In an interview with the Gaming Business Review, an online site ran by M2 Publishing, Tim Sweeney detailed recent developments in Epic Games, as well as his visions of the future.

The interview obviously took place during Game Developer’s Conference 2015, which is traditionally held in San Francisco, CA. We highly recommend that you head there and read the whole interview, but we could not miss out on a question that is shaping the industry right now:

GBR: How big do you see virtual reality becoming over the next five to ten years as a business?

TS: Virtual reality and Augmented Reality will literally change the world. They will be the next computing platform.  There’s a market for billions of these devices because everybody who has a smartphone today will — perhaps in as much as decade from now — much prefer entertainment in a completely immersive experience that takes advantage of your entire field of view and has full body input through miniaturized cameras and other technologies.  But we’re in the early days of it now.  Let’s be clear, everything is in the development kit stage.  It is for early adopters and what we’re seeing now is really just the Palm Pilot to the platform that will evolve into something iPhone-like in its quality.

There’s no point in denying it, after seeing billions of dollars earned by 3D movies which rely on ‘cheap tricks’ to achieve depth (try finding animated feature movies without 3D being the ‘default’ option), next step will bring us technologies such as Microsoft Hololens, production versions of Facebook-owned Oculus VR (John Carmack keynote) and second-generation Google Glass, which is developed in near-secrecy by the search giant and a practical monopoly in glasses, Italian giant Luxottica.

After operating for almost 20 years as an independent studio, Epic Games made waves across the gaming and development community when they accepted an investment from Tencent Holdings (HKG:0700) last June (2014). The Chinese powerhouse paid up $330 million for 48.4% of the company, setting the valuation just a bit below $680 million.

Tim Sweeney continued to be the CEO, while his lifelong business partner Mark Rein still continues as in his role of Vice President.  Not selling themselves outright like idSoftware did with ZeniMax Media, Epic Games continues to be independent studio, consisting out of product (games) and technology development units. Their recent announcement about making Unreal Engine ‘free’ opens a path for even more ‘premium freemium’ titles which base their revenue model on microtransactions.

The post Tim Sweeney: Virtual Reality will Literally Change the World appeared first on VR World.

Virtual reality is undoubtedly an immersive feast for the eyes, and accompanied by surround sound headphones that pump in realistic high-def sounds to our ears, users are pulled into a digital world.

But what about our other senses? What about those who actually want to smell their digital universe?

The attachment is a novel idea, but as you can see it’s a rather bizarre piece of hardware that traps your visage in a claustrophobic mask that looks quite uncomfortable.

The FeelReal Mask is a curious VR peripheral that aims at injecting more “reality” into your virtual reality sessions by simulating the sense of smell to virtual reality (yes, really). It will also deliver minor temperature fluctuations to simulate hot air, wind and even water mist.

It’s rightly labeled as a “mask” considering when you strap it on to VR hardware you’re pretty much obscuring your entire face, trapping your features in a bizarre claustrophobic contraption for the sake of “total immersion”.

The FeelReal Mask as showcased at GDC 2015. (Photo Credit: The Verge)

Since you’re mouth will be completely covered up, the mask features a Bluetooth microphone to ensure you’re not completely vocally cut-off from the outside world.

It seems like a novel concept from the start, but once you see what you have to go through to get your senses doused in the “full VR presence”, the FeelReal Mask will most likely scare everyone off. Smell is an inherently important sense, and is more closely tied to memory than any other of our five senses, so successfully tapping this reservoir could lead to potential interactive gold.

But how does the mask work? Loaded with a cartridge that produces seven unique smells that waft through “odor generating vents”, the oddity is tethered to the headset by Bluetooth and powered by a battery with a four-hour life cycle.

Hot and cool air are funneled through dual-sided vents along your upper cheekbones to simulate wind and the like, whereas the water mist lightly sprays at separate dual-sided vents along your cheeks.

The “odor generator” is right under your nose–like literally right under your schnozz while wearing the headset–and delivers the following scents:

• Ocean
• Jungle
• Fire
• Grass
• Powder
• Flowers
• Metal

The mask is attachable to just about every piece of VR tech out there including the Oculus Rift, Project Morpheus, Valve’s Vive headset and even Zeiss VR One.

The Verge tried out the hardware at GDC 2015 and likened it to “smell-o-vision” for VR.

The publication described it as “strapping a foam block over your mouth and nose, putting yourself at the mercy of its air vents,” and saying that it’s basically a “gas mask arranged into a little smiling face.”

While the FeelReal Mask is certainly a unique specimen in terms of adding smell to VR, we’ve seen other peripherals that aim to bring total immersion to the virtual world.

Hardware like the Dexmo exoskeleton from Dexta Robotics and the mo-capping CyberGlove are helping bring the sense of touch to virtual reality, laying the framework for technologies that could very well introduce hardware of Lawnmower Man-like proportions.

But I think senses like smell (and taste for that matter) are best left to the real world.

The post FeelReal Brings Sense of Smell To Virtual Reality appeared first on VR World.

The biggest companies in the Augmented and Virtual Reality space are coming to Austin on March 16 for AR/VR Austin.

