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OculusVR announced this week that the first batch of the new, higher-resolution development kits, known as DK2, have left their manufacturing facility and are on their way to customers. “We expect to ship roughly 10,000 DK2s from the factory in July, with just over half of the units through distributionRead More →

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If there’s anyone out there who can’t get crowd funding for their virtual world project, you no longer have any excuses. A rock simulator just got funded. Okay, it wasn’t much — its goal was $500 on IndieGoGo. But there’s still 28 days left to go in its fundraising campaign,Read More →

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OculusVR will acquire the Carbon Design, the company behind the Xbox 360 controller, OculusVR announced this week. “The team will officially become a key component of the product engineering group at Oculus, operating from the Carbon studio in the Seattle area,” the company said.     “The Carbon team bringsRead More →

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Press release: Metaio R&D Lab Releases 6D Augmented Reality Holodeck Technology to Developers MUNICH — Metaio, the world leader in Augmented Reality (AR) software and solutions today revealed its 6D Holodeck technology that places virtual environments directly in the real world allowing smartphone users to explore them with their on-board cameras.Read More →

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U.K.-based group Infinite Void is seeking £5,000 — about US $8,500 — for a virtual ride to outer space. The idea is to send a weather balloon with 12 GoPro cameras up to the edge of space — 30 kilometers, or nearly 20 miles, straight up. The recorded video would then beRead More →

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Over 40,000 orders for the Oculus Rift’s Development Kit 2 have already come in, bringing the total number of headsets sold to over 100,000. The DK2 became available for pre-order in mid-March, and shipping is scheduled to begin next month. “We’ll ship 20 to 30,000 in July,” said Nate Mitchell,Read More →

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The BBC is experimenting with immersive virtual reality, according to today’s blog post by Cyrus Saihan, head of business development for BBC Future Media. “When the BBC started making the world’s first regular public television broadcasts in 1936, there were only about 20,000 TV sets capable of receiving the programming,”Read More →

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Press release: Red Dot Square announces ground breaking Virtual Reality software to help organisations make better, faster, retail and shopper decisions A new development in Virtual Reality technology is changing the way businesses plan, visualise and improve the retail and shopper experience thanks to the creation of the industry’s leadingRead More →

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According to a new study by a professor at the MIT Sloan School of Business, patent trolls cost startups $21.772 billion in lost venture capital funding over the past five years. The study specifically focuses on actual patent trolls — companies that file 20 or more patent lawsuits — not onRead More →

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Framestore, the company behind the “Game of Thrones” virtual reality simulations at SXSWi 2014, has opened what it says is the world’s first virtual reality and immersive content studio. “We’re already building a state-of-the-art space in our New York office to accommodate a variety of cutting-edge equipment that will guideRead More →

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Expedia will now accept Bitcoin as payment for hotel reservations, the company announced in a press release Wednesday. The company will be using Coinbase to process the Bitcoin payments, converting them immediately into US dollars. This is the same vendor used by Overstock and Dish to process their Bitcoin payments.Read More →

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London-based Cmoar Ltd. unveiled a new smartphone-based virtual reality headset at the Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles this week. The company is planning a Kickstarter for the project, but no date has yet been set. The headset is designed for watching traditional movies on a virtual movie screen, for watching 3DRead More →

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Control VR, the glove-based controller system that got half-way to its $250,000 Kickstarter goal after just one day, has now passed that goal with 23 days left to go. The Los Angles-based company is promising delivery by Christmas of this year, with a two-glove development kit priced at the $600 pledge level.Read More →

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Quality reasons have caused Ohio-based YEI Corporation to delay shipping on its Kickstarter-funded PrioVR virtual reality full body controller system. “You deserve a quality product and we don’t believe the product we can ship next month will meet that level of quality,” said Mike Sutherland, VP of YEI Technology, in an announcement. “The shortRead More →

