Oculus Go hits the sweet spot
My new Oculus Go headset arrived today ($199 on Amazon) and I wasn’t originally planning to get it because I’m not a big fan of standalone headsets. That’s a headset that has the computer...
VR & AR
CGTrader looks to make VR more welcoming for women
With sexism still strong in the gaming industry, a Europe-based 3D model marketplace is looking to create a welcoming place for women developers in the surging virtual reality industry. With almost as many women...
High Fidelity launches new VR blockchain alliance
Blockchain — the technology powering Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies — is coming to virtual reality. Today, High Fidelity, the new VR platform from Second Life founder Philip Rosedale, announced the launch of the Virtual...
Sinespace launches VR beta
Sinespace, a virtual world platform from OpenSim co-founder Adam Frisby, launched its virtual reality beta last week for Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, and Windows Mixed Reality headsets.
How to become a Google Street View trusted photographer
If you are a 360-degree photographer, or want to become one, then working with Google Street View and becoming one of their Trusted Photographers will definitely help establish credibility in the industry. In fact, Google...
VR app helps treat phantom limb pain
Phantom limb pain can be debilitating but is often treatable with mirror therapy, which tricks the brain into thinking the amputated limb is still there. Now the same treatment is available as a virtual...
New VR game helps advance dementia research
Millions of people have already played Sea Hero Quest on the mobile phones — and helped scientists learn how people find their way around in order to better treat dementia patients. Now the game...
Oncomfort is changing cancer care with VR
Oncomfort, a startup based in Houston, Texas is helping patients diagnosed with cancer manage their anxiety through virtual reality. Oncomfort helps patients deal not only with their anxiety, pain management and stress but also...
Can VR stop sexual harrassment?
With all the latest news headlines about sexual harassment, Los Angeles based startup Vantage Point thinks it can make a difference with virtual reality. The company has developed a training program aimed at universities and...
How to get support for VR music content
As anyone with an innovative idea has probably discovered, a great idea can only go so far without support, and when it comes to creating music content in the virtual reality space two key...
5 marketing videos to check out in VR
If you’ve been keeping up with media based content marketing — and hopefully you have — then you know the current trend is to publish and share immersive, 360-degree videos. While a 360-degree video...
VR gives new life to old games
Virtual reality can breathe new life into old games, says video game expert Patrick Soulliere. And Soulliere knows about games — he’s organized more than 100 online e-sports tournaments for Micron Technology that feature...
AltspaceVR is not dead after all
AltspaceVR, a social virtual reality platform, has come back from the dead. A couple of weeks ago, the company announced that it was shutting down because it ran out of funding. Today, it announced...
Renamed SineSpace holds summer festival this weekend
SineSpace — formerly known as just Space — will hold a summer festival this coming weekend, August 19 and 20. The festival will include contests, live music, carnival games, a roller-coaster, movies, fireworks, and...
Summer sale on Daydream VR apps
Google’s Daydream virtual reality platform is currently my favorite. It’s built into the next generation of the Android operating system, and headsets cost under $100, making it widely accessible. And the platform’s motion controller...
How to find VR apps
It can be hard to keep up with all the new virtual reality apps coming out. But, if you’re just starting out, it can be equally hard to find good ones to start with....
How to play old Cardboard apps on Daydream View
Last night, I wanted to try out the VR Spaceship VR app for Android on my Pixel phone with my Daydream View headset. Unfortunately, VR Spaceship is an older, Cardboard-compatible app, not a Daydream app, and...
8 key virtual world features moving to VR
Eight year ago, when I first launched Hypergrid Business, virtual worlds offered a unique set of compelling features. There was presence, and immersion, and the ability to create your own virtual environments. Plus, they...
AltspaceVR to close next week
AltspaceVR will close its doors next Thursday, August 3, because it ran out of money. “We can’t afford to keep the virtual lights on anymore,” the company said in a note posted last night....
Xiaomi’s Play2 is a Cardboard headset that looks like Daydream
I got the Xiaomi Play2 VR headset in the mail today, and while it looks a lot like Google’s cutting-edge Daydream View headset, it’s not. It’s just a Cardboard-compatible. It’s not made of cardboard...
BoboVR takes on Daydream
The first set of Daydream View clones have hit the market, and I just got one of them in the mail – the BoboVR Z5. Disclosure: I received the BoboVR Z5 free from GeekBuying,...
