Category: VirtualRealityTrends

VirtualRealityTrends

Oculus Acquires the Team That Designed the Xbox 360 Controller

The Facebook-owned Oculus VR, makers of the Oculus Rift, have just announced the acquisition of Carbon Design, whom they call “one of the premier industrial design and product engineering teams in the country.”

Exact terms of the deal were not disclosed, but Oculus says that it should close later this summer.

According to Oculus, the Carbon Design team will split their time between the Carbon studio in Seattle and the Oculus research and development offices in Redmond, WA.

Although they are just announcing the acquisition now, Carbon Design has been working with Oculus on “multiple unannounced projects” for over a year.

“A few seconds with the latest Oculus prototypes and you know that virtual reality is for real this time. From a design and engineering perspective, building the products that finally deliver consumer virtual reality is one of the most interesting and challenging problem sets ever,” said Carbon Design creative director Peter Bristol. “This is an entirely open product category. With consumer VR at its inception, the physical architectures are still unknown – We’re on the cutting edge of defining how virtual reality looks, feels, and functions.We’re incredibly excited to be part of the team and we’re looking forward to helping design the future.”

The name Carbon Design might not rings any bells – but I guarantee you know their work. Among other things, Carbon Design is responsible for the look of the Xbox 360 controller, as well as the first-gen Kinect.

Image via OculusVR.com

June 25, 2014
Facebook’s Impact on Oculus Rift? Cost, Says CEO

To the people who invested the most in Oculus VR and their nascent virtual reality company – the ones who donated to its Kickstarter campaign and eagerly followed the technology as it matured – Facebook’s surprise acquisition was a walk into a room, record-scratching, head-turning, what the absolute f*ck moment.

The big question was what the hell is Facebook going to do to it?

Well, according to Oculus VR CEO Brendan Iribe, the initial impact of having Facebook and Mark Zuckerberg around could be in the first consumer Oculus Rift’s price.

Here’s what Iribe told Ars Technica:

“I think [the Facebook buyout] is going to allow us to deliver consumer V1 at a lower cost, because we’re not trying to drive a high margin on this. [Facebook CEO] Mark [Zuckerberg], especially, wants to bring the cost down, him more than me. I do, too, but at the same time we were planning to run a business, hopefully a break-even [or] profitable business off of this, not a money-losing business. Mark is much more in the mindset of ‘Let’s get this to scale with the best quality product at the lowest cost possible.’”

He continues:

“I’m hopeful we’re not going to be losing money on [the hardware], but I think everybody agrees that if we can do it at cost that would be great for everybody. As Mark says, as you start to get to race to scale there are a lot of opportunities to monetize that are really great for consumers, because they get a really low-cost product.”

So, both Iribe and Zuckerberg (and the latter to a higher degree) feel that selling at cost would be great for everybody. Not that that’s going to happen, but it sure sounds like Iribe knows the first consumer version of the Oculus Rift isn’t going to be a money-making machine.

In fact, he told Ars that he’s just looking for a little over a million units sold in the first Oculus Rift’s lifetime.

Iribe went on say that as far as the actual composition of the device, Facebook’s acquisition came too late in the game to have much of an effect. But,

“It is going to allow us to deliver a much better consumer V2, that’s for sure. Hardware-wise, we were pretty locked in already [for Version 1]…but [Facebook] will allow us to make consumer V2 totally incredible.”

Or make V2 super creepy. We’ll have to wait and see about that one. V1 will be out next year.

Image via OculusVR.com

June 11, 2014
Google Acquires Word Lens Creator Quest Visual

Google has acquired Quest Visual, the company behind the app Word Lens, which lets you point your smartphone at words in the real world and have them translated via augmented reality.

I doubt I’m the first to make the connection, but this reminds me of They Live a bit. Especially when you combine it with something like Google Glass.

Quest Visual had this to say on the Word Lens site:

With Word Lens, we’ve seen the beginnings of what’s possible when we harness the power of mobile devices to “see the world in your language.”

By joining Google, we can incorporate Quest Visual’s technology into Google Translate’s broad language coverage and translation capabilities in the future.

As a thank you to everybody who supported us on our journey, we’ve made both the app and the language packs free to download for a limited time while we transition to Google.

As 9to5Mac notes, the app was recently featured prominently in an iPhone ad.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Image via YouTube

May 16, 2014
Facebook/Oculus Deal Gets FTC Approval

The Federal Trade Commission has given the thumbs up to the $2 billion deal which sees social media giant Facebook acquiring nascent virtual reality company Oculus VR.

