With Star Wars: Secrets of the Empire, virtual reality is finally ready for prime-time
For mainstream audiences, Star Wars: Secrets of the Empire may be the first time virtual reality actually delivers on the Holodeck-esque potential it’s been promising all along.
The storyline is exactly what any Star Warsfan would hope for: the group of participants infiltrate the base, get into some skirmishes, and after a couple of lucky escapes (and a big surprise), make their way out having more or less accomplished the mission. But what The Void does well is create the illusion of truly being in a virtual world by pairing physical sets, props, and sensations with the VR visuals.
...when I stood on a skiff approaching the Imperial facility, I felt the heat from the lava below, while the smoky smell of Mustafar’s atmosphere filled my nostrils. Later, when engaged in a firefight with stormtroopers, I felt a sharp haptic buzz whenever I caught a stray blaster bolt — not painful, but not exactly pleasant, either.
Initially, Secrets of the Empire will open in two standalone locations. The first will be at Disney Springs at Walt Disney World starting on December 16th, which will be capable of serving around a thousand guests per day across two different stages. A single-stage location will then open at the Disneyland-adjacent Downtown Disney complex in California on January 5th. But The Void will also be opening a two-stage pop-up at the Westfield mall in London for a 12-week run on December 16th, with the location later moving to a different Westfield for subsequent 12-week runs. That’s aside from future locations that The Void CEO Cliff Plumer says are also on the way.
Star Wars: Secrets of the Empire is priced at $29.95. Tickets are available now.
See the full story here: https://www.theverge.com/2017/11/20/16678438/star-wars-secrets-of-the-empire-virtual-reality-disney-the-void-ilmxlab
The Next Frontier for Virtual Reality: Courtrooms
Twenty-five years ago, a California jury took a brave leap into the future by donning headsets to watch a virtual reality-like accident reconstruction scene.
The three-dimensional defense presentation lacked interactivity, a current hallmark of virtual reality. But, even so, the presentation helped persuade the jury that a motorcyclist had chosen to ride on dangerous terrain, and that Honda Motor Co. was not responsible for the accident.
Though it can still run into six figures, the cost of virtual reality has come down and tech-savvy attorneys say the time is right for a fresh look at the technology’s use during trials, especially in areas like product liability or criminal law where evidence is vital to recreating events or presenting science.
Virtual reality could be used to “transport members of a jury to a Superfund site, inside a mesothelioma patient’s lungs, to the intersection where an accident occurred, or to a grisly crime scene,” said Edlin, managing partner at Bassi Edlin Huie & Blum in San Francisco.
“I believe that in 10 years, most trial lawyers will be using VR just like they’re using laptops today. VR will be the norm, not the exception,” plaintiffs’ attorney Mitch Jackson, a senior partner at Jackson & Wilson in Laguna Hills, Calif., told Bloomberg Law.
“In some places, it is still hard to use the color red in an illustration out of concern that the court will find it to be overly inflammatory,“ he said. “The use of VR may be adopted in one place quickly and still take years [for adoption] in another.”
Unlike other presentation forms, virtual reality basically embeds jurors at the location where a person was struck and injured by a bus, Edlin said.
These can be depicted in exact detail, “thereby erasing the uncertainty that plagues eyewitness accounts at trial of events long past,” he said.
VR is seen as being particularly useful in science-based litigation, like product liability, intellectual property, and medical malpractice cases. Some even see the immersive VR experience being used as a memory aid in a broader range of cases, both civil and criminal, for witnesses unable to recall events.
“The risks of VR as a memory aid are really no greater than photos, videos or any other type of dramatic evidence that a witness may see,” Lamber and Goodnow said.
But Wiliam & Mary’s Lederer pointed to a downside. He said that “reviving” memory by showing a witness materials with the substantive information clearly runs the risk of the witness testifying to the content of the materials and not an independent memory.
“Arguably, VR might not only accomplish the same thing in a more extreme form but might also implant information,” he said.
The use and widespread adoption of this technology will depend on whether it can be shown that no other media is as effective or “truthful” in showing the substantive aspects of the case, he said.
...VR experts need to be prepared to testify in court regarding the accuracy of the virtual reality model with the judge being the gatekeeper.
These experts will have to not only endure a cross-examination from the opposing lawyer, but they will also have to have their work validated by the judge as worthy of being shown to a jury, they said.
See the full story here: https://biglawbusiness.com/the-next-frontier-for-virtual-reality-courtrooms/
The Coursera Virtual Reality program will help you pick up skills to work with an emerging medium and make a game in Unity
In November, US based edutech company Coursera launched its first ever series of courses on Virtual Reality (VR) technologies. The courses have been designed with Goldsmiths college under the university of London, and no prior experience is necessary. The five courses get increasingly complex, and cover an introduction, creating 3D assets for VR, 3D interaction design, creating social VR apps and interactive characters, and finally ends with making a VR game using the Unity game engine.
Dr Pan explained that the rules of cinematography have to be rewritten for VR, as the traditional rules of framing and camera movement on film do not apply to VR content, "We can understand this with computer games which are closer to VR experience because it is interactive. Whatever you do with your control happens on the screen. For conventional videos, the camera angle assumes the line of view to be in a specific direction. In VR, the director can get the camera to speak their language. They do not have to make the user look at where they need to. The user can look at where they feel like. It also opens up opportunities for many other new types of creativity. But all of this will take time. "
If we had waited for everything else to settle before we start, we would not have that opportunity to teach it yet. Our lives would have been so much easier with standards around it."
