Virtual Reality Gaming Tech Coming to the Fold with New Worlds, Simulations and Entertainment

""New ways to game and interact with virtual worlds are popping up every day. Across the gaming industry, VR is making a huge impact on the way we experience games and entertainment, and it's just getting started.

Sony's Project Morpheus, Samsung's Gear VR, and of course, the Oculus Rift, are all pushing the limits of virtual reality and how we interact with the everyday world.

But those big names are just the tip of the arrow when in comes to reality-altering technology. During a recent Upload VR event, dedicated to showcasing advancements in that field, IGN got the chance to go hands-on with the new tech that's ushering in the virtual age.

The STEM System
If you’ve ever wanted to wade into battle gripping dual lightsabers with blaster-deflecting precision, the STEM System is something to keep an eye on.

Developed by Sixense Entertainment, the STEM System is a collection of wireless, motion-tracking devices that work together to monitor your position, movement, and orientation in three-dimensional space.

STEM System - Lightsaber Demo
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While the potential of this technology could be applied to any industry, it's a natural extension to the virtual-reality gaming space, which I got to experience firsthand in Sixense's lightsaber demo.

Using the STEM System, coupled with the Oculus Rift, I was impressed with just how effectively the motion tracking was relayed into the headset. I immediately grabbed two lightsabers and waved them around independently, then watched them sizzle and spark as I touched the blades together in front of my face.

But the most intriguing part was how natural it felt to deflect incoming blaster shots from the demo's hovering droid. Each time a shot came at me, I tilted one saber and deflected the blast, bopping the droid with the other when it got too close. The relationship between my eyes and my muscles was as close to one-to-one as I've ever experienced in virtual reality.

And the hand controllers themselves are as intuitive as you want for gaming. They're lightweight, with a trigger and bumper set under your index finger, and a number of face buttons and an analog stick resting on top of the device, accessible by your thumb.

Modular Motion Tracking System
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The STEM system with virtual reality game support could soon find us in a future where we battle our friends in lightsaber duels, or slay dragons in Skyrim with sword and shield in hand. Who knows, maybe we’ll even get the chance to fight the Xenomorph Queen from Aliens, piloting the mechanical arms and legs of Ripley’s Power Loader suit.

Possibilities for interactive engagement in a virtual environment are limitless, and if the STEM system is any indication, they’re a lot closer than you might think.

FOVE - Eye Tracking Head Mount Display
The FOVE headset combines head position and orientation sensing with eye tracking technology. It also allows you to destroy things, just by looking at them.

FOVE Eye Aiming

During a live demo of the FOVE eye tracking head mount display, my eyes were quickly calibrated by the software, and I was immediately thrown into a short game where I overlooked a futuristic city.

Nearly everywhere I looked, a targeting indicator followed my vision. Shortly thereafter, hovering droves began to appear all over the screen, and when my gaze connected with a drone, a laser burst forward and the drone disappeared in a cloud of sparks and debris.

In other words, the FOVE headset turned me into Cyclops for a brief minute of childhood dream fulfillment, and destroying things with my eyeballs is now my preferred method of virtual destruction.

And while the tracking occasionally slipped and I found myself flicking my eyes off-target and back on in order to re-engage, the idea is sound and the technology backs it up. But blowing up virtual stuff is just one potential application.
  
The FOVE headset's ability to track your vision can simulate a better depth of field. In virtual worlds, it could even allow for a more potent artificial intelligence by "anticipating attack, participating in psychological warfare, and making realistic eye contact." All of which is incredibly cool, and a little terrifying.

And in the real world, the FOVE headset can help those with disabilities communicate with their eyes, by typing on a virtual keyboard, or interacting with a custom user interface.

Consistent eye tracking has a ton of practical applications in both the real world, and virtual ones, and the FOVE head mount display is a great step in that direction.

Reel FX - Jaeger Pilot VR Experience
Reel FX, an animation and virtual reality development studio, has collaborated with Legendary Pictures and Guillermo Del Toro to create the Jaeger Pilot VR Experience based on the robots-fight-monsters blockbuster Pacific Rim.

And unlike so many virtual or three-dimensional "experiences" you might find at amusement parks, Reel FX's creation actually feels like an experience.

Guillermo Del Toro Reveals Details About Pacific Rim 2 - Comic Con 2014
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I took the Jaeger Pilot VR Experience for a test drive running on a Samsung mobile device through the Gear VR goggles. Test drive is a fitting term, because when the "neural handshake" loading screen finished and the scene booted up, I was occupying the left control port inside the head of a giant Jaeger.

Looking to the right I saw my copilot, who was barking instructions while every thumping step of the giant triggered the shock pad attached to my chair and kicked me in the back. Before I could really process everything, we were punching giant Kaiju in the face with the infamous "Elbow Rocket."

