Virtual reality can make guns ‘real,’ and that’s a bit terrifying
Hot Dogs, Horse Shoes and Hand Grenades is $19.99 and is available now, with more content being added on a regular basis. I don't know if I had "fun" playing it, as the video suggests, but I'm glad it exists. It proves how powerful a medium virtual reality can be for encountering something that may make you uncomfortable in real life in a way that's completely safe.
I can also see actual gun safety being taught by virtual reality programs such as this. Imagine games in which your firearm becomes a working machine, forcing the player to learn proper use and perhaps even maintenance. What happens when your gun jams in the middle of a firefight? How do tactics change when the bullets left in the clip actually stay in the clip when it's removed during reloading?
See the full story here: http://www.polygon.com/2016/4/12/11413572/guns-virtual-reality-htc-vive
Deluxe Launches VR Unit to Facilitate Industrial-Scale Virtual Reality Productions
Deluxe Entertainment Services officially took the lid of Deluxe VR on Monday, announcing a dedicated creative services unit for virtual reality (VR) projects. Deluxe VR is being headed by Malte Wagener, who previously was VP at Deluxe’s Method Studios and Company 3. The unit will have its official coming-out at NAB next week, where it will show off two VR experiences.
Deluxe VR consists of a team of 35, but also taps into the existing resources of its parent company, including its network of 3,000 artists worldwide.
Last April, the company began to quietly assemble a team of specialists from both the world of visual effects and video game production.
Wagener himself also has a background in both...
...ready for the next step, when studios want to produce experiences that aren’t just two or three, but 20 minutes long. And maybe not just as a one-off, but as a serialized production. “It has to be at an industrial scale,” said Wagener.
See the full story here: http://variety.com/2016/digital/news/deluxe-vr-launch-1201749398/
Lytro’s 755 megapixel Cinema light field camera is going to kill the green screen
Lytro is taking its rich volumetric 3D camera capture technology into the world of TV and film.
The company’s light field solution is a truly beautiful technology that may eventually be in every camera we snap a shot or video with. The tech essentially uses data on all of the available light in a photo to separate objects by depth and store them in a three-dimensional grid. Eventually this technology will allow the simple creation of VR-ready navigable 3D spaces, but right now it’s allowing filmmakers the ability to achieve a level of detail and flexibility in gathering shots and making post-production edits that wasn’t previously possible.
Today, the company introduced Lytro Cinema, which is the company’s effort to woo those in the television and film industries with cool camera technology that makes their jobs easier.
The Lytro Cinema camera gathers a truly staggering amount of information on the world around it. The 755 RAW megapixel 40K resolution, 300 FPS camera takes in as much as 400 gigabytes per second of data.
Things like changing the depth of field, focus position, shutter speed or dynamic range can now take place after the fact thanks to the truly dynamic data being captured. Lytro believes that this tech is going to make the merger of CGI images and real-world footage even more seamless, and I believe it too.
Lytro Cinema is implementing light field technology to create something called a “depth screen,” which allows filmmakers to capture green screen shots without actually having to place actors in green screen environments.
VR headset hygiene mask keeps things sanitary
Its the little things that can make or break an experience.
Anyone running VR headset demo's may want to invest in some of these sanitary masks for their guests' health and peace of mind.
Each time a VR headset is placed against someone's face it picks up oil and dirt that, over time, can make it greasy and rather disgusting. During demos such as those at CES many thousands of people will wear the same headset. The headset is briefly cleaned by the person providing the demos. These disposable sanitary guards are primarily intended for demo booth situations, but anyone who wants to keep their headset clean may be interested.
They can be purchased in sets of 100 masks for 2980 yen ($27.50) here http://store.shopping.yahoo.co.jp/moguravrstore/eiseinuno-gear-vr.html
See the original story here: http://www.slashgear.com/vr-headset-hygiene-mask-keeps-things-sanitary-05434880/
NVIDIA Demonstrates Experimental “Zero Latency” Display Running at 1,700Hz
[Philip Lelyveld note: this very fast display still needs a very fast processor/CPU and, if tethered, a very fast connection.]
At GTC 2016 this week, Luebke demonstrated an experimental display with a refresh rate that’s almost 20 times faster what we see in current consumer head mounted displays. Running at a whopping 1,7000Hz, the display was mounted on a rail system which allowed it to be rapidly moved back and forth. When shaken vigorously, the image on the display stayed locked in place to an impressive degree. Even when magnified closely, the image on the screen seemed entirely fixed in place.
