Microsoft Wants to Win VR Without Actually Releasing a VR Headset

June 1, 2016 By Deborah Campbell Leave a Comment

Even though virtual reality is upon us, the arrival of Microsoft’s HoloLens won’t be for a while longer.

Microsoft isn’t keen on building its own traditional VR headset, and it doesn’t have a release date for its magical augmented reality (AR) headgear. So until that happens, Microsoft has concocted a plan.

It wants to use the allure of VR and AR to sell VR headset manufacturers, developers, and users on its Windows 10 operating system. Microsoft announced on Wednesday that Windows Holographic won’t be simply a special version of Windows that connects to its HoloLens headset.

Sometime soon, Microsoft wants to bring all its features to the traditional versions of Windows 10, which means opening up the floodgates for VR headset makers to develop their own headsets for computers using Microsoft’s most recent OS.

But Microsoft grand vision needs all those headsets to play nice with Windows, too. If successful, the plan would allow people to work together from across different time zones as if they were in the same office, regardless of the headset each of them is using.

Even if one person would be using an HTC Vive and their colleague a HoloLens, Microsoft’s new platform would allow them to see each other and their surroundings so they could collaborate on their project.

This will be made possible with the help of the HoloLens’ sensors; as they scan the room, Microsoft’s platform can share that visual data with the HTC Vive user as well.

Of course, this unbelievable scenario only really works if at least one person has purchased a $3,000 HoloLens Development Kit – which hasn’t even made it to the shelves yet.

But Microsoft’s plan doesn’t have to wait some more years until a consumer-ready version of the HoloLens will arrive; before the idea of VR and AR collaboration will bear fruit, the company hopes to inspire as many developers as possible to create Universal Windows Applications for VR headsets right now.

The catch is that if they start using Microsoft’s standard, the applications they build now will work just as well on AR headsets like the HoloLens later.

Microsoft’s idea is simpler pitch than asking VR developers to build apps for the HoloLens itself, which might not be released yet for some years.
Image Source: Wired

The HTC Vive Was a Little Late for a Good Reason

February 23, 2016 By Deborah Campbell Leave a Comment

While the past weeks have been all about the VR hype with the Oculus Rift preorders coming online, the HTC Vive was nearly forgotten in the absence of news; however, the HTC Vive was a little late for a good reason, it would seem, because it just came out into the daylight with a huge series of good and surprising news.

While in essence, the HTC Vive is pretty much the same thing as the Oculus Rift, and more specifically a virtual reality headset that promises to host the upcoming advancement of VR technology applications, there seem to be some differences. At least in what the bundle purchase and included items are concerned.

Firstly, the HTC Viva was announced to come with two handheld controllers over the Oculus Rift’s included Xbox controller. The two, separate controllers have inbuilt motion sensors that will allow the user’s movements to be tracked across a room and mimic them in the virtual reality experience. This will be the kind of feature that allows for a much higher level of immersion in future games coming out for the virtual reality platform, for example.

And while we’re on the topic of immersion, it seems that HTC has put a few extra ounces of effort in raising its bar as high as possible. The HTC Vive adopts a design that is slightly different from what we had originally seen in the pictures and on displays. Apparently, the upgraded model also includes a brighter display that was made to provide its users an even deeper sense of immersion.

The HTC Vive demonstrates the ability to combine both realities without losing touch of either.

But HTC seems to be tame and thoughtful when it comes to the long-term effects of being completely immersed in a virtual reality game or experience. The headset includes a front-facing camera that will allow you to see the outside world on the account of a switch if you want to take a break from using the gear. The company itself stated that this addition “demonstrates the ability to combine both realities without losing touch of either”.

This could also hold some valuable implications in what augmented reality is concerned too as it will open up some gates for smaller scale of virtual reality applications – with some utility found in things such as engineering, construction and so on.

However, the HTC Vive has also just announced its price and it would seem that the extra additions will have their fans whipping out their wallets for the sum of $799, $200 more than its direct competitor, the Oculus Rift, will cost. Not to mention that in order to be able to run the HTC Vive, you’ll have to make sure that your computer is performant enough to run VR applications to begin with.

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Rez Infinite is Coming to PS4, and It will Support VR

December 7, 2015 By Kenneth Scott Leave a Comment

Rez Infinite is coming to PS4, and it will support VR as well.

Rez Infinite is a classic Dreamcast and PS2 video-game. It’s set to launch on Sony’s PlayStation 4 in the following days. Old-timey gamers, please, manage your excitement, as the internet has already gone bonkers. The VR version will have a solid 120 frames per second, and it will also boast fully detailed 3D audio. In its default screen mode, Rez Infinite will manage 60 frames per second at 1080p quality – 7.1. surround sound is all-present.

