25 years ago, the cult sci-fi classic 1992 film “The Lawnmower Man” transported audiences into a thrilling narrative built on virtual reality. In it, a young man with mental disability (Jobe Smith, played by Jeff Fahey) uses VR to evolve intellectually at an incredible pace. The film takes an incredibly dark turn, though, and essentially...
Tag: virtual reality
DDD60 Is A New EU-Funded Compression System To Make 360-Degree Video Clearer
Watching 360-degree content inside a VR headset can be an amazing experience, but only if the image is clear enough. The European Union wants to help with that. The EU’s research and innovation program, Horizon 2020, is devoting a portion of its funding to a group of pioneering video companies and film festivals, including reelport,...
Drummer Plays the ‘Pokemon’ Theme In VR With Custom Software
Drums are cool. Everyone knows it. When you were a kid playing in a rock band with your friends the two hottest spots were lead guitar and drums. And then, when you were playing Rock Band as a teenager or adult, that plastic kit made you feel both talented and grateful that you weren’t stuck...
HTC Plans to Certify Accessories Approved for Use with Vive Tracker
At CES earlier this month, HTC announced the Vive Tracker, a standalone tracking device which taps into the Vive’s Lighthouse tracking system, and which can be attached to objects to track them in VR, including purpose-built accessories. The company plans to have an official certification process for accessory makers. The Vive Tracker is a standalone...
Nike’s New AR Feature Lets You Display Different Styles On Physical Shoes
Augmented and virtual reality are slowly but surely being integrated into shopping experiences worldwide. At CES for example, GAP and Asus teamed up for an AR shopping app that may point toward the future of mobile shopping engagement. And previously we covered Adidas and their promotion of a new soccer shoe using virtual reality throughout Europe....
ZeniMax Wanted 15 Percent Of Oculus
Following Mark Zuckerberg’s appearance earlier this week, Oculus founders Palmer Luckey and Brendan Iribe answered questions in the company’s ongoing legal battle with ZeniMax Media over the alleged theft of VR technology. Luckey got into the nitty-gritty details about the origins of the Oculus Rift and more on Wednesday. Luckey faced questions from both prosecution and defense. The...
‘Dungeons & Dragons’ in AR Teased by Wizards of the Coast Digital Games Studio
Playing Dungeons & Dragons 5th edition using AltspaceVR was one of my first multi-hour VR experiences. It combined something that I was familiar with and brought it to new life with new capabilities using the power of virtual reality. Whereas Dungeons & Dragons in VR brings anyone from around the world to the same location...
‘The Lawnmower Man’ is Coming to VR as an Original Multi-Episode Series
Jaunt, the cinematic VR company, has today revealed 5 different content deals slated to go into production in 2017, one of which—love it or hate it—will be based on the seminal ’90s VR flick The Lawnmower Man (1992). And no, neither Pierce Brosnan nor Jeff Fahey have signed on to reprise their roles as the eccentric scientist Dr. Lawrence Angelo and the...
‘Tilt Brush’ Toolkit Turns Artists Into Animators With Unity Integration
Google’s Tilt Brush app is evolving from a new way for artists to create into an important new tool in a developer’s arsenal. Back in October 2016 the search engine giant open sourced the Tilt Brush Toolkit, a set of scripts that allows developers to utilize .tilt files (your saved creations) in various ways, bringing them...
DigiLens Raises $22 Million For Consumer-Focused Augmented Reality Products
DigiLens raised an additional $22 million in a Series B investment round from Sony, Foxconn, Continental and Panasonic, along with venture investors including Alsop Louie Partners, Bold Capital, Nautilus Venture Partners and Dolby Family Ventures. Gilman Louie, founder and managing director of Alsop Louie Partners, said the next generation display technology will be glass. “Data...
