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Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, and Immersive Technology - News and Updates

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Gungrave VR Getting Physical ‘Loaded Coffin Edition’

Ever since its announcement back in April last year, we at VRFocus have been particularly interested in any news that might concern Gungrave VR. Finally confirmed to be coming West back in May, the fast-paced virtual reality (VR) shooter by IGGYMOB, Marvelous Entertainment and their “independent-minded” publishing team XSEED Games, Gungrave VR sees a return to a universe that videogame fans first got to visit back on the PlayStation 2 in 2002. It’s no spin-off either, as the title’s storyline will continue that established in the original Gungrave’s 2004 sequel Gungrave: Overdose.

After a recent increase in appearances (including E3 and Anime Expo) and promotional media, XSEED today have revealed details as to the physical release of the title and what fans can expect in the way of DLC when it releases in Fall 2018.

Gungrave VR sees players take on the mantle of signature character Grave once again, as he takes up Cerberus, his set of dual guns and gets ready dispense his own brand of justice on anybody foolish enough to get in his way, in a mix of third and first person gameplay. That which VRFocus tried at this year’s E3 proved something of a mixed bag. But as Peter Graham mentions in his preview, the bullet hell title isn’t short of “bold flashy visuals”.

XSEED have confirmed that Episode 1 of Gungrave VR will be available to purchase digitally for $29.99 (USD) via the PlayStation Store, with the standalone episode 2 DLC Gungrave VR U.N. available as a separate digital purchase for $14.99 – and doesn’t actually require purchase of episode 1 to play. Those who are keen on getting themselves a physical copy however will be able to get what XSEED are calling the Loaded Coffin Edition. Which will feature both the base game and the DLC, which comprises three additional levels. It will be available at “select retailers” and will cost $39.99 (MSRP). This will provide “the complete Gungrave experience” according to the publisher.

An exact release date has still to be revealed, and VRFocus will bring you news of this as well as any confirmation given on retail partners for the title as soon as we hear anything.

  from VRFocus https://ift.tt/2Nrn7k3

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AR and MR Training Firm Re’flekt Secure Investment Money

Munich-based company Re’flekt are one of a growing number of businesses that are tapping into the emerging market for augmented reality (AR) and mixed reality (MR) training. The firm has seen some early success, and has recently announced a new funding injection from technology company BASF.

Re’flekt focusses on developing enterprise-level applications for training and maintenance of factories, aircraft and complex machinery. Its main product is a SaaS platform called REFLEKT ONE, which lets companies transform existing CAD data into AR applications.

The company has announced that BASF Venture Capital has confirmed an investment of $4.4 million (USD). This followers from a funding injection from Bosch in 2016. Bosch were originally a client of Re’flekt, and decided to support the company by becoming an investor.

The REFLEKT ONE platform has drawn praise from users and clients in industry, as REFLEKT One works across several platforms, whether it is head-mounted display (HMD), tablet or smartphone, allowing for considerable flexibility.

The system allows for easy access to remote experts, so workers can call on specialist help at any time. The system uses machine vision technology to map CAD drawing information into a real object, allowing users a better grasp on its functions. This system lets remote experts see from the device camera so they can instruct the worker, even drawing images to help the worker along.

“The Re’flekt platform helps machine operators and maintenance personnel eliminate mistakes and significantly increase uptime,” says Wolfgang Stelzle, founder and CEO of Re’flekt. “We’ve received fantastic feedback from the industry and the rapid growth of our customer base convinced us to take additional strong partners like BASF on board. With the spin-off of our 360-Video-Unit, Viond, in the first quarter 2018 as well as the opening of our offices in the US, we can now fully focus on our core expertise, Enterprise Augmented Reality and increase our technological lead in the space.”

For future coverage of new developments in VR, keep checking back with VRFocus.

from VRFocus https://ift.tt/2uL1bZI

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Oculus Go Support Confirmed for Tokyo Chronos

Last week, Japanese virtual reality (VR) developer MyDearest and LA-based Sekai Project launched a Kickstarter crowd-funding campaign for a virtual reality (VR) novel videogame called Tokyo Chronos. Being made for PlayStation VR, Oculus Rift and HTC Vive, the development team have now confirmed support for Oculus Go.

In an update on the campaign page Sekai Project state:

“Just wanted to update everyone on the campaign. After discussing with the developers, we’ve decided to also add Oculus Go digital download keys to the campaign!