Attendees at AR/VR Austin will have the chance to try out the latest VR displays and controllers from Seebright, OSVR, and Sixense. AR/VR Austin is a cooperative effort by the sponsoring companies, organized by Praevidi with help from Upload and SVVR.

“Augmented and Virtual Reality are at the peak of anticipation but the most up to date technology has only been experience by a small number or developers and enthusiasts. This is an opportunity for visitors to Austin for SXSW Interactive and the Austin tech community to experience these cutting edge technologies for the first time,” said Simon Solotko, the CMO of Augmented Reality Pioneer Seebright and co-founder of Praevidi, in a statement.

The state of the art in immersive content will be on display at AR/VR Austin with demonstrations from Jaunt, Littlstar, Rewind and a host of independent content and game developers.

“The impact of Immersive content, and cinematic VR in particular, will be profound this year.  The ability to experience music, education, travel and narrative as if you were ‘there’ is a game changing event in the way people consume content,” added  Scott Brock, VP of Content at Jaunt, in a press release. “SXSW and AR/VR Austin present the perfect opportunity to meet with the creators and storytellers that will push this new medium forward and to share some of our latest work.”

Tickets are available now from Eventbright.

The post AR/VR Austin Brings Leading Augmented and Virtual Reality Developers to SXSW appeared first on VR World.

After launching Android TV and Android Auto last year at Google I/O, it looks like this year’s agenda for Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL) will focus on Android in virtual reality. According to a report published by the Wall Street Journal, Google has tasked “tens of engineers” to work on a version of Android tailored for virtual reality.

With Facebook (which owns Oculus), Sony, Microsoft, Samsung and now Valve showing interest in the medium, it is clear that VR is a major area of focus for major tech companies. At this week’s  Game Developers Conference in San Francisco, VR products and services took center stage, with the medium referred to as the future of gaming.

The Wall Street Journal suggests that Google will be giving away Android for VR for free, much like other flavors of the operating system. At last year’s I/O, Google demoed the $20 Google Cardboard, which is essentially a low-cost DIY solution that allows you to turn your smartphone into a 3D viewer. The cardboard unit has a tie-in software component that goes by the same name. Clay Bavor was partly responsible for Cardboard, and he will be joined by Jeremy Doig in leading Google’s VR efforts.

Details are light as to what exactly is on offer with the operating system, but with this year’s I/O scheduled at the end of May, it is likely we’ll hear more about Google’s plans for virtual reality then.

The post Google Is Getting Into Virtual Reality With A Custom Version Of Android appeared first on VR World.

Sony (NYSE: SNE) has recently confirmed that the Project Morpheus VR headset will require a wired connection to “ensure high-speed data transfers”.

Speaking with Gamespot at this year’s Game Developers Conference (GDC 2015), President of Sony Computer Entertainment Worldwide Studios Shuhei Yoshida had some interesting things to say about the company’s new virtual reality peripheral.

According to Yoshida, Project Morpheus’ internal hardware is “pretty much done”, but the Japanese console-maker will continue to add in “lots of tweaks and improvements” before it’s ready to ship.

Earlier at GDC Sony slated an early 2016 release window for the VR headset, revealing a slew of specs and a brand new prototype to be demoed at the event.

But there’s something the prototype assets seemed to leave out: the required wire that tethers the headset to the PlayStation 4, and an extra box that will basically process the image data directly to the headset.

Although its a prototype model, this press pic doesn’t adequately portray the headset’s required direct-wired connectivity.

During the interview Yoshida state that Sony won’t be releasing a wireless flavor of Project Morpheus, stating that wired HDMI connections were a must to transfer full 1080p HD at refresh rates of 120Hz–which is responsible for that “immersive VR feel”.

Essentially a wired connection is required to maintain the headset’s reduced latency rate (less than 18 milliseconds) to keep that authentic virtual presence. If there’s too much lag, the illusion of VR breaks down entirely.

It’s worth mentioning that all VR headsets, from the Oculus Rift to the newly announced HTC Vive, will be wired to their respective sources.

Since Project Morpheus’ source is the PlayStation 4, that means an extra bit of hardware is needed to ensure the PS4’s only HDMI out slot isn’t taken up by the headset.

Sony will ship the Project Morpheus with an external “Processing Box” that attaches via HDMI and USB, and currently has its own power input, meaning things are going to get even more trip-worthy.

Yoshida says that the 1080p video signals are being sent to the headset, meaning data is being fed from the PS4 through the external processing box and out towards the headset.

Richard Marks, Sony’s Director of Research and Development, explained what the external box actually does in a recent interview with Tested at GDC 2015:

“We call it a PU, and it’s a box that takes the output from the playstation 4 and it splits it, splits it for something for the headset and something for the television.

And it does this conversion of the 120Hz output of a PS4 that something a TV can display, and it doesn’t get warped. That let’s the people in the room that are there to see what you’re seeing.”

According to Digital Foundry, the Processing Box “features a processor that runs the social screen – an external display output that takes one of the stereoscopic views, ‘undistorts’ the image, zooms into the main area of interest and beams it out via HDMI to your HDTV”.

Essentially Morpheus will need to be tethered to the console by way of this external processing box at all times in order to function, which seems to go against the sleek, stylish form factor that Sony tries to depict.

