i2VR of the VR WORLD

A virtual website that allows for full content integration. 

The applications and possibilities of virtual reality quite endless. With the influx of several major headsets into the market this Spring and endorsements for VR rolling in from every major company in Silicon Valley, few can doubt that this technology is finally here to stay. More importantly, there has been a major shift in the way people view VR content.

For some time, virtual reality was a fantasy. Even when the technology became possible, there were many doubts as to who and what the players would be in this space. The initial cheers came from the gaming industry, eager to release a fully immersive platform for their users. Then came the marketing and media outlets, and finally, some brave VR enthusiasts began to introduce the concept of the technology in classrooms and corporations. 

It’s fascinating to think about the future of VR, but this year, with the rise of cameras like the Ozo and Teleport, it is clear that innovation may actually lie in the hands of average consumers. There are many affordable cameras that allow anyone with a smartphone to capture memories in VR format and immediately upload them to social media. 

Where are we going with this? Essentially that VR is going to be bigger than anyone might have even dreamed of. That said, we are only at the very beginning of the evolution, and we still need to figure out how exactly the VR universe will be organized. Enter: VRgility.

This new platform, still in private Beta, is a unique app and website that features curated VR content. Think Vimeo, but only for VR videos. Whenever you’re looking for amazing VR experiences, or have captured an experience yourself and would like to share it, VRgility will be your ultimate destination.

As virtual reality steadily gains popularity and major headsets like Oculus prepare to enter the market, the big question on the mind of every VR developer is, will there be enough content?

Indeed, a huge concern for companies like Oculus is whether or not there will be enough VR experiences to meet the demand of customers. After all, most VR headsets are not cheap and require a significant investment. If there isn’t enough to do with the device once you have it, what will incentivise gamers to buy the headset in the first place?

This fear has lead Oculus and other major players in the VR industry to push creative initiatives and development in VR. Every year Oculus hosts its VR Jam, a conference where a variety of game engineers come together and pitch and develop ideas for VR apps and experiences. And it’s not just a matter of the gaming industry; earlier this year Zuckerberg said that VR is the future of social media. That’s a big statement coming from Facebook and it leads one to wonder how people will create this sharable VR content?

Thus far there really aren’t any feasible options for the average person to create content for virtual reality. At the moment all VR content is created with relatively advanced technology that is either unavailable to the public, or extremely expensive. Among such gadgets is a new circular contraption of 16 Hero4 cameras designed by GoPro, and only available to Google content creators for the next six months.

While it is exclusive, this device is also totally rad. It uses its sixteen cameras to produce 360-degree panoramic video and also allows the viewer to control where he/she is looking, very similar to a regular VR experience. According to TechCrunch, this is Google’s way of promoting the creation of VR content. Both Google and GoPro have announced that this new device will only be made available to “high-profile YouTube ‘celebrities’ who maintain significant number of followers”, before hitting the market.

“I think immersive 3D content is the obvious next thing,” said Facebook CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, during an earnings call this week. Zuckerberg was addressing a question that asked what popular applications might develop in response to virtual reality━a sphere that Facebook recently invested $2 billion in.

According to Zuckerberg, “there’s always a richer way that people want to share and consume thoughts and ideas,” and it seems that VR is going to be the next popular medium for capturing and sharing experiences.

So far virtual reality has been geared towards gaming and entertainment experiences. Beyond the fun stuff, there are numerous small startups working on virtual reality software and content for educational purposes. Then of course, there are the countless big brands that are unleashing massive marketing campaigns that utilize cheaper Cardboard viewers.

The technology behind virtual experiences is still quite fresh, and yet it is clearly already making an impact in various spheres. Could Zuckerberg be right then, in claiming that virtual content will be the next form of sharable media?

On the one hand, it does seem very possible. Anyone who has actually experienced virtual reality can agree that, if done well, VR content is quite remarkable and feels amazingly real. Imagine being able to share your favorite memories and creative thoughts via a medium that makes them come alive in the moment━what could be better?

