Vox+ Z3 a nice upgrade from the BoboVR
Disclosure: The folks at Vox VR just sent me a free review copy of their Vox+ Z3 headset, which is a rebranded version of the BoboVR Z3 but with a larger field of view. Thanks, guys! The purchase links at the bottom of this article are to all the major sites I knowRead More →
Educators using CoSpaces to enhance learning in virtual reality
CoSpaces, a platform that allows users to create, explore and share virtual reality spaces, is now being used by educators, teachers and students to create virtual learning environments and enhance learning. The platform now includes a creation tool that can be used by teachers to customize learning environments, allows teachers toRead More →
Lifeliqe Go is a Pokemon Go-style educational campaign
Lifeliqe, a 3D, VR and AR educational content platform launched the Lifeliqe Go: Gotta match ’em all campaign today in which teachers and students to match their 3D interactive educational models with the right environment using augmented reality. To participate in the Lifeliqe Go campaign, teachers will have to shoot real lifeRead More →
DreamWorld OpenSim installer released
OutWorldz founder Fred Beckhusen has posted his collection of 1,000 OpenSim scripts on the open source collaboration site GitHub, as well as the code for his one-click OpenSim installer, called DreamWorld. Like New World Studio before, DreamWorld makes it easy to install a mini-grid on a personal computer, together with the FirestormRead More →
Virtual Vizor attaches VR viewer to baseball cap
Have you ever though that wearing your VR headset didn’t make you look dorky enough? I have a solution for you! The Virtual Vizor is a clip-on device that fits on the bill of your baseball cap and lets you enjoy VR experiences hands-free. To be fair, given the techieRead More →
Miniature sets pose unique challenges for 360-degree videos
Filming a 360-degree video of a model train set isn’t like filming life-sized events and requires special techniques and equipment, according to a team of Norwegian entrepreneurs. Special cameras are needed to film in extreme close-ups, and extra work is required to compensate for the parallax effect. The filmmakers –Â PointMediaRead More →
Review: FiiT VR 2S is my new favorite
I really liked the first FiiT VR headset that I tried, and when the FiiT VR 2S came out, I had to order it. It has the same field of view, but weighs a little less, and is better for augmented reality since the outside cover is almost completely open. Disclosure:Read More →
The path to a VR metaverse
I got into writing about OpenSim back in 2009 because it seemed to be, at the time, the best path to an open-source, peer-to-peer metaverse. I want to see a future where anyone could put up a virtual environment, and have people teleport in and out from other people’s environments. ARead More →
Review: Generic knockoff VR viewer is cheap but out of focus
Prices for some of the first-generation VR mobile-based viewers out there are dropping fast, possibly because the coming Daydream VR platform will make them obsolete. Even Amazon, where the prices tend to be a little higher than on GearBest or AliExpress, there are a lot of plastic headsets for underRead More →
Digitaleisure grid launches with unprecedented offer to ‘recover’ AviWorlds regions
Update: The Digitaleisure has rebranded as SkyLifeGrid. The new Digitaleisure grid will officially launch with a grand opening party on Thursday, September 1, a “song and dance,” a free yacht to all visitors — and an unprecedented offer to “recover” regions for former residents of the AviWorlds grid who are lookingRead More →
VR video of Obama’s Yosemite trip only on Facebook, Gear VR
The White House released a virtual reality video of President Barack Obama touring Yosemite National Park yesterday. Read the full announcement here. But the experience is only available on Facebook and on the Samsung Gear VR headset, with Oculus Rift support coming soon. Facebook owns Oculus VR which also provides contentRead More →
Sony to launch multi-platform VR media service
Sony Music Entertainment will launch its Littlstar Japan VR video services next month, the company announced Wednesday. New York-based Little Star Media Inc. will provide the VR delivery platform, Sony said in the announcement. Content will be delivered via the browser, and to a variety of virtual reality headsets including theRead More →
Penn State announces VR sports channel, free headset
