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HTC's Vive will cost $799, ship in early April
If you've been eagerly awaiting HTC's Vive VR headset, we hope you've been saving up. At Mobile World Congress today, HTC announced that the consumer version of the Vive will cost $799. That price includes the headset, two wireless controllers with haptic feedback and two location sensors. While it may seem expensive at first glance, we've been hearing for a while that the Vive would be pricier than the Oculus Rift, which sells for $599. Of course, the Oculus Rift doesn't come with motion controllers -- those will be coming later this year (and we still don't know what they'll cost).
Wevr: The virtual reality studio you need to know
It's pronounced "weaver." And you might not be familiar with it now, but the LA-based virtual reality outfit is quietly positioning itself as the backbone of the industry. With one foot firmly planted in the production side of the business (the studio's recent slate includes Sports Illustrated's swimsuit issue) and the other in distribution, Wevr is primed for the impending mainstreamification of virtual reality. So when the public eventually goes gaga over VR goggles, Wevr will be right there, ready to deliver that content.
Valve's VR technology now works with the Unity game engine
For many gaming platforms, the litmus test these days is whether or not they get official support in Unity's game engine -- land that and many developers (and by extension, gamers) are likely to give them a closer look. Valve just got a big credibility boost, then, as Unity is introducing native SteamVR support. If a virtual reality game runs on Unity's seemingly ubiquitous code, it's that much more likely to work with the HTC Vive and other SteamVR-friendly headsets. And much like the Unreal Engine, teams can edit in VR if they want to know what a scene will look like for players.
Tribeca Film Festival wants to normalize VR for the masses
Genna Terranova wants virtual reality to feel "commonplace." That is, she wants to make it normal. Terranova, who serves as the director of the Tribeca Film Festival, thinks now is the time to break VR out of its headline-stealing sideshow and make it accessible to the general public. And with a mix of 23 VR exhibits and installations planned for the fest's upcoming slate this April in New York, she's on track to do just that. "Yes, the Gear [VR] is out there and Oculus [Rift] is coming, but it's still a bit rarefied as far as the general public goes," says Terranova. "So we want to create a place where people can really explore this and not feel intimidated by it. But also create a space where you can experience these individual pieces and then have conversations about them."
The HTC Vive isn't limited to perfectly square rooms
I'm not gonna lie: I was jealous when I heard that my colleague Sean Buckley got to play 12 virtual reality games in Seattle last week. (He even moaned about it later.) I got to try "only" four on the Vive Pre at HTC's Taipei headquarters. But that's OK, because in the end I also had a blast -- to the point that I ended up running around the room, high on adrenaline. Not even the zombies in Arizona Sunshine made me do this much exercise. As I sat down to recuperate afterwards, I caught up with one of the key execs on HTC's VR team to learn about the Vive's setup process and what other features are in the works.
I'm too out of shape for virtual reality
My knees and thighs ached. If my left shoulder moved more than half a foot out of its neutral position, it lit on fire. Breathing deeply made my back seize with stabbing waves of pain. My pride was hurt most of all. My physical ailments weren't the result of visiting the gym or training for a marathon -- they were the fallout of one afternoon of playing full-body virtual reality video games. Holy crap, am I out of shape.
HTC burned another $101 million in the last three months
Much as we'd like to sugarcoat it, the unfortunate truth is that HTC is in trouble, and the situation is only getting worse. The phone maker has posted a third consecutive loss-making quarter, eating around $101 million (£69.6 million) in the last three months. A side-by-side comparison of the same period last year is even more doom-laden, since when it was generating a profit, it was only squeaking a meager $5.6 million. Last year, we asked if HTC was going to be the first really big Android manufacturer to slide into the sea. On this evidence, there's very little that's going to change our mind.
Ride along with Apollo 11 astronauts on launch day
David Whelan, lead developer for the kickstarted Apollo 11 VR Experience, announced on Wednesday that the game will be a launch title for three upcoming VR systems: the Oculus Rift, HTC Vive and PlayStation VR. The team is also reportedly working on a version for the Oculus DK2 dev set, however they have no current plans to port the game to the Samsung Gear.
