So many green pigs that must be got, yet so little time… Rovio and Resolution Games have brought out a fully immersive version of their popular Angry Birds franchise for the HTC VIVE and Oculus Rift. Over 50 levels of exploding birds await among exotic beaches, steep cliffs, snowy slopes and party city

“As a company we’re deeply interested in the future of gaming and in fact, investigating new tech and platforms remains one of our core strategic pillars. We’re delighted to be supporting the VR industry’s growth and introducing the beloved Angry Birds slingshot gameplay to new platforms,” says Sami Ronkainen, Creative Director, Extended Reality at Rovio Entertainment.

“The beauty of VR is that it allows players to enter and play in a 3D, fictional game universe, something people have fantasized about for decades. And, VR inherently lends itself well to strong characters, which is why the Angry Birds brand is such a great fit with its humor and strong gameplay,” said Tommy Palm, CEO of Resolution Games. “It has been incredibly fun for us to bring that to life, opening the door so players can immerse themselves in that world.”

It will be good to see what the appetite in the market is for a popular franchise in this new medium
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What is interesting is that the companies have clearly invested quite a lot in making this a premium game, and also priced it accordingly. In a landscape where so much immersive content is still subsidised and offered for free, Angry Birds VR: Isle of Pigs will set you back $14.99 on the Oculus Store , Steam and Viveport (further platforms as well as new levels of gameplay should be added in the coming months according to Resolution Games).

The beauty of VR is that it allows players to enter and play in a 3D, fictional game universe, something people have fantasized about for decades
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It will be good to see what the appetite in the market is for a popular franchise in this new medium, but it does seem a particularly well-suited IP for a test case, as the short, casual and intuitive nature of the game lends itself well to VR in its current form. However, I’m a bit spoiled, having recently had a demo of the Magic Leap version of Angry Birds, and I have to say that you really haven’t experienced an exploding bird until they’ve slingshot across your office in full holographic Mixed Reality glory. I can’t help to think that is what the future of entertainment looks like.

This article was originally published on VRScout

Angry Birds VR Now Available On Oculus Rift & HTC Vive via @alicebonasio https://t.co/8rgWpKe3vI pic.twitter.com/AB2V4Bldbj

— VRScout (@VRScout) February 11, 2019

For companies looking to get into Immersive technologies our VR Consultancy service offers comprehensive support in strategic deployment of Virtual, Augmented and Mixed Reality

Alice Bonasio is a VR Consultant and Tech Trends’ Editor in Chief. She also regularly writes for Fast Company, Ars Technica, Quartz, Wired and others. Connect with her on LinkedIn and follow @alicebonasio on Twitter.

The post Angry Birding in VR appeared first on Tech Trends.

The latest forecast from technology analyst firm CCS Insight highlights some of the challenges facing makers of head-worn virtual and augmented reality devices. Despite early enthusiasm and a continued expectation of significant long-term potential for the technology, there is much work yet to be done on improving user experience, developing software platforms and – above all – making attractive content for those platforms available to consumers.

“We continue to believe that content is the key to unlocking adoption of VR. Although some games companies and adult content creators have embraced VR technology, much more needs to happen to persuade consumers that VR devices are a must-have item,” says Ben Wood, CCS Insight’s chief of research.

This sober yet positive message is the main conclusion of the company’s recently published global market report for VR and AR devices. In it, the research firm forecasts 8 million virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) headsets and glasses will be sold in 2018, down from 10 million in 2017, but growing to 14 million in 2019 and eventually to 52 million in 2022.

Smartphone VR headsets sales have collapsed, but standalone devices like the Oculus Go hold great promise
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The market for VR has gone through several phases, according to Wood. “The first wave of consumers used basic cardboard viewers, which helped them understand the potential of the media, but the limited experience meant most people quickly lost interest. We don’t even include such devices in our forecast anymore”. He continues, “Attention then turned to smartphone-based devices such as the Samsung Gear VR and the Zeiss One Plus VR. These have played an important role in raising the awareness of the technology over the past three years, but interest in these devices has now waned”.

Accordingly, the firm’s forecast shows a dramatic drop in sales of smartphone VR devices, from nearly 8 million units in 2017 to fewer than 3 million this year. This decline has occurred despite heavy price cuts and extensive promotions over the past 12 months.

“We believe the device market has now shifted away from the early wave of cheaper, less-functional cardboard and plastic smartphone VR viewers. We expect the next wave of adoption to come from dedicated devices that offer a more compelling, wire-free experience,” Wood concludes.

CCS Insight believes the advent of standalone VR headsets – which overcome the awkwardness of being attached to a PC, smartphone or games console – will help to reinvigorate this product category both for consumers and businesses. Its forecast shows demand in that category growing over 16 times between 2018 and 2022, when 29 million standalone VR headsets are expected to be sold.

CCS Insight expects the market will return to growth in 2019, reaching 14 million devices
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The company believes devices such as Facebook’s Oculus Go and Oculus Quest, which are being offered at retail prices of $200 and $400 respectively, are good examples of the future of VR. Wood also notes that the Chinese market is looking particularly promising and Facebook’s partnership with Xiaomi has helped those headsets make a strong start there.

There is still, however, a role to be played in this market by tethered devices like the Sony PlayStation VR, HTC Vive or Oculus Rift, as currently they still offer a higher quality experience than standalone devices are able to deliver. Accordingly, CCS Insight forecasts that 5 million tethered VR headsets will be sold in 2019, growing to 18 million in 2022.

52 million VR and AR devices will be sold in 2022 with a market value of $8.5 billion
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Sony, which CCS Insight considers as the most successful manufacturer of tethered VR headsets to date, looks set to continue with its strategy of offering its VR headset as an accessory to the large number of PlayStation owners as these devices are best suited to meet the needs of the most dedicated gamers, who want a best-in-class experience.

