The standalone virtual reality headset Oculus Go has been on the receiving end of three new apps for video content: ESPN, Sling TV, and FOX NOW. The latest additions join a number of existing video options, including Pluto TV, Netflix, Plex, YouTube, and more. As well, Oculus is offering customers the opportunity to get an $80 credit for Sling TV, a livestreaming television service.
On December 11, the first of three virtual reality projects from YouTube and National Geographic will debut on the video platform. Called "The Okavango Experience," this VR series will take viewers through the Okavango Delta in Africa, following a NatGeo team across 1,500 miles over the course of four months. Each episode is designed to be short and easily consumed in VR.
Virtual and augmented reality were hailed to be the next wave of computing, reshaping the way we interact with computers and digital content. So far that hasn’t happened because headsets are mostly beyond anyone’s means and most of the software for VR and AR have mostly been designed with entertainment in mind. Untethered headsets like the Oculus Go and, to some extent, the Samsung Gear VR are designed to address that and the new mobile version of Virtual Desktop could give them more things to do in those virtual worlds.
The HTC VIVE Wireless Adapter is a bit of technology that changes the overall feeling of reality in a room-scale VR experience. This is an add-on to the original HTC VIVE and the HTC VIVE Pro. This adapter isn't required to enter virtual reality, but it'll make the process a lot less painful if you're not particularly sure-footed. Less painful, that is, if you didn't have a rough time setting up the VIVE in the first place.
Back in September at its fifth Oculus Connect conference, the company that started the VR renaissance announced that YouTube VR, Google’s premiere hub for 360, and 180, degree videos, would be coming to the new, independent VR headset and platform. It seems, however, that after the hype and frenzy died down, either Google or Oculus or both forgot to make good their promise. Because it’s only now, almost two months later, that YouTube VR has finally landed on the Oculus Go.
Valve, best known for the Steam game distribution platform and Half-Life titles, has a rather unusual approach when it comes to hardware. At times it partners with hardware manufacturers and at times it makes its own. It has adopted the former strategy when it came to promoting its SteamVR virtual reality technology via HTC’s Vive platform. Soon, however, it might be switching gears and will be selling its a VR headset and controller pair under its own name, at least based on the latest photos to leak out to the press.
HTC VIVE has announced a new platform for enterprise customers that includes the Vive Focus, a standalone virtual reality headset targeted at businesses. The hardware is part of a platform and software launching for enterprises in North America and Europe that want to create VR experiences for customers and employees. This marks its expansion outside of Asia.
Sony Online Entertainment today announced that it has struck a new patent licensing deal with Lenovo. The agreement will allow Lenovo to license the design of the PlayStation VR for use its own Mirage Solo headset. What this agreement ultimately means is, at the moment at least, anyone's guess.
VR and AR, especially when headsets are involved, are solitary experiences. Yes, you can join others around some virtual campfire or in a virtual disco room, but everything you see is for your eyes only and no else can experience it first hand. That is unless you let them see through your eyes. The latest update to the Oculus Go does exactly that, sort of. It will let others see what you’re seeing, except they’ll have to settle for watching it the flat screen of your phone or tablet.
So you'd like to dive in to the virtual reality universe, but you'd rather not have to hold controllers. The most recent announcement from HTC's Vive crew suggests that the HTC Vive Pro will soon have 6DoF hand and finger tracking with a simple software update. "Through the front-camera and its proprietary AI computer vision technology, Vive Pro users can soon interact in VR environments directly with their hands without the need for any specialized tracking hardware."
Samsung is starting the work week by announcing something of a refresh for its HMD Odyssey headset. Early on, the original HMD Odyssey took its place as one of the higher-end Windows 10 Mixed Reality headsets, and this new model - dubbed simply the HMD Odyssey+ - builds on that. A lot of things are staying the same, but there are a few improvements worth talking about.
Traditionally, the middle-child can be the most problematic, but Oculus is hoping that its new Oculus Quest virtual reality headset bucks that trend. Revealed at Oculus Connect 5 today, the Facebook-owned company's annual VR developer event, the Quest slots in-between the existing Rift and Go headsets and, as I eagerly put to the test, promises the best of both.