“At the $30 tier up to the $75 tier, you will be able to choose between Steam, PSVR and now Oculus Go. At the $80 tier and above you will be able to get all three! Or if you wanted 2 Steam keys and 1 Oculus Go key. Technically you can choose there [sic] as well so we won’t stop you. Go crazy and get 3 Oculus Go keys!

“Since the campaign is already under way, we can’t alter the reward tiers to include Oculus Go, but we’ve marked each reward image to reflect the update so do not worry if you don’t see Oculus Go mentioned when you pledge to an eligible tier.”

The Tokyo Chronos campaign is looking to raise $75,000 USD by 20th August with the current amount sitting on $31,243.

Being created by a veteran team of industry professionals which includes Sword Art Online producer Kazuma Miki, Tokyo Chronos will feature eight characters (five of which have been revealed) who suddenly wake up in the “Chronos World”, an empty, deserted Shibuya where time has frozen. While four characters were unveiled at the start of the campaign the fifth is  Sai Kamiya (voiced by Romi Park).

As the campaign continues and Sekai Project reveal further characters and progress updates, VRFocus will keep you posted.

from VRFocus https://ift.tt/2Li3D3Z

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Watch Hulk Have a Smashing Time in Marvel Powers United VR

A little earlier today Sanzaru Games revealed two new locations which players would be able to fight in next week when Marvel Powers United VR arrives. While these are designed as teasing reveals, what you really want to see is gameplay footage and that’s what VRFocus has for you now, featuring everyone’s favourite green skinned character, Hulk (sorry Gamora).

As you’d expect from the muscle bound giant everything he does involves a good old smashing, as VRFocus’ video producer Nina Salomons found out during a recent gameplay session. Playing a round in the Sakaar Arena, most of Hulk’s primary moves are all about getting up close and personal thanks to his Gamma Leap. Of course he is a superhero so he does have a few extra special abilities like the Seismic Pound and the Thunder Clap which is great for splash damage.

Unlike our previous gameplay video for Deadpool, Hulk has a lot less to say whilst he’s slaying bad guys with a couple of dialogue lines and plenty of grunting. In the mission Nina plays she needs to protect a shield generator found at the centre of the arena, before grabbing several power cells. Hulk generally doesn’t seem too flustered by the small enemies around him, and can even pick up several weapons laying around to mix up the combat.

This is all simple enough until Kree zealot Ronan the Accuser and Loki then turn up to ruin the party. As the level bosses, they do have increased health and abilities requiring a team effort to dispatch.

Marvel Powers United VR will launch for Oculus Rift next Thursday, 26th July. Players will also be able to choose heroes including Starlord, Gamora, Hawkeye, Black Widow, Black Panther, Captain Marvel, Rocket Racoon, Crystal, and Thor. While bad guys who’ll take the form of boss encounters include Magneto, Dormammu, Venom, Ultron, Madame Hydra and Scientist Supreme. For more gameplay videos and updates ahead of launch, keep reading VRFocus.

from VRFocus https://ift.tt/2mprMaR

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Unreal Engine 4.20 Released With Robust AR Support

After its usual process of releasing several previews, Epic Games has today launched the next version of its popular videogame engine, Unreal Engine 4.20, making it easier and more seamless for developers to build realistic characters and immersive environments across videogames, film and TV, virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR) and mixed reality (MR) and enterprise applications.

Unreal Engine 4.20 features hundreds of optimisations, especially for iOS and Android, as well as Magic Leap One. Having previously announced Early Access support for Magic Leap One: Creator Edition during the Game Developers Conference (GDC) 2018 as part of a larger partnership between the two companies, Unreal Engine 4.20 fully supports development for the AR headset.

Continuing with the AR support, Unreal Engine 4.20 has added support for Apple’s ARKit 2.0 and Google ARCore 1.2. For ARKit 2.0 this includes better tracking quality, support for vertical plane detection, face tracking, 2D image detection, 3D object detection, persistent AR experiences and shared AR experiences. While for ARCore 1.2 the engine includes support for vertical plane detection, Augmented Images, and Cloud Anchors.

In the release notes for Unreal Engine 4.20 VRFocus found a plenty of other VR and AR related items which you can read through below:

New: Added a label to the VR spectator screen render call so it is distinguishable in profiling tools, such as RenderDoc.

New: Added the ability for Motion Controller components to track/display HMD devices by using “HMD” as the source name.

