Review: Loop VR fails to impress
I just received my free Loop VR headset from OnePlus. The company gave away thousands of headsets to promote the release of their new OnePlus 3 smartphone, and while it’s definitely an upgrade from the cardboard...
Social startup vTime adds Rift support
Social virtual reality pioneer vTime added support for the Oculus Rift and added a business-focused meeting space. The app was already available for Gear VR and Android. It is a free application. Both the new consumer and...
Summer slowdown on the hypergrid
The total land area of OpenSim’s public grids increased by almost 3,000 regions, but active users dropped by 405. The total number of standard region equivalents on the public grids is now 59,339, up...
VR device options for architects
Virtual reality has experienced rapid growth within architecture, engineering and construction industries over the past three years. What started as a curiosity has now become increasingly commonplace in architecture, real estate development, and construction. In...
Virtual test drives next big trend for cars
Nothing beats taking an actual car for an actual drive, but virtual reality can whet buyer appetites for the real thing and can also offer customers an opportunity to see a broader variety of...
Global Learning Forum today in OpenSim
The Global Learning Forum is scheduled to take place this Friday, June 17, at the SOC StudioX’s in-world campus auditorium from 1 p.m. to 4.30 p.m. Central Time. The topic is the role of cyberspace and integrated...
Kitely Market now delivers to 138 grids
The Kitely Market is now delivering content to 138 different OpenSim grids and mini-grids and merchants are continuing to increase the amount of exportable content available on the platform. There are currently 7,486 product...
Best Western offers virtual hotel tours
Best Western International, Inc. recently announced it will use virtual reality to allow customers tour guest rooms, hotel lobbies and other amenities at any of their North American hotels in immersive 360-degree video before they check in. “Walking into...
VR drives demand for low-poly 3D models
The growth of virtual reality devices market and the associated demand for new virtual reality experiences has increased the demand for low-poly 3D models, according to a report released last week. Sales of “low poly”...
VirZOOM to hit online retailers in July
CAMBRIDGE — Virtual reality technology company VirZOOM Inc. announced early access product shipments globally to pre-order customers starting this month. The system includes the VirZOOM Bike Controller, the VirZOOM Arcade suite of VR exercise...
Avi-Labs rents OSgrid regions, sells OARs
Avi-Labs, the OpenSim hosting company that grew out of the AviWorlds grid, has added OSgrid region rentals and OAR sales to its previous set of grid hosting services and managed server rentals. OSgrid regions go for $5...
Getty Images jumps into VR with 12,000 photos
Press release: Getty Images deepens its commitment to immersive content with new virtual reality business The launch of the Getty Images Virtual Reality Group brings high quality VR and 360 content to everyone, satisfying...
Medical app devs wait for motion controllers
Medical software development company Vedavi has its virtual reality anatomy app all set and ready to go for the Oculus Rift, but the lack of a controller with six degrees of freedom is holding...
Microsoft opens AR platform to other vendors
Microsoft’s Windows Holographic mixed reality operating system will be open to developers and manufacturers, the company announced last week during Computex 2016. Third parties will now be able to develop augmented and virtual reality devices, personal computers, displays and...
OSgrid birthday celebration exibitor parcels now available
OSgrid residents who plan to exhibit at next month’s anniversary celebration can now claim their parcels on the OSG9BW, OSG9BN and OSG9BE regions, grid president Dan Banner announced today. The exhibits can be constructed off-site...
$3.4 million VR viewers sold in India in Q1
More than $3.4 million worth of virtual reality headsets were sold this year in India during the first quarter of the year, according to a report by market intelligence and advisory firm 6Wresearch. According to...
Attacks against Great Canadian Grid continue
The Great Canadian Grid is continuing to suffer from on-going distributed denial of service attacks. DigiWorldz grid founder Terry Ford, whose company also provides hosting services, has been working on securing the Great Canadian Grid’s...
Marketing meets VR and gets creepy
In general, I believe that marketing is advertising is great for promoting virtual reality. Marketing experiences tend to short, well-produced, and, of course, well marketed. Plus, no company wants to make potential customers sick,...
Baofeng’s new headset has Leap Motion
Baofeng Mojing, the world’s leading virtual headset manufacturer, has released a new viewer that incorporates Leap Motion gesture control. The Baofeng Mojing 5 Plus was announced at a press conference in Beijing yesterday, along...
18 open-sided VR headsets
Open-sided virtual reality headsets are small, fold flat, and can be easily carried in a pocket or purse. Since most don’t have head straps, they are typically suited for quick, on-the-go VR experiences or...