Press release: Penn State Athletics Launching Virtual Reality Channel Nittany Lions fans to have access to exclusive virtual reality content; will receive free VR headset to watch content from all 31 programs UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.– Penn State Intercollegiate Athletics and EON Sports VR today announced a partnership to create aRead More →
Windows 10 to support Holographic AR/VR next year
Next year, all mainstream Windows 10 computers will be able to run augmented and virtual reality applications built for the Windows Holographic platform, Intel CEO Brian Krzanich announced at the Intel Developer Forum earlier this month. Windows Holographic was originally developed for the HoloLens, Microsoft’s augmented reality headset. Watch demo video below:Read More →
Intel previews all-in-one headset with gesture controls
Intel has announced a new all-in-one virtual reality headset, Project Alloy,  at the Intel Developer Forum 2016 earlier this month. The headset has its own brain, so not does not need to be connected to a computer or smartphone in order to work. There is no word yet on when the headsetRead More →
Kitely battles slow-loading meshes
A complex mesh object can significantly slow down the loading of a region — as much as ten minutes, in some cases, according to Oren Hurvitz, co-founder and VP of R&D at Kitely. That’s a significant problem for Kitely in particular because the grid’s regions are all loaded on demand. TheyRead More →
Lifeliqe adds 3D creation tool
Lifeliqe, a platform for 3D, VR and AR educational content, has launched a content creator tool that will allow educators to create intuitive and immersive educational content that integrate interactive 3D models in order to make lessons, presentations and e-books more engaging. The creator tool will also be brought into VRRead More →
Ford, AMD, High Fidelity to present at Immerse
Press release: THE IMMERSE SUMMIT RETURNS ON TUES. OCT. 11TH AS THE LARGEST IMMERSIVE TECHNOLOGY CONFERENCE & EXPO IN THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST Now in its 3rd year, IMMERSE (Formerly SEA-VR) will bring together all of the latest Learnings, Companies and Innovations in the Virtual, Augmented and Mixed Reality Industry BELLEVUE,Read More →
Virtual reality makes a splash at 2016 Rio Olympics
For the first time in history, virtual reality technology was used in the Olympic games to allow users to view events in virtual reality. We’re not quite at the point yet where sports fan can put on a headset and enter the Olympics stadiums and virtually attend all events. Instead, what we gotRead More →
6 disaster management tips for grid owners
So your grid has been hit by a denial-of-service attack, or a server has crashed, or a hacker got in, or things just mysteriously stopped working. Or maybe you’ve had a customer service disaster, or your owner said something horrible on social media, or you’ve got management or partner problemsRead More →
OSgrid, Metropolis, Kitely lead in land growth
Despite the the absence of the Virtual Life grid and Avination in this month’s statistics, region counts, registered users, and active users all increased this month. Virtual Life grid shut down without notice, and Avination is in the process of moving to a new hosting provider and could be downRead More →
IDC: Chinese gamers drive demand for VR
Press release: IDC Expects Blossoming Gaming Market in China Including VR Systems and Consoles BEIJING – According to the IDC China Gaming Market Forecast Analysis 2016-2020, the number of gamers in China reached 530 million in 2015, which is 1.7 times that of the entire U.S. population. IDC expects thisRead More →
US military turns to Halcyon branch of OpenSim
Editor’s note: This article was updated on 1/27/2023 to remove dead links and links to malicious sites. Editor: The team behind U.S. Army’s MOSES grid have long been cutting-edge contributors to OpenSim, building a grid management system, running scalability tests, and donating content to the OpenSim community. Now they are inRead More →
Get a VR career started with OpenSim
A lot of folks are interested in getting a career in virtual reality these days, and I don’t blame them. The industry is exploding. So I’m getting emails from folks asking me for advice in how to get started. My standard advice is to go to college for a degreeRead More →
Avi-Labs offers free regions, cuts grid hosting
Avi-Labs is offering free regions on the AviWorlds and AviBrasil grids, but will no longer be accepting new grid hosting companies, Nearly 200 free regions have already been given out, company owner Alexsandro Pomposelli told Hypergrid Business — 65 on AviWorlds and 117 on AviBrasil — and the infrastructure for theRead More →
