Amey pioneers hyper-real simulation training to wake drivers up to danger.

Leading infrastructure services firm Amey has launched a new virtual reality tool to wake drivers up to the dangers of falling asleep at the wheel.

The cutting edge new driver training simulator – to be offered as part of a suite of training to the firm’s 13,000 drivers across the UK - combines 360 degree sights, sensations and movements in a way more traditionally associated with the gaming industry.

The venture into totally immersive experience training is believed to be a first in the infrastructure industry as the company pursues ever greater safety performance across all its 300-plus client contracts.

Developed as part of a creative technology incubation project with global experience design company Holovis, Amey’s innovative new kit was unveiled to more than 100 company fleet and transport managers and suppliers at its Fleet and Plant Transport Conference in Oxford on October 11 and 12.

More information here

Topshop to transform Oxford Street into a giant water slide – in VR.

Topshop is continuing its experiments in virtual reality with the unveiling of a new experience at its flagship store on London’s Oxford Street, where consumers will be able to race down a giant looping water slide in immersive 360.

Splash at Topshop will be located in the flagship’s store windows as part of the brand’s ‘interactive pool scene’, which has been designed to mark the start of the summer season. Shoppers who take on the VR activation with Oculus will start their journey on a giant inflatable before being plunged into an uncanny Oxford Street via the mind-boggling blue slide – Topshop-themed surprises are promised along the way.

A branded Snapchat lens will go live until 27 May to support the live campaign. Users can expect to be immersed into a summer-themed aquatic world via the social platform.

Topshop will also be pumping the scent of sunscreen throughout the London store and hosting a number of summer-themed pop-ups, such as soft-serve ice cream vendor Milk Train.

The free experience has been developed in partnership with Your Studio, with the VR being designed in collaboration with Fat Unicorn. It will be open to the public from 25 May until 4 June.

18 circuits, and more than 140 racing cars - race simulator !

Immersive is the first Dutch start-up that offers animated Virtual Reality Experiences. It is extra special when all your senses involved in an experience. Virtual Reality combined with motion simulators is unique in the Netherlands. The start-up was founded by three young entrepreneurs with a passion for motorsport, business and technology. For Immersive is just crazy and we strive to be a leader of the most unique and innovative customer experiences. Innovative, enterprising and challenging; so we like to challenge others.

The hypercars sound very loud and every vibration in the car feel back in control. With an eye to detail we have selected the most realistic simulator games. Compose your own dream race together and decide how much help you need during the race. Sit down, imagine seat and terrorize the circuit with your driving skills!



Opening in Almere at april 15 th. 2017 - 12 h.

Intel demos world’s first ‘walk-around’ VR video experience.

“At CES 2017, Intel announced a partnership with Hype VR to deliver high-fidelity video capture that allows viewers to move around a video scene as if they were there.”

Snooker champion Ronnie O'Sullivan is testing a pool game in virtual reality.

With a virtual reality mask HTC Vive on the head professional snooker player Ronnie O'Sullivan is trying to play billiards. But the man fell to the ground in wanting to build on the virtual pool table. Fail ! The video is an excerpt from the show "RONNIE O'SULLIVAN'S AMERICAN HUSTLE" which airs on the History channel in 2017

Virtual Reality - Demo Yacht and Train

Customize as you like and sail on a yacht.

Experience the Yacht VR app with HTC Vive. © 2016 Pirx Lab
www.pirxlab.com

INFOGRAPHIC – Virtual Reality in the Classroom.

As technology advances many schools and teachers are implementing more up-to-date technology into the classroom to aid in students’ learning. In fact 2 out of 3 teachers consider themselves to be “innovators” when it comes to adding technology into lessons. Teachers believe that Virtual Reality can have a large impact on how kids learn, with 85% feeling it would have a positive impact on their students; and 83% believe VR might help improve learning outcomes. VR can help students better grasp concepts, allow for greater collaboration, and increase motivation. Which would be beneficial for simulating experiences such as the Wright Brothers’ first flight in 1903, exploring outer space, traveling to landmarks that are out of reach for a field trip, and even supplementing course curriculum to help students better understand concepts being taught. Teachers feel the most valuable subjects to use VR would be Science, History, and Social Studies. As of now, only 2% of teachers currently use VR in the classroom, but with Virtual Reality being one of the biggest leaps in technology today, it is sure to find its way into classrooms in the near future.

Infographic here.

Putting VR on the menu.

Recently, McDonald’s experimented with self-ordering kiosks, interactive tables and other smart technologies. Now, one McDonald’s location in Singapore is adding virtual reality to the menu, with kiosks.