The report also assesses the market for AR smart glasses, which have so far seen significantly slower adoption compared to VR. The main use for AR devices continues to be in business operations such as customer service, logistics, remote servicing, design and other related applications, and interest remains high in those categories. Although businesses have taken a cautious approach to AR devices, initially focusing on pilot deployments, but CCS Insight believes there are signals of growth as the chart below demonstrates.

The company believes devices such as Facebook's Oculus Go and Oculus Quest, which are being offered at retail prices of $200 and $400 respectively, are good examples of the future of VR
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“We are seeing a rising number of companies committing to deployments of tens or hundreds of augmented reality glasses as they start to see the clear benefits of head-worn technology in the workplace,” explains Wood, although he cautions that this market growth will take time, with cumulative global sales not expected to top 1 million units before 2021.

When thinking about AR glasses for consumers, Wood notes that these devices continue to be “more common in science fiction than in real life” with little evidence of a product with mass-market appeal any time soon. Nevertheless, CCS Insight’s long-range forecast does include a scenario of accelerated adoption if a major consumer brand like Apple decides to enter the market.

Yet in Tech Trends’ humble view, with Magic Leap finally entering the arena this year and a new version of the HoloLens expected to be unveiled by Microsoft next year, it could be that this tipping point might arrive even sooner, and perhaps even driven (perish the thought!) by players other than Apple. Watch this space…

We are seeing a rising number of companies committing to deployments of tens or hundreds of augmented reality glasses as they start to see the clear benefits of head-worn technology in the workplace
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For companies looking to get into Immersive technologies our Consultancy service offers support in strategic leveraging VR/AR/MR/XR

Alice Bonasio is a VR Consultant and Tech Trends’ Editor in Chief. She also regularly writes for Fast Company, Ars Technica, Quartz, Wired and others. Connect with her on LinkedIn and follow @alicebonasio on Twitter.

The post Report: VR Device Market Outlook appeared first on Tech Trends.

Is this the miracle VR has been waiting for? Tech Trends checked out the world’s first feature length immersive film at its London premiere.

7 Miracles – the first feature-length cinematic VR film premiered at the 26^th Raindance Film Festival in London, which is Europe’s leading independent Film Festival and the largest in the UK. It was created using photogrammetry and volumetric video capture, producing images in 8K with additional scenes built in 3D.

7 Miracles – the first feature-length cinematic VR film premiered at the 26th Raindance Film Festival in London
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The whole film is just over 70 minutes long, divided into 10-minute chapters, each depicting one of Jesus Christ’s famous miracles from the Gospel of John. The chapters can all be watched sequentially, or episodically in whatever order the viewer wishes to go, and that flexibility helped to bridge the gap between the current dominant form of short-form VR content and the longer pieces that they wanted to explore. They opted to making 7 Miracles a seated experience because people’s seated height is much more similar than their standing one, so by placing the action above you as it would be on a movie screen, it felt just as comfortable and familiar as going to the cinema.

The whole film is just over 70 minutes long, divided into 10-minute chapters depicting Jesus Christ’s famous miracles
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Getting rid of wires but still being able to have a very rich and colourful experience is certainly the future
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I got the chance to view 3 chapters at a special preview on one of the new VIVE Focus headsets which Joel Breton – VP of Vive Studios and Executive Producer on the film – calls the Ferrari of all-in-one VR. It was a good opportunity to try it out, since they are not due to hit the UK/US markets yet (there are hints that we might be looking at a release around this holiday season, but no official date yet). It had simple yet effective controls that allowed for quick adjustment to tighten or loosen the fit around your head and to match the distance between your eyes – which varies quite a lot from person to person – and calibration of the inside-out sensors. The other feature that I found quite nifty is that at the push of a button you can access the external camera image, saving you constantly lifting up the headset from your eyes, which tends to interrupt the content playing.

Breton told me afterwards that it was interesting for him to see a completely silent theatre full of people immersed in the same experience (you don’t need headphones with the VIVE Focus headsets but as we were relatively close to each other, we wore ear buds so as not to interfere with one another’s experience).

“All-in-one VR is probably what I’m most excited about – getting rid of wires but still being able to have a very rich and colourful experience is certainly the future,” he added.

But in order for people to want to buy those headsets, everyone recognises that there must be compelling content available that they want to experience, which is where VIVE Studios comes in. This is Breton’s project and he’s driving its mission of expanding the content ecosystem and pushing the envelope of what can be achieved through immersive storytelling.

“The main thing that makes VR storytelling so exciting, is that instead of projecting the action in a screen in front of you it puts you right in the middle of the action – You become the hero,” said Breton.

At the discussion after the screening, the cast and crew were asked why they thought now was the right time to try longer-form content for VR. These are all creative and entertainment industry veterans, and it was clear that they are enthused about the potential of VR to create new types of narratives and stories. They’ve been working on 7 miracles for about 2 years, and hearing them talk about it, it’s clear that a lot of effort and work – as well as significant investment in terms of money and technical resources – has been poured into the project.

Jesus comes across as a dude you’d definitely invite over to your party
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Breton started his career at SEGA Genesis. He developed and published over 250 videogames over the years and although he says he’s stopped counting them years ago, they do include iconic titles like Sonic the Hedgehog, Donkey Kong, Quake and Doom.

Executive Producer Enzo Sisti worked on more than 100 movies including Wonder Woman, Avengers: Age of Ultron and (appropriately) Passion of the Christ. He says he was initially very skeptical, but much like the non-believers in the film, he was converted.

“This is very exciting and I think this is the future. After 50 years in the business in I’m excited about starting a new career,” he said.

In spite of the myriad challenges, Director Rodrigo Cerqueira believes the technology – such as six degrees of freedom – and production values have moved far enough along so that we’re able to push the envelope much further than it has been pushed so far.