On the other hand, virtual reality gear still needs a lot of work. How many people are actually willing to invest in expensive headsets? And even with the cheaper Cardboard option, how many people will be ready to carry a viewer with them wherever they go?

Social media is something that we follow at almost all hours of the night and day. We want to access social content 24/7, and it is doubtful that most people will be willing to put on a viewer every time they decide to check their Facebook.

Virtual reality is more popular now than it has ever been, and with giant companies like Facebook, Samsung, Nokia and Google investing heavily in the technology, it’s potential must have no limits.

VR has officially made its way into yet another sphere, and that is sports. Thanks to instructional technology developed by STRIVR Labs, four major NFL teams are now using VR to train their athletes. While virtual software is undoubtedly new to football, coaches across the nation vow that it is a definite game changer.  

The Cowboys, Patriots, 49ers, and most recently the Vikings, have all partnered with STRIVR to incorporate virtual drills into their training programs. STRIVR was founded by Derek Belch who graduated from Stanford in 2008, and played for the Cardinal football team for a full five years. While Belch was completing his masters at Stanford, he also acted as assistant coach to the university’s football team, and it was during the 2014 season that he developed the core software that is now STRIVR’s product.

STRIVR’s software is geared towards sports teams at all levels, whether it be high school football or the NFL. Once a team signs on, they receive highly customized simulations that use actual footage of reps at practices.The general idea behind the software is that by allowing athletes to practice formations and defense in virtual space, their minds and instinct will be trained and ready to respond when the situation occurs on the actual field.

“As far as what it can do, we’re looking at literally taking the practice experience and bringing it off the practice field. I’m in no way, shape or form ever going to denounce the importance of physical reps, but the reality is NFL teams are increasingly limited in the amount of time they’re able to spend on the field, and we’re giving these guys a chance to simulate, just like they’re there”, said Belch on the effectiveness of STRIVR’s software.

Indeed, a virtual practice can in no way replace an actual physical one. However, considering that some of the biggest teams are signing up for STRIVR’s software, that must be a sign that the extra mental practice does make a difference on the field. 

To learn more about STRIVR’s software, watch this video. 

The question now remains whether or not a virtual classroom can sufficiently simulate the benefits of a real one.

Online learning has been a revolution in education. Internet courses have made higher learning accessible to vastly larger audiences, and given those who opt for self-teaching a far broader range of tools than they’ve ever had before.

Indeed, in recent years some of the finest universities in the world━including Stanford, Yale, and Oxford━have been designing online courses as well as releasing lectures online for free. The effort on their part is commendable, and so far the primary criticism that online learning has received is merely that when you study remotely, you lose the important factor of the classroom; the actual relationship between student and teacher is a difficult thing to replicate.

During the past decade, little has been done to address the lack of personal engagement in online courses. However, as virtual reality gradually rears its head in the tech world, it seems that it is slowly making its way to the education world as well. A company called AvayaLive Engage has brought its virtual reality software to several of the finest executive education programs in the United States, and now the question remains whether or not a virtual classroom can sufficiently simulate the benefits of a real one.

First to adopt the software was MIT’s Sloan School of Management, followed by Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business. What the software does is provide a virtual classroom where students and professors are represented as avatars that can communicate with each other to discuss and collaborate. Basically, this is a way of bringing the classroom to the student who is learning from home.

On their website AvayaLive Engage says its program supports “formal, informal and social learning needs”,  and brings “the buzz and energy of physical classrooms - into sessions that are collaborative, active, and in-the-moment”. So far very few schools have tried the software, and those who have have used it only for small, one-year programs that engage a large number of overseas students.

While AvayaLive’s program isn’t the easiest thing to use or set up, it does provide students learning from home an interesting alternative to taking on course material all on their own. Yet, in all likelihood it will be some time before universities began to harness such technology en masse. When asked how they liked using the virtual classroom format, most professors and students admitted that as cool as tech can be, nothing can truly be compared with the face to face interactions that take place in a real classroom.

