Extended Reality (XR) - Page 64

Fove hopes its virtual reality technology, which uses eye-tracking technology, is able to give users a more realistic VR experience. The company's VR headset uses eye-tracking technology as the primary user interface, which is able to follow a wearer's pupils using infrared light.

As the company develops its hardware, Fove hopes the ability to use eye-tracking won't be just for video games - but in the medical world. For example, designers were able to collect data related to eye contact and eve avoidance among people suffering from Asperger's Syndrome. But let's not forget how eye-tracking can be utilized for gamers:

"From an immersion point of view, if you deal with VR characters that are completely unaware of your gaze, it creates an unnatural, even unnerving experience," said Lochlainn Wilson, co-founder of Fove, in a statement published by the MIT Technology Review. "We can bridge that uncanny barrier."

Virtual reality proved to be extremely popular during E3, with much attention on developments for the Oculus Rift and Sony's Project Morpheus. Sony is expected to launch Morpheus sometime during the first half of 2016 for consumers, and Sony said its on schedule.

"In terms of development, it's going very well," said Shuhei Yoshida, president of Sony's Worldwide Studios for Sony Computer Entertainment, in a statement to Engadget. "The hardware is near-complete."

Now that Sony says the team has hardware development locked in, there is more attention towards software development.

There is no question that virtual reality headsets could drastically change the gaming world - but if the Oculus Rift, Project Morpheus, and other products want instant success, there must be appealing content to win us over.

"You're in a store and you're looking at a display, and here's all the head-mounted displays and then it costs $200 or $300," said Tony Christopher, CEO of Landmark Entertainment Group, in a statement published by NPR. "Why would you ever buy it when you don't know why you're buying it? You wouldn't."

I've tested the Oculus Rift DK1 and DK2 in a number of different games, and the potential is clearly there. Playing a game like Skyrim, and walking through the towns - or engaging a bandit with a melee character - is spectacular. I've played a few racing games and flight simulators using DK1, and there is just so much potential here.

Everything from virtual reality and lasers to mobile apps are helping create new opportunities in the medical world - and some of those technologies were recently demonstrated at the Digital Health Summer Summit at the UCSF Medical Center.

UCSF wants to embrace possible disruptive technologies, such as a virtual reality tour of your own brain, or testing an app that mixes big data with 3D images. It will take significantly more time to work out possible bugs, but the use of mobile technologies, augmented reality and VR in the operating room in the past, so it will be a topic of discussion again in the future.

"We have people here on the front lines doing tremendously innovative things," said Dr. Aenor Sawyer, a UCSF Medical Center leader in digital health innovation, while speaking to attendees. "We hope to be part of the wave disrupting health care."

The Virtual Human Interaction Lab at Stanford University has the unique research task of seeing how virtual reality can be used so humans are able to improve our relationships in the real-world. The lab has studied VR for more than 10 years, but the past few years have provided great opportunities with the emergence of Oculus, Project Morpheus, and other hardware platforms.

The gaming potential for VR is huge, but there are other tasks that could be used to help educate and inform the public. One task is using VR so we can experience what it's like to be a refugee living in an active conflict zone, which would help improve human empathy. Another topic of focus is geared towards training and simulations that can be utilized prior to real-world work experience.

"Virtual reality is an experience. Your brain is saying to you 'This isn't real,' but the back of your brain says 'Wow, this feels real to me,'" explained Jeremy Bailenson, director of the Virtual Human Interaction Lab, in a statement to CBS News. "We like to say the brain is not yet evolve to know that a virtual experience is not real."

Earlier in the month Ars Technica took a tour of the Valve headquarters in Bellevue, Washington where they got to play around with one of the hottest VR headsets out there, the Vive.

Ars Technica's Sam Machkovech used an interesting headline for the article: "SteamVR: The room-scale VR world that feels like 'IMAX in your house'". Just the word 'IMAX' had IMAX Corporation contact Ars Technica, requesting that they retract the article because of Ars Technica's use of the word "IMAX" without their permission. IMAX Corporation's Deputy General Counsel, G. Mary Ruby wrote in a letter to Ars: "Any unauthorized use of our trademark is expressly forbidden".

Why? The article wasn't about IMAX, it was a reference to IMAX because the experience of the room-sized VR had Alex Schwartz, a game designer that Machkovech interviewed, said "It's like saying, 'I have an IMAX theater in my house'". He added: "It's so much better than we can get away with a cumbersome setup". IMAX didn't like that, with Ruby saying in the e-mail: "We believe that your incorrect reference to IMAX when describing this product is misleading to readers as we do not believe that it is possible for a virtual reality system to replicate the experience of an IMAX theater, which is provided by cutting edge projection and sound technology on screens up to 35.72 metres. We request that all future articles regarding this "room-scale" virtual reality system make no reference to our registered trademark".

Crytek has just announced the released of CryEngine 3.8.1, something that includes support for OpenGL rendering, Linux support, and it's now compatible with the Oculus Rift.