As filmmakers we have the responsibility to push those boundaries, and others will follow in our footsteps and push it even further
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Cerqueira recalled how his company Panogramma had produced hundreds of short pieces between 2010 and 2015, but when they were asked to do a one-hour experience for the World Cup, it opened his eyes about the possibilities of longer-form content.

“As filmmakers we have the responsibility to push those boundaries, and others will follow in our footsteps and push it even further, and that’s how we advance the medium. That learning curve is so important and it’s also important that there is a learning curve. If you look at film they also started with short format and when they first started making them longer, most people thought that was crazy,” he says.

In many ways the production went along similar lines to a regular indie film. Sisti said they had between 80 and 100 people working on the shoot, which took around 15 days. Post production took over 10 months, which is certainly a lot, but again, many CG-heavy productions would demand similar resources. Where the VR production proved to be more labour (and time) intensive, however, was in the planning phase, where Cerqueira spent over 4 months planning the workflow.

I was Jesus for ten minutes, and it was a hell of an experience!
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It is often the case in the creative industries that technical limitations lead to choices that shape the direction of the medium
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It is often the case in the creative industries that technical limitations lead to choices that shape the  direction of the medium. One example of how this happened in VR productions is the fact that using a 9-lens 360 camera rig means that all directions are filmed simultaneously, so there is no “behind the camera” where the crew can stand during shooting. They either had to be disguised as extras or find somewhere to hide (we were shown some funny shots of sound engineers lurking behind bushes next to a camel).

Dejan Bucin, who plays Jesus in the film, says that from an actor’s perspective it often felt much closer to playing theatre than doing a film, and that meant he could get really immersed into the role himself:

“I was Jesus for ten minutes, and it was a hell of an experience!” he laughs. “You can exaggerate and project. You forget about the audience, because you really get into those interactions. In a regular film you always see this amazing setup, all the crew, equipment, etc. But in VR, that all disappears.”

And kudos to them for not only tackling the challenges of producing feature-length VR, but also choosing to do so with a Biblical story, which comes with such baggage, so to speak.

For one, there’s the fact that as a Brit you definitely can’t get Monty Python’s Life of Brian references out of your head when watching any film about Jesus. Everybody knows that the only retort that logically follows anybody declaring themselves to be the Messiah is that he is in fact a very naughty boy…

As a Brit you definitely can’t get Monty Python’s Life of Brian references out of your head when watching any film about Jesus
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But that was my cross to bear rather than a reflection on the quality of the production. In fact, I was rather surprised at how much I enjoyed it, specially the chapter where Jesus turned water into wine. Jesus generally comes across as a dude you’d definitely invite over to your party. And yes, there is water-walking, so well worth a watch.

Audiences should be able to check out 7 Miracles for themselves soon, as it is planned for general release on all VR headsets later this year.

This article was originally published on VRScout

Feature-Length VR Film ‘7 Miracles’ Debuts At Raindance Film Festival via @alicebonasio https://t.co/QA8BoYTxpo pic.twitter.com/dIwwr0z9Ai

— VRScout (@VRScout) October 11, 2018

Want to leverage Augmented, Virtual and Mixed Reality to take your brand to the next level? Tech Trends offers comprehensive Immersive Technologies Consultancy to help you get there.

Alice Bonasio is a VR and Digital Transformation Consultant and Tech Trends’ Editor in Chief. She also regularly writes for Fast Company, Ars Technica, Quartz, Wired and others. Connect with her on LinkedIn and follow @alicebonasio on Twitter.

The post Get Ready for a VRevelation appeared first on Tech Trends.

A new game lets you dive deep into the infamous ship’s history.

The golden rule for creating compelling VR content is that you should allow people to experience something that would be either impossible or too dangerous, expensive and/or difficult to do in real life. And by offering up the double-whammy of traveling back to 1912 to watch the RMS Titanic sinking into the cold dark waters of the Atlantic, then letting you explore the wreck which now lies 12,500 feet below the surface, Titanic VR certainly ticks those boxes in spades.

We used motion capture, face-scanning technology and professional voice actors to immerse users in the story
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The game took over 8,800 working hours to create and boasts the largest animated virtual cast of characters ever based on real people inside a single VR experience
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The game was produced by Immersive VR Education (IVRE) a VR/AR developing studio based in Ireland which previously released the award-winning Apollo 11 VR moon landing experience 2016 and more recently completed a VR experience commissioned by the BBC commemorating the 100^th anniversary of the RAF 1943: Berlin Blitz

We wanted to create an accurate portrayal of events, so it is not only educational, but also emotional and very engaging
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Immersive VR Education was founded by husband-wife team – David (CEO) and Sandra (COO) Whelan in 2014, where they proceeded to create a virtual learning platform called ENGAGE for universities and corporate educators. Since then, they have grown their team from 4 people to 34 and worked with clients such as the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, the BBC and Oxford University.

“We wanted to create an accurate portrayal of events, so it is not only educational, but also emotional and very engaging,” says David Whelan, CEO of VR Education. “To achieve that we used motion capture, face-scanning technology and professional voice actors to immerse users in the story and to enable them to relate to the people involved.”

The story of the unsinkable ship and its 1,503 doomed passengers and crew is told from a first-person perspective of one of the survivors, and the animation sequences – which show people being loaded onto the lifeboats and then the ship itself sinking from the POV of one of the lifeboats, were created using eye-witness accounts.

