Extended Reality (XR) - Page 52

GDC 2016 - I've been itching to play Budget Cuts ever since I saw some videos on YouTube of it, so I made sure to find out where it was being displayed at the Game Developers Conference, so I popped into the Unity booth and tried it out.

Budget Cuts has a specific corporate art style that made me feel like I was walking around in something familiar, but in a virtual world, it felt unique. Navigating in the virtual Budget Cuts world was the most innovative yet, where you use the left Lighthouse controller with the HTC Vive to throw out a portal - and then a window of that portal pops up above your left controller, letting you peek into the portal to see what's around the corner.

It was one of the best ways of mavigating the world in a VR game yet, as you could pop a portal next to a grill on the wall - pull the grill away, and peek through the grill. Looking around corners and into windows was something truly awesome in Budget Cuts because it made me feel like I was right there in the world - creating an amazing sense of presence.

Oculus has just starting shipping the initial wave of Oculus Rift VR headsets, but Palmer Luckey had a big surprise in store for the very first Rift recipient.

As a means of saying "thanks for believing in us," Oculus founder Palmer Luckey traveled all the way to Alaska to personally hand-deliver the very first Oculus Rift VR headset. The recipient, a software dev named Ross Martin, was the very first person to pre-order the Rift, and is now the first person in the world to own a consumer-ready Rift headset. The HMD's box has been signed by Luckey, Michael Antonov, Brenden Iribe, and Nate Mitchell, turning it into an instant collector's item.

Luckey chronicled the entire adventure on Facebook (of course), saying: "This is incredible. I've been working on the Rift for so long, and you're the first person to actually get one. It's kinda like me taking all that work and handing it off to you, so you have to make sure you have fun with it!"

Virtuix is going in a different direction in raising funds for 2016, with the VR locomotion company launching its mini-IPO round of funding, allowing the general public to invest in the company and its future. Within the first 24 hours, Virtuix raised an impressive $2.5 million.

The $2.5 million raised happened thanks to over 500 private investors, and 5 institutional investors. Virtuix stock is available for $2.33 per share, with the company planning on expanding its team, and continuing to build VR motion technologies. Right now, the Virtuix Omni can be purchased, allowing people to strap on a special pair of shoes, stand on the Omni with the harness attached, and enjoy a huge physical additional to the virtual world.

Virtuix founder and CEO, Jan Goetgeluk talked about the mini-IPO funding round: "We are thrilled to see the overwhelming response to our stock offering. We are excited that our community can now participate in our financial future and be part of the next chapter of our story".

With only a few days until the Oculus Rift starts shipping to consumers, the VR company has announced that its SDK for the Rift now supports Asynchronous Timewarp (ATW). It might not sound like much, but it actually improves the VR experience.

ATW renders a scene before it reaches your eyes, but also handles head movement and shifts by your head, before the Rift renders it to your eyes. Thanks to ATW, we have reduced latency, smoother movements and improved efficiency. Oculus says that ATW reduces judder (in the form of shaking and vibration) that is produced when a frame is displayed out of sync, because the hardware wasn't capable of rendering the frame quick enough.

Oculus teamed with Microsoft, NVIDIA and AMD to make the best of GPU preemption (rendering a scene before it's required), to its new SDK. Our Rift should ship on March 28, so expect a constant flow of VR-related content starting in April.

It was only a matter of time before someone took advantage of the SteamVR interface and brought in a more interactive, and familiar, background. Surreal nature or space photos are great, but didn't we invent VR as a stopgap to a full-on holodeck?

The SteamVR interface allows you to interact completely inside the headset, and you've got the option of changing the grid background to something more pleasing, such as a 360-degree view of London, or New York, or even the Milky Way. But why wouldn't you want to recreate something more iconic and appropriate to the technology. Now all we need is a way to create a shimmering effect into your game as it loads.

The holodeck is nothing more than the usual black backdrop with yellow markers, but it's the simplicity that makes it so fun, that's what the holodeck is, after all. You can experience it yourself if you have any sort of VR device that's compatible with Steam, right here.