Best VR deals on Amazon Prime Day
Amazon is going all out today with deals on virtual reality products, running the whole gamut of headset options, computers, and accessories. If you’ve been waiting to get into VR until you see a...
WorldViz VR solutions help university research
WorldViz virtual reality solutions are being used in a variety of ways in learning institutions, from enhancing virtual learning and collaboration, boosting academic research, studying human and behavioral interactions, to enhancing student language and...
HelloPro a solid VR viewer with headphones
It’s taken me a while to write this review, because I’ve been out of town and caught up with various other issues. So, my apologies to HelloPro, who sent me this headset more than...
How to win at virtual reality marketing
Low-cost virtual reality viewers — some made out of cardboard — are a minimal investment from consumer standpoint or from a company who would like to distribute their virtual reality experiences themselves. A user...
UploadVR lawsuit is a warning for nascent VR industry
Last week’s lawsuit against UploadVR is a reminder to the emerging virtual reality industry that it needs to pay more attention to being more inclusive and welcoming to women. This is an issue endemic...
PenPal Schools launches a VR field trip for students to promote Pakistan
Students from around the world can now travel to Pakistan and learn more about the country — virtually. Online educational community PenPal Schools has launched a free six week field trip project to connect about 2,000 students from...
AltspaceVR launches Women in VR talk show
AltspaceVR, a social virtual reality platform, has launched a talk show focused on women in virtual reality that is taped before a live audience — well, live virtual audience. The show was launched on...
VR film shot from point of view of dead grandfather’s ashes
Submarine Channel, an Emmy-winning studio, has released their first-ever short virtual reality film Ashes to Ashes, which was shot from point of view of an urn containing the ashes of a dead grandfather. The...
App lets you configure your VR viewer
Google Cardboard-compatible viewers are a great choice for people who want to experience VR but don’t want to shell out the hundreds of dollars that the big-name headsets cost. In fact, these viewers can...
VR is a smart bet for the future of gambling
It has often been the so-called vice industries that have driven forward new technologies. This will also be the case with virtual reality, where we are already seeing it shaking up the gambling sector....
myVR now supports in-world marketing
myVR, a social virtual reality platform from the folks at myWebRoom, has opened the platform to allow brands and marketers create and publish in-app branded experiences. For instance, companies can place branded videos and...
Viar.Live stitches 360-degree photos into virtual tours
Viar.Live allows users to upload and share 360 degree photos, create virtual reality tours from the uploaded 360 degree photos, embed virtual reality content on websites, and distribute the content across desktops, iOS and...
How to develop for Microsoft HoloLens
One of the devices that generates the greatest interest among the tech community at the moment is Microsoft HoloLens. By revolutionizing the way we perceive reality-altering solutions, the technology that stands behind HoloLens is...
How I use CoSpaces to help students create their dreams
My role in my school district, involves working directly with classroom teachers in kindergarten through 12th grade to help them create effective learning experiences with technology. Recently, I’ve become a fan of what virtual reality...
10 super-cheap viewers for trying out VR
Updated: January 19, 2018 Virtual reality is still in its very very very early stages. The headsets are bulky or uncomfortable, the interfaces aren’t really there yet, there isn’t that much content, and the...
vTime social network now on Daydream
Press release: vTime Now the Most Widely Available VR Social Network with Launch on Google Daydream Liverpool, UK – vTime, the VR Sociable Network, today becomes the most widely-available VR social network in the...
CES 2017 to feature more than 70 VR exhibitors
More than 70 virtual and argumented reality companies will showcase their products, innovations and demos at CES 2017, starting this Thursday in Las Vegas. The full list of those exhibiting in the gaming and virtual...
Check out best VRFest video, game nominees—3 days left to vote
The Virtual Reality Festival will be holding its Extreme Virtual Reality Challenge event in Las Vegas starting next Thursday, January 5, but you still three days to vote for your favorite virtual reality movies, video games, and...
So many people got VR headsets as presents
It seems that everyone has been getting virtual reality for Christmas — and posting the reaction videos on YouTube: And on Twitter… Holiday 2016 VR Reactions Here at Hypergrid Business, we normally get...
Disney celebrates Christmas with virtual reality parade
Disney will air a Christmas special, the Disney Parks’ Magical Christmas Celebration on Sunday, December 25, on the ABC television network — and there will be a companion 360-degree video posted on Disney’s YouTube channel and on...
VR ad industry working to fix fragmentation issue
An industry group and individual vendors are working to fix the problem of incompatibility across multiple virtual reality content hosting, distribution and advertising platforms. Currently, advertisers, publishers and brands often have to create native...
