philip lelyveld The world of entertainment technology

Why even basic accessories can make virtual reality seem real

I’m sitting in a chair made by a startup called BRAINFIZZVR that vibrates. It’s subtle, but it’s enough to convince my body to join my mind in the virtual space station.

 Stompz, a startup that makes motion sensors you strap to your feet.   ...  Just face your body in one direction and lift your legs up and down, and you move forward in virtual reality. Mismatched real and virtual motion can be a recipe for nausea, but I didn’t find that to be the case with Stompz. There wasn’t any vertigo either.

See the full story here: https://gigaom.com/2015/01/29/why-even-basic-accessories-can-make-virtual-reality-seem-real/?utm_

You Can Now Clone Samsung’s Gear VR and Test Your Virtual Reality Apps

International developers have been waiting patiently to buy Samsung’s Gear VR mobile headset internationally ever since the US release on December 8th. Many of them have their virtual reality applications ready to go, yet they have no way to test them without a way to purchase the headset. That was at least until a developer in Australia plugged an Oculus Rift DK1 controller box into the Galaxy Note 4 (the phone that powers the Gear VR headset).

 Mark Schramm (co-creator of VR Bits) was sitting at home one day at the end of 2014 wondering how he was going to test his company’s new Gear VR demos. So instead of waiting for Samsung and Oculus to figure out an international release date, Schramm started experimenting with other possible options. He began by stripping down one of his extra DK1 headsets, removing the controller box and connecting it to the Note 4. Surprisingly, he found that the phone correctly recognized the headtracking sensor in the DK1.

Schramm documented the entire process through some videos. In addition, all the steps were posted on a website aptly called Open-Gear.com. Since then, a couple of other developers across the globe have created their own Gear VR clones.

See the full story here:

Oculus Super Bowl party could be the future of social sports broadcasting

...but Romo walked me through how it’ll work. I’ll admit: I was skeptical going in. Now? I’m a convert. This is the gathering space of our virtual reality future. As Edward Miller, the head of visual content for the VR news platform Immersivly, put it, this could well be “the beginning of [the] social sports broadcast.”

Strapping on an Oculus headset and some headphones, I was no longer in a cramped Altspace conference room. I was in a vast, high-ceilinged modern masterpiece of a parlor. With a futuristic cityscape out the window and a fireplace crackling off to the side, the room hosted a huge TV and a massive circular seating area around it, complete with comfy-looking cushions. Come Sunday, this is where dozens of people will come to watch the Seahawks and Patriots duke it out to be the NFL’s top dog.

Directional sound

If you watched the Super Bowl in the lobby of a hotel, you might be able to barely hear what someone on the other side of the room was saying, but if someone standing right next to you was speaking, you’d hear them loud and clear. That’s how it works in Altspace’s world, too.

Plus, it’s directional: ...

Tech has some limits

The company’s tech does have some limits. Because of the demands of processing all the audio and users’ voices, Altspace can generally handle only a few dozen people in a single space. Romo said he hopes for the Super Bowl, they’ll be able to get 75 together seamlessly. That means they’ll be running numerous instances of the Super Bowl party to accommodate everyone who wants in. Today, there’s 2,000 people on Altspace’s waiting list, but this weekend, it’s opening its doors to everyone.

See the full story here: http://venturebeat.com/2015/01/30/oculus-super-bowl-party-could-be-the-future-of-social-sports-broadcasting/

Rothenberg Ventures ‘River’ VR Accelerator Ups Ante to $1.3 Million, Announces Seed Investments in 13 Startups

[Philip Lelyveld comment; I've met with FOVE.  Emblematic Group is USC SCA's Nonny de la Pena's company.  I've advised Vantage VR. ]

Each company gets $100,000.

Augmented-Reality Headset Maker Meta Secures $23 Million

[Philip Lelyveld comment: this is major because it sets a bar that Microsoft Hololens, (Google) Magic Leap, Daqri (for warehouses, hazardous situations) and others will now have to beat. The pre-order cost is $667,]

When the Portola Valley, Calif.-based startup launched its 2013 Kickstarter campaign, it fast became a darling among the early adopters, raising $2 million and logging 1,500 preorders. The headsets, which are shipping now, have a 3-D see-through display, two cameras, Dolby 3-D audio and 360-degree head tracking. The technology projects digital items, like a ball for example, into the physical world and allows people wearing the eyewear to play catch with the digital image.

Although many early endeavors in augmented reality have focused on consumer applications like gaming, the initial crop of Meta users have included enterprise applications including showrooms, warehouses and first responders going through emergency simulations.

Mr. Hamer acknowledged the technology is complex and there are still a number of hurdles to surmount before it is ready for mainstream adoption. Still, it has made progress since the company, known as Meta Company Corp., was founded in 2012.

The infusion will be used to hire more hardware and software engineers and nurture a developer community to create applications designed to run atop the headsets. The funding will also help bankroll roadshows, hackathons and developer workshops.

See the full story here: http://blogs.wsj.com/venturecapital/2015/01/28/augmented-reality-headset-maker-meta-secures-23-million/

VR Makes Headway at Sundance Film Festival, Highlights New Cinematic Experiences

Evolution of Verse, by Chris Milk... but does tempt you with visual cues that draw you in the right direction—an important distinction for storytellers working in the new medium. 

Felix and Paul Studio.... Gear VR ... Herders, Strangers with Patrick Watson, ... The films aim to give you a fly-on-the-wall perspective of daily life, and although there’s that niggling feeling of voyeuristic taboo to overcome, the films demonstrate just how private these experiences can feel when done right.

Lost by Story Studio ... The film explores the possibilities afforded by rendering the experience in real-time, as opposed to a set of pre-recorded sequences. 

See the full story here: http://www.roadtovr.com/virtual-reality-makes-headway-sundance-film-festival-introducing-polished-cinematic-experiences/

Disney launching second startup accelerator program

Virtual Reality at Sundance – PBS News Hour

Oculus is now making its own virtual reality movies – VR Cinema

The prominence of virtual reality has been one of the biggest stories of the 2015 Sundance Film Festival, and now Oculus itself is stepping into the fray to highlight the importance of storytelling in VR. The company has pulled back the curtain on Oculus Story Studio, an internal team focused on exploring the potential of what it calls "VR cinema" — and the group's first movie is debuting this week.

Called Lost, the project is a real-time computer generated VR experience for the Crescent Bay prototype, and is directed by Saschka Unseld, a former Pixar animator who created the 2013 short The Blue Umbrella. Lost runs roughly five minutes in length, but in what Unseld touts as one of the project’s innovations, it changes the pace of its storytelling based on the action taken by the viewer. "It could be three-and-a-half minutes and it could be 10," he says. "It all depends on you."

The Oculus story team is small, currently just around 10 people. Iribe and Unseld say the goal is to stay nimble so they can shift as the medium evolves creatively in the months ahead

See the full story here: http://www.theverge.com/2015/1/26/7896179/oculus-vr-story-studio-original-movies-sundance

As UltraViolet Fades, Studios Ponder Options

[Philip Lelyveld comment: there is so much innovation at the studios and in the industry that breaks out of the intended rationale for and limitations of UltraViolet that its demise will barely be noticed.]

Known as UltraViolet, the venture is backed by most of the major studios but has so far failed to persuade big digital retailers to work with it. As a result, entertainment executives say they no longer see UltraViolet as the only path to a system where consumers can buy movies from any outlet and play them on any device.

See the full story here: https://www.theinformation.com/As-UltraViolet-Fades-Studios-Ponder-Options?curator=MediaREDEF