Hasta La Gadget!

Dust off your PS Move controllers. At the 2014 Game Developers Conference (GDC), Sony unveiled Project Morpheus, a virtual reality headset accessory for the PlayStation 4. The headset will work in conjunction with the PlayStation Camera, the DualShock 4 and the PS Move to bring VR to PlayStation users.

The current prototype uses its built-in accelerometer and gyroscope as well as the PlayStation Camera to achieve 360º head tracking. It has a 5″ 1920 x 1080 LCD display with a 90º field of view. Sony also said that the headset will have stereoscopic audio to help with the immersion. Sadly, Gamasutra says the headset has to be connected to a PlayStation 4 by a cable, and Sony “currently has no plans to build a wireless version.”

Sony hasn’t given a release date or price for the headset. According to Gamasutra, Sony is still struggling with the challenges presented by virtual reality, saying that the company is “…still actively working to figure out how to “solve” the problems of VR, and that many of those problems remain unsolved.” That said, the company claims it’s working with game engine makers like Unity, Epic Games and Crytek to help with the headset’s software.

Sony set up a demo booth at GDC where attendees could test prototype units, so we should hear more about how it performs very soon.

[via Sony, Gamasutra & IGN]

I wish these 3D animation shorts were a full movie. Called Tiny Worlds, it shows miniature sized characters and machines solving normal sized problems. Cigarette flicked on the ground? A tiny submarine will blast it away. Matches left on the street? A mini semi truck will haul it away. Gum on the sidewalk? Let’s call the small bulldozer. It’s super cute.

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It has been over three decades that Snoopy and the rest of the dysfunctional Peanuts gang have appeared on the silver screen, but this fact has not stopped the Peanuts ensemble to go against the grain in 2014. Peanuts, a comic strip created by the late Charles Schulz, has staying power even until today thanks to newspaper syndication, MetLife commercials, reruns of classic TV specials (A Charlie Brown Christmas) and a viral video once in a while. Throughout all these, Charlie Brown, everyone’s favorite beagle Snoopy, and gang have been depicted in a 2D environment, but the new Peanuts film that is tipped for a 2015 release from 20th Century Fox and Blue Sky Studios would arrive in 3D goodness.

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Peanuts 3D Set To Grace The Silver Screen In 2015 original content from Ubergizmo.

Now you can enjoy your favorite Italian plumber in all three dimensions with this 3D printed original Super Mario figure. It’s a me, Super Mario in 3D. No glasses required.

Designed by 0fps, this 3D printed action figure represents the old school pixelated Mario from the original Super Mario Bros. game. Basically anyone who grew up playing these games must have this figure. It sells for $31.18(USD) when printed in color as shown here, but you can also order him in a variety of other materials, including metals.

Now if we can just get a few more characters to go with him, our desktop Mushroom Kingdom will be complete.

[via This Is Why I’m broke]

Google’s Advanced Technology and Projects group (ATAP) recently unveiled Project Tango, a smartphone that lets users make 3D models of their surroundings. ATAP is also working on development APIs that will let developers use those 3D models in apps.

The current Project Tango prototype is a 5″ phone with a 4 megapixel camera, a depth sensor, a motion tracking camera and two “computer vision processors.”

The sensors supposedly take about 250,000 measurements per second, which the phone processes into a 3D model in real time.

You’re not going to let the Google Street View crew into your house, but a harmless little smartphone? Come to my pocket and my life! The NSA wants a pendant-sized version of this thing yesterday.

[Google ATAP via Ubergizmo]