VR stocking stuffers you still have time to get
It’s not too late to order virtual reality presents for the holidays — and they don’t have to cost a lot of money, either! Once you get your headset, click here for instructions on...
myVR Launches Social Virtual Reality Platform for iOS
Press release: myVR Launches Social Virtual Reality Platform for iOS myVR – Virtually Everything Brings Together Content Discovery, Social Interactions, Video, Chat and More in a Totally Immersive Experience San Francisco, CA – After...
After trying VR, nearly half plan to buy
According to a new survey by Parks Associates, nearly 50 percent of U.S. broadband households who try a virtual reality headset plan to buy one. In addition, 3.5 percent of broadband households, or about 3.4...
vTime social network releases iPhone app
Press release: vTime Becomes The Most Widely Available Virtual Reality Social Network As It Launches on iPhone LIVERPOOL, U.K. — vTime, the VR Sociable Network, today brings its flagship mobile VR title to iPhone, making it...
Oculus to release Quill this week, a VR drawing app
Virtual reality pioneer Oculus will be releasing Quill, a free virtual reality drawing program when it launches its Touch controllers on December 6. Quill seems to be Oculus’ answer to Google’s award-winning Tilt Brush virtual reality drawing...
Verizon Promotes Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
Verizon has partnered with Lucasfilm Ltd. promote Star Wars Battlefront Rogue One: X-Wing VR Mission, a Playstation VR game that will released in December. The game released is time to coincide with the holiday release of Rogue...
Best VR headsets for iPhones
Updated: August 10, 2017 Do want to give a VR headset as a gift to someone with an iPhone — or buy one for yourself? You can. You won’t get the best possible mobile...
VR games that work with iPhone controllers
Unlike Android VR games, which work reasonably well with standard, off-the-shelf Bluetooth controllers, iPhones are a bit more temperamental. Regular Bluetooth controllers don’t work. What you do get are some work-arounds, but they only...
Report: 98% of VR headsets sold this year are for mobile phones
Although high-end sets like the Oculus Rift, HTC Vive and the PlayStation VR get more attention, the vast majority of the virtual reality headsets sold this year are projected to be the lower-cost mobile-based...
Vrideo folds, will other VR video platforms follow?
There are a lot of 360-degree videos out there and more arriving all the time. They seem to be a killer application for virtual reality. Even the lowest-cost mobile-based headsets — the kind you...
Use these Google tools to optimize VR content for search engines
Search marketers can now use Google’s VR View, Street View and Cardboard Camera apps to capture, upload and optimize 360 degree videos, virtual reality videos and images for better and easier visibility on search engines...
7 firms with face tracking tech for better VR avatars
Today, most virtual reality avatars are very basic, cartoony figures, with a limited range of motions and expressions. Vendors are working to change this, and make avatars more realistic, with facial expressions that reflect...
New mobile VR headset to have built-in positional tracking
Dacuda, a 3D scanning and room-scale virtual reality company is partnering with brain technology company MindMaze on a new headset that will offer positional tracing and improve social interactions in virtual environments. The new MMI...
New browser-based world Space offers free regions
Press release: Space, a new virtual world, launched today with free regions LONDON — Space, a browser-based virtual world platform from Sine Wave Entertainment, opened to the public after two months of private beta and seven years of...
Intel, BBC, and ‘The Rock’ go all-in on VR videos
More big names names are jumping on the 360-degree video bandwagon. This fall, there were announcements from the NFL, the BBC, Sky, USA Today, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. National Football to launch new VR video program on Thanksgiving...
Sunglasses that record 360 degree videos get crowdfunded
The Orbi sunglasses, which film 360-degree videos, have just reached their crowdfunding goal. The glasses raised $88,568 from 269 Indiegogo backers in just a week, and there are still three weeks to go if you’re interested...
Purdue patents picture of a nose to help VR
Purdue University has received a patent for putting a picture of a nose at the bottom of a virtual reality display — and is selling the licenses to use this idea through partner Virtualis...
Escam Shark camera shoots 360 degrees — but just barely
Disclosure: This camera was provided free by GeekBuying. After discovering that Chinese manufacturers were making some of the best Google Cardboard-compatible virtual reality headsets in the world, and at super low prices, I was curious...
AltspaceVR offers event replays
AltspaceVR, a pioneering social virtual reality platform, announced today that it will be now offering virtual reality replays of live events. The full virtual reality environment is recorded, as well as the performances, so...