The remastered version will come with a brand new level.

Sony is trying to promote their VR setup, but, to be frank, this isn’t a new game. It’s just a PlayStation 2 remake, which is a HD remastered as well.

The early version of the game was, admittedly, eye-candy with stunning visuals. Developed by HexaDrive for Dreamcast, the Rez had some audio problems, as it wasn’t that well built-in and players could notice that sounds were not properly synched with attacks.

Unfortunately, the overworked music and visuals ended up hurting the gameplay, and it offered a lackluster experience. The Team Andromeda members worked really hard on the game, but, at the end of the day, big fans of Rez were left with a nasty after taste – which, hopefully, we won’t encounter this time around.

This unending stream of remakes is worrying. Even though these games made the PS2 so popular, nobody wants to be stuck in the past. While video game consoles have evolved, so have game mechanics and the way a game dev tells a story. Think of early day Fallout and The Elder Scrolls games, and compare them to the latest titles in the franchise, as in: Fallout 4 and Skyrim. There’s a huge difference in the way the developer conveys a story and grips the gamer to the edge of the seat.

Remakes are great, nostalgia is needed, but how much is too much?

This year marks PlayStation’s 20th anniversary. The Japanese-based company has officially announced that there will be 8 PS2 games available on PS4 consoles.

These PS2 titles can be purchased directly from the European and the American PlayStation Stores. Games will be up-rendered in 1080p with features you would expect a PS4 game to come with.

Be prepared for the following games: War of the Monsters, Twisted Metal: Black, both for $9.99 each. Grand Theft Auto Sand Andreas, Vice City and III for $14.99 each. Rogue Galaxy, Dark Cloud and Mark of Kri also for $14.99 each.

PaRappa the Rapper 2 and The King of Fighters 2000 will be added in the near future.

All of these PS2 classics will have Trophies enabled.

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The Lytro Immerge Will Revolutionize VR Moviemaking

November 8, 2015 By Nancy Young Leave a Comment

Lytro has unveiled a ferociously complex camera for virtual reality moviemaking. Called the Lytro Immerge, this borderline sci-fi camera rig was designed specially for virtual reality from the ground up.

It seems like Lytro wants to be ahead of GoPro and even take an ambitious leap to be known as a leader in the VR industry. A tough goal to accomplish considering that GoPro and Microsoft are in the ring, boasting their muscles at anyone that dares threaten their alliance. What can a start-up like Lytro do?

It can do more damage than you can possibly think.

You see, the alien ball-shaped camera has hundreds of tiny image sensors and lenses built-in. With the help of Lytro’s signature optical tech, called light field, it can record the colour and intensity of light along with the direction it’s travelling.

That’s just fantastic – not only does it offer much needed capabilities for VR filmmaking, but it’s one of the most innovative camera we’ve seen this decade.

However, don’t think of the Lytro Immerge as just a camera. It comes packed with a plethora of VR production goodies such as – editing tools, the possibility of streaming straight from the cloud, consumer dedicated apps for VR headsets and a server.

Lytro CEO Jason Rosenthal has told Mashable that this is the very first light-field-powered system that can create cinematic high-quality live action VR-ready footage – that was a mouthful. Nobody has thought this through, he says, from end to end – starting with how a camera should function, to storage, how you can edit footage in post production and even playback.

There are no competitors to the Lytro Immerge – at the moment, there’s no camera on the market capable of doing what the Immerge does. Google Jump might prove to be a competing platform, but a) it hasn’t been released yet, and b) it blends a plethora of existing cameras.

Even though we are inclined to think that users that wish to use the Lytro Immerge should definitely own a ten thousand dollar PC rig, the camera is more than capable to streamline its controls to an iPad.

The server, which is comprised of several terabytes, can hold only about an hour of footage.

And here, you can see the Lytro Immerge in its own habitat, pondering on whether to film the world or destroy it…

Given its huge capabilities, it’s going to sport an astronomical price tag. Lytro has noted that it will be available starting with January of 2016 and the Immerge will retail at hundreds of thousands of dollars. Clearly, it’s aimed at VR studious and companies, and not your average VR enthusiast.

Yet, Rosenthal has noted that there will be a sort of leasing program in place, considering how expensive it is to buy the Immerge. Companies will the possibility to rent the camera for a much lower cost.

