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'Superhot VR' feels like a time bending, action-packed puzzle
Earlier this year, Superhot launched on PC and consoles with a fresh gameplay gimmick: Time only moves when you move. This simple idea turned the fast-paced action of an FPS shooter into an odd, methodical, and tense puzzle game where players could stop in their tracks to think their way around a barrage of incoming bullets. It's incredibly fun on traditional gaming platforms -- but it's even better in virtual reality.
Walking in virtual reality is hard, so 'Lone Echo' got rid of it
First generation virtual reality may have nailed sense of presence, but one major limitation keeps it from feeling truly immersive: Walking. The endless landscapes of the digital world are hampered by the confines of reality -- your playspace is only so big, and if you walk too far in any given direction, you're going to hit a wall. Most games get around this with teleportation mechanics, allowing the player's avatar to jump to far-off locations. Ready at Dawn Studios' Lone Echo took another approach: turn off the gravity, and eliminate the need to walk altogether.
Oculus Touch to launch on December 6th for $199
Until now, the Oculus Rift has been incomplete. It's a comfortable, high-end VR headset, but without Touch the experience feels like a preview. A taste of the platform's full potential. Thankfully, that's all about to change: At Oculus Connect, the company announced that its motion controllers will be out on December 6th. They'll cost $199, putting the combined Rift price at $798. For reference, the HTC Vive with its wand controllers costs $799. PlayStation VR launches next week for $400, but that's only the headset -- you'll need to pay extra for the camera and Move controllers.
Oculus is building a VR web browser, codenamed 'Carmel'
Today at Oculus Connect, co-founder Nate Mitchell announced that the company is working on a fully VR web browser. It's dubbed "Carmel," emphasis on the "mel," and is "fully optimized for VR." This follows the likes of Google making aspects of Chrome on mobile, for instance, browsable in virtual reality. On top of that, Oculus is working toward more web-based VR stuff in general with tech called React. React is the framework for making web experiences more VR ready, all without the need to download huge program files. One of the demos on stage, for instance, was a car configurator from Renault. Developing...
'Minecraft' arrives on Samsung's Gear VR headset
Last month, during GDC 2016 in San Francisco, we learned about Microsoft's plans to release Minecraft for Gear VR. Still, details such as pricing and availability were unknown at the time. But that's changing today: Oculus has announced that the open-world hit is now available on Samsung's virtual reality headset. Officially dubbed Minecraft: Gear VR Edition, the game is said to support the same features as the Pocket Edition, including its creative, survival and multiplayer modes, as well as the character skins your familiar with.
ICYMI: Facebook VR selfies, laser-powered water and more
#fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-35216{display:none;} .cke_show_borders #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-35216, #postcontentcontainer #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-35216{width:570px;display:block;} try{document.getElementById("fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-35216").style.display="none";}catch(e){}Today on In Case You Missed It: Facebook is adding VR to the social network and one of the new tricks will let users take a selfie of their avatar selves inside of different tourist spots. Japanese researchers discovered that a water droplet coating allowed water to be controlled by a laser, capable of pulling 150 times its mass when harnessed like a mini oxen. Finally, a backpack on Kickstarter would charge your devices on the move and roughly nine other things. Guinness World Record fans will want to see this crazy long K'NEX contraption. As always, please share any great tech or science videos you find by using the #ICYMI hashtag on Twitter for @mskerryd.
Mayo Clinic might have the cure for VR motion sickness
Virtual reality systems are doing an awful lot to prevent nausea, but the fact still remains that some folks are going to get sick no matter how high the content's frame rate is or how low the latency. But Mayo Clinic might have a solution, Fast Company reports. The hospital has developed algorithms that, when paired with galvanic vestibular stimulation (GVS), can trick the brain into syncing what you're seeing in VR with physical stimulation within a tenth of a second.
Oculus takes you into the colorful alien world of 'Farlands'
High-end virtual reality is here, by way of the long-awaited consumer Oculus Rift. But to get the most out of that headset, you're going to need entertaining VR experiences. Thankfully, Oculus has you covered. Along with the launch-day game lineup it revealed a couple weeks ago, at GDC 2016, the company's now unexpectedly introduced Farlands. This virtual reality adventure, built with Unreal Engine 4 and designed specifically for the Rift, lets you visit and explore a planet filled with exotic life.
Oculus Rift review: High-end VR is here -- if you can pay
Phones and tablets are getting boring. And the excitement around smartwatches was, to put it kindly, short-lived. And then there was virtual reality. What used to seem like a science fiction pipe dream has, in the span of a few years, become the next potentially groundbreaking technology platform. So saying that the Oculus Rift has a lot to prove is an understatement. If it fails, it could destroy the virtual reality market before it even gets started. No big deal. But after spending a week with the Oculus Rift, I have no doubt that its approach to virtual reality is indeed the real deal. It's well built and easy to set up, and there are already a few games and apps that'll make VR believers out of the most ardent naysayer. The only problem: It's $600 and requires a powerful gaming PC. Just as with every new technological milestone, it has the potential to change the world. But at this early stage, only a few can afford it.
Oculus founder flew to Alaska to deliver the first consumer Rift
Palmer Luckey, founder of Oculus, took it upon himself to deliver the first consumer version of his company's virtual reality headset, the Rift. Ross Martin, a VR enthusiast and indie developer from Anchorage, Alaska was the lucky recipient of the device, which will arrive on other customers' doorsteps starting tomorrow. Martin, who documented part of his experience with Luckey on Twitter, is the first person to have the device in hand and he'll likely never forget this moment. "So grateful to Palmer Luckey and Oculus for coming all the way to Alaska," he said in a tweet. "You guys are super cool!"
