philip lelyveld The world of entertainment technology

Democratic National Convention Goes Virtual Reality with 360-Degree Live Stream

Politics junkies now have a new way to follow the Democratic National Convention (DNC) in Cleveland this week: The whole event is being live streamed in 360-degree video.

Viewers can find the 360-degree DNC live stream on YouTube, where they can pan around by tilting their phone, or using their PC’s mouse to change the perspective and switch back and forth between speakers and their audience.

In addition, viewers can also switch to Cardboard mode, and watch the stream with a Cardboard-compatible virtual reality headset. Select 360-degree video highlights are going to be made available on the DNC’s YouTube channel as well.

See the full post here: http://variety.com/2016/digital/news/dnc-virtual-reality-360-live-stream-1201824493/

‘Rec Room’ for HTC’s Vive brings people together by giving them more to do than chit-chat

What makes it so engaging is that the other inhabitants of Rec Room are avatars of real people too.

Rec Room has been called the “Wii Sports” of VR and the comparison to the Nintendo game that sold millions of motion-controller consoles works on several levels. Not only are the rudimentary graphics and mini-games similar to those found on the 2006 title, but Rec Room serves as an intriguing introduction to VR.

Rec Room — created by developers at Against Gravity, the Seattle-based start-up who also worked on Microsoft’s HoloLens headset — works better than other attempts to bring people together in virtual worlds because it gives them something to do.

Without filters or moderation, there is scope for abuse.

See the full story here: https://next.ft.com/content/d1bf05c6-53e4-11e6-9664-e0bdc13c3bef

Fighter pilots invented a revolutionary way for surgeons to peer inside people’s skulls

Fighter pilots and brain surgeons have a lot in common.

With limited time and a high degree of risk, they must zero in on a dangerous target with the intent to destroy, making sure to minimize any collateral damage.

Perhaps no one understands that relationship better than Alon Geri and Moty Avisar, veterans of the Israeli Air Force and co-founders of Surgical Theater, an Ohio-based company that brings state-of-the-art virtual reality to brain surgeons.

Physicians in thick black goggles can step inside a patient's skull, explore the malformed region, craft a strategy for entry, elimination, and exit, and even do dry runs of the surgery itself.

The technology, which Surgical Theater calls SNAP (Surgical Navigation Advanced Platform) uses existing MRI scans to create 3D models, which are compatible with virtual reality. Geri and Avisar, both engineers, developed SNAP after working extensively on flight simulation. They realized in the early 2000s that the problems facing brain surgeons were nearly identical to those of their fellow pilots.

"You do it wrong the first time, and it's either game over or you spend the rest of the surgery putting out fires," Geri tells Tech Insider.

SNAP is being used in nine locations so far, including Stanford, UCLA, and New York's Mount Sinai Hospital. A tenth location will adopt the technology later this year, Geri says. Doctors have performed about 900 surgeries using SNAP to date.

See the full story here: http://www.techinsider.io/virtual-reality-brain-surgery-2016-7

Mr Robot VR experience

Step inside the world of Mr. Robot like never before and experience a pivotal moment from Elliot's past. There are a variety of ways to view the Mr. Robot Virtual Reality Experience - see below for the different ways to watch.

See the full story here: http://www.usanetwork.com/mrrobot/vr

HoloLens Hack Fools the Brain Into Fixing Itself

A Microsoft employee suffering from myoclonus-dystonia—a condition where the misfiring of the brain causes uncontrollable muscle spasms—discovered that she could regain control during a spasm by looking at her partner’s feet rather than her own. And that’s how she got her great idea: Why not use the HoloLens to retrain the brain and get it to act differently? To that end, she recruited the Microsoft Hackathon team to put the idea to the test.

Previous work by neuroscientist Vilayanur S. Ramachandran has shown that it’s possible to retrain the brain by tricking it with illusions. By using mirror images of a hand, he was able to alleviate the agonizing symptoms of phantom limb syndrome in amputees.

See the full story here: http://gizmodo.com/hololens-hack-fools-the-brain-into-fixing-itself-1784459615

PlayStation VR play area requirements detailed, seated play recommended

LOS ANGELES, CA - JUNE 14: Attendees participate in VR virtual reality demos during E3 Electronic Entertainment Expo 2016 at Los Angeles Convention Center on June 14, 2016 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Daniel Boczarski/WireImage)

PlaySTation VR is set to arrive on October 13, but a new official pamphlet being distributed by the company (via Polygon) sheds some light on what players can expect in terms of space requirements and gameplay style. The document shows that the idea space is about 6′ x 10′ big, with the player seated roughly in the middle, facing the PlayStation Camera at the long end.

HTC Vive’s room-scale VR, by comparison, requires 6’6″ by 5′ of play space, which is smaller despite PlayStation’s advisory in the pamphlet above that players remain seated whenever possible during in-game experiences.

Other info shared in the sales document for PS VR include system requirements, details regarding second-screen viewing von your TV via Social Screen, compatibility with glasses (it has that), and a proviso that the height of your in-game play area will depend on how high you place your PlayStation camera, and what angle it covers.

