Samsung’s New Headphones Trick Your Inner Ear to Move You in VR
Samsung’s to bring a new set of experimental headphones to SXSW that uses electrical impulses to fool your inner ear into thinking your body is physically moving. What’s more, they seem to be pitching the new headgear for virtual reality use alongside the company’s Gear VR headset.
The process in question is known as Galvanic Vestibular Stimulation (GVS) and it’s long been a technique talked about in the virtual reality community as a way to bridge the gap left by visually and aurally induced psychological immersion, or presence. That is, you can only do so much with sight and sound, no matter how good your picture and audio is, you won’t physically feel movement with those methods alone.
GVS uses tiny electrical impulses to stimulate your vestibular system, the sensory system of your inner ear that controls your sense of balance and inertia, into thinking you’re moving when you’re not. The practical upshot is, if you’re able to take output from a game you can in theory simulate the physical sensation of travelling at speed around a race track or riding a roller coaster for example.
The Entrim 4D is describes as a “motion headset that lets you feel (and not just see) VR”.
Counter-intuitive as it may sound, this kind of trickery of the inner ear may help reduce the chances of nausea...bringing your physical sensations in line with those in the virtual world...
Entrim 4D has been declared as “safe”, having been tested on some 1500 human guinea pigs, resulting in the development of 30 ‘movement patterns’...
See the full story here: http://www.roadtovr.com/samsungs-new-headphones-trick-your-inner-ear-to-move-you-in-vr/
Pornhub gets immersive with new virtual reality category
Pornhub, one of the most popular adult entertainment sites in the world, is getting into the VR biz.
The company will be teaming up with BaDoinkVR, which has already been creating premium VR adult content for quite a bit, to add a new “virtual reality” content section to its site. The company announced the news via a mostly SFW infomercial-like launch video.
The company says the content will be viewable on Google Cardboard, Samsung Gear VR, and the Oculus Rift.
A report from Piper Jaffray suggests that the virtual reality adult content segment will be worth $1 billion by 2025 which is wild because that is predicting that VR porn will be the third-largest market for VR content behind NFL-related content and, of course, video games.
See the full story here: http://techcrunch.com/2016/03/23/pornhub-gets-immersive-with-new-virtual-reality-category/
HP Software Updates their Augmented Reality Application, Aurasma
HP Software, a part of HP Inc., recently unveiled on its website, new updates for their augmented reality platform, HP Aurasma. The latest features will help guide various marketers toward a more content-centric approach. This will help agencies and brands to create excellent experience with the augment reality platform’s expertise that is built directly in the product.
The Aurasma application is completely redesigned and features newer in-built experience to scan, create as well as share the augmented reality experiences. The application is more streamlined and lighter along with numerous screens that are cut by almost half.The new update will introduce newer templates for use cases like packaging, statements, direct mails, event engagement and more. KPIs will vary by use case and customer.
Aurasma has also expanded its services by offering Aurasma with the brand’s own branding as well as provides with advanced aura building. Marketers will now be able to assemble, measure, and launch a more successful augmented reality marketing campaigns.
The new upgraded platform includes a software development kit (SDK), white-label application services, self-serve studio. The app is currently available in both, Google Play and Apple App Store.
See the full story here: http://www.martechadvisor.com/news/hp-software-updates-their-augmented-reality-application-aurasma/
Virtual Reality Startup Jaunt Builds Sales Team to Become the ‘Netflix for VR’
See the original post here: http://recode.net/2016/03/21/virtual-reality-startup-jaunt-builds-sales-team-to-become-the-netflix-for-vr/
Jaunt, a startup that makes applications and hardware for virtual reality, has hired a fleet of sales executives to cajole more media companies and advertisers into building content for VR.
That fleet includes Julie Uhrman, the former founder and CEO of the Android game console company Ouya, who joins as Head of Platform Business Development. Beth Greve, the Chief Revenue Officer for YouTube network AwesomenessTV, is coming on as a “senior consultant” focused on the revenue strategy. Two more execs are coming on in Europe, rounding out the first business development team for the startup.
Much of their job will be spent convincing partners that producing for VR is worthwhile as the first mass consumer devices hit the market this year. The hires point to Jaunt’s aim to be the premiere media destination for consumer VR as the young field gets an injection of attention from tech behemoths. The startup, which has raised over $100 million from several investors including Disney, markets a 360-degree camera for shooting VR. It also runs a production studio and has focused increasingly on its media library assets.
David Anderman, the startup’s chief business officer, has referred to this ambition as becoming the “Netflix for VR.”
Anderman will work on growing partnerships with media companies like Condé Nast, ABC News and the NFL and adding others, the company said. Uhrman, in particular, comes with deep ties to the gaming and Android world. Ouya, which attempted to bring the mobile app model to gaming, struggled to get traction but did net investment (and interest) from several Asian tech giants.
In its attempt to be the go-to studio for VR, Jaunt faces formidable competition — namely from Facebook, which is pushing media and brands to make VR video, and Google, which is doing the same and building similar hardware. Scott Broock, a former business exec for Jaunt, was hired away by YouTube in January.
How Virtual Reality Can Enhance the Life of Older Adults
For seniors, one can imagine several exciting possibilities:
–Sensory enhancement via augmented and cued auditory and visual sensations to compensate for hearing impairment, macular degeneration and other common age-related maladies.For example, imagine being able to light up the road and add digital warning signals and verbal advisories to a headset or a windshield display used by an older driver at night.