EleCam 360 a low-cost camera that needs better software
Update: My daughter used the camera a couple of times, and then it stopped working. When she turns it on, the display window just says “Error” and it does not connect to WiFi or to...
Report: VR market to reach $38bil by 2026
The US virtual reality market revenues will reach $38 billion in annual revenues by 2026, after an “inflection zone” over the next five years, according to Greenlight Insights, Inc. Of that, 62 percent, will be hardware...
Matterport converting quarter million 3D spaces to VR
Thanks to the CoreVR option on the Matterport 3D application, real estate and hospitality companies who have Matterport Pro 3D cameras can now capture 3D models of their locations, upload them, and convert them into...
Hockey team to stream game in VR tonight
Tucson Roadrunners, an American Hockey League affiliate of the Arizona Coyotes, will stream, in 360 degrees, their inaugural home opener against the Stockton Heat at 8:05 p.m. Central Time today. The team has entered into partnership with 360fly...
D.C. schools gets $10 million for VR education
Steve Jobs’ widow Laurene Powell Jobs has given $10 million for a virtual reality project to the Washington Leadership Academy, a public charter school in the heart of Washington, D.C. The prize was one of...
Facebook’s Oculus takes triple hit
There’s a battle raging now for who will be the dominant platform of the coming virtual reality metaverse. Facebook, which has been getting a big chunk of the media attention with the Oculus Rift...
Content, not hardware, is king in virtual reality
Headsets Don’t Make or Break a VR Experience (or Why Content is Still King) In 1992 Indie filmmaker Robert Rodriguez made a movie with a budget of just $7,000. In Hollywood terms that’s the equivalent...
Harleys, VR … and the AARP
Three things that you might not think go together — riding a Harley through the main drag at this year’s Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, virtual reality, and the American Association of Retired Persons. But here’s the latest sign...
Notre Dame football in VR
Press release: University of Notre Dame and NextVR Deliver Football in Virtual Reality for the First Time Legendary collegiate football program teams with leading virtual reality content provider to present highlights from Oct. 15...
VR’s emotional pull shown at film festival
Three 360 degree films — the Peal, Help and Real — demonstrated that immersive storytelling can pack a big emotional punch. The three films took the top prizes at the FIVARS 2016 Awards last month at the...
IMAX to open first European VR theater this year
Press release: IMAX and ODEON & UCI Cinemas to launch first IMAX VR center in Europe Groundbreaking Agreement Ushers in Next-Generation of Immersive Entertainment Experiences to ODEON’s Printworks Multiplex in England LONDON – IMAX...
Oculus reveals new controllers, web browser, all-in-one headset
It was a busy week for virtual reality announcements this week. Following on Google’s Pixel and Daydream presentation earlier in the week, Oculus showed off new hardware and software at their annual Oculus Connect...
Watch today’s presidential debate in VR
NBC is partnering with AltspaceVR to bring viewers virtual reality feel of the U.S. Presidential debates and will be streaming the second debate between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump tonight at the AltSpace VR’s...
The Simpsons gives away 25,000 VR viewers
Fox gave away 25,000 virtual reality viewers to fans of The Simpsons to celebrate the show’s 600th episode this week. They went quick. They were Google Cardboard viewers, made of cardboard, and made by...
Report: Daydream sales to pass Rift, Vive
Customers will purchase more than 450,000 Google Daydream View headsets by the end of the year, according to SuperData Research. Samsung’s Gear VR, Daydream’s closest competitor, is estimated to sell around 2.3 million units....
Google launches Pixel phone and Daydream View VR headset
Google officially announced its new Pixel phone and its Daydream View VR headset today. The live stream of the presentation was watched by more than a quarter million people. Watch the full presentation below....
Udacity offers VR ‘nanodegree’
Udacity, an online platform for college courses, is now offering a VR development course — with no previous programming experience necessary. The class costs $199 per month, and runs for six months. Those who...
Engage VR targets educators, businesses with free platform and content creation
Engage, a free multi-user virtual reality social platform that allows educators to create and share virtual environments and take students on virtual field trips is now available in preview edition and will launch early next...
myVR social platform to launch next month
MyWebRoom will launch a free new social virtual reality platform next month, myVR, which will allow users to create and customize private room, and hold events using mobile-based VR headsets. It could be the first virtual reality...
