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Raise the horns for Anthrax and Killswitch Engage in VR tonight
There really isn't anything like being on the floor during a heavy metal show. The smell of sweat, spilled beer and, ahem, greener substances combine to form one of the more unique aromas in live music. But as enticing as that may be, sometimes you just can't make it to a concert for one reason or another. If you're a fan of thrash, Live Nation and NextVR have something right up your alley planned for 9pm Eastern tonight: an interactive broadcast of Anthrax and Killswitch Engage's show from the House of Blues in Texas.
Samsung's new Gear VR and controller arrive on April 21st for $129
While the VR war between the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive is getting most of the hype, the competition in mobile VR is a far bigger deal for most consumers. After all, you only need a phone and a cheap headset for mobile VR, not a powerful gaming rig and lots of spending money. Samsung's Gear VR cemented itself as a pioneer in the market over the past few years, but Google's Daydream View headset came out swinging last year with the inclusion of a small motion-sensing remote.
AccuWeather now lets you look at the forecast in virtual reality
Checking the weather report is usually a colorless, simple experience -- a glance at an app to see the five day forecast or check the news for any major storms or events. If you have a Samsung Gear VR device, however, your daily forecast could soon be an experience. AccuWeather's new VR experience promises to offer immersive weather news, innovative forecasts and 360-degree video of severe weather events. o of severe weather events.
'Trinity' will be the first interactive VR sci-fi TV show
Virtual reality production studio UNLTD today revealed that it's working on the world's first interactive sci-fi TV show. Speaking at SXSW, the company announced the premise for Trinity- a show set in a future where humanity has long become extinct. With only a few surviving androids left on Earth, the story follows the robotic resistance as they take a stand against the all-powerful singularity threatening to destroy them. After speaking about the challenges of filming in VR, producer John Hamilton promises that Trinity will be an experience which allows 'viewers to move around an episode in a way that hasn't been seen before'. The live-action series will be split into five fifteen minute episodes and is to be released on all available virtual reality platforms.
Next up in your News Feed: Gear VR livestreams
It looks like announcing 360-degree photos and videos for the Gear VR app was a teaser of what Oculus had in mind for this week. Now, Facebook's $2 billion baby is pulling back the curtain on the mobile VR live-streaming it teased last October. Assuming you aren't stateside, it's rolling out to the public today. Domestic users will be able to livestream their VR gameplay from Face Your Fears or Wands, a sorcery simulator, directly to Facebook "in the coming weeks," according to TechCrunch.
Facebook's Gear VR app helps you find 360 photos and video
A ton of 360-degree photos and videos are uploaded to Facebook every day. The challenge, if you own a Gear VR headset, is finding the best stuff in the Oculus Video store, or amongst the deluge of selfies and viral videos that make up most News Feeds. To help, the social network has built a new app for Gear VR called Facebook 360. It's a basic interface with four tabs that help you browse and launch 360-degree media. "Explore," for instance, lists the most popular uploads, while "Following" collects everything posted by your friends, and the pages and people you follow.
Games like 'Augmented Empire' are why Gear VR needs a controller
If you've ever used a Samsung Gear VR before, you've probably found yourself awkwardly tapping the side of the headset to issue a command, or fumbling with its four-way touchpad to make a selection in a menu. This inelegant, embedded touch control is a necessary evil -- a compromise that allows the headset to be a self-contained VR experience free of the complicated peripherals and setup required of the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive. I struggled with its faults at Oculus' GDC demo day as I uncomfortably tapped my way through a battle in Augmented Empire. Holding my arm to the side of the headset, constantly rapping the side of it to direct characters and attack enemies, I thought that there had to be a better way to control a tactical RPG in virtual reality. Then somebody told me Samsung had announced a new Gear VR earlier that morning. One with a motion controller. That sounds so much better.
A first look at Gear VR's motion controller
Samsung and Oculus are making sure the Gear VR keeps up with Google's DayDream VR platform. The two companies announced a new version of the mobile headset and it now comes with a controller. In fact, that's the major difference, with the headset itself being marginally lighter and benefitting from a few cosmetic tweaks. I got to handle the controller for a brief spell here at MWC, and while there were no demos for me to experience, Gear VR's take on the mobile controller feels more like the HTC's Vive peripherals than anything else. And that's certainly not a bad thing.
Watch Samsung's MWC 2017 event in under 15 minutes
Samsung's MWC 2017 press conference opened with quality control assurances before moving on to the Galaxy Tab S3, Galaxy Book and a new Gear VR. We save you the trouble of watching an hour-long video with all the important details in a 15-minute clip. Don't forget: We'll be spending more time with Samsung next month as it's set to reveal the Galaxy S8 on March 29th. Click here to catch up on the latest news from MWC 2017.
