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Submission + - Epic Games Talk Optimization: Getting 'Showdown' to 90 FPS in UE4 on Oculus Rift (roadtovr.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Oculus has repeatedly tapped Epic Games to whip up demos to show off new iterations of Oculus Rift VR headset hardware. The latest demo, built in UE4, is 'Showdown', an action-packed scene of slow motion explosions, bullets, and debris. The challenge? Oculus asked Epic to make it run at 90 FPS to match the 90 Hz refresh rate of the latest Oculus Rift 'Crescent Bay' prototype. At the Oculus Connect conference, two of the developers from the team that created the demo share the tricks and tools they used to hit that target on a single GPU.

Submission + - Nimble Sense Aims to Bring Time-of-flight Depth-sensing to VR on the Cheap (roadtovr.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Today Nimble VR launches a Kickstarter campaign for Nimble Sense, a natural input controller that the company says was designed for virtual reality input, but flexible enough for other user interaction. And while Nimble Sense doesn’t at first appear to be much different than Leap Motion, the company says they’re using ‘time-of-flight’ depth sensing technology, like what’s used in the Kinect 2, which they say has unique benefits. The company claims to have “achieved a breakthrough in the accuracy, cost, and power consumption” of time-of-flight sensors, and they're aiming to bring the tech to the world of VR at an affordable price point: starting at $99, which includes the camera and a mount for the Oculus Rift DK2 headset.

Submission + - 'World of Comenius' Brings Virtual Reality Into the Classroom in a Big Way (roadtovr.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: 'World of Comenius' uses the Oculus Rift DK2 VR headset and Leap Motion natural input controller to enable students to intuitively interact with software to learn about human anatomy. With the Leap Motion mounted to the Oculus Rift, users reach out to manipulate a skeletal model with removable bones and organs. Students can even zoom into the bloodstream and watch as blood cells make their way through the body. 'World of Comenius' developer Solirax partnered with the Mendel Grammar School in Opava City, Czech Republic to bring a fleet of the VR systems into the classroom to give students their first lesson in virtual reality education.

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.

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