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Submission + - New Oculus SDK Adds Experimental Linux Support and Unity Free for Rift Headset (roadtovr.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Oculus, creator of the Rift VR headset, has released a new version of their SDK which brings with it long sought after support for Linux, which the company says is "experimental". Linux support was previously unavailable since the launch of the company's second development kit, the DK2 (http://www.oculus.com/dk2/). The latest SDK update also adds support for Unity Free (https://unity3d.com/unity/download), the non-commercial version of the popular game authoring engine. Previously, Unity developers needed the Pro version—costing $1,500 or $75/month—to create experiences for the Oculus Rift.

Submission + - Oculus Hiring Programmers, Hardware Engineers, and More for VR Research Division (roadtovr.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Buried toward the end of the must-watch keynote (http://bit.ly/1vQHUzD) by Oculus VR's Chief Scientist, Michael Abrash, was the announcement of a new research division within Oculus which Abrash says is the “first complete, well funded VR research team in close to 20 years.” He says that their mission is to advance VR and that the research division will publish its findings and also work with university researchers. The company is now hiring "first-rate programmers, hardware engineers, and researchers of many sorts, including optics, displays, computer vision and tracking, user experience, audio, haptics, and perceptual psychology," to be part of Oculus Research.

Submission + - Simple Hack Enables VR Mode for Oculus Rift in 'Alien: Isolation' (roadtovr.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: In a surprising appearance at E3 2014, Oculus showed a virtual reality demo version of Creative Assembly's forthcoming first-person horror game, Alien: Isolation. Despite intense reactions to the demo (http://bit.ly/1lrinsT), the publisher stated that the full game would not feature Oculus Rift support. However, intentional or not, the developer left the code hidden in the game which can be enabled with a simple hack, leading to full support for the Oculus Rift including positional tracking.

Submission + - Reverse Engineering the Oculus Rift DK2's Positional Tracking Tech (roadtovr.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: The Oculus Rift DK2 VR headset hides under it's IR-transparent shell an array of IR LEDs which are picked up by the positional tracker. The data is used to understand where the user's head is in 3D space so that the game engine can update the view accordingly, a critical function for reducing sim sickness and increasing immersion. Unsurprisingly, some endeavoring folks wanted to uncover the magic behind Oculus' tech and began reverse engineering the system. Along the way, they discovered some curious info including a firmware bug which, when fixed, revealed the true view of the positional tracker.

Submission + - DC Entertainment Bringing Batman Experience to Gear VR and Oculus Rift (roadtovr.com)

Submitted by muterobert
muterobert writes: Today it’s been announced that Warner Bros., DC Entertainment, and OTOY are collaborating to recreate the iconic Batcave from Batman: The Animated Series in virtual reality for Samsung Gear VR and Oculus Rift. OTOY is providing what they call “holographic video” technology to render the scene in a way that’s true to the Batcave of the classic 90s show.

Submission + - Experiment Shows Stylized Rendering Enhances Presence in Immersive AR (roadtovr.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: William Steptoe, a senior researcher in the Virtual Environments and Computer Graphics group at University College London, published a paper detailing experiments dealing with the seamless integration of virtual objects into a real scene. Participants were tested to see if they could correctly identify which objects in the scene were real or virtual. With standard rendering, participants were able to correctly guess 73% of the time. Once a stylized rendering outline was applied, accuracy dropped to 56% (around change) and even further to 38% as the stylized rendering was increased. Less accuracy means users were less able to tell the difference between real and virtual objects. Steptoe says that this blurring of real and virtual can increase 'presence', the feeling of being truly present in another space, in immersive augmented reality applications.

Submission + - Official Keynote Videos from Oculus Connect VR Conference Now Available Online (roadtovr.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Earlier this month, the leader in the consumer virtual reality space, Oculus, held their inaugural developer gathering, dubbed Oculus Connect. The conference venue was only able to accommodate some 1000 people, but fortunately the company recorded all of the excellent keynote presentations and has now posted them online for all to see, including keynotes by legendary developers John Carmack and Michael Abrash.