New: Added experimental support for lens calibration on MR projects using OpenCV.

New: Updated SteamVR SDK to version 1.0.11, this includes improved Vulkan support.

New: Improved SteamVR compositor timing and overall engine performance through more accurate CPU utilization data.

New: Added Render Bridge base class, FXRRenderBridge, to reduce code duplication when creating an XR Plugin with a Custom Present implementation.

New: Added initial support for omni-directional stereo captures.

New: Made Oculus code-scheduling functions available for use by other XR Plugins through the “Head Mounted Display” module.

New: Added virtual curves for head rotation from FaceAR’s face tracking LiveLink streaming.

New: Added support for instanced stereo translucent rendering.

New: Added support for enabling the ARKit 1.5 auto-focus setting.

New: Added checks for ARKit 1.0 availability when creating the AR session, preventing calls to invalid selectors on older iOS devices.

New: Added functions for checking ARKit version availability at runtime.

New: Refactored how ARKit supports #define, simplifying wrapping individual features by ARKit version.

New: Added a console command to change where Face AR is publishing LiveLink curve data. “LiveLinkFaceAR SendTo=192.168.1.1”.

New: Wrapped vertical plane detection in an “if iOS 11.3” check, since ARKit 1.5 is only available in 11.3 and later.

New: Added orientation to the “AR Candidate Image” object for passing to the detection system.

New: Added support for handling “AR Image Anchor” notifications from ARKit.

New: Added a friendly name to UARCandidateImage objects.

New: Added base types for detecting images in an AR session.

New: Added the name from the candidate image when creating the Apple side representation.

New: Added support for configuring which images to detect during an AR session.

New: Improved debug layer rendering on Oculus, circumventing a superfluous blit by rendering directly to the layer.

New: Added models to the Oculus plugin for HMD and Sensors.

New: Added “Use Camera Rotation” feature to “Stereo Panorama” Plugin. Now this plugin can take the current camera’s rotation. To enable this feature, use the console command “SP.UseCameraRotation 7”.

New: Updated Camera Component can now tell the “Late Update Manager” to store that we don’t want to do a late update this frame. Default XR Camera checks this flag before applying the late update to the camera.

New: Refactored PSVR Minor reprojection for Frame Counter comparison.

New: Added a new PSVR API function for getting a transform between “floor” and “eye” tracking spaces.

New: Added a new PSVR delegate that can detect when an app changes between “floor” and “eye” tracking space.

Removed: Unused Stereo Rendering function “Get Custom Present” method has been removed.

VRFocus will continue its coverage of Epic Games and Unreal Engine, reporting back with the latest updates.

from VRFocus https://ift.tt/2NZy0uH

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Niantic Labs Continue Expansion With Seismic Games Acquisition

Niantic Labs, the studio behind augmented reality (AR) title Pokemon GO, has been going on the virtual reality (VR)/AR offensive of late, having recently acquired Escher Reality and now VR studio Seismic Games.

Seismic Games are the team behind the Blade Runner: Revelations VR experience for Google Daydream, made in conjunction with Alcon Interactive. Comprised of industry veterans hailing from EA/Pandemic and Activision, the founders led development efforts on blockbuster games such as the original Star Wars: Battlefront.

On the acquisition Niantic Labs said in a statement: “Seismic will continue to see through its existing slate of titles in development as it transitions into building all new AR experiences with Niantic.

“At Niantic, we’re committed to our mission of motivating people to exercise, be social, and discover new places. We’re confident that Seismic Games will help us deliver on that mission — faster, and better.”

While John Linden, President, Seismic Games commented: “As visionaries in the mobile entertainment and Augmented Reality (AR) field, John Hanke and his team have redefined what’s possible in uniting global communities through universally engaging and surprising gameplay experiences. We cannot wait to closely work with them on exciting new projects that will add depth to their narrative-driven releases and to help evolve the Niantic Real World Platform.”

Linden also reveals that: “We’ve also been cooking up a couple of new licensed IP projects,” which could well see AR implementation due to the purchase.

