The Ghost Howls
MARCH 27, 2020
Yesterday, I finally finished Half-Life: Alyx. It has been a very long ride, and I had a lot of fun. I am now ready to write you a full review of this game. Some days ago, I have written a first impressions article on this game, and it made some people unhappy because I somewhat criticized this game. Have I changed my opinion? Does Alyx live up to the hype?
VRScout
MARCH 4, 2020
The rise of virtual beings leads to new questions regarding the rights of digital representations. Technological advancements mean that we are rapidly approaching a time when artificial agents will be indistinguishable from that of human beings. For some, this marks an opportunity to breathe life into dynamic worlds with new creatures – artificially intelligent beings make excellent virtual pets.
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AR Insider
MARCH 4, 2020
This is the latest in AR Insider’s Campaign Tracker series. Running semi-weekly, it examines marketing campaigns that utilize AR visualization such as product try-ons, and their results. For a full list of campaigns, comparative ROI chart and deeper analysis, subscribe to ARtillery PRO. Proof points continue to roll out for AR’s effectiveness as an advertising medium.
ARPost
MARCH 4, 2020
We’re living in a time that some people have called the “ post-truth era.” While few people know what that means, one group is using augmented reality to help us envision it. And it doesn’t look good. What is Escape Fake? Escape Fake is an augmented reality escape room. Users print off a series of images that help to turn any room into an AR escape room.
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.
Tech Trends VR
MARCH 12, 2020
XR content pioneers Hammerhead is merging with its volumetric capture studios under the Dimension brand. Dimension was launched by Hammerhead in 2017 as a state-of-the-art volumetric capture and digital humans studio in partnership with Digital Catapult and Microsoft Click To Tweet. When Hammerhead first opened its doors back in 2014, it was one of the very first pure-play immersive content studios.
Virtual Reality Pulse brings together the best content for VR professionals from the widest variety of industry thought leaders.
The Ghost Howls
MARCH 6, 2020
We are in the coronavirus times, and the outbreak of this disease has changed in a way or in another the lives of many people. One of the biggest consequences is that many people are now quarantined, or have problems traveling in the world. Many conference organizers are canceling their events, even important ones (like F8, MWC, GDC) because of concerns over the coronavirus.
VRScout
MARCH 8, 2020
Alvin Wang envisions how conferences of the future will be done through March’s V2EC2020 conference. The coronavirus (COVID-19) has caused total havoc on all types of travel for vacationers and company employees. Travelers are seeing empty seats on their flights while many corporate companies have halted travel plans for employees. In February Facebook has canceled its annual F8 developer conference citing concerns over coronavirus, meanwhile, Google has canceled I/O 2020 , its largest in-
AR Insider
MARCH 10, 2020
This post is adapted from ARtillery Intelligence’s report, Spatial Computing: 2019 Lessons, 2020 Outlook. It includes some of its data and takeaways. More can be previewed here and subscribe for the full report. At this stage of spatial computing’s lifecycle , it’s becoming clear that patience is a virtue. After passing through the boom and bust cycle of 2016 and 2017, the last two years were more about measured optimism in the face of the sobering realities of industry shakeou
ARPost
MARCH 30, 2020
The business landscape has drastically changed in the blink of an eye. As a result of the global coronavirus pandemic, governments have imposed travel restrictions and lockdowns. Brick-and-mortar shops have closed, and all enterprises suddenly have to manage an entirely remote workforce. In this article, we focus on how extended reality technologies such as augmented and virtual reality can help enterprises when it comes to managing their workforce.
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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.
Road to VR
MARCH 30, 2020
Facebook is taking an important step towards releasing its first AR headset, as the company has signed an exclusivity agreement with UK-based AR display maker Plessey to supply the company with microLED displays. “We have decided to work with Facebook to help achieve their vision of the next computing platform centred around people,” Plessey says in a press statement. “Under a new commercial agreement, our LED manufacturing operations will be dedicated to helping Facebook proto
Tech Trends VR
MARCH 17, 2020
The latest announcements Facebook’s first virtual Game Developer’s Showcase which is happening this week. In the midst of the growing coronavirus pandemic, holding any sort of normal conference is entirely out of the question. But although it might seem like the entire world is grinding to a halt, life goes on and there are still some exciting announcements coming out of the tech world.
The Ghost Howls
MARCH 18, 2020
In these hard times , we are all collecting events that we should have attended and instead got canceled. Regarding me, for instance, we’re talking about MWC, GDC, XR Europe, Svilupparty, just to name a few. Some of these events have been definitely canceled, while others have reverted to the use of VR and will be held completely in virtual reality.
VRScout
MARCH 16, 2020
Don’t let the coronavirus outbreak prevent you from getting a great workout. The coronavirus outbreak is proving to be a major disruptor in terms of our day-to-day lives. In order to prevent unnecessary exposure, many schools and businesses have started to close, with those still open seeing low attendance due to self-imposed quarantines. Unsurprisingly, many public and private gyms have already begun shutting their doors to the public.