Scope AR releases AR platform for repair manuals
Today, Scope AR announces its augmented reality platform for repair manuals at the Augmented World Expo. WorkLink enables companies to provide interactive and augmented reality repair manuals to field technicians or other employees so that they can repair equipment, perform maintenance,...
Report: Interfaces will use voice, gesture, and other inputs
Press release: Voice Control, Gesture Control, and See-through Displays Are Top Electronic User Interface Innovations BOSTON, MA – With Apple, Google, and Microsoft sharpening their focus on electronic user interfaces, voice control, gesture control,...
ZTE releases world’s first ‘Daydream ready’ smartphone, the Axon 7
ZTE has officially released the Axon 7, the first smartphone with support for Google’s new Daydream virtual reality platform. Right now, it’s only available in China, but is expected to hit the US in mid-June...
Second OpenSim treasure hunt shows rapid growth
The second OpenSim Treasure Hunt concluded on May 25 with 122 participating regions, up from just 86 in the first hunt. The number of participating grids increased as well, from 22 to 26, Tangle Grid...
AvayaLive Engage to close by end of year
AvayaLive Engage, one of the three major enterprise-focused virtual environment platforms, is shutting down the company announced. Avaya is no longer accepting new customers, and service for existing customers will end when their current...
HTC Exec: Education will help sell Vive in China
In addition to Internet cafes and other out-of-home venues, early tech adopters and hardcore gamers, Chinese parents’ focus on education will be a major driver for HTC Vive’s success in that country, HTC‘s head for...
OSgrid celebrates 9th birthday in July
OSgrid will hold its birthday celebration and fundraiser on July 30 and 31, the grid’s board told residents at a membership meeting last Sunday. OSgrid, which is turning nine this year, is the largest and oldest...
ConvergeVR releases world’s first Daydream headset
Just a week after Google unveiled its new virtual reality platform, Daydream, the first compatible headset has hit the market. Mumbai-based ConvergeVR Tech Labs Pvt. Ltd.’s headset is now available for order as a developer’s kit preview...
AltspaceVR’s large-scale event platform debuts with comedian Reggie Watts
AltspaceVR, the leading virtual reality social platform, announced a new event tool today, FrontRow, that can scale up to tens of thousands of simultaneous users. The technology will make its public debut tomorrow night...
Review: Pico 1 copies worst features of Gear VR
I just received a review copy of the Pico 1 headset in the mail. Disclosure: It was provided free by GeekBuying. But even though it was free, it still wasn’t worth the money. Was...
Kitely add stats to login screen
Since it first launched in early 2011, Kitely has been the only major grid not to publish its stats, instead providing them by email to Hypergrid Business on request. That changed today, as the...
OnePlus gives away 30,000 VR headsets
China-based smartphone manufacturer OnePlus gave away 30,000 free OnePlus Loop VR headsets today, manufactured in partnership with AntVR. The Cardboard-compatible headset is reminiscent of the Gear VR in its design, and is a significant...
Brazil group launches grid, hosting firm
A Brazilian team has launched a new grid and OpenSim hosting company, offering local payment and support options. OpenSim Brasil offers hosting for full grids, starting at 230 Reals, or about US$64, with a...
Review: BoboVR (aka Virtoba X5) best low-cost viewer yet
Update: In August, I bought a FiiT VR 2S, and that is now my new favorite. But I’m also still recommending the BoboVR Z4 headset, because of its 120-degree field of view, built-in headphones, and built-in control button....
Google takes strong early lead in VR
With this week’s Daydream announcement, Google is cementing its strong early lead in the virtual reality platform race. Although some virtual reality proponents don’t consider mobile-based headsets to be “real” virtual reality, this platform...
Create and share VR world with CoSpaces
Delightex, a Munich based firm that builds virtual reality platforms, released the CoSpaces app this week, which allows users to explore and share virtual reality spaces with other users on iOS and Android devices and Google...
Adult industry doubles down on VR
Pornhub’s March launch of a channel dedicated to virtual reality content put a big stamp of approval on the technology, since it’s the most popular site for adult content on the Web. But there only had...
VR expands risks of online harassment
Online games and social networks are already hotbeds of bad behavior, but virtual reality offers an even higher degree of potential harm — and experts are urging VR innovators to build in more safeguards...
Google Expeditions reaches 1 mil students
Google Expeditions, the virtual reality version of the 1990’s TV series The Magic Schoolbus, has reached over one million students, Google announced today. Google Expeditions was launched last spring, and is now in eleven countries. There...