IDC: AR/VR revenues to grow to $162 bil by 2020
Press release: Worldwide Revenues for Augmented and Virtual Reality Forecast to Reach $162 Billion in 2020, According to IDC FRAMINGHAM, Mass. – According to the new Worldwide Semiannual Augmented and Virtual Reality Spending Guide from the International Data Corporation (IDC), worldwide revenues for the augmented reality and virtual reality (AR/VR) marketRead More →
Review: VR Sky all-in-one headset is unrealized potential
Disclosure: This headset was provided free by GeekBuying. I like the idea of using all-in-one headsets for things like real estate and auto show rooms, trade shows or roller coaster rides. There’s no point of using an expensive headset or a high-end mobile phone if all you’re doing is showingRead More →
Atek Grid has new owners, hiring staff
Atek Grid, formerly owned by the company behind the CloudServe OpenSim hosting company, has been bought by the Tampa-based Florida Web Council, Inc. CloudServe will continue to run the back-end technology for the grid and manage the hosting. Atek Grid is large in land area — the equivalent of 4,447Read More →
New campaign tries to save ghost trains with VR
Press release: The Dark Ride Project – Saving classic haunted attractions using Virtual Reality Since the 1970s, hundreds of ghost trains and haunted house rides have closed across the USA and they are now an endangered species. The Dark Ride Project captures the last of the world’s dark rides using virtual reality, sharing theirRead More →
4 VR apps that help you be a better public speaker
Public speaking is the single most common phobia, according to numerous studies. Now, virtual reality provides a low-stress way to overcome this fear and improve speaking skills. It can also help companies in the business of public speaking training and clinicians whose clients have related challenges. Here some virtual reality applications to try.Read More →
Kitely’s new welcome region has more personal feel
There are grids whose welcome areas are always full of people hanging out, with mentors on hand to help newcomers and answer questions from residents and visitors, even grid owners stopping by to press the virtual flesh. Kitely has not been one of those grids. In the past, its welcomeRead More →
Genesis Grid launches own hosting company
Update: Genesis Grid has since been rebranded as Genesis Metaverse. The Genesis Grid, formerly hosted by Avi-Labs, has left that hosting company in the wake of recent problems and launched its own OpenSim hosting service. It will be hosting its own grid, as well as that of another former Avi-Labs customer,Read More →
VR will be huge in China
I spent the last two weeks traveling in China visiting virtual reality companies and attending the annual China Joy conference. China has a very active VR ecosystem with a lot to learn but I came away with a clear key thesis: China will be a major first market for VR. High-end VRRead More →
Alibaba working on VR payments
China’s Alibaba online retail giant told China Daily that it is developing virtual-reality-enabled mobile payment technology, which could allow users to pay bills in a 3-D virtual world by nodding their heads or making other gestures to log in payment accounts. Read the full story here. The company. which is known as China’s Amazon,Read More →
History builds showcased this month on Kitely
Kitely’s user community is celebrating History Month this August to celebrate history-inspired builds and encourage people to build more. It will also feature a number of events each week including live music and dance. Visitors can pick up landmarks and a HUD — heads-up display — at the History Month Hub eachRead More →
Sketchfab offers nearly a million VR models
If you want to share your OpenSim build online so that people can explore it with a virtual reality headset, consider Sketchfab. The platform, which has half a million registered users and nearly a million VR models, claims to be the largest 3D content sharing site on the web. For example, theRead More →
MetaWorld to offer VR creation tools, marketplace
MetaWorld, a multi-user virtual world, will add virtual reality creation tools and allow exporting of objects and launch a marketplace. The MetaWorld Pioneer Edition is currently in pre-alpha and users can pre-order it for $9.99 for early pioneer access. It will be released later this year with support for the Samsung Gear VR. Later on,Read More →
Avi-Labs hacked, grids down