As with most virtual reality opportunities on the market today, the virtual classroom has much room to be improved and is seemingly still too foreign a concept to be adopted on a large scale━not to mention the physical limitations of distributing proper VR headgear to students and teachers. That said, it is intriguing to see that such software is rapidly being developed. And the fact that the Ivy Leagues have already begun pursuing it, means that the virtual classroom harbors very real potential for the future.

Post Author: Lilit Markosian

Today we ask questions about VR.

“The  lions  were  coming.  And  again George  Hadley  was  filled  with admiration for the mechanical genius who had conceived this room.”

The room in question is a highly advanced nursery with walls that create a virtual world for George Hadley’s children; whatever the kids imagine, the wondrous walls conjure up so accurately, that the experience feels real.

“Occasionally  they  frightened  you with their clinical accuracy,  they startled you, gave you a twinge, but most of the time what fun for everyone, not only  your own  son and daughter, but for  yourself when you felt like a quick jaunt to a foreign land, a quick change of scenery. Well, here it was! And here were the lions now, fifteen  feet away, so real, so feverishly and startlingly real…”

That’s just a short excerpt from Ray Bradbury’s The Veldt, a haunting short story that is required reading in most high school American Literature classes. I had to read it when I was a junior at Cupertino High, and yet the story completely slipped my mind until I stumbled upon it a few weeks ago whilst researching VR technology for this blog.

In a nutshell The Veldt  is about a family whose VR nursery goes wild. Of course Bradbury does not use the term, “VR”, since the notion did not exist in 1950 when the story was first published. Nonetheless, by portraying a magical room that plays out realistic experiences based on children’s fantasies, Bradbury brings into question the consequences of the increasingly mechanized aspects of modern life.

As an author Bradbury was always suspicious of mechanized things. In his most famous novel, Fahrenheit 451, he describes a dystopia where people are obsessed with the pictures playing on their walls; images and characters that take on the role of family members and entertainment. In this world books are banned and every bit of the human experience is controlled by some machine or another.

It’s chilling to think how close Bradbury was with many of his guesses about the future. Many of us can relate to turning on Netflix or YouTube when you’re home alone just for the comfort of having friendly noise on in the background. And then of course there is the idea of virtual reality which, as we often say in this blog, is now very much a real thing.

Of course, just because we’ve come a long way with our technology does not mean that it will lead us to the horrific and estranged reality that Bradbury so often portrays. It would be rather simplistic and just wrong to write off technology as solely a threat to our well being. After all it is not hard to argue that machines have changed the world in more good ways than bad.

I think the problem is merely that with most technologies, the fact that they are so new means that we haven’t had enough time in order to really start any kind of philosophical dialogue about how they affect our lives—whether in good ways or bad.

When it comes to VR that discussion has definitely yet to begin. I won’t make any cases in this post but I do want to ask questions, as Bradbury does. We should consider where VR technology is taking us as a society, how it can affect social and professional experiences, and how it might change our experience of the present moment.

Adult Swim is notorious for its raunchy and outrageous content. Now the cable network is bringing its comedic edge to the world of virtual reality. Developed for the Android platform and available in the Google Play Store, Adult Swim Virtual Braindload is a brand new app that gives you a glimpse at the “backside of reality”, whatever that may be.

It isn’t totally clear what this new VR experience is, however just by reading the description one can’t help but get excited about it. To quote Adult Swim, with Brainload users will be able to “live the American dream, drifting bodiless and overwhelmed, free from the tyranny of choice and responsibility”. It sounds like a psychedelic experience and apparently at the end of the journey you may come to find that the “person who emerges” is not “anyone you know”.

As strange as the app may be, what it really signifies is a new trend in marketing: branded apps. In the past few years most big corporations and companies have come out with apps that serve a variety of functions from keeping customers updated with offers and coupons to spreading brand awareness. Adult Swim is keeping to this tech trend, only they’re doing it with a VR spin.

