Apple envisions transparent augmented-reality device
"Transparent electronic device," a patent granted to Apple on Tuesday by the US Patent and Trademark Office, describes a touch-sensitive display integrated into a transparent window.
The patent paperwork gives as an example a museum visitor, who could point the device at a painting to see overlaid details about the work. Info on landmarks, historic sites and scenic locations could also be accessed via overlays.
The City Lens app for Lumia phones can already display information on top of objects in the real world. But building the technology directly into a mobile device shows a potential future direction for the iPhone.
The technology could also expand beyond handheld devices. A sightseeing bus, for instance, could use transparent displays as windows.
Another patent awarded to Apple on Tuesday describes an "electronic device with wrap around display." In the patent, Apple envisions a device with a transparent wraparound housing and a flexible display enclosed within that housing.
See the original post here: http://www.cnet.com/au/news/apple-envisions-transparent-augmented-reality-device/
River Studios Hires YouTube and Hollywood Insiders for L.A. Virtual Reality Studio
San Francisco-based virtual reality (VR) startup River Studios is expanding to Los Angeles with some key hires to run VR productions and work with both Hollywood and YouTube and social media talent. River Studios Los Angeles is being led by its new executive director Jonah Loop, and members of his team have previously done work for Disney, Pixar, Dreamworks, YouTube, Maker Studios and Jaunt.
Story lists other names of employees / VR producers.
See the full story here; https://www.yahoo.com/movies/river-studios-hires-youtube-hollywood-insiders-l-virtual-153849712.html
Bringing the New York Philharmonic to virtual reality
We’ve done live-streaming, time lapses and taken aerial photography — all to offer a taste of what’s out there.
With a 360-degree camera onstage, we’re going to be able to capture the perspectives of both the audience and the musicians, allowing people to feel what the other would ordinarily see.
Hopefully, the immersive nature of the video will inspire people to come to the parks and enjoy concerts in the other boroughs following the Central Park kickoff. The “Concerts in the Park” program is 50 years strong and we couldn’t be happier to be providing this entirely new perspective.
See the full story here: https://insights.ap.org/whats-new/bringing-the-new-york-philharmonic-to-virtual-reality
UNMC CHANCELLOR PROMOTES VIRTUAL REALITY TRAINING, FILLING VACANT HEALTH POSITIONS IN NEBRASKA
The Chancellor of the University of Nebraska Medical Center promoted hands-on virtual reality learning during a Wednesday visit to Scottsbluff and the UNMC West Division College of Nursing.
Dr Jeffrey Gold says the technique is something being used to train those in the entertainment and gambling industries, but this is the first time it is being introduced to help medical students and physicians
Dr. Gold says the virtual reality learning is being used right now and was on display Wednesday during his visit. Dr. Gold says they have learned they can take MRI’s and Cat-Scans, and place them into virtual reality learning environments so physicians can practice procedures and get better outcomes.
See the full story here: http://kneb.com/regional-news/unmc-chancellor-promotes-virtual-reality-training-filling-vacant-health-positions-in-nebraska/
Virtual Reality in This Tokyo Amusement Park Is a Win-Win for Thrill-Seekers
Starting next month, virtual reality enthusiasts can enjoy Sega Live Creation’s new VR experience, dubbed Project I Can. In this warehouse-size space at the Tokyo Joypolis—an amusement park that features an indoor roller coaster, 3-D movies, and a haunted house, among other attractions—gamers wear Free-Roam Virtual Reality (FRVR) gear while playing multiuser games. Earlier this month, Sensics, a US-based VR developer, announced that it had partnered with Zero Latency, a wireless VR developer, to produce this new amusement park attraction. “It creates a very immersive, believable experience,” says Yuval Boger, CEO of Sensics and cofounder of OSVR. “Imagine holding a stick in your hand and seeing it as a torch in the game. Waving your hand in a dark virtual room lights up different parts of the room.” This experience is supposed to be completely different from strapping on a VR system at home.
See the full story here: http://www.architecturaldigest.com/story/virtual-reality-in-this-tokyo-amusement-park-is-a-win-win-for-thrill-seekers
E3 was secretly terrible for the future of virtual reality
By having such a low bar for entry, Sony is allowing PlayStation VR developers to create games that flirt with simulator sickness. Combined with the fact that the demo's controls allowed the player to move their head with the gamepad, and the title is a nauseous mess. Resident Evil 7will probably improve its framerate and controls before hitting the consumer market, but giving it the option not to be better sets a dangerous precedent: If the first console VR games to hit the market make players sick, that could severely damage public perception of virtual reality gaming in general.
