Fool me, this is real good shit ! [the VR thread]

[Darkflame]

Clearly a mockup given the darker-then-the-background-smoke.

However, theres been hands on of ML earlier so I suspect they got something vaguely like this they are (quote) "playing around the office".

The steampunk Gun is a real prop made by a Weta spin-off company, as is the branding of the game.
I think maybe their hope is to eventually have some game where people buy props and theres some NFC in them to represent their stats.
I hear Nintendos making a lot of money with those Amiibos.

[Jamesac]

Free Rive dev kit for "qualified developers". Can't help but wonder who might have a possible use for one...

http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2015/03/v ... -for-free/

[pogo]

https://www.facebook.com/zuck/posts/101 ... 22R9%22%7D

Our mission to give people the power to experience anything. Even if you don't have the ability to travel somewhere, or to be with someone in person, or even if something is physically impossible to build in our analog world, the goal is to help build a medium that will give you the ability to do all of these things you might not otherwise be able to do. This will be incredibly powerful as a communication medium as well. Just like we capture photos and videos today and then share them on the internet to let others experience them too, we'll be able to capture whole 3D scenes and create new environments and then share those with people as well. It will be pretty wild.

[Neon360]

I've had no problems using the Rift or even other VR headsets in the past but I couldn't make it in a full minute using the Samsung Gear VR with that Note or whatever cell phone they use. I felt incredibly sick rather quickly from whatever getup was going on. Also, the resolution looks like shit compared to the Rift imo... maybe it was because it was a really bright 3D movie and that's why... but ugh!

[gilesgoat]

I've had no problems using the Rift or even other VR headsets in the past but I couldn't make it in a full minute using the Samsung Gear VR with that Note or whatever cell phone they use. I felt incredibly sick rather quickly from whatever getup was going on. Also, the resolution looks like shit compared to the Rift imo... maybe it was because it was a really bright 3D movie and that's why... but ugh!

Strange .. must have been something "badly implemented" for some reason, never had a problem with Samsung Gear VR, actually that been my first "super wow" experience about how solid and good the image/framerate was.

Coming from DK1 certainly can't say that the VR is "so low res" .. I mean it's acceptable considering "it's a phone in your pocket", Minorescue VR goes really well on it

[Darkflame]

Who needs a Rift when you can have something stylish like a Commadore PET?

[tenshi_alpha]

Just spotted : sign up is open for SteamVR HTC Vive dev kits:

http://steamcommunity.com/steamvr

The sign up form for the HTC Vive Developer Edition is now open. Please use this venue to tell us about your team and project. These submissions will be used in the selection process for developer distribution, which will begin later this spring and continue through summer.

Our goal is to support as many VR content creators as possible and, to that end, we will be distributing dev kits continually, with new units going out every couple weeks. However, supplies may be limited.

The Developer Edition is currently not for sale. It will be available to developers free of charge. Commercial units will be available at a later date this year.

The HTC Vive Developer Edition Includes the following:

HEADSET
The VR headset has a 1080x1200 pixels screen in front of each eye with a refresh rate of 90fps. An audio jack is included to plug in your own headphones.

GAME CONTROLLERS
Two VR game controllers (one for each hand) are included allowing you to use virtual objects and interact with the virtual word. The position of each controller is also tracked in space by the base stations.

BASE STATIONS
Two base stations track your physical location (in spaces up to 15x15 feet) A gyrosensor, accelerometer, and laser position sensor combine to precisely track the rotation of your head on both axes to an accuracy of 1/10th of a degree.

[gilesgoat]

Just spotted : sign up is open for SteamVR HTC Vive dev kits:

http://steamcommunity.com/steamvr

The sign up form for the HTC Vive Developer Edition is now open. Please use this venue to tell us about your team and project. These submissions will be used in the selection process for developer distribution, which will begin later this spring and continue through summer.

Our goal is to support as many VR content creators as possible and, to that end, we will be distributing dev kits continually, with new units going out every couple weeks. However, supplies may be limited.

The Developer Edition is currently not for sale. It will be available to developers free of charge. Commercial units will be available at a later date this year.

The HTC Vive Developer Edition Includes the following:

HEADSET
The VR headset has a 1080x1200 pixels screen in front of each eye with a refresh rate of 90fps. An audio jack is included to plug in your own headphones.