Samsung's Gear VR returns with a motion controller
While there was no shortage of new Samsung hardware the company's MWC showcase, the event also included a new Gear VR headset on display, along with a new controller. Adding motion input (as well as a few more buttons) lets you navigate and interact with VR content without having to paw at the headset's buttons like with previous iterations. In addition to a clickable touchpad, there are trigger, home, back and volume keys. The controller also has an accelerometer, gyrometer and magnetic sensors built in. The new hardware will work with the Galaxy S7, S7 Edge, and Note 5, as well as the Galaxy S6 series.
Six Flags' new VR roller coaster is both breathtaking and broken
Imagine screaming through deep space, swerving through the wreckage of exploding starships in a high-octane scene plucked straight out of a science fiction movie. Suddenly the universe stops, frozen in time as your body continues to hurl through the void at high speed. Your stomach churns at the realization that it's moving but, somehow, the world around you isn't. That's what happened to me this weekend on Six Flags' Galactic Attack -- a virtual reality roller coaster, available at Six Flags' two California parks, that broke halfway through my ride. Twice.
The NBA hopes VR will expand its audience
This year's NBA All-Star Weekend wasn't just about the iconic Slam Dunk Contest or the riveting game between the best players from the Eastern and Western conferences. Yes, these were certainly the main attractions for attendees and viewers at home, but the event was also an opportunity for the NBA to showcase the ways in which technology will play a role in the future of the game. That future includes wearables, eSports and virtual reality, a medium whose immersive format the league says will help it reach wider audiences.
Samsung's future Gear VR will come with a controller
Now that Google's Daydream View is giving Gear VR a run for its money, how is Samsung going to respond? By implementing one of Daydream's best features, of course. Both an FCC filing and an apparent scoop from Roland Quandt indicate that this year's Gear VR will include a one-handed controller -- no more reaching for a touchpad on the headset itself. That's a big deal for games and any other apps that involve more than rudimentary controls.
Binge-watch on a virtual beach with Hulu VR's social features
While Hulu continues to add more and more VR content to its catalog, the company wants to make sure you and your VR-ready friends have a virtual place to enjoy all of it. Today, Hulu announced two big social updates to its Hulu VR app for Oculus Rift and Gear VR including support for avatars, touch controllers and social viewing rooms.
Six Flags and Samsung unveil 'mixed reality' rollercoaster
To many of us, roller coasters are just fine without extra visual stimulation. However, last year, several amusement parks introduced virtual reality devices, letting you fly through space or a gargoyle-infested dystopia. Six Flags and Samsung have done that one better now with the New Revolution Galactic Attack mixed reality experience. As before, Six Flags is using Samsung's Gear VR headset, but now it's using the passthrough camera on the Galaxy phones, letting you see the virtual content overlaid on the real world.
Fox Sports will broadcast Super Bowl 51 in a 'VR suite'
Sure watching boxing, basketball and tennis in VR are cool, but what about the biggest TV event of the year? Come Sunday, Fox Sports will fix that gap in its lineup by teaming with LiveLike to beam the Super Bowl into your Gear VR or Cardboard headset via the network's app. Or, you can ditch the headsets and use the 360-degree video with your mobile device.
Samsung's Gear VR browser gets improved WebVR content support
One of the best reasons to (still) consider a Galaxy S7 smartphone is the Gear VR headset support, and with Google's Daydream a looming rival, Samsung wants to keep things that way. As such, Samsung recently updated its Internet for Gear VR browser used inside the virtual reality headset. The biggest change is support for WebVR 1.0, the first iteration of the experimental VR internet browser standard developed by Google and Mozilla. The feature makes it easier to view 3D images and streaming VR content on the device.
Gear VR gets social with Oculus Rooms and Parties
A few months ago at Oculus' annual developer conference, the company announced a couple of social VR features known simply as Parties and Rooms. Parties is basically built-in voice chat, while Rooms is a virtual hangout space. Today, those features are finally live, at least for the Gear VR; Rift users will have to wait until 2017. Combined, Parties and Rooms are part of Oculus' continued efforts to prove that virtual reality can be used not just to play games, but also to connect people around the world.
Samsung is working on a new Gear VR and AR tech
If you're waiting on Samsung to unveil a new version of its Gear VR headset, you might get your wish soon enough. At the Virtual Reality Summit in San Diego this week, Samsung vice president Sung-Hoon Hong revealed that the company is not only working on a new virtual reality headset, but that it has plans for an augmented reality device as well. Hong explained that Samsung plans to improve upon existing tech like Microsoft HoloLens and Magic Leap when it comes to AR.
This weekend's MLS championship will be broadcast in VR
As virtual reality matures as a medium there are going to be fewer firsts for it. But for now, at least, we have news that for the first time, Major League Soccer will be broadcasting a championship game in VR. That match is none other than Saturday's battle between Toronto FC and the Seattle Sounders. How's a "virtual suite" rife with player rosters and live stats sound? Somehow, the developers managed to fit a model of an Audi car in it because, well, this is an Audi-sponsored broadcast. There's a "magic window" experience too, whatever that is.
