Magic Leap Cancels TED Appearance and Reddit AMA, “Reasons Unknown”
If you thought you were finally getting your hands on some info about the secretive Google-backed startup, Magic Leap, you’d be wrong—at least for now—because amidst much speculation, Magic Leap executives have cancelled their public talks on the technology.
Rev VR Podcast (Ep. 96): Adult Entertainment in VR with Ela Darling
The adult entertainment industry is ripe and ready for virtual reality, and a few entrepreneurial folks are already capitalizing on it. My guest today is one of those people, adult performer, Ela Darling.
Underwater VR Headset Kickstarter Cancelled, But Not Because It’s An Underwater VR Headset
‘Project Nautilus VR’, a now cancelled Kickstarter campaign featuring an app and VR headset combo, wanted to take underwater VR experiences for Google Cardboard one step further: by actually putting you and your beloved smartphone head-first into a pool. And the thing is, it wasn’t even cancelled because of how horrifying all of that sounds.
Eve Developer Teases Possible SteamVR Integration and “Never-before-seen VR Demos” to Be Revealed at Fanfest 2015
CCP Games, developer of Eve Online, was one of the earliest big studios to jump into VR game development. After announcing Eve: Valkyrie, a made-for-VR space dogfighting game, the project has been running relatively silent. However there are strong signals that Valkyrie and VR will feature prominently at the company’s annual ‘Fanfest’ this week.
SteamVR Beta Update Brings Lighthouse Support and VR Tracking App
Steam VR, Valve’s platform for virtual reality applications using the Steam content portal, has been updated and brings with it support for their promising new tracking solution, Lighthouse as well as a demo application for you to try it out.
The Most Interesting Man at GDC Tells Us Why Nintendo’s 1995 Virtual Boy Headset is Superior
Going into last week’s GDC 2015, we knew VR would be a big deal. We knew we’d see the latest VR headsets, controllers, games, and software, but we didn’t expect to see Nintendo’s 1995 Virtual Boy headset, nor the cheeseburger-themed man toting it around the expo floor.
Virtual Reality Music Video ‘An Unseen Sky’ Available on Oculus Share Now
The Music video is a once trailblazing form of entertainment, borne in the 80s thanks primarily to the advent of ‘youth’ focussed television and of course MTV. Although the majority are merely literal, visual, commercially driven accompaniments to the music, there are countless examples which have pushed boundaries, stirred controversy and challenged audiences.
David Rosen, the award-winning composer behind a new clearly has his eye on those exceptions as he celebrates the launch of this VR Music ‘Video’, a mish-mash of anachronistic terms perhaps. Nevertheless, that’s the best way to describe ‘An Unseen Sky‘, the title given to this VR project, inspired by Rosen’s new album by the same name.
The ‘Video’ has the viewer soaring around a beautiful if bleak and empty landscape surrounded by atmospheric storms and striking vistas, of course accompanied by Rosen’s titular track.
Elemental Spark, is the developer behind the new VR experience built for the Oculus Rift, and plans to port the project to other VR platform such as Google Cardboard soon. The developer is also behind the VR sci-fi adventure Invasion 2012 which is available for download now.
Rosen’s Album meanwhile is out to buy on April 7th, you can find out more here. The VR Music Video itself, is up on Oculus Share to download and try now.
Notes From the Forest
Road to VR’s VR Community Liaison, Chris Madsen, fills us in on the latest happenings in Convrge, an in-development multiplayer VR environment that’s been connecting VR denizens from around the world.
Up Next in Convrge: EDM, Indie Movies, St. Patrick’s Day, and Campfire Meetup
Convrge is an in-development Social VR platform that’s free and open to all. Events planned over the seven days include an EDM dance party, indie movie night, St. Patrick’s Day celebration, and the weekly Campfire Meetup. You are invited to take part in any of these events, accessible with or without a VR headset.
‘Nuren’ and ‘Apollo 11’ VR Experiences Successfully Funded on Kickstarter
Two exciting non-game Kickstarters projects out of the VR community that we’ve been watching over the last few weeks have hit their goal.
Oculus Confirms Dual Screens in Crescent Bay, Consumer Rift Will Not be an Exclusive Platform
In a Q&A session at Austin’s SXSW event, an Oculus panel including VP of Product Nate Mitchell and Oculus founder Palmer Luckey confirmed that their latest feature prototype, ‘Crescent Bay’ does indeed comprise two display panels.
YouTube Now Supports 360 Video, No VR Support (Yet)
Today YouTube announced that the video streaming service will now support 360 degree video that can be viewed in the browser or through the Android YouTube app. There’s no VR support yet, but I’ve got a feeling that we can count on it coming soon.
Crytek’s 50 Person VR Dev Team Can Only Mean One Thing
At GDC 2015, game developer and CryEngine creator Crytek was showing an impressive virtual reality experience on the Oculus Rift Crescent Bay prototype. But it would seem that the company has much more up their collective sleeve than a mere demo or Rift support for their engine.
Valve, Bossa Studios and Vertigo Games Talk Steam VR at EGX Rezzed, Video Now Up
After HTC’s surprise announcement at MWC and the subsequent VR frenzy of GDC, it became apparent some lucky developers had had their hands on early Steam VR hardware for some time. Two of them are Bossa Studios‘ (Surgeon Simulator) and Vertigo Games (Skyworld). The video for their recent EGX Rezzed discussion, as compared by Valve Writer Chet Faliszek, is now online.