Niantic Labs is working on several AR titles at present, not only more updates to Pokemon GO but also puzzle title  Codename: Tonehenge, Harry Potter: Wizards Unite, plus Ingress and Ingress Prime. As the studios reveal further details on their upcoming AR projects,  VRFocus will keep you updated.

from VRFocus https://ift.tt/2uxaCN2

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Skydance Interactive Unveils The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners Coming in 2019

While OVERKILL’s The Walking Dead has yet to see the light of day, fans of the TV series still have plenty of immersive videogames to choose from. After the launch of augmented reality (AR) title The Walking Dead: Our World for iOS and Android devices last week, this week has seen Skydance Interactive unveiled virtual reality (VR) title The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners, due for release next year.

Skydance Interactive, a division of Skydance Media made the announcement as part of the San Diego Comic-Con (SDCC) event. The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners is being developed in partnership with Skybound Entertainment, the company founded by Eisner Award-winning creator of the The Walking Dead, Robert Kirkman.

“Set in the flooded remains of New Orleans, the game will challenge players to make their way through the iconic quarters, as they explore what has become a brutal, unforgiving wasteland. Players will have to deal with others struggling to survive in what remains of this once vibrant city. In the world of The Walking Dead, the walkers are the least of your problems. Will you choose the path of a saint, or that of a sinner?,” explains the official synopsis.

Apart from the above teaser art Skydance Interactive has yet to reveal what the experience will actually look like. For those attending SDCC, Skydance Interactive and Skybound Entertainment will showcase the teaser art for The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners at the Harbor House Restaurant from 18th – 21st July. The event will also feature more art and panels for fans of The Walking Dead.

Skydance Interactive is better known for its VR title Archangel which launched last year. Yesterday the studio released  Archangel: Hellfire, a free update adding a free-roaming multiplayer aspect to the experience. 

Further details on The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners maybe released later this week with the teaser being discussed during Skybound’s The Walking Dead livestream, which is taking place on Thursday, 19th July at 12pm PT (8pm GMT) and on Saturday, 21st July at 4pm PT (12am GMT 22nd July). VRFocus will continue its coverage of The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners, reporting back with any further updates.

from VRFocus https://ift.tt/2LpzqNd

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Head to Downtown New York in Marvel Powers United VR

Whether you’re looking forward to kicking ass as your favourite superhero next week in Marvel Powers United VR, or getting in the spirit with a bit of cosplay for this weeks San Diego Comic-Con, fans of the upcoming virtual reality (VR) experience will be glad to hear Sanzaru Games has some last minute info to reveal, two more locations to fight in.

The studio has already revealed iconic locations like Asgard’s Throne Room, Jotunheim and the Knowhere Market, and now  Attilan and Downtown New York have been added.

Attilan is the ancestral home of the Inhumans, race of genetically altered superhumans which includes characters Black Bolt and Crystal. Created as a refuge from humanity, the city was located in the northern Atlantic Ocean for several thousand years until the advent of modern technology in the 20th Century forced the Inhumans to relocated it in fear of the city being found.

On the other hand Downtown New York needs little introduction as it’s a mainstay of Marvel comic book heroes. The image below does show the area in a partial ruined form, most likely emulating the destruction wrought on the city by the first Avengers film.

These location are likely to be the last reveal by Sanzaru Games ahead of Marvel Powers United VR’s launch next week on Thursday 26th July.

If you’ve been keeping up with the latest events then you’ll have seen a myriad of content revealed for the upcoming VR experience, with playable characters including Starlord, Gamora, Hawkeye, Black Widow, Black Panther, Captain Marvel, The Hulk, Rocket Racoon, Deadpool, and Thor all making an appearance. While bad guys who’ll take the form of boss encounters include Magneto, Dormammu, Loki, Venom, Ultron, Madame Hydra and Scientist Supreme.

If there are any further updates in the next few days VRFocus will of course let you know.

from VRFocus https://ift.tt/2Jy1Hj9

[vrheadsets]

Germany’s Galaxy Erding Water Park now has a VR Attraction

Theme parks using virtual reality (VR) is nothing new, with locations like Six Flags and Alton Towers utilising the technology to enhance rollercoasters with immersive imagery. Combining high-tech VR equipment with water on the other hand might seem like a foolhardy attempt to bring water parks into the 21st Century but that’s exactly what Galaxy Erding in Germany has done with VRSlide.

The attraction opened a few months ago at the water park with the technology developed by German startup Ballast. The custom designed headset is completely waterproof (up to several meters) whilst utilizing technology like wireless charging, NFC and a pass-through camera, all weighting in at 393.3 grams.

