VR helps sell condos in Seattle
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 →
Analyst: VR is next mega tech trend
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 →
Oculus buys computer vision firm
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 →
Where to get new Google Cardboard cases
Updated Jan. 2, 2016: This page is so out of date!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 →
Google Cardboard updated with new button, bigger screen, iOS support
More than a million Google Cardboard headsets are now in the hands of users, said Clay Bavor, Google’s VP of product management, in a presentation yesterday at the Google I/O conference. “We started with a piece of cardboard, some Velcro, add some lenses and a rubber band and amazingly enough, thatRead More →
Google launches Jump, an ecosystem for VR videos
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 →
Ball State helps History Channel re-create Roman monuments
MUNCIE, Indiana — For the season finale of its popular program “The Universe,” the History Channel highlighted the work of virtual artists from Ball State University. The episode aired May 23 and explored how Roman emperors built structures to align with movements of the sun. To confirm experts’ theories aboutRead More →
Minecraft ‘Builder Bowl’ begins in June
BOSTON –Â Â The Immersive Education Initiative today announced the first in a series of international “builder” tournaments during which students and schools compete against one another to build immersive experiences, content, apps and applications. The inaugural Minecraft “Builder Bowl” tournament begins in June, with the championship rounds and awards ceremony toRead More →
Bright Canopy’s viewer in a browser supports voice, uploads, OpenSim grids
Bright Canopy‘s streaming service for the Second Life and Firestorm viewers is now in pre-launch beta, and everything seems to work — voice, image uploads and downloads, adding new grids to the grid manager, even saving viewer preferences and login details between sessions. The current cost is about 80 cents perRead More →
Realiteer promises full VR kit for $40
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 →
Kitely simplifies hypergrid delivery
Customers have been able to shop on the Kitely Market and get the products delivered to other grids for over a year, But adding a new grid to the delivery list meant that the customer had to know the grid’s loginURI and add it through the grid manager. With hundredsRead More →
Exo-Life grid offers free OARs
Wheeling, WV– The Exo-Life Virtual World released the first two in a new series of OAR files for some grids operating the OpenSim platform today. An OAR is a region backup file. It includes the landscape and all buildings, scripts, and other items available on a region. All independent hosting companies andRead More →
GIMP layer tips for clothing design
In order to write about how to create stuff for sale on the Kitely Market, I’ve been playing around with baked-on clothing textures. In the process, I’ve learned a few more things about using layers to create textures with GIMP. Say, for example, you want to create a piece ofRead More →
Hawaii firm sues Oculus VR over headset design
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 →
Lightning strikes Tangle Grid
Commercial virtual world Tangle Grid has been down for two weeks due to a series of technical problems — including an actual lightning strike. The grid is still have problems repairing the database, grid owner Leslie Kling told Hypergrid Business. “But we think we are getting lose. We feel we willRead More →
5 tips for competitive analysis
So you want to operate a business in a virtual world, with a shop that people can visit and look around. Last week, I offered some tips for creating demand for your products. This week, here’s some advice on how to do a competitive analysis. 1. Gauging quality How doRead More →
SVVR 2015 three times larger then last year
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 →
Housing shortage on Great Canadian Grid
The Great Canadian Grid is experiencing a population explosion and a housing crunch. According to the Corran Journal, the Freelands regions have turned into “upscale refugee camps” as friends share parcels until housing becomes available. The Great Canadian Grid has gained nearly 500 registered users over the past month. Read moreRead More →
Second annual Oculus Connect conference slated for September
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 →
Next Galaxy to power virtual jewelry showcase
Press release: Next Galaxy To Provide Berkshire Hathaway Subsidiary Richline With ECommerce Virtual Reality Content Miami Beach, FL –  Next Galaxy Corp., a leading developer of innovative content solutions and fully immersive consumer virtual reality technology, announced that it will be providing Richline Group Inc. with a virtual reality experience toRead More →
Is there a future for user-created content in Linden Lab’s new world?
