#virtual reality
It’s a bit sad when I consider that one of the kindest things humanity could do for the earth and all the things existing on earth, would be to develop virtual reality to the point that humans no long need to act upon and harm the earth to achieve all of the freedoms, experiences and luxuries we so desperately seek. I picture the Matrix, but instead of the outerworld being dreadfully decayed and infested with mechanical design, it is green and flourishing with life.
Question is, how many resources would be required to devise of , build and power such a matrix? Think it could be possible and sustainable?
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A cartoon Mark Zuckerberg toured hurricane-struck Puerto Rico in virtual reality
- Mark Zuckerberg put on an Oculus Rift and used Facebook’s new virtual reality platform, Facebook Spaces, to transport himself to Puerto Rico, the Moon, and his house.
- Hebroadcast the moment live on Facebook in what turned out to be a rather strange demo of a social platform that doesn’t have a clear use yet.
- In particular, Zuckerberg’s choice of locations emphasized just how odd it’ll be to watch other people in any sort of serious situation in virtual reality. Read more
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I recently found this chart on Reddit by u/Molotovn displaying the titles released by Valve since 2004 when Half Life 2 came out among the popularity of the FPS genre for PC games. Back in that period the publishing of the sequel to Half Life raised the bar for many other game developers not only in terms of aesthetics, but also for the experience the gameplay would offer.
Valve has a unique history that defies any other game developers in terms of name content but also on its major controversy of sequel spawn. Gamers have been waiting since 2007 for a Half Life 2 sequel in the shape of a episode installment or stand-alone title.
Meanwhile Valve has published other titles like Portal, Team Fortress 2, Left 4 Dead, Counter Strike: Global Offensive, and Dota 2. These titles all became international hits worldwide for their rich gameplay and extensive user-generated mods availability: you can play Half Life 2 or Left 4 Dead 2 with all the available perks to enjoy again a title coming out ten years ago.
Valve has been constantly criticized for its poor communication skills with their player base which left many people disappointed over the future of the Half Life destiny. The many rumors and leaks over the years condensed into an even more confusing direction Valve is secretly considering for this title: continuing or not continuing?
If we analyze the patterns of behavior Valve has taken in the last ten years we see they have slowly left the game developing practice in order to go towards the distribution side. Steam has become a significant yet unique publishing platform for all types of big and small games, followed by music and movie distribution.
Valve has been intensely working with the Virtual Reality platform for the past five years while the whole creative Half Life team has left the company. For many it was an omen of changing times while others remain faithful to a miraculous release of Half Life 3.
Steam has pioneered the online experience of a service providing game purchase at an advantageous price to fight piracy and the retail sector of hard copies. This system has become an OS within an OS and the SteamOS is available to users who want PC experience on the go with a console feel.
Valve has been smart managing its online identity ever since it became an official distributor of digital goods well before anybody else, including a personal interface for each player to manage with its content. Now it has become an empire of triple A titles as well as an important vault of indie games. Steam has given independent developers a voice for their products to be sold and admired, something the competition snubbed for lack of better foresight in game design.
I wouldn’t be surprised if Valve transforms itself into a multimedia distribution platform in the shape of Youtube/Twitch store, including the sale of the products it will eventually broadcast if the company decides to push for streaming rights. It seems as a logical deduction in the wake of the many shifts of broadcasting and sales rights the net has witnessed until today.
One thing we have to wait for is for international distribution rights to be granted along with specific contracts for each continental region. Laws and copyright restrictions still limit some deals of titles and contents as well of platform spreading in the Western World; any further expansion towards the east like China and the rest of Asia will still be something to monitor.
We can speculate that from here to 2020 Valve will make their biggest decision whether to continue to develop titles of their own or to fully become an international distribution platform; something totally new that will defy the rules of digital share we have today.