The U.S. regulatory agency granted the transaction, clearing it of any possible antitrust concerns.

Facebook announced their intentions to purchase Oculus VR, makers of the Oculus Rift virtual reality headset, late last month.

“This is really a new communication platform. By feeling truly present, you can share unbounded spaces and experiences with the people in your life. Imagine sharing not just moments with your friends online, but entire experiences and adventures,” said Zuckerberg at the time of the announcement.

The deal was not met with celebration from early Oculus supporters, many of whom felt cheated. Oculus Rift was basically launched via a Kickstarter campaign, and many who donated their hard-earned money to the virtual reality device felt (and still feel, I’m sure), betrayed when the company sold out to Facebook–especially for such a hefty figure.

Plus, all that jazz about “sharing” makes people nervous.

In one of the more public displays of defiance, Notch famously canceled the idea of Minecraft on the Oculus Rift the day after Facebook announced the acquisition. The reason? Facebook simply “creeps” him out.

Supporters of the deal argue that it would give Oculus a massive boost in resources to build their products.

Like it or not, it’s happening. Oculus VR isn’t the only billions-dollar purchase Facebook has made in recent months. The company also acquired messaging company WhatsApp for $19 billion. WhatsApp just crossed the 500 million user mark.

Image via OculusVR.com

April 23, 2014
Twitter Helmet Pecks at Google Glass, Facebook’s Oculus Buy

In the jokiest, April Fools-y way possible, Twitter has fired some shots at immersive, wearable technology like Google Glass and even Oculus VR, which was recently acquired by “rival” Facebook. Oh no they di’int.

Everyone has an April Fools’ joke to tell today. Google has a couple (per usual), Netflix has a video of a roasting chicken–it’s chaos, I tell you. Twitter’s April Fools’ joke was to announce a new product called the “Twitter Helmet,” which they describe as a “sophisticated, fully immersive, staggeringly high-resolution wearable device that allows our users to interact with the world around them entirely via a custom aviary interface.”

Express yourself – with no hunting and pecking. https://t.co/GadIdK7nnV

— Twitter (@twitter) April 1, 2014

Hah.

All users have to do to tweet while wearing Twitter Helmet is to make a “pecking” motion.

More from Twitter:

The product will be available for purchase mid-September 2014 for $139.99 retail. In addition to the helmet, users can also purchase Twitter Helmet HD™ accessories including a hand-tooled leather case inspired by falconry hoods, feather-shaped Wi-Fi and cellular signal boosters, and a carbon fiber chinstrap with optional wattle-form factor microphone.

$139.99? What a steal!

You don’t have to read too far between the lines here to see that Twitter is poking fun at Google Glass. The joke is also a not-so-subtle jab at Facebook’s recent purchase of Oculus VR, whose flagship product is the Oculus Rift virtual reality headset.

Good Morning America got in on the fun earlier today:

Image via Good Morning America, Video Screenshot

April 1, 2014
Yelp Introduces The Yelpulus Rift

Remember that Netflix video parodying Amazon’s famous drone video? It looks like Yelp tried to do something similar, making light of Facebook’s Oculus acquisition.

Yelp says in the video description, “For Yelp’s Hackathon 13, this team of engineers imagined what a virtual reality experience of Yelp Monocle would look like. Not all Hackathon projects have to be based on real, feasible products, as evidenced by this team’s creativity with duct tape and a little video editing skills.”

If you’re unfamiliar with Yelp Monocle, it’s an augmented reality feature that uses a phone’s GPS to overlay markers on top of businesses on the phone’s camera view.

Image via YouTube

March 28, 2014
Sony’s Project Morpheus Previewed in New Video

Yesterday the video game community was thrown into a combination of disbelief and despair following the news that Facebook has agreed to acquire Oculus VR for $2 billion. The Ocuslus Rift headset was seen by many as the best leap forward for virtual reality gaming in decades, bringing with it the promise of more immersive gaming experience and quite possibly the future of gaming itself.

Despite Facebook’s promises that Oculus will continue its gaming initiatives, the company’s press release was littered with references to using the Rift as a social media device. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg even used a few non-gaming examples (such as virtual sporting event participation) to explain to shareholders why the acquisition was made. Given the direction Facebook looks to be taking Oculus in, it is no wonder that gamers feel both upset and betrayed that the company has been derailed from the gaming track it was on.

Oculus isn’t, however, the only game in town when it comes to VR. Though the company is ahead of most others in regards to the technology, other companies could end up taking the Rift’s place in future gaming VR initiatives.