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With 14 days left to go in its Kickstarter, the Beijing-based ANTVR Technology Co., Ltd., is now looking at stretch goals for the next two weeks. The Kickstarter for an open source version of the Oculus Rift ends on Jun 23 and has already passed $231,000 on a goal of $200,000.Read More →

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Loading Human, a first-person adventure from Untold Games that ended a successful Kickstarter this past Tuesday, will have a natural, “invisible interface” approach to interactivity. Hand-held controllers allow the player to interact with any object in the game. Of particular interest is the fact that the in-world hands change gesturesRead More →

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The Virtuix Omni, an omni-directional treadmill commonly seen in conjunction with the Oculus Rift, has delayed shipping to end of this summer or later. According to an update sent out a week ago to its Kickstarter backers, Virtuix has run into manufacturing issues with one of the components of theRead More →

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OpenSim news site Grid-Press has reached its first fundraising goal on Patreon, a crowdfunding site that allows supporters to schedule regular payments to artists and other creators. Pledges start at as little as $1 a month, and higher pledge levels come with bonuses such as T-shirts and exclusive OAR files.Read More →

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Oculus VR is teaming up with Samsung on a new virtual reality headset, Engadget reported today. Oculus will provide the software, Samsung will handle the hardware. Samsung will also give Oculus early access to its next-generation OLED display screens. The site also reported that Samsung’s new headset will not beRead More →

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Mona Eberhardt has a great post today on Living Virtually about the heights of Second Life avatars. Unfortunately, since we use the same viewers, all the same issues apply to OpenSim users as well. Maybe somebody out there has some ideas for a solution?Read More →

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Press release: EON Reality Launches the World’s Largest Virtual Reality Library, EON Experience The EON Experience Portal enables global EON developers to bring their innovative applications to market. IRVINE, Calif. - EON Reality Inc., the world’s leading provider of Virtual Reality software, systems, and applications, launches the new EON Experience Portal, the world’sRead More →

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Press release: Full-service creative design agency, Cubicle Ninjas, launches VR services for business. Their mission is provide businesses with a fresh opportunity to tell stronger stories through the new technology. Glen Ellyn, IL — Cubicle Ninjas announces a suite of services for businesses looking to explore new opportunities in virtual reality.Read More →

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Survios is a virtual reality startup that combines an Oculus Rift headset, Sixense controllers, a Sony Move motion detector and a battery pack plus its own game software for a self-contained virtual reality system. It has raised $4 million in venture capital funding, led by Shasta Ventures, VentureBeat reported today.Read More →

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Press release: Pantomime 3D App Launches Interactive VR and Augmented Reality Platform The Pantomime 3D app, launched today, lets iPad and iPhone users reach into realistic 3D worlds with their mobile devices. Levity Novelty and Pantomime Corporation announced they are offering this revolutionary VR and augmented reality software free ofRead More →

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Press release: SMI and WorldViz Bring Eye Tracking to Virtual Reality BERLIN and TELTOW, Germany — VSS 2014 inFlorida: SensoMotoric Instruments and WorldViz show responsive 3D scenarios incorporating gaze and motion tracking  for realistic analysis and interaction in VR environments. SensoMotoric Instruments (SMI), a leader in eye tracking technology, andRead More →

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Orlando, Fla. — U.S. Army Research Lab’s Simulation & Training Technology Center announced an open postdoctoral position on the MOSES team, which is working to develop the MOSES OpenSim grid and associated technologies. “We have identified two areas of research for this position and applicants must specify which research topic theyRead More →

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Press release: CyberLightning brings 3D visualization to industrial internet of things CyberVille Combines Big Data Processing and 3D Internet Technology in Powerful Platform for Monitoring and Control of Energy Networks and Smart City Infrastructure Oulu, Finland – CyberLightning Ltd., today introduced CyberVille, a software platform for visual monitoring and controlRead More →

