virtualreality
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'Rift S' hints revealed in Oculus PC software
After Oculus co-founder Brendan Iribe left the company late last year, TechCrunch reported a shift in strategy from developing a "Rift 2" to a more lightly-refreshed "Rift S" VR headset. Now UploadVR cites code found in the Oculus PC software referencing the new device and giving some hints of its capabilities. A "lighting frequency for Rift S cameras to adjust to room lighting" toggle suggests built-in tracking cameras, while a software setting to adjust "IPD (Interpupillary Distance)" shows it will drop the original Rift's hardware IPD adjustment. Not surprisingly, it seems to have some things in common with the standalone Oculus Quest. Even if it doesn't follow the original Rift's path in pushing the envelope and showing people the cutting edge of what VR experiences can be, a simpler setup that's slightly more accessible is closer to what the company's owners at Facebook have in mind.
HoloLens co-creator leaves Apple after three years of AR projects
Avi Bar-Zeev, perhaps best known as a co-creator of Microsoft's HoloLens, has departed Apple in what may prove a setback for Apple's augmented reality ambitions. Before he left his role last month, Bar-Zeev had reportedly been working on the company's long-rumored, high-resolution AR/VR headset, which could arrive as early as next year.
The sequel to the Bill Murray movie 'Groundhog Day' is a VR game
After 26 years, the hit Bill Murray movie Groundhog Day has a sequel... but it's not a movie at all. Sony Pictures Virtual Reality, MWM Immersive and Rime developer Tequila Works have unveiled Groundhog Day: Like Father Like Son, a VR game for PlayStation VR, Oculus Rift and Vive. You play Phil Connors' son (appropriately, Phil Connors Jr.) as he encounters a time loop just like his dad, and will remain stuck repeating the day until he "learns the true value of friends and family." As you might imagine, though, the interactive aspect throws a new wrinkle into the story.
‘Wired’ is a multi-scene movie painted and animated in VR
Movies that have been painted and animated with a VR headset are nothing new. Most, however, are single scenes that loop like an animated GIF. The camera might move around, highlighting small details, but there isn't much of a story. Wired, meanwhile, is different. It's one of the first pieces of VR animation (that is, created inside VR) with multiple scenes and a discernible narrative. The gorgeous short follows a boy exploring a world that doesn't have wireless technology. He falls from a cable above some enormous skyscrapers, provoking nearby residents to look up and appreciate the sky. The film was created by a single person: Zeyu Ren, a design student and motion graphics artist in New York. He started the project after watching Alex's Sci-Fi World, a jaw-dropping loop created by Matt Schaefer with Oculus Quill, a Facebook-owned 3D painting and animation package. Intrigued, he started experimenting with the Rift headset owned by his college, the Rhode Island School of Design.
Ford is letting some designers build cars in virtual reality
Ford is looking into the possibility of designing cars in virtual reality. The automaker has started experimenting with Gravity Sketch, a tool that allows its designers to draw 3D cars in VR and thereby saving them lots of time in the process. See, vehicle designers start with 2D sketches, which are scanned and rendered in 3D by software to determine if they're feasible. Using Gravity Sketch will give them the power to skip that first step completely and dive straight into 3D -- all they have to do is wear a VR headset and use a controller. That will apparently shave so much time off the design phase that what used to take weeks will only take hours.
Take the role of Hamlet's murdered father in a VR adaptation
If you were relegated to stage crew duties during your high school's production of Hamlet, now is your time to finally get on stage -- albeit in an unconventional way. Google partnered up with the Commonwealth Shakespeare Company to create Hamlet 360, a presentation of the classic Shakespeare play in virtual reality and puts you in the silent role of Hamlet's father.
GoPro improves Fusion VR camera resolution via software update
It's not often a camera gets a resolution upgrade purely through software, but GoPro appears to have managed just that. The company has released beta firmware that lets its Fusion VR camera capture 5.6K spherical video at 24 frames per second. That's not a huge bump over the original 5.2K, but it could still be noticeable in the confines of a VR helmet. GoPro manages the feat by capturing footage at 5.8K and stitching it together to produce the finished video.
The Void’s extra-sensory VR does what home experiences can’t
I walked through The Void's virtual reality center in the Las Vegas Venetian twice. The first time, armed with headset and wireless backpack, I was shuttled through Ralph Breaks VR, the company's latest experience. I saw my own shiny animated pink hands as I touched the walls and picked up a rifle -- both in the game and real life. Then, I ducked behind a café counter before firing pancakes at bunnies. When the area caught fire, my skin felt heat; when standing precariously on a skyscraper ledge I felt the vertigo-inducing wind on my face.
Oculus Rift can stream live VR to Facebook
It's now much easier to share what you're doing on your Oculus Rift, even if people are nowhere near your living room. Oculus is starting to roll out an update that introduces broadcasting on Facebook Live. Switch it on and you can livestream the view from your headset to friends or the public. It's up to developers to decide whether or not they include the feature, but "hundreds" of apps (including Echo VR and Dead & Buried) are ready for the feature right now.
HTC Vive Pro Eye hands-on: Everything is prettier with gaze-tracking
HTC's newest Vive Pro headset adds just one feature to the existing hardware, but it's a doozy -- integrated eye-tracking. Using Tobii technology, the Vive Pro Eye is able to follow users' eyeballs in real-time, letting developers gather data on exactly where they're looking and when, and opening the door for new, more immersive experiences. But eye-tracking isn't just a clever input method. Its existence also enables foveated rendering, a technique that essentially means VR is about to get a lot prettier.