Report: Brands to increase use of VR ads
More brands are likely to engage in using 360 degree video advertising, 2D digital billboards, 2D video, and even TV spots inside virtual reality environments over the next two years, the Interactive Advertising Bureau said in a...
Time relaunches Life — in VR
Time Inc., the publisher of the iconic Life magazine that closed in 1972, is relaunching the title — in virtual reality. The new Life VR features immersive storytelling, the company said in its announcement last...
Proto Awards will celebrate VR experiences Oct. 8
The Proto Awards gala will be held in Hollywood on October 8, and the list of nominees has been announced. Categories include Most Transportive Experience, Best Game, Best Music Experience, Best Social Experience, Best Mobile Experience, Best Interaction Design, Most Innovative, Best...
Sketchfab announces $2,500 3D building contest
Sketchfab is calling on 3D creators to re-create iconic scenes from movies and is giving away two Oculus Rifts, among other prizes, to the best creations. The contest deadline is October 13, and the...
Attend Harvard’s CS50 classes in VR
The first lecture of Harvard’s CS50 introductory programming class, can now be viewed as a 360-degree video. It was filmed using the professional-level Nokia OZO VR camera, which costs around $45,000. This is the first time...
Daydream VR platform now open to developers
Google’s Daydream virtual reality platform is now open to the public. The Daydream software development kit came out of beta, the company announced Thursday. The kit, available here for Android, has native Unity integration...
VR ads improve brand recall 28-fold
People watching 360-degree videos recalled the brands mentioned 28 times more than in traditional ads, according to a new report by Nielsen. Recall of 360-degree content in general was eight times higher, and consumers were three...
VR ad platforms now offer analytics
Virtual reality ad platforms continue to evolve, with vendors now offering analytics for advertisements placed inside 360-degree videos, virtual reality games, and other virtual experiences. Vendors are also trying to make the ads less...
RaceRender adds performance data to 360-degree videos
Camera maker 360fly has partnered with software company RaceRender to allow users to add custom video data displays to their 360-degree videos, the companies announced yesterday. Users can shoot the video with a 360fly camera, edit the video with...
NBC’s Al Roker to host VR election event
This year’s presidential election will be conducted, in part, in virtual reality. A partnership between NBC News and AltspaceVR is transforming a virtual recreation of New York’s Rockefeller Center Plaza into Democracy Plaza, where...
AltspaceVR zeros in on social virtual reality
The social virtual reality platform AltspaceVR is doubling down on the social aspect, with interface changes designed to make it easier for people to get together. Previously, AltspaceVR — like many virtual environments —...
IMAX VR rollout to begin this year
IMAX will begin its virtual reality roll-out as early as the end of this year, IMAX Entertainment CEO Greg Foster said at a conference in Los Angeles this Wednesday. Moviegoers will be able to purchase bundled...
Mixed reality studio with gesture recognition launched in Europe
VR VISIO, a Poland-based indie virtual reality studio, has opened a mixed reality studio — the first of its kind in Europe to be able to record live videos in virtual 3D spaces during...
Summer 2016 was big with VR news
If you spent the summer enjoying the doors and avoiding the news, then you’re one of the fortunate ones who was able to avoid the mess that is U.S. politics — but you might...
Unity organizing games career events for women
Unity Technologies is organizing series of events in US and Canada to talk to young women who are curious about careers in game development. The company behind the popular Unity game platform engine used to develop video...
Review: Xiaomi VR zips up a minimalist design
Update: The folks at GeekBuying sent me a $5-off coupon to share with readers: XIAOMIVR5 So I just received a Xiaomi VR in the mail. The headset has been getting some attention in the media...
VR Strategy Conference to focus on monetization
Press release: Greenlight Insights’ Virtual Reality Strategy Conference 2016 to Address Growth and Monetization Challenges VRS 2016 takes place Nov. 1-2, in San Francisco, and will feature new research findings from Greenlight’s fall 2016...
VR will help drive auto sales
The car industry has long been at the forefront in introducing new technology and has often developed new technologies from within, putting them quickly into production mostly with huge safety and ecology benefits. Sceptics...
Chess Championship Match to be broadcast in VR
Press release: The World Chess Championship Match 2016 to become the first of any sport to be broadcast in 360-degree Virtual Reality The World Chess Championship Match, to take place in New York in November...
Enterprise VR focus of London conference on Sep. 21
Press release: Enterprise AR and VR Event Launched in London A new virtual and augmented reality event, focused on its disruptive impact on business, has been announced to take place on the 21st of...
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