The headset, due out on Oct. 13, delivers 960x1080 resolution to each eye at a refresh rate of 120Hz or 90Hz. The field of view is about 100 degrees. A person’s natural field of view is 180 degrees by 150 degrees.

See the full story here: https://techcrunch.com/2016/07/29/playstation-vr-play-area-requirements-detailed-seated-play-recommended/

and

http://www.polygon.com/2016/7/29/12321092/playstation-vr-space-requirement

Technicolor Launching Augmented and Virtual Reality Experience Center

Technicolor is opening a Technicolor Experience Center to develop content, platforms and technology for virtual reality, augmented reality and other evolving media applications. The company is in the process of leasing new space in Culver City for the operation.

The facility will be led by longtime Technicolor exec Marcie Jastrow, who has been named senior vp of immersive media for Technicolor. She’ll be joined by employees from various Technicolor businesses as well as some new hires.

See the full story here: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/behind-screen/technicolor-launching-augmented-virtual-reality-915319

A Profitable VR Company?! InsiteVR

InsiteVR makes it easy for enterprises, starting with the architecture market, to implement VR and AR solutions for their business needs. Angel Say and Russell Varriale were ambitious roommates at Columbia University, 3,000 miles from Silicon Valley and the headquarters of Oculus. They aren’t architects. They are engineers and problems solvers.

Architects shouldn’t have to learn Unity or another game development platform in order to use VR. Designers and architects need to stay within the confines of their current workflows. This realization made InsiteVR what they are today — a profitable enterprise SaaS business that lets architects use VR to share, collaborate, sell, and create.

InsiteVR got to where they are today through conservative cash management, obsessive customer empathy, and repurposing off the shelf technology to solve a particular problem. This is how you balance patience and growth as a VR startup. The InsiteVR team proved, in 2015 nonetheless, that virtual reality offered a positive ROI for commercial and residential architects. They are using 2016 to refine their business model, improve the product from (paying) customer feedback, and expand within their target market.

See the full story here: https://medium.com/@flinndustries/a-profitable-vr-company-18eb07a1475#.oj0amj9uz

Absolut Vodka and Music Producer Deadmau5 Team Up On Virtual Reality

The marketing arm of vodka maker Absolut will debut a virtual reality video game on Wednesday that features Grammy-nominated electronic music producer Deadmau5.

The free game, Absolut deadmau5, works with the Google Cardboard VR viewing device, Facebook’s  FB 0.85%  Oculus Rift, and Samsung Gear VR headsets, according to Absolut’s website.

Absolut said that the game’s players take on the role of Deadmau5 as he prepares “to go on an epic night out.” Players start off in his garage and then guide him through several interactive mini-games as they head to the dance club and, if skilled enough, to his concert performance.

In an interview with technology publication Ars Technica earlier this month, Deadmau5 explained that the new game “was me getting my feet wet into VR, on a small scale, obviously.”

“Vive guy’s just gonna f***** laugh his ass off [using the Absolut app],” Deadmau5 said about Google Cardboard’s power compared to the higher-end HTC Vive. “But, Vive guy is one in 10,000 right now.”

NEW YORK, NY - MARCH 30: Rihanna, Nicki Minaj, Madonna, Deadmau5 and Kanye West attend the Tidal launch event #TIDALforALL at Skylight at Moynihan Station on March 30, 2015 in New York City. (Photo by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images For Roc Nation)

See the full story here: http://fortune.com/2016/07/26/absolut-vodka-deadmau5-virtual-reality/

Mack Trucks Offers Virtual Reality Rides in Certain Models

Mack Trucks said it now offers an online virtual reality test drive of models equipped with its mDrive HD 13-speed automated manual transmission, calling the experience a first for heavy-duty truck manufacturers. Virtual reality is a computer-generated simulation of a three-dimensional image or environment that can be interacted with in a seemingly physical way by placing the viewer’s perspective within the image or video itself, Mack said. Using virtual-reality headgear, Google Cardboard or a smartphone, viewers can look around 360 degrees to see the cab interior in its entirety as well as see what it feels like to be in the cab of a Mack model while it operates in quarries and on the highway, according to the Greensboro, North Carolina-based company. Mack is a unit of Sweden-based Volvo Group. For example, the virtual-reality experience showcases the power of its mDrive HD 13-speed as it frees the Mack Granite model from mud on a job site; as it easily drives up and down a steep grade without having to continuously apply brakes, reducing brake wear-and-tear; and as it smoothly manages a fully loaded Mack Pinnacle model up and down a 15% and a 20% grade, according to Mack. To experience Mack virtual reality, visit  http://www.macktrucks.com/VR. The virtual-reality videos also will be posted to the Mack website, but will not be as immersive as when Google Cardboard and the app are used, according to Mack.
See the original post with 360 video here: http://www.ttnews.com/articles/basetemplate.aspx?storyid=42668