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Press release: IrisVR Brings Virtual Reality to Architecture, Construction & Design With Ready-To-Market Enterprise Software NEW YORK — IrisVR, a New York City-based startup founded by Nate Beatty and Shane Scranton, recent NYC accelerator Techstars alumni, announced today that it has closed a $1.625 million funding round led by IndicatorRead More →

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This Sunday’s Socal Virtual Reality Conference and Expo is sold out, with over 800 attendees expected, according to media sponsor VR Digest. The main track will be broadcast live in 360 degree immersive video by VRLive.tv. That includes the keynote address by Terbine CEO David Knight, who is also is aRead More →

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Mozilla has given outside developers early access to their virtual reality test browser, according to a report last week in USA Today. Firefox Nightly is the preview version of Firefox, and is for testing purposes only. It is available for Windows, Linux and Mac on the desktop, and also forRead More →

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Chinese phone maker OnePlus offered everyone a free Google Cardboard headset — you just pay for shipping — so that people could watch its smartphone launch virtually on July 27. The company sent out 30,000 sets, and ran out in about a day. According to the company, their Cardboard is thinner,Read More →

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San Francisco-based Fove Inc. concluded its Kickstarter campaign with $480,650 today, almost twice its initial goal of $250,000, and a couple of announcements about the headset. First, a new design was released, billed as lighter and smaller than the previous design, with new clasps. The company promises it will make for a moreRead More →

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Plans to use Microsoft’s HoloLens augmented reality headset in space have been set back indefinitely, as the unmanned SpaceX rocket carrying the device exploded shortly after takeoff on Sunday. “Cause still unknown after several thousand engineering-hours of review,” said SpaceX CEO Elun Musk in a Tweet on Monday. “Now parsing data withRead More →

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Press release: Sphericam campaign reaches $50,000 in just one day PRAGUE — Sphericam, the first 360 degree video camera made specifically for virtual reality film production, launched on Kickstarter today, June 30, with a funding goal of $150K. As huge companies like Oculus Rift and Samsung work furiously to create the bestRead More →

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The Kickstarter for the Fove virtual reality headset — the one that tracks where you are looking — is coming to an end this Saturday. There are only ten headsets left at the $375 support level — normally $500 — with delivery scheduled for May 2016. Fove has already nearly doubledRead More →

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Today, I was finally able to use my iPhone to walk around my little home region in OpenSim. Well, kind of… I used the CtrlAltStudio viewer to get the side-by-side 3D view. Then I used the Splashtop Streamer software to send my desktop display to the companion $2.99 Splashtop app on theRead More →

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Google released an update for its YouTube app this week with support for both standard and immersive 360 degree video. The update is currently only available for Android devices, but an iOS version is expected soon. Users without virtual reality headsets will be able to turn their phones or tablets while watchingRead More →

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Oculus VR founder Palmer Luckey recently told Re/code that virtual reality will initially be mostly for hard-core gamers. The headset is expensive, and the computer hardware needed to run virtual reality applications is even more so — the total price is expected to come in at around $1,500. But you’llRead More →

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Press release: NASA, Microsoft Collaborate to Bring Science Fiction to Science Fact NASA and Microsoft are teaming up to develop Sidekick, a new project using commercial technology to empower astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS). Sidekick uses Microsoft HoloLens to provide virtual aid to astronauts working off the Earth,Read More →

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India’s home furnishings retailer HomeLane has created its own Google Cardboard-based headset to allow customers to visit virtual product showrooms. “Wear these glasses and walk into a virtual world where choosing between colours and finishes, countertops and flooring options, appliances and accessories is as easy as pie,” the company saidRead More →

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China-based OnePlus, known for their OnePlus One smartphone, is launching their OnePlus 2 smartphone next month in virtual reality. “You’re going to want to experience it, and to help you out, we are releasing our very own Cardboard,” the company said in an announcement. “It’s based on Cardboard 2.0, but with some notableRead More →

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Netherlands-based Manus Machina demonstrated a new virtual reality glove aimed at consumers at the E3 conference last week. The gloves connect wirelessly via Bluetooth to virtual reality headsets. “There are currently no other VR gloves on the market that are wireless and platform free,” the company said on its website. TheRead More →

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Thousands of real estate agents already using the technology to create virtual property tours seen by over a million people a month MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA – Matterport, a leader in computer vision technology and immersive media, announced that it has raised a $30M Series C financing led by Qualcomm Incorporated,Read More →