Last week at the Game Developers Conference (GDC) Sony officially announced its next VR headset, code-named “Project Morpheus.” The headset impressed conference-goers with its 1080p displays, though the prototype was limited to a 90-degree field of view. Sony also provided several tech demos for the headset, including a first-person God of War simulation.

Today Sony has brought a taste of Project Morpheus to the consumer market. A new video released by the company shows off the headset as it was seen at GDC and provides a few details about the project through an interview with Richard Marks, the director of SCEA’s “magic lab” R&D department.

March 26, 2014
Niantic Labs to Release New Augmented Reality Game

Just over one year ago Google’s Niantic Labs revealed Ingress, an augmented reality (AR) game created to experiment with the possibilities of a multiplayer game set in the real world but with a layer of virtual game poured over it. Though the game wasn’t a smash hit it did open up possibilities for AR and mobile gaming. Now, Niantic Labs is involved in another AR game project.

Titled Endgame, the new AR game is a collaborative marketing effort surrounding the upcoming novel Endgame: The Calling. The novel is being written by James Frey, the author infamous for exaggerating his exploits in his memoir, A Million Little Pieces. The book is the first in a trilogy to be penned by Frey and Nils Johnson-Shelton.

HarperCollins Publishers, Full Fathom Five, and Niantic Labs are all collaborating on the marketing effort behind Endgame. The campaign will use Niantic’s AR game, short stories, YouTube, search, maps, and social media in a single augmented reality game/puzzle complete with prizes.

Clues to the puzzles will be hidden in the Endgame novels and players will need to gather all of the clues to have a chance at winning what HarperCollins is calling “major” prizes for each book. The prize for Endgame: The Calling is a “quantity of gold” that one player will have the chance to retrieve. The player who first finds the key for the gold’s case will claim his or her prize live on YouTube.

“James has a great vision for telling stories in an integrated way across books, film, social media, and mobile games,” said John Hanke, VP of Product at Niantic. “We are delighted to bring our technology and expertise to bear on a project that is helping to define the future of entertainment.”

January 16, 2014
Augmented Reality Tech Could Have Business Implications, Says Analyst

As the wearable computing industry begins to ramp up this year, Google and other companies already have their sights set on connected eyewear. Devices such as Google Glass are expected to make up a large part of the consumer device market in the coming decade, but the technology could also prove very useful to the enterprise sector as well.

Market research firm Gartner this week suggested that augmented reality (AR) technology could soon become an important tool for businesses. The implication is that businesses could use AR tech to improve internal communication and collaboration while also speeding up workflows and training.

AR technology could enable businesses to create enhanced spaces, where their physical infrastructure is combined with a layer of the virtual. The applications for AR could be used to supplement employees’ environmental awareness, as well as provide instant access to information for quicker decision-making. In other words, AR could potentially make nearly everything in a business context more efficient.

“Augmented reality is the real-time use of information in the form of text, graphics, audio and other virtual enhancements integrated with real-world objects,” said Tuong Huy Nguyen, principal research analyst at Gartner. “AR leverages and optimizes the use of other technologies such as mobility, location, 3D content management and imaging and recognition. It is especially useful in the mobile environment because it enhances the user’s senses via digital instruments to allow faster responses or decision-making.”

Though AR could potentially have office applications, Gartner believes that the most useful applications for AR technology will come for workers who are more often away from desks, or those that need two hands to work. Surgeons and hospitals in general are an obvious target market for AR, and Google Glass has already been used during at least one surgery. Workers who are often without quick access to information, or who are unable to collaborate in person may also benefit heavily from the technology.

January 14, 2014
IKEA Uses Augmented Reality to Show You How Furniture Will Look in Your House

The new 2014 IKEA catalog app is debuting a new augmented reality feature that lets users see how certain pieces of furniture will look in their homes. All you have to do is scan one of the select item pages, throw your catalog on the floor and use your mobile device to project an image of what it will look like in your space.

“The 2014 IKEA catalogue gives you the ability to place virtual furniture in your own home with the help of augmented reality. Unlock the feature by scanning selected pages in the 2014 printed IKEA catalogue with the IKEA catalogue application (available for iOS and Android) or by browsing the pages in the digital 2014 IKEA catalogue on your smartphone or tablet. Then simply place the printed IKEA catalogue where you want to put the furniture in your room, choose a product from a selection of the IKEA range and see how it will look in your home!” says IKEA.