Palmer Luckey may be right about simulator sickness, but Oculus VR isn't off the hook when it comes to poisoning the well. The company spent much of E3 under fire for supposedly buying out multi-platform virtual reality games in order to make them exclusive to the Oculus Rift. Games like Superhot and Killing Floor: Incursion won't be available to HTC Vive owners for a limited period of time after release, while others, like Ripcoil and Wilson's heart, are first-party Oculus titles that will never be available to Vive owners. Nobody blinks when Sony announces an exclusive PlayStation game, but for the Vive and Rift's platform, this is completely unprecedented. Until now, there was no such thing as a hardware-exclusive PC game.
To be fair, the accusations against Oculus are only partially true: Oculus is buying timed exclusivity in exchange for helping to fund a game's development. It's not actually taking games away from Vive owners; it's just delaying their delivery. Even so, that's never been done on PC before.
See the full story here; https://www.engadget.com/2016/06/17/VR-at-E3-2016/
Pioneering virtual reality customer center opened by AkzoNobel in the UK
The centrepiece, however, is the virtual reality installation, which gives retailers the chance to create and trial potential store layouts so they can instantly weigh up the impact, convenience and fit of different in-store display options before products hit the shelves.
The center is situated next to the recently launched Dulux Academy. Opened in March this year, the academy is designed to offer more than 4,000 people a year advanced training in areas such as product knowledge, application techniques and the essential principles of color, design and sustainability.
See the full story here: https://www.akzonobel.com/news_center/news/news_and_press_releases/2016/pioneering-virtual-reality-customer-center-opened-by-akzonobel-in-the-uk.aspx
What E3 Taught Me About the Future of Virtual Reality By Todd Knaak
“E3 showed me the marketer’s approach to VR, one that involved a whole bunch of smoke and mirrors to just advertise engrossing gameplay.”
“…once virtual technology becomes mainstream, after the initial explosion calms, it’s going to find its place as a much more simple utility: one that works like a roided-out Google Maps, where you can tour hotels before you book, check out apartments across the country before you move, attend concerts, meet with doctors, conferences, and so on.”
See the full story here: https://thehundreds.com/blog/what-e3-says-about-the-future-of-virtual-reality/
166-Year-Old Cemetery Goes Modern with Virtual Reality Tours
Forest Lawn is developing an app that will allow users all over the planet to tour the 166-year-old cemetery from their mobile device.
The project is funded by a more than $37,000 grant from M&T Bank.
The app will offer both smart phone and VR users a 360-degree view of famous grave sites.
They'll be able to choose from several pre-programmed tours with stories told by professional voice actors.
Forest Lawn officials say they'll also be providing iPads to physical visitors who wish to take a self-guided walk.
The tourist season runs through October 22nd.
See the full story with audio here: http://www.twcnews.com/nys/buffalo/news/2016/06/19/166-year-old-cemetery-goes-modern-with-virtual-reality-tours.html
Patents, AR/VR, and the future of Hollywood
Summary by Phil Lelyveld;
This data-rich article starts with a 2014-2016 timeline of company acquisitions and investments related to VR and AR. Sony dominates US patent filings related to VR, followed by IBM, Samsung, Microsoft, and Canon. Magic Leap and Reveo are the leading start-ups when it comes to published patents related to VR. Microsoft, Sony, and Qualcomm have the most published patents related to AR, although they do not necessarily lead in the number of AR inventions. Osterout Group and Magic Leap are the clear leaders in published AR patents. All 10 companies on these lists have far fewer inventions than patents because multiple patents may be included in a single invention. The author reports that several non-practicing entities like Searete (part of Intellectual Ventures) have already ventured into strengthening their IP in the domain of VR and AR. In the ETC’s Phil Lelyveld’s opinion, it is important to start the dialog of defining what defines Hollywood-quality VR experiences and what the key aspects of an interoperable VR and AR ecosystem are now, before technical walled gardens fortified by patents become entrenched.
See the full article here: http://www.ipwatchdog.com/2016/06/18/technology-startups-virtual-augmented-reality/id=70162/