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Is the $4 price tag of a Google Cardboard on Amazon too much for your budget? Don’t have the lenses and pizza box needed to make your own from scratch? Try the TinVR kit, which turns an empty soda or beer can and some felt into a virtual reality headsetRead More →

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Press release: Starbreeze launches VR venture with the acquisition of InfinitEye STOCKHOLM — Starbreeze AB, an independent creator, publisher and distributor of high quality entertainment products, announced its virtual reality initiative with the acquisition of French company InfinitEye VR SAS for US $2 million  in cash. InfinitEye is developing aRead More →

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According to a new KZero report covering virtual reality hardware, mobile device-based headsets have beaten integrated headsets to the market. Consumer versions of the Google Cardboard, Durovis Dive, Seebright, Altergaze, Vrizzmo and Samsung headsets are already available on the market, the report shows, while not a single of the integrated devices has hit the consumer market yet.Read More →

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This week, Oculus VR demonstrated the new consumer version of the Oculus Rift headset, due to hit the market in the first quarter of 2016, as well as a couple of controllers — a standard XBox controller and a spacial motion controller. The biggest design difference from the most recentRead More →

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PRAGUE — Sphericam 2, the first 360 degree video camera made specifically for virtual reality film production, will launch a Kickstarter campaign on June 15th with a $150,000 funding goal. As huge companies like Oculus Rift and Samsung work furiously to create the best virtual reality viewing platform, Sphericam has been createdRead More →

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Miami-based NeuroDigital Technologies launched a Kickstarter last week for a new virtual reality input device, Gloveone, which allows users to touch a virtual object. “With Gloveone, you will be able to feel its shape or weight, sense all of its physical features, and even smash it,” said Luis Castillo, founder and CEO of NeuroDigital Technology.Read More →

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ABC Family launched a virtual app for smartphones yesterday, “Stitchers: Hack The Case,” available for both Android and iOS devices to promote their new series”Stitchers.” The app can work either with or without a virtual reality headset. However, for the virtual reality option to work, it requires either a Google Cardboard V2Read More →

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For iPhone owners who have the Google Cardboard or an equivalent headset, we had the 29 fun VR apps for the iPhone article. Now it’s Android’s turn. You can find out where to get the older version of the Google Cardboard headset here, and the new version, released last last month, here.Read More →

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Lenovo debuted a new virtual reality headset, the Lenovo VR Goggles, at Lenovo Tech World in Beijing this week. The headset will work with Android phones, but there’s no word yet about pricing or availability. Read more about it at Tom’s Hardware.Read More →

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Seattle development firm Luma has partnered with Studio216 and DEI Creative to create virtual reality experiences for potential condo buyers. The experience requires Oculus Rift headsets, but Studio216 also has virtual reality apps that can be accessed via smartphone headsets like the Google Cardboard. Read more about it here.Read More →

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Virtual reality will be “the next mega tech theme” and worth more than $60 billion in a decade, according to Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster. “The diverse applications of VR in combination with accelerating technological improvements will lead to mainstream adoption over the next 10 years,” Munster wrote in a reportRead More →

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Virtual reality poster child Oculus VR has just acquired Surreal Vision, a computer vision firm that works on real-time 3D scene reconstruction. “By achieving the ability to continuously reconstruct and track the world around us, we’ll be able to build an understanding of the world at a semantic level,” said SurrealRead More →

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Updated Jan. 2, 2016: This page is so out of date! Please go see our Virtual Headsets Buying Guide, which lists over 70 Google Cardboard-compatible headsets categorized by price, and our handy Mobile virtual reality headset comparison chart, which has all the key specs, prices, and buying links for all the headsetsRead More →

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Google’s new Jump platform combines blueprints for a 360-degree camera rig, software that automatically assembles the videos into 3D footage, and a mobile app that can play the videos. Like with Google Cardboard, any manufacturer can create Jump-compatible cameras. Filmmakers can also make their own using off-the shelf cameras suchRead More →

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It all started with broken toys. Fangwei Lee, a father of two, became frustrated with buying countless bubble guns for his son to play with. The quality of the guns led to them either breaking easily or not working at all. The frustration grew into making a virtual bubble gunRead More →

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Hawaii-based Total Recall Technologies is accusing Oculus VR founder Palmer Luckey of violating a confidentiality agreement that he signed as a former employee of the company. According to the lawsuit, he was hired specifically to develop a head-mounted display but used proprietary information for his Oculus Rift Kickstarter campaign. Read more about the case at Reuters.Read More →

