Infinitus Prime is an Enterprise Focused VR Headset with 5k Horizontal Resolution
The Infinitus Prime tVR headset packs two 1440p displays and the Czech company behind the project are aiming the device squarely at industry applications.
The Infinitus Prime packs dual 2560×1440 IPS LCD panels in what looks to be a canted arrangement. As a result, the new HMD boasts not only a pretty sizeable footprint, it also claims to deliver a pretty substantial 140 degrees horizontal field of view. ... if this is starting to sound and look a little familiar, you may recall a French project called InfinitEye, another VR headset which sported similar design and specification goals and of course became StarVR, unveiled during the E3 in LA last year. ...The Starbreeze owned StarVR of course also boasts a 5k horizontal resolution, but ramps the FOV up to a staggering 210 degrees.
See the full story here: http://www.roadtovr.com/infinitus-prime-is-an-industry-focused-vr-headset-with-5k-horizontal-resolution/
‘VR Funhouse’ is NVIDIA’s Virtual Reality Physics Sandbox
NVIDIA today announced a number of software tools and updates to go along with the company’s newest GPU, the long-awaited GeForce GTX 1080 and the budget GTX 1070. Among them was a VR sandbox that shows off all the cool physics-based interactions you can have with the greater horsepower afforded by the new hardware and software optimizations.
VR Funhouse is set to be released on Steam and opened sourced so developers can borrow, and improve upon the concepts housed in the carnival games, which includes things like target practice with bow and flaming arrows, arcade basketball, skeet shooting, and much more listed below.
- NVIDIA Flow — Grab a bow and arrow in our target-shooting mini-game. Set the arrow aflame and you’ll be able to shoot it at targets that burst into flames when they’re hit. Our NVIDIA Flow technology physically simulates experiences such as fire throughout VR Funhouse.
- NVIDIA HairWorks — The whimsical feel of our colorful “The Mole the Merrier!” and “Knock’Em Silly” challenges is enhanced by NVIDIA HairWorks technology. Jab at your targets. Give them a knock and you’ll see their colorful hair bounce. Or pat them on the head to flatten their jazzy haircuts.
- Physics for VR — Poke, punch, pound and explore. VR Funhouse is filled with objects that you can interact with in surprising ways using your hand controllers. Our PhysX for VR technology gives the objects in the game realistic physical behavior, enabling proper graphics, collision detection, and haptics force feedback.
- NVIDIA FleX — In our “He’s Flexible” mini-game, you’ll be able to pick up gooey, colorful blobs — that stretch and jiggle in surprising ways in your hand — toss them at targets and watch them ooze toward the ground. You’ll find this next-generation particle-based physical simulation used all over VR Funhouse.
- NVIDIA VRWorks Audio — Walk into “Flight of the Clown,” and you’ll need to use your ears to locate a stealthy drone. VRWorks Audio uses our Pascal GPUs to ray trace sound waves in real-time, realistically simulating how audio propagates and reflects across the room. The reflections and echoes created by VRWorks Audio will test your skills in locating the drone.
- VR SLI — The more, the merrier. If you’ve got two GPUs, this technology will let one GPU render images to your left eye, and the other to your right, maximizing performance and minimizing latency.
See the full story here: http://www.roadtovr.com/vr-funhouse-nvidias-virtual-reality-physics-sandbox/
The Eyse camera shows friends what you’re doing in virtual reality
The glory of virtual reality is to live in another person's shoes — to feel what they feel, experience what they experience, and see what they see. The Eyse camera, which launches on Kickstarter today, aims to make that a possibility for anyone with a smartphone. Eyse's promotional video shows a grandma attending her grandson's birthday party from afar and friends out hiking projecting the scenery to someone at home. It's a pleasant vision, and really, if this camera works, it'd be really cool. But still, it's pretty expensive for something being marketed as a toy, with it being sold at $299 for the early bird special. That will eventually rise to $399.
The stereoscopic camera relies on two HD cameras to create a full image.
