AP Interview: Jia Zhangke plans virtual reality romance
Critically acclaimed Chinese director Jia Zhangke says he will make a virtual reality film next year with a romantic story as he and viewers get used to the new medium, and declared: "I think VR is going to be the next big thing."
The director, better known for films that depict China's social changes and acts of violence, told The Associated Press that the short film would be a gentle romance as "it takes time for people to feel comfortable" in virtual reality.
"The speed and direction of movements may make people feel physically uncomfortable, so we're starting with a romantic story," he said in an interview.
"In the past, the audience could only imagine the world inside and outside the frame," he said. "VR liberates an audience and allows people to independently choose what we want to be concerned with. Audiences become more important."
See the full story here: http://www.usnews.com/news/entertainment/articles/2016-06-18/ap-interview-jia-zhangke-plans-virtual-reality-romance
White House to release virtual reality video of Obamas’ Yosemite trip
As the first family visits Yosemite National Park this weekend, National Geographic has teamed up with several organizations to produce the White House’s first ever 360 virtual reality video, according to a Saturday pool report.
National Geographic announced in a Facebook post that it would partner with Facebook's Oculus unit and Felix & Paul Studios to produce the video experience.
The video, which will be released in August, will include footage from the visit as well as a conversation between the president and Don Neubacher, superintendent of Yosemite National Park.
See the full story and short video here: http://www.politico.com/story/2016/06/obama-virtual-reality-facebook-national-geographic-yosemite-224514
You’ll Soon See Michael Bay Explosions in VR
The Hollywood director, known for his explosive set pieces in action-packed movies, has this week revealed a collaboration with a VR production studio named The Rogue Initiative. Together, the pair will create original content that spans both VR and other interactive platforms. According to a press release, projects will feature the “gritty, danger-close action” that Bay has become known for thanks to his Transformers series alongside other blockbusters. Bay will also join the Initiative as a strategic advisor.
Joining him will be veteran film and television producer Lynda Obst and advisors like Cliff Plumer, Matthew Cohan, and Cody Simms.
See the full story here: http://uploadvr.com/youll-soon-see-michael-bay-explosions-vr/
VR motion sickness alleviated with field of view alterations
The approach changes the FOV in a way that many participants found imperceptible. "I was aware of work on change blindness--a concept in perceptual psychology that explains why people sometimes do not notice what would seem to be an obvious change in a scene," explains Fernandes, who himself has suffered from VR sickness. "So I wondered if this could be applied to VR: could we change a participant's FOV without them noticing?"
The team specifically targeted scenarios in which users move in the virtual environment in a way that intentionally differs from how they move in the real world.
These include games in which they are physically standing or sitting on a couch in their living room, while walking, running, driving, or flying in the virtual world.
Most of the participants who used the more subtle restrictors did not notice them, and all those who did notice them said they would prefer to have them in future VR experiences.
See the full story here: http://eandt.theiet.org/news/2016/jun/vr-motion-sickness-alleviated.cfm?utm_source=MIT+TR+Newsletters&utm_campaign=bf505b2c66-The_Download_2016_06_13&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_997ed6f472-bf505b2c66-153894145
6 of the Hottest Virtual Reality Companies Out There
In order to find the hottest virtual/augmented reality companies out there, we started with a chart from our friends at CB Insights that shows who the biggest players are when it comes to investing in AR/VR startups. We took the top-5 investors in this space and then had one of our on-staff PHDs come up with a sophisticated algorithm to determine which companies are the hottest as seen below:
(X means two VC firms have invested, not that they don't exist anymore.)
See the full story describing each one here: http://www.nanalyze.com/2016/06/6-hot-virtual-reality-companies/