Samsung announced it is working on a successor to the Gear VR headset and a mixed reality device that The Verge compares to the Microsoft HoloLens or Magic Leap. Google has partnered with British startup Improbable, which according to Wired, “offers a new way of building virtual worlds, including not just immersive games à la Second Life or World of Warcraft, but … Read More
#InnovateAfrica: A Virtual Reality Project with The Nzinga Effect
We’re excited to announce our prospective partnership with UK-based The Nzinga Effect, a site dedicated to celebrating African women and women of African descent and confronting their often wrong-headed portrayal in the media. We’re working together on an ambitious project, for roll out in 2017, that will use 360 video to engage with three themes (women, LGBT communities, land rights), in three countries across … Read More
December VR/AR News #2: Oculus Touch, Vive Studios and VR trends in 2017
Storyboard VR is a new product from Artefact that according to Wired, makes creating VR experiences easier and accessible to a larger audience. “It doesn’t require any developer skills. The real pain point in the whole VR workflow is getting content positioned, spatialized, and sized correctly around you in multiple frames,” Paul Hoover, head of user experience design at Artefact, told … Read More
December VR/AR News #1: Gender and tech, murder in VR and dinosaurs
Craig Newmark, the founder of craigslist, highlights five women in VR as part of the Women Startup Challenge, which is “showcasing and funding innovative, women-led startups focusing on Artificial Intelligence (AI), Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) that are solving problems for people, businesses and the planet.” Newmark’s picks include Liv Erickson, a VR developer at Microsoft who was part … Read More
November VR/AR News #4: Project Alloy, social VR and the making of Pokemon Go
For fun: In an animated video, John Hanke, the CEO of Niantic, explores how the company made Pokemon Go and the future of AR. This holiday season could be what introduces virtual reality to a mainstream audience. According to The Washington Post, “Research firm IDC estimates that consumers — particularly gamers — will snap up 9.6 million virtual reality headsets by … Read More
November VR/AR News #3: NASA, chord-free headsets and a new way to experience Google Earth
For fun: Google Earth in VR. Listen to the product manager and engineering lead talk about the project. Apple is finally getting on the bandwagon and inserting augmented reality technology into the iPhone camera app, a source told Business Insider. According to Business Insider, “The effort, which involves teams from several acquired startups, reflects Apple’s near-term desire to put augmented reality technology … Read More
November VR/AR News #2: Google Daydream, Youtube in VR and a haptic chair
Update: We’ve partnered with Bananatic to feature their indispensable guide to Virtual Reality: check it out here. The Merge VR remote might be the new competition for Google’s Daydream controller, which only works with a limited number of Android devices. The Verge reports that the Merge VR remote can work with Merge VR headsets as well as other headsets and non-VR … Read More
November VR/AR News #1: Hardware updates, Google Tango and tech in South Africa
Most virtual reality headsets have one of two problems: either they are tethered to a computer, limiting the user’s mobility, or because they use smartphones, are too heavy. To combat this, Chinese hardware company Pico VR has come up with Pico Neo, a controller containing hardware to power a headset. According to The Verge, “By tethering the controller to an ultra-lightweight … Read More
Latest VR/AR Tech Developments
The new Snapchat Spectacles uses an embedded camera with LED lights to record users’ experiences through their own eyes. According to UploadVR, Snapchat isn’t the first company to try to bring glasses of this kind to the market, but the Spectacles are unique for capturing circular video around a scene that can be sent directly to the phone app. Microsoft might … Read More
October VR/AR News #4: virtual harassment, preserving Harlem’s history and Microsoft’s HoloLens
One of the benefits of virtual reality is its ability to mimic the real world, but this also means that issues surrounding race and gender can cross over. Jordan Belamire describes being sexually harassed while playing a QuiVr game and feeling powerless. This is just one woman’s experience, but her piece ends by exploring how abuse like this should be handled. “As VR becomes … Read More