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Get Ready for Minecraft on Oculus Rift

September 28, 2015 By Deborah Campbell Leave a Comment

Get hyped – Minecraft on Oculus Rift just got real.

According to Palmer Luckey, founder of Oculus Rift, Minecraft is headed towards the highly-anticipated VR platform this spring. The built-it-yourself game is popular than ever and its growth doesn’t seem to dwindle.

During the Oculus Connect event that took place in Hollywood this morning, Luckey went on stage and unveiled some of their plans for 2016, Gamasutra reports. However, fans that wish to play Minecraft on Oculus Rift will need the game’s Windows 10 Edition, according to Lydia Winters of Mojang.

It looks like our fantasies of digging huge caves and battling mythical blocky nether-drakes just got real – well, virtually speaking.

This hints at a new step forward for the gaming industry. Luckey took to explaining how we move, slowly but surely, to the metaverse i.e. an intense virtual reality world. With the help of Minecraft, Rift will build a sturdy foundation for VR enthusiasts.

Microsoft’s Hololens also takes to Minecraft to help them sell their headset – which is a fusion between augmented reality and virtual reality, but with more AR elements present.

There are a ton of devs that work on gearing up games so they can be easily played in VR. Yet, the majority of titles that are set to be released in 2016 feature realistic worlds that use small amounts of space. We are more than curious to see how VR developers are going to make exploring a virtually limitless world with minimal issues from the get-go.

Luckey and his team seem to be excited about the whole virtual reality trend and this gives us some sort of assurance that the end product will at least be passion-driven.

Fighting dinosaurs in ARK sounds superb, and flying an airplane in War Thunder is more than rad, but there’s something about exploring Minecraft with a VR headset that just makes me want to jump up and down out of pure excitement.

Oculus Rift is shaping up to be a huge ecosystem filled with all sorts of virtual reality experiences.

However, let’s not jump on the bandwagon so fast. Next year will be all about VR and VR pioneers trying to take a huge chunk out of the virtual pie. In theory, Minecraft sounds awesome, but we don’t really know how this will equate to real world standards. It has to be fun, and more importantly, it has to be comfortable and easy to use.

There’s a reason why Kinect failed – nobody wants to commit to standing up just to play a video-game when they can just jump on the couch and relax after a hard day’s work.

Yet, Wii was a huge success, mainly because it is gimmicky.

Regardless if it’s going to be a hit or miss, I can’t wait to try Minecraft on Oculus Rift when the time comes.

Image Source: 1, 2

Improved Samsung Gear VR Costs $99, Sells this November

September 26, 2015 By Kenneth Scott Leave a Comment

When Samsung initially released its virtual reality headset for mobile platforms earlier this year, they called it Innovator Edition. Now, the Korean-based company is preparing their product for release – it’s finally consumer-ready!

The new and improved Samsung Gear VR will cost $99 and it will start shipping this November.

The announcement was made on the 24th of September during the Oculus Connect 2 developer conference that took place in Los Angeles. Peter Koo, who is Samsung’s Vice President of Mobile took to the conference’s stage to announce their plans.

This comes right in time for US’s Black Friday event. It will start selling worldwide shortly after its United States debut.

More so, proving that it wants the virtual reality industry to bloom, Samsung is committing to Oculus Rift’s goal – to make VR a mass-market product. That’s the only way to entice VR enthusiasts to buy a headset.

The new and improved Samsung Gear VR will work with all the company’s flagship phones that where released in 2015. This means that if you have recently acquired a Galaxy S6 Edge Plus, Galaxy S6 Edge, Galaxy S6 and Note 5, you own a VR compatible device.

Samsung’s VR headset now sports a 22 percent lighter hardware. Koo notes that this makes the headset more comfortable to use for extended periods of times. Also, the touchpad found in the side of the headset has received a somewhat complete make-over. Yet, Koo didn’t care to talk more about what this actually entails.

Users will have access to an expanding universe of premium content, Koo noted. This, however, is more than confusing, and nobody knows what he is talking about. Will Samsung build a special platform a la Steam for their Gear VR headset?

This sub-$100 price feels like an aggressive strategy to gain dominance over the VR market, which is yet to crown a king. Furthermore, we don’t even have an industry standard at the moment.

Joining the ranks of Google’s Cardboard, Zeiss VR One and DODOcase, the new and improved Samsung Gear VR will most likely be a hit this holiday season.

Samsung Gear VR headset comes with its very own controller.

