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Robert Rodriguez releases over-the-top VR film 'The Limit'
Want to see how well Robert Rodriguez' directorial skills translate to virtual reality? Now's your chance. Rodriguez and STX have released The Limit on nearly every major VR-capable platform, including Oculus headsets, HTC's Vive line, Android, iOS, PlayStation VR and Windows Mixed Reality. Shell out $10 ($8 on phones, and half-off during the launch period) and you'll take part in a 20-minute film where you recruit a "super-assassin" (Michelle Rodriguez) to recover your identity and seek justice. To no one's surprise, this involves a whole lot of punching, shooting and gratuitous explosions. Norman Reedus also plays a pivotal role, although the trailer suggests he might not be so friendly.
Google envisions smart roller skates for walking endlessly in VR
Right now the solutions for walking through large virtual reality environments are quite limited. You're typically looking at either a 360-degree treadmill or playing in a gigantic physical space. Google, however, might have a better solution -- although we're not sure if we'd call it elegant. The company has applied for a patent on VR shoes (really, roller skates) that would let you walk anywhere in VR without bumping into a very real wall. The technology would track your feet and use motorized wheels on the footwear to bring you back to a "return zone" whenever you venture beyond a safe area. You'd avoid embarrassing collisions -- though you'd also look like a massive dork, if Google's less-than-flattering illustrations are any indication.
Google releases gorgeous VR short film 'Age of Sail'
Google Spotlight Stories has released its latest short, Age of Sail. Directed by Academy Award winner John Kahrs (Disney's Paperman short), it blends beautiful animation with the story of an old, lonely sailor, played by Ian McShane, who is adrift in the Atlantic Ocean in 1900. When he rescues a young woman (Cathy Ang), who fell overboard from a passing ship, his outlook changes to one of hope.
Samsung's new phone processor has hardware for on-device AI
Samsung has announced its latest system-on-chip (SoC), the Exynos 9 Series 9820 processor, geared specifically towards managing on-device artificial intelligence applications. Unlike its predecessors, this processor contains an AI-accelerator, or NPU, that means AI-related processing can be carried out directly on the device, rather than sending the task to a server. This adds up to seven times faster performance.
PlayStation Black Friday sale includes $200 'Spider-Man' PS4 bundle
Sony isn't about to let Microsoft's week-long Black Friday sale go unanswered. It's running its own PlayStation sale at the same time (November 18th through 26th), and there promise to be some solid bargains -- if not necessarily all the bargains you'd hope for. The star of the show is a $200 PlayStation 4 Slim 1TB Spider-Man bundle. If you've wanted to see why the web-slinging game generated a whole lot of buzz without shelling out extra for a copy (or buying a fancy PS4 Pro bundle), now's your chance.
Facebook reorganizes Oculus to further its long-term VR goals
Facebook isn't done shaking up its strategy for Oculus. TechCrunch has learned that Facebook reorganized its augmented and virtual reality teams this week to focus on areas of technical expertise, rather than specific products. The company acknowledged the change in a statement, saying that they were "internal changes" that shouldn't affect end users or developers. However, that's not entirely true -- this appears to be as much about making AR and VR more viable in the long term, rather than revolving around near-term releases.
Lenovo agrees license with Sony after practically copying PSVR design
Sony has signed a two-year patent licensing agreement that allows Lenovo to use the PSVR design for its Mirage Solo VR headset. Some virtual reality enthusiasts might have expected that from the moment Lenovo launched its standalone Daydream device. While Mirage Solo is self-contained and the PSVR isn't, it does look very similar to the latter. Most notably, it features a headband almost identical to the PSVR's, including its characteristic cap-like portion that's supposed to rest against the user's forehead for optimal weight distribution.
Red Bull puts an entire mountain in your living room with AR
It's too late for you to catch a plane to Utah and watch Red Bull Rampage, a freeride mountain bike competition featuring some of the best riders in the world, live in person. But you can bring all of the ridges, slopes, and rocky terrain of the Virgin, Utah mountains into your living room using the new augmented reality features in the Red Bull TV app.
Oculus Go now casts your VR sessions to other devices
As promised, it's now easy to share your Oculus Go sessions with everyone else in the room. Oculus is rolling out beta support for casting Go experiences to phones and tablets using the Oculus app. So long as both the Go and the mobile device are on the same WiFi network, friends and family can watch you grapple with a VR game or marvel at a 360-degree video. You can't yet share VR to a TV, but it beats having to describe what you're seeing to curious onlookers.
Oculus stops offering movies on Rift headsets due to low demand
It's a lousy time to be a fan of PC-based VR, apparently. Oculus told both customers and Variety that it's shutting down its movie store for Rift headset owners, leaving you to use third-party services (or watch on a regular screen) if you want to buy or rent flicks. The store is closing as of October 22nd, and you'll have until November 20th to watch your catalog before that too goes away. Oculus will offer refunds to anyone who bought movies before the closure.
