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Google's VR painting app lands on the Oculus Rift
Tilt Brush, Google's virtual reality painting app, is available today on the Oculus Rift, complete with a few tweaks to make your 3D art take shape as naturally as possible. Tilt Brush landed on the HTC Vive in April 2016 and it's generated some awe-inspiring work.
Climb Mount Everest in VR on your Oculus Rift
You no longer need an HTC Vive to scale Mount Everest in VR on your PC. Sólfar Studios and RVX have released Everest VR for the Oculus Rift, bringing the virtual ascent to Facebook's headset. It'll be familiar if you've tried the Vive version, but a few things have improved since the original launch. There's a new sequence (the Lhotse Face), and an expanded God Mode lets you see the Himalayas from perspectives that aren't possible for a mountaineer. Logically, Oculus Touch support is present if you'd prefer a more hands-on approach.
Stream live NBA games in VR à la carte starting February 23rd
The NBA announced its plan to stream weekly games live in VR last fall and soon there will be a much cheaper à la carte option. Starting February 23rd, basketball fans will be able to watch matchups live in virtual reality without having to pay for an NBA League Pass subscription. Each game will set you back $7 and they'll still be available though the League Pass app. Before now, you had to pay for the $200 TV subscription if you wanted to stream live basketball games in virtual reality. NextVR does say that this is the "introductory price" for the rest of the current season, so the rate may not be permanent.
Mark Zuckerberg demos finger-tracking Oculus gloves
In a bid to keep folks excited about its Oculus virtual reality products, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg showed off a bunch of new tech at the Oculus Research facility in Redmond, Washington. The most interesting prototype was a new set of gloves (above) that can "bring your hands into virtual and augmented reality," he wrote on a Facebook post. They could address one of the biggest user complaints about the Rift VR headset: the inability to easily interact with objects in virtual reality.
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.
'Adr1ft' developer joins a VR startup, leaves old studio behind
If you were hoping for a sequel to Adr1ft, the game about a zero-gravity escape from a destroyed space station high above Earth, you might want to place those expectations elsewhere. Head of Three One Zero and lead developer Adam Orth (above) says that his old studio had "run its course," in an interview with VentureBeat. Now? He's working with VR startup First Contact (ROM Extraction) where the team is "advancing the medium [VR] with every single thing they make." While console versions never saw VR support, Adr1ft was available on HTC Vive and Oculus Rift headsets.
'Rock Band VR' is coming to the Oculus Rift on March 23rd
You won't have to wait much longer to play Rock Band VR. Developer Harmonix has announced that its virtual reality title is launching for the Oculus Rift on March 23rd, with pre-orders available now through Amazon. You should keep in mind that the bundles being sold, one for PlayStation 4 and the other for Xbox One, only include a digital copy of the game and a guitar controller.
ZeniMax now wants $4 billion from Oculus as case goes to jury
VR pioneer Oculus has been on trial for several weeks now, defending itself against claims it stole crucial code from ZeniMax. But the ultimate judgement is now in the hands of a jury. As reported by Polygon, closing arguments have concluded and the jury now has to decided if Oculus chief technology officer John Carmack stole ZeniMax IP and brought it to Oculus when he joined the company in 2013. At the same time as it wrapped up closing arguments, ZeniMax doubled the damages it is asking for. The company now wants a grand total of $4 billion -- $2 billion in compensation and $2 billion in punitive damages.
'Knockout League' brings cartoony boxing to virtual reality
The Nintendo Switch has Arms and now the VR-minded folks at Grab Games and Vive Studios have dropped Knockout League onto Steam's Early Access label. The arcade-y boxing game's in-development version only has four cartoony pugilists for now, according to VentureBeat, but each one has a different fighting style. And some aren't even human. Like Sir Octopunch, a mustachioed octopus with a stance like an old timey English boxer. Sure!
'Superhot VR' is about to get much more challenging
Superhot VR is an immersive, intense take on an already fun game, but there's no question that it's short when you can run out of things to do in just a few hours. Never fear, though: the creators are preparing the Forever update, which promises a number of good reasons to keep coming back to the Oculus Touch shooter. You can try to beat your best scores in both the usual bullet time mode as well as real time, and face opponents with quicker reflexes. You'll also find a few challenges that ramp up the difficulty if the very act of dodging bullets isn't enough for you.
Palmer Luckey insists he didn't steal VR code for Oculus
Yesterday, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg took the stand to testify in a lawsuit against Oculus, and today it was Palmer Luckey's turn. The founder of Oculus VR -- who has remained out of sight since his role in funding political trolls came to light -- sold his startup to Facebook for $2 billion in 2014, but ZeniMax (parent company of iD Software) claims its tech is based on code Oculus CTO John Carmack wrote while still an employee. According to Bloomberg, Luckey testified that while the company's software ran in a demonstration for investors, he also said "I didn't take confidential code...I ran it and demonstrated it through the headset. It is not true I took the code."