A more performance-driven headset will be released at the beginning of 2016. Yes, we are talking about Facebook’s Oculus Rift. But don’t expect Oculus to go under the $100 threshold. Oculus Rift CEO Brendan Iribe has hinted that their device will retail at around $500. Yet, if you want to use their headset you’ll have to use a $1000 machine.

VR is coming strong in 2016 and the mobile platform is one of its key destinations due to its large distribution capabilities.

There’s also a little VR device called Full Dive aimed at emerging markets that is yet to surface. Read our interview with one of Full Dive’s co-founders if you are interested in more details.

Image Source: 1, 2, 3

Epic Games Doesn’t Want to Make a Terrible VR Experience

June 21, 2015 By Deborah Campbell Leave a Comment

Epic Games has announced countless times that they are supporting virtual reality in any way they can, but the company doesn’t want to make a terrible virtual reality experience on their Unreal Engine.

Epic Games’ Unreal Engine, and their included resources, offers developers the tools necessary to build a virtual reality game. At the current moment the Unreal Engine supports VR hardware such as Facebook-owned Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, and Samsung Gear VR.

So you make an idea how much Epic Games loves the virtual reality trend, CEO Tim Sweeney said, earlier this year, that – ” It’s going to change the world. The hardware is going to double in quality every few years for another decade, to the point where, 10 years from now, it’s going to be hard to tell the difference between virtual reality and the real world.”

That’s a pretty bold statement to be honest. Virtual reality changing the world? Let’s calm ourselves a little bit and reassess our mental state, shall we dear Tim Sweeney? Probably in 50 years or so, but not now – it’s impossible.

Engadget managed to sit down, and talk with Chief Technology Officer Kim Libreri, and Unreal Engine General Manager Ray Davis, at this year’s E3 event, to talk more about the company’s stance on virtual reality, and where they believe the trend is heading.

” We wanna make sure that, whatever platform developers choose to use, they’re well supported in UE 4″ says Libreri, which notes that VR development should have a set of standards that will not only make a developers’ life easier, but they will also ensure a great gaming experience.

Davis continues, and adds that – ” It’s always been sort of our [approach] with the engine. Even going all the way back to the original Xbox [360] and pushing back on Microsoft to make sure they put enough memory in it.”

Davis also notes that sharing what works, and what doesn’t with other VR developers, and of course manufacturers, will ensure that games will only get better with time.

Take a look at the Unreal Engine experience on Oculus Rift.

Can’t imagine what a horror game with vampires, ghouls, werewolves, and other creatures of the night might feel like – wet, that’s how!

As we start to think about the evolution of the shooter game or the exploration/action/adventure game, the Uncharted for VR, I think that it’s better to experiment initially with smaller, digestible things. As a collective, we learn that language quickly.” states Libreri.

It’s good to know that Epic Games, a company which pushed forward the gaming industry, and its standards, tackles virtual reality. But can Epic Games provide a good VR experience? That Unreal Engine Oculus Rift demo looks like it was made in two, max three days. What’s up with that Epic Games?

Source Image: 1, 2, 3

A Ton of Games Are Being Developed for Project Morpheus

June 16, 2015 By Deborah Campbell Leave a Comment

Project Morpheus

Wired has somehow gotten Sony to spill the beans about their Project Morpheus virtual reality headset. It’s going to come out sometime next year, and Sony’s focus is to build a huge library of games.

Sony was supposed to showcase their Project Morpheus and talk about their VR device Monday at their E3 keynote, but it didn’t happen like we expected. Sony just stated that it’s going to be a social event. Fortunately for us, Wired managed to get the president of Sony’s Worldwide Studios Shuhei Yoshida to talk.

” We need to convince PS4 owners to spend several hundred dollars to purchase a Morpheus headset, on top of the PS4 they already have, and more gaming content is what will convince them.”, Shuhei Yoshida has said.

Project Morpheus

Can’t say I disapprove with their view on things, and I actually applaud their stance. When the time comes to look for virtual reality headsets I’ll choose the one that offers a huge library of games, and not just a headset that will allow me to watch movies and surf Facebook – I’m looking at you Oculus Rift, which, hopefully, you won’t become a Facebook VR platform.

Yoshida, and Adam Boyes, who is Sony VP of publisher and developer relations, said that the company will showcase during E3 almost 20 demos so users can get a taste of what Project Morpheus is all about. Besides ““small indie teams [and] outfits.” as Boyes puts it, Sony will also support development of Horizon: Zero Dawn, a new IP, for their VR device, and a version of Ubisoft’s Trackmania.

“We have 30 or more games being developed that we are tracking — not all of them will come out at launch, but there are serious efforts being made on all of them,” the two have been reported of telling Wired.