Microsoft is opening up the world of 'Minecraft' to Gear VR
The Oculus Rift isn't the only virtual reality platform getting a piece of Minecraft's pie. Today, at a GDC 2016 event, Microsoft and Oculus are set to announce that the open-world phenomenon is also coming to the Gear VR, a spokesperson for the companies confirmed to Engadget. For many people, Samsung's headset is a far more accessible option than the consumer Rift, so this is good news for anyone who wants to play Minecraft in VR without breaking the bank.
How one illustrator forced Oculus Story Studio to redraw VR
During preproduction on its latest virtual reality short, Dear Angelica, Oculus Story Studio found itself in a peculiar situation: The chosen art style, illustration, had necessitated a design pivot. Rather than scan and rebuild the drawings of illustrator Wesley Allsbrook in CG -- a time-consuming process the studio felt would dilute her artistic voice -- the team needed a brand-new tool, one that would let Allsbrook draw directly within VR. And so engineer Inigo Quilez created just that. The end result is Quill, a new VR illustration tool that's evolving along with production on Dear Angelica and Allsbrook's needs and pushing the medium even further.
Alienware announces Oculus-ready PCs, teases OLED laptop
Breaking down and accepting the Oculus Rift's $599 price tag is just the first step of experiencing virtual reality. The second step is getting yourself a gaming PC capable of running high-end VR content. That means juggling specs, buying the right parts, buildling a machine... or picking up an Oculus-Ready certified build from Alienware.
The Oculus Rift made you forget what the first iPhone cost
Yesterday, Oculus VR finally announced the price of its first consumer virtual reality headset: $599, plus shipping. Fans reacted quickly, shocked that the price was twice as much as the original developer kit and furious that the company was charging so much. During Palmer Luckey's evening AMA on Reddit, fans were petitioning the company to remove the Rift's audio tech and packaged Xbox One controller to bring the price down. That's denial, anger and bargaining, guys. Let's skip the fourth stage of grief and jump to the end: acceptance. The Oculus Rift's launch price is completely normal.
Oculus Rift pre-orders get you in line for Touch controllers
Did all of the recent Oculus news make your heart skip a beat? Well, here's another bit to make your blood pump go pitter-patter: Should you pre-order the consumer edition of the Rift VR headset, you've automatically got a spot in line when the company starts accepting purchase reservations for its awesome Touch motion controllers later this year. The news comes by way of a tweet from Oculus VR founder Palmer Luckey:
This is how Oculus will sell VR to the masses
By Nathan Ingraham and Aaron SouppourisA big question has followed Oculus around since its Rift unveil back in June: How will it persuade the public that virtual reality is ready for primetime? Today we have the answer: Oculus VR has announced that Eve: Valkyrie, CCP's multiplayer dogfighting shooter, will be a pack-in with every pre-order of its upcoming VR headset when it launches in early 2016.
Comedian Nick Frost makes his Gear VR debut in 'Esper 2'
Something about virtual reality and games about exploring the mind or using your mind to control objects around you just seem to go together extremely well. Case in point, the Gear VR launch title Esper has a sequel and it's out tomorrow from developer Coatsink Software. Hot Fuzz and Shaun of the Dead fans who play it might even notice a familiar voice: Nick Frost. The English funnyman lent his voice to Esper 2, the game about agents tasked with dealing with the consequences of a recent epidemic of folks gaining telekinetic powers. The overall production values are pretty impressive, actually.
Sundance's experimental New Frontier looks beyond virtual reality
Virtual reality found itself front and center of Utah's wintery celebrity village earlier this year, virtually dominating the conversation around this past Sundance Film Festival. The technology, a burgeoning new medium for artists, game developers, filmmakers, and journalists alike, had reached a cultural tipping point, with the Park City fest playing host to the announcement of a dedicated VR animation studio from Facebook-owned Oculus VR and ten VR projects that stole the headlines from Sundance's edgy, experimental New Frontier showcase."Last year was one of those historic moments where it was like the perfect storm," says Shari Frilot, chief curator of New Frontier's VR-heavy 2015 showcase. "Not only were there significant developments in the technology and a commitment by storytellers, content creators, filmmakers and journalists to grasp onto it, [but] there was also this ramping up of industry -- manufacturing, as well as kind of peaking of interest in more mainstream content creators. That all converged at the festival in a way that was really explosive. ... That's sort of the unicorn that came out of New Frontier."
Oculus Concepts collects experimental mobile VR 'games' in one spot
Virtual reality is nothing if not an awesome font for weird little experiences, but they can be kind of difficult to find. Some are on Steam, some are available elsewhere. Oculus is hoping that Oculus Concepts, its new section of the Gear VR's Oculus Store will make that easier. Concepts, like the name suggests, is a place where developers can toss their games and apps that might not be ready for primetime but are still worth checking out. One of the experiences shown off in official imagery is The Night Cafe: An Immersive Tribute to Van Gogh which was part of the Oculus Mobile VR Jam earlier this year. Like the company notes, some of the biggest VR games hit that status because they were released to the public early. So if you have a shiny new Gear VR and are looking to check out something aside from Netflix, here you go.
Samsung's consumer Gear VR is available now for $99
We knew it was coming, but now it's finally here. Samsung's newly improved virtual reality headset, the Gear VR, is launching today in the US for $99. This iteration of the Gear VR is, without a doubt, the most consumer-ready VR headset to date. One of its downsides is that it only works with Samsung's latest smartphones, such as the Samsung Galaxy Note 5, Galaxy S6, Galaxy S6 Edge and Galaxy S6 Edge+ -- but that's great news for people who own handsets. As you may recall, Samsung's Gear VR is powered by Oculus software, and services like Hulu have already announced compatibility with the device. If you're Stateside, you can grab the Gear VR now from retailers including Amazon and Best Buy. As for worldwide availability, an Oculus spokesperson says that will be announced "soon."
