Qualcomm Institute Convenes Conference on Future of Virtual Reality
Experts from academia and industry will share their insights into the future of virtual-reality technologies and content at the first annual Future of Virtual Reality conference. The 2015 event takes place Tuesday and Wednesday, Sept. 8-9, in Atkinson Hall, the headquarters of Calit2’s Qualcomm Institute on the UC San Diego campus.
Funding for the Future of Virtual Reality conference is provided, in part, by a grant from the Calit2 Strategic Research Opportunities (CSRO) program of the Qualcomm Institute.
The institute is uniquely positioned to be a partner for companies wanting to enter the virtual reality marketplace because of its cutting-edge visualization and virtual reality laboratories, and its world-class research activities in real-time graphics and 3D user interaction. The Qualcomm Institute houses a variety of unique, gold-standard 3D visualization systems, such as the StarCAVE, the NexCAVE, the TourCAVE, and the WAVE, all of which are equipped with 3D tracking systems to allow for the prototyping of immersive VR software applications.
The sessions planned for the Future of Virtual Reality conference reflect the breadth of open topics in the VR field, including display hardware, panoramic cameras, content generation, spatialized audio, user interaction, social applications of VR, and so on. For university researchers one of the underlying issues is that VR applications can be very hardware dependent because they depend on the existence of specific types of input devices or display devices. Although VR applications are designed at the Qualcomm Institute to run on a variety of graphics cluster-based systems, including the StarCAVE, WAVE and even head-mounted devices such as Oculus Rift, they do not run on mobile devices.
See the full story here: http://www.calit2.net/newsroom/release.php?id=2578
MTV VMAs media mix, including VR
MTV will produce a live-streaming, 360-degree virtual-reality video experience for the 2015 “MTV Video Music Awards” red-carpet pre-show on Sunday, Aug. 30.
The cabler worked with virtual-reality studio and tech company IM360 on the VR project, which will lets desktop viewers use their mouse to navigate immersive scenes from the red carpet, while mobile users can download the IM360 app and watch the coverage from different angles by moving their device in any direction.
Other digital extensions for the 2015 “MTV Video Music Awards”:
- MTV will grant exclusive access to the red carpet and show to top social influencers, including YouTube stars Connor Franta and Lohanthony, Twitter grandma comedian Baddie Winkle, and Laci Green, host of MTV’s “Braless” digital series on sexuality and other topics;
- MTV News, working with online content platform Playbuzz, is launching Swiper for its VMA coverage that will let users swipe right for “like” and left for “disklike” (a la Tinder) for each post; and
- MTV Style will turn over its Twitter Periscope broadcasting account to the women of Shop Jeen, an online clothing and accessories store, to provide real-time commentary on red carpet fashions. Additional influencers slated to broadcast live from the VMAs include Rickey Thompson, Danababy, Kinda Sarah, Andrea Russett, CyreneQ, Makeup by Mandy, Mahogany Lox and Josh Kennedy.
‘Two Bit Circus’ Can Sync Audience Experiences in VR, Tech to Debut at VRLA
Now, a company which describes itself as being “…at the intersection of technology and spectacle.” have developed a system that allows a “limitless” number of VR headsets to deliver a sync’ed 360 video experience to, potentially, a mass audience.
In much the same way that sensing others’ responses to traditional movies whilst at a public movie theater can enhance (or detract in some cases) your experience.
Two Bit Circus’ system is simple but seemingly effective. Take a number of Bluetooth-paired custom 360 video player (running on the phone attached to the Gear VR) and a central, wireless trigger system – capable of starting, stopping and resetting all connected devices simultaneously. The company claims that the system is designed to be portable and to be deployed quickly, making it ideal for onsite presentations and special events.
On a purely practical level, with the levels of interest in virtual reality as a marketing and presentation tool, Two Bit Circus’ syncing system is a potentially elegant and powerful tool for event managers and marketers. An early version of the triggering system has already been used at a 2014 Super Bowl collaboration with Wasserman Experience, Verizon and the NFL.
See the full story here: http://www.roadtovr.com/two-bit-circus-can-sync-audience-experiences-in-vr-tech-to-debut-at-vrla/
Michael Bay is launching a range of ‘augmented reality comics’
Although 451 hasn't revealed any titles yet, creators are already involved, pulled together from Hollywood's sphere of writers and artists. Currently announced are Con Air's Scott Rosenberg, Swordfish's Skip Woods, The Wire's George Pelecanos, Black Mass' Mark Mallouk, novelist Clay McLeod Chapman, and visual effects artists Peter and Paul Williams.
