Troopers 3 virtual reality

Well, this is definitely the most fun you can have inside a gigantic pulsating mouth this month. Predictably, Björk Digital is a peculiar affair. It is essentially the first chance to watch – or perhaps “experience” or “inhabit” would be more appropriate – four of the new virtual reality videos for Vulnicura tracks that are to be released “on all major VR platforms” this winter, plus a couple of cinema rooms and some odd musical instruments and iPad apps you can tootle on. Ticketholders are led through in timed groups so that VR stations and this immersive exhibition can be experienced in sync. It’s neither art exhibition nor film presentation nor tech demonstration, but a hodge-podge of all of the above. Far from complacent, the more time passes, the more Björk seems determined to tinker and muck about on the grandest possible scale, with at least as much focus on the act of tinkering itself as on the final product. That … [Read more...] about Björk Digital review – to virtual reality and beyond

It's not exactly a secret that Apple is interested in augmented and virtual reality, as ambitious patent filings like the one above from last year would show. But where patent ideas are much more likely to die on the vine than anything else, a new Apple job listing provides more solid evidence of the company's VR ambitions. Apple is currently searching for a software engineer "to develop UI and applications to create next generation software experiences," says a recent job listing spotted by 9to5Mac. The job posting goes into some length about what Apple is interested in exploring: "This engineer will create high performance apps that integrate with Virtual Reality systems for prototyping and user testing." The listing states that AR development experience is also a must. Advertisement So at least on the software side of things, Apple is beginning to make some moves investigating what it sees as the "next generation" of computing. This may all seem relatively incremental, but … [Read more...] about Apple Gets Serious About Virtual Reality With a New Job Posting

Virtual reality is a growing technology used in everything from video games to rehab clinics to the battlefield. But a new study in rats shows that the virtual world affects the brain differently than real-world environments, which could offer clues for how the technology could be used to restore navigating ability and memory in humans.Researchers recorded rats' brain activity while the rodents ran on tiny treadmills in a virtual reality setup. In the virtual world, the animals' brains did not form a mental map of their surroundings like the ones they form in real-life settings, the study showed."We are using virtual reality more and more every day, whether for entertainment, military purposes or diagnosis of memory and learning disorders," said Mayank Mehta, a neuroscientist at the University of California, Los Angeles. "We are using it all the time, and we need to know … how does the brain react to virtual reality?" [See video of rats in virtual reality]Brain's GPSScientists … [Read more...] about Virtual Reality Affects Brain’s ‘GPS Cells’

Don't you hate it when someone claims to have a magical new technology, but won't tell you how it works? When I saw that a super stealthy startup called Magic Leap had raised $542 million to make animals appear out of thin air, I resolved to find out exactly what was going on. Here's what I found. If the results of my digging are correct, this is what Magic Leap intends to build: a Google Glass on steroids that can seamlessly blend computer-generated graphics with the real world. A headset packed with fiber optic projectors, crazy lenses, and loads of cameras. An augmented reality that you'll actually believe in. Advertisement But I'm getting ahead of myself. The story so far As far as the media was concerned, Magic Leap didn't exist until it raised buckets of cash. In February, VentureBeat reported that the mysterious firm had secured $50 million to build a "game changing" technology that would "forever change the way we interact with images and information," in the … [Read more...] about How Magic Leap Is Secretly Creating a New Alternate Reality

Following yesterday’s look at the Snapdragon 865, Qualcomm is wrapping up its annual three-day tech summit by announcing a few other new Snapdragon chips: one for mixed reality and a couple for laptops. Of the two different categories, the new mixed reality-focused Snapdragon XR2 is easily the more interesting of the two, as Qualcomm claims its new chip is the world’s first 5G-supported extended reality platform. Advertisement For those who aren’t big on headset jargon, extended reality is simply a catchall term used to describe augmented reality, virtual reality, and everything in between. What’s important with the Snapdragon XR2 is how Qualcomm is tailoring its chip to support next-generation headsets, especially as the boundaries between VR and AR devices continue to blur. For the XR2, Qualcomm claims it chip sports significantly better performance, including support for headsets with 3,000 by 3,000 resolution per eye and up to 90hz refresh rates, or … [Read more...] about New Qualcomm Chip Could Make 5G MR a Very Cool Reality