In a press release from WEVR, the VR startup that’s developing Brainload, senior VP of consumer and partnership marketing at Adult Swim, Jill King, said that as the company develops “immersive content for our fans, we will keep our advertising partners front of mind and seek out opportunities to extend their brand into these experiences.” Evidently Adult Swim’s branded VR app is a marketing maneuver not only aimed at their benefit, but to the benefit of their sponsors as well.

Considering that these days everyone and their mother has a smartphone, it is only natural that big brands are moving towards marketing through apps and smartphone technology. When it comes to entertainment, virtual reality is a powerful tool, and thus must do a better job at capturing consumers’ attention and getting marketing messages across. Adult Swim was one of the first to boldly take on a VR branded app, but it seems likely that the trend will catch on.

Post Author: Lilit Markosian

In late March VRgility posted about Oculus’ high-profile VR Jam, the biggest virtual reality competition to date that has attracted thousands of engineers to the VR sphere. This year VR Jam took place in mid-April and as anticipated received a great number of intriguing entries. Since part of the purpose of this blog is to feature innovation in VR technology, we are going to do a short series highlighting the most interesting VR Jam 2015 entries. This is our fourth series post featuring Night Cafe.

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On this blog we tend to write about techy things that are more brainy and business-oriented. So for a change, how about a little ambiance?

Well, the great news is that with Night Cafe you can now experience charming ambiance with a Van Gogh aesthetic. This is one of our favorite submissions to VR Jam 2015 because, while it is simple, Night Cafe is a highly creative feat that focuses on the potential of creating aura with VR technology. Most VR Jam submissions are centered around the tech and gaming aspects of VR. This is one of the few entries that gives more importance to the experiential side of VR.

Submitted on April 19th by game developer Mac Cauley, Night Cafe allows you to virtually jump into Van Gogh’s paintings. In his lifetime the dutch artist produced a body of work that has since been immortalized through countless items of memorabilia, museums, reprints and publications. Everyone is familiar with his bright colors and dreamy impressionist style, and that is precisely what drew Cauley to his artwork and inspired Night Cafe.

According to Cauley, the main goal of his VR Jam submission was to “see what kinds of stylized 3D rendering could be experienced through VR”. The app in itself is quite simple, it’s not a game or puzzle but rather a straightforward experience. This means that the user doesn’t have to do all that much, just use the touchpad to move around and explore Van Gogh’s Night Cafe.

In late March VRgility posted about Oculus’ high-profile VR Jam, the biggest virtual reality competition to date that has attracted thousands of engineers to the VR sphere. This year VR Jam took place in mid-April and as anticipated received a great number of intriguing entries. Since part of the purpose of this blog is to feature innovation in VR technology, we are going to do a short series highlighting the most interesting VR Jam 2015 entries. This is our third series post featuring Fearless: Spiders.

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Thanks to their spindly legs and creepy crawly way of moving about, spiders tend to really spook people out. Arachnophobia is one of the most common fears out there and that’s probably why these eight-legged creatures have become popular symbols for horror and halloween. Fearless: Spiders is a VR app that seeks to empower all arachnophobes by enabling them to address their fear through a unique method of exposure therapy.

Exposure therapy is a method that some psychologists use to treat patients with major anxiety problems. Put in simpler terms, exposure therapy forces patients to face their fears. If you’re afraid of heights, you climb up to the top of the Empire State Building. Or, if you’re afraid of spiders, you try out an app like Fearless: Spiders.

Submitted on April 19th by Tim Suzman, the Fearless experience starts out real simple; you’re just sitting in a room looking at a cute cartoon of a smiling spider━but then a real spider begins slowly to lower down into your view, hanging from one thin thread, scrawny legs twitching…

To continue through the experience you  have to stroke the touchpad. You will then be taken through a series of levels, each presenting a new degree of spider exposure. There is also a friendly guide who will help you through the therapy.