So in order to operate Project Morpheus you’re going to need an ecosystem of PlayStation products: the PlayStation Camera, the PlayStation 4 that powers it, the external processing box, and a DualShock 4 or PlayStation Move controller to interact with it.

And, of course, the VR headset itself.

One of Sony’s major tenets with Project Morpheus is a “user friendly design”, but instead of focusing on environments outside of VR, they just ensure the headset is physically comfortable to wear.

Good news is the controllers will be wireless, but they’re a modified version of the PlayStation Move free-hand peripherals which are basically Sony’s answer to the Wiimote. The DualShock 4 is also compatible with the headset if you prefer a more direct gamepad approach.

Bear in mind the recent photos of the Project Morpheus are prototypes, and they’re not finalized, so that’s probably why we aren’t seeing the dangling HDMI cord or the extra processing box in any of the photos.

While this isn’t something that will necessarily inhibit your experience with Sony’s VR hardware, it can help you better understand the logistics of the device and how to weigh your expectations before 2016.

Yoshida also had something to say about Project Morpheus’ games library. It looks like Sony is having a hard time winning over publishers to the new hardware, as AAA has its thriving home base centered on the current console and PC platforms.

The Project Morpheus looks quite sleek in this state, but it’s non-operable. The reality resembles something a little different.

“Large publishers tend to wait until there’s enough of an install base,” he said, discussing how VR is still an early gambit for most big-name publishers. To help resolve the gap, Yoshida affirms that Sony’s first-party studios are making VR-ready games for the platform.

In any case, let this be a reminder that it might be too soon to get super excited about virtual reality.

Thing are going to be messy, and there are going to be cables and peripherals everywhere–look at the Vive’s ecosystem that’s comprised of the SteamVR Lighthouse, Vive Controller, the VR headset, and the fact that you’ll need to wire it up to a PC.

And it’s likely going to be expensive, too. So tamper your expectations and save your cash, and we’ll do our best to point you in the right direction.

The post Sony: Project Morpheus VR Headset Won’t Be Wireless appeared first on VR World.

Virtual Reality is quickly becoming more and more immersive, but there’s one problem that ruins the illusion: lag. When a user moves their head and the virtual world doesn’t respond as quickly, the illusion is ruined.

This is where AMD’s (NASDAQ: AMD) new Liquid VR API comes in. Liquid VR uses a number of different methods to make sure the VR headset is responsive as possible. These methods are Latest Data Latch, Asynchronous Shaders, Affinity Multi-GPU, and Direct To Display. All of these methods are optimized for AMD GPUs, and support multiple GPUs working in-sync.

Latest data latch promises to reduce the latency by increasing the efficiency of CPU-GPU parallelism. With this method the GPU would be provided a bigger buffer of data from CPU, making more rendered data available so less rendering time would be needed to display virtual worlds.

Moving on to asynchronous shaders, these allow the GCN shaders on the GPU to warp the image of a user’s viewpoint before sending it to the VR headset to further reduce latency. Effectively for every viewpoint the VR headset requests, the GPU will create more data than required so re-rendering isn’t necessary.

The Affinity Multi-GPU feature allows GPUs to work together in creating the stereoscopic image. Effectively each GPU would render a single eye’s viewpoint before combining them into one stereo 3D image.

Finally Direct to Display is simply a plug-and-play feature allowing cross compatibility of VR headsets with Radeon GPUs.

All in all Liquid VR is a promising early step towards a much-needed API for VR gaming. As this API matures AMD will have no trouble getting VR headset vendors on board.

The post AMD’s Liquid VR SDK Aims to Take the Lag Out of VR appeared first on VR World.

Sony (NYSE: SNE) Computer Entertainment President of Worldwide Studios Shuhei Yoshida took the stage at GDC 2015 today to unveil new details on the company’s Project Morpheus VR headset, including specifications and a 2016 release window.

“Project Morpheus will be launching as a consumer product the first half of 2016,” Sony said in a recent Tweet.

A new prototype was revealed on-stage, along with “near-finalized specs” that underlines the VR headset has very low latency that’s registered at under 18 milliseconds to increase “immersion in virtual reality”, and features new dual 5.7 inch 1920 x  1080 OLED displays with a 120 Hz refresh rate.

“Our goal with VR is to deliver a sense of presence, making the player feel as though they’ve stepped inside the world of a game. The new Project Morpheus prototype brings us closer to that goal, as it improves the visual experience and tracking accuracy, both of which are critical to achieving sense of presence.”

The prototype also sports more accurate position tracking thanks to three new LED’s for a total of nine LED’s for “robust 360 degree tracking”.

• OLED display: In exchange for the 5 inch LCD, the new Morpheus VR headset is equipped with a 5.7 inch 1920 X RGB X 1080 resolution OLED display. This new screen expands the field of view and enables low persistence, removing motion blur.

• 120hz refresh rate: The previous refresh rate spec has been doubled for this new prototype, which means games for Morpheus can be rendered at 120fps. When combined with the OLED display’s high refresh rate and the power of PS4, Morpheus is able to output amazingly smooth visuals.

• Super low latency: We know how critical low latency is to delivering a great VR experience, and we’ve reduced latency to less than 18ms, about half of what the first Morpheus prototype had. Low latency is critical to deliver a sense of presence, at the same time making the VR experience comfortable to players.