Powered by an integrated Samsung Galaxy S8 smartphone, the custom system uses a dual tracking system that combines ultrasound sensors which establish the rider’s position which accelerometer data that helps confirm their position on the slide. All of which the company claims “eliminates most motion sickness” for an enjoyable VR experience.

The headsets themselves dock in a custom design charging cabinet that wirelessly sends information from that day’s operations to Ballast’s secure servers. This data allows the company to produce pecise analytic reports about rider capacity, content selection and headset performance to optimise the experience.

While  a lot of the roller coaster rides which employ VR only offer one type of visual experience, due to the nature of water parks and guests ability to enjoy the same ride over and over again Ballast has developed several pieces of VR content so guest can enjoy a different experience each time. The headset is placed by a staff member on one of three docks which then alters the content.

And because Ballast use the Unity game engine it can easily push through updates or make entirely new content.

VRSlide is part of a much bigger vision at Ballast with the company developing a unique underwater VR attraction that will let guests feel like they are swimming with pods of whales, schools of dolphins and even sharks. For further updates, keep reading VRFocus.

from VRFocus https://ift.tt/2uNjPAe

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Transference Turns out to be a Terrifying Psychological Thriller

There’s nothing quite horror to showcase how involving and immersive virtual reality (VR) can really be, enveloping players in a world that purely wants to scare them. So naturally when VRFocus had the chance to play test Ubisoft and SpectreVision’s collaborative effort Transference, our video producer Nina was at the front of the queue to try the experience out and relay those thoughts.

Transference is a mind-bending, psychological story that aims to blur the lines between live-action movies and videogame dynamics. During the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) 2018 the teams released the first decent trailer for Transference,  detailing a story which involves a brilliant but troubled scientist and inventor called Raymond Hayes. He has been collecting from himself and his family which then congeals into a dark and twisted consciousness of its own. In doing so this new entity forms its own digital world which starts to alter the perceptions of Raymond, his wife Katherine and their son Benjamin.

Because of the family aspect the title features a multi-branching narrative, with actions that affect their lives whilst viewing content from the unique perspectives of each family member to help you piece together the mystery. So the choices you make ripple through time and space, with every reaction having to be considered.

Nina goes on to explain in the video how this works and the actual gameplay aspects involved between the live-action scenes. One thing is clear, Transference might be classed as a puzzle solving psychological thriller but from Nina’s point of view the title certainly sounds like a classic surreal horror experience, with a dark entity trying to chase you throughout the videogame.

Check out the full hands-on video below which also showcases some extra gameplay footage from the E3 event.  Transference is due for release on Oculus Rift, PlayStation VR and HTC Vive with a Fall 2018 launch window. When VRFocus learns of an exact launch date we’ll let you know.

from VRFocus https://ift.tt/2NnPDmO

[vrheadsets]

Hands-on: Archangel: Hellfire – The Giant Mech Fighting Game You’ve Been Looking for

Here at VRFocus we don’t do secondary reviews if a developer releases a major update as the original scores stand for the version that was played – plus there just isn’t enough time in the day/year to achieve that. Occasionally, VRFocus will take a secondary – non-review – look at a videogame that promises to right major wrongs or deliver what was originally promised or intended. Today saw Skydance Interactive launch its Archangel: Hellfire update, moving the original away from its on-rails gameplay to a free-roaming multiplayer design. And for fans of giant fighting robots, Archangel: Hellfire certainly delivers.

The update purely focuses on allowing players to either team up or fight against one another in large open world arenas that likely to put a smile on most players’ faces. The storyline from the campaign travels over to this side, where you’re able to choose a mech from either the United States Free Forces or the evil mega-corporation HUMNX. While their designs are different the mechs themselves are split into three categories; small and nimble with reduced armour, the medium mech, and then the behemoth which is slow but heavily armoured.

Choosing a mech isn’t just about speed and armour, there are various weapons and abilities that change to. They all have standard machine guns on each arm which can then be switched as needed to their secondary option. Without giving too much away, the behemoth for example carries a giant shotgun on one arm and missile launcher on the other. In addition to all these armaments the mechs also have two special abilities which slowly charge to offer either devastating offensive or defensive options.

The modes available in multiplayer are fairly standard, with two types of Team Deathmatch (2v2 and 1v1 PvP) plus a Co-op Mech Assault involving 1-4 players against waves of enemies. These can be played across four maps, a desert, mountain region and city, with a fourth called Agrizone due to be released by the end of the month.

