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Submission + - My Neighbor Totoro in virtual reality – bus stop scene for the Oculus Rift (roadtovr.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Nick Pitton, the developer behind the Spirited Away Boiler Room VR experience (http://bit.ly/1nE0v1a), has released his second project: the bus stop seam from Studio Ghibli's famous movie 'My Neighbor Totoro' once again in virtual reality for the Oculus Rift (http://bit.ly/1oenps8). Pittom 'hand-painted' the textures in Photoshop to recreated the painted-background feel of the movie. For the characters (Totoro and the Catbus) he used a cel-shaded approached to approximate the animated look from the movie. For his next project, he plans to recreate the ship and characters from the acclaimed anime, Cowboy Bebop.

Submission + - Tegra K1 Powered Mobile VR Headset Heading to E3 with Front-facing Depth Camera

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: GameFace Labs, the company working on an Android-based mobile VR headset, revealed that they'll be bringing their latest 'Mark 5 prototype' to be shown at E3 (http://bit.ly/1oAQ2kq). After being the first to show a VR headset with a 2.5k display (http://bit.ly/1odi6MW), GameFace's new prototype will be built around the Android-based Tegra K1 'Super Chip' and include a front-facing depth camera, custom optics, HDMI-out, micro-USB, and 3.5mm headphone port. GameFace plans to launch a developer kit of their mobile VR headset by the end of 2014.

Submission + - Duo Sneak an Oculus Rift Onto Roller Coaster for a Wild Ride (roadtovr.com) 1

Submitted by bobbrocolli
bobbrocolli writes: Equipped with a hidden laptop and Oculus Rift, O’Driscoll may be the first person to have ever gone on a ‘Real VR’ roller coaster with perfect motion feedback. The duo’s system displayed a virtual version of the exact same roller coaster that O’Driscoll and Forder were on. With some practice they managed to sync the virtual reality roller coaster to the real rollercoaster.

Submission + - Indie Developer Crashes PAX East With an Oculus Rift and Draws Huge Crowds (roadtovr.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: [James thought] he'd try his luck at some guerilla PR tactics and crash PAX East with his trusty Oculus Rift and demo rig in tow. After many laps of the PAX East Show floor, James was about ready to give up and go home, but on his final round he spotted a demo station with one lone occupant and his Oculus Rift. This was his chance.

Submission + - Build a Smartphone VR Headset That Plays Oculus Rift Games and More for $20 (roadtovr.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Not everyone can drop a few hundred dollars on a VR headset, but that doesn’t mean they can’t experience VR! For those with the time and a bit of handiwork skill, this DIY guide from guest writer Ohaple will show you how to make a smartphone-based VR headset for as little as $20. Along the way, you’ll learn the hardware and software basics of a VR headset.

Submission + - GameFace Labs Has VR Headset on the Block with 2K Display -- and it's mobile (roadtovr.com)

Submitted by oldmildog
oldmildog writes: GameFace Labs may very well be the furthest along in the quest to create a mobile VR headset. Based on Android, GameFace Labs has been working hard to iterate on their prototypes, their latest is the first VR headset (mobile or tethered) to include a 2k display, with 78% more pixels than 1080p based VR headsets like the Oculus Rift DK2.

Submission + - Details of New 'Totem' VR Headset to Compete with the Oculus Rift (roadtovr.com)

Submitted by muterobert
muterobert writes: The True Player Gear Totem is a VR headset with similar specs to the Oculus Rift DK2. The final spec is planned to include a 1080p OLED display with low persistence and a 90 degree field of view. Unlike the Rift, it also has two 1080p cameras on the front that will allow for passthrough video and positional tracking. It contains onboard stereo surround sound and will have compatibility with PCs as well as game consoles.

Submission + - The Science Behind The InfinitEye's Panoramic Virtual Reality Experience (roadtovr.com)

Submitted by muterobert
muterobert writes: The Oculus Rift has competition, and it's incredible. The InfinitEye has a 210 Field of View (compared with the Oculus Rift's 90) and surrounds your peripheral vision in the game completely. Paul James from RoadToVR goes in-depth with the team behind the new device and finds out how high FOV Virtual Reality really works.

At the present time, we are using 4 renders, 2 per eye. Left eye renders are centered on left eye, the first render is rotated 90 left and the second looks straight ahead, building two sides of a cube. Right eye renders are centered on its position, the first is rotated 90 degree right and the second looks straight ahead, two sides of another cube. We then process those renders in a final pass, building the distorted image.

Submission + - Valve to Demo Prototype VR Headset, "Steam to Support and Promote VR Games"

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: The itinerary for Steam Dev Days 2014 lists two talks by Valve's internal virtual and augmented reality researchers, Michael Abrash and Joe Ludwig. Abrash's talk, titled 'What VR Could, Should, and Almost Certainly Will Be within Two Years' will feature a demonstration of Valve's secret prototype VR headset that is "capable of stunning experiences." Ludwig's talk 'Virtual Reality and Steam' will discuss how Valve will be adapting Steam to VR to "support and promote Virtual Reality games."

