VRScout

JULY 18, 2017

You can pre-order the Prism headset today. Fresh out of stealth-mode, Mira is looking to bring augmented reality (AR) to the masses. Dubbed Prism, this untethered AR headset is powered by an iPhone and comes in at an accessible price of $99. In comparison to other higher-end mixed reality headsets like Meta and Magic Leap that will likely require powerful PCs, Mira’s Prism lets you just snap in your iPhone and begin interacting with holographic content.

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UploadVR Between Realities podcast

JULY 31, 2017

I’ve used my eyes to interact with a virtual world before, but startup Neurable just enhanced that experience by reading my thoughts too. At SIGGRAPH this week the Boston-based startup is showing its modified HTC Vive which include EEG ( Electroencephalography ) sensors along the interior of the headstrap. This is combined with eye-tracking technology from German firm SMI, which may have just been acquired by Apple.

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Road to VR

JULY 26, 2017

Magic Leap, the mysterious AR startup with a multiple-billion dollar valuation , still doesn’t have a headset to show the world, but in a recent paper published by Magic Leap researchers entitled Toward Geometric Deep SLAM , we get a peek into a novel machine vision technique that aims to bring the company closer to their goal of creating a robust standalone AR headset.

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Slashgear

JULY 5, 2017

Two power teams of mobile device creators have joined forces this week: Xiaomi and Nokia. Nokia is a legendary mobile phone maker that’s gone through some unprecedented changes over the last few years. Xiaomi is still a relative up-and-comer in the business, based in China and set to expand across the whole earth with their high-quality low-cost devices.

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China Virtual Reality Hardware 101

Speaker: Chris Paxton McMillin, President of D3 Training Solutions

To avoid awkward and sometimes disastrous learning content, instructional designers must use authentic translation in the right context to get optimal results. For example, even a simple phrase like “got milk” translates to “are you lactating” in Mexico. Can you imagine what a straight translation might do to your course? With over 317 million people in the US and over 6.7 billion potential customers in the world, personalizing training seems logical.

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Hypergrid Business

JULY 16, 2017

The total reported land area of OpenSim’s public grids has passed 80,000 regions — a record high. This is despite the fact that InWorldz, the most popular OpenSim grid, did not report its land area this month. The total number of registered users went up by 9,764, and even the number of active users increased slightly, despite the fact that it’s the middle of summer and many education-oriented regions and grids are on break.

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VRScout

JULY 25, 2017

In March 2014 Facebook bought Oculus and the current wave of interest in VR and AR was reborn. While the public largely scoffed at the awkward goggles, industry pundits proclaimed VR/AR would one day replace our 2D screens, and highlighted education as one of the top applications in the years to come. Some analysts projected that education would be the 4th largest sector for VR/AR investment.

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UploadVR Between Realities podcast

JULY 14, 2017

Since the bombshell price drop earlier this week by Facebook’s Oculus, a number of theories have emerged regarding the Rift’s temporary $400 price tag. Is Oculus preparing a second generation and hoping to clear stock? Is Oculus struggling so much that Facebook is dropping the price of the Rift in a last ditch effort to save it?

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Road to VR

JULY 10, 2017

Oculus is giving the Rift & Touch their biggest discount yet for a six week-long sale. $400 will get you both the Rift headset and the Touch controllers, and a slew of bundled content. At the start of 2017, the Oculus Rift + Touch controllers cost $800, the same as the HTC Vive. Starting today, as part of the ‘Summer of Rift’ sale, the headset and controller bundle is going on sale for just $400 , a huge 50% price drop from what you would have paid just six months ago.

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VRWorld

JULY 19, 2017

A year ago, small Japanese company Xenoma launched its concept dubbed e-skin, clothing fit with wires that enable positional and gesture tracking without the use of external cameras. The vision of the company is to create stretchable clothing with built-in electronics that detect user’s movement, all while being a piece of clothing which can be worn comfortably with machine washability just as regular shirt could do.

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With a rapidly changing economy, Avangrid Renewables looked to virtual reality to develop a standardized form of immersive training in order to onboard and upskill technicians faster than ever before.