Unity, Epic, CCP, NetEase, Huawei and nDreams announce Daydream support
A day after Google announced its Daydream virtual reality platform, companies are rushing to be the first to declare their support. Unity, which has long been a key platform for Google Cardboard applications, was...
eBay launches world’s first VR store
EBay has launched the world’s first virtual reality store, in partnership with Australian retailer Myer. It works with all Google Cardboard devices, and the company is also giving away Shopticals, a branded headset made out...
EyeSight, VicoVR to bring gesture control to mobile-based VR
A startup that allows a smartphone’s own camera to be used to track hand gestures has received a $20 million investment. Chinese technology conglomerate Kuang-Chi will invest in Israel-based provider of software-based machine vision and gesture recognition...
40% of tech-savvy Americans plan to buy VR
In a survey of more than 2,000 tech-savvy US consumers conducted late last month, 40 percent said that they planned to buy virtual reality headsets in the next two years — but that price...
Google’s new VR platform is Daydream
Google announced a new operating system for virtual reality that will run on new, compatible Android phones, the company announced at its annual developers conference today. The platform is called Daydream and seems to...
Virtual Lisbon crowdfunder seeks $1 from OpenSim users
The crowdfunding campaign for a Virtual Lisbon grid is up and running again, asking OpenSim users to contribute just $1 each to the project. The founder, Carlos Loff is an experienced virtual worlds builder and...
Virtual Life Grid turns on hypergrid
The Virtual Life Grid has turned on hypergrid connectivity, the grid announced in a press release today and on Twitter. The grid’s hypergrid address is now virtuallifegrid.com:8002. For those interested in learning more, the grid...
Media is the killer app for VR
If there was any doubt, two new reports out this week confirm that we have the first killer app for virtual reality, and it’s watching videos. That might come as a surprise to people who...
Oculus launches ‘VR for Good’ program
Virtual reality trailblazer Oculus VR has launched its VR for Good program, offering support to students, filmmakers, and nonprofit organizations looking to create immersive films. The first part, aimed at high school students in the...
Regions drop on Metropolis cleanup
The total number of standard region equivalents dropped this month on OpenSim’s public grids due to a large cleanup of orphan regions on Metropolis. The grid removed around 1,600 unused region reservation slots from...
5 top VR rollercoaster apps
I love virtual reality rollercoaster apps because they’re an easy way to show off the technology to people who’ve never tried it before. You don’t have to teach people how to interact with the...
Gear VR hits 1 million users
Samsung’s Gear VR had 1 million users last month, reported its content partner, Facebook’s Oculus VR. Oculus also reported that Gear VR now has 250 apps, including the recently-added Minecraft. The average user spends...
Kitely Market hits new highs
The Kitely Market reported a new high in the number of product listings, and the share of those listings that are exportable to other grids was also higher than ever. The Market currently offers...
Decorilla interior designs now in VR
Home interior design firm Decorilla recently launched an Android and iOS application that allows users to do virtual walthroughs of interior designs using Google Cardboard-compatible virtual reality headsets. The company is also planning to extend coverage...
Survey: How do you use OpenSim?
More than 100 people responded to our survey of how people use OpenSim, and the results are in — the majority of people use OpenSim for work and for creative self-expression. The first question...
Great Canadian Grid, DigiWorldz attacked
The Great Canadian Grid and DigiWorldz have been hit by a cyber-attack that has taken the grids offline on Saturday. There should be no damage to the grids themselves. Both grids are now back up. “Everything...
Financial issues on Virtual Life Grid
Corrections: Well this story made people mad! But when I’m wrong, I’m wrong. Here are three corrections: 1. The question of who is handling the finances is a he-said, she-said situation. If the she-said...
Fieldscapes VR expands educational tours
Daden Limited, a U.K Based firm that creates immersive learning and visualization systems, is planning to add a dozen new virtual locations to its recently released Fieldscapes VR, an educational virtual tour app for Android devices. Fieldscapes...
5 uses for all-in-one headsets
When I first heard about all-in-one virtual reality headsets, the idea seemed totally impractical. Who would want to spend several hundred dollars on technology that would become quickly obsolete? With mobile-based headsets, you’re still...
Review: Vethien has a creepy vibe
Disclosure: I bought this headset with my own money, and the purchase links at the bottom of this article are to all the major sites I know that carry it, with affiliate links where available....
IDC: 2016 VR sales to pass previous $2bil estimate
Samsung, Sony, HTC, and Oculus will lead other brands in shipping about 9.6 million units of virtual reality hardware in the global market this year, to surpass previous estimates of $2 billion in sales...