Oculus has started shipping its final Rift headset to consumers, with Oculus boss Brendan Iribe confirming the first batch of Rift headsets will reach customers as early as March 28.

We don't know who will be getting their Rift headsets first, but I ordered within the first 5 minutes and haven't gotten shipping notification emails yet - but I did get an email minutes ago saying that my unit would be shipping in the next 1-3 weeks. I really thought I'd be in that first batch, so here's hoping to an email in the next day or so.

Let's hope that before consumers start getting their Rift headsets, that Oculus doesn't require everything to be installed onto their C: ... eh?

Sony's PlayStation VR is selling like hotcakes, and Amazon sold out the first wave of headsets in just four minutes flat. Luckily Sony has envisioned such a scenario and is pushing out the pre-orders in waves, and Amazon will have a fresh batch of pre-order bundles available later today.

Amazon's new stock is expected to arrive this morning, and the retailer has announced you'll be able to pre-order the $499 PlayStation VR Launch Edition bundles starting at 2PM today. We're not sure if that's 2PM Eastern or Pacific, so you'll want to make accommodations either way.

If you don't manage to get a PSVR from Amazon, don't panic: pre-orders are available at Target, GameStop, and BestBuy. Remember that Sony is rolling out these pre-orders in waves and phases, so don't be alarmed if you don't get a pre-order--just check our PSVR pre-order timeline to see your next opportunity. Be sure to avoid those ridiculous $1,000 eBay listings at all costs--there's no reason to spend double or triple MSRP just because stock is limited right now.

Pornhub has just become the first adult entertainment service to offer free VR porn, which will work on all of the Oculus Rift and Samsung GearVR headsets.

The company has just reiterated how important VR is to the future of adult entertainment, partnering with adult VR entertainment company BaDoinkVR. Pornhub has now become the first to offer 360-degreer adult content, and best of all - it's free!

Pornhub VP Corey Price said it was the company's duty to give their audience the latest in cutting edge technology, with VR the next step in that path. Better yet, Pornhub is giving away 10,000 smartphone-powered Google Cardboard-style headsets to anyone who wants one - and we all know they're going to be gone by the time you read this.

The SteamVR platform is mighty innovative as of late, answering questions that no one has quite asked yet, but doing so in a constructive and fun way. You can now access your desktop inside VR within the SteamVR interface, letting you play with your desktop in front of your face.

Unfortunately, you won't be able to use gesture control to swipe, grab and otherwise interact with it. You can, however, use the Vive controllers to navigate it, but it's unclear whether that's just via the buttons, or motion. But it's a step in a direction that could end up being quite interesting. The idea behind it is that you may sometimes need to interact with your desktop to change settings, check a tip or do anything else when you don't want to take the headset off. In other words, you can now become completely sucked in.

To access it you need to opt into the Steam beta as well as SteamVR. If you have, just use the overlay and press the system button on the Vive controller, and you'll see a tab that lets you switch to a view of the desktop.

Room-scale VR is put on the back burner by Oculus so the company could prepare more important Rift features.

One of the biggest advantages HTC Vive has over the Oculus Rift is the headset's room-scale VR capabilities. With its included Lighthouse sensors, the Vive can track players' entire body movements over a 15-by-15 foot space. Oculus affirms that the Rift can also do room-based tracking, but the company has yet to officially demo the feature.

"Some people will really want room scale. We have the tech ability to provide room scale. Our tech doesn't preclude that, and at some point we'll demo that," said Oculus exec Jason Rubin. When the Rift ships on March 28, it only ships with half of the tracking puzzle--a sensor that tracks head and upper body movement. The other half is the Rift's Touch controllers, which add another sensor to complete the equation. Once equipped with the Touch controllers, the Rift will have full-body tracking in smaller 5-by-11 feet scale.

Yesterday Sony launched the second pre-order wave for its complete $499 PlayStation VR package, which sold out on Amazon in just four minutes. Now the inevitable ridiculously high-priced eBay listings have started to pop up, commanding $1,000 prices.

