November, 2019

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California Fire Department Using VR To Train Recruits How To Fight Wildfires

VRScout

VR technology offers firefighters-in-training realistic training scenarios. In 2019 alone, over 6,402 fires have been recorded in California. An estimated 250,249 acres of land have burned, three people have lost their lives, and suppression costs from the fires have risen to over 163 million dollars. Capable of burning 10,000 acres of forest within an hour, the wildfires–more accurately described as firestorms –pose a unique challenge to firefighters that have been hard to replicate

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Facebook Acquires ‘Beat Saber’ Studio Beat Games

Road to VR

Facebook today announced it has acquired Beat Games, the studio behind the hit VR rhythm game Beat Saber (2018). Beat Games is joining Oculus Studios as an independently operated team based out of Prague. Facebook didn’t release any further info in regards to the terms of acquisition, however the company had some choice words on what it meant to the game’s users on all supported platforms, which includes Oculus Rift, Oculus Quest, HTC Vive, Valve Index, and Windows VR headsets.

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Facebook’s Sean Liu: we are at an inflection point of the VR industry

The Ghost Howls

It’s since when I launched my blog that I always dreamed of interviewing someone from Oculus , and finally today this dream has come true. Thanks to the huge help of VR Intelligence, that is organizing the VRX event, I have been able to speak with Sean Liu, Director of Product for VR at Facebook ! The VRX conference will be held in San Francisco on December, 12-13th and will feature very high-level speakers from companies like Oculus/Facebook, HP, Snap and many others.

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How Augmented and Virtual Reality Can Help to Evolve Education

ARPost

The original use case for augmented and virtual reality was not so much practicality, but rather entertainment. The entertainment factor remains, however, perhaps it is this which makes it so practical, in terms of education. Teachers are more commonly introducing AR and VR into education, as these technologies can make certain subjects, and learning as a whole, more stimulating and effective.

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The Future of eLearning in 2022: A Sensitive Eye for Authentic Translation and Localization

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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Unpacking AR Business Models: Advertising, Part II

AR Insider

This post is adapted from ARtillery Intelligence’s report, Mobile AR Strategies & Business Models. It includes some of its data and takeaways. More can be previewed here and subscribe for the full report. In AR’s early stages, a common question continues to be asked: where’s the money? There have been oscillations in excitement and doubt over AR, but the ultimate proof point will be revenue.

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Russian Farmers Using VR To Calm Their Cows And Increase Milk Production

VRScout

An emotionally-stable cow is a happy cow. Somewhere northwest of Moscow on a dairy farm in Krasnogorsk roams a herd of VR-wearing cows immersed in a serene summer pasture tailor-made for bovine enjoyment. The program, developed in collaboration with farm employees, IT experts, veterinarians, and other industry-leading professionals, was designed to test the effects of VR technology on the emotional well-being of cattle in the hopes of reducing stress and anxiety, in turn leading to an increase i

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Valve Index is Sold Out Following ‘Half-Life: Alyx’ Announcement

Road to VR

Most packages of Index, Valve’s high-end VR headset released earlier this year, are sold out following last week’s announcement of Half-Life: Alyx. If Valve is counting on Half-Life: Alyx being a killer app for VR , early signs suggest they may just get their wish. While Valve’s Index headset was backordered at launch earlier this year, a few months later it became available for ‘immediate shipping’ and stock appears to have held steady ever since… until now

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Stay fit and have fun in mixed reality with HitMotion: Reloaded (out now!)

The Ghost Howls

After a long ride lasted many months, finally our mixed reality fitness game HitMotion: Reloaded has been published on Viveport M ! The game has been released in Early Access and costs €4.99/$5.59/RMB39.90. HitMotion purpose is to let people stay fit while having fun. This is in line with what other XR applications like BoxVR or Viro Move are trying to do: VR is proving to be a great tool to make people sweat at home in an entertaining way, and it is helping many people in losing weight.

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Can Virtual Reality Persuade You Into Going Vegan?

ARPost

For years, undercover footage of industrial dairy and chicken farms has been the foundation of vegan activism. Well, the times are a-changin’. Animal rights activists have gained a more powerful tool for educating the public about the goings-on in the meat industry. That is virtual reality. See Also: How Augmented Reality Is Reshaping Activism. The question is: can this immersive technology persuade people to pursue a more ethical lifestyle?

