Popular virtual reality game Beat Saber has been updated with, among other things, increased controller motion limits. This change is only relevant to the best players, the experts who, the developers explain, exceed "what we thought was humanly possible." The change was based on tracking data gathered from Beat Saber professionals capable of making moves insanely fast.
It may not have a foldable smartphone to reveal, but Microsoft will nonetheless be at MWC 2019 with some new technology to show off. The company today teased its announcement, and though the teaser it published was vague, it seems to have something to do with HoloLens. Does that mean we'll see the rumored HoloLens 2 announced in Barcelona later this month?
Browsers these days are so powerful you can almost do anything in them. Yes, sometimes even run older (ancient, really) operating systems in a browser tab. Want to play 3D games? Google's Project Stream is working on that. How about virtual and augmented reality experiences? That's in the works, too. And with the new WebXR Device API on its way to become a standard specification, there might be a time when all you need for VR and AR is a portable headset and a web browser.
The HP Copper (code-name) VR headset was revealed in part this week as a topmost best-in-class device. Other companies either have their own ecosystem (Oculus or HTC Vive with Steam VR), or are part of Microsoft's Windows Mixed Reality platform - and are relatively bland in industrial design. HP seems to want to break out of that mold, while continuing to utilized Microsoft's program in the process.
Almost everyone of a certain age has fond memories of 1993's Groundhog Day — the Bill Murray-staring film where one man lives the same day over and over again until he gets things right. While the movie makes for an odd choice in this Age of the Reboot, there's no denying its premise could make a great video game. Someone at Sony Pictures must have thought the same, as their virtual reality division has announced a Groundhog Day semi-sequel as a none other than a VR game.
Virtual reality adventure company Spaces has teamed up with theater chain Cinemark to launch a new, immersive VR experience in San Jose, California. The new product will be found at the Westfield Oakridge Shopping Center starting on February 8, where visitors will experience a "4D" reality that includes 3D face scanning and other technologies centered in the "Terminator" universe.
This week we got the opportunity to try out the newest in innovative VR tech from HTC, the HTC VIVE Pro Eye. This device looks a whole lot like the standard Vive Pro on the outside. In fact you might mistake one for the other, except for the bright blue outline around one element at the front of the headset. From the inside, it's a whole new world.
Oculus Rift's first platform update of the year is rolling into testing today, and it's bringing a couple of interesting new features along with it. The first allows you to open your Home to any and all visitors who might want to drop in. The second is Facebook livestreaming, which - given the fact that Facebook is the parent company of Oculus - is something that we all assumed was coming at one point or another.
Consumer electronics encompasses a wide variety of products, from smartphones to appliances to, of course, computers. One new face in recent years has been virtual reality and while the hype around what was believed to be the next wave of computing, its biggest proponents haven’t given up hope. In fact, HTC VIVE just made a couple of new announcements, including two new headsets. And it is so confident in its VR ecosystem that it’s opening up an unlimited subscription tier for all the VR experiences you can get.
HTC has announced the HTC Vive Pro Eye, a new virtual reality headset that includes built-in eye tracking. The new hardware enables experiences that aren't possible without tracking the user's eyes, including gaze-oriented menu navigation and the ability to control the VR experience without using controllers. As well, eye-tracking provides developers and corporations with data for optimizing their products.
From the outside, it looks as though I'm in the back seat of a new Audi e-tron, being driven around Speed Vegas for roughly two laps. Look closer, though, and I'm not making awkward small-talk with my driver: instead, I donned a set of Oculus Rift virtual reality glasses, was handed a controller, and set to work being among the first to experience Holoride's vision of next-gen in-car entertainment.
Virtual reality is a largely visual environment with sounds rounding out the experience. A number of devices bring haptic feedback into the picture, but smell remains absent. That may change in the future via Feelreal's sensory mask, a contraption that works with existing VR headsets to bring hundreds of smells to the user's virtual worlds.