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VR rowing turns a workout into a vacation
Playing VR games can be surprisingly good exercise -- ducking your head behind artificial barriers or waving your arms around to shoot enemy robots can work up a sweat. But what if you wanted a genuine workout? Well, VR fitness appears to be a rising trend, with several applications designed to alleviate the tedium of indoor gyms. Here at Computex, I tried out yet another VR fitness apparatus that had me rowing through a tropical oasis while burning calories at the same time.
'Catlateral Damage' VR is out on Steam for HTC Vive
Smashing pots and vases as a rampaging virtual kitty sounds so much more fun if you can physically act it out, doesn't it? Good thing you can do just that if you have an HTC Vive. Catlateral Damage, that game that puts you in the body of a mischievous cat, now has a virtual reality version for the headset. Motion controllers serve as your paws and tools of destruction as you walk around houses and museums causing havoc. The VR version is available as a free DLC on Steam -- even better, the game itself is 50 percent off until May 31st. Of course, if you don't have a Vive, you can always unleash your inner feline on the PS4.
Netflix comes full circle, creates virtual video store
First Netflix replaced tedious trips to the video store by mailing DVDs directly to your home. Then they replaced tedious trips to the mailbox by streaming movies directly to your laptop. Now, Netflix engineers have completely closed the loop by creating a virtual video store you can step into without ever leaving your living room.
Oculus' DRM could have unintentionally helped VR piracy
Oculus' recent software update that locked exclusive games to its hardware has already been circumvented. On Friday, Oculus implemented changes that -- among other things -- added "platform integrity checks." These checks disabled use of a popular tool called Revive that let Rift-only titles play on HTC's Vive. Over the weekend, the team behind Revive has released a new version that not only avoids Oculus' hardware check, it bypasses the part that confirms ownership of the software altogether -- raising concerns it could be used for piracy.
Oculus update stops you from using VR apps with HTC's Vive
HTC Vive and Oculus Rift owners generally have a lot in common, including access to many of the same apps and games. However, it looks like a gulf is opening up between the two virtual reality headsets. Oculus has released an app update whose improved "platform integrity checks" break support for Revive, an unofficial tool that lets Rift-specific apps (those in Oculus Home) run on HTC's gear. If you ask Revive's creators, they believe that Oculus is checking that its hardware is connected regardless of the app you're using -- previously, you only had to convince individual apps that there's a Rift attached.
Google's plans for VR are even more ambitious than we thought
In 2014, Google introduced Cardboard. It was literally just a cut-out piece of cardboard outfitted with Velcro strips, a pair of lenses and magnets. Insert your smartphone and voila, you got your very own VR View-Master. Though it seemed pretty silly at the time, Cardboard was Google's very first foray into virtual reality. Fast forward two years, and there's a whole cottage industry of Cardboard-compatible viewers -- not to mention lots of content made just for it. More than 5 million viewers have shipped and over 50 million Cardboard apps have been installed, as Google said at its keynote yesterday. Now, however, the company is ready for the next stage in its grand plan. Yesterday, Google announced Daydream, a platform that represents its most serious push yet into VR.
Google's Android-powered VR platform supports Unreal games
Yesterday during Google's annual I/O keynote, the company made a point of mentioning that Electronic Arts and Ubisoft -- two of the biggest third-party game studios -- were working on projects for Google's new virtual reality platform, Daydream. Now the company is ready to announce another: Epic Games. The latest version of the company's powerful and ubiquitous game-design toolset, Unreal Engine 4, is coming to Google's next-gen mobile VR system. For developers it ensures easy porting of existing apps to Daydream with little extra work required. For consumers, it means higher-quality mobile VR experiences, and maybe more of them too.
Check out some of Studio Ghibli's 'Howl's Moving Castle' in VR
If you ever wanted to explore Howl's Moving Castle, now's your chance. That's assuming you own a virtual reality headset, that is. A scene from it, dubbed "The Meadow," is available for folks using Oculus Rift and HTC Vive right now. It comes from developer Nick Pittom, who's previously released interactive scenes based on Ghibli's other lauded work including My Neighbor Totoro and Spirited Away. "The Meadow" is bundled with other, older interactive scenes from Hayao Miyazaki's landmark films, and RoadtoVR writes that "the level of detail that each scene captures is really nothing short of astounding."
Manus VR gloves add full-arm tracking to the HTC Vive
The Manus VR gloves were already impressive when we got our hands in them at the Game Developers Conference, but their latest feature promises an even more immersive experience. Using the HTC Vive and its motion controllers, the Manus system can track players' entire arms, bending elbows and all. The controllers strap onto players' wrists for full-arm positional tracking and the gloves allow them to articulate their fingers in the VR space.
A virtual reality game that's good for you and scientist-approved
It's fitting that the morning I first experienced Deep VR at the Tribeca Film Festival, billed by its creators as a meditative virtual-reality experience, I was already approaching peak anxiety levels. At 9:30 a.m., I was behind schedule (for reasons beyond my control) and huddled in a claustrophobic installation space made all the more overwhelming by various camera crews and the booming soundtrack of a heartbeat from the far corner. So when I first strapped the HTC Vive onto my head and a snug-fitting sensor around my diaphragm, I braced for the worst, assuming I'd be hit with a wicked bout of VR sickness. How wrong I was.