Virtual Reality

Headjack

JULY 20, 2017

As a 360º video producer, you’ve most likely been in the situation where you’re doing a demonstration with multiple VR headsets, or maybe you’re even running a VR cinema where groups of people can watch 360º content at the same time. The issue here is that when one person is still in the middle of […]. The post Headjack Cinema: Control Multiple VR Devices at a Distance appeared first on Headjack.

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Doc-Ok

JULY 31, 2017

Mixed-reality recording, i.e., capturing a user inside of and interacting with a virtual 3D environment by embedding their real body into that virtual environment, has finally become the accepted method of demonstrating virtual reality applications through standard 2D video footage (see Figure 1 for a mixed-reality recording made in VR’s stone age).

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VRScout

JULY 6, 2017

For the last month I’ve been working with Google to test Blocks, a new VR creation tool that enables anyone to 3D model low polygon objects without training. Like Tilt Brush, objects made with Blocks may seem simplistic at first, but the apps professional potential becomes glaringly obvious once it’s objects are rendered in software like Unity. To explain, I created this.

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UploadVR Between Realities podcast

JULY 6, 2017

What’s a billionaire named Jim Jannard to do after founding and selling Oakley’s for $2.1 billion then creating a state-of-the-art Hollywood-caliber camera manufacturer in RED Digital Camera? Create a phone that can power holograms and doesn’t need a headset for AR or VR, that’s what, apparently. Today RED announced the Hydrogen One smartphone.

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Speaker: Nik Gowing, Brenda Laurel, Sheridan Tatsuno, Archie Kasnet, and Bruce Armstrong Taylor

With 191 country signatories to the Paris Climate Agreement now hard at work in the race to zero carbon by 2050, much of the heavy lifting in ecosystem sustainability falls on the shoulders of the world's densely populated urban centers. This conversation considers how today's AI-enabled simulation media, such as AR/VR, can be effectively applied to accelerate learning, understanding, training, and solutions-modeling to sustainability planning and design.

Simulation

Road to VR

JULY 7, 2017

San Diego’s Comic-Con always sees a massive fanfare for all things science fiction, so there’s no better place for Alcon Entertainment and Warner Bros Pictures to debut the VR experience for their upcoming film Blade Runner 2049 , Riddley Scott’s sequel to the iconic Blade Runner (1982). Theatrical release of the Blade Runner 2049 is still slated for October 6th, but San Diego-based fans will get a chance to pop into the VR representation of the Blade Runner universe st

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VRWorld

JULY 5, 2017

While I am an enthusiast for VR and all associated technologies, one major issue that’s really breaking my immersion into different VR environments is – resolution. More sharp eyed readers of this post can see the pixel grid on both HTC Vive and Oculus Rift headsets, and this is where Varjo hopes to make the difference. Most companies we talk to continuously focus on cables as being the biggest major immersion-breaking problem, but we believe the real problem lies elsewhere – a

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VRScout

JULY 13, 2017

Despite the limitations of his body, now he can use VR to see the world. Tim Bartow is a filmmaker and writer hailing from Kansas City, Missouri. As one of only 100 Americans affected by the extremely rare genetic disorder Lesch Nyhan, which results in celebral palsy, Tim uses a wheelchair. Though Tim has no cognitive impairments, people often assume that he is mentally challenged.

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VRScout

JULY 29, 2017

This post is part of an ongoing series about writing, storytelling, and critique in VR, in partnership with Galatea , a writing and project management tool for immersive stories. VR has already impacted so many areas of modern life, and is poised to influence so much more in the coming years. Right now, I’m most excited about the ways it’s causing us to reflect on the very notion of reality.

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Speaker: Richard Goring, Director at BrightCarbon

Remote meetings are here to stay - and many are BORING. If you are trying to engage your learners (or any audience), compelling content is critical. But trying to create stimulating content with the same tools you’ve always had is hard, right? Thankfully, wrong! Terrific tools in PowerPoint along with visual assets help you create the kind of dynamic content you need to capture your remote audience’s attention, with functions that allow for interactive sequences and navigation.

