virtualreality
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Facebook's redesigned VR avatars look more like you
The avatars in Facebook's social VR environment, Spaces, could use some work: they have a flat, cartoonish look, and you'll be hard-pressed to find one that really reflects your look. Accordingly, Facebook is giving these avatars a makeover. The new designs are much more three-dimensional (they're somewhat reminiscent of The Sims) with more realistic lighting and materials, and they now offer "hundreds" of additional customizations. You can finally adjust your body type, for starters. You'll also find new head shapes, hair styles and facial features, and you can fine-tune these features in an editor.
Jon Fingas04.02.2018
Apple patent taps VR to ease motion sickness in self-driving cars
The US Patent and Trademark Office has published an Apple patent application that details a pretty neat VR system. Spotted by Patently Apple, it's meant to be used in vehicles -- including self-driving vehicles -- and Apple pitches it as a way to mitigate motion sickness. But the company also describes a lot of other interesting applications, many of which could be used to turn a standard ride in an autonomous car into a business meeting, a concert or an exciting, zombie-filled adventure.
Mallory Locklear03.30.2018
Live the startup 'dream' in the ‘Silicon Valley’ VR Hacker Hostel
If you've enjoyed HBO's Silicon Valley over the last four seasons, chances are you're keyed in to the same tech and startup scenes that the show satires. Which means you might have an HTC Vive, which is the platform of choice for the upcoming VR experience based on the show. If you want to roam around the suburban "startup incubator" where the Pied Piper team makes the magic happen, Silicon Valley VR: Inside The Hacker Hostel is coming soon to HTC's headset.
David Lumb03.23.2018
HTC slips out an upgraded VR object tracker
HTC's Vive Tracker is barely half a year old for everyday users, but it's already being replaced with a new model. The VR hardware maker has confirmed to Tom's Hardware that it's now selling an updated "Vive Tracker (2018)" for the same $99. The product listing doesn't say much about what's new. However, they're understood to support SteamVR Tracking 2.0, enabling object tracking in much larger (33ft by 33ft) spaces. That could make this new model virtually mandatory for some VR enthusiasts -- the old model isn't expected to work with 2.0 base stations.
Jon Fingas03.20.2018
Skywalker Sound and the challenges of making audio for VR films
Lauded Mexican filmmaker Alejandro González Iñárritu, best known for his work on movies such as Birdman and The Revenant, last year nabbed a "special" Oscar award for his VR exhibition Carne y Arena. The virtual reality project, dubbed Flesh and Sand in English, takes viewers into a world where they can experience what it's like to be an immigrant trying to cross a border. As much as visuals were important to tell this story, one of Iñárritu's focus was to also to create the most immersive sounds -- which can be complicated when going from traditional film to a completely new medium like VR.
Edgar Alvarez03.20.2018
Macy's will use VR to let shoppers 'see' furniture in their homes
Macy's is turning to mobile checkout options and virtual reality in an effort to get more people in its stores. The former uses the store's app (naturally) and aims to make getting out of the mall easier. The latter is for designing a room's look with furniture and furnishings.
Timothy J. Seppala03.19.2018
HTC's Vive Pro headset is available to pre-order for $799
Once staunch rivals in high-end VR, it now seems Facebook-owned Oculus and HTC are treading different paths. While Oculus is gearing up to launch a more affordable standalone headset, HTC has gone in the opposite direction with the Vive Pro, a new top-of-the range facehugger announced at this year's CES. Today, HTC has revealed the Vive Pro is the antithesis of affordable at $799/£799, and that it's now available to pre-order globally ahead of its April 5th shipping date.
Jamie Rigg03.19.2018
CNN is bringing its VR news app to the Oculus Rift
Today, CNN partnered with interactive entertainment company Magnopus, the company behind the Coco VR experience, to launch a VR app for its virtual reality news stories on the Oculus Rift. It was previously available on iOS and Android to use with Google Daydream and Samsung Gear headsets, but this is the first time the app will be available on a desktop VR setup.
David Lumb03.15.2018
Lenovo's Daydream VR headset might go on sale May 11th
Lenovo only gave a vague "second quarter" release window for its Mirage Solo Daydream VR headset when we saw it in January, but there might be firmer date to work with. B&H is listing the standalone wearable as available for pre-order with a May 11th ship date and a $400 price tag. We've asked Lenovo if it can vouch for the accuracy of the listing. We tend to take these discoveries with a huge grain of salt (stores frequently pick arbitrary dates as placeholders), but there might be some credulity to this one.
Jon Fingas03.15.2018
Qualcomm adds Tobii's eye-tracking tech to its mobile VR kit
Tobii's eye-tracking tech was such a great fit for virtual reality that taking it for a spin at CES 2018 ruined every headset without its capabilities for Engadget editor Devindra Hardawar. Now, Tobii has teamed up with Qualcomm to create an updated version of the chipmaker's Snapdragon 845 Mobile VR Platform. Unlike the rather underwhelming design we tested in February, the development kit's new version will come loaded with Tobii's eye-tracking tech.
Mariella Moon03.15.2018
SteamVR’s auto resolution knows what your GPU can handle
Valve updated SteamVR today with a new feature that automatically adjusts your headset's resolution up to what your GPU can optimally render. This should function like autofocus, taking the decision-making out of the user's hands and reassuring developers that their content is being enjoyed at the best resolution. But it could also make VR more accessible, since it also auto-selects settings on lower-performing GPUs, letting experiences run more smoothly on more affordable machines.