Project Morpheus

More so, the two also point out that porting a virtual reality game from Oculus Rift to Project Morpheus may take only about a couple of days, and that the company is trying its best to fully support developers, and make their lives easier.

But can Project Morpheus go against the really popular Facebook-owned Oculus Rift? The VR company just announced its partnership with Microsoft, and Oculus managed to snag a couple of well-known dev companies to release exclusive titles on their platforms – Square Enix, Insomniac Games, Ready at Dawn, amongst others.

And let’s not forget HTC, and Valve’s alliance – can their SteamVR, also known as Vive, manage to get the needed attention from gamers? Valve has announced that they will feature a huge library of games easily downloadable through their Steam platform.

Project Morpheus

I’m going to wait this battle out, and I’m not going to jump head first. I’m more inclined of buying the SteamVR to be honest – Project Morpheus also seems really great. Don’t know what to say about Oculus Rift – since the news that they have been acquired by Facebook has been publicly announced, I’m feeling a little bit sceptical. The might sway me over – the company has announced that they are supporting developers with over $10 million.

Image Source: 1, 2, 3, 4

Virtual Reality – The Future of Our Home Entertainment?

June 11, 2015 By Roxanne Briean Leave a Comment

If you haven’t been living under a rock for the past year or so, you definitely know that virtual reality is knocking on our door. Some big names have taken upon themselves to challenge the empty throne. Google, Microsoft, Sony, Valve, HTC, GoPro, and even Facebook wants to be known as the reigning king.

Is this a trend that will fail miserably? Or is it the future of our home entertainment?

Facebook-owned Oculus Rift has announced that they will start shipping their virtual reality headset sometime in early 2016, and that it will cost about $400, but you’ll need a proper PC that can run it. Oculus Rift CEO Brendan Iribe has said that a PC-build that now normally costs about $1500 should be more than enough to run their headset. In 2016, the price will most likely drop – you’ll notice a significant change.

Oculus Rift development kit

Microsoft’s HoloLens is most likely going to be Oculus Rift’s main competitor, along with SteamVR – the love child of Valve, and HTC, also called The Vive. But everything seems to cost hundreds of dollars, and if you aren’t a virtual reality enthusiast, these prices will scare the living hell out of you. More on this later when we talk about FullDive – the most affordable virtual reality product. Kudos to Giovanno Yosen Utomo, one of the co-founders, and Marcus Missirlian, member of FullDive’s operations team, for making time to discuss details about their product.

The interview regarding FullDive can be read at the end of article.

The majority will want a headset that will satisfy their curiosity about virtual reality gaming. Some virtual reality games are available, but they aren’t that great. The only one that sparks my curiosity is The Forest – available on Steam; users have reported feeling nauseous after playing it while wearing virtual reality dev gear. Others haven’t yet seen the light of day – keep your eyes out for Eve: Valkyrie.

EVE: Valkyrie

Oculus Rift announced that they managed to pinpoint the problem, and successfully fixing it, but what does this mean then? Do games need to be built with virtual reality in mind? Do developers need to adopt a new strategy when building this sort of games?

Developers around the world think that when you build a game for virtual reality, you need to focus on it first, and then think how you want to port it for the traditional medium. Joe Ludwig, programmer at Valve Software working on the Team Fortress 2 team, and a crucial key-developer when talking about TF2 in the virtual reality medium isn’t that happy with their port.

When Joe talks about the Lesson learned while porting Team Fortress 2 to virtual reality, at a 2013 Game Developers Conference, he pinpoints the fact that latency poses as a crucial element in solving the nausea mystery, and that other third-person adventure, and shooter games, even MOBAs, will be hard to tackle in the virtual reality medium.

Team Fortress 2 VR mode

We have no information regarding Sony’s Project Morpheus at the moment, and to be honest, the name makes me think about virtual reality porn – an idea that isn’t that far fetched. Be sure that if the trend explodes, virtual reality sex will dethrone the traditional medium in which we satisfy our primal needs – your fetish just a click away? Whoever finds the perfect method to market this will be a billionaire.

Virtual reality technology has come a long way since its inception, and Microsoft’s Build 2015 showcased a HoloLens that could be used around the house as your new portable entertainment system – plastering YouTube videos on walls, and setting them to follow you sounds like a phenomenal idea. You can cook, and watch a cooking guide from the internet at the same time without worrying that you’ll spill something on your laptop, or tablet.