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A new update for the Lumiya Android app is now out, with support for fitted mesh and other improvements. Lumiya is a 3D viewer for Second Life and OpenSim that allows users to send and receive instant messages, participate in local chat, interact with objects, manage inventories, and see and navigate theRead More →

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Vrban, a tool that allows users to see how proposed buildings will look like from different points of view or time of day, won the $5,000 grand prize at the Techcrunch Disrupt NY Hackathon this past weekend. Backstage interview with the developer: Read the full story here.Read More →

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Press release: Next3D Streams Live 360-Degree Stereoscopic Video to Virtual Reality Displays Such as the Oculus Rift ATLANTA — Next3D, a pioneer and leader in stereoscopic video compression and transmission solutions, announced today deployment of its proprietary NextStream360 system to capture sports, concerts, films, and other experiences for broadcast inRead More →

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If you’re driving a tank through hostile territory, you don’t want to stick your head up out of the hatch to see where you’re going. A head-mounted display that allowed drivers to look in any direction would normally cost around $35,000 — but the Norwegian Army is using $350 OculusRead More →

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UK-based Reign Development and students from Southampton Solent University have produced a ten-minute preview of their documentary, “Dawn of Virtual reality.” The documentary features the Oculus Rift, as well as Digital Out-of-Home Entertainment specialist Kevin Williams.  Watch the full video here:Read More →

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MYMIC LLC revolutionizes maritime training with their Virtual Marina Safety Awareness Game-Based simulation Portsmouth, VA — Today MYMIC, a high-technology company specializing in game-based learning, simulations, modeling and computer visualization solutions, launched Marina Safety Awareness Training, that utilizes 3D game-based training to allow trainees to interact with a virtual marina.Read More →

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Press release: Over a Hundred Global Visitors Experienced the Latest in Virtual Reality Technology at the EON Experience Workshop in Manchester Two days of speakers and technology demonstration celebrated the first anniversary of the opening of EON Reality’s Manchester office. IRVINE, CA, April 24th, 2014 – EON Reality Inc., the world’sRead More →

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In a brief announcement yesterday, the Federal Trade Commission approved Facebook’s proposed $2 billion buyout of virtual reality headset maker Oculus VR, Inc. The Facebook purchases promises to accelerate Oculus Rift development and move it beyond its original base of gaming supporters, towards a wider social use.Read More →

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The Virtuix Omni, an omni-directional treadmill designed to be used with the Oculus Rift and similar virtual reality systems is now available for preorder at $499, with shipping scheduled for July. The company raised more than $1.1 million on Kickstarter last year, with more than 2,500 units already sold toRead More →

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Designing Digitally, Inc. Develops HTML5 Version of Drive Vermont – DMV Drivers Training Online Learning System for the State of Vermont. Drive Vermont has helped over 10,000 permit drivers learn the rules and regulations of driving in the State of Vermont. Franklin, OH  – Designing Digitally, Inc., a full-service interactiveRead More →

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Press release: Disney’s Katie Fico to keynote Immersion 2014 BOSTON, MA –  The Immersive Education Initiative today announced that Disney’s Katie Fico will keynote IMMERSION 2014 in Los Angeles, California, this June. The award-winning Stereoscopic Supervisor at Walt Disney Animation Studios led the stereo team through the challenge of designingRead More →

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Press release: Conquer Mobile and VRcade Partner to Provide Fully Immersive Virtual Reality Medical Simulation Solutions Conquer Mobile will Use the VRcade Virtual Reality (VR) Out-of-Home Platform to Create State of the Art Medical Simulation Solutions for Medical Education. Vancouver, BC  – Conquer Mobile, a mobile solutions specialist, and VRcadeRead More →

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Press release: Unity 5 Announced at GDC 2014, Pre-Order Begins SAN FRANCISCO, CA — Unity Technologies unveils Unity 5, the next generation of the award-winning Unity multiplatform engine and development tools, during its Developer Day at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco. Unity 5 brings a wealth of newRead More →