The North Face teases its most breathable waterproof gear yet
As great as waterproof apparel is to keep you protected from bad weather, most jackets, pants and other gear tend to be too bulky or uncomfortable. That's a problem The North Face is well aware of, and it has come up with a new material that it believes will fix this: Futurelight, which the company is calling "the most advanced breathable waterproof outerwear technology." According to The North Face, Futurelight is its most comfortable waterproof gear yet, thanks to a design that lets air move through fabric more easily and provide "more venting than ever before.'
Audi puts VR in the backseat
The passenger seat of the car has gotten a bit more entertaining thanks to smartphones, tablets and video screens. But companies still think we can do more in our cars especially with autonomous vehicles right around the corner. Audi's been very bullish with coming up with ways to maximize our time in cars. "Content is a major driving force of the mobility of the future," said Audi's head of digital business Nils Wollny. So their latest venture is important. But it's also really fun.
Tech-friendly bus startup FlixBus offers riders VR headsets
As anyone who has tried using VR in an airplane or crazy self-driving car knows, it can either help you while away the time or make you nauseous. None of that is discouraging the low-cost, high-tech bus service Flixbus, which has started testing virtual reality on several of its US routes. Passengers going from Tucson, Phoenix, Los Angeles and San Diego on a "panoramic" seat will be able to try about 50 virtual reality games and travel experiences for free.
Aronofsky's VR series 'Spheres' opens to the public in NYC
The Darren Aronofsky-backed space-themed virtual reality series Spheres will finally be available for public viewing starting on January 18th. It'll debut as a VR experience viewed through Oculus Rift headsets at the Rockefeller Center in NYC, with screenings held every day until March 3rd. Spheres consists of three 15-minute chapters, which were originally shown at different film festivals throughout 2018.
IMAX drops VR, will close its last three locations next year
Two years ago, IMAX had big plans for VR experiences, with its CEO anticipating 10-minute movie tie-ins that people would pay up to $10 to try at one of its locations. Now that dream is dead, as Variety points out an SEC filing from the company revealing that in Q1 2019 it will close the last three of its virtual reality installations, including the flagship location that opened last year in LA. It also cited a quote from CEO Richard Gelford telling investors on a recent earnings call that despite positive reactions from customers, "the numbers just weren't there." At one point, IMAX had worked on raising $50 million to invest in 25 locations, filled with VR headsets from Starbreeze and HTC, plus Subpac's vibration-emitting vests to build a cinematic experience. However, four of the seven locations it opened have already shut down, while Google and IMAX previously confirmed that work on a "cinema-quality" VR camera would pause. Now it's cancelled the entire experiment, however UploadVR reports other companies like The VOID and Dreamscape Immersive still have plans for VR experience locations to roll out in 2019.
'Shattered State' is a VR political thriller designed for the Netflix crowd
Supermassive Games is best known, at least in recent times, for the story-driven horror title Until Dawn, which spawned both a spin-off and a prequel in subsequent years. Other than occasionally flirting with Windows over its nigh decade-long history, Supermassive has focused on developing games for several generations of PlayStation consoles. Its latest project takes it into entirely new territory, however. Political thriller Shattered State is a VR experience that launches today on Google's Daydream platform, and so is available to anyone with a compatible phone or headset.
Facebook and ZeniMax settle VR copyright lawsuit
John Carmack isn't the only one ending a legal fight with ZeniMax. Facebook and ZeniMax have agreed to settle a lawsuit that had accused Facebook and Oculus of violating copyright for the alleged "unlawful misappropriation" of ZeniMax VR code. The two haven't revealed terms of the deal, but ZeniMax claimed that it was "fully satisfied" with the result. We've asked Facebook if it can comment.
StarVR puts its developer headsets on hold amid financial woes
StarVR's headset plans are facing a serious setback. The company has confirmed to UploadVR that it's putting its StarVR One developer program "on hold" a month after starting sign-ups due to both problems with its "key overseas shareholder" and while it's in the midst of becoming a private company. One of StarVR's main stakeholders, Starbreeze, both filed for reconstruction (akin to bankruptcy) in Sweden and had to grapple with an arrest for insider trading. StarVR itself, meanwhile, has delisted itself from the Taipei Exchange Emerging Markets over concerns about the state of the VR industry.
The best VR gifts
Virtual reality offers all manner of immersive experiences, including short films, but gaming is where VR really shines right now. So, if you have a gamer in your life who seems to already have everything, consider giving them some of the VR gear from our holiday gift guide. They'll need some hardware to get started with, so among our six choices are three headsets -- two Oculus devices and PlayStation VR. If you opt for the latter, the PSVR Aim Controller will come in handy for certain games. Speaking of which, we've also picked a couple of quality games to help that special someone get their VR library up and running.
How to get a coding job at Google with an art degree
I wasn't really aware as a kid that game development was a career that I could have, especially from an artist's perspective." That's Ashley Pinnick, a 28-year-old artist and game developer living in San Francisco. Pinnick is a VR Technical Artist for Google, where she's working on Playground, the company's augmented reality app. But three years ago, she was an art school graduate and self-taught virtual reality developer with an uncertain future at her feet. "I was playing games and I knew that there was art there," Pinnick said. "I just didn't put two and two together."
