The problem with ping pong—as cool as it is—is its complete and utter lack of insane, borderline seizure-inducing visuals. We can all agree on that, right? Well you don’t have to worry anymore; the Pingtime augmented reality table has got that covered.
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The Oculus Rift team still intends to ignore the Xbox One and PS4 and focus on PC and Android, concerned that lengthening development cycles for consoles could see them left behind in virtual reality, even with the cloud’s help. “There’s no reason it can’t technically work,” Oculus Rift CEO Brendan Iribe conceded to OXM, but pointed out that “one of the concerns that we do generally have around consoles is that their life cycles are getting longer all the time.” While the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One are considered powerful today, they could be seriously out-performed when it comes to VR in the next few years, Iribe argues.
“I think that you will see VR move fast – AR also, but especially VR” the chief exec suggested. “You’re going to see rapid innovation, and one of the concerns that we do generally have around consoles is that their life cycles are getting longer all the time – it’s a seven to eight year lifecycle, and in eight years, VR is going to be insane. Incredible.”
Instead, the headset – which uses a pair of head-mounted LCD displays to create a virtual gaming environment – will work initially with PCs and Android devices, as that “made more sense” according to Iribe. The fact that both platforms are liberal with hardware and software is key to that decision, the CEO explained.
Even Microsoft’s decision to harness the power of the cloud to bolster the Xbox One won’t be of much use to virtual reality, he says. Microsoft has said that each Xbox One will also have access to cloud-based processing equivalent to roughly three more consoles, which could be used for processing richer backgrounds in games, more realistic reflections and textures, and other detail.
The system has met with keen interest from game developers, but is unlikely to be of use to virtual reality systems like Oculus Rift, Iribe points out, because of the latency involved.
Virtual reality “wants a maximum latency of 20-30 milliseconds from your head moving to the headset updating your eye on screen – what we call motion-to-photon” he explains. “Right now it’s at 30-50 milliseconds in the current versions, but we do expect that to come down and reach that 15-20 millisecond ‘Holy Grail’ timing.”
However, while attention on Oculus Rift has been high since the start-up’s Kickstarter back in August 2012, the company doesn’t want to keep VR all to itself. In fact, Iribe is hopeful that Microsoft or Sony – preferably both – wade in themselves, seeing it as a net-benefit to Oculus Rift’s business overall.
“The more that they push into this space, even if it’s a different device, or their own device, a different experience, the more that they’re throwing into AR and VR, the better it is for everybody” he said.
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Oculus Rift unconvinced by Xbox One and PS4 VR potential is written by Chris Davies & originally posted on SlashGear.
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No inventor can complain that “there’s nothing to do” when Google+ has partnered with Make Magazine and Radio Shack to host six weeks of creative DIY projects via Maker Camp!
The folks over at Japan are a pretty creative society – just take a look at the kind of quirky fashion ideals that people in the country ascribe to, and you have a better and clearer picture of how things look like. Not only that, their smartphones have long been so much more advanced than handsets in the West and the rest of the world, functioning as a portable wallet and all. This time around, we have Dentsu, a Japanese advertising company, make an announcement that they have come up with a new T-shirt technology that they call Asoberu-T.
The Asoberu-T can be said to be a form of augmented reality, as it comes in three different ways for one to “enjoy” the T-shirt, namely Play, Shot and Share. In order to begin “playing” with your T-shirt, you will first need to install the dedicated free application on your smartphone. Once that is done, hold the smartphone over the T-shirt and run the app, where your eyes will be greeted by characters as well as other designs which will pop-up on the screen as though it involved magic, and you can even manipulate those characters and designs from your phone’s touchscreen to boot. In Shot mode, you can pose with the characters while composing an entirely new photo, while Share would let you upload those photos to a special website. Definitely trendy and fashionable, don’t you think so?
Source
[ Asoberu-T augmented reality shirt copyright by Coolest Gadgets ]
Splinter Cell: Blacklist is giving developer Ubisoft the chance to test out a new way of filming and editing cutscenes, blending live actors, advanced motion capture, and a new virtual camera system for the human touch. The virtual camera, which Ubisoft Toronto demonstrated to Outside Xbox, mixes real-time video editing with augmented reality, allowing a
While Google Glass can enable hands-free video recording, it’s not exactly ideal in every situation. Take motorcycle riding for example: Google Glass probably isn’t too comfortable to wear when you have a helmet squeezing your head at the same time. It works, sure, but there has to be a better way. Enter LiveMap’s own solution.
Earlier this year we heard about the Meta, an augmented reality computer in the shape of a pair of glasses. The company behind the computer took a page from the Oculus Rift team and also launched a Kickstarter for the Meta developer’s kit.
The fundraiser may not be aimed at end users, but it does reveal a bit more about the Meta. In the video below you’ll see that the consumer version of the glasses should be much more compact and much less dorky than the current prototype. The Meta projects its display up to 16 ft. away from the user at 960×540 resolution. Developers will initially use Unity 3D on Windows to write software for the Meta. They’ll be able to make use of the Meta’s gesture, finger and surface tracking as well as its depth and color data.
You’ll need to pledge at least $695(USD) on Kickstarter to get a Meta 1 dev kit as a reward. I’m really intrigued by the possibilities of this device, partly because I’m into card and board games right now. It would be nice to have more interactive board game. And also to not have to clean up the tokens and other pieces after each game.
Honestly, I have no idea how many miles my car gets to the gallon.
Hopefully one of you software geniuses can collaborate with Ford to
build a simple app to show me just how efficient my Taurus is.
Stanford University alumni Josh Chan and Tarun Pondicherry invented LightUp, a modular electronics kit that’s as easy to use as LEGO blocks. The kits is designed to teach children the basics of electronics and computer programming.
LightUp simplifies the process of building an electronic circuit so that it won’t discourage children from experimenting and trying again if they don’t get the result they want. Instead of requiring children to use soldering materials or wires, the parts in a LightUp kit connect to each other using magnets. This means that they’re easy to put together and take apart. It also means that if you purchase more kits, you get more parts to mix and match.
One thing that LightUp kits have that LEGO toys don’t have is an augmented reality app. When you take a picture of a LightUp circuit on a mobile device, the app can point out if any of the parts are incorrectly connected. It can also show the flow of electricity throughout the circuit, as shown in the image above. Finally, LightUp can be programmed using Arduino code, so kids can jump right into coding if they want. I’m not sure if the kit will come with programming aids or lessons though.
Pledge at least $39 (USD) on Kickstarter to receive a LightUp kit as a reward. The reward tiers seem to have different kinds of kits assigned to them; I’m not sure if the more expensive kits will include all the items included in the cheaper ones, so choose your desired tier carefully.
So we’re one step closer to true virtual reality. A Kickstarter Page just went live for the ARAIG Gaming Suit – a piece of wearable hardware designed to provide real, visceral sensory feedback. It’s about as awesome as it sounds.
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