According to Suzman exposure therapy, also called systematic desensitization, can be “85-90% effective in eliminating or dramatically reducing fears”. This initial demo concentrates on the fear of spiders, but there is nothing stopping Fearless from expanding to incorporate all kinds of fears. Indeed, Suzman is currently looking for developers to collaborate with him on growing the Fearless project.

It will be interesting to see how effectively Fearless: Spiders actually works. If the virtual environment of the app feels real enough, then it is easy to imagine that people will feel significantly creeped out by the spiders crawling all over the VR space. Moreover, this could be just the start to a whole industry of VR experiences created solely for therapeutic purposes. For example, one might create a VR experience designed to make one feel calm and relaxed, or another experience might be a space where one can release pent up anger. As always with VR technology, the possibilities are endless.

Meet a VR Jam submission that will make galleries accessible to the entire world

In late March VRgility posted about Oculus’ high-profile VR Jam, the biggest virtual reality competition to date that has attracted thousands of engineers to the VR sphere. This year VR Jam took place in mid-April and as anticipated received a great number of intriguing entries. Since part of the purpose of this blog is to feature innovation in VR technology, we are going to do a short series highlighting the most interesting VR Jam 2015 entries. This is our second series post featuring 3D Gallery.

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Who doesn’t love museums? If designed and curated well, walking through a gallery ought to be a relaxing and thought-provoking experience.

There is something about the stillness in a gallery that makes one’s mind wander. And in our increasingly hectic lives, what could be better than an hour or two spent doing little besides wandering about spacious rooms, gazing at glorious images? 

3D Gallery, a VR Jam entry that was submitted on April 20th, is designed to give you all the best parts of the museum experience.

The experience itself is very simple; essentially you are just walking through a gallery and viewing pictures like you would in real life. 3D Gallery is designed with decent quality, a constant 60 frames per second.  In terms of innovation however, the submission is not all that impressive. Compared with most other VR Jam entries, the idea has less to it and isn’t too difficult to put together. Nonetheless, the beauty of 3D Gallery lies within its potential.

Imagine if you could expand this 3D Gallery demo to all of the major museums in the world. That would mean that all of the greatest works of art, whether in the Louvre or NYC’s MoMA, would be available to anyone with access to a smartphone and Google Cardboard. A person would no longer have to travel to Paris to see the Mona Lisa or Milan to see the Last Supper. With the touch of a button you could see all of the greats within the comfort of your home.

This technology could be brought to classrooms and studios. Every contemporary artist could set up a virtual gallery in order to exhibit his or her art to the entire world. The possibilities are endless, and with creative minds working around the techonolgy, there is no saying what functions an app like 3D gallery could take on.

Has virtual reality gone too far?

In late March VRgility posted about Oculus’ high-profile VR Jam, the biggest virtual reality competition to date that has attracted thousands of engineers to the VR sphere. This year VR Jam took place in mid-April and as anticipated received a great number of intriguing entries. Since part of the purpose of this blog is to feature innovation in VR technology, we are going to do a short series highlighting the most interesting VR Jam 2015 entries. This is the first featuring Project Elysium.

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In the ancient Greek tradition Elysium was believed to be a special place in the afterlife reserved solely for heroes and godly men. Amazingly, this ancient illuminated realm made a startling appearance at Oculus’ VR Jam 2015, thanks to a two-man team from Paranormal Games.  

Officially submitted to VR Jam on April 19th, Project Elysium is a VR program that allows individuals to communicate with their deceased loved ones via a virtual reality experience. To get a better feel for the project, you might as well read a portion of the description presented by the design team for VR Jam: 

Quick question, What if I told you that I built a small stand alone room in a warehouse. Also that room has a window to see into the room and if you look through that window, you can see a deceased loved one who is not in our world anymore, standing in there, in that very room as alive as they once were.

But there is also a door next to that window and I then hand you the key..... Would you go in there? What would you do? Would you open the door? Project Elysium builds those rooms.... in virtual reality. 

Sounds a little weird, to say the least, but it is what it is: the Elysium team has set out to reunite the living with the dead through virtual reality.

