VRScout

JULY 27, 2017

SocialVR hub known for events featuring Reggie Watts and Bill Nye will host its farewell event on August 3rd, 7pm PDT. In an statement delivered earlier this evening, it was announced that AltspaceVR is closing down due to “unforeseen financial difficulty” related to their upcoming round of funding falling through. The team expressed heavy hearts at the announcement, as well as gratitude for all the memories and bonds shared in Altspace, regarded by many as a flagship VR platform.

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Road to VR

JULY 27, 2017

This evening AltspaceVR has announced it will be closing its doors for good on August 3rd. Founded in 2013, the social VR platform was one of the first to come online and connected tens of thousands of users monthly across a range of headsets. AltspaceVR sent an announcement of the platform’s shuttering to Road to VR by email this evening. It is with tremendously heavy hearts that we must let you all know that we are closing down AltspaceVR.

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VRScout

JULY 27, 2017

A successful demo launch by developer Room One proves VR will be integral in the future of medicine. Last week at Ericsson’s Innovation Day in Aachen, Germany, Room One launched a groundbreaking combination of VR and technology previously shown at Mobile World Congress to live-stream a surgery worldwide. The 5G robotic arm and glove combination that first made waves in February 2017 was used in an examination of a virtual kidney, with video and audio from the procedure streamed in realtime t

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Road to VR

JULY 27, 2017

The education-focused Mars 2030 launches today on SteamVR for the HTC Vive and Oculus Rift, soon to come to PSVR. With 40 square kilometers of explorable terrain, the experience successfully achieves its main objective: to make the user feel like they are on Mars. However, while its stunning canvas has great potential, its execution currently suffers from a lack of features, and a number of technical problems.

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Speaker: Chris Paxton McMillin, President of D3 Training Solutions

To avoid awkward and sometimes disastrous learning content, instructional designers must use authentic translation in the right context to get optimal results. For example, even a simple phrase like “got milk” translates to “are you lactating” in Mexico. Can you imagine what a straight translation might do to your course? With over 317 million people in the US and over 6.7 billion potential customers in the world, personalizing training seems logical.

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UploadVR Between Realities podcast

JULY 27, 2017

Current VR headsets can certainly make you believe you’re in a virtual world, but consumer devices can’t yet reproduce the exact way your eyes see the real world. New research being presented at SIGGRAPH by NVIDIA aims to fix that. NVIDIA Research is demonstrating two ways of addressing the vergence-accommodation conflict. For those unfamiliar, our eyes have a highly evolved way of bringing objects at different distances into crystal clarity that involve both pointing together (verge

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VRScout

JULY 27, 2017

The new model will use the Viveport Store as the official content platform for Chinese audiences. Standalone HTC Vive headsets appear to be all the rage lately based on several reveals made by HTC over the past couple of months. This past May saw the reveal of a standalone Vive for U.S. & European audiences that runs on the Google DayDream platform.

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Road to VR

JULY 27, 2017

Felix & Paul Studios, among the top VR video production companies out there, today launch their longest film to date on the Oculus Rift and Gear VR. Miyubi transports viewers back to 1982 where they see the world through the eyes of an eponymous Japanese robot toy. The studio may point to the film’s length as its leading achievement, but Miyubi is visually some of the best looking VR film we’ve seen to date, but is that enough to warrant 40 minutes inside?

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UploadVR Between Realities podcast

JULY 27, 2017

When you establish companies and create things inside of a big new industry like the virtual reality marketplace you’re inviting a bit of risk into your professional life. Most VR companies right now are surviving on venture capital funding, limited software and hardware sales, or sheer force of will and passion in spite of dwindling bank accounts.

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Road to VR

JULY 27, 2017

When Ark Park was first revealed back in 2016, we were told it would be an educational experience allowing players “the opportunity to truly appreciate and understand dinosaurs in their natural habitat.” That seemed odd at the time, given that the title is a spinoff of Ark: Survival Evolved , a game that’s very much about survival and killing.

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With a rapidly changing economy, Avangrid Renewables looked to virtual reality to develop a standardized form of immersive training in order to onboard and upskill technicians faster than ever before.

Virtual Reality

UploadVR Between Realities podcast

JULY 27, 2017

With Ready Player One’s debut trailer releasing last week at Comic Con and World of Warcraft getting fan-made environments that are explorable in VR, the concept of a VR MMO is top of mind for a lot of people. But the reality of the matter is that we’re a long ways away from something truly on the same level of Sword Art Online ,hack, The OASIS, or anything else like that.

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Cats and VR

JULY 27, 2017

RoVR is a realistic VR doggo simulator from Ridgeline Labs. As part of a the first class of MIT's Play Labs summer accelerator focused on playful tech, Ridgeline Labs looks to bring tummy rubs and woofs to the VR ecosystem. The name RoVR is also one of the best uses of using VR in a title. RoVR is Ridgeline Labs' first title, as a VR dog simulator players can raise, pet, customize, and do so much more with their new virtual best friend.

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UploadVR Between Realities podcast

JULY 27, 2017

When you establish companies and create things inside of a big new industry like the virtual reality marketplace you’re inviting a bit of risk into your professional life. Most VR companies right now are surviving on venture capital funding, limited software and hardware sales, or sheer force of will and passion in spite of dwindling bank accounts.

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Cats and VR

JULY 27, 2017

Over the last couple of years, Altspace VR has become one of the leading social VR environments but today the Redwood City, California, company has announced they will be closing up their virtual doors on August 3rd. This is some very surprising news to many. Around 35,000 people use Altspace VR every month and big events typically see around a thousand attendees.

