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Oculus' VR avatars are coming to Daydream and Steam in 2018
Oculus' virtual reality avatars are clever stand-ins, but they have a few glaring problems: most notably, you can't see them outside of Oculus' own platform. Thankfully, they're being set free. Oculus has revealed that the avatars will have cross-platform support in 2018, including Steam VR and Google's Daydream. Whether or not there are any limitations to use on other platforms isn't clear, but Oculus is promising tangible upgrades to the avatars themselves.
Watch the Oculus Connect keynote right here at 1PM ET!
Guess what today is? If you said "Oculus Connect 4 keynote day" you were right. You also probably knew what day it was before reading this post. But I digress. Assuming you aren't in San Jose for the event, you'll need a place to watch it come 1 PM Eastern. Well, that's what the embed window below is for. And, if you have a Rift or Gear VR, you can watch the keynote address that way too. Speaking of, maybe expect a new Rift headset to be announced, and perhaps an update on the wireless one teased last year. Oh, and an awkward social VR demo is all but guaranteed. Catch y'all in the asynchronous-spacewarped metaverse.
Marvel joins Madefire's digital comic book collection
Madefire's digital comic book platform is a good way to spice up stories that you may have read countless times, but its catalog has always had a conspicuous gap: namely, there were no Marvel comics. That ends today. Madefire has added Marvel to its collection, giving you the likes of The Avengers, Black Panther and X-Men through its Android, iOS, Windows and TV apps. There's no mention of taking advantage of Madefire's pseudo-3D Motion Book format, but having access is clearly the big deal here. You don't have to switch apps when you're ready to jump from Wonder Woman to Squirrel Girl.
You can get a refund on Oculus Rift and Gear VR games and apps
Buying games and apps digitally is less risky when there's a solid refund policy in place. Apple offers refunds for purchases through its iTunes app store and Microsoft has a self-service system. PC distribution portal Steam allows for refunds within 14 days of purchase if you've played a game for two hours or less. Now virtual reality company Oculus has made it clear that you can get a refund for an app or game purchased digitally for the Rift or Gear VR.
Google Daydream's web-browsing features surface in Chrome
At Google's I/O developer conference in May, the company announced that it was working on a VR version of Chrome that could work in Daydream. Well, Chrome development team member François Beaufort announced on Google+ today that the first set of features are now ready for you to test out.
Meet Rembrandt in this Samsung Gear VR experience
The best thing about VR experiences is that they can take you to fantastical places -- or meet people you'll never get to meet in real life, like Dutch master Rembrandt. Oculus has teamed up with virtual reality studio Force Field for a Samsung Gear VR experience that takes you back to 17th century Amsterdam. Meeting Rembrandt recreates the artist's home and surroundings, using a live actor to play the artist against computer-generated environments.
‘Sea Hero Quest’ hides dementia research inside a VR game
On the face of it, Sea Hero Quest could be just another mobile game. Cheerful, colorful and with plenty of bite-sized levels intended to test memory and spatial awareness. But while you're captaining your little boat along snaking channels towards checkpoints, the game is watching you. It's scoring your spatial navigation skill, one of the first innate abilities dementia sufferers experience a deterioration in. The data gathered is contributing towards a better understanding of what 'normal' looks like -- the benchmark for navigation skill across different demographics of people. The organizations behind the game are now back with a VR sequel, and the goal of advancing dementia research even further with their gamified approach.
Samsung's new Gear VR is built for the big Galaxy Note 8
Thanks to its tie-in with Oculus, Samsung's Gear VR has had the most content and arguably the best image quality of any mobile virtual reality headset since it launched. It has improved ever since, and the model unveiled with the Galaxy S8 finally included a controller. At its Galaxy Note 8 event, Samsung has launched yet another Gear VR with Controller (its sixth) to go with its latest big smartphone. The changes are small, but there are a few. First off, here's what's not new: The Note 8 has QHD+ resolution like the Galaxy S8 and not 4K as many hoped, so obviously the Gear VR won't have better resolution either. The design, weight, colors and other factors have also stayed largely the same. Samsung didn't offer much detail on the new Gear VR, but here's what we do know. It has a brand-new controller, and it's larger to accommodate the bigger Note 8. Those onboard volume controls are gone as well. For now, that's all the company has revealed, which likely means the "new" headset is similar to its predecessor, but it can get cozy with the newly announced phablet. On the bright side, the new Gear VR will be available for pre-order starting tomorrow for $130 at Samsung.com, Amazon, Best Buy, AT&T, Sprint, Verizon and US Cellular. It'll go on sale on Sept. 15th at those shops, along with T-Mobile and other resellers.
Samsung Gear VR app provides help to the visually impaired
Samsung isn't just using VR headsets as a means of boosting phone sales. The company's C-Lab has launched Relumino, a Gear VR app that uses augmented reality to compensate for vision problems. It can magnify the picture or adjust the contrast of what you're looking at if it's just a question of clarity, but it can also remap your field of view (to deal with blind spots or tunnel vision), outline objects and filter colors.