The title of Ebbe Altberg’s talk at the Silicon Valley Virtual Reality Conference on Monday was “The Future of VR is User-Created.” While Altberg did describe examples of well-known user-created content in the current Second Life virtual world, there were no specifics about how users will generate content in LindenRead More →
Ebbe: SL users cashed out $60 mil last year
Second Life’s content creators redeemed over $60 million last year, Linden Lab CEO Ebbe Altberg said Monday at the Silicon Valley Virtual Reality Conference in San Jose. Of that $60 million, “a lot of that is from the fashion industry,” he added. “Just like in the real world, people wantRead More →
AltspaceVR social platform launches open beta
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 →
Watch early sessions from virtual reality conference
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 →
5 tips to spark desire for your products
There’s a well used adage, “sex sells.†It’s a bit of a cliche but true. There are many other sales triggers of course, including fear — used a lot by insurance companies, hope — used by lotteries, and vanity — used by beauty and cosmetics firms. The list is endless. However, theyRead More →
Users, regions grow on the hypergrid
OpenSim’s land area and active users hit new record highs this month. Land area passed 4,000 square kilometers for the first time, and 60,000 regions, while active users crossed the 32,000 mark. At 4,015 square kilometers, OpenSim’s public grids added together are now bigger than the state of Rhode Island.Read More →
5 aspects of education about to be transformed by virtual reality
In response to a Quora question, here are five main ways that education will be affected by virtual reality. 1. The ‘Magic Schoolbus’ Virtual reality will allow teachers to take students on guided virtual field trips to foreign locations, to historic events, or to witnesses processes too small, too big,Read More →
Kitely Market’s hypergrid listings grew 50 times as fast as other items
The Kitely Market gained more than 400 new item listings this month — only seven of which were restricted to local purchasers on the Kitely grid. That means that exportable items grew 57 times faster than non-exportables. The exportable items were available for delivery to any hypergrid-enabled grid except Littlefield, and alsoRead More →
3D pen hits funding goal in one day
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 →
Doctors can now practice prostatectomies virtually
3D Systems has released the very first virtual reality robotic prostatectomy simulation training, created to assist in the education and planning of robotic surgical procedures. “Individualized patient-specific soft tissue 3D printing allows surgeons and trainees the opportunity to operate on a model that looks and feels just like their patient’s kidneyRead More →
Virtual Life connects with Kitely Market, Podex currency exchange
Residents on the Virtual Life grid can now make purchases on the Kitely Market, the grid announced today. “Virtual Life users will be able to purchase items on the Kitely Market and have them delivered to any region,” said grid founder and CEO Keith Sparkman. “This means that Virtual LifeRead More →
Vote now in the Mobile VR Jam
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 →
Survey: virtual sex less fun, but more liberated
According to a new survey of 267 Second Life residents, two-thirds found virtual sex to be less fun than real sex. However, despite being less fun, three quarters said that they still wished that their real-life sex was more like that in the virtual world. Some reasons could be thatRead More →
Sony leads virtual reality patent race
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 →
I’ll be at SVVR next week
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 →
InWorlds reveals community support efforts
Some OpenSim users have complained that closed grids — especially InWorlds, the largest closed grid of them all — do not contribute enough back to the community. Today, InWorldz co-founder and CTO David Daeschler made a strong case that InWorldz does much more than market OpenSim effectively to newcomers. (Though that,Read More →
NextReality, Pillars of Mist closing this month
The owners of the Next Reality and Pillars of Mist OpenSim grids have announced that the two virtual worlds are closing this month. “It pains me to have to say this, but from the 15th May 2015 The Next Reality Grid will be going offline,” said grid owner Mike Hart inRead More →
Oculus announces Q1 2016 shipping date
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 →
SLGo replacement Bright Canopy supports OpenSim
Bright Canopy, a cloud-based replacement to SLGo, will support OpenSim from day one, according to the founders. SLGo, operated by OnLive, was discontinued at the end of April when the company was acquired by Sony. It was the only service that allowed people to log into Second Life or OpenSim with aRead More →
Adult Metaverse continues growth streak
The Adult Metaverse community on Google Plus was against the fastest-growing OpenSim community last month, gaining 101 new members for a new total of 691 users. OpenSim Virtual was in second place, with 81 new members for a new total of 1,351. This meant that OpenSim Virtual comfortably retained its placeRead More →
New Firestorm release offers fixes, interface improvements
The Firestorm viewer — by far the most popular viewer in both Second Life and OpenSim — has a new release out, with a very long list of bug fixes and interface improvements. After removing the previous version of the viewer from your computer, you can download the new versionRead More →
Time running out on Kitely metered regions
Kitely‘s pricing options have long been a confusing mess for customers, with people having trouble understanding their metered billing in particular. To address this issue, Kitely first rolled out flat-rate regions back in 2012, but the various pricing options just confused customers more. It didn’t help that Kitely was theRead More →
Two shortcuts to a career in virtual fashion
Is there a particular kind of virtual content you need, and can’t find — and are seriously considering making yourself? For example, my time in virtual worlds is all spent working — mostly, attending business meetings, hosting shows, interviewing people. I like to wear skirts when I do this, but most skirtsRead More →
Kitely residents can now change megaregion sizes
Kitely users on a flat-rate plan can now change the size of their megaregions for free via the Web interface. Those on premium plans have a fee of 150 KC, or about $0.75, to resize their megaregions. Kitely offers several flat-rate megaregion plans. For around $50 a month, customers getRead More →
Content in peril at one-man shops
One-man — and one-woman — shops are putting content in danger across the metaverse. Documentation, code, virtual content, even entire grids are at risk when it’s just one person running the project. Radegast, METAbolt and LibOpenMetaverse One of the key foundations of OpenSim is LibOpenMetaverse — originally LibSecondLife — whichRead More →
Fest’Avi participation deadline is in two weeks
Creators have until May 15 to sign up to participate in FrancoGrid‘s second annual Fest’Avi competition. The competition is open to creators, audience, photographers, and machinimists from any grid. The content submitted to the competition will be made available to the public under a Creative Commons license. Read the full rulesRead More →
CasperTech leaves METAbolt
UK-based CasperTech Ltd., has stopped working on the development of the text-only METAbolt viewer, company director Casper Warden announced recently. “We have been asked to cease using the METAbolt brand with immediate effect, due to a political disagreement with the original creator,” he wrote. “With no maintainer, it appears that METAboltRead More →
VizMove a virtual business holodeck
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 →
3 ways VR helps science education
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 →
Phototools tips for Firestorm
I’ve been taking a lot of snapshots of regions for Hyperica listings and have been experimenting with the Phototools feature in the Firestorm viewer. The Phototools feature allows you to pep up your snapshots and make them look gorgeous. To access some of the Phototools features quickly, at the bottomRead More →