The story of the unsinkable ship and its 1,503 doomed passengers and crew is told from a first-person perspective of one of the survivors
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This is an unusually long VR experience, featuring six hours of gameplay
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This is an unusually long VR experience, featuring six hours of educational gameplay. The project has been in the works for two years now, and is the culmination of a long process that involved raising almost $70,000 through a Kickstarter campaign last year. Overall, the game took over 8,800 working hours to create and boasts the largest animated virtual cast of characters ever based on real people inside a single VR experience

“We wanted to create an authentic experience for users around a topic and setting in history that has long captivated people’s imagination. While the technology is advanced, what we are really doing is bringing learning back to basics,” adds David Whelan. “As children we learn to navigate the world through immersive experiences – think of learning a language or learning to cycle, or as we grow older going travelling and backpacking – the sights and sounds that often go unnoticed by our attention, are all taken in peripherally and form a whole context for our physical and mental learning. Learning through VR/AR is similar, in that it’s an absorbing, sensory experience. Aside from being great fun, this project is a fantastic way to illustrate the effectiveness and potential of VR/AR technology for educational purposes.”

The second part of the experience then gets you to explore the wreck using a submersible and ROV to solve various quests if you choose “mission mode.” These include rescuing a lost ROV, creating a photo mosaic, placing research equipment, or cleaning and preserving recovered artefacts. Otherwise you can just look around the ship in all its detail at leisure.

The golden rule for creating compelling VR content is that you should allow people to experience something that would be either impossible or too dangerous, expensive and/or difficult to do in real life
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Titanic VR is currently available for Oculus Rift, HTC Vive and Windows Mixed Reality as well as on a desktop PC version
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There is a lot of attention to detail in evidence here, and this comes through as a labour of love, down to the fact that the team made sure to include a poignant tribute to Lead Environment Artist Tony Meredith who recently passed away:

“Tony was a much loved and now much missed member of the team, whose final creative and powerful artistry on Titanic VR will continue to serve as testament to a truly gifted master of VR art production.”

While such experiences are effective showcases for the potential of VR Education, they are only the start of the company’s much more ambitious plans to “revolutionise education globally” (Their parent company VR Education Holdings plc was recently floated on the London Stock Exchange and is now a publicly listed company on the AIM market ) as Chief Operating Officer Sandra Whelan explains:

“We are dedicated to advancing how educational and enterprise training content is shared and consumed on a world-wide basis”.

Titanic VR is currently available for Oculus Rift, HTC Vive and Windows Mixed Reality as well as on a desktop PC version. There are also plans to release it on PlayStationVR next month.

There is a lot of attention to detail in evidence here, and this comes through as a labour of love
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While such experiences are effective showcases for the potential of VR Education, they are only the start of the company’s much more ambitious plans to revolutionise education globally
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This article was originally published on VRScout

Exploring The RMS Titanic In VR via @alicebonasio https://t.co/MGRYxg4dyd pic.twitter.com/A1TPrvmJNk

— VRScout (@VRScout) August 23, 2018

For companies looking to leverage Immersive technologies such as VR/AR/MR/XR Tech Trends offers a comprehensive range of Virtual Reality Consultancy Services.

Alice Bonasio is a VR and Digital Transformation Consultant and Tech Trends’ Editor in Chief. She also regularly writes for Fast Company, Ars Technica, Quartz, Wired and others. Connect with her on LinkedIn and follow @alicebonasio on Twitter.

The post Exploring the Titanic in Virtual Reality appeared first on Tech Trends.

With the Virtual Reality boom we’re seeing more courses popping up to train people hoping to get a job in the industry, but is it worth it? 

Recently, Google, Apple and IBM became the latest companies to join a trend of no longer requiring a university degree from prospective candidates.

This is pretty huge. After all we’re talking companies that receive thousands of CVs every day, and they can afford to be very picky. So it’s not a matter of cutting corners in order to fill vacancies, but a recognition that the way in which we’re acquiring, maintaining and developing our skills has dramatically changed.

There is no greater spark to creativity than rallying a diverse group of intelligent people around an exciting new medium
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Photos by Ana Escobar

Having invested many years of my life in both undergraduate and graduate education, I find myself conflicted about it. I would not have done without the experiences and knowledge that going to university afforded me, but I always worked alongside my studies, so it’s often hard to unpick how the skillsets and knowledge base I have today came to be formed exactly. And that is only going to become even more difficult for future generations as online and virtual learning, self-directed and lifelong, becomes the norm.

Which is why it’s somewhat ironic to see more and more universities offering VR degrees to teach future generations how to build those very same virtual learning environments. One recent one I came across is the MA Virtual Reality from London College of Communication, UAL which claims to be one of the first of its kind in Europe. They’re set to follow up with a BA (Hons) Virtual Reality next year

The features offered include dedicated Virtual Reality classrooms equipped with state-of-the-art hardware and software to enable students to bring their projects to life by filming, sculpting, and animating in VR
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Those professionals might build virtual environments to facilitate creative interactions without the need for anybody to physically attend university
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The features offered include dedicated Virtual Reality classrooms equipped with state-of-the-art hardware and software to enable students to bring their projects to life by filming, sculpting, and animating in VR. And while it could be argued that the cost of buying a Rift or VIVE headset is significantly lower than that of a degree, the added facilities such as motion capture suits, infinity cove green screen, and software licenses does add up to a more attractive-sounding package.

However, the focus of this degree is quite rightly on developing creative and storytelling skills. This is very much what is needed in the realm of VR content production – engaging, emotionally compelling experiences – and this is arguably where the university model still has a very relevant role to play.

The focus of this VR degree is quite rightly on developing creative and storytelling skills
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In my case, for example, I’ve always been quite effective at directing and managing my own learning, but found that during the course of my MA at Warwick University the project work and the relationships I built with my colleagues and tutors helped to spark ideas that I would not have had if my interaction had been limited to absorbing information via books or a computer screen.

There is no greater spark to creativity, it turns out, than bringing a very diverse group of intelligent people together and rallying them around an exciting new medium. If universities can provide that , they might very well graduate some amazing VR professionals in the next few years. The irony is then that those professionals might very well build such amazing virtual environments and experiences as to facilitate that sort of interaction without the need for anybody to physically attend university. Enter the world of Ready Player One.