At the McDonald’s Marine Cove location in Singapore, the company deployed virtual reality kiosks to give users a virtual tour of the facility. In the video, customers can get a 360-degree tour of all the location has to offer, from shadow walls to self-ordering kiosks. With the self-ordering kiosks, users can customize and confirm their orders. With the shadow walls, customers can move the shadows of iconic McDonald’s advertising figures by using their own bodies and Microsoft Kinect, according to a report by psfk.

The video showcases the dessert bar, charging stations for mobile devices, the salad bar, food pick-up location and other features. On the virtual tour, customers also see smiling employees at every location to create a sense of warmth and friendliness.

At the end of the tour, the kiosk challenges users to “fall in love all over.” Overall, this virtual reality kiosk is designed to improve the customer experience by crafting a friendly atmosphere with smart technology. You can take virtual tour by watching the video below.

Razer’s $400 HDK 2 VR headset.

Razer and Sensics, the two companies spearheading the Open Source Virtual Reality (OSVR) movement, just announced a second generation VR headset with an upgraded display that's supposedly on par with the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive. It's also several hundred dollars cheaper with an MSRP of $400 (€500).

"The HDK 2 allows us to meet the needs of VR fans and gamers and provide developers with affordable open-source hardware to innovate with," says Christopher Mitchel, OSVR Lead, Razer. "With the HDK 2 being able to deliver a visual experience on par with industry leaders, we will now be able to represent hardware agnostic VR media and games in all their glory for future headsets to adopt through the open source ecosystem."

Razer's on a mission to make VR accessible to a wider audience with an open source platform that doesn't lock anyone out. (If you're handy with a code editor, you can contribute to OSVR projects on GitHub.) Offering a lower cost headset in the form of the HDK (Hacker Development Kit) 2 ties in with that plan and, as far as Razer is concerned, brings parity to more expensive headsets offered by the competition.

More information here

The HDK 2 will ship in July and be backwards compatible with the HDK 1.4, which itself will continue to be available for $299.

In related news, Razer also announced a $5 million OSVR Developer Fund to encourage developers to support the open source ecosystem. The fund will be available to qualified, participating VR content developers both big and small, independent or major. Those chosen will have their game codes purchased in bulk by Razer or any future contributors of the fund in exchange for support of the platform.

GE Oil & Gas Virtual Training Solutions.

GE Oil & Gas Customer Training redefines the learning approach with Virtual Experiences.

Through interactive experience based on 3D technology, our Customers can perform true-to-life technical sessions and familiarize with equipment and plants even before they are built. The immersive training solutions can be delivered at Customer’s premises or in GE Learning Centers and tailored on specific equipment, existing installations and new plants.

Oculus exec Mary Lou Jepsen resigns to create new MRI tech.

Dr. Mary Lou Jepsen is well known for her work in pioneering display technology as a co-founder of OLPC, former head of the display division at Google X and lately Oculus VR, which she joined about a year ago. Tonight during the Anita Borg Institute's Women of Vision awards banquet, the founder and former CEO of Pixel Qi capped off a keynote speech by announcing she will resign her post as Executive Director of Engineering and Head of Display Technologies at Oculus. Instead, she will focus on "curing diseases with new display technology," by bringing MRI machines to every doctor' office in the world. It's an ambitious goal, but a peek at Dr. Jepsen's history shows why she's the person to tackle it.

For more info on what she might be working on, there's video of a recent TED talk with Dr. Jepsen discussing MRI and fMRI tech.

StubHub Will Use Virtual Reality to Let You Preview Your Seat.

Like many companies, eBay is convinced virtual reality is the next big thing. But also like a lot of companies, eBay is trying to figure out just what that means for its business.

On Thursday, the company is announcing its first small foray into the VR arena, as subsidiary StubHub offers Final Four ticket buyers the option to get an immersive, 3-D view of available seats. A similar option will also appear for those looking to purchase baseball tickets for AT&T Park, home of the San Francisco Giants.

The experience will work from within the existing StubHub apps for iOS and Android. Customers will have the option of either using a smartphone or tablet and rotating it around to see different views, or popping their phone into a VR headset like Google Cardboard or Gear VR for a more immersive view.

“We didn’t want to do something just for fun or [as] a marketing gimmick,” said Marcus Shelksohn, StubHub’s head of product for mobile apps. Being able to see what the view is like solves a real problem for customers, he said. “Are those seats that are closer to the court really worth the extra $50?”

StubHub isn’t alone, with other online ticket sellers, teams and venues also working to offer interactive seat maps using virtual reality.

More information here

Augmented & Virtual Reality Report - Forecast for 2025 | Goldman Sachs.

Virtual Reality ( VR ) and Augmented Reality ( AR ) have different use cases, technologies and market opportunities so it's important to distinquish between the two.

