Microsoft HoloLens: What tech, business decision makers need to know
Microsoft is opening a HoloLens experience center in New York City to court developers. Here's a look at what enterprises need to ponder about HoloLens and how it can be used for business.
The upshot is that Microsoft will bring developers to its experience centerto highlight possibilities. The software giant is hoping that it can use Windows 10 and HoloLens to stoke developer interest. In many respects, Microsoft's approach to HoloLens is similar to Google Glass. The aim is to put the HoloLens technology in developer hands in the first quarter and see what happens. As Mary Jo Foley noted, HoloLens is a lot more polished than 11 months ago, but still needs work.
Here's a look at my key takeaways for decision makers pondering HoloLens (CNET review), which isn't ready for production. Note that Microsoft's effort is early and these observations represent a snapshot in time.
There's a learning curve. Microsoft's HoloLens is controlled by eye tracking, gestures and voice. The key gesture is the finger tap where you hold your fist up and click. I found that my finger tap wasn't picked up unless I held it in one position. Microsoft did the finger tap so that HoloLens wouldn't pick up random gestures yet had something that was intuitive. If a person talked with their hands, you can just picture the HoloLens issues. Voice terms such as "magnet" to make changes to a project will also have to be learned. The voice commands were also spotty in areas. Bottom line: You'll need a training budget.
The headsets are heavy, but improving. I tried three headsets and at first they didn't seem to be much of a bother. In a 40 minute collaboration session at work, the HoloLens would feel heavy. ...
See the full story here: http://www.zdnet.com/article/microsoft-hololens-what-tech-business-decision-makers-need-to-know/
Inside the First VR Theme Park – The Void
The guides step away. I stare through my headset at a blue-lined digital abyss. Suddenly, the endless space in front of me opens up with a virtual sizzle of electricity, revealing the entrance to an ancient temple, hidden deep in a lush jungle, where ancient carvings and forgotten treasures await my inspection.
Hesitantly, I step forward, curious to explore but unsure of what will happen. I reach out to touch one of the crumbling stone walls on my left, and while it doesn’t feel quite the way it looks, it’s there, which is reassuring. There appears to be a glowing torch on the wall; I reach out and feel something that could indeed be a torch, so I pick it up and use it to light my way as I wander down the dark passageways, inspecting carvings and statuary along the sides.
I’m entranced, and the dozen pounds of electronics weighing me down seem to melt away.
Led by Ken Bretschneider, a tech entrepreneur who previously created the Internet security company DigiCert, the company is building an eight-acre gaming center in Pleasant Grove, Utah, possibly the first of several around the country. Groups of six to eight headset-clad visitors will pay $34 apiece to explore virtual reality together for 20 minutes at a time, roving 60-by-60-foot stages filled with dense foam walls, replete with effects like water and wind.
Still, he thinks the Void’s success won’t hinge just on making its technology feel interactive. It will also need to give visitors goals to work toward, rather than just handing them guns and commanding them to kill virtual zombies, he says. “You need zombies rushing at you to get your heart going, but you also want a story line behind it—you’re on a quest or you have to solve riddles, be a problem solver, use your brain a little bit.”
NEW VIRTUAL AND AUGMENTED REALITY HUB ANNOUNCED BY DEAKIN UNIVERSITY
THE VR AND AR TECHNOLOGY SPOT WILL BE LAUNCHED TO LET STAFF, STUDENTS AND INDUSTRY PARTNERS USE THE TECH.
Australia’s Deakin University has now announced its intentions to launch what will be an Interactive Digital Centre Hub, located in Melbourne, which will focus on virtual and augmented reality technologies.
THE HUB IS EXPECTED TO OPEN AT SOME POINT IN THE FIRST HALF OF 2016, THOUGH A SPECIFIC DATE HASN’T BEEN RELEASED.
The idea behind this hub is to provide a place where industry partners, students and staff members can come together and get their hands on some of the very latest in virtual and augmented reality technology. The hub is being opened in partnership with EON Reality. In total, more than $10 million (USD) has been invested into the creation of this new facility. Once it is up and running it will be the very first center that is dedicated exclusively to VR and AR tech within the greater Asian region.