The maps might be few but the gameplay has been expertly tuned to offer exactly what players are after, gigantic mech destruction. Just like the single-player, the inside of each mech suitably looks the part, with plenty of detail throughout. It’s easy to notice the two big buttons that activate the special abilities on either side of the chair, looking up however reveals four very important sliders. These help to fine tune certain aspects of the mech mid battle, adding more power to shields whilst taking away damage. The feature certainly adds that extra strategy element and is easy to overlook when you’re getting pummelled by ordinance.

The mechs themselves have a nice solid stomp to each of them as you wander around the battlefields, adding that immersive feeling of controlling a building sized robot. Thankfully adding some verticality to proceedings each mech can fly for a limited time. More of an extended boost jump really, this not only provides much needed manoeuvrability it allows access to higher parts of the level – usually where health and energy pick-ups can be found.

If you just so happen to be looking for a virtual reality (VR) title where you can fight mates in mechanised suits like some anime film then Archangel: Hellfire is pretty close ideal. As a free update it offers plenty of gameplay excitement, perfectly complimenting the single-player campaign.

from VRFocus https://ift.tt/2zPSSS0

[vrheadsets]

Parents Join in the Fun With AR Tie-In For Hotel Transylvania 3

The Hotel Transylvania series has two successful movies under its belt, with a third due for release soon. The franchise now plans to add augmented reality (AR) into the mix with a new smartphone app that will let children and parents play together by using AR.

The app has been announced by Biba Ventures, a company that is aimed at getting children to explore the world outside, and the Hotel Transylvania: Crazy Cruise has been designed with this goal in mind.

The app has been based on forthcoming movie Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation, and features Dracula and his family in a specially designed playground adventure that parallels events in the film.

Hotel Transylvania: Crazy Cruise has been created with Biba Ventures philosophy of embodied, creative play in mind. The aim of the app was to kindle the imagination of children and their parents or guardians to get them engaged in playground activities.

The game involves a parent or guardian holding a smartphone and both child and parent using playground equipment as a team, for example, the monkey bars might be the trap-laden island of monster tribes.

“We’re excited to bring the theme of Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation to the playground. This game allows parents and kids to assume the role of the movie’s characters through collaborative gameplay for a playground adventure they’ll never forget,” said Matt Toner, CEO of Biba Ventures. “We’re excited to work with Sony Pictures Consumer Products as they join us in our mission of encouraging kids to play outdoors and motivating parents to join with them.”

The title uses Apple’s ARKit or Google’s ARCore to bring monsters to life so parents and their children can enjoy discovering what the app ha to offer, and get photo opportunities with beloved characters.

Hotel Transylvania: Crazy Cruise is available for download from the Apple App Store and Google Play Store, priced at $3.99 (USD). For future coverage of new and upcoming AR titles, keep checking back with VRFocus.

from VRFocus https://ift.tt/2uKM16H

[vrheadsets]

Experience Virtual Flight at Farnborough Air Show With Airbus

Taking place this weekend is the UK’s largest event dedicated to flying, the Farnborough International Air (FIA) Show. Aviation companies from around the world will be displaying some of the latest cutting-edge technology, with Airbus announcing that it’ll have five virtual reality (VR) experiences for attendees to try.

Created by Render, a specialist in VR, Augmented Reality (AR) and Mixed Reality (MR) applications, the five VR environments enable users to experience future scenarios, from future air mobility to a spacewalk around the International Space Station (ISS) on a mission to install a payload on the Bartolomeo platform.

In the latter scenario users feel like they are wearing space suits, helmets and space gloves; enhanced with visual and sound effects to mimic real life. Visitors to FIA’s Futures Day, opened by European Space Agency astronaut, Tim Peake, can experience Render’s original ISS VR experience in the Space Zone.

For the air show the five experiences on offer are:

Bartolomeo

FCAS

Urban Air Mobility and Electrification

VSR 700 drone helicopters

A321 LR aeroplane

Airbus FAP 2018

“At FIA 2018, Airbus is harnessing new technologies to present our products in unique and engaging ways. VR is changing how Airbus can engage with its customers, enabling our customers to experience Airbus like never before,” commented Paul Hannah, Creative Director of Future Concepts, Airbus in a statement.

“We’ve worked really hard to push the boundaries of what’s possible in VR,” said Mark Miles, CEO at Render. “We have doubled down our focus on delivering the highest possible quality photo real and cinematic experience. Product accuracy is absolutely vital too; I believe this is our best work to date.”