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.
AR Insider
MARCH 26, 2020
“Trendline” is AR Insider’s series that examines trends and events in spatial computing, and their strategic implications. For an indexed library of spatial computing insights, data, reports and multimedia, subscribe to ARtillery PRO. We recently speculated if the virtual office is AR’s killer app. Though a further-off reality and bit of future-gazing, it was prompted by then-recent comments from Mark Zuckerberg about AR-fueled remote collaboration to reduce pollution, stress and economic
ARPost
MARCH 27, 2020
As augmented reality moves out of an app and into an app-less experience more and more companies are utilizing this technology to provide more information in tight spots, like direct mail. Direct mail is confined to its corners but often people want more information about the offer. You have a few different response mechanisms to choose from but there is only one that enhances the mail moment – augmented reality.
Road to VR
MARCH 23, 2020
After years of quiet development, Half-Life: Alyx is finally here. With hype on all sides—as Valve’s first full-fledged VR game and the first Half-Life game in more than a decade—does it deliver? Read on to find out in our full Half-Life: Alyx review. Half-Life: Alyx Details: Developer: Valve Software. Available On: Steam (Index, Vive, Rift, Windows VR).
Next Reality AR
MARCH 11, 2020
The rumors have been circulating for months, but now there's a source attached to the notion that Magic Leap is looking to sell itself off after a rough couple of years following the launch of its Magic Leap 1 augmented reality device. The first rumbling of trouble came back in 2018, when the device was finally revealed to the public, after much Apple-style secrecy and well-hyped promotion, only to be scorched by many tech reviewers who apparently expected more from the $2,295 device.
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.
The Ghost Howls
MARCH 25, 2020
These days, I’m playing a lot of hours a day to write a review of Half-Life: Alyx ( here you can read my first impressions , in the meanwhile). Inspired by the work of TESTED, I’ve decided to do an experiment, and play Alyx with all the headsets that I’ve taken home from the office , asking feedback to some friends (like the ergonomics expert Rob Cole ) on other headsets I don’t own.
VRScout
MARCH 12, 2020
Stave off those quarantine blues with this easily accessible VR hangout experience. Couch Live is a webVR app that is accessible from any device such as your smartphone or computer, but best experienced through a VR headset. . Once you’ve entered your virtual living room – an incredible hangout space filled with art, matte black walls, and huge windows overlooking an amazing lake – you’ll take need to take a selfie in order to create your avatar.
AR Insider
MARCH 9, 2020
Data Point of the Week is AR Insider’s dive into the latest spatial computing figures. It includes data points, along with narrative insights and takeaways. For an indexed collection of data and reports, subscribe to ARtillery Pro. Visual search is our top pick for AR flavor that could birth killer apps. For those unfamiliar, it’s a sort of cousin of AR that taps computer vision and machine learning to identify items you point your phone at.
ARPost
MARCH 16, 2020
After decades of speculation, anticipation, hype, and disappointment, is 2020 virtual reality ’s breakout year? As someone who studies the psychology and ergonomics of virtual and augmented technologies, I’ve long known the key to mass adoption lies in a positive user experience, which virtual reality is now poised to deliver. Early research on the latest devices shows that the VR technologies of today have made significant progress on the fundamental comfort and usability challenges that
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?
Road to VR
MARCH 25, 2020
There was a lot riding on Half-Life: Alyx. Not only is it Valve’s first Half-Life game in more than a decade, it is also the studio’s first full fledged VR title. By the measurable reactions from critics and players alike, the game seems to have delivered against the odds. There was so much pre-release hype surrounding Half-Life: Alyx that I was personally worried that expectations had become entirely unrealistic.
Next Reality AR
MARCH 17, 2020
With many office workers in the US being asked to work from home if their job allows, Magic Leap's customary updates for the Lumin OS and Lumin SDK brings some help to keep distributed workforces connected. Chief among the new features arriving with Lumin OS version 0.98.10 and Lumin SDK 0.24 is a new Meetings feature that enables local and remote collaboration with 2D and 3D files.
The Ghost Howls
MARCH 5, 2020
Today, Valve has released on Steam two special environments for SteamVR Home that let you visit two places where Half-Life: Alyx will take place. I’ve visited them and I loved every second of those moments! If you have purchased a Valve Index , Valve not only lets you play Half-Life: Alyx for free, but also gives you some special goodies. Among them, there are two Half-Life: Alyx environments: Half-Life: Alyx – City 17 Alleyway , that lets you “wander the side streets of City 1
VRScout
MARCH 10, 2020
The founder and CEO of FXG takes you on a tour of his community while under government-issued quarantine. As the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak continues to spread throughout the globe, we’ve begun to see the many effects, both major and minor, of what can essentially at this point be considered a global pandemic: the cancelation of large events and public gatherings, government-mandated quarantines, and low supplies of disinfectant equipment at nearly every store.
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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