See the full story here: http://www.theverge.com/circuitbreaker/2016/5/9/11639362/eyse-virtual-reality-camera-phone
More at Kickstarter - https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/vairdo/eyse-wifi-3d-camera-for-real-time-vr-experiences?token=bb541b72
Drone Racing Seeks Attention With a Speedy Flyby
Drone racing is still something of a guerrilla sport, even though ESPN has agreed to air a drone special on its ESPN3 channel this fall. Money is tight, and most pilots have to keep their day jobs. While high-profile races like the World Drone Prix, held last March in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, pay as much as $250,000 to the winning pilot, such affluence felt distant in the shell of the Hawthorne Plaza Shopping Center.
The trick, he said, is making the audience feel the same thrill as the pilots. That is why his league lights up each quadcopter and its pilot’s goggles with matching colored LEDs, which help spectators track the tiny drones. It is also why pilots wear T-shirts emblazoned with nicknames like KittyCopter, Rekrek and Zoomas. Pilots’ back stories and slick editing build up the drama for videos put online.
The fast-talking Horbaczewski, 35, helped turn Tough Mudders, a quirky half marathon in which people pay to slog through artificial quagmires, into a more than $100 million business as its chief revenue officer. He sank his own money into the drone league last year, though he also raised $8 million from the likes of Steve Ross, the Miami Dolphins’ owner; the talent business Creative Artists Agency; and the media giant Hearst.
See the full story here; http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/08/sports/drone-racing-seeks-attention-with-a-speedy-flyby.html?_r=0
Step into Miyazaki’s world with Studio Ghibli virtual reality
[Philip Lelyveld comment: if the video in the story is any indication, it is an inferior reworking of the original art.]
Scenes from three of Hayao Miyazaki's most beloved films — Spirited Away, My Neighbor Totoro and Howl's Moving Castle have been developed for virtual reality by British developer Fire Panda — and are available for download now.
For now the demos are just environments. You can't interact with the characters or anything like that. But as the film industry grapples with how to use VR, this is at least a pretty nifty grain of an idea.
It's not entirely clear whether Ghibli is working directly with Fire Panda on the project.
See the full story with videos here: http://mashable.com/2016/05/06/virtual-reality-studio-ghibli-hayao-miyazaki/#UU_X.5l5qZqs
Spherica’s Hardware-stabilized Horizon Rig Makes VR Camera Movement More Practical
...when filming for VR, moving the camera can quickly lead to visual discomfort. As it turns out, one of the major reasons for that discomfort may simply be that the scene’s horizon is likely to wobble when the camera is moved.
Spherica’s hardware-stabilized 360 camera rig uses a three-motor gimbal to keep the viewer’s horizon incredibly steady.
Ultimately, such effective stabilization could mean more camera mobility for VR film directors who have had to try to adapt to totally static camera placements.
See the full story here: http://www.roadtovr.com/spherica-hardware-stabilized-virtual-reality-vr-360-camera/
Full arm tracking in virtual reality – Manus VR experiment
Manus VR, which showed off its VR gloves last year, just released footage of an experimental experience that allows you to have your arm and elbow movements tracked in VR. The dynamic sets up all kinds of new scenarios, including more realistic VR boxing matches, VR archery as well as VR interfaces that you could access on your arms.
Although the demonstration uses the HTC Vive, with its two controllers strapped to the user's arms, the company says this is only an experiment.
See the full story, with badly done video, here: http://mashable.com/2016/05/07/virtual-reality-arm-tracking/#xxeLbhihqiq4
Minecraft goes VR
LOS ANGELES, CA - JUNE 15: Mojang's "Director of Fun" Lydia Winters speaks about 'Minecraft' during the Microsoft Xbox E3 press conference at the Galen Center on June 15, 2015 in Los Angeles, California. The Microsoft press conference is held in conjunction with the annual Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) which focuses on gaming systems and interactive entertainment, featuring introductions to new products and technologies. (Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
Some Minecraft gamers wonder if the gameplay would be a lot different from what they used to know. Luckey, on the other hand, assured gamers that Microsoft had worked very hard to make sure the essence of the game stayed the same.
Read the full story here: http://www.inquisitr.com/3040076/minecraft-goes-vr-how-will-the-microsoft-game-adjust-on-virtual-reality/