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'Away Mission' is a free-roaming 'Star Trek' VR experience
When Starfleet calls, Trekkies will answer, and Starfleet's latest call to action involves the world's first free-roam Star Trek experience. Later this year Sandbox VR will launch the first Holodeck VR experience, where fans can enter the world of Star Trek to complete a mission involving problem-solving, combat and -- of course -- phasers.
NVIDIA opens up its Holodeck VR design suite
Hardware makers have figured out that enterprises are the best way to make money off of VR and AR, not consumers. NVIDIA, a company that does both things well but has been particularly strong on the business side lately, has just opened up its Holodeck "intelligent" VR platform to select designers and developers. First unveiled in May, it allows for photorealistic graphics, haptics, real-world physics and multi-user collaboration.
ICYMI: Drone goes fishin', reflection fix for photos & more
#fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-30983{display:none;} .cke_show_borders #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-30983, #postcontentcontainer #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-30983{width:570px;display:block;} try{document.getElementById("fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-30983").style.display="none";}catch(e){} Today on In Case You Missed It: A $200,000 drone is helping wildlife officials protect fish from poaching and it looks super cool too. A new algorithm to eliminate reflections, raindrops and chain-link fences from photos is being tinkered with and we'd like it on all our photos now, please. And researchers at the University of Tokyo have a new prototype 3D projector that can project onto moving surfaces, no matter how much they shake.
Microsoft's RoomAlive turns your living room into a holodeck
Microsoft's IllumiRoom project has expanded beyond a single-Kinect set-up and is now called "RoomAlive." RoomAlive turns an enclosed area into an interactive gaming space, with enemies and puzzles projected on walls, floors and objects for residents to take out with their hands, feet or peripherals. The new and improved RoomAlive uses multiple projectors and depth cameras to scan a room and all of its contents, and then it superimposes interactive environments on top of everything. "IllumiRoom was largely focused on display, extending traditional gaming experiences out of the TV," the Microsoft Research team writes. "RoomAlive instead focuses on interaction, and the new kinds of games that we can create with interactive projection mapping. RoomAlive looks farther into the future of projection mapping and asks, 'What new experiences will we have in the next few years?'"
Star Trek Online adds small craft arena PvP
Fans of flying around in small spaceships and shooting at other, equally small spaceships are due for a treat in Star Trek Online. Cryptic Studios has just unveiled a new PvP arena mode for the game that focuses on pitched small craft combat. Due to the popularity of small craft PvP via community events and Star Trek Online's private PvP queue, the development team designed to go ahead and implement an official queue into the game. The arena is available to level 50 players and takes place in the Cracked Planetoid map. Each match lasts until one team earns 15 kills. Expertise and energy credits will be awarded to all teams, as will credit toward daily arena missions. To be eligible, you must select a default small craft at the nearest shipyard. Small craft PvP is set to launch with Season 8.5 on January 30th, 2014. You can check it out now on the STO test server.
Project Holodeck gets help from Razer, swaps Kinect for Move tracking
The group of folks bent on crafting a real-life version of Star Trek's "Holodeck" -- a virtual playground, essentially -- are getting official support from gaming hardware company Razer. That support means not only access to Razer's hardware but also the company's staff of trained professionals. The Project Holodeck team have already implemented Razer's "Hydra" -- a PC-based motion controller that originally shipped with Portal 2 -- into their work on Holodeck showcase game, "Wild Skies." But that's not the only big news for Project Holodeck, as the team recently swapped Microsoft's Kinect motion tech for Sony's PlayStation Move motion tech. Project lead James Iliff told RoadtoVR.com, "The Kinect hardware is extremely lacking in fidelity. Every point the Kinect tracks is filled with unmanageable jitter, rendering the data useless for anything other than the most simple of interactions. We tried very hard to get around this with several software algorithms we wrote, to get multiple Kinects to communicate with each other, however this did not really make anything more accurate unfortunately." In place of Kinect, the team strapped a PlayStation Move setup to a Pro-Tec skateboard helmet, and combined that tracking with the Hydra's motion control and Oculus Rift's head-mounted display. The result is ... well, it's a person standing in a room with a whole bunch of electronics attached to their person. But also, it allows players to interact in a 3D environment -- from perception to engagement. The team's still got plenty of work ahead of them, as evidenced by their latest video (below), but it sounds like things are coming together more cohesively than before.
Microsoft seeks patent for 'immersive display experience'
A Microsoft patent application for an "immersive display experience" has been published by the USPTO. The application describes a system that would augment a "primary display" – say, a television – with a "peripheral image" projected onto the surrounding environment, essentially extending the image of the primary display all around the user. The user could then be tracked within the environment by a depth camera (a Kinect, perhaps?). In shorter terms, as noted by Ars Technica, it looks something like a poor man's holodeck.The patent application notes that the system could be used to make video games more realistic. As an example, a player might notice an enemy sneaking up "behind" him in his peripheral vision, as the enemy would be physically projected behind the player onto a wall.If all of this sounds a tad familiar, it might be because we saw Microsoft demonstrate something very similar in May 2011, only two months after this patent was initially filed. As part of a Microsoft campus tour video, the company showcased its "Home of the Future," which used just such a technology, turning nearly every surface of a mocked up home into a display. Check out videos of the tech after the break.