Oculus co-founder Brendan Iribe leaves Facebook
Add another person to the list of high-profile leaders departing Facebook. Oculus co-founder Brendan Iribe is leaving both his own team and the social network. He didn't say where he was going next or why he was exiting, but he noted that this would be his "first real break" in the space of 20 years. This is a chance to step away from the grind for a while, in other words. With that said, there are hints that it's about more than some overdue rest and relaxation.
Lightweight gloves help you touch virtual objects
One factor that prevents virtual reality from being truly immersive is the fact that you still can't feel what you see. A group of scientists from EPFL and ETH Zurich is trying to change that by creating a pair of high-tech gloves that "provides extremely realistic haptic feedback." According to the researchers, their creation, which they've named "DextrES," isn't like the other VR gloves also currently in development. First, it's lightweight and doesn't have a bulky exoskeleton or heavy components. It's made of nylon, is only 2 mm thick and weighs 8 grams per finger. Plus, it needs very little power that it could eventually run on a battery.
NBA League Pass transforms games into VR viewing parties
Live sports broadcasts in VR tend to be solitary affairs, but they're about to become decidedly more social. Now that the 2018-2019 NBA season is getting underway, NBA League Pass and NextVR have revealed that they're offering shared viewing through Oculus Venues. If there's a friend across the country who can't show up to watch a game in person, they can don a VR headset and enjoy that sense of camaraderie. You'll even unlock a team jersey for your avatar if you tune in, so you can rep your favorite squad whenever you like.
Sixense refunds backers for VR controller, five years later
More than five years after funding its Stem virtual reality controller system on Kickstarter, Sixense is paying back those who pledged for the device. Sixense is no longer making a consumer version of the controller, as it is focusing on producing hardware for enterprise and healthcare companies.
Qualcomm's new 60GHz WiFi chips promise better VR
Mobile chip manufacturer Qualcomm has announced a family of 60GHz WiFi chips, the QCA64x8 and QCA64x1, which can deliver speeds of over 10Gbps. The WiFi 802.11ay standard that these chips use bring with it theoretical speeds that can surpass even most types of home Ethernet connections. To put the speed of 802.11ay at 60Ghz into context, that's 10 times more than the 1Gbps internet connection speeds that most major US cities top out at. Given the theoretical speeds of 802.11ay at 60GHz, the bottleneck would likely be your computer's internal components.
Oculus' giant Core 2.0 update is available to everyone
After spending ages in development, Oculus' Rift Core 2.0 interface is rolling out to everyone. The new front end turns into more of a social space, including more 3D objects (such as custom models and unlockable rewards) and eight-person get-togethers for watching shows or simply hanging out. You'll also see a new virtual desktop (above) that helps you quickly access your PC's conventional apps.
Can Jesus save virtual reality?
Vive Studios just debuted its first "feature-length" virtual reality movie at the Raindance Film Festival in London. It's neither sci-fi nor twee endearing animation, however: it's a Christian film based on Jesus' seven miracles, captured in 360-degree video, and it was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize for Best Immersive Story. The majority of the tale is told in wrap-around 8K video, with each of the miracles taking roughly 10 minutes. The episodic structure makes sense: Virtual reality is still tiring, both because you're wearing the mask and because you have a screen so close to your eyes. It's not the only issue with virtual reality, especially when it's used on lengthy media.
Mario Kart VR lands in the US
Mario Kart VR has already graced Japan and London...now it's making a pitstop in the US. Yes, you can (finally) immerse yourself in the cartoonish karting action -- while sitting in a physical vehicle with pedals and a steering wheel -- at Washington DC's Union Station right now. But you better be quick: Bandai Namco's "VR Zone Portal" is only in town till March 2019, reports Road to VR.
Philip K. Dick's 'The Great C' for Oculus Rift arrives this October
The virtual reality adaptation of Philip K. Dick's The Great C is now making its way to VR headsets after debuting at the Venice Film Festival. It will be available for the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive as soon as October 9th, but PlayStation VR owners will unfortunately have to wait until 2019. Fans can expect to be thrust into a 37-minute immersive sci-fi adventure when they put on their headsets and fire up the experience.
Facebook and RED unveil their Manifold 3D VR camera
Facebook and RED are finally ready to show their 3D VR camera after months of teasing. They've revealed Manifold, a ball-shaped array that uses 16 of RED's Helium 8K sensors (with 180-degree Schneider lenses) to capture a complete, 60FPS VR video in one scene, including depth information. The The result is high-quality 360-degree video that reacts when you move your head. You might not walk directly through a video, but you wouldn't be stuck in one camera position when watching with an Oculus Quest or a similar six-degrees-of-freedom headset.