Samsung Reveals ‘Gear VR’ Headset—Breaking
Samsung, at the company’s ‘IFA Unpacked’ event in Berlin today, have officially revealed their ‘Gear VR’ headset.
Sony Patent Shows Method of Automatic IPD Measurement for VR Headset
With Samsung rumored to be revealing their ‘Gear VR’ device later today, we went digging through the company’s patent portfolio to see what information we might be able to glean. We stumbled upon a patent that caught our attention from Sony that’s for a “Head-mountable display with determination of the interocular distance.”
Hacker Awarded $25,000 for Identifying Security Exploits in Oculus Developer Center
A ‘whitehat’ hacker scored some serious cash for identifying security vulnerabilities in Oculus VR’s developer portal. The exploits, which could have been used to plant malicious code in the Oculus SDK, among other mischievous things, have been patched and the hacker rewarded through Facebook’s ‘Bug Bounty’ program.
SundayVR With Cymatic Bruce – Ep. 30: Live for Speed, SubLevelZero, Half-Life VR, and More VR Gaming
Hey Rifters!
Missed the last episode of SundayVR? No worries, catch the video recording and written recap here! Live for Speed steals the show, we see some incredible Descent-like action from SubLevelZero, and I (finally) got Half-Life VR up and running.
News Bits: HL2VR 1.4 Mod Released, The Best Half-Life 2 Experience Just Got Better
Back in October 2013 Road to VR’s Ben Lang described HL2VR, a Half-Life 2 mod specially crafted to make playing in VR as cool as possible, as “The best way to experience Half-Life 2.” The new version (1.4) is out and brings Oculus Rift DK2 support and the ability to play through both Episode 1 and 2 of Half-Life 2.
The Proto Awards Submission Deadline Extended to September 2nd
The Proto Awards are being held by the Virtual Reality Foundation, a non-profit organization formed by the founding members of VRLA. The organization has extended the deadline for submissions to September 2nd and encourages “all developers to submit their VR experiences, even in an unpolished state.”
News Bits: Birthday Celebration for Oculus Founder Palmer Luckey Included in Connect Conference Schedule
Oculus VR hosts its inaugural Connect developer conference in September. The company has remained quiet about the schedule until recently posting the initial itinerary which features keynotes from John Carmack (CTO), Michael Abrash (Chief Scientist), and Brendan Iribe (CEO), along with a birthday toast for Palmer Luckey (Founder) on the conference’s opening day.
Leap Motion’s Next-gen ‘Dragonfly’ Sensor is Designed for VR Headsets
Leap Motion creates a gesture camera for hand tracking input. The company has been progressively pivoting their technology toward virtual reality, and now appear to be going all-in on the emerging industry with a tease of a next-generation sensor, codenamed ‘Dragonfly’, along with a VR Mount for the Oculus Rift and VR-focused updates to the company’s SDK.
Oculus Rift DK2 Positional Tracking “adds Significantly to the Sense of Immersion” in Second Life with CtrlAltStudio Viewer Update, Official Support on the Way
David Rowe continues to develop the unofficial CtrlAltStudio Viewer, the first viewer to bring Oculus Rift DK1 and DK2 support to Second Life. The latest alpha release of the viewer supports positional tracking on the Oculus Rift DK2, which Rowe says “adds significantly to the sense of immersion.” Today Linden Lab CEO Ebbe Altberg also confirmed that DK2 support is in the works for the official Second Life viewer.
Rewind FX Uses Lidar-scanning and UE4 for Red Bull Air Race VR Experience
Road to VR was invited to an event at Red Bull Studios London to be among the first to try the latest version of the Red Bull Air Race VR Experience with positional tracking and the Oculus Rift DK2, an experiential marketing application developed by Rewind FX. Road to VR’s Jon Tustain sits down to speak with Solomon Rogers, founder of Rewind FX, about the company’s work with virtual reality experiences.
Rev VR Podcast (Ep.77): Adventures in Kickstarting with Justin Moravetz, the Creator of Proton Pulse and Vanguard V
Now that both of our Kickstarters are over, Justin Moravetz, the creator of Proton Pulse and Vanguard V, and I decide to go back and examine what worked, what didn’t, and give some tips to potential Kickstarters in the VR community.
Exclusive: Homido Launches VR Smartphone Adapter and Sleek App for VR Video with Web Browser on iOS and Android (video)
Today Homido is launching a new VR smartphone adapter along with a sleek app designed to play 360 degree, cylindrical, 3D, and 2D videos in a virtual reality format on iOS and Android smartphones.
Oculus Rift DK2 Comes to the Philly VR Meetup Wednesday, August 27th
The VR Philly Meetup is holding its second gathering tomorrow, August 27th, the group’s first meeting since the launch of the Oculus Rift DK2. The new headset will be on display at the Meetup, along with guest speakers and community networking time.
Cyberith Virtualizer makes US debut
On August 19, the Cyberith team debuted their Virtualizer virtual reality device for the first time in the United States at an event sponsored by Silicon Valley VR and Road to VR, with LinkedIn graciously providing meeting space in Mountain View, CA. Cyberith is nearing the end of their successful Kickstarter campaign (which we’ve written about previously), having raised $306,000 of their original $250,000 goal with five days still to go.
In this presentation, founder Tuncay Cakmak provides insights into the origins of the Virtualizer, and demonstrates its use while wearing a PrioVR tracking suit.
A technical issue prevented a complete demonstration with locomotion, but attendees were able to put the Virtualizer through its physical paces.
For more information on the Virtualizer, please visit their Kickstarter page or web site at cyberith.com.
Many thanks, also, to our friends Sixense, Trinity VR, and Tactical Haptics, who provided demonstrations of their next-generation virtual reality controllers at the event.
