Interesting articles about VR – week #29

ProBeat: HTC should kill its phones and focus on VR

Let’s talk about HTC. The struggling Taiwanese consumer electronics company announced more layoffs this week: 1,500 jobs, or around 25 percent of its workforce. This has been long overdue, but I’ll say it again: HTC should stop making phones. HTC should focus on VR. Most important, HTC should stop doing both.

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Immersively Affordable: 5 VR Headsets You Can Buy For Less Than £80

Once an attraction in sci-fi movies, virtual reality (VR) has now become a reality of today. (No pun intended.) The technology has become so accessible that you can buy an affordable VR headset, stow your smartphone in it and explore virtual worlds like you were a part of them. Here is a list of 5 VR headsets you can purchase without breaking the bank. Please note: Prices are accurate as of the end of May 2018.

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VR arcades are playing a leading role in the consumer market

The “VR hype cycle” used to explain the relatively slow rate of adoption for VR refers mostly to the consumer market, and in large part the household-targeted segment, which I believe has suffered the most thanks to the false narratives that I outlined last month. Most of the chips have been bet on high-fidelity immersive content and when it comes to premium experiences, your home just does not serve as the best or most natural setting to clutter up with the necessary equipment and accessories.

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Pimax’s massive 8K VR headset shows why comfort takes precedence over pixel count

Pimax, a Chinese startup developing an 8K virtual reality headset, came to CES this year to show off its latest prototype, the fifth in just a year since the first version was unveiled at last year’s show. After a successful Kickstarter campaign last year, one in which Pimax raised more than $4.2 million and beat out even Oculus VR’s initial crowdfunding campaign, it’s working toward mass production of the consumer version that is slated to come out later this year after an initial shipment to backers.

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Photogrammetry Pipeline V1

​In this 7 hour tutorial we go in depth on using Photogrammetry with Procedural workflows and pipelines.

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Inside a $1 Billion Real Estate Company Operating Entirely in VR

Born during the aftermath of the financial meltdown a decade ago, a publicly-traded real estate brokerage called eXp Realty is establishing itself as one of the brightest rising companies in its industry—and one of the most creative users of digital technology today.

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China Develops VR Training System For Its Military

Training simulations have existed for many years, as pilots can attest to. However, the advent of modern virtual reality (VR) allows for the creation of much more immediate and immersive training simulations, which have been shown to improve training outcomes. China is aiming to use that technology to improve the training given to its military forces.

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The Consumer Technology Association Announces First AR/VR Standard

The Consumer Technology Association (CTA) has announced that it is now addressing augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) within its free standards library. This inclusion has been due to the increasing popularity among gamers and a competitive market for AR/VR accessories, leading to market growth.

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Omni-Direction Stereoscopic Panoramas

An Omni-Directional Stereoscopic Panorama (ODSP) is a way of creating a 360 degree stereoscopic pair, without the traditional requirement of head tracking if perspective stereo pairs were used. While popularised with the current wave of VR through head mounted displays they have been known for some time [Ref 1]. They provide a stereoscopic experience that is perfect in the center of the observers view but which becomes increasingly incorrect to the left and right of that center.

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Consumer interest in VR is declining according to sales data trends

Consumer interest in VR appears to be declining, according to sales rank data that we track for Amazon . We looked at sales rank trends for four major VR headsets from Sony, Samsung, Facebook/Oculus, and HTC. In each case, sales and their respective ranks at Amazon have declined across multiple product categories.

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How to wish someone Happy Birthday using Augmented Reality

I have a friend who’s birthday was coming up, so I wanted to do something special for her. As she is a TechGeek just like me, so I couldn’t just get her a simple birthday present like a teddy bear or chocolates. So, I started looking for unique ways to wish her a happy birthday on the Web.

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