See the full story here: http://www.mobilecommercepress.com/new-virtual-and-augmented-reality-hub-announced-by-deakin-university/8520206/
Megadeth to Provide Five ‘Dystopia’ Songs With Virtual Reality Experience
The band has also teamed with Next Galaxy Corp. to create the dystopian universe surrounding the band, allowing fans to virtually enter, engage and explore this parallel world. On Jan. 22, fans will be able to purchase the Dystopia album, including a CEEK Virtual Reality cardbox headset with instructions and a download code to access and unlock the exclusive content. That will allow you then to participate in the virtual reality experience.
See the full story here: http://loudwire.com/megadeth-five-dystopia-songs-virtual-reality-experience/
THE CLIMB IS CRYTEK’S NEW VIRTUAL REALITY GAME ABOUT MOUNTAIN CLIMBING
With that, The Climb was born. It's a game about scaling up a mountain from a first-person point of view. The gameplay is deceptively simple: holding down the left or right triggers causes your in-game avatar to grab any viewable, in-distance ledge with their left or right hand. You "aim" at new ledges simply by looking, craning your neck, shifting your body weight when necessary. If the nearest ledge is too far to reach, you can attempt to jump for it, but you'll need to look well above where the ledge is actually located.
It's a simple base from which to build, and Bowman says that was the key for Crytek as it looked for a virtual reality idea that felt right for the company.
The single mountain face I scale in The Climb is the first and easiest in the game. It's a slow introduction. My first five minutes are spent learning the ropes, moving ledge by ledge.
What sticks with me is not only how different this is from Crytek's wheelhouse, but how slowly and elegantly the mechanics expand — in a way that doesn't seem normal for this ambitious developer.
...prevent what Erjavec calls "simulation sickness."
To achieve this, Crytek has The Climb running at a continuous 90 frames per second and a resolution of 2160 by 1200.
While the game will be single-player only, it will have scoreboards for competing against your friends.
The Climb is planned for release as part of the Oculus Rift's "launch window," which will be some time during the first quarter of 2016. It will debut on Rift exclusively, but Bowman says that Crytek owns the intellectual property, and future versions could come to other platforms.
See the full story here: http://www.polygon.com/features/2015/12/15/10181740/the-climb-crytek-oculus-rift-virtual-reality?curator=MediaREDEF
Virtual Reality Livestreams Come to the Porn Industry
According to Piper Jaffray research analyst Travis Jakel, adult entertainment will be the number three driver of all virtual reality content behind games and movies, and the porn virtual reality business will grow into a $1 billion industry by 2020. Piper Jaffray does not break out livestreaming from the rest of the adult entertainment business.
Jakel forecasts that 3% of virtual reality users will pay on average $35 for adult content in 2016, accounting for $13 million of the total market—compared to 5% of virtual reality users spending an average of $56.66 on games, accounting for $35 million of the market, and 15% of VR users spending an average of $8.19 on movies, accounting for $15 million of the market.
Daron Lundeen, president of CamSoda, says the six live high definition streams are fed into a super computer that stitches them together to make a 360-degree video feed. The free stream is accessible on any virtual reality device, including Google Cardboard GOOG -0.07% , Samsung Gear VR, Facebook Oculus Rift FB 0.56% , and HTC Vive.
Lundeen says that while “live sex” searches are roughly one-tenth the size of “free porn videos” searches, livestream patrons tend to be more sticky.
See the full story here: http://fortune.com/2015/12/16/vr-livestream-porn/
CastAR will return $1M in Kickstarter money and postpone augmented reality glasses shipments
The CastAR glasses can project 3D holographic images in front of your eyes so that you can either feel like you’re seeing a virtual layer on top of the real world or feel like you’re immersed inside a game world. It works with glasses and a reflective sheet-like material called “retro-reflective.” While you could theoretically use the reflective sheets to animate an entire room, CastAR has decided to focus on using smaller sheets for tabletop gaming.
“We are shifting out of Kickstarter mode into a more professional mode,” Henkel-Wallace said. “Not everyone manages that properly. We are doing this out of a position of strength. We still plan to ship a consumer product in 2017. That’s different from the original Kickstarter timeline.”
See the full story here: http://venturebeat.com/2015/12/16/castar-will-return-1m-in-kickstarter-money-and-postpone-augmented-reality-glasses-shipments/