Rift inventor and Oculus co-founder Palmer Luckey will also be taking to the stage at Steam Dev Days to speak on best-practice for VR development.

Steam Dev Days Talks: http://www.steamdevdays.com/?p=sessions
Additional details on speakers and their past involvement with VR: http://www.roadtovr.com/vr-headset-valve-virtual-reality-steam/

Submission + - Oculus Rift Gets Half-Life 2, Outerra and 3D Box Fractal Flythrough! (roadtovr.com)

Submitted by Hesh
Hesh writes: Now that all 10,000 developers will have received their dev kits by the end of May (http://www.oculusvr.com/blog/shipping-update-replacement-rewards-vr-meet-ups-and-half-life-2-in-vr/) completely new experiences and updates to popular games are flooding in. Valve's classic, Half-Life 2, has finally gained VR support that actually works beautifully (http://www.roadtovr.com/2013/05/11/how-to-configure-half-life-2-beta-for-your-oculus-rift-gameplay-video-5730). Also, the open-world 3D engine Outerra has added initial support for the Rift which will open up the possibility of planet-sized procedurally generated environments (http://www.roadtovr.com/2013/05/19/outerra-oculus-rift-support-coming-soon-5996). Lastly, a fly through generated with Boxplorer2 tailored for the Oculus Rift gives the mind-blowing experience of what it is like to fly through 3D fractal worlds (http://www.roadtovr.com/2013/05/20/boxplorer-2-oculus-rift-support-3d-fractal-6004); realtime support for this should be possible on today's hardware so hopefully it will arrive sooner rather than later!

Submission + - MakeVR to Bring User-friendly 3D Modeling to the Masses in Virtual Reality

Submitted by Benz145
Benz145 writes: MakeVR is a forthcoming piece of software from Sixense, creators of the Razer Hydra. The software pairs the Hydra with an intuitive two-hand interface design where you reach out and manipulate objects in a highly natural way (http://youtu.be/VvPb7Lo6S-I). Even more exciting is out-of-the-box support for the Oculus Rift virtual reality headset (http://www.oculusvr.com/) which, when combined with MakeVR, makes it feels as though you are really grabbing objects with your own hands thanks to the first person perspective and the Hydra's 1:1 tracking. Sixense says that the Hydra can detect positional movements of as little as 1mm and rotational movements down to 1 degree. The company intends to launch a Kickstarter this month (http://www.roadtovr.com/2013/04/03/gdc-2013-sixense-makevr-virtual-reality-cad-kickstarter-4495) to fund some exciting features for the software like multiplayer, physics, animation, and more.

Submission + - Sixense staging a comeback in VR (roadtovr.com)

Submitted by Hesh
Hesh writes: The makers of the Razer Hydra are staging a comeback of sorts with the renewed interest in VR from the recent release of the Oculus Rift dev kits (http://oculusvr.com). They showed off an update for the Oculus Tuscany demo that shows off accurate virtual hands that can pick up objects and interact with the world beautifully, even up to the point of picking up objects and setting them on fire from a virtual fireplace and juggling (badly, http://www.roadtovr.com/2013/03/30/gdc-2013-oculus-rift-razer-hydra-tuscany-unity-demo-4401). They have also decided to throw their hat into the Kickstarter ring to get funding for a VR CAD game that is the first of its kind for the and should be a great Legos replacement for the younger generation! (http://www.roadtovr.com/2013/04/03/gdc-2013-sixense-makevr-virtual-reality-cad-kickstarter-4495)
Displays

Submission + - USC Launches 3D Printed VR Headset Library (roadtovr.com)

Submitted by
Hesh
Hesh writes: "The University of Southern California has launched a website (http://projects.ict.usc.edu/mxr/diy/) that contains the blueprints for many of their custom VR headsets as well as new mods to the much anticipated yet unreleased Oculus Rift (http://oculusvr.com). Some are helping push DIY VR forward through custom sensor mounts to support, for example, stereo cameras (http://projects.ict.usc.edu/mxr/diy/oculus-sensor-mount/) and others add more functionality like new eye cups (http://projects.ict.usc.edu/mxr/diy/eye-cups-for-oculus-rift/) to help increase the already large FOV of the headset. This is truly an exciting time for VR and by GDC developers will already have Rifts in hand and tinkerers can 3D print their own designs now as well!"
Games

Submission + - Build Your Own Oculus Virtual Reality Headset Guide (roadtovr.com)

Submitted by
Hesh
Hesh writes: "With the impending arrival of the first batch of Oculus Rift (http://oculusvr.com) VR headsets in the hands of developers, Rod Furlan put up a very detailed guide (http://www.roadtovr.com/2013/03/12/build-your-own-diy-oculus-rift-guide-3927) on how to build your very own headset with off the shelf parts and a few hours of spare time based off of the original design of the headset from the forums where it all started. This is a very exciting time for VR, and DIY headsets will allow everyone to try out new tricks and form factors while finally being able to test with a whole new world of compatible software that is about to be released very soon. Check it out!"

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