How To

VRScout

JULY 6, 2017

Because indoor skydiving wasn’t cool enough already. Skydiving is arguably one of the more dangerous activities a human being can possibly participate in. However it can also be one of the most intense, life altering moments you’ll ever have the pleasure to experience. So wouldn’t it be cool to feel the magic of free falling 120 miles per hour without the chance of becoming a pancake on the street?

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VRScout

JULY 8, 2017

How augmented reality can help assist firefighters in saving lives. . One of the trustiest tools firefighters have in burning buildings is a thermal-imaging camera, a device that allows them to see through dense smoke. Unfortunately, to use it, a firefighter has to stop, take a photo, and then evaluate the information they see on-screen. In normal environments, those few seconds might not matter all that much.

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VRScout

JULY 10, 2017

This is the best deal we’ve seen yet. Oculus is bringing us a season of special events, deals, and game launches with what they their Summer of Rift event. Not only are they celebrating the VR community with discounted content, but Oculus also wants to entice newcomers to VR. So what better way to do that then a big fat discount. Starting today for a limited time (the next six weeks), the Oculus Rift and Touch controller bundle is on sale for $399.

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VRScout

JULY 4, 2017

2017 has pushed the VR industry forward in countless ways, including the recognition of audio as an absolutely critical element in VR experiences. Some big-time VR pieces like the Gorillaz’ Saturnz Barz (Spirit House) 360 video or Lytro’s Hallelujah experience have focused on experimenting with auditory experiences. Sound isn’t just a cue used to nudge the auditory experience in incremental ways — it’s something that can totally change the VR adventure or even affect the entire storyline.

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Speaker: Treion Muller, Chief Strategy Officer at ELB Learning

Since when has learning and development (L&D) become such a negative experience with its intended learners? Could it be because learners have been conditioned by very poor learning experiences over the past two decades, combined with the kinks of technological innovation? Or is it because learning has typically been designed as a one-size-fits-all solution, despite the fact that humans are not clones?

Technology

VRScout

JULY 27, 2017

SocialVR hub known for events featuring Reggie Watts and Bill Nye will host its farewell event on August 3rd, 7pm PDT. In an statement delivered earlier this evening, it was announced that AltspaceVR is closing down due to “unforeseen financial difficulty” related to their upcoming round of funding falling through. The team expressed heavy hearts at the announcement, as well as gratitude for all the memories and bonds shared in Altspace, regarded by many as a flagship VR platform.

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VRScout

JULY 25, 2017

Also watch in your Gear VR, plus much more. Facebook announced a slew of new updates to its 360 live platform today, stepping up the features available to both creators and viewers. Since bringing live 360 video to pages and profiles back in March , we’ve seen a few VR videos pop up in our feed, but were always unsatisfied with the resolution. 4K Support and Watch in VR.

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VRScout

JULY 5, 2017

You’ll need help during “kiss the bride.”. Whether presenting a virtual engagement ring using Tilt Brush or just getting down on one knee before the headset comes off , we’ve already seen a mix of marriage proposals in VR. But when it comes to actually tying the knot—VR weddings are something entirely new. As part of a publicity stunt by adult game brand Hibiki Works, close to 100 men in Japan got to take part in a virtual wedding ceremony, “marrying” a character from the erotic game New Wife: L

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VRScout

JULY 21, 2017

With Comic-Con in full swing this week, the amount of panels, previews, games, and brand activations to check out seem endless. But this year, there was one movie experience we weren’t going to miss. Only a block away from the main convention center, lines wrapped around the block, all waiting to enter a massive tent. It was hard to miss. One big bold sign summed it all up, this was home to the “Blade Runner 2049 Experience.”.

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Speaker: Micah Eppler, Account Executive for Rehearsal of eLearning Brothers

Did you know that companies such as Paychex, 3M, and Honeywell are getting better results by incorporating video-based practice and coaching within their L&D strategy? From sales pitches to soft skills, learners are becoming top performers by applying and validating knowledge transfer using the unique benefits of video. Whether used as a stand-alone application or integrated with a learning platform, video-based practice and coaching platforms give learners the ultimate opportunity to repeatedly

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