Thorpe Park unveils VR ghost train designed by Derren Brown
VR headsets have matured to the point where some of the UK's biggest theme parks now want to integrate them into their next rides. Alton Towers announced a VR rollercoaster last week and today Thorpe Park has unveiled its own plans for a VR ghost train. Designed by mentalist Derren Brown, the attraction promises "grand-scale illusions" using a mixture of live-action, 4D special effects and "next generation technology." That last descriptor is important because, buried at the bottom of a press release, the company explains that this is a reference to the HTC Vive.
VR brings better motion capture to your video games
The problem with conventional motion capture is that you can't see the world you're supposed to be acting in. How do you get a feel for that epic fantasy landscape when you're staring at an empty room? Cloudhead Games has an idea. For its upcoming The Gallery: Call of the Starseed, it's using HTC's Vive virtual reality headset for motion capture, not just gameplay. The headset immerses actors in a scene while giving them more helpful teleprompting and visual cues. And when it's combined with a camera-free motion system like the Perception Neuron, you don't need a big, dedicated room -- performers can wander around a quiet corner of the office.
HTC Vive pre-orders open February 29th
If you've been jonesing to try HTC's room-focused take on virtual reality, the Vive, you won't have to wait long to plunk down some cash. Following a tease late last year, HTC has confirmed that pre-orders for its VR headset will begin on February 29th. There's still no mention of the price you'll pay when the device ships in April, although the recent Oculus Rift sticker shock is a reminder that the Vive probably won't come cheap. And we'd add that the biggest obstacle isn't necessarily the cost. For this to work, you'll need both a sufficiently beefy PC and a room large enough to wander through virtual worlds. If you have the funds and free space, though, you now have a firm date to put on your calendar.
Fox pushes virtual reality to the limit with 30 minutes on Mars
I wasn't prepared for The Martian VR Experience. All I'd known before sitting down in a padded seat in a near-pitch-black booth, tucked away in the Library bar at Vegas' Marquee nightclub, was that I'd be enveloped in virtual reality for up to 30 minutes. And I was worried about that. Bad virtual reality -- VR that lasted up to two minutes -- has sidelined me in the past, leaving a lingering nausea I'd prefer to never revisit. But by going all in with its first commercial experience, 20th Century Fox has made an expensive bet that pays off: It's created comfortable long-form VR.
HTC's making virtual reality safe for the home with Chaperone
I was standing with my back facing a large glass window, the mammoth casinos that punctuate Vegas' vast expanse of excess and desert showboating behind me. Here, on the top floor of the Wynn's opulent Tower suite, a staff photographer, moving around the room looking like some sort of bluish, 2D negative image, was instructing me to strike various poses of the decidedly unsexy sort. I was outfitted with the head-mounted display and wand controllers that make up HTC's revamped virtual reality developer kit, the Vive Pre, which it recently unveiled at the 2016 Consumer Electronics Show. It wasn't the first time I found myself looking ridiculous while modeling bulky VR hardware for a photographer, but it was the first time I managed to avoid doing it blindly.
HTC and Valve's Vive VR system passes through the FCC
Getting certified by the Federal Communications Commission for safe use is a rite of passage for every legal gizmo, and the joint virtual reality project from HTC and Valve, the Vive, recently passed by the regulatory agency. It's a requirement for any product to be sold and typically happens in the run up to consumer release, which backs up HTC's promise of an April launch window for the Vive headset and its Lightroom controller-and-motion-tracking tech. Road to VR writes that certification was expected to face a few challenges given the nature of its laser tracking and possible safety issues. But hey, I wouldn't be writing this if those perceived hurdles hadn't been cleared.
HTC Vive to demo a 'very big' breakthrough in VR at CES
Regular folks who are eager to get hold of the HTC Vive would have been bummed by the news that it's been pushed to April 2016, but in return, we'll actually be getting a much improved version. At today's Vive Unbound developers forum in Beijing, CEO Cher Wang teased that two weeks ago, Valve and her team made "a very, very big technological breakthrough" with their virtual reality system, so big that they decided to just skip the original version and ship this new one, albeit missing the Q1 date. "We shouldn't make our users swap their systems later just so we could meet the December shipping date." That said, Wang remained mum on what this upgrade is all about, except that it'll be unveiled at CES early next month.