The content took Render five months to create for the Farnborough International Air Show and for the Paris Air Show. The FIA event runs from 21st – 22nd July with further details and tickets found here. For the latest aviation uses of VR, keep reading VRFocus.

from VRFocus https://ift.tt/2Jy8wBj

[vrheadsets]

Life In 360°: Fishy Weather

In the last year or so the BBC’s Blue Planet series has received an awful lot of praise, not just for its stellar camerawork and status as a natural history documentary series. The latter has been well established since the very first Blue Planet series back in 2001.

Blue Planet II‘s highlighting of the realities of plastic waste pollution has brought a topic longstanding to prominence by presenting the horrifying realities of how we are affecting the Earth’s oceans and interfering with the natural order.  This has seen a move to cut down on plastics in everything from packaging to drinking straws and ear buds.

That’s not to say that’s the only topic of discussion, after all would people really have been as horrified had they not seen the wonders of the oceans first?  So, today’s video comes courtesy of the BBC Earth team on YouTube as they took a 360 degree camera underwater at the Malaysian island of Sipidan to capture what can only be described as a tornado of marine life. Specifically of a huge school of very long barracuda fish.

It is, to quote BBC Earth, “what 360 degree cameras were designed for”.

“We investigate the conundrums, quirks and beautiful science of our amazing planet, delving into the BBC documentary and natural history vaults and mixing it up with our own stuff to take a brand-new look at the animals and wildlife of planet Earth.” Explains BBC Earth Unplugged on their channel. “From animal behaviour in slow motion, educational videos, expedition films and beyond we’ve got you covered. Our planet is mind-blowing. Join us as we explore what it has to offer.”

You can watch the video below. VRFocus will have another Life In 360° this coming Friday.  We’ll see you then.

from VRFocus https://ift.tt/2L6BjCn

[vrheadsets]

Oculus Go Business Bundle Begins Shipping

A few days after the official launch of the Oculus Go standalone headset at the beginning of May the company announced  Oculus Go for Business, allowing companies to deploy large numbers of the device. Today, the Oculus Go for Business has become available.

The Oculus for Business programme, which began with the Oculus Rift, was designed to allow companies to easily embrace virtual reality (VR) adoption on the larger scales needed by enterprise, whilst offering expanded services like warranties and servicing.

In the Oculus Go business bundle companies will get a 64GB headset, an international multi-prong wall charger, two facial interfaces, an extended commercial warranty, and dedicated support – all for $299 USD each.

Oculus for Business has only been rolled out to certain countries and last month Australia, Japan, New Zealand and Taiwan were added. This enabled the Australian War Memorial Museum to deploy up to 50 Oculus Go’s at a time for its interactive VR experience the Battle of Hamel.

Oculus for Business is also available in the following countries: Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the UK, and the USA.

When the Samsung Gear VR originally launched it was used in a similar way, being employed by institutions and museums as a means of showcasing experiences to a wide audience. Now with advent of standalone VR headset like Oculus Go that process becomes even easier and completely self contained.

The consumer Oculus Go retails for £199 GBP/$199 USD for the 32GB version. Features include built-in speakers (with a mini-jack option for headphones), 3DoF controller, a 538ppi, 5.5” 2560 x 1440 WQHD, fast-switch LCD display with a new set of optics providing what Oculus calls ‘our best lenses yet’, microphone for all your voice chat needs, and compatibility with Samsung Gear VR, so there’s plenty of content available. For further updates on Oculus for Business, keep reading VRFocus.

from VRFocus https://ift.tt/2mqJlre

[vrheadsets]

Get in the Rhythm With Hotel Transylvania Popstic at VR Arcades Worldwide

Even in its relatively short lifespan the virtual reality (VR) industry has seen plenty of movie and videogame collaborations, with the biggest probably being the launch of Marvel Powers United VR this month. But that’s not the only movie tie-in this month with Sony Pictures Virtual Reality announcing a new VR rhythm title called Hotel Transylvania Popstic.

Created in collaboration with immersive content studio Specular Theory, Hotel Transylvania Popstic is based on Sony Pictures Animation’s popular Hotel Transylvania franchise – which recently debuted Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation.