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Speaker: Richard Goring, Director at BrightCarbon

Remote meetings are here to stay - and many are BORING. If you are trying to engage your learners (or any audience), compelling content is critical. But trying to create stimulating content with the same tools you’ve always had is hard, right? Thankfully, wrong! Terrific tools in PowerPoint along with visual assets help you create the kind of dynamic content you need to capture your remote audience’s attention, with functions that allow for interactive sequences and navigation.

How To

UploadVR Between Realities podcast

JULY 27, 2017

Become a toy robot and enter the future of sitcoms in Felix & Paul Studios Miyubi – the industry’s first ever live action long-form VR comedy, now available free on the Oculus Store for both Rift and Gear VR. In Miyubi, the viewer is a robot who is gifted to a quirky family’s brilliant young son, in 1982. Not only did I find Miyubi laugh-out-loud funny, but it feels like a masterclass on how to push the limits with story length and genre in cinematic VR.

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Forrester VR

JULY 27, 2017

Digital retail theater is becoming reality for consumers as retailers rush to find ways of attracting and retaining store customers. What is digital retail theater? It’s the combination of original retail theater – entertainment, novelty, and engagement – with digital technologies and services to create the next level of in-store experience.

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UploadVR Between Realities podcast

JULY 27, 2017

As a guy that writes a lot about VR on the internet I’ve seen and played my fair share of space flight games. From piloting massive ships as I explore the stars in Elite: Dangerous and engaging in epic multiplayer dogfights in EVE: Valkyrie , all the way down to some casual fun on the Gear VR with Anshar Wars 2 or even flying an X-Wing for the first time in the Star Wars Battlefront VR Mission , there is a ton of stuff to do in space if you have a VR headset.

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AllThingsVR

JULY 27, 2017

Inside Panorama Fest’s Groundbreaking Virtual-Reality Experience via @RollingStone [link] [link] — allthingsvr (@allthingsvr) July 27, 2017.

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Speaker: Nik Gowing, Brenda Laurel, Sheridan Tatsuno, Archie Kasnet, and Bruce Armstrong Taylor

With 191 country signatories to the Paris Climate Agreement now hard at work in the race to zero carbon by 2050, much of the heavy lifting in ecosystem sustainability falls on the shoulders of the world's densely populated urban centers. This conversation considers how today's AI-enabled simulation media, such as AR/VR, can be effectively applied to accelerate learning, understanding, training, and solutions-modeling to sustainability planning and design.

Simulation

UploadVR Between Realities podcast

JULY 27, 2017

If we were to host the silliest name for a VR game awards, then Reboant: Rise of the Nuhort would almost certainly win thanks to its ridiculous nonsense words. Fortunately, the game itself is looking very promising. This new shooter for the HTC Vive was revealed at this week’s ChinaJoy event, and is being developed by Darklord. Translated from Chinese, its web page promises an AAA VR game and the trailer below certainly suggests it might hit that bar on a presentational level.

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AllThingsVR

JULY 27, 2017

HTC to Launch Standalone Vive Headset in China Tied to Viveport Content Store via @RtoVR [link] [link] — allthingsvr (@allthingsvr) July 27, 2017.

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UploadVR Between Realities podcast

JULY 27, 2017

Kaleidoscope — a community for VR creators, funders and thought leaders — revealed today its First Look event, a 2-day showcase featuring over 100 upcoming VR games, videos, creations and other projects. Taking place in Los Angeles on September 20 and 21, First Look promises to help “industry leaders to discover, license, and partner on the next wave of great VR projects,” and will include works from Funktronic Labs, House of Secrets, Tender Claws and Marshmallow Laser Feast, among o

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AllThingsVR

JULY 27, 2017

‘Take on Me’ Built With ARKit Opens a Portal to '80s Nostalgia via @RtoVR [link] [link] — allthingsvr (@allthingsvr) July 28, 2017.

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Speaker: Treion Muller, Chief Strategy Officer at ELB Learning

Since when has learning and development (L&D) become such a negative experience with its intended learners? Could it be because learners have been conditioned by very poor learning experiences over the past two decades, combined with the kinks of technological innovation? Or is it because learning has typically been designed as a one-size-fits-all solution, despite the fact that humans are not clones?

Technology

UploadVR Between Realities podcast

JULY 27, 2017

Oculus Rift owners are eagerly awaiting the arrival of the Rooms social hub and with good cause. Already available on Gear VR, Rooms includes critical features such as parties that allow you to launch into multiplayer games together. Some fear that parent company Facebook’s own social app for Rift, Spaces, might be replacing Rooms. Facebook assures us that isn’t the case.

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AllThingsVR

JULY 27, 2017

Within Raises $40 Million To Push Shared Virtual Worlds Further via @UploadVR [link] [link] — allthingsvr (@allthingsvr) July 27, 2017.

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Everything VR & AR

JULY 27, 2017

This week Amit Chetal of Cisco joins Nathan to talk about the importance of data gathering in the world of VR & AR as society looks to continue using technology in a variety of ways to help optimize a wide variety of industries. Have a listen and let us know what you think about this episode by sending us an email to podcast@thevrara.com.

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AllThingsVR

JULY 27, 2017

Disney plans to make augmented reality a shared experience via @engadget [link] [link] — allthingsvr (@allthingsvr) July 27, 2017.

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Speaker: Bruce Armstrong Taylor, Co-Founder & Managing Director of SmartNations Foundation, Jimmy Jia, Venture Partner at Pi Labs, Fabienne Durand, Senior Advisor to the SmartNations Foundation, & Roger Strukhoff, Executive Director of the Tau Institute

The Climate 4.0 Economy. Climate change is here. We see it in many ways already. Weather catastrophes: Texas freezing over, the wildfires of California, the increasingly unpredictable violence and frequency of hurricanes, the rapid melting and disappearance of polar ice caps. Much more evidence all around us. What can we do in our corporate organizations, in our homes and communities, to change the current course?

Texas