Microsoft’s HoloLens

But wearing a blocky, and huge device on your head isn’t my ideal dream for VR usage. Google has tried to make something out of virtual reality in the past that seemed more practical. Remember Google Glass? Or how I like to put it Virtual reality goggles for the NSA lover. They launched it at the worst time possible, when everyone was terrified that the NSA knows everything about them – and sure enough, the leaks showed exactly that.

What is virtual reality and is it dangerous?

Can we get addicted to virtual reality?

The virtual reality definition, according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, says that it’s – ” an artificial environment which is experienced through sensory stimuli (as sights and sounds) provided by a computer and in which one’s actions partially determine what happens in the environment; also : the technology used to create or access a virtual reality.”

The computer generated environment immerses the person within its world fooling the player by giving him the false mental state that he is capable of manipulating, and distorting virtual existence.

The TV show Community has aired a pretty interesting episode where one of the characters used a virtual reality treadmill so much that he ended up thinking he was the God of his realm, and that subsequently led to him never wanting to leave the place. Dean Pelton spent a couple of hours in the VR world, but he’s a doofus, so better to ignore him.

Serious questions arise. Are we going to endanger ourselves by using virtual reality? Are we going to love the false world so much that we’ll hate the real one? I can’t answer these questions, and only time will tell if VR is indeed a gift, or a curse. Take it as food for thought.

Virtual reality therapy

Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy

Somewhat debunking those serious questions that I asked earlier, virtual reality exposure therapy is a real thing, and it helps people who suffer from certain phobias like Ophidiophobia – fear of snakes; Acrophobia, or Altophobia – fear of heights; and those who suffer from depression, and other mental illnesses. Amongst other uses.

According to the USC Institute for Creative Technologies, virtual reality therapy is – ” Currently found at over 60 sites, including VA hospitals, military bases and university centers,” helping those who suffer from PTSD. ” ICT’s Virtual Iraq/Afghanistan exposure therapy approach has been shown to produce a meaningful reduction in PTS symptoms.”

Virtual reality therapy helping those who suffer from PTSD.jpg

Marines from the 2d Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, train with the Future Immersive Training Environment

Treatments aren’t available for home users, and if you experience issues that don’t allow you to get out of the house, and into a facility that offers this kind of service, unfortunately, you can’t use virtual reality therapy. Why? Because you need a trained therapist that will guide you through the steps of your recovery.

You don’t want to start this journey on your own because a) you have no idea how you will react to the virtual stimuli, and b) you will end up deteriorating your mental state even more. Do not try this alone!

FullDive – an affordable VR option!

A couple of weeks ago I was chatting on Quora, and by sheer luck, I might add, I met Marcus Missirlian. We talked about books, and TV shows, and I ended up discovering that he works for a virtual reality company that is currently developing the most affordable headset on the market. Called FullDive, it’s a nifty little thing that immerses you into a dream-like world.

I immediately fell in love with it, and I asked him if we could set up an interview. He introduced me to one of the co-founders, and the rest is history.

The virtual reality headset is lightweight, and adjustable to fit any noggin – it also fits the user perfectly if he wears glasses; this is a big plus in my book.

It comes with a smart controller that helps you surf into your desired world – ” FullDive’s mixed reality controller allows your digital content to blend with reality as holograms.”

Full Dive’s team consists of virtual reality enthusiasts – some product designers, and engineers have worked for Tesla, and Google X; and founders Giovanno Yosen Utomo, and Ed Ow, are UC Berkely grads – which immediately makes me think that the entire team is comprised of sheer talent.

How do you use it?

Simple as pie. You download the app from Google Play – the iOS version will be available soon; you start it up, slide your phone into the headset, and you enjoy the experience. In the first 8 weeks of launch, the FullDive app witnessed over 50,000 downloads, and 1,450 reviews – the average rating was of 4.5 stars.

Their Kickstarter campaign hasn’t started yet, and it’s due this July – but you can pre-order their headset right now on their official website. It costs $29 for you early birds.

The headset offers a high quality affordable VR experience, unlike other virtual reality companies that make you cough up a lot of cash. You can use it to take photos, and record videos in the VR medium. Development is on-going, and expect to see FullDive enabling streaming of movies, and TV shows using Netflix, Hulu, and Roku.

The guys and girls over at FullDive are preparing their product to be available starting December of 2015. For more info, read the interview with Marcus Missirlian, and Giovanno Yosen Utomo just down below.

Q: Will FulDive support JellyBean, and KitKat, or it will focus on Lollipop, and the newly announced Android M? – on your website it only says that it works on all Android phones.

