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Royal Academy of Arts will showcase VR's influence on artists
This winter, the UK's Royal Academy of Arts will host an exhibit about making art from life, how it has been done throughout history and how technology like VR is influencing artists today. The From Life exhibit will include a look at life drawing, spanning from works done in the 18th century to contemporary pieces, as well as current artists who are using modern technology in their work.
MakeVR turns the HTC Vive into a virtual design tool
Consumers are giving the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive a tepid reception, but organizations like NASA and BMW think the VR headsets are great for things like training and design. HTC is today launching MakeVR, a program built in collaboration with Sixense that lets you do modeling and sculpting in VR, then export the results to a CAD program or 3D printer. As we saw last month, it uses the Vive's controllers (and maybe the new trackers, more on that in a sec) to let you do freeform modeling and design.
Vive Studios' 'VR Sports' is exactly what it sounds like
The unmitigated phenomenon that was the Nintendo Wii had an everlasting effect on any medium with motion controllers: If you have hardware that can track hand movements, it needs to have its own "Wii Sports" game. Enter Vive Studios' latest virtual-reality game, VR Sports -- a lighthearted but surprisingly realistic-feeling ping-pong and tennis simulator. On March 15th, the game kicks off Vive Studios' spring lineup of VR games, which also includes a WWII defense shooter and a port of Sixaxis' virtual-reality CAD program.
Hands-on with Sixense's MakeVR, a motion-controlled 3D modeling suite bound for Kickstarter (video)
The last time we saw Sixense's Stem motion controller, it was little more than a collection of prototypes. The company showed us a gaggle of Plexiglas boxes containing reference hardware and a 3D-printed shell representing the final product's design. A more functional third unit (a developer kit, actually) allowed us to play with the controller's electromagnetic tracking technology, but the overall experience was fragmented and incomplete. The company finally pulled these disparate elements together, revealing the final Sixense Stem System at CES earlier this month. We caught up with the company earlier this month to take a look at the revised controller, and found a solid, lightweight controller modeled very closely after the 3D-printed mockup we saw last year. In fact, the only major difference we found was the revised button layout: We were originally told the device would utilize a modular faceplate system, but the final version wears a symmetrical button configuration reminiscent of the Razer Hydra. Sixense hadn't met up with us merely to show us the completed Stem System, however -- it was rearing to show us MakeVR, the firm's homegrown virtual reality 3D modeling software.