Avi-Labs, the hosting company behind the AviWorlds grid, has been hacked, according to Josh Boam, the company’s technology manager, but grid data should be recoverable. “Everything is saved,” he said. According to Boam, company founder and owner Alex Pomposelli has been out of touch for the past few days. “IRead More →
18 things that might soon be obsolete
The smartphone is able to replace a lot of the things we use to need. Alarm clocks, GPS devices, cameras, mail delivery, televisions, radios, tape recorders, record players, calculators, guitar tuners, pedometers — the list goes on and on. The next-generation augmented and virtual reality headset, which looks like aRead More →
Second Life and OpenSim in VR using VorpX
While CtrlAltStudio viewer 1.2.6.43412 has provided 3D/VR access for the Oculus Rift in Second Life and OpenSim, there is another way to explore virtual worlds in VR – through VorpX. VorpX allows some applications and games not specifically designed for virtual reality headsets to work in 3D virtual reality mode. With virtual world viewersRead More →
Review: Ritech Riem 3 Plus a good fit for smaller phones
Disclosure: This headset was provided free by EverBuying. To be honest, when I first received the Ritech Riem 3 Plus headset, I thought that the quality of this product was going to be poor because of its cheap price and basic design. However, when I tried it out, I wasRead More →
OSgrid birthday bash marred by outages
OSgrid celebrated its ninth birthday this weekend, but the events did not go smoothly on OpenSim’s largest and oldest grid. OSgrid has had some technical issues over the past few days, grid president Dan Banner told Hypergrid Business, starting with login in problems on Friday. Users were still able toRead More →
Tangle Grid’s Steam Expo starts August 1
Tangle Grid is hosting the Steam Expo starting from August 1 to September 25 where creators can showcase their items and visitors can see items being displayed. In addition to the exposition for creation, the grid hosts live DJing every Friday at the exposition from 10:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.Read More →
GIBLIB to stream live hernia surgery in VR Thursday
GIBLIB, an online platform for medical lectures and surgical videos, will broadcast a live stream of a hernia operation from the Surgery Medical Center & Precision ASC. The surgery will be performed by Dr. Shirin Towfigh. Medical professionals, as well as the general public, are invited to tune in at watch.giblib.com/register on Thursday,Read More →
Your global VR events calendar for the rest of 2016
As the virtual and augmented reality space heats up, so does the number of conferences. Check out the latest technologies and network with industry leaders at these coming events. Below are a number of events organized in the virtual and augmented reality industry this year, which will take place inRead More →
Face-tracking VR headset seeks funding
New York-based Become Inc., launched a crowdfunding campaign last week for Veeso, which promises to be the world’s first virtual reality headset with built-in cameras that track facial expressions. The $70 Cardboard-compatible headset will work with both iPhones and Androids, with delivery estimated by the end of this year. ItRead More →
Leap Motion offers hints of new VR tech
Leap Motion CTO David Holz spent more than an hour and a half last Thursday night answering questions about virtual and augmented reality in front of an audience of more than 200 avatars in AltspaceVR‘s virtual environment. He said that we’re about to see transparent, sunglasses-style virtual and augmented headsetsRead More →
US consumers bullish on VR marketing
Press release: More than 50 percent of consumers likely to purchase from brands that sponsor virtual reality, according to Greenlight VR Greenlight VR’s latest consumer survey reveals positive feelings for VR among users and nonusers alike, suggesting a powerful opportunity for marketers and other content creators. SAN FRANCISCO — Greenlight VR’s latestRead More →
Tek Gear offers free headset
Canada’s Tek Gear Inc. is offering a free virtual reality headset to anyone who wants one — as long as they pick up the shipping charges. “We’ve been in the VR business for over 24 years, delivering high end immersive solutions to military, medical, industrial and research institutions worldwide,” said TonyRead More →
Grid outages bring stats down in July
Several grids did not report numbers this month, resulting in a drop in active users of 3,209. Avination was down this month, as were Virtual Dream, My Virtual Community, and Cyberface. Some grids, such as Activity Ds stopped providing active user numbers. In addition, eight of the top ten most popular grids lost activeRead More →