Now this is pretty cool. Check it out in action:

IKEA first started to experiment with augmented reality with last year’s catalog app, allowing users to unlock expanded content with their devices. But the ability to see products in your living spaces is entirely new for the Swedish furniture company, and it’s sure to make die-hard IKEA fanatics pretty happy.

You can grab the new 2014 IKEA catalog app on both iOS and Android.

August 6, 2013
GlassBattle Brings Naval Warfare To Google Glass

Google Glass is still in its infancy, but there’s already a lot of awesome apps available for the hardware. Unfortunately, there’s a definite lack of games for the hardware despite Google Glass lending itself to augmented reality gaming. One development team is fixing that, however, with it’s own take on Battleship.

Det Ansinn revealed over the weekend that his team at BrickSimple is currently working on a game called GlassBattle. It’s a simplistic take on Battleship where two players wearing Glass compete head-to-head in turn-based battles. Here are the full details:

GlassBattle is a two-player Google Glass game implemented using the Mirror API. It provides turn-based gameplay with synchronous updates over the Internet. This isn’t a mock-up or concept. It’s a fully functional glassware application.

Note: Due to Mirror API quota limitations, we can’t yet share this app with a wider audience. Under the current quota, we can accommodate only a few players per day. As soon as the quota gets lifted, we will open up the gates. Thank you for your patience!

It’s a little simple, sure, but it’s all about baby steps at this point. We’re still years away from the kind of stuff that we saw in concept videos last year, but it’s coming sooner or later.

July 8, 2013
Check Out The PS4’s AR Gaming Capabilities

The PlayStation 4 will have a new PlayStation Eye camera available alongside it at launch. Sony hasn’t really advertised it much outside of the PlayStation 4 reveal in February though. During E3, however, it did create a small video to show off some of the cool things it has planned for the new PlayStation Eye.

Sony calls it the Playroom and it’s more like an interactive toy. The controller and the camera work hand-in-hand to create an AR experience not unlike what Sony is doing now on the PS3 with Wonderbook and Move. It’s just that the power of the PS4 lets Sony be just a little more creative in its efforts.

Like most other PlayStation Eye “games,” I can see myself playing around this for a few minutes and conclude that it’s super charming. Outside of that, it’s just a nice tech demo that showcases some of the tech that’s available to PS4 gamers. It will be interesting, however, to see what Sony does with the new PlayStation Eye further in the PS4’s lifespan and if it will create anything like Wonderbook for it.

The new PlayStation Eye will be available this holiday season alongside the PS4.

June 24, 2013
The Future Of Google Glass May Lie In 911 Calls And Guitar Lessons

Google Glass is now in the hands of developers, and they’re already doing some pretty amazing (and scary) things with the technology. What will it look like a year from now, however, when it’s in the hands of consumers? What will it look like five years from now? One design firm has an idea.

Playground Inc, a digital creative agency, has released a video with a few predictions of what will be in the next major iteration of Google Glass:

It seems strange that the designers predict Google Glass having a 911 app, but it actually makes a lot of sense. Having someone not only to talk to, but also see, would go a long way in calming people down during an emergency.

That particular example aside, the rest of the video presents some incredibly compelling ideas that would turn Glass from a device for pasty white nerds into a mass consumer device that fulfills any and all needs. I’m particularly fond of the example where one uses Glass to keep a running tally of how much groceries are going to cost while shopping.

[h/t: Reddit]

May 13, 2013
Google Glass Ban: Will It Actually Happen?

A Google Glass ban has been on the minds of some people as stories begin to emerge of establishments saying they will bar customers from wearing Google’s new tech inside. Those are just stories from a small number of businesses though? Is there any chance that Google Glass could be banned on a much larger scale?

A recent petition on the White House’s We the People Web site is asking the administration to ban Google Glass until certain privacy concerns can be addressed. The petition has only received 30 signatures so far though. If there’s wide-spread fear of Google Glass, it’s not being voiced here.

Of course, it doesn’t mean that anti-Glass advocates are small in numbers. In recent months, a Web site called “Stop the Cyborgs” was created to collect all stories on the technology while providing interesting commentary on the future of personal surveillance and privacy. That being said, the group is adamant that it does not hate Google and that it does not want to ban Glass. Instead, the group says that it wants to “encourage individual people to think about the impact of new technologies, to set bounds on how technologies are used proactively, and negotiate their relationship with the future.”

