NEWS Google Wants Everyone to Try Scribble Art in Augmented Reality

See the full story here: https://mobile-ar.reality.news/news/google-wants-everyone-try-scribble-art-augmented-reality-0183672/

Virtual reality: Marina Abramović and Anish Kapoor at Art Basel Hong Kong

Next week sees the first public showing of two new short VR works at Art Basel Hong Kong, by equally distinguished figures from the art world, Anish Kapoor and Marina Abramović. They are being presented by the fair’s “virtual reality partner”, the Taiwanese electronics company HTC, as part of its Vive Arts programme highlighting the links between breaking developments in technology and the art world. The works by the two artists are, not surprisingly, very different. Kapoor’s “Into Yourself, Fall” is a journey through the human body, promising a “disorientating sensation of radical introspection” as the viewer negotiates vertiginous twists in a world that is both abstract and un­comfortably familiar. Abramović’s “Rising” is a polemical piece, asking us to consider the effects of climate change as we interact with an avatar of the artist who is slowly drowning inside a glass tank. The interaction continues after the viewing, via the downloading of an app which will periodically remind us of the artist’s struggles inside the tank and ask us to “save” her and, by extension, our planet.

See the full story here: https://www.ft.com/content/7f9d89d2-2c66-11e8-97ec-4bd3494d5f14

The history of VR in movies and TV: virtual reality Hollywood

See the full story here: https://www.techradar.com/best/ready-player-one-and-the-history-of-vr-in-movies-and-tv-virtual-reality-hollywood

Digital Domain announces acquisition of 3Glasses, a Virtual Reality Headset manufacturer

Digital Domain Holdings Limited (the "Company" or "Digital Domain"; stock code: 547), one of the largest and most innovative providers of visual effects and virtual reality (VR) experiences officially announced the acquisition of 60% of the effective interest of VR Technology Holdings Ltd, Shenzhen("3Glasses") on 22^nd March, 2018. This strategic acquisition gives the Company an opportunity to tap into the VR headset market with promising prospects and enables the Group to extend its VR business to cover hardware technology, building a fully integrated VR ecosystem that encompasses VR content production, content distribution and VR hardware, which is crucial in distributing VR contents.

As one of the pioneers and leaders of China's VR hardware equipment, 3Glasses has launched China's first VR headset- 3Glasses D1, China's first mixed reality (MR) headset- 3Glasses Blubur S1 (Windows Mixed Reality Developer Kit) and pioneered the development of the VR player- 3Box. With more than 15 years of experiences in VR/AR technology development, 3Glasses has grown into an innovative technology company covering VR software, hardware and developer tools, content platforms and industry solutions. By 2016, 3Glasses together with Samsung, Hewlett-Packard, Dell, Lenovo, Acer, Fujitsu and Asus became the Microsoft "Windows Mixed Reality" global partner. This further demonstrated the company's strength and global influence. Furthermore, 3Glasses made a profit guarantee for the acquisition, committing that its annual profits in 2018 and 2019 would be no less than RMB 30 millionand RMB 50 million respectively. This definitely benefits Digital Domain in long-term business development.

see the full story here: http://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/digital-domain-announces-acquisition-of-3glasses-a-virtual-reality-headset-manufacturer-1019119620

Google Is Developing Its Own Blockchain-Related Technology

Google is one of the largest information holders in the world, and while it’s security is strong, there is still room for improvement. To that end, Google is working on its own “blockchain-related technology,” according to Bloomberg. Sources close to the project say that Google is working to develop its own “distributed digital ledger that third parties can use to post and verify transactions.” Essentially, it would project consumer information stored on its cloud services. No release date has yet to be announced.

This move would be a way for Google to stand apart from cloud competitors, reports Bloomberg. The Internet giant has been acquiring and/or investing in various startups that have expertise in digital ledgers. Additionally, its parent company, Alphabet Inc., led all corporate investors in the field last year.

For those who’ve heard buzzwords like “blockchain” and “Bitcoin,” but aren’t entirely clear on what it all means, Bloomberg provides an apt description:

“Digital ledgers like blockchain power Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. They are databases that are updated regularly across thousands of computers over the Internet. Each entry is confirmed by these machines, which can be part of public networks or run privately by companies. There are different kinds of digital ledgers — blockchain is only one. Data crunched by this technology range from transactions to supply-chain updates to digital cats.”

See the full story here: http://www.etcentric.org/google-is-developing-its-own-blockchain-related-technology/

Get Your Virtual Pat-Down On In This TSA VR Simulator

Developed by Out There Entertainment, TSA Frisky finally delivers my long-sought answer, allowing me to step back into my shoes (get it?) and into the role of an official TSA agent. Tasked with keeping my bustling airport safe, it’s my responsibility to check both passengers and their luggage for any illegal contraband to confiscate in this Papers Please-like VR experience.

Using the Vive controllers, I can frisk travelers to discover restricted items, hitting the trigger when I feel a vibration to confiscate and then toss them into the appropriate bin. For extra help, I can also use the wand scanner on my tool belt to reveal even more hidden contraband. After that, I need to search through their luggage for any other suspicious objects. Once I’m done I just need to shut the suitcase and stamp their face for approval. You know, standard airport procedures.

