Virtual Reality Archives - Page 2 of 3

Crossing the UI Rift with Oculus

September 24, 2013

Virtual reality opens the doors to a new era for user interface design. Oculus VR speaks to Develop about its opportunities

Virtual reality doesn’t present user interface design with its first opportunity for transformation.

The dawn of 3D long ago afforded games makers the prospect of moving beyond flat heads-up-displays and conventional menus. And when mobile gaming finally realised its potential with the arrival of smartphones, those charged with implementing UI had a chance to establish the new standards of the virtual gamepad.

How Google is Melding Our Real and Virtual Worlds with Games, Apps … and Glass

May 20, 2013

“The world around you is not what it seems,” says Ingress, the virtual game that uses the real world as its gamespace. And, perhaps, when Google’s semi-independent division Niantic Labs is finished with its mission, we humans won’t be, either.

Google’s mission is to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and usable. Note carefully that Google says nothing about the Internet in that statement.

The Future of Gaming – It May All Be in Your Head

May 13, 2013

Gaming as a hobby evokes images of lethargic teenagers huddled over their controllers, submerged in their couch surrounded by candy bar wrappers. This image should soon hit the reset button since a more exciting version of gaming is coming. It’s called neurogaming, and it’s riding on the heels of some exponential technologies that are converging on each other. Many of these were on display recently in San Francisco at the NeuroGaming Conference and Expo; a first-of-its-kind conference whose existence alone signals an inflection point in the industry.

Neuroscience Explores Why Humans Feel Empathy for Robots

April 24, 2013

If, while watching WALL-E, your heart broke just a little bit when you saw the title character desperately travel across outer space in search of true love, it doesn’t mean you’re crazy. Sure, WALL-E is a robot. But its cute, anthropomorphized look and all too human desire to end its loneliness made us subconsciously forget that it is not human.

New Media Capture and Delivery System Gives Users Immersive “Experiences”

April 12, 2013

Experience Media Studios today announced the worldwide launch of its patent-pending 3DPOV^® system, a pioneering new solution for capturing, delivering, and experiencing immersive media.

Experience Media Studios’ 3DPOV^® system enables the capture of a three-dimensional visual and auditory experience from the first-person perspective. 3DPOV^® media delivers a higher level of sensory engagement than virtual reality that replicates a true-to-life binocular and peripheral visual field and a stereophonic auditory experience.

Oculus Rift at SXSW: Is Virtual Reality the Holy Grail of Gaming?

April 2, 2013

Cliff Bleszinski, Chris Roberts, Paul Bettner, and Palmer Luckey share their vision for the future of gaming

The SXSW Gaming Expo is preposterously loud. At one side of the room, aStarcraft tournament is reaching its climax, but on the other side, one group of guys is yelling louder. They sound like a basement full of adolescents discussing the newest Electronic Gaming Monthly cover story, or like the NINTENDO SIXTY-FOUR kid unwrapping his Christmas present.

“Is the Oculus Rift, a virtual reality 3D headset, the future of gaming?” they ask. “Or, is it something bigger — the future of life on planet Earth?”

Eyes-On With the Oculus Rift’s Jaw-Dropping Virtual Reality System

February 20, 2013

The Oculus Rift VR system has been steadily gaining more attention in the past several months, thanks to glowing endorsements from some major figures in the the video game industry and a wildly successful Kickstarter campaign that brought in almost US$2.5 million. We’ve been following the development of the Oculus Rift for some time now, so finding out the company had its virtual reality goggles available to try on at CES was an especially pleasant surprise. Naturally, we simply couldn’t resist giving the Rift a test drive to see if it lived up to all the hype.

Fear of Fun

February 8, 2013

Some day not all that far in the future, a new kind of entertainment is going to be perfected that will either be the coolest video game ever, or the media equivalent of a lethal man-made super-virus.

You can predict what that entertainment might be like just by extrapolating from technology that already exists.

Automakers Put Attendees Virtually In the Driver’s Seat

January 30, 2013

Detroit— The North American International Auto Show is letting consumers get a taste of what it’ll be like to be behind the wheel of many new models.

In the middle of the Ford Motor Co. show floor, people can test their racing skills in the virtual simulation of the brand’s sports technology of the Focus. Technicians strap volunteers into an elevated two-seat cockpit controlled by four mechanical legs that allow the drivers to feel every twist and turn as they compete for the best lap time.

7 Ways Augmented Reality Will Improve Your Life

December 25, 2012

You might think augmented reality is the way of the future, but really, it has its roots in the 20th century. Morton Heilig, the “Father of Virtual Reality,” patented the Sensorama Stimulator, which he called an “experience theater,” on Aug. 28, 1962. Over time, the idea of using technology to create a layer over the real world has been honed and refined and put in our palms, thanks to the proliferation of smartphones.