Submission + - VR Dev Creates Incredible 'Holographic' UI Powered by Oculus and Leap Motion (roadtovr.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Tomas “Frooxius” Mariancik is the mind behind SightLine, the 3rd place winner in Oculus VR's 2013 game jam (http://bit.ly/1mUWEgq). After expanding SightLine into one of the coolest virtual reality demos for the Oculus Rift DK2 (http://bit.ly/1pIv1ll), he's turned his sights toward virtual reality user interaction with the Leap Motion natural input controller. His latest prototype shows impressively intuitive and practical VR user interface concepts like selecting, navigating, scrolling, and manipulating.

Submission + - 'About Face' Oculus Rift Accessory Blasts Through Kickstarter Goal in 24 Hours (roadtovr.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: About Face is an accessory for the Oculus Rift DK1 and DK2 VR headsets (http://www.oculus.com/dk2/). It replaces the existing foam with an 'ergonomic insert' which allows the attachment of interchangeable liners that are purportedly more comfortable than the original and are also washable, allowing easy cleaning to remove sweat and skin oil. The Kickstarter campaign for About Face launched yesterday and has already broken through its $12,000 goal. The creators of the Kickstarter say they're already ready for manufacturing and backers can expect the product just a few weeks after the end of the Kickstarter.

Submission + - Striker VR's Weapon Recoil Prototype Borrows Design From Halo's Famous M6 Magnum (roadtovr.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Striker VR is working on an electronically-driven gun recoil system for virtual reality (http://bit.ly/1C6dBry). Those that have tried the system so far are very impressed with the force and response of the feedback (http://bit.ly/1C6dBry). The company has made prototypes of rifles and pistols, with their pistol prototype borrowing its design from the ever-famous M6 Magnum from the Halo series.

Submission + - John Carmack's Brilliant Oculus Connect Keynote Probably Had Samsung Cringing (roadtovr.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: John Carmack, famed keystone developer of 3D networked gaming, has now been working with virtual reality company Oculus for over a year. Much of that time has been spent collaborating with Samsung on the forthcoming Gear VR headset. At his keynote presentation during Oculus Connect, Carmack took to the stage with 90 unscripted minutes of no holds barred discussion of the last 12 months in VR. "I believe pretty strongly in being very frank and open about flaws and limitations so this is kind of where I go off message a little bit from the standard PR plan and talk very frankly about things," he said to applause from the audience.

Submission + - 8 Photos of Internal Samsung Gear VR Prototypes Revealed by Oculus (roadtovr.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: At Oculus Connect, CEO Brendan Iribe took to the stage to talk about the company’s recent work, including their collaboration on Samsung’s Gear VR headset. During the presentation, Iribe showed photos of 8 previously unseen Gear VR prototypes. Samsung Gear VR, which is officially ‘Powered by Oculus’, has a tracker built-in which Oculus says is based on the tracker used in the Rift DK1. At the start of Oculus’ prototyping, the company was working with 3D printed housings and stuck the tracker to the front of Gear VR prototypes. By Prototype 5 (working by the units Oculus has revealed), they'd began using what appears to be the DK1 housing as a basis. Prototype 6 looks to be the first with a molded housing and possibly and internal tracker and appears to have two knobs for independent eye focus. Prototype 7 is the first to move on from and Oculus branded strap and add some aesthetic accents as well as a single center dial for focus. Prototype 8 approaches the final design quite closely, but we see some modification to the top head strap in the final version.

Submission + - Striker VR Thinks They Can Get Their Awesome VR Gun Recoil System Down to $55 (roadtovr.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: The military has been looking for a powerful electronically-based recoil system for training to replace flawed pneumatic systems currently in use. Striker VR (http://strikervr.com/) came up with a solution that provides more recoil, better response, and greater reliability. Road to VR's Ben Lang tried the system and says "After 10 seconds of testing, I was sold." (http://bit.ly/1C6dBry) The company is aiming the tech toward military and out-of-home venues to start, but they think they'll be able to bring it down to a mere $55 in a few years time for in-home virtual reality use.

Submission + - Oculus Open-sources First VR Headset Development Kit, the Rift DK1 (roadtovr.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: During a session at Connect, Oculus' first developer conference, the company released the totality of the Oculus Rift DK1 plans to the public. Under an open-source license, anyone can now freely download the blueprints of the company's first VR headset and even manufacture and sell their own. The files include CAD models, circuit board designs, firmware, and more. At the same session, Oculus Engineer Nirav Patel elaborated on the challenges faced while manufacturing the Rift DK1.

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