Mark Zuckerberg defends Oculus in court against VR rival
Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg was grilled in court this morning over the creation of the Oculus Rift VR headset, as part of a $2 billion lawsuit brought by ZeniMax Media. ZeniMax -- the owner of Bethesda Softworks, id Software and other video game studios -- says Oculus chief technology officer John Carmack stole ZeniMax's intellectual property when he left the company in 2013. Essentially, ZeniMax argues that it owns the technological foundation behind the Oculus Rift VR headset. Zuckerberg purchased Oculus in 2014 in a deal estimated to be worth $2.3 billion -- and as he made clear on the stand this morning, he disagrees entirely with ZeniMax's claims.
Mark Zuckerberg will testify in Oculus VR lawsuit this week (update)
Mark Zuckerberg is heading to a Dallas court to testify in an ongoing lawsuit filed against Oculus, the VR company Facebook purchased for $2.3 billion. ZeniMax, the parent company of Doom developer id Software, claims that Oculus CTO John Carmack took its intellectual property when he left the company in 2013. Zuckerberg will testify in the suit tomorrow (January 17th), and Oculus co-founder (and noted recluse) Palmer Luckey is also set to testify later in the week.
Oculus now owns an eye-tracking company
Google isn't the only company trying to figure out eye-tracking for virtual reality -- Oculus VR is on the case too. The Facebook-backed VR company has confirmed that it recently acquired Danish startup The Eye Tribe, a firm best known for creating software developer kits that bring gaze-based controls to smartphones, tablets and PCs. Now, that technology belongs to one of the highest profile VR headset makers on the market.
Dino VR adventure 'Robinson: The Journey' stomps to Oculus soon
Virtual reality is the best (and safest) way to get up close and personal with dinosaurs. And next month folks with Oculus Rift headsets can do just that thanks to Robinson: The Journey's PlayStation VR exclusivity going going extinct expiring.
'Thumper' pulses its way to HTC Vive and Oculus Rift headsets
Thumper, the trippy rhythm game with a pulsing electronic soundtrack (no, the other one) was one of the surprise hits of PlayStation VR's launch. And now it's headed elsewhere. That's right, folks with HTC Vive and Oculus Rift headsets will be able to find the title in their store of choice now. The recently released update on Steam adds "basic support" for Oculus Touch and Vive wands as well. With what I've played of the game on PSVR though, I'm not sure how motion control is going to improve the experience -- a gamepad is a perfect fit as it is. But hey, Thumper in more places is hard to complain about.
Biggest names in VR band together to create industry standards
The world's most popular virtual reality headset makers have assembled. Google, Oculus, Sony, HTC, Samsung and Acer have come together to create a non-profit organization called the Global Virtual Reality Association (or the far snappier GVRA, for short). The association's goal is to "promote responsible development and adoption of VR globally," according to its website, and members will do so by researching, developing and sharing what it believes to be industry best practices.
Why are dinosaurs everywhere in VR?
There's a key scene early in Jurassic Park when the visiting scientists see their first dinosaur in person. Paleontologist Alan Grant (Sam Neill) and paleobotanist Ellie Sattler (Laura Dern) clamber out of their Jeep as they stare at the majestic brachiosaur looming above them. "It's a dinosaur," Grant stammers in disbelief. His reaction matches the audience's: After a lifetime of looking at fossils and picture books, here, in the flesh, is a real, live dinosaur. We'll never experience this ourselves, but virtual reality can convincingly take us face to face with these extinct creatures.
Fly over Paris with all your VR friends in 'Eagle Flight'
While Microsoft and Sony sort out why one person playing Rocket League on a PlayStation 4 can't compete against someone on an Xbox One, VR developers are bringing everyone together regardless of which headset they own. The folks behind Eve: Valkyrie started it and now Ubisoft is on board as well with Eagle Flight.
Xbox One games stream to your Oculus Rift on December 12th
You can already stream Xbox One games to your PC. But what if you'd rather not make it patently obvious that you're playing Gears of War? You're in luck. Microsoft and Oculus are launching an app that, as promised, will let you send Xbox One games to an Oculus Rift headset attached to a Windows 10 PC. The software, which arrives December 12th, won't magically turn your favorite titles into virtual reality experiences. Instead, you're getting a Netflix-style virtual screen. This is more for private gameplay (say, to prevent your kids from seeing gore) or giving yourself a larger screen than you can fit in your den.