In their project description, the engineers further describe their software as serving three primary functions. First, their goal is to enable people to render eternal their deceased loved ones by creating a virtual reality experience called an “Elysium Project”. The second purpose is for clients to create custom VR experiences that they can leave behind for their loved ones to enjoy once they themselves have passed. And third, the purpose of Project Elysium is to create mass market experiences for deceased major public figures like Elvis Presley, who might be presented virtually in concert or film.

Undoubtedly the creators of Project Elysium have taken a creative approach to VR innovation and one has to give them props for thinking outside of the box and presenting the world with something that is unconventional and even alarming. However, with all that said, there is something very disturbing about the concept of Project Elysium.

Personally, I find it offensive that someone might compare a virtual representation of a loved one with the actual experience of being with that person. Sure technology can and does do a lot for us, but to try and keep the dead living seems far-fetched and a poor outlet for our engineering capabilities.

Even if Project Elysium does see some success at VR Jam, I can’t see their idea catching on. Yes, making Elvis immortal will be a popular endeavor and in essence it is a form of entertainment━a sphere the man dedicated his life to. But to do the same with people’s family members and friends rings a bit disrespectful to my ear. 

What do you think?

Post Author: Lilit Markosian

The best video games are ones that not only tell a story but also make the player a central figure within their narrative, thus harnessing his or her emotions. Imagine then a video game that requires you to experience its narrative with all of your senses; you won’t just be playing the game, you will be living it. That is exactly the kind of experience THE VOID is working very hard to create.

So far one of the biggest venues for virtual reality has been the gaming industry. And while video games have certainly benefitted from the heightened experience and dynamic qualities of VR technology, they have also ignited some criticism for the software and brought into question whether or not VR can be relevant to the entertainment sphere.

Greatest among VR gaming issues is the fact that when you’re locked into a VR experience, you are very much isolated from the outside world. You can have your friends over to play a VR video game, but you will probably spend most of the time sitting on a couch staring into hefty goggles rather than interacting on a more personal level. The VR experience is undoubtedly a cool one, but the social isolation is a factor that many gamers might find unnatural or difficult to get used to.

Prompted by these faults of VR gaming, THE VOID is trying to create a VR experience that can harmoniously blend social interaction with virtual reality. Planned to open during the summer of 2016 in Utah, THE VOID invites visitors to experience VR worlds that are enhanced with real elements such as physical mazes, simulated rain, and 360 soundscapes. Groups will embark on adventures both physically in the real world, and virtually in the VR world. This experience is VR at a whole new level, one that will allow you to “walk into new dimensions and experience worlds without limits”.  

Essentially THE VOID is a new kind of theme park that utilizes all sorts of virtual reality software with the intention of making the VR experience more real and at the same time more social.  Whether it’s “fighting intergalactic wars on alien planets” or “casting spells in the darkest of dungeons”, the technology behind THE VOID is ambitious, and the outcomes very exciting.

Check out the preview of THE VOID experience above, it’s bound to get you excited about the future of VR gaming!

With architecture comes a great deal of responsibility. Ideally the architect will design a building that is both structurally sound and sustainable, but also beautiful in its aesthetic. A big part of the job is also convincing clients that your design is the best out there and thus worth the large investment it’s bound to entail.

With new technology developed by the tech startup IrisVR, architects, designers and engineers can now present their work to clients in an interactive and virtual format. In other words, clients will be able to experience buildings before they are built, and thus gage the atmosphere of a design while it’s still in its preliminary drawing-board phase.

Up until now architects have only been able to present their designs to clients via 2D images on paper or a computer screen, or via small scale models that are expensive and a major hassle to build. IrisVR’s goal is to completely change the way we experience architectural designs by using the latest in virtual reality software.

According to IrisVR’s website, their software allows designers to create “immersive, true-to-scale VR walkthroughs” that can be developed with one simple click. The beautiful idea is that the architect will be able to drop a Rhino, Revit or Sketchup file directly into IrisVR software, and with one click of a button receive a high quality virtual reality walkthrough of the design.

