Interesting articles about VR – week #22

Valve’s New Site Affirms Role of VR in Company’s Future, Teases “Top secret” Games

“We make games, Steam, and hardware. Join us,” says the first line of Valve’s newly redesigned website—in big bold red letters—bringing its look more in line with 2010’s design language than the previous version that screamed ‘late 2000’s’. Along with the new look is a clear emphasis on hardware as a central part of Valve’s future, with VR positioned as the cutting edge of the company’s work.

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Google and Facebook are now tantalizingly close to solving VR

Something big happened last week, and I’m not sure anyone really noticed. Both Facebook and Lenovo (with partner Google) released new VR headsets: the Oculus Go ($200) and the Mirage Solo ($400) respectively. Just like plenty of other VR headsets, these devices allow you to fly over mountains in a squirrel suit, watch YouTube on a 100-foot screen, and blast zombies to smithereens.

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In-Depth: Therapeutic VR in 2018 is no longer just a distraction (therapy)

Although it hasn’t yet established its place as a mainstream treatment modality, virtual reality has grown from an interesting diversion into a frequent topic of conversation within digital health. As researchers continue to dig their teeth into the immersive technology, it’s becoming clear that this new tool, often associated with video gaming and entertainment, could play a role in addressing some of the long-standing issues of the healthcare industry.

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Google AR headset “A65” tipped to rival HoloLens

Google is reportedly developing a standalone Augmented Reality headset to take on Microsoft HoloLens, a cable-free system that does not require a tethered PC to drive it. The rumors come after the launch of the first standalone Daydream headset, the Lenovo Mirage Solo, which packages a full virtual reality system into a single wearable.

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Report: Google is Developing a Standalone AR Headset to Rival HoloLens

Google is allegedly developing a standalone augmented reality headset that aims to offer users a tethereless AR experience, German tech publication WinFuture reports. 
WinFuture maintains they’ve obtained documents proving the existence of the Google AR headset project, which internally carries the code name ‘A65’. The headsets is said to rely on processors built by Qualcomm, and much like Microsoft’s HoloLens headset, Google A65 is said to function without a tether to a PC, and pack several camera sensors a microphones, offer vocal input.

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Social VR’s best platform is the open web, not walled gardens

That mainstream appeal for VR continues to elude the mixed reality industry in Western markets is a point I touched on last week when I encouraged startups to embrace China as a go-to-market. I don’t think it’s so much a case of the Asian market being some anomaly that defies the laws of the hype cycle model but, rather, that its industry is more fluid in adapting and aligning itself to its audience than industry leaders are in the West.

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How AR and VR Will Revolutionize the Classroom

With our business and personal lives moving to the digital environment, it makes sense that education — from elementary school through to college, trade schools, and professional development courses — will also migrate to a more technologically focused model. And that includes the influence that virtual and augmented reality will wield in the classroom over the next decade.

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27 Ways To Tell A Story In VR

Guess what? Virtual reality is finally here.  
Various companies have released goggles, motion tracking technology, omni-directional treadmills.

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Beyond the Joystick: Companies Building the Future of VR Locomotion

In Ready Player One’s opening act, Steven Spielberg sets the stage for the capabilities of 2045’s VR hardware. We get to see a VR headset, facial tracking gear, haptic gloves and bodysuit, and most importantly for Wade’s sprinting, an omnidirectional treadmill.

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Top 20 Free VR Games (on Steam) – Oculus Rift – HTC Vive

Cherry-picked for you by Ben Plays VR

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