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+ - Oculus Rift Gets Half-Life 2, Outerra and 3D Box Fractal Flythrough!->

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!"
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+ - 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."

+ - Sixense staging a comeback in VR->

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)"
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Displays

+ - USC Launches 3D Printed VR Headset Library->

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!"
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Games

+ - Build Your Own Oculus Virtual Reality Headset Guide->

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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Games

+ - Inside the Project Holodeck VR Game World, First Impressions->

Submitted by
Hesh
Hesh writes "The space-pirates themed Project Holodeck game (http://www.ProjectHolodeck.com) out of USC is a VR game that is initially targeted for the Oculus Rift and will marry VR with a world so interactive and immersive that it feels like you can almost reach out and touch it. Ben Lang over at RoadToVR recently got a chance to sit down with the team and try it out and came out extremely impressed with how immersive the experience was: '...at one point I needed to set the Razer Hydra controllers down to adjust my helmet and I nearly tried to set them down on a virtual table next to me. There was no table in real life — had I not quickly realized what I was about to do, I would have dropped the controllers straight onto the floor below.'"
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Medicine

+ - Scientists Use Gene Therapy to Cure Dogs of Type 1 Diabetes->

Submitted by Zothecula
Zothecula writes "Researchers from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) have claimed a first by successfully using a single session of gene therapy to cure dogs of type 1 diabetes. The work has shown that it is possible to cure the disease in large animals with a minimally-invasive procedure – potentially leading the way to further developments in studies for human treatment of the disease."
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Sony

+ - Sony's HMZ-T1 Head Mounted Display Documentation L->

Submitted by Benz145
Benz145 writes "Sony's dual-720p OLED head mounted display (model: HMZ-T1) is going on sale 11/11/11 (next to a certain game people may be looking forward to). Though not yet for sale, the documentation for the HMD has gone online early revealing previously unannounced technical details. Such details include: accepting input/output signals, included accessories, audio details, interpupillary distance (just in case you are an optometrist), and more."
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Hardware Hacking

+ - Silicon Micro Display Launching Light-weight HMD w->

Submitted by Benz145
Benz145 writes "Silicon Micro Display has announced a head mounted display that uses dual 1080p LCoS (liquid crystal on silicon) displays. This display technology allows the HMD (called the ST1080) to be 10% transparent, making it a potential augmented reality / wearable computing platform. Thanks to the dual displays, 3D is obviously supported as well. Pricing for the retail model of the ST1080 will be announced on 12/1 alongside pre-order availability, and an ST1080 display development kit (DDK) will begin selling in December."
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Android

+ - 'Grid' is Not the Answer to "Sameness" in Tablets->

Submitted by Benz145
Benz145 writes "[Fixed link!] Fusion Garage, which had been teasing the tech world with a fake company (TabCo) for the last few weeks, revealed themselves on Monday, along with a new 10" tablet and a smartphone, powered by their own in-house operating system called 'Grid'. Grid is based on the Android kernel and can run Android applications natively, but won't have official access to the Android Market. CEO Chandra Rathakrishna said during the reveal that Apple's iPad is the only real tablet in town, that companies offering Android tablets showed nothing but "parody" and "sameness". Chandra then said that Grid was the answer to this sameness. I have to wholeheartedly disagree with Chandra’s remarks. There not only IS innovation in the Android tablet market, but even if there wasn’t, Grid is not the answer."
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Android

+ - 'Grid' is Not the Answer to "Sameness" in Tablets

Submitted by Benz145
Benz145 writes "Fusion Garage, which had been teasing the tech world with a fake company (TabCo) for the last few weeks, revealed themselves on Monday, along with a new 10" tablet and a smartphone, powered by their own in-house operating system called 'Grid'. Grid is based on the Android kernel and can run Android applications natively, but won't have official access to the Android Market. CEO Chandra Rathakrishna said during the reveal that Apple's iPad is the only real tablet in town, that companies offering Android tablets showed nothing but "parody" and "sameness". Chandra then said that Grid was the answer to this sameness. I have to wholeheartedly disagree with Chandra’s remarks. There not only IS innovation in the Android tablet market, but even if there wasn’t, Grid is not the answer."
Science

+ - Never Point Your Smartphone Cam at a Propeller->

Submitted by
Benz145
Benz145 writes "This terrifying optical illusion is the result of slow scanning image sensors found on most modern smartphones. While the scanning speed is trivial for the majority of everyday objects, point you're camera at something moving at high speed and you may find strange results. There's a video diagram to help understand why this illusion occurs. If seeing really is believing... never point your smartphone camera at an airplanes propeller."
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If the ends don't justify the means, then what does? -- Robert Moses

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