Toe-Tapping Tech: The World’s First Virtual Reality Musical
Unlike a typical film that utilizes extras as background filler behind the main shot, in VR the people in the background could easily move to the foreground, depending on what the viewer decides to set their gaze upon. While you can attempt to guide their view through action and movement, being overly prescriptive with this defeats the purpose of the virtual reality experience—viewers are supposed to have curious eyes, otherwise it might as well be on a traditional screen. If extras are static characters, the realism of the experience is suddenly thrown off balance.
Because of this, Howard and his team decided to write individual story arcs for every single person in the film—all 36 of them. “We never really called them ‘extras,’ they were really more of a supporting cast,” he says. “The replayability factor of this is interesting, because while the film may only last four minutes, if you want to watch every story arc and uncover all the details, it might be a 45-minute experience.”
See the full story here: https://www.ceros.com/blog/vr-musical/
SXSW Will Feature 8K Video Virtual-Reality Motion Ride That Requires No Headset
Unlike other virtual-reality implementations, the 8K VR motion ride at the Austin Convention Center will not require a head-mounted display or headphones — instead, it uses a hemispherical screen and surround sound to provide the VR experience.
The two-seat ride is produced by a group of Japanese media and entertainment companies, led by NHK Enterprises and NHK Media Technology, which are affiliates of Japan’s public broadcaster, NHK. They worked with spherical-screen technology vendor Wonder Vision Techno Laboratory and RecoChoku Labo (the R&D department of digital-music provider RecoChoku) to develop the five-minute ride, which is described as a “celebration of Tokyo” as the host city for the 2020 Summer Olympic Games.
See the full story here: http://variety.com/2017/digital/news/sxsw-nhk-demo-virtual-reality-ride-8k-1202002735/
Game Developers Conference: What’s Next in VR Storytelling
VR leaders gathered for day two of the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco last week. Many of the talks addressed techniques for dealing with a medium in which you present a story and a world to the ‘visitor,’ but you have limited control over how the visitor experiences it. The “Job Simulator” team created microstories bounded by story pinchpoints within a macrostory. The HBO “Westworld” VR and Baobab Studios teams rewarded visitors for taking actions that advance the story, but embedded triggers that advance the story when the visitor misses the cues. The “Trials on Tatooine” team learned that understanding and accommodating visitors with varying physical abilities can not only improve user experience design, but inform story development.
See the full story here: http://www.etcentric.org/game-developers-conference-whats-next-in-vr-storytelling/
Mixed Reality Technology Is Coming to Xbox Game Consoles
Microsoft released new details on one of the headsets made with its Windows Mixed Reality tech. Acer is making a Windows Mixed Reality Development Edition headset, which has external cameras to display real-world images as part of AR experiences. It also has two 1440 x 1440 displays and can refresh at a rate of 90 fps to provide high quality imaging for both AR and VR experiences.
Currently, the headset can only run on a PC with Windows 10. The Mixed Reality Development Edition headset has a USB and a HDMI 2 port for connecting to other gadgets.
Microsoft will start shipping the new development kits in the next few weeks. The company says it is partnering with device makers such as Dell, HP, Lenovo and 3Glasses on new headsets.
See the full story here: http://www.etcentric.org/mixed-reality-technology-is-coming-to-xbox-game-consoles/
As we announced last year, we’re partnering with leading device makers including Acer, ASUS, Dell, HP, Lenovo, and 3Glasses on a wide range of headsets that pair with your Windows Mixed Reality-ready PC.
The specifications for the Acer Windows Mixed Reality Development Edition headset include:
- Two high-resolution liquid crystal displays at 1440 x 1440
- Display refresh rate up to 90 Hz (native)
- Built-in audio out and microphone support through 3.5mm jack
- Single cable with HDMI 2.0 (display) and USB 3.0 (data) for connectivity
See the full story here: https://blogs.windows.com/windowsexperience/2017/03/01/windows-mixed-reality-dev-kits-shipping-month/#mhjDjKg6uWkfXMwS.97
Bjork VR experiences in LA in May, 2017
See the catalog of Bjork VR experiences at this multi-day ticketed event at The Reef, near downtown LA.
http://www.laphil.com/tickets/bjork-digital-overview?sctp=email&scvn=house&scsrc=email&sckw=na&utm_source=Email&utm_campaign=WD1617_Dedicated_-_Bjork_170221&cmp=1&utm_medium=HTMLEmail
Epic Games Demos Real-Time Effects for New Branded Short
“That was not a regular movie,” said Libreri. “That was a real-time generated movie.”
The Unreal game engine made it work, combined with Cyclops, a virtual production toolkit developed at The Mill for use in commercial shoots. For shoots where the automobile is so top secret that it can’t be seen on streets, The Mill has used the Blackbird, a stand-in car it created that features cameras and sensors to record all the driving information and “an electric engine that can be programmed to emulate the torque of any of the cars it is supposed to represent.” The Mill uses data gathered by the Blackbird to switch out to the car being advertised.
At first, studios may use real-time effects for on-set visualizations, “while still relying on traditional rendering after the fact for the finished project.” In this way, “any images generated during a shoot could be reused for other projects, including AR or VR assets,” said Epic general manager Marc Petit. “We don’t like to throw any pixels away.”
The potential to use this technology for truly interactive digital media could be “one of the biggest upsides of real-time effects.”
See the full story here: http://www.etcentric.org/epic-games-demos-real-time-effects-for-new-branded-short/
Virtual reality shows children what to expect before MRI
Currently available from the Google store for Android, and soon to be available from the Apple store for iOS, the My MRI at King’s app not only tries to help children acclimatize to the loud tapping noises that are part of the scan, it also helps teach them that they need to keep very still during the entire period within the machine. As well as being available in the hospital, parents can download the app for home use. The developers behind the app included the entire journey a child will take, from entering the hospital all the way to preparing for the scan and then the scan itself.
See the full story here; https://www.springwise.com/virtual-reality-shows-children-expect-mri/