–Cognitive enhancement via visual and auditory cues, symbols and reminders. For example, facial-recognition software can remind someone who they are meeting. Household items can be inventoried and tracked, and then a headset or other device can guide someone to them when a verbal request is made.
–Brain training via regularly cued lessons. Imagine brain games that boost both cognition and function by integrating them into real-world activities. For example, a person could take a stroll through the neighborhood following a virtual ball or other image to exercise muscles while simultaneously shaping visuospatial abilities.
–Musculoskeletal and neuromotor enhancement. Programs could tailor gesture control to help someone with arthritis or Parkinson’s disease interact more easily with their environment, while also serving to improve movement, strength and dexterity.
The possibilities are endless for such practical applications, but there are several key considerations when designing and programming for the senior crowd. Headsets must account for age-related changes in visual acuity and hearing loss, and integrate with existing glasses or hearing aides. Non-headset forms of interface such as wearables on arms or wrists or other projection devices could also deliver meaningful images and sounds without obstructing and burdening one’s head and neck. The technology must also consider design conventions that are familiar to older users, such as the haptic and auditory feedback of buttons, knobs and switches.
While the goal for young gamers is to escape into a virtual world, the goal for most seniors is to make the existing world more accessible–to bring services to them that might otherwise be missed. These services have to be seamlessly integrated into daily life without being too distracting, dizzying or excessively complex to access and manage. They must also provide what Altitude’s CEO Dan Ostrower has described as the “richness, emotional relevance and real experiences” of the analog world–a synthesis he labels Integral Reality.
See the full story here: http://blogs.wsj.com/experts/2016/03/21/how-virtual-reality-can-enhance-the-life-of-older-adults/
Serious Simulations Claim Their ‘Zero Frame Latency’ Tech Can Make VR Headsets Wireless
Serious Simulations are a young company, as many are entering the VR space. Started some 18 months ago by founder and CEO Chris Chambers, the company is aiming to capture a slice of the professional VR market with bespoke immersive systems for the likes of the military. In doing so however, they found that the high-end VR systems available relied on a tethered-to-PC cable solution, one that didn’t fit their requirements.
So, they went away and designed a system which can stream HD video at extremely low latencies to a VR display, low enough they claim to be good enough to replace the (currently unavoidable) cabling.
The prototype system Serious was demonstrating at Vision VR/AR Summit last month uses the company’s proprietary video reformatting process to deliver the first pixel from every new frame from computer to HMD in 17 microseconds, using a 60GHz wireless link. SS’ solution requires another unity to be situated in close proximity to the HMD, worn on the user’s person. The extra box receives the image data wirelessly then ‘reformats’ the image for delivery over local HDMI/MIPI interface direct to the HMD’s display.
By contrast, Serious Solutions’ claimed 17 microsecond for a single 1080p 60Hz feed led them to dub their system ‘zero frame’ latency.
See the original post here: http://www.roadtovr.com/serious-simulations-claim-their-zero-frame-latency-tech-can-make-vr-headsets-wireless/
We may have found the unexpected killer app for augmented reality… opera
A company called Opera Touch has been working with the SmartEyeGlass and has created an app that allows opera audiences to use augmented reality to see subtitles of the show in a large number of languages.
My first feeling was that this was technology for the sake of it – after all, there are subtitles above the performance to offer this very functionality.
However, the issue is that having to scan up and down to see what's being said is jarring, not letting the audience see what's going on and understand the words at the same time. By using AR, it brings the feeling of subtitles in films to a real world performance.
On top of that, the glasses can also feed information on the artists and let them see the score unfold in front of them, offering something that the subtitles above can't. A spokesperson for Opera Touch told me the new company has already sold the system into an opera house in San Sebastien, Spain, and is in talks to do the same with larger venues in UK, US and Spain in the future.
While it does depend on the business model of each opera house, the spokesperson told me the use of the glasses may either be bundled into the price of the ticket at purchase, or hired at the venue itself.
See the full story here: http://www.techradar.com/us/news/wearables/we-may-have-found-the-unexpected-killer-app-for-augmented-reality-opera-1316969
Sony Corporation Unveils New “Future Lab” Devices
Concept N
Concept N resembles a pair of Bluetooth headphones, but the device is worn around the neck instead of on the ears. The device has four microphones with noise-cancelling features so it can clearly hear your voice-based commands. The device also features cleverly placed speakers which project the audio to a user's ears without the use of earbuds.
AR tabletop projectors
Sony also showcased a projector that turns a tabletop into a touchscreen while beaming depth-sensitive digital objects onto the surface. It can also recognize and interact with physical objects. In a SXSW demo described by Engadget's Nathan Ingraham, the projector made the illustrations in a physical copy of Alice in Wonderland "jump" off the book and onto the table.
Next-gen game controllers
Sony also revealed an advanced haptic controller, which consists of a touchscreen and sensors that simulate the feeling of different objects inside the device. For example, if a ball is rolling around on the screen, the user feels like there is a real ball rolling around inside the device.
See the full story here: http://www.mysanantonio.com/business/fool/article/Sony-Corporation-Unveils-New-Future-Lab-Devices-6924618.php