Rather than traditional paper based comics though, Bay's initiative will feature Touchcode, a "thinking ink" technology that unlocks digital content from physical goods. When used with comics, it could deliver additional story material, blend the narrative across mediums, or create mixed-media content bridging print and video.
...it's not hard to see 451 treating the graphic novel line as an IP farm. Hopefully, there'll at least be something worth reading in there, too.
See the full story here: http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2015-08/26/michael-bay-digital-comics-graphic-novels
Virtual Reality – The Rewards, The Risks with Mike Rothenberg of River Accelerator
If “Pirates of the Caribbean” is rated PG-13 just due to the sight of blood, then how do we even begin to rate the potential impact of feeling what it’s like be there if someone cuts off a pirate’s leg right in front of us?
DeepStreamVR is a VR startup that helps cope with pain by refocusing attention. Some Washington hospitals have found that they can dramatically reduce the pain that child burn victims experience when changing bandages by immersing them in a VR world of snow. In the snow world, the mind refocuses and the children report pain reductions comparable that of opiates. It’s incredible. Another example is FOVE, a company building a hardware system with eye-tracking software that translates a user’s eye movements to specific action. An inspirational example of FOVE’s ability to change lives can be seen on its website, where a university student with muscular dystrophy in Japan plays a piano in a live performance using his eyes in a VR headset by looking at the piano keys with eye-tracking software.
Read the full interview here: http://www.thevideoink.com/features/virtual-reality-the-rewards-the-risks-with-mike-rothenberg-of-river-accelerator/#.Vd9-hHhiBrg
How this 150-year-old company uses virtual reality
“We’re at a point where we can fly a drone around, laser scan an area, upload that model into a VR headset, and walk through the model using a virtual immersion tool,” says Mike Oster, vice president and CIO at McCarthy. “This gives a completely new meaning to a jobsite walk. It allows detailers to virtually build like they used to in the field.”
See the full story here: http://fortune.com/2015/08/25/mccarthy-construction-vr/
Newcastle virtual reality business recreates life inside Martello Towers for heritage project
Newcastle-based virtual reality specialists Digital VR have helped bring the history of Suffolk coast to life, after being called upon to assist with a project celebrating the area’s heritage.
The company, which is based in The Toffee Factory, used gaming technology to create a virtual model of the historic Martello Towers, enabling anyone anywhere in the world to see what the inside of the structures were like both when first built and during World War II.
In all, more than 100 Martellos were built in England to keep the French from invading during the Napoleonic wars, with others being placed across the Empire from Australia to Jamaica.
Based on the design of the Mortella Tower in Corsica, which had withstood an attack by a Royal Navy battleship and a frigate for two days in 1794, some went on to be used by early customs patrols as lookouts in both world wars.
See the full story here: http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/business/business-news/newcastle-virtual-reality-business-recreates-9926375
British Museum uses virtual reality to explore Bronze Age objects
The Samsung Digital Learning Managers from the Schools and Young Audiences Team have been working with Dr Neil Wilkin, Curator of the European Bronze Age collection at the British Museum. They employed the skills of Soluis Heritage who specialise in presenting heritage architecture through CGI visuals and animation (you might have seen them at the M+H Show earlier this year).
Together they have created a virtual Bronze Age-style round house, complete with burning fire, authentic atmospheric sounds and incorporated 3D scanned representations of British Museum objects from that period including a Sussex Loop, and a ceremonial Beaune dirk.
Visitors to a virtual reality weekend held in the great Court of The British Museum on 8 and 9 August were able to explore the round house and objects using Samsung Gear VR headsets, as well as on Samsung tablets and via an immersive dome.
“People in the Middle Bronze Age tended to deposit their metalwork and other precious objects away from their settlements, so this experience gives us the rare opportunity to put them back in their original settings.”
See the full story here: http://advisor.museumsandheritage.com/industry/british-museum-uses-virtual-reality-to-explore-bronze-age-objects/
Virtual reality’s killer game: Sploot (play a seagull, poop on everyone)
Welcome to the world of Sploot. A truly innovative Oculus Rift-compatible game that offers a birds eye view of the world around you. And then allows you to take a crap on it. In fact, the entire point of the game is to poop on as many things as you can.
There’s not much to
the story, other than “You are a seagull. A beautiful, fragile seagull” and yes, you poop uncontrollably. After you get through that very basic opening sequence, you’re free to begin your reign of terror.
Sploot is the successor to his micro game, Poop.
See the full story here: http://www.geek.com/games/virtual-realitys-killer-game-sploot-play-a-seagull-poop-on-everyone-1631758/