A 90Hz display shows an image every 11 milliseconds, while this 1,700Hz display shows an image every 0.58 milliseconds.
“…if you can apply this to a VR display, that kind of ultra-low latency would help things stay rock-solid in the environment, to the point that the display would no longer be a source of latency. So this is effectively a zero latency display,” said Luebke.
..you also need extremely low latency input. ...wheels on the rails feed the movement of the carriage almost instantaneously into the system.
See the full story here: http://www.roadtovr.com/nvidia-demonstrates-experimental-zero-latency-display-running-at-17000hz/
Time Warner and Nielsen Will Study How Virtual Reality Affects the Subconscious
Time Warner and Nielsen are partnering up to study how video content affects the actual hearts and minds of those viewing short-form video and virtual reality.
The three-year partnership between Time Warner and Nielsen will allow the companies to study how video content—both programming and advertising—registers with viewers at a subconscious level. By measuring eye-tracking, facial movement, heart rate and brain activity, Time Warner hopes to tap the technologies and research capabilities of Nielsen Consumer Neuroscience to better understand how consumers think and feel at a deeper level.
Using an EEG (electroencephalogram), researchers can capture brain activity related to arousal and intensity, allowing them to capture whether a video's approach is working or if someone is attracted to a voice. Research on VR and other video between 15 and 90 seconds will focus on three types of brain processing: shifts in attention, memory activation and emotional motivation.
Much of the research will be based at the Time Warner Medialab, said Kristen O'Hara, Time Warner's CMO for global media. She said the lab is in the middle of building a VR facility, which should be ready by the third quarter of 2016.
While neuroscience studies related to marketing have been around for a decade, brands and media companies increasingly are turning to neuroscience research to better understand how consumers perceive advertising.
See the full story here: http://www.adweek.com/news/technology/time-warner-and-nielsen-will-study-how-virtual-reality-affects-subconscious-170614
New high tech Australian Zoo to use drones, robots, and augmented reality
Lions and tigers and… drones? Oh, my!
The impending western Sydney Zoo plans to use drones, robots, augmented reality, and whatever innovative technology that an upcoming hackathon at Western Sydney University will dream up. The hackathon is expected to attract more than academics and scientists, but also start-ups, business and industry professionals, and engineers. The partnership between the new zoo and the university could disrupt any current norm of what a zoo experience entails.
So what will the entire visitor experience be like? Professor Scott Holmes, the Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Vice President at WSU, is focused on creating a completely unique and transformative visitor experience unavailable anywhere else in the world.
See the full story here: http://www.inquisitr.com/2970078/new-high-tech-australian-zoo-to-use-drones-robots-and-augmented-reality/
This is GoPro’s new virtual reality camera rig
GoPro unveiled a new look at its smaller virtual reality camera rig this morning. The rig is called the Omni, and it's essentially a hollowed-out cube that holds a Hero4 Black camera on each side, for a total of six cameras capturing footage at once. When stitched together, the six cameras will create a single 360-degree video.
Pricing for the rig hasn't been announced yet, but you're looking at $2,500 or so for the cameras alone. At least one somewhat comparable third-party rig already exists, holding six GoPros and selling for about $500 (not including the cameras).
See the original post here: http://www.theverge.com/2016/4/7/11383668/gopro-omni-virtual-reality-video-rig-nab
In Jerusalem, A Musical Moment Making Coexistence A (Virtual) Reality
In addition to Simz’ set, the concert for coexistence featured a number of rare treats. Hamilton star and 30 Under 30 alum Okieriete “Oak” Onaodowan opened the night by debuting an original spoken-word piece preaching unity and accountability.
Israeli funk collective Lucille Crew followed with a rollicking and eclectic performance, closing with a dubstep-infused coexistence collaboration with Palestinian rapper Saz. The latter returned to the stage backed by a band made up of Muslims, Jews and Christians, energizing the crowd with rhymes in three languages–and by occasional forays into the front rows.
U.S. rock act MAE ended the night with the first-ever large-scale live musical performance synced to virtual reality. Revelers dropped their mobile phones into specially-designed headsets that allowed them to view a brand-new animation meant to represent the creation of the universe while the band played in time.
See the original post here: http://www.forbes.com/sites/zackomalleygreenburg/2016/04/07/in-jerusalem-a-musical-moment-making-coexistence-a-virtual-reality/#3a670c8d7bb2