Project Holodeck and Oculus Rift hope to kickstart every gamers' VR dream for $500 (video)
Star Trek: The Next Generation may be coming to your living rooms soon courtesy of some hot new Blu-ray pressing, but one of the most compelling pieces of the technology shown on that series still remains elusive: the holodeck. Don't get down, sunshine, because we might soon be making our first, tentative steps into a virtual courtesy of Project Holodeck. It's underway at USC's School of Cinematic Arts as well as the Viterbi School of Engineering and starts out with a pair of Project Oculus glasses. These glasses, which were shown off at E3 by none other than John Carmack, cram a 1,280 x 800 display into a pair of glasses that present a wide, truly immersive field of view. Pair that with a PlayStation Move for head tracking and a Razer Hydra controller and you have the beginnings of a proper virtual reality environment.An early concept of what the complete system might feel like can be found after the break, a couple of people acting out a sequence from Skies of Arcadia, which could be called a spiritual inspiration for the first game designed for Project Holodeck: Wild Skies. In it, two people "pilot a massive airship through a exotic world of floating islands" -- though whether they look as kawaii as their Dreamcast predecessors remains to be seen. When you might actually get your hands on the system is also unknown, but one piece of the puzzle, the Oculus Rift glasses, are said to be hitting Kickstarter any day now -- for an anticipated price of just $500. Bat'leth and copy of Workin' out with Worf not included.
Microsoft TechForum unveils three research projects (video)
TechForum is a Microsoft-sponsored shindig where the company can get together, party, and then show off its latest and greatest research projects. First up we've got a transparent interactive 3D display which builds on technology from Cambridge University's HoloDesk project. Next is Holoflector, a "magic mirror" that overlays LCD projections onto your reflection. Both of these two projects rely heavily upon Kinect as more projects find the potential in the little sensor. Finally there's Illumishare, a pair of overhead projectors / cameras that share a desktop space with a colleague when you need to look at the same thing. After the break you can see all three concepts in action and you can learn a little more about each at our source links.[Thanks, Lokitoth]
Captain's Log: The voices of reason
Captain's Log, Stardate 65284.2... Hello, computer (and players)! It is often said that the voices of the gaming community are some of the loudest, and most passionate, around. This is especially true within the Star Trek Online community. While some may see particular posts made in Cryptic's forums as trolling or whining, others see passion and dedication for making the game they love the best it can be. There is no denying that there will always be those who love to hate and hate to love, but there are also community members out there who are the voices of reason -- they take their time to carefully examine something and provide appropriate and well-thought feedback on how to make something better. As STO is preparing to re-launch with its F2P model, many changes are being pushed to the Tribble test server for players to playtest and provide feedback on. Before the test shards ever open, debates based on the patch notes begin. After a few hours of testing on Tribble, players make their feedback posts public in hopes that developers notice and hear their opinions. The great news here is that the developers are reading each post and have vowed that feedback does not go unnoticed. Since I have been following this feedback closely myself, I thought I should share some of it here. Ensign, warp 10! Let's share some recent community feedback on two of the hottest topics out there...
Captain's Log: The lower decks
Captain's Log, Stardate 64977.3... Spock, Riker, Kira, Worf, Chakotay, and T'Pol. What do they all have in common? They are the notable men and women who served under their Captains as First Officer. Joret, Sito, Alyssa, Taurik, Sam and Geniveve. What do they all have in common? No one knows who the heck they are. In the world of Star Trek, these "unknowns" are the members of the lower decks, people whose work goes unnoticed, whose accomplishments are unacknowledged, and who are often killed off at the end of the episode when you finally do get to know them. While the ships in Star Trek Online currently seem to be manned only by the Captain, his or her Bridge Officers (BOff), and some random crewmen walking around the ship, this is about to change. In the next couple months, get ready to welcome new members to your ship's lower decks. The Duty Officer (DOff) system will be adding a new form of gameplay to STO and give players even more ways to level characters and become immersed in the universe surrounding them. While there are a ton of random pieces of information about it floating out there, I think that Captain's Log is the perfect place to put it all together and give you a more concise picture of how it will work. Ensign, warp 10! It's time to attend your new favorite class, DOffs 101...
Captain's Log: The Foundry and you
Captain's Log, Stardate 64750.3... Hello, computer (and players)! "Ceeeeelebrate good times, come on!" That's right, captains -- it's time to let the good times roll and the never-ending content stream to begin. Earlier this week, Larry Everett helped break Star Trek Online's news drought with his post about the Foundry being moved from the test server, nicknamed Tribble, to the live server, aka Holodeck. (I've always thought the test server should have been called Holodeck, but that is a discussion for another day.) For those of you who do not know by now, the Foundry is a user-generated content (UGC) toolset that allows players to create their own missions and episodes. Since late last year, volunteer testers have been creating hundreds of missions and pushing them out for captains of all ranks to try. Co-developed by Cryptic devs who are working at implementing the system in the upcoming Neverwinter game, the Foundry has gone through extensive changes since its inception -- the evolution of the toolset has actually provided a platform for some UGC episodes that rival those made by Cryptic. But what does this really mean for STO players? Ensign, warp 10! Let's talk about STO's "saving grace."
Massively interviews Star Trek Online executive producer Craig Zinkievich
It's safe to say that everyone here at Massively is excitedly awaiting Cryptic Studio's forthcoming Star Trek Online. So our very first interview with executive producer Craig Zinkievich was both a great opportunity and an enlightening experience. Beyond the cut, you'll find answers on player-made starships, holodecks, diplomatic encounters and much more.%Gallery-28615%
How would a Starcraft MMO work?
Speculation over Blizzard's upcoming MMO continues unabated, even with the lack of anything new to feed upon. The biggest hope, I dare to say, is that it's going to be Starcraft that gets the treatment, even if it's still a long way away from release. Starcraft holds fast in many gamers' hearts, including mine, so it's only natural to want more. But when actually considering the possibility, how would it play out?Our Krystalle has already given this a glance over on WoW Insider, and our recent Ask Massively asked a similar question, but I'd like to take it deeper. Let's take World of Warcraft as a point of comparison and see if we can run down this mythical beast.