• More accurate tracking: To make positional tracking more precise, we’ve added three LEDs to the headset – one on the front and two on the side – for a total of nine LEDs to support robust 360 degree tracking.

• User-friendly design: We’ve made the Morpheus VR headset easier to put on and take off, with a single band design and quick release button. The headband supports the weight of the unit on the top of your head, so there is no pressure on your face. Other components have also been adjusted and configured to make the headset lighter, so that players do not find the headset cumbersome or uncomfortable to use.

As revealed before, Project Morpheus will be compatible with the PlayStation 4 and will feature PlayStation Move-like peripherals for wireless controller input.

It’ll be interesting to see how Project Morpheus continues to take shape throughout the months, and how Sony aims to finalize the peripheral’s design.

While VR might still be new in various ways, it looks to be the undisputed future for gaming as a whole, but Sony will have its work cut out for them when they take on big rivals in the VR sector like Valve’s and HTC’s Vive as well as the Oculus Rift.

The post Sony’s Project Morpheus VR Headset Coming First Half of 2016 appeared first on VR World.

Today Valve formally announced Vive, its virtual reality headset, to the world and delivered details on how the Steam-powered hardware will impact the world of VR.

To make its peripheral a reality, Valve has tapped Taiwainese smartphone maker HTC (TPE: 2498) to manufacture the hardware.

Originally prototyped at ValveVR, Vive is the finalized form of the company’s virtual reality hardware. Vive will make use of Steam VR’s tracking technology as well as tap into the platform’s array of games–but Valve has plans to embrace a wide scope beyond gaming.

With Vive, the partners claim that users will be able to literally be able to seamlessly walk around and explore the VR space thanks to the Full Room Scale 360 Degree Solution, “inspect objects from all angles and truly interact with your surroundings”.

“A gyrosensor, accelerometer, and laser position sensor combine to precisely track the rotation of your head on both axes to an accuracy of 1/10th of a degree, allowing you to look around the virtual environment naturally.”

To tap into the full potential of Vive you’ll need to hook up a pair of SteamVR “base stations” to track your movement, pretty much giving a motion capture effect within a limited 15 feet x 15 feet space.

As for visuals, Vive VR headset will simulate 1200 x 1080 high-definition images at 90 frames-per-second on two screens over each eye, promising to fill your field of vision “in all directions”.

But you’ll need to hook up your own headphones for audio immersion, as the Vive is an eyes-only experience.

As for input, HTC is creating specially designed “simple and intuitive” wireless controllers to interface with Vive, which will be fully tracked to simulate user input within the virtual space. The HTC VR Controllers will be sold and packaged in pairs.

What kind of games can Vive VR host?

A recent thread on NeoGAF showcases a very such game that could fully tap into the potential of the Vive headset. The Gallery, and upcoming project from from Cloudhead Games, looks to be a leading example as to what developers can pull off on the platform.

Below we a quote from the game’s press release that talks about what Vive means for the dev team:

“We now have a hardware target that matches the original vision for The Gallery: Six Elements. To unleash the user into full, volumetric, 360 roomscale experiences with motion control!

“The HTC and Valve VR experience offers hardware so precise and exacting that we now have the fidelity in our mechanics that we did not have access to before. You will not believe this tech until you get a chance to use it yourself. This is something to be excited about!”

But it’s not all about gaming. Valve wants to help bridge the gap between virtual reality and actual reality to change our lives.

Vive can be used to aid in communication between people across the world, simulate travel to foreign countries, and a million other possibilities.

The company is also partnering with entertainment producers like HBO and Lionsgate Films to bring immersive video experiences to the device.

Valve has already shipped out Beta versions of the Vive Developer Editions out to a variety of game devs including Vertigo Games, Bossa, Cloudhead Games, Dovetail Games, Wemo Labs, and more.

“HTC Vive is real, it’s here and it’ll be ready to go before the start of 2016,” Cher Wang, Chairwoman of HTC, said in the official press release.

Be sure to drop by the Vive VR homesite for more information or to sign-up for e-mail announcements.

The post Valve Announces Vive VR Headset Powered By Steam VR appeared first on VR World.

Since it has been confirmed that the Windows Holographic platform will come baked into every copy of the Windows 10 operating system, Microsoft obviously anticipates the possibility of a future filled with “holographic” computing devices.

So is Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) correct to expect this trend, and – more importantly – should we be happy if it is?

HoloLens joins the recent crew of wearable interfaces, which includes Google’s (NASDAQ: GOOG) Glass and Sony’s not-so-smart-glasses. Some people want to include Oculus Rift in this list, but the Rift is neither augmented reality, nor a computer interface – it is a glamorous virtual reality gaming console, that also happens to be really cool, but doesn’t attempt to function as an interface for everyday computing.

A step forward

Augmented reality devices represent the logical step in a trend that began with the unveiling of the original iPhone in 2007.  Much has been made of the way Apple’s iPhone – and later the iPad – influenced the computing world by creating a vast market for portable smart devices. But equally relevant is an extraordinary paradigm shift caused by these devices with the perfection of one simple element: the touch screen.