This article originally appeared in The Next Web

Should you study VR at university? https://t.co/DjYoxkggxh

— TNW Contributors (@TNWcontributors) August 23, 2018

For companies looking to get into Immersive technologies such as VR/AR/MR/XR our Virtual Reality Consultancy services offer guidance and support on how best to incorporate these into your brand strategy.

Alice Bonasio is a VR Consultant and Tech Trends’ Editor in Chief. She also regularly writes for Fast Company, Ars Technica, Quartz, Wired and others. Connect with her on LinkedInand follow @alicebonasioon Twitter.

The post Going to Virtual Reality University appeared first on Tech Trends.

This HTC Vive interior design app lets you create, change and decorate virtual spaces with real-world items.

TrueScale is a new interior design tool that simultaneously creates 2D floor plans, 3D mockups, and full room-scale environments in VR. Developed in partnership between Vive Studios (the content development and publishing initiative from HTC VIVE) and developers Immersion.

The idea behind TrueScale is to let anyone design their own virtual space – whether it’s an individual room, office space, or an entire house – in mere minutes, and then experience them first-hand in real scale in VR.

The idea behind TrueScale is to let anyone design their own virtual space
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The application uses Wayfair’s 3D model API, which means that you can use an extensive catalog of actual furniture and décor items to populate your virtual spaces realistically.

As the user creates a floor plan, the app automatically generates a replicated 3D environment as a dollhouse-type model
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As the user creates a floor plan, the app automatically generates a replicated 3D environment as a dollhouse-type model. Users can then put themselves inside their newly created space to gain a true sense of scale.

Users can then put themselves inside their newly created space to gain a true sense of scale
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The interface lets users build rooms, customize floor patterns and paint colours, configure windows and doors, and even furnish their designs from an extensive library of over 40,000 3D models supplied by Wayfair – the largest online furniture retailer in the US.

The interface lets users build rooms, customize floor patterns and paint colours
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HTC VIVE’s room-scale technology enables the freedom to continue making changes in real-time while walking around and exploring the design space.

“We’ve created an app that enables designers, their clients, and even the average homeowner to conceptualize the perfect room setup for living and work spaces,” says Chris Chin, Executive Director of Content for Vive Studios. “Using VR in this stage of the design process allows the user to gain a full picture of the final design as opposed to relying on imagination and blueprints. It gives you a sense of depth that cannot be achieved through traditional paper or graphics renders.”

With global revenue from VR content forecast to be worth up to $14 billion by 2020, it is clear that more and more brands are now looking at VR as a way to bring their offering to life, and this is is transforming how they can engage their customers with new immersive experiences,” adds Piotr Baczyński, CEO of Immersion.

This is an ideal tool for optimizing the layout of large spaces such as open-plan offices, but as more people begin to use VR applications more confidently it is easy to see how it could be used by consumers to help them make home improvement decisions and even to shop directly for items that they tried out in those virtual spaces.

According to Immersion, the tool has so far proved most popular with construction clients
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According to Immersion, the tool has so far proved most popular with construction clients, as they are able to better communicate their plans at every stage of the design process with colleagues and clients around the world, drastically reducing the need for changes and redesigns. They are now working to bring enhanced communication and virtual meeting capabilities to the platform.

HTC VIVE’s room-scale technology enables the freedom to continue making changes in real-time while walking around and exploring the design space
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The next step is now to take this concept outside and adapt the tool for landscaping and garden design. Immersion is currently working with a German company to enable similar capabilities in allowing users to picture how their garden will look – particularly useful as you would be able to envisage seasonal variations and how different elements would look together as different plants grew, flowered and matured.

The next step is now to take this concept outside and adapt the tool for landscaping and garden design
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Immersion is also interested in incorporating scanning capabilities – which are inbuilt in most modern smartphones – into the application so that users would be able to accurately recreate their real-world environments in VR, before proceeding to populate and manipulate them at scale, which opens up even more interesting creative possibilities.

The TrueScale app is available for download on Viveport and Steam for $19.99
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As more 3D model libraries get incorporated into VR tools it will open up possibilities for people planning to renovate or refresh their living spaces
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Although the technology is still at a relatively early stage, as more 3D model libraries and catalogs get incorporated into VR tools it will surely open up a whole world of possibilities for people planning to renovate or even just refresh their living and working spaces – both virtual and real.

Immersion is currently working with a German company to enable similar capabilities in allowing users to picture how their garden will look
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This article was originally published on VRScout

This VR interior design app lets you create, change and decorate virtual spaces via @alicebonasio https://t.co/RXEDdu2rSY pic.twitter.com/szzw7psdpR

— VRScout (@VRScout) December 20, 2017

If you would like to find out how to leverage VR/AR/MR in your own project or enterprise, Tech Trends offers Virtual Reality Consultancy support

Alice Bonasio is a VR Consultant and Tech Trends’ Editor in Chief. She also regularly writes for Fast Company, Ars Technica, Quartz, Wired and others. Connect with her on LinkedIn and follow @alicebonasio on Twitter.

The post #BuildTheFuture > Designing Spaces in Virtual Reality  appeared first on Tech Trends.

The global immersive industry is set to hit $162bn by 2020. 

A report by research firm CCS Insight forecasts that 16 million Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) devices will be shipped in 2017, which translates into a year-on-year growth of 47 percent. The market value of devices sold into the channel is currently estimated to be $1.6 billion but is expected to grow nearly tenfold to $11.9 Billion and 99 Million Devices sold in 2021.

Smartphone-based VR and AR devices are expected to account for the majority of those sales (13 million units) due to their lower cost and wider availability, with the remaining 3 million distributed among the three major players currently dominating the dedicated VR space, namely Facebook (Oculus), HTC (Vive) and Sony (PlayStation VR).

