Bandai Namco announces plans to open virtual reality experience center
Bandai Namco announced on Monday that the company will open a virtual reality “experience center” in Tokyo next month.
“VR Zone: Project I Can” will give individuals to test out the latest in virtual reality technology without breaking the bank. In exchange, Bandai Namco gets valuable feedback on how to improve their virtual reality simulations.
The company will offer six games to try out:
- Fear of Heights Show: Rescue a cat located on a thin wooden plank 650ft above the ground.
- Ski Rodeo: A ski simulation with high cliffs
- Real Drive: Drive a sports car on a circuit
- Escape Ward Omega: A horror game in a giant abandoned hospital
- Train Meister: A simulation that puts you in control of a train on the Yamanote Line
- Argyle Shift: A mecha battle simulation where you and your co-pilot take on another giant robot.
Bandai Namco is streaming a teaser of users trying out the Fear of Heights simulation.
The simulation center will open on April 15 and run until mid-October.
See the full story here: http://en.rocketnews24.com/2016/03/29/bandai-namco-announces-plans-to-open-virtual-reality-experience-center/
Augmented Reality Startup Daqri Acquires Hologram Maker To Take On Microsoft HoloLens
Daqri, which is based in Los Angeles, has agreed to acquire Two Trees Photonics, a U.K.-based company building holographic technology based on research coming out of Cambridge University. Financial details of the acquisition were not disclosed.
“We’ve been searching for a little over four years for dynamic holography technology and then we encountered this company,” said Daqri cofounder and CEO Brian Mullins in an interview. “The company had a brilliant physicist team that had cracked a fundamental part of dynamic holography. It’s stunning to see the first time.”
Two Trees, which has been around since 2010 but has kept a low profile, builds displays for “dynamic holography.” Car makers like Jaguar Land Rover want to use its laser-based technology to project information on a vehicle’s windshield, creating a futuristic heads-up display powered by holograms. To date, there are around 150,000 cars on the road equipped with the Two Trees technology, Mullins said. Daqri will maintain and expand these kinds of car partnerships.
Daqri recently released the first production model of its Smart Helmet, which uses an Intel INTC +1.00% processor. The company is entirely focused on business and industrial customers. Customers include major companies like Siemens , Emerson and Vinci.
This is the fourth acquisition for Daqri. Past acquisitions include an AR software startup, a display manufacturer and the maker of a headband that tracks people’s brain state by performing an electroencephalogram.
See the full story here: http://www.forbes.com/sites/aarontilley/2016/03/28/augmented-reality-startup-daqri-acquires-hologram-maker-to-take-on-microsoft-hololens/#5c3b2135338e
PTC partners with MassChallenge to support Jerusalem’s IoT, augmented reality startups
Global design tools software development giant PTC Israel announced yesterday that they have entered into a partnership with the Jerusalem branch of MassChallenge to help boost the accelerator’s work in the areas of IoT, augmented reality, data analytics, and cybersecurity.
Beyond software solutions for industrial design and manufacturing, the company has expanded into platforms for building IoT and augmented reality products. Their ThingWorx IoT platform provides developers a more effective way to build and deploy apps and products, while the recently acquired Vuforia helps create AR experiences.
“MassChallenge is the key accelerator for start-up businesses,” Belfer explains to Geektime, saying the company sees an opportunity in working with the startups for exposure to new innovations and possible acquisitions. “This partnership will benefit PTC in many ways, including identifying and sourcing startups that have high potential for advancing technology developments in the Internet of Things, augmented reality, big data analytics, and security, key areas of focus for PTC.”
MassChallenge is a leaders in the global startup support network with operations in the U.S., U.K., Mexico, Switzerland and Israel. MassChallenge’s strategy leverages this trend to see them partner with a range of corporate, governmental and “third sector” bodies. By partnering with MassChallenge’s program in Israel, PTC Israel joins The Kraft Group, Poalim Hightech, the Ministry of Economy, the City of Jerusalem, EMC2, and other prominent backers.
See the full story here: http://www.geektime.com/2016/03/29/ptc-partners-with-masschallenge-to-support-jerusalems-iot-augmented-reality-startups/
Pokémon Go Details Officially Out
John Hanke from Niantic Labs revealed that the Pokémon that the trainers are able to apprehend is dependent on its location. For example, Pokémon that is water-type can be captured in areas such as oceans, rivers and lakes. Water-type Pokémon can be spotted and captured in water areas like rivers, lakes and oceans. Pokémon that are grass-type can be found in captured in prairies, open spaces and other interesting spots.
He also teased that some type of Pokémon is good to catch for the trainers as they have a possibility of evolving. Not to mention that when captured repeatedly, it can add to experience points so that the trainers also have an option of leveling up.
The augmented reality title is expected to launch later this year.
See the full story here: http://www.newseveryday.com/articles/34552/20160329/pokémon-go-release-date-news-and-rumors-pokémon-go-details-officially-out.htm
Your brain isn’t ready for virtual reality
The damage caused to our bodies and minds by our time in cyberspace is well-documented and beyond argument. The American Psychological Association has released numerous reports on “the psychological toll of the smartphone,” citing study after study after study finding strong positive correlations between heavy smartphone usage and the symptoms of anxiety, depression, insomnia, and other symptoms of mental illnesses. Video games may produce some cognitive and problem-solving benefits, but they alsomake even moderate gamers more anxious socially phobic. The oft-mocked psychopathology of Internet addiction is breeding generations who seek to calm the symptoms of heavy Internet use with more Internet use.
Virtual reality is no different a false escape—and is likely worse.