M: We are working to make sure the application functions properly on all versions of Android software, new and old, and actively stress test the application on different models of phone. The newer the software and phone, though, the better the application will function, because the application relies on the phone’s processor. Newer phones naturally have better processors, which allows the application to perform at its peak. As for the version of Android, we see this providing no impediment to the functionality of the application.

Q: The same goes for iOS. Which versions will it support?

M: The same goes for iOS. It will support iPhone 5 and above.

Q: Can you give any additional info regarding the Smart Controller? ” FullDive’s mixed reality controller allows your digital content to blend with reality as holograms.” How does it work exactly? Will I be able to control said holograms? Can I give them certain commands like plaster this YouTube window on the wall, and set it to follow me? Something on the lines of what HoloLens can do. If yes, what are its limitations?

M: Because we are still building out the functionality of the Smart Controller, we don’t yet quite have a read on what its limitations will be. Ideally, we want capabilities on par with Hololens and that is what our engineers are striving to produce. Additionally, there will be basic commands, like move the controller forward to confirm.

Q: With the Smart Controller do you think that games such as Minecraft will be playable?

M: That is the ideal situation and what we are working to provide with the application. The controller will be able to be used in place of, say, the pickaxe or a sword.

Q: Are there any specific games recommended for the FullDive product? What about apps? Or you can just watch movies, and surf the web using the FullDive VR app?

M: While streaming media and surfing the web would be the primary purpose, we are providing the tools to produce games for the FullDive application. We are hoping this will encourage the proliferation of FullDive as users create and share their games with their friends. We ourselves are working to produce games to get the ball rolling. Additionally, any virtual reality application downloaded through Google Play or the App Store is compatible with the headset and can be launched through our FullDive application. Our vision is an affordable headset that offers a one-stop-shop virtual reality experience, and using the application as a landing site for all virtual reality applications on your device aids us in this aim.

Q: Virtual reality is facing some problems at the moment. Oculus Rift users have reported feeling dizzy and nauseous after using the VR gear. Is this a problem that FullDive has encountered? If yes, how did the team manage to get rid of it?

M: A few users have reported feeling off balance, but we have tried to alleviate this problem by making sure that screens are stable at all times through head tracking and use dark colors such as black and dark blue to guide users through our selection of apps. The FullDive VR design team is working hard to ensure that users have a comfortable VR experience.

Q: It’s been marketed as an affordable product even for third world countries, but what about first world ones? Do you think the public will accept it with arms wide open? Or will they flock to other products like Facebook-owned Oculus Rift, Sony’s Project Morpheus, HTC and Valve’s Vive, Microsoft’s HoloLens, and Samsung’s Gear VR?

M: The main problem with VR right now is its accessibility. The public wants to experience virtual reality but is waiting on these headsets to come out sometime within the next couple years. With FullDive, users already have everything they need, a smartphone to download our FullDive app. For high-end users who want to upgrade their computer or use VR for intensive gaming, the other headsets will have to be optimized with a powerful graphics card. It’s the same concept with laptops: there are your light users who want to daily use for school and work and those who buy laptops specifically for gaming. If the case was every user wanted the most powerful device, there would be no market space for a laptop like the Chromebook. There is a massive market for both sectors, and we have received a lot of enthusiasm about our affordable pricing.

Q: Google has announced their partnership with GoPro, and they too will tackle virtual reality. Do you think that the market is becoming overly saturated by so many VR products?

M: While a lot of companies are tackling producing virtual reality headsets, a clear leader in the value space has yet to emerge. There are a great number of headsets, but each one is attempting to differentiate itself in a different way. The market we are attempting to tackle, the casual/light user projected to be the largest virtual reality consumer, still has a lot of room left for us to establish a significant presence.

Q: On your official website it reads that the kickstarter campaign starts this June. Do you have any information that you can share at this moment? What’s the initial goal? What are the rewards?

G: The kickstarter was originally planned at the end of June, but since we have some challenges on the hardware designs – we are pushing it to July. We will pledge $50,000 but we are hoping to get more than that!

Q: What motivated you to start FullDive?

G: I was originally from Indonesia, a 3rd world country. Throughout my 5 years stay in the US, I feel the huge gap of technology; and this motivated me to bridge the technology gap by making a product that can be accessed by everyone. Internet sure does help, but it is not enough. We need that infrastructure. That is where VR comes in. I personally think that VR is a cutting edge technology that fits with my vision, to create an infrastructure can help people to have a better life.

Q: What is it you’re hoping to achieve with FullDive?

