Google is Adding a VR Shell to Chrome to Let You Browse the Entire Web in VR
Google is working to add fully immersive browsing capability to Chrome, allowing users to browse any part of the web in VR, not just those sites that are specially built for VR.
Google has played an active role in helping to define and deploy ‘WebVR‘, a set of standard capabilities that allow for the creation of VR websites which can serve their content directly to VR headsets.
The latest builds of Google Chrome Beta and Google Chrome Dev on Android bring two important new features for making this a reality. Chrome Beta now contains a WebVR setting which enables enhanced VR device compatibility with VR websites built against WebVR standards.
Samsung introduced a VR browser for their Gear VR headset last year which achieves similar functionality, but is not available to the wider Android ecosystem. As the stable version of Chrome on Android has been downloaded between 1 – 5 billion times, it stands to bring VR web browsing to a much larger group. Google is also in development of Chrome support for headsets like the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive on desktop.
See the full story here: http://www.roadtovr.com/google-is-adding-a-vr-shell-to-chrome-to-let-you-browse-the-entire-web-in-vr/
First Look Inside ‘The Void’ Ghostbusters: Dimension, Opens July 1st
Ghostbusters: Dimension will give players the chance to strap a virtual proton pack to their backs and track a supernatural manifestation through a New York apartment block. The experience is apparently around 15 minutes long, with groups of three players taking part at any one time.
“The Ghostbusters world is the perfect fit for THE VOID because you literally strap our RAPTURE gear on and it turns into your proton pack and proton gun,” said James Jensen, Chief Visionary Officer at THE VOID.
The virtual portion of the experience is powered by The Void’s proprietary VR hardware and built entirely on the Unity game engine, one of the first engines to offer Oculus Rift integration and remains of the most popular among VR devs.
See the full story here: http://www.roadtovr.com/first-look-inside-the-void-ghostbusters-dimension-opens-june-30th
Starbreeze acquires French virtual reality, augmented reality and toys-to-life technology company ePawn
ePawn is a next generation VR and toys-to-life company merging real life gaming experiences with their digital counter part through its gaming boards and mats in table and room scale sizes. ePawn's patented technology captures everything that happens on the game board and feeds digital applications with information. Up to 40 objects equipped with off-the-shelf NFC (Near Field Communication) tags can simultaneously be put into play on a game board and ePawn's technology will calculate their position, orientation and altitude in real-time and at the millimeter level. ePawn has developed several versions of its technology to fit many gaming-related markets, such as video games, toys, board games and greatly enchanted augmented reality support between for example a toy and a mobile device.
To Be The Very Best: Pokémon Enters Into Augmented Reality
Halfway through your walk to school, a wild Charmander appears. Just a few throws of a Pokéball, and it could be yours. Will you stop to catch it?
Nintendo is betting you will. Not just that, they're betting that you've waited most of your life to see a Pokémon in the real world.
The challenge for the app's developers, according to Will Mason, co-founder of the virtual reality industry website Upload, is "normalizing the linkage between digital and physical."
Like Ingress, Pokémon Go will create interactions based on users' locations. If it sounds like a fantasy version of Google Maps, that's because it is: Hanke was involved in developing Google Maps, Google Earth and Street View, and he wanted to apply those technologies in new ways.
Rather than the linear adventure narrative of the core games (like Pokémon Red and Blue, or Diamond and Pearl), Go at times resembles a game of capture-the-flag. Players pledge allegiance to one of three teams, and battle with Pokémon to gain control of Gyms.
The central conceit should ring familiar, though. Wander anywhere outside, and the app will alert you when you come near a Pokémon — either through an alert on your phone, or on the forthcoming Pokémon Go Plus, a Bluetooth-connected device that looks and works like a tricked-out Fitbit.
"We try to be true to the canon of Pokémon and the way things should work in that world," Hanke says.
That is, Pokémon will appear, behave and fight the way they do in the games and TV shows. Water-types, for instance, will appear only near bodies of water like rivers or lakes. Rare Pokémon in the games will similarly be scarce in the Go version.
While using AR in public — like wearing Google Glass— may currently be distracting or even awkward, society could get used to the notion. Proto-AR products like Pokémon Go, its developers believe, may pave the way to a world where that tech becomes ingrained in people's daily lives.
See the full story here: http://www.npr.org/sections/alltechconsidered/2016/06/30/483857216/in-pokemon-go-an-app-to-become-the-very-best
Deadmau5 Launches Virtual Reality Game
After picking out a ride, it's on to the business of performing. "Users maneuver live-action obstacles to get deadmau5 to his concert destination on time. The culmination of the experience is a concert in which the artist performs his new track, 'Saved' in front of a live audience shot in the artist's hometown of Toronto."
See the full story here: http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/dance/7423876/deadmau5-launches-virtual-reality-game
Jesus in VR: Virtual-Reality Movie About Christ Story Set for Christmas 2016 Release
Jesus Christ is coming to VR screens: Autumn Productions and virtual-reality production firm VRWERX have slated the release of “Jesus VR – The Story of Christ” for Christmas 2016.
The 90-minute film will be available on all major mobile and premium VR platforms including Google Cardboard, Samsung Gear, Oculus Rift, PlayStation VR and the HTC Vive, according to the companies. Pricing has not yet been set.
The film’s religious adviser is Father William Fulco, who also consulting on “The Passion of the Christ.”
Producers promise a you-are-there VR experience for the entirety of Jesus’s life and death, from his baptism to the Sermon on the Mount, and from the Last Supper to his crucifixion.
“This is the most powerful story of all time and virtual reality is the perfect way to tell it.”
See the full story here: http://variety.com/2016/digital/news/jesus-vr-story-of-christ-virtual-reality-1201771737/