David Lumb03.14.2018
‘GFE’ follows a high-end escort through San Francisco
Update: Following allegations from the film's star, Liara Roux, director Michael Jacobs has voluntarily withdrawn GFE from SXSW's Virtual Cinema show. The original article follows. Much of the virtual reality film GFE takes place in luxury San Francisco hotel rooms -- softly lit, cozy spaces -- while soothing music lingers in the background. There's only one main character: a young woman who narrates her experience as a high-end escort, providing a "girlfriend experience" of dates, conversation and intimacy. She walks through Union Square in purple boots and a short skirt, sits across from the viewer at a cafe, applies lipstick in a hotel mirror. At times, the camera's point of view places you as a neutral observer; at other moments you're the implied client, locking eyes with the woman.
Chris Ip03.14.2018
YouTube CEO talks misinformation, creators and comments at SXSW
YouTube's presence at SXSW 2018 extended beyond its Story HQ, a space where it turned ads into videos that feel more like art. The company's CEO, Susan Wojcicki, was part of a panel at the event titled "Navigating the Video Revolution in the Digital Age." There, she talked about a wide range of topics, including experiments for YouTube's comments section and how much money creators are making. But the biggest news Wojcicki dropped on stage was about a new feature she called "information cues," which will help fight hoaxes by linking viewers to articles on Wikipedia that debunks those.
Edgar Alvarez03.13.2018
Microsoft’s mad scientists are making AR more tactile
Unless you hate fun, Microsoft's best division is far and away its Research group, which has given us the nearest thing to a Holodeck, a live-action version of Minecraft and much more. Microsoft's gang of crazy researchers is at it again, showing off a bunch of new controllers for augmented and virtual reality. They're strictly experimental for now, but show a lot of potential for making AR and VR more fun and useful.
Steve Dent03.12.2018
Immerse yourself in ‘Ready Player One’ with HTC's VR experiences
The upcoming Spielberg-directed nostalgia orgy Ready Player One depicts a run-down future where the only escape is diving into a fully immersive cyberspace. Soon, you'll be able to visit that digital world, too, when HTC's Vive Studios releases a slew of VR experiences created by a variety of developers. They'll be available to download later in March, but first they'll come to events and 'VR Arcades' across the US -- including at South By Southwest.
David Lumb03.08.2018
VR, AR and immersive projects are a bigger part of Tribeca this year
Art museums aren't the only ones delving into virtual reality, with Sundance debuting a slate of Oculus projects back in January. While the Tribeca Film Festival has included both art and cinema VR projects before, this year's programming brings projects with film stars and screenings in a new VR theater. Around 30 pieces will be showcased in the festival's dedicated Immersive section, and the show will also screen 33 VR films and experiences starring a slew of Hollywood regulars including Terrence Malick, Laurie Anderson, Rosario Dawson, Lupita Nyong'o and Alicia Vikander, along with the band OK GO.
David Lumb03.08.2018
Oculus Rift headsets should work as normal again
If you own an Oculus Rift headset, good news: It should work as normal again. The Facebook-owned division was caught off guard yesterday when a number of units suddenly stopped working. The problem -- much to Oculus' embarrassment -- was an expired security certificate that checks whether the software you own has come directly from the Oculus Store. The company worked through the night on a fix and finally it's ready as a patch from the Oculus website. It sounds simple enough to install; just download the file, select Repair and then relaunch the Oculus app. That's the promise, anyway — let's hope the problem is finally sorted now.
Nick Summers03.08.2018
Sky VR's interactive museum visit deserves a bigger audience
Sir David Attenborough first lent his silky narrator's voice to the medium of VR when he teamed up with London's Natural History Museum for a special exhibit on the earth's prehistoric oceans. And now, several years later, the institution and Sir Dave have collaborated once again on a VR experience commissioned by European media-and-telecommunications company Sky. Hold the World offers an interactive look at a few of the museum's more interesting specimens, from the huge blue whale skeleton that hangs in the building's main entrance hall down to a tiny rat flea. Naturally, there's an educational aspect, with a lifelike hologram of Attenborough telling you all about the artifact as if he were sitting right there. But there's a catch: You'll have to be a Sky customer to try it out when it launches this spring.
Jamie Rigg03.08.2018
Watch 'Stargate Origins' for free in VR starting March 8th
Want to (legally) watch Stargate Origins for free? If you splurged on a virtual reality headset, you can. MGM and Bigscreen have teamed up to screen the first two episodes of the sci-fi TV show for free in VR between March 8th at 6PM Eastern and March 11th at 3AM Eastern. The virtual 'showtimes' will start every 30 minutes and will be available in the US, the UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Germany. Naturally, Bigscreen is hoping you'll sign up for Stargate Command to watch the rest of the series when all is said and done.
Jon Fingas03.07.2018
Oculus Rift headsets are offline following a software error
This morning, people around the world couldn't use their Oculus Rift VR headsets. System software couldn't "reach Oculus Runtime Service" according to error messages posted to the Oculus forums, spotted by Polygon. One possible explanation is that an Oculus security certificate expired today. The company took to the bulletin board to offer a bit of an update.
Timothy J. Seppala03.07.2018