How Sound Design Makes Virtual Reality More Immersive
Dolby created a set of tools that work with the popular Pro Toolsdigital audio workstation (DAW) software to allow audio engineers to tether sounds to objects in 360-degree videos.
Of course, you can assume a VR sound mix will keep portions of the audio glued to specific locations, so when you turn your head, the sound changes as it would in the real world.
When it comes to recording the video, however, Dolby partnered with Jaunt to make compelling audio/video experiences in virtual reality. Jaunt created a series of 360-degree cameras and a platform for delivering the finished video. Together, they offer a set of hardware and software tools for creating immersive video experiences for VR headsets.
Not all headsets have support right now, but many of the more accessible options that utilize smartphones, such as Google Cardboard, do.
See the full story with videos and links here: http://next.reality.news/news/sound-design-makes-virtual-reality-more-immersive-0173158/
Walt Disney’s ‘Fantasia’ Inspires Virtual Reality Creation
John Rhys-Davies in Virtual Reality with Innerspace VR wearing the HTC VIVE headset. (PRNewsFoto/Innerspace VR)
FIREBIRD: La Peri has been created as an interactive VR fantasy adventure and visual masterpiece inspired by Walt Disney's Fantasia.
Innerspace VR worked with a ballet dancer and state of the art motion capture facilities to create the guardian spirit - La Peri as well as the other magical creatures you encounter on the journey. The resulting effect is one of unparallelled life-like presence and emotion in a fully artificial environment.
See the full story here: http://latfusa.com/article/2016/8/walt-disneys-fantasia-inspires-virtual-reality/
Virtual Reality in Physical Therapy
According to the ReGame VR website: “The ReGame VR lab focuses on promoting the sustainable, evidence-based integration of virtual reality (VR) and active video gaming systems into rehabilitation. We explore how VR-based therapy can improve motor learning, balance, functional mobility and participation in children and adults with neuromotor impairments. We evaluate motor learning paradigms in virtual environments to understand how task practice conditions impact motor learning processes and outcomes. Our mission is to produce clinically-relevant, high-quality evidence in the field of virtual rehabilitation.”
Dr. Lev Kalika of New York Dynamic Neuromuscular Rehabilitation & Physical Therapy has helped to pioneer a system of virtual reality-based physical therapy. According to a recent story published by Inc.com, the use of VR in physical therapy has yielded some very encouraging results. For patients recovering from strokes, surgeries, or injuries, VR-augmented rehabilitation has shown hope for recovery.
One of Dr. Kalika’s solutions, the Computer Assisted Rehabilitation Environment, aims to treat patients with back pain, ortho, neuro, sports med and walking disorders. VR techniques are used to manipulate and expedite the learning process in both real and virtual environments. By focusing a patient’s attention on the effects of their movements with his or her external focus, the patient comes closer to recovery.
See the full story here: http://www.concorde.edu/blog/physical-therapist-assistant-virtual-reality
Venice Film Fest to Launch Virtual Reality Feature About Jesus Christ
A 40-minute preview of ‘Jesus VR,’ billed as the first feature-length virtual reality film, will play for festivalgoers.
Jesus VR indeed seems to be the first high-budget VR film with a distribution strategy from festival to consumer. And Venice is front and center in its launch of new technologies, beating other top festivals to the punch.
The film will be accessible to preview for all accredited badge holders Sept. 1-Sept. 4 at Venice’s new VR theater on the second floor of the casino, which is equipped with 50 VR headsets and individual seats which pivot 360 degrees.
Shot entirely in Matera, Italy in 4K 360 Degrees, Jesus VR – The Story of Christ goes back 2,000 years in time to show the story of Jesus Christ from his birth to his resurrection. Employing over a hundred crew members and hundreds of extras, it is believed to be the most ambitious feature-length virtual reality film ever produced. If a success, it could help shape the way virtual reality stories are produced and distributed.