Besides people getting a laugh out of white dudes looking really nerdy wearing Glass, most seem to be of the above opinion. Google Glass isn’t an evil that needs to be eradicated, but rather something that people should just be aware of. Glass opens up a lot of new possibilities, but some of those possibilities can be rather scary. Is the risk worth it? It’s best to let the market decide that.

May 8, 2013
How Much Would You Pay For Google Glass? Most Say $200

In its current state, Google Glass is incredibly expensive. Those who signed up for the Google Glass Explorers program last year had to fork over $1,500 to get a crack at the device. The price will come down when it’s made available to consumers next year, but a new survey suggests that the price will have to come down a lot before consumers bite.

Last week, TrendBlog posed a question to its audience – “How much are you willing to pay for Google Glass?” The respondents were given a wide variety of price options ranging from below $100 to more than $2,000. The end result found that most were willing to pay near the bottom of the price spectrum.

Overall, 48 percent of respondents would pay between $200 to $300 for Google Glass when it launches next year. Going lower or higher than that causes interest to drop dramatically with only 13 percent willing to pay less than $100 with only one percent willing to pay between $1,200 and $2,000. Unsurprisingly, nobody would pay more than $2,000.

How Much Are People Willing To Pay For Google Glass by trendblog.net

Pricing is incredibly important, especially when it comes to consumer electronics. Microsoft has learned this lesson the hard way as Windows 8 PCs have failed to take off partly due to the high cost. Apple was able to sell high priced electronics because it was able to convince consumers that its products contained exceptional software value. Google will have to do the same if Google Glass is priced above $300.

May 7, 2013
Reddit For Google Glass Is Now Ready To Assault Your Eyeball With Cat Pictures

Google Glass seems like it was built for Reddit. Google’s wearable computers are perfect for capturing the spontaneous moments in life, and then sharing those moments with the fine folks of Reddit.

Members of the Google Glass Explorers program can now start bragging about having glass on Reddit thanks to the tireless work of Malcolm Nguyen. His app, Reddit Timeline, brings pretty much all the capabilities of Reddit to Google Glass. Here’s what Glass users can expect from the app:
Top 25 post from your FrontPage within a bundle updated every hour.
Upvote/Downvote
Share to Reddit
Comment Threading
Read aloud comments
Reply to comment

By using the touchpad on Glass, users will be able to swipe through the top posts. From there, they can upvote and downvote content. Accompanying text is overlaid on images in an easily readable font.

Consumers aren’t going to get Google Glass for a while still, but it’s pretty much a given that a Reddit app will be incredibly popular once it does launch to the public. Nguyen is just getting a headstart on the competition.

[h/t: Living Thru Glass]

May 2, 2013

It was revealed last month that Google would be inviting developers to two separate hackathons to work on the future of Glass. These events wouldn’t be open to the public, and the attending developers can’t say anything about what they saw or heard. That being said, Google was kind enough to share some details from the event.

In a Google+ post over the weekend, the Google Developers page shared some images from the two Glass Foundry events. There’s not much new information, but we do get to see somebody besides Sergey Brin wearing Glass.

Google Developers1 day ago

A couple weeks ago, we held two hackathons for a small group of lucky developers from among those who signed up for the Glass Explorer Program at Google I/O 2012. We called these events the Glass Foundry. In San Francisco and New York, the selected Glass Explorers were able to spend two days with Glass and the API we’ve developed. They formed teams and built over 80 new ways to use Glass. Everyone who demoed received a special edition glass bar identifying them as a “Pioneer” of this next generation of computing. Eight hard-working teams won the grand prize: Google will pick up the cost of their Glass Explorer Edition.

The Glass Foundry was a great opportunity to get our engineers working next to developers on Glass and the API. We discovered that we all shared a passion for the future of wearable technology, and the feedback we received is already helping us improve the platform. The whole event was deeply rewarding for our team and the participants seemed to have a great time, too. We hope to have more Glass Foundries in the future.

Although the details of the API are still confidential, we did want to share the photos in the attached album. If you'd like to know more about developing for Glass and you'll be at SXSW this year, we recommend you attend Building New Experiences with Glass (http://goo.gl/pLoUu) with +Timothy Jordan on Monday, March 11th at 5pm in Ballroom A of the Austin Convention Center.

+Timothy Jordan +Sarah Price +Ossama Alami +Jenny Murphy +Alain Vongsouvanh

photos by Daniel Gaines Photography and Philip Montgomery403 78 Powered by socialditto

Here’s a few of the choice pictures from the event:

For more info on Google Glass, check out this recent documentary made about the technology. Google also talked about the process of making Glass at a recent TED talk.