Unity is a great platform to make VR content, and we saw some interesting XR applications made using Unity at the first ever Unite India conference in Hyderabad. These included an app that pops up engineering drawings, a dogfighting game with airplanes, and a simulation for the Indian army that allows forces to get a realistic picture about a new area before operations. The Unity VR Game course walks users through all aspects of game creation, including storyboarding, prototyping, testing and implementation. The VR courses are available on the Coursera website, as well as the Android and iOS apps.
Swimming with dolphins in virtual reality to aid disabled
APELDOORN, Netherlands: Swimming with wild dolphins is something most can only dream of, and jumping into pools with captive animals has become increasingly controversial with environmentalists condemning it as cruel.
But a Dutch non-profit believes it has found a way to bring people, especially the disabled, closer to such a joyful experience through the technological, immersive advances offered by virtual reality (VR).
"We know that there is something magical about dolphins. We think of joy, and playfulness and happiness and innocence when we meet dolphins. And this is even a healing quality," she told AFP.
The pool-safe VR goggles, developed thanks to 50,000 euros (US$59,000) grant from the Dutch government, consist of a waterproof Samsung smartphone in a waterproof backing mounted on a special 3D-printed rig made of recycled plastics.
See the full story here: http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/world/swimming-with-dolphins-in-virtual-reality-to-aid-disabled-9420104
IAAPA ’17 Wrap-up: Virtual Reality, Talking Robots and Fun Food filled the annual Orlando theme park convention
Guests walking around the show floor were surrounded by different VR experiences, one of the more classic ones offered was the MaxFlight simulator. You may have seen something similar to this in a shopping mall or other small carnival. Visitors who took on this experience got to fly a virtual plane over a small island. A fun part of this simulator is the fact that it does complete inversions and twists, making for a wild ride. Guests to the attraction could be heard screaming from across the show floor, especially during the times of when the simulator flips.
A scarier part of the event had to be zombies walking the floor of the Triotech booth. The undead were present to celebrate the company’s virtual reality “Fear the Walking Dead Survival” Attraction. This virtual experience is multisensory and combines a thrill ride, escape room, maze, and an interactive game, all set against the horrors of a zombie apocalypse. The adventure puts the guests right in the middle of an episode from the TV series, letting them live the same experience as the characters in the show.
See the full story here: http://www.insidethemagic.net/2017/11/iaapa-17-wrap-virtual-reality-talking-robots-fun-food-filled-annual-orlando-theme-park-convention/
TI DLP® technology enables next-generation augmented reality head-up displays
New automotive-qualified DLP3030-Q1 chipset and EVMs allow automakers and Tier-1 suppliers to create HUD systems with crisp, high-quality imagery (PRNewsfoto/Texas Instruments Incorporated)
Texas Instruments (TI) (NASDAQ: TXN) today unveiled the next evolution of DLP® technology for in-vehicle head-up display (HUD) systems. The new DLP3030-Q1 chipset, along with supporting evaluation modules (EVMs), gives automakers and Tier-1 suppliers the ability to bring bright, dynamic augmented reality (AR) displays to windshields and place critical information within the driver's line of sight.
The combination of increased VIDs and ability to showcase imagery across a wide field of view (FOV) gives designers the flexibility to create AR HUD systems with enhanced picture depth for an interactive, not distractive infotainment and cluster system.
- Designed and optimized for AR: Easily manages the solar load resulting from longer VIDs (Virtual Image Distance) greater than 7.5 meters, while supporting large displays up to 12 by 5 degrees FOV.
See the full story here: http://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/TI-DLP-technology-enables-next-generation-augmented-reality-head-up-displays-1008286754
Paramount Pictures Launching First Virtual Reality Movie Theater
[Philip Lelyveld comment: for this to be a social experience, the users will need a microphone. That is not yet a standard feature of VR headsets.]
On December 3, those consumers with any brand of VR headset can sign on to bigscreenvr.com and experience Top Gun 3D in what looks like a movie theater. Yes, you walk into a movie theater, complete with one-sheets and a theater seating. It will even have trailers prior to the main film. In addition, moviegoers will be seated in a virtual audience and can chat before the movie starts to everyone next to them or watching with them.
Then, for the next 24 hours and in 30-minute increments, VR headset users will be able watch Top Gun in 3D for free (Top Gun 3D is available now on Blu-ray). “This is a good example of what happens when you collaborate with Silicon Valley,” noted Tom Hayes, SVP New Media at Paramount.
Hayes first came across Bigscreen a year ago when it was “an enterprise productivity tool.” However, after he looked at what they were doing, he said to himself, “That’s a movie theater.” So six months ago, they began, in earnest, to develop a virtual movie theater. “It launches a possible new platform for the film business,” Hayes said.
See the full story here: http://deadline.com/2017/11/paramount-pictures-first-ever-virtual-reality-movie-theater-with-top-gun-3d-1202209276/
Five Technologies That Will Rock Your World
A.I. Health Care
Conversational Computing
Mind Control (Neuralink, founded by Elon Musk)
The Flying Car
The Quantum Computer
See the full story here: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/13/business/dealbook/five-technologies-that-will-rock-your-world.html