The film will release this Christmas on all major virtual reality platforms, including Google Cardboard, Samsung Gear, Oculus Rift, PlayStation VR and the HTC Vive.
See the full story here: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/venice-jesus-christ-virtual-reality-921401
‘Bigscreen’ Launches on Oculus Home, Update Brings Custom Avatars and More
Bigscreen, the social VR app which brings you and your computer’s desktop into VR with your friends, is launching on Oculus Home today and getting an update with new features and better performance.
The free title is still in beta, and is receiving regular updates. The latest of which brings enhanced features and better performance.
Perhaps the biggest change to this version is a new character builder for creating custom avatars.
Other enhancements include the much-requested desktop audio streaming, a new user interface, and performance improvements.
See the full story here:http://www.roadtovr.com/bigscreen-launches-on-oculus-home-rift-update-brings-custom-avatars-and-more/
Hands-on: Crytek’s ‘The Climb’ with Oculus Touch Feels Like an Entirely New Experience
Traversing the mountain face was easy, and while it left my arms tired (as I was constantly grasping for handholds) the results are so much more satisfying when you’re mimicking the movements of reaching and grabbing, instead of craftily manipulating a gamepad and craning your neck for purchase.
Moving your arms to reach for a new grip changes your point of view in the direction of the next hand hold, so even though your head is fairly immobile, you feel like you’re traveling left, right, up or down depending on your chosen direction. While this doesn’t sound technically appealing (any undue movement is usually a bad thing in VR), it felt more like I was pulling the world with me, and that I had a tight control over my locomotion even if it was exaggerated to help me move from handhold to handhold. Even making a risky jump to a next handhold felt like a natural movement, if only because I was engaging more with the physicality of the game than I would have otherwise.
See the full story here: http://www.roadtovr.com/crytek-the-climb-oculus-touch-feels-like-an-entirely-new-experience/
Is virtual reality the future of online pornography?
Kiiroo is just one of many companies whose future success rests on the increasing popularity of virtual reality sex.
Based in Amsterdam, the team launched their business with interactive sex toys for long-distance couples.
But they soon realised their products would be compatible with the new breed of virtual reality porn films.
Their devices enhance virtual reality pornography by adding physical sensation to an already "immersive" visual experience, according to Maurice Op de Beek, the firm's chief technology officer.
Pornographic videos are shot from a first-person perspective. They are then coded so that the images seen on-screen correspond with movements made by the toys.
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"If someone just wants to see a girl be naked, there are many, many ways they can do that for free basically," she says.
"What this [cam modelling] offers is human connection and virtual reality exponentially increases that connection."
But Ela acknowledges that the relationship between her and her clients can lack balance.
"I've had a couple of people at this point who will experience my VR chatroom and they start to feel comfortable and safe," she explains.
"Do I feel safe and trust them on the same level that they feel that with me?
"Certainly not. I don't actually know these people, I don't have the same experience they're having. I'm not in their virtual bedrooms with them.
"On that level there's definitely a skewed reciprocity.
Psychosexual and relationship therapist Sarah Calvert says she has grave concerns about the repercussions virtual reality pornography may have on viewers.
"Your self-esteem can have a really big knock if you're in these virtual reality experiences and you're looking down and seeing ripped abs, big penis and then you come back to reality and that's not the case," she explains.
Without pornography, the internet as we know it today, would not exist.
See the full story here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/article/37057814/is-virtual-reality-the-future-of-online-pornography
Will immersive virtual reality be too much for kids and their parents?
Spoiler: The bunny dies in one tested ending. And in VR, that triggered much stronger feelings than it would have done in a regular movie.
Killing the bunny triggered much stronger feelings than it would have done in a regular movie. You are in the story; you are the bunny’s companion, yet there is nothing you can do to save it. You can see how this must be much harder on children — and adults, for that matter— I cried watching “Pete’s Dragon”! — than a traditional screening, even a 3-D one.
See the full story here: http://www.recode.net/2016/8/18/12537956/virtual-reality--kids-parents-psychological-emotional-immersive