When it comes to the Oculus Rift support in CryEngine 3.8.1, Crytek said: "You asked about it, and we listened: Just in time for the announcement of Crytek'S new VR title "Robinson: The Journey" at this week's E3, we are putting support for the Oculus Rift HMD (Head-mounted display) into EaaS users' hands. We've included a small demonstration level, aptly titled the "VR_Demo" level. This showcases some information on how you can approach setting up your levels for VR, some of the implications and the immersive benefits of using VR".

The latest version of CryEngine also includes a voxel-based volumetric fog system, 8-weight GPU vertex skinning, POM self-shadowing, GameZero, support for 3ds Max 2016, Maya 2016, and MotionBuilder 2016, and "much, much more".

Gamers unsure if they are ready for virtual reality or augmented reality had a great chance to learn more about the booming technology during E3 2015. Both the Oculus Rift and Sony's Project Morpheus received a lot of attention, while Microsoft also was on-hand to show off HoloLens.

During E3, gamers were able to test out the Oculus Touch controllers, along with the Oculus Rift system. They could try several games on the Sony PlayStation 4 using the Project Morpheus VR headset, offering an actual gaming experience.

Microsoft announced HoloLens in January, and used E3 to help users familiarize themselves with the AR platform. The company showed "Project X-Ray," which let virtual bug-like monsters emerge from the world - or look at a Minecraft world displayed right in front of them.

Companies want to 3D print human skin within the next five years, using a mix of live cells and specialized 3D machines. The bioprinting market could evolve into a $1 billion market by 2025, and offer a scalable method for personalized medicine.

Cosmetics company L'Oreal is working with the Organovo biotech company to begin 3D printing skin tissues. If done successfully, both companies hope for realistic product testing in the future. It's possible to grow real skin in a laboratory, but it's a slow and costly procedure - using bioprinting with 3D printers would greatly accelerate the process.

"Some safety questions are still difficult to mimic with today's methods and new, additional non-animal alternative methods are needed," said Elena Lurie-Luke, P&G Global Life Sciences innovation leader, in a statement published by CNN Money. "3D bioprinting is a promising option for the future."

Sony hopes its Project Morpheus virtual reality headset will help usher gamers into the VR world, by providing a fast, responsive gaming environment. Richard Marks, director of the Sony PlayStation Magic Labs research division, recently discussed some of the breakthroughs that Project Morpheus offers to gamers interested in VR.

VR is able to create unique gameplay experiences in so many ways, but after testing Project Morpheus, GamesBeat noted that loading a new magazine into a machine gun is a "kind of fun" experience:

"One thing that's surprising to a lot of people is how much fun it is to do things with two hands separately," Marks recently told GamesBeat. "Picking something up and doing something with the other hand to it - humans are really good with that. If you have to paint with just one hand and then move your body around it, it's really hard, but if you can hold the object in the other hand and paint, it's much more effective. You can move the paintbrush or move the object quickly."

When it comes to the current state of virtual reality, the leading handful of companies know and understand what is being developed. All participating companies would like to see VR mature and spread, but can make for awkward situations if each company isn't doing the best that they can.

"We know each other very well," Shuhei Yoshida, president of Sony's worldwide studios for SCE, in a statement published by Polygon. "Brendan [Iribe, the CEO of Oculus] used to work at Gaikai. Palmer [Luckey, the founder of Oculus], before he started the Kickstarter, we knew him. So we share the same understanding that when a company like ours makes efforts, commercial efforts, as a well-funded company with commercial backing, and they are now as well with Facebook backing."

Previously, Oculus showed concern that a big company would release a mid-quality system - and seemingly was speaking about Sony. Those fears have been publicly alleviated, but there is still so much work left to be done among VR hardware manufacturers.

Augmented reality and virtual reality products are expected to drastically increase, from 2.5 million units sold in 2015 up to 24 million units in 2018, according to the Augmented and Virtual Reality Device Forecast, 2015-2019 report. As more consumers begin to test AR and VR solutions, the market will have an estimated net value of more than $4 billion.

"Most consumers find virtual reality a mind-blowing experience the first time they try it," said Ben Wood, Chief of Research at CCS Insight, in a statement published by Forbes. "We believe it has tremendous potential and it's not just about expensive high-end devices such as the Oculus Rift. For only a few dollars, consumers can dip their toe in the water with an inexpensive cardboard holder for a compatible smartphone."

Even with Sony's Project Morpheus, Oculus Rift, and other high-end VR solutions gaining a lot of attention, CCS Insight doesn't want people to forget about the Made for Google Cardboard and Samsung Gear VR devices.

You could one day play Disney Infinity games using virtual reality, with new VR-centric games possibly on the roadmap, according to James Pitaro, president of Disney Interactive. He noted that he was impressed with VR and thinks there are great possibilities for next-generation game development.

The studio has reached $1 billion in retail sales, and uses popular characters from Disney, Pixar and Marvel in its game titles.

"You could easily imagine a scenario where we were to expand the toy box component of Infinity into AR or VR," said Pitaro, while speaking with Reuters at E3. "I do not think this is going to be a fad."

Don't count Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime as a fan of current virtual reality products, as he recently said "it's just tech." Even with much attention at E3 focused on what we can expect from VR and augmented reality, Nintendo has been relatively quiet regarding the booming technologies.