Just like the sold out PS4 pre-orders, eBay scalpers are in full force to sell you overpriced guarantees for Sony's new PSVR headset--provided you're willing to pay double the MSRP. The listings range from $799 to $999 for the PSVR Launch Edition, which includes the PS Camera, PSVR headset, and two Move controllers.

A quick search on eBay reveals dozens of PlayStation VR listings, so it looks like almost everyone is willing to part with their pre-orders in order to make some cash. If you want to get a PlayStation VR but didn't secure a pre-order, don't panic. Taking a gander at our PlayStation VR pre-order timeline, you'll realize that Sony is holding two more windows before the headset's launch in October.

GDC 2016 - One of the stand out VR experiences from CES 2016 was Bullet Train from Epic Games, something we tested when we stopped by and had a chat with NVIDIA in Las Vegas in January.

At the Game Developers Conference, we wanted to try Bullet Train again - just because it's such an awesome VR experience. We noticed that this version was an updated build, with some slight changes - including the ability of being able to hold certain guns like the AK-47 with two hands, thanks to the Touch controllers on the Oculus Rift.

Check out the video above, where I explain it all. If you have the chance of playing Bullet Train, do not miss that opportunity - take it. It's the closest you'll get to being Neo from The Matrix.

Sony has revealed the different times that you'll be able to pre-order a PlayStation VR headset, giving consumers ample time to secure their own HMD.

Rather than opening up pre-orders all at once like its competitors and shipping hardware on a first-come first-served basis, Sony has opted to accept pre-orders in phases and waves. The first wave is already over, following the PlayStation VR's price reveal, and Sony has announced two more pre-order phases before the headset's launch in October.

The next pre-order window for the PlayStation VR is today at 7 am PST, but it's only for the $499 PSVR Launch Edition which includes the PS Camera and other hardware, not the $399 Core Edition. The next time you'll be able to pre-order the $399 PSVR Core Edition is on March 29 starting at 7 am PST. If you happen to miss both of these pre-order windows, Sony has plans for another phase in the summer, and we're not sure if this will be the last pre-order wave before the headset launches in October.

Remember when we told you that Sony's $399 PlayStation VR wasn't the full package? The Japanese console-maker was listening, and has decided to roll out a new $499 PSVR bundle that comes with everything you need. Starting today you'll be able to pre-order the complete package.

Sony announced that the PlayStation VR Launch Edition will be up for pre-order starting today, March 22 at 7:00am PST for $499 across multiple retailers. Sony didn't provide a definitive list of retailers, but we're betting the usual suspects like Best Buy, Gamestop, and Amazon will have pre-orders up.

Up until now, no one knew when Sony would sell its completePlayStation VR bundle, and the timing is undoubtedly frustrating to those who've already ordered the default headset. The company also says that another wave of $399 PlayStation VR core headsets will be available starting March 29 at 7:00am PST, but be aware that these don't come with the required PS Camera or Move controllers.

Oculus Software and VR apps must be installed to the C: of your PC... did you know that? No, you didn't - well, you probably didn't - and neither did I. It's utterly ridiculous, but it's coming directly from the Oculus support forum, after my friend Anshel Sag sent me the link on Reddit. I'm still in disbelief.

On the Oculus support website, a question asks: "Can I install the Oculus to another drive or directory?". The answer? Well, it says: "No. Currently, the Oculus Software and VR applications must be stored in C:Program Files (x86)Oculus. We plan to enable installing downloaded VR applications to another location in a future release".

With the Oculus Rift set to launch next week, I have to ask: what the f*** is going on, Oculus?

VR is set to change everything, from gaming to entertainment and everything in between. But a recent survey reveals that not everyone is particularly excited about slapping on a headset, and despite having better hardware options, PC gamers aren't as hyped as their console brethren.

According to a survey held by Gamesindustrybiz, 63% of European console gamers are interested in VR, whereas only 51% of PC players are hyped for the platform. The info also shows that a whopping 72% of Xbox One and PS4 gamers are hyped for virtual reality, which is corroborated by the reports that Sony's PlayStation VR became the #1 best seller on Amazon.