G: I want everyone, yes everyone around the world, to be connected and start experiencing VR. That is my vision of the company. We will overcome this challenge by creating a set of products (software and hardware) that is affordable to most people and made accessible through our distribution networks. Basically, it would make me happy if everyone can experience this new technology, and I believe that FullDive will bring a big step of evolution to how people enjoy media, socialize, and do businesses.

Q: How do you see the virtual reality trend evolving? Do you think it will wither in a couple of years, or are we witnessing our new form of home entertainment?

G: I am a keen believer that through VR and AR (augmented reality), we are approaching a new form of way of interaction with our daily live, not only for home entertainment, but also education, research, industry, etc. It will make all human’s life easier if we can utilize VR in parts of our daily lives. For example, surgeons can be assisted during surgery, by making sure that they are cutting the right spot; golfer will have the ability to see the speed of wind and distance projection, and it will help their decision on their shot. People can share their 360 experience with their family, instead of the usual a face to face video conference. These are just some of the examples that I can think about.

Q: Any thoughts on the behemoths of the industry? Oculus Rift, HoloLens, and Valve’s, and HTC’s SteamVR ( also called Vive).

G: I don’t think them as our competitor, but more of a big brother. They are the ones who are creating the cutting edge technologies, which will come with huge cost and not mobile – and not everyone can afford it. We are creating the simple technology, which is accessible to everyone. Think about having a super-power computer which cost $1000 you must be installed at home; or a mobile smartphone which cost less than $200.

We don’t really know that the future will hold for virtual reality, but it sounds interesting. I’m going to stick with the trend, and I’m surely going to pre-order a FullDive headset of my own, once their Kickstarter campaign starts. How about you?

Image Source: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12

VR-ready PC for Oculus Rift Will Cost About $1000!

May 28, 2015 By Karen Jackson Leave a Comment

Oculus Rift will begin to ship sometime in early 2016. This means that you have all the time in the world to upgrade your PC so it can run the VR toy.

Oculus Rift CEO Brendan Iribe has been reported of saying at the Re/code conference that – ” We are looking at an all-in price, if you have to go out and actually need to buy a new computer and you’re going to buy the Rift… at most you should be in that $1,500 range.”

This isn’t bad to be honest.

Previous Oculus Rift development kits have been priced at $350 – we don’t expect it to go any higher than $400; so a $1000 PC rig sounds more than decent.

These are the technical specifications that you need to base your new PC on.

NVIDIA GTX 970 / AMD 290 equivalent or greater

Intel i5-4590 equivalent or greater

8GB+ RAM

Windows 7 SP1 or newer

2x USB 3.0 ports

HDMI 1.3 video output supporting a 297MHz clock via a direct output architecture

With time, we expect those pieces of hardware to drop their price, and you can bet your hiney that in 2016 you’ll pay less than the $1000 mentioned cost.

Oculus Rift Chieft Architect Atman Binstock has said earlier this month that these specifications will apply for the entirety of the product’s life span, and consumers shouldn’t worry that besides upgrading their VR gear, they should also upgrade their PC. It is unknown at the moment if Oculus Rift owners will have to upgrade their device’s components with time.

It’s all in a mist at this point – nothing is clear. We truly hope that these are the specifications, and that the price is cemented, but who really knows?!

Can Oculus Rift deliver?

What we do know is that Oculus Rift is trying to gain the lead. The company has recently bought a firm that reconstructs 3D scenes in real time – Surreal Vision. It sure comes in handy when big daddy Facebook opens its pockets. Their official blog post reads – ” Great scene reconstruction will enable a new level of presence and telepresence, allowing you to move around the real world and interact with real-world objects from within VR.” Sure Oculus, buy everything you can – just release a proper product.

I’m no that sceptical, and I’m not that optimistic either. When it comes to jumping on the hype-train I rather remain suspicious on where we’re going, and how long the trip will last. At this point, we’re seeing so much news regarding virtual reality. It seems like every big industry behemoth has a virtual reality gear in the makings.

“We’re developing breakthrough techniques to capture, interpret, manage, analyse, and finally reproject in real-time a model of reality back to the user in a way that feels real, creating a new, mixed reality that brings together the virtual and real worlds.” it concludes the blog post.

And I proclaim myself the king of Sweden. Big expectations Oculus Rift, really big expectations.

Can the Facebook-owned VR company deliver? Or we’re being grotesquely lied to?

Image Source: 1, 2, 3

What is virtual reality and is it dangerous?

Virtual reality therapy

FullDive – an affordable VR option!

Can Oculus Rift deliver?

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