With the release of Apple’s ARKit and Google’s ARCore, the VR/AR space has taken a considerable step forward this month as it starts to ride the outpouring of consumer interest in AR platforms.
To catch you up with everything that’s been happening, here’s our roundup of all the latest augmented reality news and VR news.
The latest virtual reality technology
New ‘WebVR’ platform / Google
Using Google Chrome 61 or newer, you can now create and experience fully immersive 3D experiences in your browser with a Google Daydream View headset or Pixel phone.
You can “view and interact with any website in VR, follow links between pages, and move between 2D and immersive viewing for sites that support WebVR”, with many new features set to follow.
With this move, it’s clear that Google is pushing for Daydream to become the VR browsing platform – so exciting things can surely be expected in this area from the tech giant.
Windows mixed reality headset / Microsoft & Samsung
With these recently leaked images, Samsung is reported to be working on a Windows mixed reality headset. With the Microsoft Mixed Reality event coming up on the 3rd of October in San Francisco – if this is the case – we’re sure to find out more very soon.
New VR research tool for tackling dementia / Alzheimer’s Research UK
Partnering with Deutsche Telekom, Alzheimer’s Research UK have created a Sea Hero Quest VR game that’s primary purpose is to gather vital research data on human spatial navigational behaviour.
This is a world’s first and builds directly on the success of the original Sea Hero Quest app, which generated “the equivalent of over 12,000 years of lab-based research”.
Similarly, two minutes of play in the Sea Hero Quest VR game will produce “the equivalent of five hours of lab-based research”, all pushing towards the aim of developing a diagnostic test for Dementia, and its related conditions.
The latest VR News
VR in movie theatres / AMC Theatres & Dreamscape Immersive
In a grand move earlier this week, AMC Entertainment announced a partnership with Dreamscape Immersive that will see VR make its biggest move yet into the movie theatre arena, with the likes of Steven Spielberg, Hans Zimmer, and director Gore Verbinski set to be getting in on the action. Investing $20 Million as they look to open 6 VR
Investing $20 Million all told, their aim is to open 6 VR centres across North America and the UK, developing original VR content that will showcase the expert real-time motion tracking the start-up are known for in room-scale installations.
Location-based VR isn’t particularly new – with The Void and Imax setting the bar pretty high so far – yet this move by the entertainment giant AMC should take it to the next level. Think Escape Rooms, but with endless possibilities.
Nerve stimulation VR / Palmer Luckey
Palmer Luckey – the fabled co-founder of Oculus – has stated that he is now exploring the use of “nerve-stimulating implants” with the aim of facilitating more immersive full-dive VR experiences.
Luckey has been experimenting with “virtual reality implants that are able to …[stimulate] the nervous system to provide a sense of touch and to allow you to move around in virtual reality without actually moving.”
This type of complete-perception VR has been experimented with throughout the entire history of virtual reality technology – check out the sensorama to see exactly what I mean – yet this type of progression would be next level. This is possibly a dead-end for Luckey, but it is the way the industry is moving.
Mindfulness VR / TRIPP
Winning a $4 Million investment due to their unique focus on “stimulation” rather than “simulation”, LA-based start-up Tripp (aka. the mood architects) are jumping on the trend of “mind hacking” to create VR software that will offer users control of their mood.
Many are saying it would offer a drug-experience without the drugs, however, its practical day-to-day potential is altogether more interesting.
With research pointing towards the very real effects of interactive experiences on the brain, their aim is to bring heightened control to the process of using experiential media to alter our state of mind. Think how we listen to music or watch our favourite show to pump ourselves up or calm ourselves down. Tripp’s software could potentially bring exciting new levels of control to that process and would be perfectly suited to fast-paced modern lifestyles, where being able to switch between moods more efficiently could bring great benefits.
Experiential advertising in VR & AR
With a recent SDK from Vertebrae – which allows virtual reality developers to add branded placements into their experiences – and the very recent Advrty – which can integrate immersive adverts into the 3D virtual worlds developed for games and apps – We are starting to experience the rise of native advertising in VR and AR.
Beyond these developments, we are seeing a large shift away from digital adverts in general, towards entirely experiential advertising campaigns. The trend is based on the idea of positive association, where brands are looking to associate themselves with great and positive feelings, which are easily achieved in immersive VR and AR experiences.
Positive association experiences are successful because they are “shareable, participatory, and rooted in strong creative” (qz.com), more and more brands are making the move towards these more social and interactive campaigns.
If you’re interested in finding out more about developing a stunning immersive experience, drop us a call to chat with one of our many experts to see what we can do for you.