The title enables players to choose between characters Drac, Mavis, or Johnny as DJ and select songs from that character’s playlist. Players then move to hit incoming targets and avoid obstacles with the help of a custom VR peripheral attachment called a Stic.

“It’s been great to partner with the team at Sony Pictures Virtual Reality to work with their IP in a new way and create something authentic for the VR medium. It demonstrates a needed shift in the ecosystem, and we look forward to more major studios collaborating with indie creators to elevate the industry,” said Ryan Pulliam, CMO and Co-Founder Specular Theory.

The Stic is built for all ages and skill levels with several hundred – which are recommended but not required – shipped to arcades around the world.

“From the outset, Hotel Transylvania Popstic was designed to work for the growing VR arcade audience. It’s the perfect pairing of a movie brand that families love and a music rhythm game that is as fun to watch as it is to play,” said Jake Zim, Senior Vice President, Virtual Reality, Sony Pictures Entertainment.

Hotel Transylvania Popstic can only be found at VR arcades, with more than 500 already on board including SpringboardVR, Private Label VR, Synthesis VR, VR World NYC and Viveland, in North America, Europe and China.

“The game is well designed and a blast to play. This partnership represents the best in how SpringboardVR, creators and operators can be aligned in getting great content out to the market,” said Will Stackable, Co-Founder, SpringboardVR. “The way Specular Theory and Sony Pictures VR thought about the benefits of launching first in the out-of-home VR space and designing the game accordingly is exactly what we welcome from the creator community.”

VRFocus will continue its coverage of Specular Theory and its latest VR projects, reporting back with any further updates.

from VRFocus https://ift.tt/2Nnwoty

[vrheadsets]

Review: Naked Sun

Thankfully the deluge of wave-based virtual reality (VR) shooters has begun to quieten down in recent months with developers realising that not only do players want more involvement, VR technology has the ability to offer greater gameplay options. This goes the same for on-rails first-person shooters (FPS) which do at least offer a modicum of change and variation. That being said, every so often a title appears that’ll peak VRFocus’ interest in these genres again with the most recent being Naked Sun for Oculus Rift and HTC Vive.

A purely single-player experience, Door Z Studio’s Naked Sun offers that arcade shooter feel all wrapped up in a glossy futuristic design. Simplicity is the key to Naked Sun’s design, and right from the start it’s easy to tell the studio has gone for fast-action gameplay that’s intuitive to pick up and play.

There’s a loose storyline involving humanity being at the brink of extinction due to robots and AI taking over the world and setting a clear eye on wiping humanity out, but then isn’t that always the case. So you play a robot programmed to infiltrate the enemy AI city and help the humans win, which mainly involves staying on a pod-like shuttle craft as it enters the city and gunning down anything that comes close.

As mentioned Naked Sun takes a somewhat simple approach to its main gameplay element, shooting. Rather than having a massive range of selectable weaponry at your disposal all you have are a pair of pistols. These can be switched between single fire – slower and more powerful – or rapid fire – weaker bullets – depending on the situation. Then there are two special abilities, a shield on the left controller, and a rocket launcher on the right, both of which need to recharge each time – which is fairly quick. That’s your lot. So while it can feel a little sparse, the loadout perfectly suits the gameplay so you’re never left wanting.

While the on-rails design gives Naked Sun an easy going feel (it can be played seated), it does have that addictive nature found in titles like Space Pirate Trainer or Robo Recall. One of the videogame’s downsides however is its 180-degree field of action. While this was fine in Space Pirate Trainer two years ago, it does age the title making it seem out of date. Door Z Studio have tried to mix things up somewhat by adding destructible scenery along the route to offer different tactical elements but this feels way too staged and by the numbers.

After you’ve completed the single-player campaign Naked Sun’s replay value comes from the Arcade mode. Here you can replay the campaign levels with one major difference, a score board. Now you can compete in online leaderboards for the best highscore by killing robots as quickly as possible. Additionally, the studio has done away with the rocket launcher for this mode and armed you with a powerful laser which can cut through groups of enemies with ease.

For an on-rails shooter in 2018 Naked Sun isn’t going to set the VR industry alight with an original idea or gameplay. It’s another title that perfectly suits the ideas of what VR could achieve a couple of years ago without going any further. On the other hand it’s extremely comfortable to play, has great gun control mechanics and will draw you in enough to probably complete it in one sitting. A decent yet average VR experience.

60%

Awesome

Verdict

from VRFocus https://ift.tt/2zPqL5u