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How to Train Employees 65% Faster With Virtual Reality

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.

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Is Instagram AR’s Sleeping Giant?

AR Insider

“Trendline” is AR Insider’s series that examines trends and events in spatial computing, and their strategic implications. For an indexed library of spatial computing insights, data, reports and multimedia, subscribe to ARtillery PRO. Tech giants’ motivations for investing in emerging tech often trace back to their core businesses. This is done to future proof massive sums of revenue.

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Facebook Adds Image Tracking Effects & Slider Controls to Spark AR for Instagram

Next Reality AR

After opening up its Spark AR platform on Instagram for all creators, Facebook is already expanding the platform's capabilities on its Snapchat killer. On Monday, the company released version 76 of Spark AR Studio, which brings support for two new AR effect options for developers as well as other improvements for creating AR experiences in general. Don't Miss: User-Created Facebook & Instagram Face Filters Lead to Ban on 'Plastic Surgery' Effects Chief among the new Instagram AR capabilities

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Niantic’s Latest AR Game Turns The Entire Earth Into One Giant Game Of Catan

VRScout

Pokemon Go meets Settlers of Catan in Catan – World Explorers. First released in 1995 to a small, but passionate group of fans, award-winning strategy game Settlers of Catan would eventually go on to become one of the most influential board games ever released. Set on the fictional island of Catan, the game tasks players with collecting resources and establishing settlements with the goal of accumulating Victory Points; the first to accumulate 10 points wins. .

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‘Half-Life: Alyx’ Trailer Revealed, Release Date Set for March 2020

Road to VR

Valve today announced Half-Life: Alyx a “full-length VR entry in the award winning series.” A new trailer gives the first glimpse of the game, and Valve has also revealed the Half-Life: Alyx release date, price, and headset compatibility. . Half-Life: Alyx is one of three VR games that the famed developer has been quietly toiling away on for the last several years.

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AR/VR Simulations for Sustainable, Regenerative, Circular Cities

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.

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Editorial: Why Half-Life: Alyx could be very important for Virtual Reality

The Ghost Howls

Yesterday evening I came home at night after a long day at work and I opened my laptop to read (and share) some more news on the just-launched Oculus Link. What I discovered instead was that Valve had finally announced its flagship VR game, called “Half Life: Alyx” on Twitter! We’re excited to unveil Half-Life: Alyx, our flagship VR game, this Thursday at 10am Pacific Time.

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Can Virtual Reality Improve Science Education?

ARPost

Not too long ago, all educators needed to impart knowledge were a blackboard and some chalk. As the last few years have proven, technology affects nearly every industry. The education sector isn’t immune to the disruption of revolutionary innovations, including virtual reality. Teachers have been utilizing videos, PowerPoint presentations, and other interactive teaching mediums to appeal to younger generations.

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Is Display.land ‘Training Wheels’ for the AR Cloud?

AR Insider

“Annotated World” is AR Insider’s series that examines the opportunities, dynamics and construction of the AR Cloud. For an indexed library of spatial computing insights, data, reports and multimedia, subscribe to ARtillery PRO. The AR cloud is the missing piece for the vision we all have for AR that “just works.” As an invisible data layer that coats the physical world , it will empower AR devices to do their thing and place graphics in the right spots.

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Microsoft Launches HoloLens 2 Worldwide Commercial Sales Availability, Here's a Close-Up Look at the $3,500 Device

Next Reality AR

The long wait is over — the best augmented reality device on the planet is finally available. On Thursday, Microsoft began the next phase of its immersive computing journey by officially opening sales to the general public for the HoloLens 2. Don't Miss: Hands-On with the HoloLens 2, the New Best Augmented Reality Experience You Can Get For those interested in acquiring the device alone, without any additional services or software, the cost is $3,500 per device, with no limits on the number of d

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Are You Still Watching? How to Create Engaging Presentations for Virtual Learning

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.