Review: VRToto awkward, heavy
Disclosure: The folks at EverBuying just sent me a free review copy of the VRToto headset. Thanks, guys! The purchase links at the bottom of this article are to all the major sites I know that carry...
Bandwidth, standards pose challenges for VR
Despite acceptability and huge interest among investors to adopt virtual reality, the technology is still in its learning phases and lack of technological standards across the industry and bandwidth issues will certainly derail its...
What’s the story with the cheap Chinese VR headsets?
I’ve been noticing a disturbing trend in much of the news media and analyst research reports covering virtual reality hardware — a complete and utter dismissal of the virtual reality headsets made in China....
Review: DeePoon V3 small, light, easy to use
Disclosure: The folks at GeekBuying just sent me a free review copy of the DeePoon V3 headset. Thanks, guys! The purchase links at the bottom of this article are to all the major sites I know that...
Mobius seeks $2,000 to port Phlox to OpenSim
The Mobius Grid is seeking $2,000 in donations in order to port the Phlox script engine to standard OpenSim. The Phlox script engine was created by the InWorldz grid and donated to the community last fall....
Creators sought for Project Sansar preview
Press release: New platform enables user-created social VR experiences SAN FRANCISCO – Linden Lab, the creators of Second Life, today announced that applications have opened for an upcoming “Creator Preview” for Project Sansar, the new...
Chernobyl VR doc seeks funding
The Dutch VR development studio Verum Visum LP has launched a Kickstarter for an interactive documentary, Chornobyl360, that will allow users to experience the Chernobyl nuclear power plant disaster in an immersive way and interact with...
Women only 7 percent of VC investors
Women account for only seven percent of all the active and participating investing partners in the top hundred venture firms globally, according to a report released this week. And only 38 percent of the top hundred...
VR headsets can help tank drivers
Four Norwegian experts recently proved that virtual reality live streaming systems can practically be employed to control vehicles, when they helped drive a real battle tank — a German Leopard 1 — with the...
More schools getting free VR from Nearpod, Google
Fifty more schools will get free Nearpod virtual reality headsets, lesson plans, professional development and one-on-one support, the company announced this week. And Google Expeditions, the biggest virtual reality education program, rolled its education program to Irish schools...
Hardcore Henry offers glimpse into VR movie future
I recently saw Hardcore Henry at the local mall, a movie funded via a crowdfunding campaign and filmed completely in a video game-style first-person point of view. This was not a great movie. It...
Kitely Market adds revenue splitting
Merchants who sell virtual goods on the Kitely Market can now automatically share the revenues they receive with third parties, both for individual listings and for individual variations of those listings, the company announced this...
Despite OSgrid cleanup, OpenSim gains land, users
OSgrid cleaned out about 1,000 dead region reservations from its grid map, but there was still a net gain in land area this month, with the public OpenSim grids adding the equivalent of 679 standard...
Dan Banner named OSgrid president
Dan Banner was appointed president of OSgrid at the end of March, following a previous term as treasurer. Former president James Stallings, who is also known as Hiro Protagonist in-world, has stepped down from...
Alkonost lets you crumple or rip things in VR
Alkonost Development, a London-based independent research and development start-up mostly focused on virtual reality and augmented reality, has launched the beta version of Extended Workspace, a virtual reality interface that allows users to use...
Magic Spell Studios and partners considering 3D printing
Rochester Institute of Technology‘s Magic Spell Studios which recently announced that it will partner with Crytek, a Germany-based video game developer, to bring virtual reality laboratories in universities around the world is also exploring...
NVIDIA to start supporting Iray in June
Nvidia, which recently announced its Iray VR and Iray VR Lite to enable photorealistic panoramas and light-rich visuals, walkthroughs and scenes in 3D virtual spaces on personal computers and mobile devices, will start to...
Voxelus Marketplace now in beta with free 3 D content
Voxelus, a Los Angeles-based virtual reality firm, has launched its “app store for virtual reality content,” the Voxelus Marketplace, that allows users to sell virtual reality content for the platform’s Voxels in-game crypto-currency. All content is free of...
Devs: don’t write off Cardboard
Developers love the Oculus, Vive, and PlayStation VR because they offer the most cutting edge technology and the highest degree of immersion. But developers are ACTUALLY working on content for the Google Cardboard ecosystem....
Mayo Clinic may have cured VR sickness
Press release: Mayo Clinic and vMocion Introduce Technology Which Creates the Sensation of Motion, Transforming Virtual Reality Featuring Mayo Clinic’s Patented Galvanic Vestibular Stimulation (GVS) Technology, vMocion’s 3v(TM) Platform Now Available for Licensing LOS...