Since Douglas Engelbart’s “mother of all demos” in 1968, computer interfaces have been dominated by the ingenious mouse-keyboard combo. For a generation of people who lived before computers, the mouse and keyboard represented the perfect interface: a simple and intuitive way to input commands to a computer using direct mechanical motion and tactile feedback. Typing at a computer wasn’t much different from using a typewriter, and using a mouse must have felt a lot like pulling a lever or turning a steering-wheel to get where one wanted to go.

Most importantly, this interface maintained a clear distinction between the user and the machine: there could not be a less ambiguous boundary than the four corners of a computer monitor, and the pronounced grid of a 1980s keyboard. This distinction was a comfortable one for those accustomed to reading text from the pages of a book, or the folds of a newspaper.

But it also turned out to be an unnecessary one, because computers are not books. The touchscreen was not merely a cool gimmick, but a fundamental change in the way people interacted with their devices. Gone was the distance, or the need for mechanical proxies. Users could now directly manipulate the digital environment by touching it, and interacting with it in a way so intimate that it could arguably be called “magical”.

Since a capacitive touchscreen was included in Apple’s original iPhone, touchscreens have appeared everywhere: tablets, laptops, desktop monitors, televisions, cars, and even refrigerators. It’s a well established fact that a small niche for touchscreens existed before 2007, as exemplified by Microsoft’s Palm PC. But besides being inaccurate and cumbersome, these screens focused on the use of a stylus, and so continued to emphasize the mechanical boundary between machine and user.

Changing paradigms

Google went a step beyond the touchscreen with Glass, by changing the very screen from a physical one to one existing virtually in a user’s line of sight. But this was more of a gimmick than anything significant. Glass still functioned almost exactly like a mobile device. The glass interface was just a screen – a screen constantly floating in front of one’s face, but a screen nevertheless.

HoloLens represents an even more dramatic reduction in the distance between user and interface. By virtually transforming the physical world into a tangible representation of programs and controls, HoloLens is more invasive than glass, which at least preserves the distinction between what is virtual and what is real.

The effect – theoretically, at least – is awesome. What could be cooler than literally stepping into a Martian biome, or the bounds of a video game environment, or to pick up a virtual model and turn it around, all within one’s office?

The question of whether these theoretical features will actually function as intended can be ignored in lieu of the more dramatic question, which is: should this distance be breached in the first place? Digital environments are not realer than the ones in books or other fantasies, which we comfortably consign to the boundaries of our imagination, or pages, or stage, or screen – the boundaries of something.

But should we willingly lie to our senses until they are confused what is actual, and what is virtual? HoloLens is the first time this has actually been attempted, so there are no past failures to learn from, or debates to draw on. This is a question that must be worked out by the consumer, whose answer will ultimately determine the fate of augmented reality, and Microsoft’s HoloLens.

The post Is Microsoft HoloLens the Future of Computing? appeared first on VR World.

Apple (NASDAQ: APPL) has in its patent library a smartphone-based VR headset, nearly identical to Samsung’s (KRX: 005935) Gear VR headset.

While it may seem that Apple is trying to beat Samsung to the punch in patenting a smartphone-based VR headset, this is actually not the case. According to Apple Insider, Apple actually filed a patent for such a device in 2008. US Patent No 8,957,835, filed in September 2008 and granted February 17, 2015, describes a “head-mounted device that is worn on a user’s head and configured to integrate with a removable portable electronic device.”

“For example, a user may couple a personal electronic device, such as the iPod … available from Apple Inc of Cupertino, Calif, or the iPhone … also available from Apple Inc of Cupertino, Calif, to the head-mounted device via a cable or wire,” the filing reads.

As you can see from the illustrations, the headset has a separate hand-held controller that looks like an older iPod unit.

What are Apple’s intentions?

For its part, Apple has not shown much of an interest in the emerging virtual reality market. While other consumer electronics companies have made inroads to developing their own headsets and supporting ecosystem the same can’t be said from Apple.

It could be that at one time Apple was exploring developing such a device, but plans were killed at the executive level. In response to press inquiries about Apple’s VR ambitions, the company has said that it not everything it patents will go to market.

A more cynical analysis of the situation might be that Apple sensed the coming VR wave and decided to expand its patent library before its competitors to bring products to market with hopes launching patent related lawsuits against them. However, courts are becoming more hostile to companies that choose to patent troll so this may not be the most likely scenario.

The post Apple Patented a Smartphone-Based VR Headset — in 2008 appeared first on VR World.

Mozilla has brought users one step closer to experiencing the virtual web by including WebVR — an API for browsers specifically designed for VR content — into the latest nightly and developer builds of the browser.

WebVR is currently compatible with the Oculus VR, Gear VR, as well as Google Cardboard. Future headset compatibility is planned as the API matures.

Though WebVR is far from mainstream, and only a handful of applications exist for it, its creators hope one day users would be able to peer into a virtual world offered by some web pages. For example, a car manufacturer would be able to give potential buyers a VR tour of a vehicle allowing users to view it from all angles before making a decision.

However, WebVR isn’t yet in the “mainstream” builds of Firefox. That will have to wait until the API is more mature.

We’re still making rapid improvements and changes to both the VR interfaces and the necessary platform support pieces. Once WebVR is more complete, we’ll discuss shipping plans to our Beta and Release builds,” Mozilla wrote in a blog post.

