Virtual & Augmented Reality and 3D News - Page 15

According to a report from UploadVR, the next Oculus Quest update will introduce a 50% increase to the maximum area that you can set the guardian bounds.

The Oculus Guardian gives you a virtual boundary to prevent you from walking into a wall or your TV. Currently, the Oculus Quest can address up to 10m x 10m of useable place space, which is a lot more space than most people have available. However, there must be at least a subset of users who desire more trackable space because Oculus is reportedly going to increase the maximum to 15 meters square when version 30 of the Oculus Quest OS rolls out later this year.

Oculus told UploadVR that it expects the increased size to "benefit a variety of apps." Which apps need more space remains to be seen. We would imagine it would mostly be custom applications for location-based entertainment facilities and training solutions for businesses that would most benefit from the increased tracking space.

Vertigo Games is getting ready to release its next VR game, After The Fall, and the development team is starting the stir up the hype. A new preview real explains a bit more about the backstory and the enemies you face.

After The Fall is a 4-player co-operative multiplayer VR shooter set in a fictional post-apocalyptic world that collapsed decades ago, and it is now overrun by terrifying zombies.

"The difference between After The Fall and other VR zombie shooters is that you can play it together with your friends. So it's all focused on 4-player co-op," said Richard Stitselaar, Vertigo Games Studio Director. "It's crucial for any team member to work together by healing each other, sharing ammo, sharing weapons. This is the only way you can survive in After The Fall."

During a live AMA session on Instagram Wednesday evening, a viewer asked Zuckerberg what Facebook is doing to lower the barriers to emerging technologies like augmented reality. Zuckerberg's response was surprisingly candid and it revealed highlighted why Oculus will remain a dominant brand in the XR space for years to come.

Zuckerberg is on a mission to put as many people as possible in XR devices in the next 10 years, and he's ready to lose money to make it happen. Like the console market has historically done, Facebook will forgo up-front profits on hardware sales, and may even sell devices at a loss, with the expectation of coming out ahead through software sales.

Zuckerberg said he believes that making XR devices accessible requires two things: A high-quality wire-free experience, and a cost that consumers can afford. There may always be tethered headsets, but Zuckerberg thinks those devices will remain niche products.

Big Box Games has a significant hit on its hands with Population: One. The VR shooter has enjoyed a huge player base for a VR game ever since it launched last fall. A key to its success the developer's continued work to bring new excitement to the game, such as the upcoming team deathmatch event starting this week.

News of the team deathmatch mode coming to Population: One started to trickle out last week, but the developer took to Reddit to lay out some of the details over the weekend. The most notable announcement is the limited time availability of this new mode. Big Box Games said the team deathmatch event would run from June 3 through June 14.

During that time, smaller two-team matches with up to 6-players per team will run in smaller sections of the maps players are already familiar with. Games will have 15-minute timers, but rounds will likely finish quicker than that. The first team to 30 kills wins the game.

The Vive Pro 2is HTC's latest VR headset. It offers a significant resolution upgrade and a refresh rate increase over the original Vive Pro. To accommodate older PC's HTC provides a variety of resolution options.

The Vive Pro 2 is just around the corner, and several reviews have popped up online. Now that reviews are out, we have more details about the hardware and how it works. One of the first things to note is that Vive Pro 2 requires driver software in addition to SteamVR and that software controls the headset's display parameters.

The below screenshot was taken from VoodooDE's Vive Pro 2 review on YouTube shows five different resolution options. The Performance setting cuts the vertical and horizontal resolution in half, from 4896 x 2448 down to 2448 x 1224. At this resolution, the display must run at 120Hz. That would be the best option for hitting high frame rates on underpowered computers. And if you want to use the wireless adaptor, you won't even get 120Hz out of this resolution.

DPVR, a VR headset company from Shanghai, recently launched the DPVR Starlink solution, allowing teachers to run guided training with VR headsets in school classrooms. Starlink synchronizes spectator headsets with the instructor's view to keep students focused on the lesson.

DPVR said it developed the Starlink solution to help schools cut down on the cost of implementing VR training systems. Starlink allows teachers to run a classroom lecture in VR, with the teacher operating a PC VR system while the students watch from a standalone headset. The standalone headsets reduce the cost for schools by eliminating the need for a computer for each student.

The piece that brings this puzzle together is DPVR's P1 all-in-on VR headset, a Snapdragon XR2-based standalone device with a 4K display. The Starlink system casts the view of the PC headset wirelessly to up to 40 P1 headsets. That means every student in a class as big as 40 people would see the same picture the teacher sees at the exact moment the teacher sees it.

After a successful Kickstarter campaign last year, Cybershoes is now ready to sell the Oculus Quest version of its VR shoes on Amazon.com. The company also announced compatibility with a handful of new games.

Cybershoes recently fulfilled its Kickstarter obligations, and the company is now ready to sell the Quest version of the VR shoes to anyone who wants them.

"Launching on Amazon is huge for us because it allows easier access to Cybershoes for Quest gamers who might have been on the fence for our crowdfunding campaigns," said Michael Bieglmayer, CEO of Cybershoes. "Not to mention that fans will have a variety of fantastic games to choose from as soon as our box shows up on their doorstep! We can't wait for a whole new audience of VR gamers to experience what Cybershoes are all about."

Virtuix today announced that more than 6500 investors participated in its recent SeedInvest Series A-2 financing round, raking in $19 million to help Virtuix bring its first consumer product to the market.

Virtuix kicked off the latest round of funding last year when it revealed the Omni One, the company's first consumer-focused home VR treadmill. Virtuix founder and CEO Jan Goetgeluk offered investors a slice of his company for as little as $1000, and more than 6500 people took advantage of the offer.

"We're impressed by the outpouring of investor support for Omni One," said Goetgeluk. "More than two million players have experienced the thrill of walking around inside videogames at our commercial venues around the world. Given our success in the out-of-home market, our investors believe we're well-positioned to bring our popular gaming experience to millions of homes around the world."

Get ready to hit the virtual slopes. Carve Snowboarding debuts this Thursday on Oculus Quest.

Chuhai Labs today confirmed that Carve Snowboarding is coming out this week. The indie developer announced on Twitter that the game would be available on Thursday, May 27.

Carve Snowboarding is Chuhai Labs debut VR game but the team behind Carve Snowboarding is no stranger to delivering games. The creator of 1080 Snowboarding for the Nintendo 64 is the CEO of Chuhai Labs (and he just did an AMA on Reddit), which means there are few studios with the know-how to build this game.

One of the best horror games on the Oculus platform is now available on SteamVR.

Wraith: The Oblivion - Afterlife is no longer an Oculus exclusive title. Fast Travel Games released the SteamVR version today, giving Vive and Index owners a chance to play the game.

Wraith: The Oblivion - Afterlife is a story-driven horror game that relies on tension and suspense to give you the chills rather than cheap jump scares. The game is set in the World of Darkness universe, the same universe as Vampire: The Masquerade. You play the role of Ed Miller, a photographer who met his death during a seance, and you must uncover the mystery of how you died.