Yet CCS Insight analyst George Jijiashvili notes that although the expected growth is encouraging, there have been snags along the way, and all three manufacturers have opted to cut down their prices in order to boost sales and gain greater market share.

In the upcoming fourth quarter, however, the firm expects to see the impact of the new Microsoft-powered Windows Mixed Reality headsets to be felt. The HMDs which will start becoming available this month and are being manufactured in partnership with Acer, Asus, Dell, HP, Lenovo and Samsung should not only provide a boost to the end of year sales in 2017 but also lay the foundation for strong growth in 2018.

VR shows more potential in the Chinese market since its forecast in 2016
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According to the forecast, VR is showing considerably more potential in the Chinese market since its forecast update in 2016. This is a result of growing interest in the technology from large Chinese companies such as Alibaba, which has offered shopping by VR, and Tencent, which is expected to launch its own VR headset.

CCS Insights are also optimistic about the potential of Augmented Reality
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CCS Insights are also optimistic about the potential of Augmented Reality, boosted by commitment to the technology on iPhones through its ARKit platform and the advent of Google’s ARCore to Android smartphones.

The new Microsoft-powered Windows Mixed Reality headsets are expected to have an impact
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Digital Catapult announced a new Immersive Lab in Brighton
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This continued optimism in the growth of the immersive industry sector is also reflected in the expansion of creative and networking spaces designed to foster entrepreneurship initiatives in the area.

Digital Catapult, for example, recently announced that it was opening a brand new Immersive Lab in Brighton to further support what it describes as the UK’s “burgeoning immersive community” following the successful launch of its London Lab which hosted over 80 events, meet-ups and demos and welcomed over 1100 attendees through its doors since opening earlier this year.

The lab will be a meet-up point for companies to collaborate
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The move is part of efforts to propel the UK to take a “bigger slice of this pie” in a market still dominated by the US, which holds 75% market share in comparison to the UK’s 5% as highlighted in Sir Peter Bazalgette’ review recently.

“The immersive labs are part of Digital Catapult’s wider strategy to develop the best ecosystem for AR, VR and MR developers to create and experiment with the next generation of immersive content. The lab will be available to businesses of any size, alongside researchers and investors, to demonstrate, innovate, test and experience the latest immersive technology and content.”

Brighton is one of the biggest immersive hubs due to its strong background in gaming, film and software and hardware development, with many companies already working in these fields according to Phil Jones, Lead at Digital Catapult in Brighton.

“The opening of the Immersive Lab here is part of the wider strategy to bring these organisations together and encourage their collaboration to accelerate the immersive industry’s growth both regionally and nationally,” he explains.

The lab will be a meet-up point for companies of all sizes and individuals to collaborate and exchange ideas and expertise. Digital Catapult is developing a network of hubs nationwide to create the best environment for the immersive community to collaborate. In each lab, the gaming, filmmakers and software developers will have access to the latest equipment for testing, unlocking new types of content and business opportunities. The labs are meant to be a place to showcase emerging content, meet potential investors, collaborate with researchers and trial new proof of concepts.

The UK already has a rich heritage in sectors where immersive technologies are likely to have the largest and most immediate impact; the creative industries manufacturing and health. So, establishing immersive labs in key regions across the country like this one in Brighton will further benefit the development of the industry,” says Aurelian Simon, Head of Immersive at Digital Catapult, adding that the UK already has a significant presence in the global fast-growing immersive market – currently valued at $5.4 billion – and is home to the largest number of up and coming VR companies in Europe.

As the CCS Insight report emphasized, content is key in achieving and maintaining steady market growth in the immersive space, and companies like Digital Catapult are crucial in fostering this broader ecosystem:

“The growing availability of 360-degree material is underlined by Facebook’s recent revelation that it now hosts 70 million 360-degree photos and 1 million 360-degree videos, and that the videos have generated 580 million views,” says Jijiashvil. But other materials including sports, film, TV and pornography, are now playing a bigger role in that growth.

Tech Trends offers comprehensive Virtual Reality Consultancy services to support businesses looking to adopt VR/AR/MR technologies into their brand and communications strategy.

Alice Bonasio is a VR Consultant and Tech Trends’ Editor in Chief. She also regularly writes for Fast Company, Ars Technica, Quartz, Wired and others. Connect with her on LinkedIn and follow @alicebonasio and @techtrends_tech on Twitter.

The post Report: Augmented and Virtual Reality Market Growth appeared first on Tech Trends.

As Linden Lab opens the long-anticipated Sansar Beta, there’s already a whole multiverse to explore, and create. 

Tech Trends has been following the progress of Sansar for a while now
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What now feels like a very long time ago (it was in fact only April 2016, but VR has come a long way since then) I met Linden Lab CEO Ebbe Altberg at their San Francisco HQ to chat about what was then called “Project Sansar”, their ambitious social VR platform.

Much like “The Facebook” in tech less is often more, so the “Project” bit has since been dropped, and Sansar has now opened to the public in Beta following a closed creator preview earlier this year.

Until now, complexity and cost has limited who could create and publish in this medium, and Sansar dramatically changes that.

explains Altberg, who says he’s now looking forward to an “explosion of creativity”

Indeed, Sansar’s Atlas directory of public experiences already features hundreds of virtual experiences, including multiplayer games, recreations of historic sites and landmarks, art installations, movie theaters, museums, narrative experiences, jungle temples, 360º video domes and sci-fi themed hangouts, says Linden’s Communications Director Peter Gray.

We wanted to make Sansar available to everyone as early as possible, and there are still a lot of features and capabilities that we’re excited to add to the platform soon, as well as many improvements to the current featureset.

