Of course the most prominent of these experiences center around interacting with virtual girlfriends, a common practice in modern Japan. We’ve seen AR girlfriend cafes, actual marriages to virtual wives, even VR ear cleaning by anime-style waifus. But out of all the many digital companion immersive experiences available, none of them gave Japanese users the one activity they’ve been desperate for: being hand-fed candy by a gorgeous idol.
Dream no more friends, as Puccho’s 4-D candy-feeding headset and VR experience is on the way.
See the full story here: http://www.virtualrealitypulse.com/edition/daily-zeiss-htc-2018-03-06?open-article-id=7919970&article-title=vr-headset-uses-robot-arm-to-feed-you-candy&blog-domain=vrscout.com&blog-title=vrscout
A new study by researchers at Northwestern University could help tech developers incorporate smell into virtual reality systems, adding a new wrinkle to technology that has, thus far, focused primarily on visuals and audio.
The mice were first introduced to a virtual environment created using both visual and olfactory cues. Researchers then shut off the visual virtual reality system, forcing the mice to navigate the room in total darkness based on smell cues alone.
Even after all visual cues were taken away, the mice were able to navigate around the room just as well as before. The study demonstrates for the first time that a mammal’s brain can form a map of its surroundings based solely on smells.
“It somewhat makes sense that you can navigate based on whatever cue is providing the most information,” Dombeck said, adding that when the lights go out, humans use nonvisual cues (such as touch and sound) in order to move around.
As for the study’s impact on virtual reality designed for humans, Dombeck said there are already companies trying to develop VR systems that involve smell, though “they don’t look like anything you would want to wear,” he said.
See the full story here: https://chicagotonight.wttw.com/2018/03/05/sniff-test-study-incorporates-smell-virtual-reality
The BBC used a Virtual Reality camera to film a news report looking at the political implications of the damming of the River Nile in Ethiopia.
Alastair Leithead, the BBC’s Africa correspondent, took a trip down the iconic river through Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt for the two-part report entitled Damming the Nile VR.
Much of the project was shot using an Insta360 Pro, a 1.2kg VR camera with six fisheye lenses that is usually mounted on a tripod and was supervised by VR expert Phil Harper.
The camera generates immersive VR with fully spatialised audio, meaning the sound changes depending where the user looks.
The Insta360 Pro is designed to be mobile and Leithead and his team sheltered the camera with a sunhat to prevent the unit overheating between takes.
“Crucially, the trip was going to be happening anyway and it seemed like a good opportunity to help kick-start the BBC’s VR content with a journey down a scenic river,” says Leithead, in comments to KFTV. "The trip would ordinarily be too expensive if planned as a project organised solely around VR."
See the complete story here: http://www.kftv.com/news/2018/03/06/bbc-nile-report-films-with-virtual-reality-camera
You’ve never seen dance like this before—or in so many ways. This week, Barneys is unveiling a revolutionary partnership with New York’s iconic Martha Graham Dance Company, creating a piece that melds today’s most cutting-edge fashion with contemporary dance and technology that has never been employed in this way before. Filmed using 360-degree camera technology, an 11-minute dance performance is being shared online via Samsung VR. Those in New York and Beverly Hills can visit the three flagship stores to check out our store windows and for an immersive virtual reality experience that puts the viewer in the center of the action using Samsung Gear VR powered by Oculus.
See the full story here: http://thewindow.barneys.com/martha-graham-virtual-reality-film-mantle/
MoMAR inaugural show 'Hello, we're from the internet' from Damjanski on Vimeo.
"Hello, we're from the internet" is an art project that took over the MoMA's Jackson Pollock room without permission.
A collective of eight internet artists transformed the Jackson Pollock room in the New York City Museum of Modern Art into their own augmented reality gallery—without the museum's permission.
The collective, which calls itself “MoMAR,” is making a statement against elitism and exclusivity in the art world with its group art installation Hello, we’re from the internet. The eight artists had their own works overlaid on top of seven Jackson Pollock paintings using augmented reality technology. By downloading their MoMAR app, anyone with a phone can see their work.
“It’s funny, because even people who were just visiting MoMA seem to primarily experience the work through the lens on their phones by taking selfies or photos of the work,” Barcia-Colombo said. “Our AR work added an extra layer of digitization by hacking the pre-existing work to reveal the work of artists who are experimenting with a new form.”
See the full story here: https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/8xd3mg/moma-augmented-reality-exhibit-jackson-pollock-were-from-the-internet
To deliver on the film/book’s virtual vibe, the exterior of Brazos Hall will be transformed into the Stacks, the vertical trailer park where people live. Attendees will receive an RFID wristband, and enter the venue through Wade’s van, the protagonist’s hideout, and also experience a slice of the fantastical online world of the OASIS through both VR and physical installations.
With HTC as the film’s official VR partner, VR demo stations will include a number of experiences such as an Avatar Creator, a WaveVR DJ set by the film’s star Tye Sheridan (who plays Wade Watts), and VR versions of classic arcade games and experiences inspired by the universe of Ready Player One.
Here’s the full list of things to do:
- The RFID wristband will keep score as guests test their knowledge of ‘80s trivia, play arcade games, or look for hidden clues, to move up the Leaderboard to win fun prizes, including one grand prize per day: an HTC VIVEVR System.
- Visitors can browse at Avatar Outfitters, offering the Hot Topic “Ready Player One” Pop-Up Shop. Guests will have a chance to score officially licensed gear, including exclusive t-shirts, caps, jewelry, backpacks, collectible pins and other cool accessories, as well as fan-favorite Funko Pop! vinyl figures and Copper, Jade and Crystal key sets, and much more, all available for purchase.