Looking at some of the survey results, we see that 35% of gamers are simply just not interested in VR in any shape or form. The final answers show that 58% of gamers have no plans to buy into VR. That's a pretty big chunk of the gaming crowd who sees VR as a passing gimmick--after all, VR is something you have to experience to believe in. Accessibility is the biggest roadblock for VR, so Sony/Oculus/HTC will have to do their part to convince gamers to adopt VR.

The biggest roadblock that VR faces is accessibility. Since PC-powered VR requires newer, higher-end video cards like NVIDIA's GeForce GTX 970 to function, users have to shell out quite a bit to update to the requisite hardware. But what if you could make an HTC Vive work with older, less expensive video cards?

At GDC 2016, Valve's Alex Vlachos revealed that the company is working on a way to reduce the cost for VR by adding support for older video cards. By making older cards like NVIDIA's GeForce GTX 680 series compatible with VR, Valve would open the doors to accessibility by giving consumers an enormous range of PC hardware options to power the HTC Vive.

"I can run Aperture [Portal-themed VR demo] on a 680 without dropping frames at a lower quality, and, for me, that's enough of a proof of concept. As long as the GPU can hit 45 HZ we want for people to be able to run VR," Vlachos said at the event. "We've said the recommended spec is a 970, same as Oculus, but we do want lesser GPUs to work. We're trying to reduce the cost [of VR]. Most art we're seeing in VR isn't as dense as that. So we should be pretty good to go... everything should be able to support that low-end hardware. But we need the right safety nets in place."

GDC 2016 - During the Game Developers Conference, Oculus held its own event where it showcased Minecraft running on the GearVR. The GearVR is Samsung's own VR headset, something the South Korean company collaborated with Oculus on over the last few years.

Minecraft is an interesting game to hit the GearVR as it's an IP that's now owned by Microsoft, who didn't show any VR technology at GDC - especially when compared to its competitor in Sony, and the PS4. Sony displayed PlayStation VR in a big way at GDC, going as far as announcing the $399 price during the show in San Francisco.

As for Minecraft on the GearVR, it was running on a Samsung Galaxy S6 smartphone and was super-smooth. It was quite the experience to be playing Minecraft in VR, and even more so when you realize it's powered by a smartphone - and not a PC or console.

GDC 2016 - Who would've thought that playing a game where you are an eagle could be so awesome, well - it is. Eagle Flight is an open-world, mission-based game from Ubisoft - and it's really an amazing game on VR.

The game is very simple, where you easily control an eagle flying through Paris. The controls are very intuitive, where you look at where you want to go, and raise, turn or tilt your head on where you want to fly or glide. If you tilt your head left or right, you will bank - which allows for some tricky manoeuvres.

I was flying under bridges, through small gaps in walls, and over buildings like it was nothing - within 30 seconds of getting into Eagle Flight, it's that easy. I was genuinely blown away at how easy it was, so let's put it this way - I could put anyone into the Rift - no matter if they're a gamer or not, young or old - and they would get the hang of the game within 30 seconds.

GDC 2016 - Ever since Lucky's Tale was introduced, I've been trying to get my hands-on playing it. Well, I got my chance at the Game Developer's Conference, and I was not disappointed. It's no wonder Lucky's Tale is included in the box with the Oculus Rift, as it's an awesome VR gaming experience.

Lucky's Tale, if you haven't played it or read/seen it yet, is a VR platformer like nothing you've ever seen before. It reminds me so much of Mario 64, with a blend of Banjo-Kazooie, with developer Playful Games rebuilding levels from both games in Lucky's Tale, so that they would better understand level design in VR.

The biggest change with Lucky's Tale is the way you interact with the camera, as normally it doesn't move (unless you are moving in the world itself) in games like Mario 64. By moving your head in the real-world, with the Rift on of course, the camera moves in the game - which is completely unique, because that's not how we've been playing games for the last 20+ years.