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Press release: Second Annual Silicon Valley Virtual Reality Conference & Expo Draws Record Attendance SAN JOSE, Calif. — Earlier this week, the second annual Silicon Valley Virtual Reality Conference & Expo, known as SVVR 2015, gathered over 1,400 professionals on May 18th and 19th at the San Jose Convention Center.Read More →

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Oculus Connect 2, the second annual developer conference, will bring together engineers, designers, and creatives from around the world to learn about the future of the Oculus platform and push virtual reality forward. This year’s Connect will feature keynotes from Brendan Iribe, Michael Abrash, and John Carmack, plus everything developersRead More →

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AltspaceVR’s social virtual reality platform is now open to all, the company announced at the Silicon Valley Virtual Reality Conference today. The company offers a proprietary cloud-based platform for holding virtual meetings in which users can meet, talk, wave their hands, and share videos and other Web-based content. There’s aRead More →

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The second annual Silicon Valley Virtual Reality Conference and Expo started this morning, and the first video footage is up. The presentations start at the 42 minute mark with opening remarks by “Cymatic” Bruce Wooden of AltSpaceVR and conference organizer Karl Krantz, who is also the founder of the escVR virtual realityRead More →

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A stylus designed to be used as an input device in virtual environments reached its $100,000 Kickstarter funding goal in less than a day this week. The Phree stylus from Tel Aviv-based OTM Technologies Ltd. can be used as a virtual pen that writes on any surface and could potentially beRead More →

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More than 300 entrants are competing for more than $1 million in prizes in the Oculus’ Mobile VR Jam 2015 — and voting for the Community Choice prizes began yesterday, and will continue through May 26. Submissions include 184 games and 124 apps or experiences. One of the more visually compellingRead More →

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Sony is currently leading the virtual reality patent race, according to a new report from Houston-based patent consulting firm LexInnova, According to the firm’s analysis of nearly 12,000 patents or patent applications, Sony has 366 virtual reality patents or patent applications. Microsoft is close behind, with 365, followed by Samsung withRead More →

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The second annual Silicon Valley Virtual Reality conference is next week, and I’ll be there, representing both Women in Virtual Reality and Hypergrid Business. If any other readers are coming, I’d love to meet up with you. I’m flying in on Saturday night, and have all of Sunday open. InRead More →

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Oculus Rift virtual reality headsets will begins shipping in the first quarter of 2016, the company announced today. Pre-orders will begin later this year. “In the weeks ahead, we’ll be revealing the details around hardware, software, input, and many of our unannounced made-for-VR games and experiences coming to the Rift,”Read More →

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Press release: WorldViz Introduces VizMove: The Industry’s First Out-of-the-Box Virtual Reality Solution for the Enterprise New end-to-end VR solution featuring Vizard 5.1 provides seamless set of tools for portable virtual reality SANTA BARBARA, Calif.  – WorldViz, the company that powers virtual reality, today announced VizMove, the industry’s first out-of-the-box wide-area-walkingRead More →

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Over the past few years, education—from the elementary to the post-secondary level—has started to put much greater emphasis on the STEM fields, that is, science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. The reason for this is the growing recognition of the importance of STEM in modern digital society, and the predicted increaseRead More →

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I’m extremely sad that we don’t yet have a virtual reality OpenSim viewer for the iPhone. (If you’re new to this blog, check out What is OpenSim?) But that doesn’t mean that we iPhone users can’t explore virtual reality at all. I recently bought a Google Cardboard headset — one ofRead More →

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In a paper released today, neuroscientists from Sweden’s Karolinska Institutet have used virtual reality to find out how people feel when they think their body is invisible. “This experience affects bodily self-perception and social cognition,” the authors wrote. A person was primed to think they’re invisible by wearing a virtual reality headset,Read More →

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I’ve gotten a little wary of trying new virtual reality applications because some of the best ones, graphically, do the nastiest job on my stomach. There was that one swimming-with-sharks simulations that made me seasick, that I still remember well. AltspaceVR has figured out how to put people in aRead More →

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As anyone with experience in OpenSim knows perhaps the biggest barrier to having the general public view your work is the requirement to download a viewer and the complexity of using it once you have it downloaded. Google Cardboard is a device that turns smartphones into stereoscopic, 3D viewers. UsingRead More →

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Virtual Desktop is a free Windows application that instantly makes the entire Windows operating system accessible via the Oculus Rift. Anything that you can use on your monitor, such as a word processor or a browser, you can use in virtual reality. Read a very thorough review at Road to VR.Read More →