The team at IrisVR is also developing a suite of tools for designers and engineers so that they will be able to tweak VR experiences for their clients, making them more realistic and unique to the requirements of a project. Of course, in order to present clients with an actual VR experience, architectural firms will need to invest in an Oculus Rift or other VR HMDs like Cardboard, but that’s nothing for a big company with major contracts.

From the very beginning, VR developers have talked about bringing this new technology to the architectural sphere. If we can simulate environments for VR headsets, it seems only natural that we should do so for indoor environments, even before they are built. Ultimately, IrisVR is constructing a far more accurate way to present designs to clients, and it seems likely that once the technology has been fully developed, numerous architecture firms will be signing on.

To learn more about IrisVR you should check out their two minute video that explains their technology in full.

Image Source: IrisVR

A study published this week by Swedish scientists shows that virtual reality can be used to trick the brain into thinking that the body is invisible. It is suggested that this trick of the mind might be helpful in situations where people have major social anxiety issues.

The group of researchers leading this study had earlier pioneered studies on simulating phantom limbs. In other words, they were able to convince test subjects (who were not amputees) that their arms were located in places that they in fact were not. With the success of these early tests, scientists began to wonder if it would be possible to produce the same effect, but with the whole body. Would it be possible to trick the mind into thinking that the body is invisible? 

In a nutshell, the neuroscientists from Karolinska Institutet put participants in virtual reality headgear and programed the experience so that whenever a subject would look down at himself, he would see empty space instead of his body. To test this “invisibility”, scientists would then brush the torso of the test subject, while at the same time brushing the air that the subject was seeing through the HMD. This test turned out to be highly effective. Whenever the brushing motions on the body of the subject, and in the empty space, were synchronized, the test subject about 70% of the time felt that he or she was invisible. 

Furthermore, scientists monitored test subjects’ heart rate and sweat in order to determine if they were frightened. For example, when a kitchen knife was brought into view and made to stab at the empty space, subjects showed physical signs of fear, meaning they interpreted the knife stabbing at empty space as a knife stabbing at their own bodies.

The scientists who conducted the experiments noted that they plan to further their studies with subjects who struggle with anxiety disorders. They want to understand how feeling invisible will effect the experience of those who struggle with dealing with large groups, or meeting new people. All of this experimentation is naturally in its earliest stages, but it is highly intriguing to think what tricks VR will play on the human mind next.

Post Author: Lilit Markosian

There was big news this week in the VR sphere, and coming from no place other than the GoPro offices in California.

The action camera company announced a few days ago that it will be acquiring the French startup, Kolor.  This relatively young company specializes in software which allows users to create 360 experiences out of video and pictures. Kolor’s video content is also often interactive, and therefore, coupled with the power of GoPro, it is exciting to think what the two teams will be able to come up with.

Apparently the acquisition will be complete during May of this year, and GoPro has said that Kolor will play a major role in developing the company’s new and enhanced “spherical content” sector. In a press release, GoPro also noted that virtual reality is “a technology poised to transform entertainment, education and other industries”. And it’s not just through their partnership with Kolor that GoPro is showing enthusiasm for VR.

The silicon valley based company is also developing a professional mount, or a rather a cube, in which GoPros are placed on each of its six sides, and that captures 360 video that can later be

developed into a VR experience using Kolor’s software.

If you’re wondering why one might care about all of this━how this can change things in the field━well, the main point is that the GoPro and Kolor team are making VR filmmaking much more accessible than it once was. Action cameras, which have increasingly grown in popularity, can now be coupled with the right software, enabling filmmakers (both amateur and otherwise) to add VR to their projects with relatively little hassle or expense. You’ve got to admit, that’s pretty cool and only the beginning of something big.

To see what the Kolor and GoPro duo is capable of, check out this video they released in light of their partnership. And to all you filmmakers out there, maybe it will serve as inspiration!