Which is all very well and good, but, to be perfectly honest, it still looks damn sexy (not in a naughty way, although that might well come soon). Over the past year I’ve seen a lot of these platforms popping up – many of them with amazing potential – but their wow factor usually hinges on the immersion of VR itself rather than the visuals.

Sansar stands out in the Social VR space with slick visuals and functionality
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Sansar, however, definitely stands out in terms of slick visuals and functionality. It doesn’t feel half-baked, and this is due not only to the stunning environments, but to the avatar features, which – thanks to a partnership with IKINEMA – incorporate full-body Inverse Kinematics to enable avatars to mirror users’ full-body movements. Additionally, Speech Graphics sync facial animations automatically to match speech patterns, all of which goes a long way towards enabling much more natural social interactions in VR.

Avatars that move naturally are important to the quality of the social experiences users can create and enjoy on our platform, and integrating IKinema’s tech helps us to deliver that without requiring any peripherals beyond VR hand controllers.

explains IKinema CEO Alexandre Pechev

A lot of work has gone into getting Sansar to this stage – Linden Lab has a dedicated team of over 70 people working on the platform, and development has been on-going for several years – but in order to fulfil their ambition to become the dominant platform in the VR space, they are counting on two very unique advantages:

It is able to self-fund the platform’s development, and the source of that funding is also the longest enduring “metaverse” out there, Second Life (SL). And means they have a lot of data on what works – and doesn’t – in the virtual world.

After 15 years, Second Life is still going strong with a thriving creative community
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After 15 years – a veritable lifetime in tech terms – SL is still going strong with about a million users, consistently generating real-world profits for Linden Lab and giving it access to a very engaged creative community, many of whom are very excited about Sansar as Gray confirms:

There’s been strong interest in Sansar among Second Life users since we first announced the project. “Many SL users are thrilled by what they can create today and are loving the many compelling Sansar experiences that are already available to explore.

It’s tempting to think of Sansar as a sort of “SL 2.0” but it wants to be much more than that. To capitalize on the new wave of enthusiasm for Virtual Reality, this new platform needs to become accessible and intuitive in a way that SL never really managed to be. One of the key obstacles which stalled the platform’s growth was its steep learning curve – which suited the hardcore community but put off casual users – and the difficulty of sharing content outside the platform itself.

With Sansar, however, people can go directly to whichever experience they want, says Gray. Each of these hosted multi-user experiences has a unique link that can be shared with whomever the creator wishes. Via Facebook, Twitter, email, blogs, etc. and viewed either with VR headsets like the HTC VIVE or Oculus as well as on desktop mode on PCs. Each instance of an experience is currently allows 35+ concurrent avatars, and automated instancing will enable creators to reach unlimited audiences, says Gray:

Let’s say you’re an educator interested in space exploration. You can click a link to visit the Apollo Museum experience that LOOT Interactive created with Sansar, and you’ll go straight there. You might then choose to browse the Atlas directory and find a social VR basketball game that looks fun, or an immersive art experience that intrigues you, and could invite friends to join you there. If instead, fantasy roleplaying and VR horror experiences are more appealing, you can go right to those.

Sansar operates a freemium model, where users can join for free but extra support is available to creators via subscriptions starting at $9.99 per month. It has a drag-and-drop editing interface that makes it much easier to create scenes either by importing assets from common 3D modeling tools or purchased from the Sansar Store.

Sansar has a Freemium model that lets users monetize their creations
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Monetisation is a key part of their strategy, which makes sense considering Second Life’s successful track record in making a virtual economy pay for both itself and its users. They created a marketplace called the Sansar Store Creators can sell virtual objects – thousands of items are already available to purchase in Sansar Dollars (S$) – but in future Linden will also enable users to sell, rent, or charge for access to actual experiences.

But which among those thousands of experiences published so far have most caught the eye of the team at Linden Lab? VP of product Bjorn Laurin is partial to the Apollo Museum experience and Grey couldn’t quite decide between Little Giant – where you can share in the colourful imagination of a 3-year old child as her toys literally come to life – or Secrets of the Worldwhale where you walk up to a wizened old rat to begin an adventure exploring “an eerie world on the back of an ancient whale and discover hidden treasure.”

Altberg, however, choose as his personal favourite a project spearheaded by Second Life veteran Draxtor and Ria (who also created the Little Giant experience). 114 Harvest is a collaborative storytelling project about a quaint little town that harbours a dark secret, and the potential for developing such collaborations is evidenced by the fact that the 114 Harvest Facebook group quickly attracted nearly 1600 members. If this early interest is any indication, it seems fair to expect that Altberg might get that explosion of creativity after all

This article was originally published on The Next Web

Tech Trends’  Virtual Reality Consultancy services offers support for companies looking to enhance brand strategy with immersive technologies such as Virtual, Augmented and Mixed Reality

Alice Bonasio is a VR Consultant and Tech Trends’ Editor in Chief. She also regularly writes for Fast Company, Ars Technica, Quartz, Wired and others. Connect with her on LinkedIn and follow @alicebonasio and @techtrends_tech on Twitter.

The post You Can Now Start Creating Your Own Virtual Worlds with Sansar appeared first on Tech Trends.

You can now experience what it’s like to swing across New York as Spider-Man himself with a free VR experience created by Sony Pictures and Intel

VR and Spidey do seem like a perfect match
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I always get excited about a new Marvel film coming out. For the Stan Lee cameo if nothing else! But I have liked many of the Spider-Man films the studio has brought out over the years, so I’m curious to see what the latest instalment – Spider-Man: Homecoming will bring.

It's always exciting to see a new Marvel film, if only for the Stan Lee cameo
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To wet our appetites during the build-up to the film’s release Sony Pictures created a free Virtual Reality Experience (VRE) which was showcased in the US across selected Cinemark locations as well as various events worldwide. But if you have a PlayStation VR, HTC Vive and Oculus Rift you can now also try it out in the comfort of your own home. Just be sure to move the furniture out of the way first!