Eye tracking in the HTC Vive Pro
Short video from Cubic Motion presents a debug-view of eye-tracking from within a VR headset. Why is eye-tracking important? There are several useful possibilities - graphics are optimized through the lenses based on where you look, you can make selections in menus, and your avatar can present your gaze to other players:
First attempt at a simple tracker from a Pupil Labs camera inside the HTC Vive Pro. Watch this space for further density, coverage, and precision over the coming weeks. Model was trained on a desktop CPU in a few minutes. No GPU in either training or runtime. No neural networks in fact.
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RiVR
Company specializing in Emergency Services training using Virtual Reality hardware have released this video teaser showcasing an impressive photorealistic 3D scene which can be explored:
This is not reality, its Reality in Virtual Reality created in Unity and its being used to train the UK fire service and Police in the most immersive way ever imagined. We have an amazing team at www.RiVR.uk that are being supported by Coventry University International UK Fire service, XVR Simulation Software and the UK police. The scenes that we create will be collaboratively funded and then accessed by all the services saving millions of pounds on the way training is currently done. Also a a huge thanks to Louise Brand at 4DMax Ltd and all the guys at @Capturing Reality and Intel Leica Geosystems TraumaFX
The company’s website can be found here
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Ready Player One Alternative Movie Poster
SEEING I
For 24-hours a day, for 28-days, artist Mark Farid will wear a virtual reality headset, experiencing life through the eyes and ears of another: the Other.
Inspired by the ‘Stanford Prison Experiment’ (1971), Jean Baudrillard’s ‘Simulacra and Simulation’ (1981), and Josh Harris’ ‘Quiet: We Live in Public’ (1999), Seeing I will confine Farid to a gallery space in London, subjected to the simulated life of the project’s Other. With no pre-knowledge of, or existing relationship to the Other, the only details confirmed to Farid will be that the Other is in a relationship and at least eighteen years of age.
For the duration of the project’s 28-days, Farid will experience no human interaction relative to his own life, allowing his indirect relationship with the Other to become Farid’s leading narrative. Will the constant stream of artificial sights and sounds start to displace his own internal monologue?
Adapting the question of nature vs. nurture to the digital age, Seeing I will consider how large a portion of the individual is an inherent self, and how large a portion is a consequence of environmental culture. Will the 28-days alter Farid’s movement, mannerisms, personality, memory or rationale? Without freewill to determine who he is, will Farid’s consciousness be enough to deter significant changes?
Here: http://www.seeing-i.co.uk/
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He kept on talking to the women in the latest focus group about his invention and how it could be used to better people’s lives, droning on. The first participant was already well under though.
“… and I hope with this little demonstration you can see how virtual reality will be able to help people reach their goals in life.”
“How is she doing, Sir?”
“Nice and steady beat.” he lifted her arm up and watched it stay in position. “Okay, she’s ready for phase 2.”
“Understood… Master.” she said, feeling almost relief at being able to call Him her owner once more.
“Take them down to the basement. Get them strapped in. Make sure she goes in first.” he said, pointing to the girl at the end slumped over. “I don’t want her waking up early.”
He took the helmet and headphones off the woman and put them down.
“I’ll join you down there in a minute. I want to lock the prototypes back up again.”
“Yes, Master… Girls…” she said, addressing them with a hand on each shoulder. “Listen to my voice and obey.”
“Listen to your voice and obey.” both girls intoned slowly.
“You will now rise and follow me to the elevator.”
“We will rise and follow you to the elevator.”
A moment later, both women stood up, slightly slumped and began walking out of the room, ready to be prepared for the next stage.
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This weekend we will be showing Cricoteriefor the first time in Italy, our new home country. During three consecutive days you can enjoy our teatr of death in a special installation at Game Happens in Genova.
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On Friday 24 May we present a new iteration of our ongoing Virtual Reality theater project CricoterieinGallery Foksal in Warsaw. The exhibition runs until June 7.
Foksal Gallery was founded in 1966 by, among others, Tadeusz Kantor, the artist and theater director who inspired Cricoterie. We feel very honored to have our work shown there.
Come say hello! The artists will be present. :-)
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