After a few short tangles, the massive horn on the monster's head pierced the windshield of our Jaeger, crushing my copilot, and ripping him out into oblivion along with the right half of the Jaeger's face.""

Virtual Gaming Article:

http://www.ign.com/articles/2015/01/29/what-new-tech-could-do-for-gaming-in-virtual-reality

A New Year on Day 1 of 2015: Let's Look Back at Ten Ways The World Changed In 2014

1) We Went From People Searching For Things To Things Finding People

"Companies are leveraging data in order to serve people with relevant content, commerce, and ads based on situations and locations. In content, a good example of this is the rise of companies like Taboola and Outbrain, serving relevant content to users based on what they’re currently reading."

2) The Smartphone Became A Remote For The Real World

"In the past, what was once fixed Internet consumption based on where your desktop computer was or your hefty laptop has become ubiquitous Internet consumption via the smartphone. This has allowed a crop of new services where you use your phone to control aspects of the real world."

3) New Platforms Were Born

"For the first time in several years, we have multiple new platforms with exciting opportunities ahead to build applications on top of them. Whether it’s Blockchain technology, virtual reality, 3D printing, or the Internet of Things, there will be no shortage of innovative applications built on top of these platforms in 2015 and beyond."

4) Virtual Reality Became More Than Just A Gaming Platform

"I have to admit, when I first heard about Facebook buying Oculus for $2 billion I didn’t understand it. I realized the merits of virtual reality in gaming and know firsthand how big the gaming community is from my experience at IGN, but such a high price tag and from a company whose mission it is to “make the world more open and connected” just didn’t make very much sense to me. Then my friend and Metamorphic adviser Jane Rosenthal introduced me to Chris Milk who, along with Beck, created an immersive virtual reality live concert experience. It was amazing to sit outside this coffee shop in Venice Beach and feel as if I were at the concert."

"5) We Learned That The Next Smart Devices Won’t Be Phones

In a lot of ways, Google’s Nest acquisition showed the world that the Internet of Things is here to stay. There will be Internet-enabled devices in just about every category that will come online in the next few years. These devices show us that the next generation of web-enabled devices won’t be smartphones but rather a world where all of your devices are “smart” whether it’s wearables on your body or in your home or office."

6) Personalization Became Universal

"The logged-in vs. logged-out experience of Amazon has changed the expectations for personalization among users. While it used to be a luxury for consumers, now it’s simply expected. This is the human API, and companies are finding all sorts of ways to leverage our data to create an experience personalized just for us. If companies are sending promotional emails to customers with irrelevant offers and products, it’s likely that consumers will unsubscribe (or worse, report as spam)."

7) Content Became King Again

"Whether it was BuzzFeed, Vice, Vox Media or Elite Daily, business models based on content are back and better than ever. A lot of this is attributed to the new “platisher” model, where it isn’t quite a publisher and isn’t quite a platform but both professional journalists and users are creating content under one umbrella."

"This model provides for strong communities and brand for the content companies. Advertisers also like the branded content side of things where these professional journalists and users are creating content specially tailored for them."

8) Urbanization Returned To The U.S.

"In 2013, 2.3 million more people moved into metro areas than in 2012, driven by the demands of America’s two most powerful demographics. Baby boomers are retiring and moving back to the cities they left when they started families, and millennials want to live closer to each other and where the action is. This has provided a massive opportunity for businesses to be built that leverage the space and time constraints of urban areas."

9) Mindfulness And Nutrition Were More Prevalent Than Ever

"2014 really was the year that mindfulness became mainstream. The Seattle Seahawks were meditating prior to the Super Bowl and companies are being created like Headspace, which helps to teach people to meditate and in turn clear their mind."

"Not only do we try to incorporate fitness and mindfulness into the culture at Metamorphic with our founders and our team, but we added Eddie Stern as a formal adviser who meditates with us and teaches meditation and yoga to our portfolio companies. I recently joined the board of the Sonima Foundation, which is bringing mindfulness into public schools. We have lots of work to do, so you’ll be hearing from me in 2015."

10) Gender Inequality In Tech Finally Got More Attention

"It seems like in 2014, we’ve finally begun to address tech’s gender inequality problem. When I got involved with Girls Who Code a few years ago, there was a problem deeper than just female engineers not being hired by large tech companies. The problem was that there really weren’t a lot of female engineers. And it starts earlier as women haven’t traditionally been empowered to become engineers. Girls Who Code is doing a great job of changing this."

Original Article Found Here:

 http://techcrunch.com/2014/12/31/ten-ways-the-world-changed-in-2014/