For the time being Mozilla has launched MozVR, a website dedicated to giving users examples of the potential of VR on the web.

The post Prepare to Surf the VR Web With Firefox appeared first on VR World.

During the Windows 10 showcase, Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) today revealed its very own contender in VR hardware: Project HoloLens.

Project HoloLens is a headset that ultimately aims to merge projected holographic overlays with VR, with a host of practical applications.

Using the device, users can interact with projected 3D images that are “blended with your real world” and can “integrate with your physical places, spaces, and things”.

Essentially the goggle-laden headset can project semi-transparent holograms onto real-world objects, and users can create, shape and share their personalized images on a whim. This means that any environment could be a potential digital canvas for a wide variety of activities.

HoloLens opens up a veritable galaxy of possibilities, and the technology is rife with potential.

Gaming, for one, could be completely revolutionized with this technology. Imagine being able to project your favorite game via a portable screen on any surface–breaking gaming outside of the screen itself.

The new technology is powered by Windows 10, and Microsoft affirms that HoloLens is completely wireless with intuitive voice and gesture controls. Along with the holographic display, spatial sound will immerse users into their own creations for a genuine VR experience.

Project HoloLens’ images are entirely made up of specifically manipulated light particles rendered by the device’s “light engine”.

As Wired puts it in their hands-on preview, “light particles bounce around millions of times in the so-called ‘light-engine’, then the photons enter the goggles’ two lenses, where they ricochet between layers of blue, green and red glass before they reach the back of your eye.”

Exact details on Project HoloLens are scare at this point, and development on the technology is still in its early stages. VR in itself is still an early frontier, as the pioneering Oculus Rift headset is still being refined and tweaked, and it might be years before HoloLens is ready for consumer use.

We’ll likely hear more about HoloLens’ other practical applications–like gaming–during the Games Developer Conference (GDC 2015) in March.

The post Microsoft’s HoloLens Merges Holograms With VR appeared first on VR World.

After launching the Gear VR last year in collaboration with Oculus, Samsung (KRX:005935) has announced a content store for the virtual reality headset called Milk VR at the 2015 Consumer Electronics Show. The offering – a continuation in the oddly-named Milk line of audio and video services offered by the South Korean manufacturer – aims to be the first content delivery service tailored for virtual reality, and will offer video content in a 360-degree viewing format.

Samsung has stated that it will be providing an array of content – streaming as well as downloadable – for the Gear VR (and any VR headsets the brand may launch in the future) with Milk VR, which is available in the Oculus store on the headset.  The content store will be broken down into two categories, with the “fresh” category highlighting the latest additions, and a “trending” section, through which users can browse the most popular videos available. Currently, all videos on the store are free, although there will be plans to monetize content at a later stage.

The South Korean vendor is looking to add content creators to the service, and has said that it is working toward securing deals with Mountain Dew, National Basketball Association, Red Bull and Skybound Entertainment and others. The NBA has stated that it will offer a mix of game action as well as behind the scenes footage through Milk VR, and Skybound Entertainment has revealed that a TV show shot entirely in VR is in the works.

Initially, the amount of content available on Milk VR will be sparse considering that the Gear VR headset itself is still in its nascent stages, but as momentum builds, it is possible that we’ll see a wide variety of content make its way to the service. VR as a medium for entertainment is certainly exciting as it allows content creators to find new ways to engage with their audience, while allowing users to fully immense themselves in the visuals.

Furthermore, launching a service such as Milk VR when the medium is still in its infancy gives Samsung the potential to build an ecosystem of content around the platform. In the initial stages, Samsung will be looking at metrics like user engagement rather than overall sales to gauge the success of its service.

With growth coming to a crawl in the phone segment, Samsung is looking to other mediums to drive growth in the coming years, and initiatives such as Milk VR may just be the catalyst that Samsung needs to secure a foothold in this segment. Much of Samsung’s success with Android was down to timing, and the South Korean manufacturer will be looking to achieve a similar feat in the field of virtual reality.

The post CES 2015: Samsung Starts to Build an Ecosystem of Content Around the Gear VR appeared first on VR World.

The Japanese battleship Yamato is regarded as one of the largest warships ever built. Though it was eventually defeated, this flagship’s legacy serves as an inspiration to our modern age. In fact, one Japanese crowdfunding project is about to relive its most glorious days.

Japanese indie game designer Mutsuya Nishino had recently opened a project at Japan’s crowdfunding website CampFire. Named as the Yamato VR Restoration Project, it detailed rebuilding the historical battleship Yamato, albeit in virtual reality. The basic outline of the project is to completely reconstruct the battleship inside and out, with users getting a personal tour of the entire naval vessel using the Oculus Rift.

Sounds pretty simple right? While designing the interior of the vessel is already a challenge unto itself, much of the project’s hurdles lie on making the virtual battleship fully functional. Its gargantuan 45 Caliber Type 94 guns for example need to mechanically work like the real thing. The engine room must be period accurate, and it must have the overall feel of a classic World War II warship cruising towards the heat of battle. The project even proposes the use of NPCs, dressed for the proper time period of course, to guide users around the ship.

For the time being, there aren’t any sample images to show just yet, but the developer guarantees that the project is no ordinary crowdfunded undertaking. The outline of the project even discussed the possibility of porting the simulator to be compatible with Sony’s Project Morpheus VR headset, should the campaign prove successful.