- Guests can try out the “Ready Player One” Avatar Creator by VIVE to choose their new digital identity, and then send the avatar to their personal email.
- Drop into 2045’s hottest nightclub, The Distracted Globe, where infinity mirrors create the impression of being gravity-free for a cool photo op, and guests can enjoy “Ready Player One”-themed specialty cocktails.
- From the stage: ‘80s trivia happy hours and nightly artist performances, with special guest DJs and performers, including a WaveVR DJ set by Tye Sheridan, who stars in “Ready Player One”; Them Jeans; FM-84; Bird Peterson; and a special performance by a surprise guest.
- On Saturday, March 10, the SXSW Film Festival will hold its 25th Edition party, celebrating the anniversary of the film festival, at the Experience.
- On Sunday, March 11, the venue will hold a livestream, “Ready Player One” LIVE at SXSW, powered by Twitch and IMDb, hosted by Aisha Tyler and correspondent Alex Correa. The stream will be live on Twitch and IMDB and will feature some of the stars and filmmakers from “Ready Player One,” including cast members Tye Sheridan, Olivia Cooke, Lena Waithe, Win Morisaki, Philip Zhao and Ben Mendelsohn; screenwriter Zak Penn; and author/screenwriter/co-producer Ernest Cline.
See the full story here: http://www.virtualrealitypulse.com/edition/daily-htc-microsoft-2018-03-03?open-article-id=7906494&article-title=-ready-player-one--is-getting-a-massive-sxsw-event-powered-by-htc-vive&blog-domain=roadtovr.com&blog-title=road-to-vr
Twitter chief executive Jack Dorsey has brought his own company to task, for what he said is a less-than-stellar performance in handling malicious activity. More specifically, he said that he did not move quickly enough to take action against the Russian efforts to create divisions between Americans. Dorsey, who has previously expressed contrition for his slow reaction, has now made it clear that the company needs to take actions to prevent this from happening again, rather than just reacting after the fact.
The Wall Street Journal reports that Dorsey has stated that, “Twitter is looking to hire outside experts to help it measure the quality of conversations on the social network, echoing concerns expressed recently by Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg.”
The Verge reports that Twitter also said it is “seeking proposals to determine exactly how the company is fostering ‘healthy debate, conversations, and critical thinking’ versus abuse, spam, and manipulation.” Dorsey said the company is now looking to create a “systemic framework,” that will “increase the collective health, openness, and civility of public conversation around the world.”
Twitter is accepting proposals until April 13 and plans to announce the first projects in July; “the chosen applicants will partner with Twitter and receive funding for their projects.”
See the full story here: http://www.etcentric.org/twitter-to-hire-experts-accept-proposals-to-stop-bad-actors/
Whereas in the past we may have primarily associated VR with video games, military and flight simulations, it has now found its place in several other professional and recreational activities. Some of those use AI algorithms and programs to operate and increase user experiences, flowing over into the workplace.
We’ve covered LookVR before and how you can edit and change graphs and data as if these visual representations were tangible items for you to shape using their virtual headset. Well, for similar purpose, companies like Virtualitics are collaborating with companies like NASA to create these kinds of analytics programs that work with AI and machine learning.
In what may be the oddest example of VR, The New York Times recently created a VR newspaper. That’s right, you can use buttons to flip the pages of a virtual newspaper using VR, rather than buying a physical newspaper and flipping those pages with your fingers. Whether this is to reduce paper waste or just get the newspaper to more people, they did it, and one may wonder how the digital world will ultimately affect paper media in the future. It may be hard to imagine other magazines and newspapers moving to this format, but one never knows.
See the full story here: https://insidebigdata.com/2018/03/03/ai-changing-way-use-vr-workplace/
Even now, there are no likes, no retweets, no comments. You open the app, and you're looking through a lens. Evan Spiegel, the company’s founder and CEO, doubled down on this commitment to the camera when he filed for Snap's IPO last year, plainly saying, “Snap Inc. is a camera company.”
Despite Spiegel's succinct summation, Snapchat's evolution tells a different story. As the app became more popular, its users started commanding huge followings on the app. DJ Khalad showed up, along with the Kardashians. It became the place to see to your real friends, but also your internet friends, your favorite celebrities, and your ex-girlfriend's cousin's dog.
Call it the great homogenization of social media: As Facebook and Instagram and Snapchat started competing for users and features, it became harder to tell them apart.
If you had to reduce that identity crisis to a single thing, it would be the constant comparison to Instagram.
Instead, focus on being the internet's best augmented reality camera. Pour resources into improving the camera technology that made it great in the first place. Then someday, in the future, people will look back at selfies with the puppy filter and instead of calling it "AR photography," they'll call it a Snap.
See the full story here: https://www.wired.com/story/stop-calling-snapchat-a-social-network/
Of course the most prominent of these experiences center around interacting with virtual girlfriends, a common practice in modern Japan. We’ve seen AR girlfriend cafes, actual marriages to virtual wives, even VR ear cleaning by anime-style waifus. But out of all the many digital companion immersive experiences available, none of them gave Japanese users the one activity they’ve been desperate for: being hand-fed candy by a gorgeous idol.
To deliver on the film/book’s virtual vibe, the exterior of Brazos Hall will be transformed into the Stacks, the vertical trailer park where people live. Attendees will receive an RFID wristband, and enter the venue through Wade’s van, the protagonist’s hideout, and also experience a slice of the fantastical online world of the OASIS through both VR and physical installations.