Try out the 'Paranormal Activity' VR game at some AMC theaters
The Paranormal Activity movie series may be over after the upcoming 3D-infused Ghost Dimension entry, but it will live on in virtual reality. VRWERX announced today that it will be bringing its VR Paranormal Activity game to select AMC theaters in major markets this weekend, October 22 to 24, coinciding with the release of the new film. Even more intriguing, the demo will be powered by HTC's Vive Steam VR headsets. We still don't have specifics on the game yet, but judging from the Paranormal Activity series so far, you can expect plenty of jump scares and creepiness right on the edge of your field of vision. The game likely won't reach the dramatic heights of Paranormal Activity 3 (which is seriously great), but as far as horror franchises go, it's pretty much built for VR. The finished game will be available next spring on PlayStation VR and Oculus, and non-VR versions will be coming to Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and Steam. Check out a list of the 15 participating theaters after the break.
HTC's Peter Chou joins visual effects studio behind 'Iron Man 3' (updated)
No, Peter Chou isn't leaving HTC. As the company is gearing up to launch its virtual reality platform (and another flagship phone) later this year, the co-founder has decided to pick up a second role at renowned visual effects company, Digital Domain, to strengthen his company's VR know-how. That's according to a statement from HTC, anyway. For those who don't know, Digital Domain is the digital production house behind movies like Iron Man 3 (seems like HTC just can't get enough of Robert Downey Jr.), Her and Tron: Legacy. It also made animated clips in games including Assassin's Creed Unity, Destiny and Halo: The Master Chief Collection. Chou will officially join the Hong Kong-owned company as an executive director on August 31st, but it'll obviously be a while before we see what this will bring to the HTC Vive. Update: Well, HTC has finally admitted that Chou did leave the company before joining Digital Domain, though he is still an "honorable consultant" and is therefore still working for his old company. Smells like a cheeky cover-up to us, if you ask us.
Expect a 'limited number' of HTC Vive VR headsets this year
According to HTC, reports that the commercial launch of its Vive virtual reality headset is delayed until next year aren't telling the whole story. The company provided a statement to Engadget saying "We'll have a limited number of units by the end of the year, with more to come in Q1 2016." It seems unlikely there will be enough to satisfy all potential buyers of the "first complete VR system" it's making with Valve's help, but there's still a chance you could get one, and developers have had access for a while. The Vive headset is coming to PAX Prime in Seattle with demos like Fantastic Contraption -- once we know more about when you can have one we'll let you know.
Build a 'Fantastic Contraption' in virtual reality with the Vive
Virtual Reality is often characterized as a solitary experience, but it doesn't have to be. Games like Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes, a multiplayer bomb-defusal game, demonstrate VR's ability to entertain entire groups of people in wonderful new ways. Today, it's time to add one more multi-entertaining VR game to that list: Fantastic Contraption, a widely beloved game about building weird structures in an attempt to reach specific points on a small map. Fantastic Contraption launched in 2008 as a non-VR game and has since attracted millions of players and 12 million saved contraptions. In a new video, it gets a super polished update for the Vive, Valve and HTC's impressive room-scale VR headset, and creator Colin Northway discusses the merits of multiplayer VR.
Here's what it's like to play Valve's VR 'Portal' experience
Sure, people can wax poetic about using HTC's Vive virtual reality headset, but what's it really like when you're looking through those lenses? You might not have to make a pilgrimage to one of HTC's tours to find out. ValveTime has posted a video walkthrough of Valve's Portal-themed VR demo (used on the Vive since this spring), and it gives you a good sense of what the immersive, room-based experience is like. To put it mildly, this is a tantalizing glimpse of what VR can do for gaming -- you can explore every nuance of an Aperture Science workshop, pulling drawers and levers almost like you were there. We don't want to spoil the whole thing, but it's safe to say there are robots and a few signature Valve surprises. Can we have a full-fledged title based on this, please?
