Planar’s latest buy takes aim at virtual reality
Beaverton-based display maker Planar Systems may not be the first local company to spring to mind when thinking about virtual or augmented reality, but the 33-year-old company is in fact working this emerging market into its business.
The company made a major move in this direction last week when it acquired Corvallis-based NaturalPoint for $125 million in cash. NaturalPoint, which has 60 employees, makes optical tracking and motion control technology, both of which are needed for an immersive VR experience.
Planar has been building out virtual reality within physical space with video walls and 3-D visualizations, Davis said. Uses for these high-end setups have included architectural design walk-throughs and big data visualizations or simulations for commercial and military use.
See the full story here: http://www.bizjournals.com/portland/news/2016/11/17/planars-latest-buy-takes-aim-at-virtual-reality.html
THE VIRTUAL REALITY REPORT: How the early days of VR are unfolding and the challenges it must overcome to reach mass adoption
Here are some key takeaways from the report:
- This has been an important foundational year for the VR market. New hardware and content have brought more options to market to appeal to a wider set of consumers.
- But the growth seen this year is merely a foreshadowing of the future. The highly fragmented VR market today will eventually narrow as the market grows and matures.
- After considerable progress in 2016, the VR market is ripe for transformation in 2017. Developers, consumers, investors, and hardware makers have a host of options from which to choose, each with their own strengths and shortcomings.
- The environment is poised for the first killer VR app to hit the market sometime in 2017, which will be a major catalyst for consumer adoption of VR hardware.
- Not all headset categories and platforms will emerge as winners in the near future. More immersive headsets that offer the best VR experiences are too expensive for most consumers. Alternately, affordable headsets that rely on smartphones as processors offer sub-par experiences that can induce sickness.
See the full story here: http://www.businessinsider.com/virtual-reality-report-2016-11
Virtual diamonds and Dior Eyes: Could augmented reality be about to revolutionise fashion retail?
Medich believes that augmented reality will be ubiquitous in just five years through our phones, headsets, or AR contact lenses and while that might sound a little hasty to some of you, it’s more realistic than you might think.
Imagine this but in a virtual retail world where you can be matched with products specific to your shape and personal style or where your bedroom becomes a fitting room and builds outfits based on exactly what’s in your wardrobe.
Why stop there? What about personal AI stylists or the ability to rent high-end clothing and jewellery that can only be viewed through AR lenses? If Merdich is right, the accessibility of luxury fashion could soon be available to every consumer.
See the full story here: http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/fashion/augmented-reality-virtual-reality-fashion-retail-a7425076.html
It’s Privacy vs. Innovation in ‘Wild West’ of Augmented Reality
“It creates opportunities and dangers depending on the individual,” said Ryan Calo, assistant professor of law at the University of Washington. He explained that while augmented reality offers the possibility to help the disabled or teach new skills, its use of location tracking, immediate access to information, and superimposition of virtual images into a person’s perception of their environment “raises novel concerns.”
Brian Mullins, co-founder and CEO of DAQRI, suggested that when government does need to intervene in AR development “regulations need to be tailored instead of painted with a broad brush.”
Calo told committee members that the right kinds of regulations could end up creating boons for innovation, rather than stifling it.
“Sometimes we can clarify liability and privacy rules in ways that allow the technology to flourish,” he said.
See the full story here: https://www.meritalk.com/articles/its-privacy-vs-innovation-in-wild-west-of-augmented-reality/
COVENT GARDEN TRANSFORMS INTO WORLD’S FIRST AUGMENTED REALITY SHOPPING DESTINATION THIS CHRISTMAS IN PARTNERSHIP WITH BLIPPAR AND HEARST MAGAZINES UK
Individual retailers have already started to reap the benefits of using AR in-store to digitally enhance their product offerings and consumer experiences. The Blippar activation in Covent Garden over the Christmas period will be the largest showcase of the impact of AR technology and gamification ever attempted in one location, creating immersive experiences that will transform brand loyalty and increase footfall, dwell time and revenue.
Today the activation launches across the one million sq ft Covent Garden estate in over 140 participating stores and restaurants including The Watch Gallery, Dior, Hackett, Sandro, Kiehl’s, Charlotte Tilbury, Clinique, Bobbi Brown, Ted Baker and Paul Smith.