See the full story here: http://www.virtualrealitypulse.com/edition/daily-magic-leap-unreal-2018-03-22?open-article-id=8000891&article-title=get-your-virtual-pat-down-on-in-this-tsa-vr-simulator&blog-domain=vrscout.com&blog-title=vrscout

Operating A Chemical Plant Using Augmented Reality

Using an augmented reality (AR) platform, a chemical engineering professor at the University of Rochester in New York is developing an innovative way for his students to understand and conduct chemical reactions. While simple in its design—webcam, computer, projector, and a pane of glass—the AR tabletop is impressive in its execution. This teaching experiment, developed in Professor Andrew White’s lab, turned out to have some interesting implications for the chemical industry, as well.

In augmented reality, the coffee mugs transformed into 10-cubic meter reactors—both plug flow and continuous stirred-tank reactors—and the popsicle sticks were suddenly pipes used to connect them. Student’s also had a nob which allowed them to adjust each reactor’s temperature as it was added to the configuration. Cameras captured reactor locations, and then this information was relayed to a computer, which was hooked up to a projector that displayed the results of the simulations onto the tabletop.

Even further, White and his collaborators—graduate students, Heta Gandhi and Rainier Barrett, and Dr. April Leuhmann and Dr. Brendan Mort—hope to work with the Rochester Museum & Science Center to develop an AR platform for simulating oil spills at the molecular level. White says the platform has the potential to be part of the conversation regarding the use of oil dispersants during a spill. The impact these dispersants have on wildlife is highly contended, and White and his colleagues believe AR could “allow people to try to design an oil surfactant and test its performance to separate oil and water with a molecular dynamics simulation while at the same time using QSAR modeling to assess its toxicity.” They also have future plans to develop a way to “control where a dispersant is injected in an interactive oil spill.”

See the full story here: https://www.chem.info/article/2018/03/operating-chemical-plant-using-augmented-reality

NY Times Brings Readers Closer to Bowie’s Freaky Costumes in Augmented Reality

With digital music and streaming services gaining in popularity, augmented reality could replace the album art experience that many music fans of older generations wax poetically about as the centerpiece of listening to the music of their youth. Because why stare at photos of your favorite artists when you can invite them into your bedroom?

See the full story here: https://mobile-ar.reality.news/news/ny-times-brings-readers-closer-bowies-freaky-costumes-augmented-reality-0183630/

What it’s like to wear Facebook’s $199 VR headset, Oculus Go

It was soft. It didn't leave marks on my face. And the VR looked just fine.

That's my first-impression feel of Oculus Go, an upcoming bid by Facebook to get new people interested in VR for a sub-$200 price, no phone necessary.

Facebook, owner of Oculus, has had a damn challenging week as it is. But Facebook and specifically Oculus have additional challenges with virtual reality, specifically advancing the tech forward and making sure people actually want to use it.

In that sense, I quickly discovered that Oculus Go is more about entry-level accessibility. The games and apps seem just like those on Samsung Gear VR, the Samsung phone VR accessory that's been available for years. I wouldn't be able to tell the difference. But the headset's design is less clunky, and the integrated, cleaner, softer and smaller construction here is better than Gear VR in most ways, more reminiscent of Google's Daydream View VR headset... but with all the VR hardware and displays built right in.

Anshar Wars Online is a space shooter, where movement is controlled by my head turning. Graphics looked smooth and controls were responsive. It's fine. I've tried better VR games, but it was a solid demonstration of the Go's capabilities.

Oculus Go isn't pushing new tech territories. It doesn't have 6 DoF (six degree of freedom tracking), which allows leaning forward or walking around a real space in VR. Instead, like Samsung Gear VR or Daydream View, you can only turn your head. An included controller with a simple click touchpad and trigger button is almost exactly like the wand-type controllers that come with Gear VR and Daydream View, and acts as a basic pointer with simple controls in games and apps. So, it's basically a phone-free Gear VR.

Oculus Go doesn't have a release date yet, but it's probably arriving by May to coincide with Facebook's F8 conference.

Oculus Go isn't bleeding-edge tech. But it made me realize that, for many people who haven't even tried VR before, it'll be plenty good enough... if you're OK with making Facebook your VR gateway right now.

See the full story here: https://www.cnet.com/news/facebook-oculus-go-gdc-2018-hands-on/

DEEP DIVE OR THE LIMITS OF IMMERSION – VIRTUAL REALITY EXHIBITION OPENS 4/4/18

Deep Dive or The Limits of Immersion explores the possibilities and challenges of Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality (AR/VR) to shape, integrate, and confuse aspects of reality.

The eight artists included in the exhibition have created guided meditations that take the viewer through various computer generated landscapes. The liminal spaces in AR/VR present poetic imaginaries of ecology, technology, history, postcolonial thought, and disability, while creating temporal and spatial multiplicities.

At a time when consumer-grade VR equipment is just coming on the market, and AR games and apps are becoming increasingly ubiquitous, this exhibition challenges artists and viewers to engage with a potentially powerful technology, while questioning its limitations and consequences.

Co-Sponsored by the Department of Art Practice and Digital Humanities at Berkeley.

See the full story here: http://art.berkeley.edu/events/event/deep-dive/