Nintendo released the Virtual Boy in 1995 and previously found success with AR, but that doesn't mean a Virtual Boy 2 is planned anytime soon. Instead, the company is watching how the Oculus Rift, PlayStation Project Morpheus, and Microsoft HoloLens platforms develop.

"We have knowledge of the technical space, and we've been experimenting with this for a long, long time," Fils-Aime told Polygon during E3. "What we believe is that, in order for this technology to move forward, you need to make it fun and you need to make it social. I haven't walked the floor, so I can't say in terms of what's on the floor today, but at least based on what I've seen to date, it's not fun, and it's not social. It's just tech."

It looks like DayZ creator Dean Hall is working on a new virtual reality video game that'll be supported by SteamVR, Eurogamer has learned. RocketWerkz is investing more time in VR, but not for the Ion space simulation game which the studio recently announced.

When speaking with Eurogamer, Hall mentioned one game that we now know is a VR title, though additional details remain unknown. It's unknown when gamers can expect to hear more about this mysterious project that Hall is currently working on for SteamVR.

"[Valve's] Chet Faliszek was like a huge mentor to me. He contacted me very early on in DayZ's development and he's been all through everything - he's been a huge mentor. And I actually got a chance to see him speak, and I spoke myself, at Slush Play [a gaming and VR conference] in Iceland. And, to be honest, that was the final convincing for me. So I really liked what he had to say."

When it comes to virtual reality growing into a mainstream technology, it looks like video games will be one of the most important driving forces. Jason Rubin, head of studios at Oculus VR, is tasked with helping predict that types of apps, games, and other software VR adopters will use - and he's banking heavily on video games.

Oculus VR will invest at least $10 million in independent game development, and has studios such as Insomniac Games and Ready at Dawn onboard to help create VR-themed titles.

"My guess is, what's going to happen is we'll start with a lot of experiences that developers know how to make," said Rubin while speaking with GamesBeat. "They're going to be great experiences. But as time passes, and also with new input devices, we're going to branch out into new experiences. There are going to be old genres that don't translate, old genres that translate with a little work, old genres that are awesome and made even better, and then a ton of new genres that are called for in VR."

Golden State Warriors owner Peter Guber, an outspoken supporter of virtual reality (VR) technology, hopes to see VR help sports fans enjoy the viewing experience in a new way. There are a number of different uses for VR, but finding ways to include it to enhance viewer experience of sports could be a great long-term money maker.

"It doesn't replace being here. That's still a different experience," Guber recently told CNBC. "But it is a phenomenally new and exciting method to bring basketball to disparate communities all over the country."

As CEO of the Mandalay Entertainment Group and investor in NextVR, Guber said the live, on-demand VR content from NextVR should be available within the next year. Pricing details are still being worked out, and while content distribution agreements must be completed, there is a great opportunity to push sports entertainment to the next level.

E3 2015 - During the PC Gamer powered PC Gaming Show 2015 at E3, AMD took the stage to announce that you'll need a Radeon R9 290 or higher to game in VR without a problem.

The new Fiji architecture is nearly here, but AMD is saying that the best Oculus Rift experience will take place using a Hawaii-based Radeon R9 290 or above. Of course, the new Radeon 300 series is nearly here, with the new Radeon R9 390X and Radeon R9 Fury X nearly upon us.

Earlier today, SKHynix teased the Radeon R9 Fury X through an official press release. We'll update this post to show you the official news from AMD that the Radeon R9 Fury X exists.

E3 2015 - We've been hearing rumbles about Crytek's VR game, where we got some eyes-on time with Back to Dinosaur Island thanks to NVIDIA at Computex earlier this month.

Well, Crytek has officially unveiled Robinson: The Journey, their first venture into the world of virtual reality gaming. Robinson: The Journey will drop the player into the role of a young boy who has crash landed onto a mysterious planet, where dinosaurs roam. Crytek is filling the virtual world with 360 degrees of content, where gamers can play with the detailed ecosystem around them.

Crytek's Director of Production, David Bowman, has said: "Ever since Crytek was founded, we have been striving to build the most realistic, believable worlds we possibly can for players. Today's VR technologies are enabling us to bring together CRYENGINE's capabilities and our legacy in creating immersive gaming experiences like never before. The time we're spending in Robinson: The Journey as we develop it is transforming the way we think about games, and we can't wait until everyone has the chance to set foot in this universe for themselves".

E3 2015 - During its press conference at E3, Microsoft announced that a new version of Minecraft, designed for the HoloLens wearable holographic platform, will be available to gamers. The launch date and price of HoloLens remains unknown, but it looks like Microsoft is doing a great job building hype for the upcoming headset.

Gamers will be able to interact in the Minecraft world with a new glimpse of the environment as they build, detonate TNT, and play with other gamers. As an added bonus, those of you wearing HoloLens will still be able to communicate and interact with gamers using a standard controller.

As with any virtual reality or augmented reality platform, the need for killer apps and software could help make or break the platform - and it looks like Microsoft wants gaming to be a major part of HoloLens.