Interested individuals in Japan may have the basic VR data package by pledging at least 5,000 yen ($41.00). A bigger 20,000 yen ($166.00) would give the user an additional option to tour the ship as part of its crew (nameplates, decals, records, etc.). A much heftier 150,000 yen ($1250.00) is required for the captain’s seat, which would also include every single extra of other previous packages, a number of other exclusive perks, and a full 3D model of the user.

The project is scheduled to start around February 2015, after it achieves its target funding goal.

Update: The project is now currently funded at 865,000 yen ($7,500.00) which now very near to the project’s target funding (1,000,000 yen).

The post Japan’s Largest Historical Warship Gets a VR Refit appeared first on VR World.

Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind may be generally popular as a Japanese animation classic, but it also inspired technology, the Möwe glider being one of its iconic symbols. While there is already an ongoing project to build the real thing, one Japanese folk have decided to just settle on the next best thing: a virtual Möwe glider powered by Oculus Rift.

The Möwe (pronounced as mehve in the movie) glider is generally seen in Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind as a wide, tailless glider, with its rider at the top of the vehicle (rather than inside or under it). The VR glider of the Möwe Flight Simulator is essentially the same; the user is strapped to a custom built platform where the rider stands, while traversing the virtual skies with the Oculus Rift headset. It was introduced a few days ago during the Maker Faire Tokyo 2014 event, where visitors of its booth were given the chance to try it out, and see the skies as did the royal protagonist of the original title.

Positioning of the virtual glider is adjusted using accelerators installed on the actual platform, while fans in front provide the “wind” as the virtual glider moves. A motor underneath also gives the sensation of a working rotor, increasing the overall level of immersion. Of course, with the Oculus Rift, you can get a 360-degree view of the virtual skies, so you might even see a bird or two flying along with you as you glide away.

The concept, as well as the entire setup and software for the Möwe Flight Simulator were developed by Wada Takahiko, and he has publicly made the program source code and schematics available at his own developers website. As it is a privately-built project, it is unlikely that a commercial version will be available soon.

But who knows, maybe the concept might spark an entirely different idea for a new immersive Oculus Rift-based game.

The post Oculus Rift Brings Life to Anime-Based Glider appeared first on VR World.

The consumer version of the Oculus headset is closer to reality than ever before, but it’s still not on the immediate horizon according to Oculus CEO Brendan Iribe.

“It’s months, not years away, but many months,” Iribe said at the Web Summit 2014 in Dublin according to The Next Web. “We’re getting very close. We’re all hungry for it to happen.”

Iribe also said that the Crescent Bay version of the headset is “largely finalized for a consumer product.”

Until now and when the product launches Iribe says that one of the big challenges is creating an input device that as immersive as the headset itself. Traditional game controllers or a keyboard and mouse setup just won’t cut it as it would ruin the immersive experience.

But Oculus has yet to commit to a solid timeline for release. Under the banner of “we have to get it right”, the company refuses to set a definite release date — even year.  With Facebook  (NASDAQ: FB) now backing Oculus, the company has no shortage of funds to draw upon for research and development. There isn’t an incentive to get the headset out the door prematurely, so it may be late 2015 or early 2016 before it sees a commercial release.

The post A Retail Version of Oculus is Still a Long Way Off appeared first on VR World.

Virtual Reality is the future of computing. At least that’s what Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) thinks. In Facebook’s Q3 2014 earnings guidance call, CEO Mark Zuckerberg highlighted the company’s big push to build and develop VR and augmented reality technologies as part of what it believes will be the major evolution in computing platforms in 10 to 15 years’ time. “Every 10 to 15 years, a new major computing platform arrives and we think that virtual and augmented reality are important parts of this upcoming next platform,” he said.

Oculus, the VR company that Facebook acquired for $2 billion, started out as a crowdfunded campaign for the VR goggle Rift and its attendant games and apps. That particular business model — raising money and validating market interest through crowdfunding campaigns — has met with mixed reactions amongst the investor and entrepreneur community. While sought as a means to determine the viability of a product, it has also drastically affected the investment environment for startups. Because crowdfunding backers are not investors that take stake in a company, nor angels who infuse money for the sake of development, the dynamic in starting a product-based company has changed. Questions like accountability have arisen, for instance.

We have sought insights from Murray Newlands, a San Francisco Bay Area-based entrepreneur and PR strategist who has also written for Entrepreneur, INC, VentureBeat and India-based YourStory. Murray has collaborated with Forbes contributing writer Drew Hendricks in a book called How to Get PR for Your Startup: Traction, in which they detail how to deal with the media in pitching products and companies, as well as building a brand image that can take one’s early-stage startup into success.

Murray Newlands

VR World: Can you share some trends among startups today? What particular habit or focus do successful startup founders/teams share?

Murray Newlands: Lean startups are a big trend right now. Funding is moving later in the cycle and investors now expect to see some traction with customers before they are willing to invest in an idea.

VRW: Are there any particular industries that we should be watching out for? For instance, in recent times, messaging apps have been hot. If I were an entrepreneur, is there any field or market you would recommend that I should be focusing on?