Virtual Reality immerses a user in an imagined or replicated world ( like videogames or movies ) or simulates presence in the real world ( like watching a sporting event live). Examples of hardware players in VR are Oculus. Sony Play Station VR, HTC Vive and Samsung Gear VR.

Augmented Reality overlays digital imagery onto the real world. Examples of hardware players in AR are Microsoft HoloLens, Google Glass and Magic Leap.

Which firm is trademarking the most VR inventions?

Attention around VR seems to be reaching an all-time high, with the crowd-funded Oculus Rift due to ship in March 2016, after it was acquired by Facebook for $2 billion last year (the biggest sale in VR history). Other players such as Microsoft, Sony, HTC and Google are also keen to get in on the act.

Take a look here

Shadowhunters: Revealing the Shadow World.

The latest campaign for ‪Shadowhunters‬ is now live on the streets of ‪Boston‬ @JCDecauxGlobal Now this is how you promote a tv show or Movie.

Jaguar creates ‘Actual Reality’ prank.

Jaguar invited people to experience the only virtual reality simulation worthy of the F-TYPE. One that turned out to be not-so-virtual. Watch their reactions.

Click here for a test drive of your own: http://bit.ly/1NStoAF

EE Lab Demo Day - Leap Motion + VR

We invited Leap Motion into the office today for a Demo Day in our San Francisco EE Lab. It was great to get a hands-on demo of their latest software/hardware that integrates the Leap Motion product with a VR headset - in this case it's an Oculus Rift. To learn more about the Razorfish Emerging Experiences team, please visit our blog emergingexperiences.com

VR Project - Roller Coaster In The Shopping Mall - 4 Player Experience

Virtual reality based roller coaster experiences are the most widely known examples of the concept. There are some demos that you can download and try with oculus rift headsets. In Codemodeon we wanted to create a unique roller coaster experience. In collaboration with Cevahir Shopping Mall in Istanbul, we started a virtual reality project from scratch. We 3D modelled whole shopping mall by using architectural drawings. Then we designed a thrilling roller coaster ride which travels inside the 3D model of Cevahir. To improve the excitement and fun we added some details along the path. Crashing through the glasses, watching drones fly above you carrying the logo of Cevahir are the examples of those funny details. At the center of the base level of the shopping mall, a large roller coaster decoration is constructed. A 3x3 video wall is placed behind the decoration to attract people and let them watch the experience. codemodeon.com Codemodeon is an Istanbul based creative technology company specializing in game development, virtual reality, installation-based experiences and human computer interaction.

VR Runway Show.

The WeMakeVR & Tommy Hilfiger partnership offers a unique VIP front-row fashion show experience.

“Our special virtual reality cameras, combined with Tommy Hilfiger’s creative vision of the Fall ’15 Hilfiger Collection fashion show, resulted in an experience that goes beyond that of VIP guests,” said Avinash Changa, Founder and CEO of WeMakeVR. “Users get an incredible peek behind the scenes; they stand next to models right before they walk out onto the runway, and they feel the excitement of being backstage after the show.”

“When we presented our technology and our vision to Daniel Grieder, Tommy’s global CEO, he instantly recognized the potential of our collaboration. He understood WeMakeVR is not just about the technology, but about applying it in a way that adds value beyond the initial wow-factor. It’s a pleasure to work with Daniel and his team, WeMakeVR and Tommy believe VR will be a great tool for the fashion industry.” The Fall 2015 VR experience is a first pioneering step. Both look forward to the next VR show, which promises to take the experience even further.

More info here

VR adds new skin to a real world

source www.inavateonthenet.net

Tech startup Wild has become the latest company to blend virtual
reality with the physical world. The project uses a dedicated
environment that serves as a physical framework that the user can
explore

While interacting with a virtual overlay as seen through a VR headset.
WILD is initially aiming its creation at the marketing and visitors attraction markets.
Merging real and virtual environments is a popular concept at the moment. with several companies such as Surreal Vision - a company recently acquired by Oculus Rift – and VOID (Vision Of Infinite Dimensions) developing similar projects.

US-firm Wild’s prototype has been built in its offices in Oregon and allows a user to open a door into a world where they can speed up and slow down traffic outside the office’s virtual window and change the weather with the flick of a 'real' switch. The explorers can interact – or in some cases eat – things that exist in both the real and virtual world such as popcorn.

Wild’s prototype uses a Samsung Gear VR headset with integrated smartphone. Multiple sensors track the whereabouts of the user, and establishes their interaction with the items in the space. It is these interactions with real world objects that ‘grounds’ the experience for the user, developers believe, and ultimately makes it more believable.

Wild describes itself as a firm that provides creative technology for branded environments and live events. Earlier in the year it launched an interactive game called CTRL ALT PDX which was installed on 750 square feet (or more than nine million pixels) of storefront windows in Wild’s hometown of Portland.