LA Games conferences includes VR lounge
Press release: Digital Media Wire Announces Agenda, Speakers and Virtual Reality Innovation & Networking Lounge for LA Games Conference April 19th Annual Industry Confab Brings Together Top Leaders from EA, Sony PlayStation, Twitch, Google,...
Review: PlayGlass VR headset
The folks at GearBest just sent me a free review copy of the PlayGlass headset. While this headset is one of the pricier ones I’ve reviewed recently, I was not particularly impressed with its...
Multi-grid treasure hunt starts April 15
The second multi-grid OpenSim Treasure Hunt begins in two weeks, and there is still time for grids and region owners to participate. Promote your destination by picking up a stand from Hyperica at hg.hyperica.com:8022,...
Baofeng sells 1 million VR headsets this quarter
Beijing-based Baofeng Technology Co. Ltd. has sold more than one million of its mobile-based virtual reality headsets since the beginning of this year, the company told the official China Daily newspaper. That compares to...
June enterprise learning conference to feature virtual reality
Press release: Discover How to Build the Smarter — Engaged — High Performance Organization MARICOPA, AZ— Elearning! Media Group, producers of the Enterprise Learning! Conference 2016 (ELC16), the leader in learning and workplace technology media, is...
Free land for newbies
The results of our free land for hypergrid newbies survey are in, with over 60 responses. Here are the top seven grids mentioned by our readers. DigiWorldz This grid was mentioned by 17 different...
Review: Noton a cute low-cost cardboard alternative
If you want to trade up from a VR headset made out of cardboard, but don’t want to spend any more money than you would for a cardboard, check out the Noton headset. The...
Hypergrid inventor wins $10,000 prize
Hypergrid inventor and OpenSim core developer Crista Lopes, also known as “Diva Canto” in-world, just won the $10,000 prize for software in the public interest from the Tides Foundation, a social justice and sustainability-focused organization. Lopes, who...
How to play Cardboard apps on Gear VR
Update: I was doing a demo yesterday and the Cardboard Enabler app I reviewed below mysteriously stopped working. I could no longer switch to the Gear VR view. Deleting the app forced me to...
Seanchai Library brings Chekhov to OpenSim
Press Release: Seanchai Library Announces new EXPLORE in Kitely EXPLORE, Kitely – Seanchai Library pleased to announce the next phase of its EXPLORE program in the OpenSim metaverse, and its real world-virtual world partnership...
5 best places to buy virtual reality headsets
If you go to the official Google Cardboard site, you might think that there are only a dozen or so compatible headsets — and that half of them are made of cardboard. In fact,...
OpenSim grids celebrate Easter
ZanGrid and other OpenSim grids are hosting a number of events this Easter weekend, featuring live music performances, games, and DJ parties. Aachen’s Easter Party 2016 on ZanGrid ZanGrid is hosting Aachen’s Easter Party...
Hulu finally releases Gear VR app
Hulu had originally planned to have its virtual reality app for the Samsung Gear VR last fall, but finally released it yesterday. It is a free download on the Gear VR’s Oculus store, and...
Pornhub launches VR channel
Pornhub has launched a dedicated virtual reality porn channel and gave away 10,000 free virtual reality headsets to get people to try it. Totally not safe for work link: http://www.pornhub.com/vr Pornhub says it has over three...
Cloud offers scalability, monetization and reduced costs for VR startups
Today, many virtual reality applications and experiences are distributed as stand-alone downloads, which makes sense for many types of content and particularly for mobile-based virtual reality headsets with slow connections. But as broadband speeds...
Edorble builds education-focused virtual world platform
At a time when immersive virtual reality seems to be the main focus for startups, one company, Edorble, has built a traditional, screen-based virtual world for educators. The company also plans to support mobile...
Kickstarter launched to turn your home into a game level
ScanSpace, in collaboration with Paracosm, launched a Kickstarter campaign for an online service that lets users scan and upload real-world environments, turn them into game levels, and share with other players. The company is hoping...
Trick 3D converts floorplans to VR
Trick 3D has released Floorplan Revolution, software which converts traditional floorplans to virtual reality environment. The tool, first announced in September, supports both mobile virtual reality headsets, including Google Cardboard and Gear VR, and traditional views such...
Three ways to make a grid unique
I regularly get emails from new grid owners looking for publicity but very few grids can answer the first question I ask: “What makes your grid different?” Instead, I get generic answers, which could...
10 lessons from the making of ROBstock
3rd Rock Grid program director Zinnia Frenzy shares lessons learned 3RD ROCK GRID — As soon as the holiday festivities are over and the New Year is welcomed in, a single word pops up...
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