MN: Wearable technology has been very popular for the last year; however, I think the internet of things more generally is taking off. Smart home devices are starting to come to the forefront with things like NEST and other home connected devices.

VRW: What are the trends amongst the VC community in the Valley? How is this affecting entrepreneurs in that part of the world and elsewhere? Do you think there is still a disparity between the Valley and other regional startup hubs, in terms of availability of capital, or is this gap shrinking?

MN: VC’s are not investing at later stages than they have been. This is causing angel rounds to be bigger and more prominent. Right now VC’s are raising large rounds, which is increasing the valuations in the Bay area. Increasingly VC’s are looking globally for great investment opportunities.

The post Will VR Be the Next Big Thing in Computing? An Interview With Murray Newlands appeared first on VR World.

For as immersive as Oculus Rift is, the fourth wall — the boundary between what’s virtual and what’s reality — breaks when the user is forced to use a game controller to interact in the virtual space. Now, one project called Nimble Sense seeks to add a level of immersion to virtual reality by allowing users to use their hands to navigate through and interact with virtual reality.

The Nimble Sense is a camera-based system from San Francisco-based startup Nimble VR with hand tracking technology, in some ways similar to the Microsoft Kinect for Xbox. It attaches to the top of the Oculus headset and has a 110-degree field of view. Nimble VR, the company backing the project, says it will also be compatible with PCs allowing the user to have a Minority Report style control over their apps.

“The power of virtual reality puts you into a different world, and now with Nimble Sense you can bring your hands with you” said Robert Wang, a Founder of Nimble VR, in a press release. “Anywhere you look you will be able to see and use your hands with a new generation of games and applications designed to let you naturally interact in virtual reality.”

“This degree of interactivity is essential for experiences like Ethereon where puzzles are the backbone of the game design and require an intricate level of interaction,” added Tony Davidson, developer of the VR game, Ethereon now on Kickstarter. “With only a few basic commands I’m able to define the interactions needed for a given puzzle by using the provided SDK – no other technology offers the ease of use or more natural form of interaction than the Nimble Sense – for both user and developer.”

The Nimble Sense camera system and a bracket for attaching to an Oculus Rift DK2 are now available on Kickstarter for $99 to early backers. Nimble VR is seeking $62,500 to make the device a commercial reality.

The post Nimble Sense Tries to Break Through the Immersion Gap in VR appeared first on VR World.

Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) has published its third quarter 2014 results, in which its revenues, growth and earnings have surpassed analyst expectations for the period. Notable in its report is a stark change in how the company monetizes its advertising network. First, ad impressions have fallen, but revenues per impression have increased, signifying improvements in quality and engagement. Second, mobile is on the rise, growing from almost 50% in Q3 2013 to 66% in the recent quarter. With an established collection of assets like WhatsApp and Instagram, Facebook is likewise set to make a big push for its cross-platform ad network throughout 2015.

CEO Mark Zuckerberg detailed the company’s near-, medium- and long-term strategies in an investor guidance call, and he says the company expects a drastic shift in computing platforms in 10 to 15 years’ time. Facebook is banking on virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) to play a big part. “Every 10 to 15 years, a new major computing platform arrives and we think that virtual and augmented reality are important parts of this upcoming next platform,” says Zuckerberg. He cites how Facebook is working closely with developers and device-makers like Samsung in order to shore up support for Oculus, the Rift and its VR platform.

Much work has to be done, however. “It needs to rich a very large sale — 50 million to 100 million units — before it will really be a very meaningful thing as a computing platform,” Zuckerberg says, regarding the traction that AR and VR needs in order to be considered relevant.

Read the full story on VR World’s sister site, Bright Side of News*.

The post Facebook Banks on VR as the Future of Computing appeared first on VR World.

The Oculus Rift presents many possibilities in the realm of entertainment, and one particular interesting application is the transformation of static visual media, such as movies and shows, into dynamic, almost tangible environments. The concept might feel surreal, but if you’re curious as to what a 360-degree movie might look like this way, then wonder no further, because Zero Point is about to show us what it is all about.

Zero Point is the creation of Condition One, and is a 15-minute documentary that details various information about virtual reality, how it started, and how we came to the level of VR immersion that we have today. First announced last week, this documentary is advertised as the very first movie that would incorporate the free 3D VR elements of the Oculus Rift. That’s right, it means that you can fully explore and view the virtual world around you as the documentary goes on.

Completing the short documentary required a slightly different approach to standard filming. Aside from using a custom 360-degree VR camera to shoot the film, the documentary also used 3D sound techniques. The level of immersion allows the viewers of the documentary to feel the locations as if they are actually there.

In virtual reality, video games and simulations are one thing, but VR movies and shows are completely different, in the sense that it has a modified level of freedom (at least compared to what the previous two applications can offer). The viewing immersion is there, however it would conceptually feel as if someone is leading you, rather than you taking the steps yourself, which makes for a rather bizarre experience, something that we might just see in Zero Point.

Zero Point works on both Oculus Rift DK1 and DK2. The documentary is finally out now, and if you’re interested to catch the 360-degree movie viewing experience, you can head on right over to Steam. It is currently on sale for about $11.99 until November 3, and about $14.99 after the promo period.

The post Zero Point is a VR Themed Documentry You Can Watch in VR appeared first on VR World.