Image Source: GoPro.com

Okay, quick question: how many of you as children, wanted to be an astronaut when you grew up? I’m guessing quite a few, I mean just about every kid ponders the possibility of space travel, even if he or she doesn’t stick with it as a definitive career choice.

And if you were one of those munchkins who dreamed of going to space, but grew up and took to a career that keeps you continually earthbound (as most of us did), VR has developed an experience that I think you’ll love: SpaceVR.

When you visit the SpaceVR website, the very first title to catch your eye reads: “BE AN ASTRONAUT”, and you’ve got to admit that’s pretty cool. The small team behind this cosmic project has big goals, and primary among them is to bring what is called “The Overview Effect” to as many people as possible.

The Overview Effect occurs when someone sees the earth from space for the very first time. Apparently this image stirs up in the viewer kumbaya-type feelings; borders and cultural differences no longer matter, and in the end we’re all stuck in the same blue-green, floating boat.

Whether or not you’re looking to have that overview experience, seeing space through a 360 3D virtual reality lens is undoubtedly an awesome possibility. The footage you’ll see is from a camera that was 3D-printed on the International Space Station and installed there. Moreover, once the SpaceVR app launches, you’ll be able to access the experience via any VR device (including Cardboard).

In order to get things on a roll however, these guys need a little funding, and for that reason they will be launching a Kickstarter campaign in about one month. If you’re looking to realize your space odyssey dreams and feel ready to support a really cool project, I’d highly recommend keeping up with their campaign, donating a few bucks, and sharing the initiative with your friends.

Let’s make outer space accessible to everyone.

Cheers!

Author: Lilit Markosian

We’ve been talking a whole lot about the VR industry━how it is developing, what gear is out there, and how that gear can be used in a variety of fields, starting with military training and ending with the music industry. While discussing the broad possibilities of VR technology is important, one wouldn’t want to evade the most basic, and readily available, function of VR, and that is gaming.

Indeed, there are currently numerous apps available both for iOS and Android platforms. Now, with basic headsets like Cardboard, you can play them at low cost and with just about any smartphone. Gamers are a big driver in the VR industry and as their demand for a variety of VR experiences grows, so does the diversity of apps.

With all that said, here are five VR apps that you really don’t want to miss!

1. Proton Pulse: in this Sci-Fi arcade-style game the fate of the world rests in your dear hands. The premise is that the earth is under attack by a space entity called M.O.A.I and it’s your job to use a paddle to launch the Proton, a powerful energy ball, against the invaders. This is an engaging brick-breaking game that utilizes the new features made available by VR technology, but also maintains a classic arcade feel to it, that every true gamer can appreciate. This game is available only for Android.

2. Lamper: Lamper is a darling firefly bug that is hard not to fall in love with. In this game you take the place of the little guy━whose kingdom is unfortunately under attack━and are charged with navigating through a maze of tunnels and obstacles through which you naturally want to get through alive. It’s a fun ride, free, and currently available only for the Android platform.

3. Sisters - With this Cardboard-friendly app you get a whole haunted house that fits right in your pocket. Immerse yourself in a creepy world where you aren’t wanted, and beware of the nasty surprises that await you around every corner. An eerie VR experience complete with full audio and 360 visuals, Sisters is not so much a game as a virtual nightmare. This app is also currently available only for the Android platform.

4. War of Words - This one is for all you intellectual types out there. Jump into a battlefield of words in 1916, and experience Siegfried Sassoon’s poem “The Kiss” in an up close and intimate manner. This app was based on that poem which describes the battle of the Somme in which more poets and writers fought than any other battle in history. War of Words enables you to struggle with the morality of war and soak in some fine literature all at the same time━sophisticated stuff indeed! Available for Android.

5. VR Rollercoaster - This app is exactly what is sounds like, a virtual rollercoaster. There isn’t much to it, but what makes it unique is that it allows you to experience the possibilities of VR quite fully. You really feel like you’re on a rollercoaster, and don’t be surprised if you let out a scream on one of those steep drops or feel dizzy on a loopty loop. Check out this VR classic, available for Android.