'VR LAN party' software launches for free on Thursday
Darshan Shankar has been working on bringing computer screens into a VR environment for two years, and on Thursday his BigScreen software will launch on Steam for the HTC Vive and Oculus Rift. Beta testers have been using it for a couple of months, but once it launches anyone with those VR headsets (and a powerful PC) will have access for free. Users can bring anything that displays on their normal Windows desktop to screens in virtual reality, with up to four people sharing one environment at a time. It uses positional audio to let users talk to each other within VR, but shared audio from the desktops is a feature that will arrive later, along with customizable avatars and Vive controller support.
Play 'EVE: Valkyrie' with friends on any VR platform
The rise of VR inspired devs to build an offshoot to the venerable intergalactic MMO EVE Online, one that deals less with politics and economy and more just...blowing stuff up. EVE: Valkyrie is out now on Oculus Rift and will be released on PlayStation VR and HTC Vive later in 2016 — but CCP games just announced that gamers can play with anyone regardless of their VR platform.
Mini review video: Our verdict on the HTC Vive in a minute
Without a doubt, the HTC Vive is the most immersive VR headset you can buy right now, but that doesn't mean we recommend it wholesale. Though the included motion controllers and whole-room option add a new dimension to the experience, we ultimately found that the Vive was both harder to set up and less comfortable to wear than its chief rival, the Oculus Rift. It's also more expensive than the Rift, which "only" costs $600, though once Oculus' touch controllers become available, the price gap should narrow somewhat. All told, it was difficult for us to choose a favorite, and indeed, the two headsets earned similar scores (82 for the Vive and 84 for the Rift). If you're thinking of buying one yourself, your purchasing decision will ultimately come down to what you value more: immersion or ergonomics.
At Tribeca, this little VR match girl put Penrose on the map
Loosely based on Hans Christian Andersen's The Little Match Girl, Allumette, the latest virtual reality short to come from Penrose Studios, isn't some Disney-fied experience for children. Though set in a whimsical, cloud-borne city and populated by charming and mute marionette-like denizens, the short -- named after the French word for "match" -- is actually a surprisingly mature allegory about love, loss and the sacrifices parents make for their children. It's but one piece of a greater interactive virtual world Penrose is creating.
Oculus Rift vs. HTC Vive: What we've learned after the reviews
Well, it's finally happened. High-quality and immersive virtual reality is finally something anyone can have in her home — assuming you have a powerful PC and can shell out $600 for the Oculus Rift, or $800 for the HTC Vive. It's the realization of decades worth of VR research and sci-fi speculation, and it could end up having as big a societal impact as the introduction of the internet and smartphones.
'DOTA 2' VR spectator mode may be as exciting as playing the game
The next time you want to follow an eSports tourney, you might find yourself strapping on a virtual reality headset. Valve just teased a VR spectator mode for DOTA 2 (scroll down to the video above "you're not starting from scratch") that gives you more information than you're used to seeing during a MOBA match. The actual game is front and center, but look around and you'll see details of each team's heroes, a visually rich map and nice-to-know stats.
'Eve: Valkyrie' is coming to the HTC Vive this year
With the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive now available for consumers, the virtual reality wars have officially begun. But depending on your headset choice, the content options will vary. So if you had your heart set on playing CCP Games' multiplayer dogfighting space shooter Eve:Valkyrie, but worried it'd be tied to the Rift, you can breathe a sigh of relief. The Icelandic studio announced on Twitter today that the VR title will be heading to the Vive in 2016. Beyond that very vague release window, we don't have much more in the way of specifics. So while you wait patiently for your chance to take part in CCP's epic space battle, why not check out the plethora of content just waiting for you on Vive's launch day.
Got an HTC Vive? Now's your chance to swim with a blue whale.
HTC's Vive virtual reality headset has finally begun shipping to enthusiasts' homes. But a high-end VR headset is only as good as its content. Which is why LA-based VR studio Wevr is making its Transport platform (think: Netflix for VR) available to users today. Interested VR heads can head to Steam or hit up Wevr's own site now to download the app. The best part? Transport will debut with three key pieces of free content: the surrealistic, deep space experience Irrational Exuberance; the shifting music video perspectives of Crown by hip hop group Run The Jewels; and underwater odyssey theBlu: Whale Encounter.
HTC starts shipping its Vive virtual reality headset
Oculus may have gotten a little head start by shipping its Rift virtual reality headset almost two weeks ago, but HTC's VR gadget is heading to customers today. The HTC Vive is heading out to folks who pre-ordered the $799 device that arrives with two location sensors and a pair of wireless controllers. The company confirmed reports of payment processing issues a few days ago, promising to send out shipments based on position in the pre-order queue. Of course, Oculus is facing shipping delays of its own due to "unexpected component shortage."
Ikea made a kitchen showroom in VR
Sometimes, a trip to Ikea can feel like an early glimpse at the apocalypse. The crowds, the screaming kids, it's all a bit much. But oftentimes a visit is inevitable in order to see what a particular sofa, bed or coffee table looks like in real life. Wouldn't it be great if you could get the same experience at home? Ikea has tried this before with augmented reality, and now it's going a step further with virtual reality. Through Steam, the company has made an app for the HTC Vive which puts you in a make-believe kitchen.