Early adopters and developers of VR content and hardware reported “virtual reality sickness”—a form of motion sickness caused by the disconnect between an immersive visual world that simulates movement and action and a body that is typically static. Oculus founder Palmer Luckey recently described the jump between VR and the real world as no more a mental shift than leaving a movie theater, but the many threads, mods, and websites solely devoted to calming the VR-fueled mind and body would say otherwise.
See the full article here: http://www.dailydot.com/opinion/your-brain-isnt-ready-for-virtual-reality/
WITH NEW ACQUISITION, TINDER GETS INTO ‘AUGMENTED REALITY’
To Jain, Tinder is augmented reality. The app’s entire mission is to enhance communication in the real, physical world. The goal isn’t to keep talking online— it’s to meet, connect, and stay in touch.
“Virtual reality, while it offers a tremendous new world for us to play in, is a different kind of social experience,” he says. “It’s one, I think, where you're more detached from the human connection we all seek.“
Tinder’s goal now is to augment that information, and help put into context; in other businesses this would be called “actionable information.” It’s figuring out how your friends might know each other, or the ability to know that someone else at the bar also really likes the 90s Nickelodeon cartoon Street Sharks. This information is valuable because you can make real-world decisions based on it. A conversation can start out of the blue, or a relationship can be strengthened.
They started talking about how Tinder’s scale could be used as a platform for Humin’s technology, and over the last four months decided to work together to merge ideas.
See the full story here: http://www.popsci.com/with-new-acquisition-tinder-gets-into-augmented-reality
Toyota patents augmented-reality windshield
Head-up displays as they currently exist push static images from the dashboard to your windshield using reflections. Toyota's system acts in that same way, but instead of just displaying data pulled from the instrument display, it takes readings from speed and steering-angle sensors to change the output in real time.
Perhaps its main feature, or at least the feature most talked up in the patent itself, is the ability to display the vehicle's lane positioning in real time. As you move, you'll have an image that shows you where the edges of your car lie within the lane. Now, you'll never need to wonder exactly where your vehicle's extremes are -- you'll be able to see them right in front of you.
If this ever makes it to production (a good deal of automotive-patent tech tends to disappear into the ether), I'll finally understand why that damned chime keeps going off.
See the original post here: http://www.cnet.com/roadshow/news/toyota-patents-trick-augmented-reality-windshield/
Y Combinator still has space in next batch for right virtual or augmented reality startups
Y Combinator still wants your virtual or augmented reality startup to apply to its Summer 2016 batch.
The deadline to apply to the upcoming accelerator session was last week, but company President Sam Altman was so “sad about the lack of VR/AR companies” applying for the summer session that he extended the deadline for startups in that sector.
Even without Magic Leap, investment in AR/VR is still up 20 percent in the first quarter of 2016, compared to the $250 million invested in the fourth quarter of 2015. Analysts expect the AR/VR sector to hit $120 billion in revenue by 2020.
vMocion looks to end motion sickness in virtual reality by tricking your brain
One of the major problems is the mismatch between the visual perception of motion given by the VR headset and the inner ear telling you that you’re standing still. Enough miscommunication and you start to grow a bit queasy.
vMocion is attempting to correct this problem by utilizing technology developed over 10 years of research by the Mayo Clinic’s Aerospace Medicine & Vestibular Research Laboratory. The technology is called Galvanic Vestibular Stimulation (GVS), and it uses strategically-placed electrodes to trick a user’s inner-ear into perceiving motion. In virtual reality, if this is timed perfectly, it can allow a user to feel totally immersed in their current setting and actually feel when the spaceship they’re piloting dives or turns.
If you’re following VR closely, this may not be the first time you’ve heard of GVS technology. At SXSW earlier this month, Samsung showed off a special project they’d been working on, the Entrim 4D headphones. The headphones were demoed in coordination with the Gear VR to show off GVS technology.
Dr. Michael Cevette, chair of the audiology department at the Mayo Clinic, tells me that the differences between Entrim 4D and the technology being licensed by vMocion are much like the differences between Gear VR and Oculus Rift. While Entrim 4D uses a pair of electrodes to measure movement around a fixed point, vMocion allows three-dimensions of motion stimulation.
It’s more than just adding more electrodes however, vMocion’s 3v platform uses its tech to convert simulated motion in existing 2D and 3D content into GVS stimulation. This means that content developers won’t have to specifically implement this technology into VR games and movies and users will be able to gain a more pleasant experience on a wide swath of VR content.
See the full story here: http://techcrunch.com/2016/03/30/vmocion-looks-to-end-motion-sickness-in-virtual-reality-by-tricking-your-brain/
AT&T Park dives into virtual reality
SF Giants unveil new 2016 season special events, food, and fan giveaways and more during the SF Giants Media Day at AT&T Park Tuesday March 29, 2016. (Emma Chiang/Special to S.F. Examiner)
The Giants plan to display five sets of goggles for attendees to view the videos at the @Cafe, located behind the centerfield bleachers, with potential for expansion, according to Bill Schlough, a vice president for the team.
The team has partnered with virtual reality production company Jaunt to create the videos — the first of which transports viewers to spring training in Scottsdale, Arizona using Samsung Gear VR goggles and headphones. Jaunt is a Palo Alto-based computer software company that uses a specially-designed camera to capture the 360 degree videos, according to their website.
Virtual reality isn’t the only new development at AT&T Park this season. Improvements to the stadium’s Wi-Fi system included bringing the number of access points to 1,628, the most in any MLB facility, according to Giants officials.
See the full story here: http://www.sfexaminer.com/att-park-dives-virtual-reality/