GAME CONTROLLERS
Two VR game controllers (one for each hand) are included allowing you to use virtual objects and interact with the virtual word. The position of each controller is also tracked in space by the base stations.

BASE STATIONS
Two base stations track your physical location (in spaces up to 15x15 feet) A gyrosensor, accelerometer, and laser position sensor combine to precisely track the rotation of your head on both axes to an accuracy of 1/10th of a degree.

Interesting, hope the registration is still open, I heard "some stories" about it.

[Sir_LANs-a-lot]

OhhhHHhHhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

http://www.develop-online.net/news/ocul ... ar/0205867

[Darkflame]

From Microsofts Build Keynote,I have blogged crudely new details on Windows10 and Hololens;

https://darkflame.co.uk/EverythingEvery ... 10-details

No release date or price.
But apparently they have over a hundred Hololens people at Build can play with over the next few days.

They had a few interesting live demos. Multi-user demos, multitasking demos. Confirmation that all Windows Universe apps can be used as Hololens apps. (ie, pinning resizable windows to walls etc)
Most interesting for me was confirming Hololens scan data is avaliable to apps - demo'd with a physical robot doing pathfinding using
data supplied from the Hololens.

[Darkflame]

Bunch of Hololens images;
https://darkflame.co.uk/EverythingEvery ... -build2015



hmm

http://reboot.wikia.com/wiki/VidWindow



Few more details;
https://darkflame.co.uk/EverythingEverywhere/articles/7


One interesting thing to me is Microsoft seems to want Windows10 to be a platform for this stuff. Hololens doesn't have its own APIs, its just part of Windows10.
They mentioned they hoped many other people will build hmd's for Windows10 as well.

This is hopeful.
I like the idea of buying a Hololens, getting a bunch of apps/games, and then when someone does a much better AR HMD getting that instead....and having my apps work on that one too.
In principle that's possible now, if other hardware markers consider it.
Google/MagicLeap, looking at you here.

[fog]

While I'm probably on my own here, I'm still not convinced by Hololens at all, especially as the replacement for everything that Microsoft seem to be pushing it as.

Sure it will have it's uses, but I don't see how much of the stuff demoed benefits from being on a floating screen and a lot of the stuff that does benefit from it would be as good if not better in a true VR environment.

I'm guessing that ultimately we will end up with VR devices and a cheap camera on the front for the AR so we get the best of both worlds. Or is that oversimplifying it?

[pogo]

I think Hololens is the future of all these devices in a way. You want the CPU and GPU integrated so there are no wires and so it’s self contained. You want AR not just VR, so you can use it without killing yourself or getting sick, and use it much more of the time.

Problem is I think we are years from getting all that in one package. We are a year from good consumer VR from Oculus or Sony, and Hololens is a couple of generations more advanced than that, in including all the additional hardware and software: the CPU, GPU, camera, motion detector, Wifi, and a battery for workable AR. There are particular problems to solve for AR, to do with motion detection and camera synchronisation, which it’s unclear anyone has solved: MS has only shown it in tightly controlled demos so far. There’s no developer version, not even a version they feel happy to show at trade shows.

Plus it has to run Windows 10. And we know from Surface that Windows comes with baggage that makes it more resource intensive and memory hogging than OSes written from the ground up for mobile devices, like iOS and Android.

[gumboot]

Android wasn't from the ground up and has plenty of baggage.

Oh, or is that what you mean? That it sucks just the same as Android and IOS.

[pogo]

Android wasn't from the ground up and has plenty of baggage.

Oh, or is that what you mean? That it sucks just the same as Android and IOS.

Technically iOS wasn’t from the ground up either, it was based on the same core as OS X. I guess more accurately both were forked from a desktop OS at a very low level, then everything was built on top of that. They have followed separate paths for all of their existence as OSes.

Windows is the only one trying to be the same OS on mobile and desktop. Now with Windows 10 it is trying to be the same OS on mobile, desktop and AR/Hololens.

For the time being that third option doesn’t matter much: developers are just going to ignore it until there at least dev kits to play with, probably until there are consumer units and they have some idea of the market and demand for Hololens apps. But it does imply that when it ships Hololens will include something like the full version of Windows, including apps like Skype, the same way Surface did to its detriment.