See the full story here: http://www.hearst.co.uk/news/covent-garden-transforms-worlds-first-augmented-reality-shopping-destination-christmas-partnership-blippar-hearst-magazines-uk
I hung out with my past self in virtual reality
The new VR capture collects data on everything happening in the three-dimensional environment, so that during a replay a viewer can move freely around the space. As a nice gimmick, viewers inside a replay can even interact with certain items, for example grabbing a glow stick.
I checked out a replay of a Reggie Watts show and definitely felt like the energy and movement of his character came across.
For the average user, you now have the trippy opportunity to do something, then watch and, in a very limited way, interact with your past self. In clear violation of the Prime Directive, you can reach out and grab objects from out of your past self’s hand.
I can imagine that as our ability to capture what your real body is doing, this would open up incredible opportunities for athletes, dancers, and performers of all stripes to evaluate and perfect their own body language and position. For artists, there is also an opportunity to create interactive works that employ multiple versions of yourself. Instead of just layering samples of his own voice and instruments, Reggie Watts can start looping himself.
See the full story here: http://www.theverge.com/2016/11/17/13652518/altspace-vr-replay-loop-time-travel
You can now fly around Google Earth in virtual reality
But where Street View offers strings of photospheres collected by 360-degree cameras, users of Earth VR can virtually fly freely around a topographical reconstruction of the globe, or take guided tours of places like Manhattan and Monument Valley.
For now, Earth VR is Vive-only, although VR Apps product manager Mike Podwal says Google is “actively exploring support for other platforms.”
But it’s more exciting to think about what people could do with an open version of the app, or a tool like the non-VR Google Earth Tour Builder. You could embed your own stories into Google Earth, or link personal photo spheres to specific places. Businesses could offer a VR version of their neighborhood the way they might embed a Google Maps widget on their website. Even without this, it still feels like one of the biggest, most open-ended VR apps available right now.
See the full story here: http://www.theverge.com/2016/11/16/13643550/google-earth-vr-htc-vive-release
Virtual reality porn is just foreplay: Why augmented reality is the future of adult entertainment
Mainstream apps, like Pokémon Go and Snapchat, are already showing consumers’ appetite for augmented reality experiences. Ian Paul, CIO of San Diego-based adult film studio Naughty America, thinks they’re setting the stage for AR porn.
“AR porn will probably be available on your cell phone first, putting performers into your environment much like we’ve seen with Pokémon,” he said. “Eventually, the idea would be to have a performer actually jump in bed with you, but we are a ways from that right now.”
The girlfriend experience
When Lee began producing VR experiences for HoloFilm, she expected the kind of hardcore productions that are popular in traditional film to do best. She was surprised to learn that virtual reality drives a different market. The most popular VR films her company makes provide what’s called “the girlfriend experience.” The idea is to create a more intimate and realistic scene than you typically see in porn.
“I’d say, on a case-by-case basis, the most popular productions are those where the performer really knows how to make love to the camera,” said Glider. “It’s all about the eye contact with VR, making the connection, and that starts with the eyes.”
See the full story here: http://www.geekwire.com/2016/porn-driving-demand-virtual-reality-headed-next/
GE using augmented reality to fix machines
General Electric Co. has started using augmented reality devices as the company takes a major plunge into the use of artificial intelligence and virtual reality.
At the 2016 GE Minds + Machines conference held this week in San Francisco, Colin Parris, the vice president of GE Software Research, demonstrated how employees are talking to machines and interacting with them using Microsoft's Hololens augmented reality device.
GE has created so-called "digital twins" of the machines that it sells - a steam turbine for instance - that are digital replicas of actual machines at customer sites. The company has created a software system that allows customers to speak to the digital twin and ask it questions about potential parts breakdowns, financial forecasts and the best way to fix problems.
The digital twins are loaded with data they can crunch to provide the best advice - which is given in real language not unlike Siri on the iPhone.
The digital twin can run thousands of simulations at a time using environmental and operational data to predict breakdowns or other events.
See the full story here: http://www.timesunion.com/news/article/GE-using-AI-HoloLens-to-speak-to-machines-10620190.php