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First-Of-Its-Kind Mixed Reality Fitness Game Makes Its Way To Vive Focus Plus

VRScout

HitMotion: Reloaded blends VR, MR, and exercise to create a truly unique fitness experience. It’s safe to say VR changed the way people think of video games. With the introduction of immersive entertainment, gaming is no longer a strictly sedentary experience. Instead, users are up on their feet, interacting with their digital environments in a much more physical manner than conventional console and PC gaming.

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A Three-game VR Workout Routine That’s as Fun as It Is Physical

Road to VR

VR is finding uses in everything from art and design to training, research, and entertainment. An unexpected byproduct of VR’s immersion is its ability to flip the notion of in-home entertainment being necessarily sedentary. With the right games and techniques, VR can be in fact be an excellent workout. Here we’re sharing a VR workout routine that’s designed to be as fun as it is physical.

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The Ghost Howls’s VR Week Peek (2019.11.18): Magic Leap may be in trouble, Carmack leaving Oculus and much more!

The Ghost Howls

I’m super excited that this week I’ve shared the news that we of NTW are going to launch our game HitMotion:Reloaded on November, 27th. But there have been also many wider-scope news this week that I want to discuss with you, so let’s start talking about them! Top news of the week. (Image by Magic Leap). Is Magic Leap in trouble? The Magic Leap could become a tragic leap , using some words from Palmer Luckey.

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Augmented Reality Experience Raises Awareness for Polar Bears

ARPost

A new augmented reality experience created by AVARA Media and Polar Bears International (PBI) launched last Friday. Just in time for Polar Bear Week, the project hopes to keep polar bears on our minds by putting them on our phones. The Bears. Before we talk about the polar bear experience, let’s talk about polar bears. Through the magic of augmented reality, we have created an immersive and engaging experience that allows users around the world to explore the arctic and learn about the cha

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Who C.A.R.E.S.!? How Learning Got Its Bad Rap & What We Can Do About It

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?

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Snapchat Lens Users Engage ~30x Per Day

AR Insider

Data Point of the Week is AR Insider’s dive into the latest spatial computing figures. It includes data points, along with narrative insights and takeaways. For an indexed collection of data and reports, subscribe to ARtillery Pro. Engagement data continue to roll out from Snapchat, sealing its position as the consumer AR usage and revenue leader.

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Startup Illumix Brings Mobile Horror Franchise Five Nights at Freddy's into Augmented Reality Gaming

Next Reality AR

A little over a year after emerging from stealth, augmented reality gaming startup Illumix has launched its first title using a familiar formula, but with a new twist. On Monday, the company, working in partnership with Scott Games, launched Five Nights at Freddy's AR Special Delivery, a Pokémon GO-style location-based AR take on the popular mobile gaming horror franchise.

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Vader Immortal – An Excellent First Attempt At A Major VR Trilogy

VRScout

ILMxLAB’s three-part series officially comes to a close with a solid, but flawed final episode. Last week developer ILMxLAB ( Star Wars: Secrets of the Empire, Vader Immortal ) released the third and final episode of its original episodic series, Vader Immortal – A Star Wars VR series. Available on Oculus Rift/Rift S and Oculus Quest headsets, this final entry marks the end of a year-long adventure in which players battled waves of Imperial Stormtroopers and long-dormant sentinel droids, s

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The Best Oculus Rift S Deal for Black Friday 2019

Road to VR

We’re keeping an eye on the best Oculus Rift S Black Friday 2019 deals, don’t blink or you might miss the best Rift S sale of the year! The Best Oculus Rift Black Friday 2019 Deal. Image courtesy Oculus. The best Oculus Rift Black Friday 2019 deal so far is the Rift S for $350/€400/£350 on Amazon (a 12.5% discount). This deal is already available in some regions, but will not be live in the US until Thursday, November 28th.

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The Key to Getting the Best Out of Video-Based Practice & Coaching

Speaker: Micah Eppler, Account Executive for Rehearsal of eLearning Brothers

Did you know that companies such as Paychex, 3M, and Honeywell are getting better results by incorporating video-based practice and coaching within their L&D strategy? From sales pitches to soft skills, learners are becoming top performers by applying and validating knowledge transfer using the unique benefits of video. Whether used as a stand-alone application or integrated with a learning platform, video-based practice and coaching platforms give learners the ultimate opportunity to repeatedly