VR project by developer Tomáš “Frooxius” Mariančík, the mind behind the stunning ‘Sightline’ VR series of demos. The project fused Leap Motion skeletal hand tracking with Oculus Rift DK2 positional tracking to produce an impressively intuitive VR interface. Now, a new video of the interface shows impressive progress. We catch up with Tomáš to find out some more about this mysterious VR project.

‘PHOBOS’ is a VR Therapy Platform for Phobias and Anxiety, Now on Indiegogo

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Matthew Terndrup

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Oct 16, 2014

While virtual reality is a great tool for entertainment, it’s about more than just games and movies. It has the potential to assist in treatments during therapies in the medical related fields as well. Even now, researchers are beginning to experiment with the ability of VR to treat phobias and anxiety using recently available consumer-level VR hardware.

Second Life Now Has Official Oculus Rift DK2 Support

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Oct 15, 2014

Second Life is one of the biggest, if not the biggest user-generated virtual world. With tens of thousands of players spending time and money in the world at any given moment, it’s not surprising that there would be demand for a more immersive way to interact with it. This week, the developers behind Second Life officially updated the game with Oculus Rift DK2 support.

Community Q&A: Inventor of the Mad Genius Motion Gaming Controller Answers Your Questions

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Oct 15, 2014

Don Rider is the inventor of the Mad Genius motion controller which caught the attention of the VR community when prototypes of the system were first revealed. Rider has taken his creation to Kickstarter to refine and miniaturize the design for proper manufacturing. The VR community had plenty of questions about the system and we went directly to the source to get them answered.

‘Sword Art Online’ Fan Prototype Brings Bullet Dodging and Blocking to VR with the Razer Hydra

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Oct 15, 2014

Sword Art Online is a popularly acclaimed modern action-anime based around virtual reality. It’s proven inspiring enough for one fan to create an Oculus Rift and Razer Hydra prototype which allows players to dodge and block bullets while firing a pistol, much like the ‘gameplay’ depicted in the show.

Reportedly on the Verge of a $500m Investment, Here’s What We Know About Magic Leap

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Oct 14, 2014

Earlier this week, Recode reported that Google is “set to lead a huge investment in Magic Leap.” The article cites “sources” which say that Google could be leading a $500 million funding round for the company, possibly including capital from Andreessen Horowitz which previously invested in Oculus. Magic Leap has been in stealth mode since its inception and no one seems to have a concrete idea about what their “Cinematic Reality” tech is. We went digging to see what we could uncover.

Virtual Reality Invades IndieCade 2014

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Matthew Terndrup

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Oct 13, 2014

The gaming world is pivoting towards virtual reality as more and more conferences and festivals begin playing with VR. This momentum was extremely prevalent at this year’s IndieCade in Southern California as about a quarter of the booths contained virtual reality headsets.

Oculus Drives Into IndieCade in a Shiny New Airstream Trailer

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Matthew Terndrup

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Oct 13, 2014

IndieCade is an annual gaming festival in Culver City, California which attracts hundreds of game enthusiasts from all over the world. This year, Oculus VR strolled in with a custom chromed-out virtual reality filled trailer that dazzled the attendees throughout the event.

Alien: Isolation in VR is Beautiful and Terrifying

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Oct 11, 2014

1396108606-alien-isolation — Image courtesy Creative Aseembly

Alien: Isolation is Creative Assembly‘s stab at moving a beloved movie franchise into a compelling interactive experience. Early word on the title was that, unlike the execrable Aliens: Colonial Marines before it, Isolation was something a bit special. What’s more, at GDC earlier this year, Oculus proudly showed the triple-A title in a VR enabled version that terrified all who played it. Alien: Isolation was the virtual reality hit of the show and with good reason.

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