This companion piece to the Columbia Pictures feature lets you suit up as Spider-Man, hone your web-shooting skills, and sling high above New York City in pursuit of the Vulture. To create this VRE, developers utilized Intel hardware and software to create a fully immersive experience.

Intel sees VR as the jumping point to more immersive experiences
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According to Nicole Smith, Global Brand & Innovation Communications Manager at Intel, the company sees Virtual Reality as the jumping point (pun intended?) to more immersive experiences. The technology, they believe, will evolve to make use of next-generation sensing and digitizing technologies and will eventually include physical and virtual interactions within the same environment.

“Personal computing is radically evolving to become capable of experiences hardly believable today, and Virtual Reality’s highly sensory and immersive nature is central to that evolution. This collaboration is a first for Intel and Sony Pictures Virtual Reality, starting a new era in Intel/Hollywood VR production partnerships using premium cinema content,” said Doug Fisher, senior vice president and general manager of the Intel Software and Services Group. “Together with our silicon, the pervasive power of the Intel software ecosystem offers VR content and game developers the opportunity to create fully immersive experiences that bring the next evolution of compute to mainstream audiences. We are excited to be a part of this blockbuster partnership,” he concluded

Here’s the low-down of the tech used to create the experience, which you can also check out in the trailer.

Boosted by Intel hardware technology and software tools, the award-winning developers at CreateVR* used dual Intel® Xeon® processor-based Dell* workstations to quickly create and render 360-degree, ultra-high-resolution graphics of New York. The premium version of the superhero feature was best realized with the performance of the instruction architecture of the latest Intel® Core processors for ultra-high-resolution content streaming content streaming, encoding and video playback, while Intel® Graphics Performance Analyzers were used for better visual fidelity, higher-resolution and higher frame rates. In addition, Intel® Threading Building Blocks helped developers leverage Intel multi-core performance and heterogeneous computing.

The developers used a variety of Intel-optimized software, including Adobe*, Allegorithmic*, Autodesk*, Epic Games*, Mettle*, Pixlogic* and The Foundry* for authoring, digital sculpting, rendering and production, to deliver amazing performance and realism in the VR experience.

“Virtual reality experiences demand PCs with powerful computing performance—and that is where Intel technology excels; in fact, Intel processors are recommended by leading PC-based virtual reality vendors, including Microsoft, HTC Vive, Oculus, and others. Intel also has many technology assets that can improve the VR experience. A great example of this is Intel’s WiGig technology, which HTC announced they will integrate into an accessory for the Vive,” says Smith “Intel is deeply committed and involved with virtual reality development and innovation– one of the most exciting new immersive technologies in a decade. VR spans business and consumer uses as well as mobile, wearable, desktop and server platforms.”

For companies looking to get into Immersive technologies such as VR/AR/MR/XR our Virtual Reality Consultancy services offer guidance and support on how best to incorporate these into your brand strategy.

Alice Bonasio is a VR and Digital Transformation Consultant and Tech Trends’ Editor in Chief. She also regularly writes for Fast Company, Ars Technica, Quartz, Wired and others. Connect with her on LinkedInand follow @alicebonasio on Twitter.

The post Virtual Reality Lets you Become Spidey appeared first on Tech Trends.

Virtual Reality is transforming the Building industry, enabling better communication and visualisation for architects and engineers

The practical applications Mixed Reality go well beyond gaming
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By now it is a broadly acknowledged fact that the practical applications of Mixed Reality (MR) – the term that covers this ever-expanding array of technologies including VR and AR – go far beyond entertainment and gaming. Yes, they sure are fun to play with, but they mean serious business too.

Mixed Reality enables efficiencies that impact a business' bottom line
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Many industries are embracing this change wholeheartedly, and the architecture and real estate industries are amongst the most enthusiastic early adopters of innovations such as Microsoft’s HoloLens.

“The process of making a building come to life involves thousands of moving parts and multiple stakeholders, and clear and timely communication is key to success,” explains Shane Scranton, CEO of IrisVR, one of the platforms emerging in that space.

IrisVR offers two enterprise products – Prospect and Scope – which help building professionals visualize and share 3D models in virtual reality. Prospect takes SketchUp, Revit, Rhino, Grasshopper, and OBJ files and automatically converts them into virtual reality experiences for the HTC Vive and Oculus Rift, while Scope allows users to view 360° panoramas in virtual reality using a Google Cardboard, Google Daydream, or Samsung Gear VR device.

“Prospect and Scope use VR to communicate building projects with more clarity and speed, saving team members time, money, and energy,” says Scranton.

The technology lets designers instantly curate VR walkthroughs, create life-like presentations and interact with virtual models. This enables dramatic reduction in design errors, and also allows professionals to capture and share the essence of a construction project without having to build physical models.

IrisVR lets you curate VR walkthroughs, presentations and virtual models
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These practical applications save companies time and money, taking Mixed Reality well beyond the realm of gimmicks and making it into a practical utility that has real impact on a company’s bottom line. This is reflected in the fact that Iris is already being adopted by established architectural firms and building companies such as Ennead, HMC Architects, Corgan and Miele.

You can download a free trial of Prospect and Scope here and see an overview of the platform in the video below.

For companies looking to gain a competitive edge through technology, Tech Trends offers strategic Virtual Reality and Digital Transformation Consultancy services tailored to your brand.

Alice Bonasio is a VR and Digital Transformation Consultant and Tech Trends’ Editor in Chief. She also regularly writes for Fast Company, Ars Technica, Quartz, Wired and others. Connect with her on LinkedIn and follow @alicebonasio on Twitter.

The post #BuildTheFuture > VR Tools Helping to Build the Real World appeared first on Tech Trends.