Coldplay's Chicago concert will stream live in VR on August 17th
If you weren't already convinced that live VR concerts are hitting the mainstream, you might be now. Samsung is partnering with Live Nation (which is no stranger to the concept) to offer a Coldplay concert in VR on August 17th at 9:30PM Eastern. If you have a Gear VR headset, you can watch Chris Martin and crew take to the stage in Chicago with an extra level of immersion. There will also be a replay available "for a limited time" afterward if it clashes with your schedule.
Samsung's PhoneCast app streams videos to your Gear VR
Samsung's Gear VR has a sweet 200-inch virtual screen you can use to watch videos. Unfortunately, what you can watch is limited by the fact that it's not compatible with third-party apps. The good news is that the Korean conglomerate's new application called PhoneCast can fix that issue. PhoneCast makes various third-party video services compatible with the VR headset, allowing you to stream videos to its gigantic virtual screen.
See the first ‘Blade Runner 2049’ VR tie-in at Comic-Con
It's been a good few months for Blade Runner 2049 fans, what with the three amazing trailers already out for the upcoming reboot from director Ridley Scott. Now, we've got a new VR tie-in for the film, as Oculus plans to debut "Blade Runner 2049: Replicant Pursuit" at this year's Comic-Con in San Diego on July 21st. While crummy VR tie-ins are fairly de rigueur these days, Blade Runner seems like a pretty great fit for a VR experience, at least thematically. The "experience," created for Samsung's Gear VR, is the first of a planned trio of Blade Runner content, with each episode from a different developer.
Fox Sports brings its 'virtual suite' to Gold Cup VR broadcasts
Fox Sports is no stranger to VR. The network broadcasted Super Bowl 51 via a virtual suite of sorts, for instance. Now Fox is taking that further with the CONCACAF Gold Cup soccer championship. The footie action starts July 8th with the USA vs. Panama match at 4:30 PM Eastern, and will continue with two as-of-yet unannounced games thereafter. Basically, it's combining that social space from American football with its previous work of broadcasting what everyone else around the world calls football, in VR.
Samsung puts you on the field with MLB VR videos
Are you a baseball aficionado with a Gear VR headset? You're in for a treat beyond Intel's weekly live games. Samsung and MLB have unveiled plans to release "over 20" virtual reality videos over the course of the league's 2017 season. Some of them will include highlights of key moments, such as All-Star events and division championships, while others will give you close-ups with players and "unrivaled" views of ballparks. Some of these will have supplements, too, such as stats and trivia.
Relive monster dunks and other NBA finals highlights in VR
The NBA has been bolder with virtual reality than most other leagues, producing weekly VR games on its League Pass on-demand network with NextVR. If you're interested in checking it out without paying for a pass or the $7 à la carte price, NextVR is offering highlights for each game of the finals between Cleveland and Golden State. All you need is a GearVR or Google Daydream headset, plus the NextVR app, available on Google Play or Oculus Stores.
Intel starts MLB 'Game of the Week' VR live streams
We'd heard that Major League Baseball had virtual reality streaming aspirations, and a partnership with Intel is making them a reality. The two have reached a three-year deal for the Intel True VR Game of the Week, a Tuesday broadcast (blacked out in local markets) that will live stream via Intel's True VR app. Currently only available via the Oculus store for Samsung Gear VR headsets, it will give fans a look at the game via a fully produced VR broadcast, or the ability to hop around through different viewing locations -- captured by 4K resolution cameras -- with optional stat overlays.
Gear VR streams to your TV thanks to Google Cast
For as much fun as you can have donning a VR rig and slipping into a virtual environment these days, it's still pretty awkward to watch as an outside observer. Now that Google has partially solved the VR spectator problem by building Cast into the next version of Daydream, Oculus and Gear VR are joining the party and adding their own support for Google's streaming solution.
Fashion and tech collide in this VR-friendly connected shirt
Virtual reality is inescapable here at Computex: You're either stumbling into another Vive demo area or bumping into the occasional VR backpack. What's often missing is a sense of true immersion, and a startup called Machina is trying to fix that. Co-founder Antonio Perdigon was nice enough to let me don one of his unreleased "OBE" connected shirts here at the show, and after a little playtime, I think the team might be on to something.
Zenimax turns on Samsung after victory in Oculus VR suit
Zenimax and Oculus aren't quite done duking it out in court, but the former has already taken on yet another adversary. The software company has filed a lawsuit against Samsung for infringing on its copyright, since it uses Oculus tech to power the Gear VR. It's accusing the Korean giant of continuing with the device's development despite knowing about the details of its lawsuit against the Facebook-owned firm. Samsung, it says, didn't even ask for permission knowing full well that it sued Oculus for stealing its technology and even released an updated version of the Gear VR after the court awarded it a partial victory.
Samsung's Gear VR controller makes mobile VR more immersive
Samsung was first to mobile VR, but Google's Daydream View headset beat it to motion controls. Now, the Korean electronics giant is fighting back with the Gear VR controller. And, with a bit of help from Oculus, it's even managed to outdo Google when it comes to delivering a believable virtual experience. Best of all? Existing Gear VR owners don't need to buy a whole new headset to take advantage of this upgrade.
