Fans will soon be able to step into a virtual Sansar comedy club and enjoy live stand-up shows by well-known comics such as YouTube star personality Steve Hofstetter – for a new event series called “Comedy Gladiators: a Virtual Comedy Experience.”

The live comedy showcase will allow fans to do everything in VR that they would do at a real-life comedy club
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Fans will soon be able to step into a virtual Sansar comedy club and enjoy live stand-up shows by well-known comics such as YouTube star personality Steve Hofstetter
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The live comedy showcase will, according to Sansar’s creators Linden Lab, allow fans to do everything in VR that they would do at a real-life comedy club: purchase tickets in advance, shop for custom merch and memorabilia, even order drinks.

“Fans can purchase tickets online via the Sansar Store, just as they would for a real-life event, and receive instant access to the virtual venue. Once there, they can purchase a wide range of items, including commemorative virtual t-shirts, beer mugs, and even physical copies of Steve’s most recent book, Ginger Kid,” according to their news release.

You can purchase tickets online via the Sansar Store
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Tickets went on sale for $9.99 for the first event in the series which was scheduled for Monday, December 10, at 7:30 PM PT, and featured stand-up and storytelling from Hofstetter alongside Ben Gleib (voice of Marshall in Ice Age: Continental Drift), Maz Jobrani (part of the “Axis of Evil” comedy group), Alonzo Bodden (winner of Last Comic Standing season 3), and Mary Lynn Rajskub (actress in Fox series 24).

Tickets went on sale for $9.99 for the first event in the series
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This idea itself is nothing new, of course. There are many companies out there trying to monetize on virtual live events such as concerts. AltspaceVR tried it as early as 2016, before they were acquired by Microsoft, claiming to be the first ones to host a live comedy event in VR (on a slight side note, any time anybody claims to be the first to do anything in VR they are almost guaranteed to be flooded by comments and clarifications from the Second Life community who will helpfully tell you how they’ve been doing that s**t since the 90s).

There are many companies out there trying to monetize on virtual live events such as concerts
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Sansar itself has been successfully exploring different in-world experiences, including an exclusive eshibit of Star Wars memorabilia and artwork from Burning Man in partnership with the Smithsonian, but these have mostly been free. Since launching Sansar in public beta last year, however, Linden Lab has made no bones about the fact that monetization is a core part of its plans for the platform, much like it has been for Second Life. This is therefore quite a big milestone for the company according to Linden Lab CEO Ebbe Altberg.

Sansar has been successfully exploring different in-world experiences, including an exclusive eshibit of Star Wars memorabilia and artwork from Burning Man in partnership with the Smithsonian
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“By bringing these commercial opportunities into VR, Sansar is taking virtual events to a whole new level – enhancing and expanding on what’s possible in-person. We look at Comedy Gladiators as the first ripple in a larger wave – the first event of many more that bring entertainers into VR – and we’re thrilled that Steve shares this vision”

For entertainers like Hofstetter, the collaboration offers a chance to greatly expand their audience without compromising the intimate feel of a live performance:

“Every day, I get emails and DMs from fans who want to see a live show, but they live in parts of the world I’ll probably never tour in,” Hofstetter said. “VR allows those fans to not only see a live show, but feel like they’re part of a bigger community,” he says.

Sansar’s Avatar Broadcasting feature will enable the performers taking part in Comedy Gladiators to virtually broadcast their performances across an unlimited number of spaces in Sansar, reaching a wider audience than a physical event could ever allow and giving a lot more fans a chance to grab a front row seat.

By bringing these commercial opportunities into VR, Sansar is taking virtual events to a whole new level
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Sansar’s Avatar Broadcasting feature will enable the performers taking part in Comedy Gladiators to virtually broadcast their performances across an unlimited number of spaces
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Whether or not fans will keep coming back to spend their real-world cash on virtual shows and merchandise will really depend on the quality of experience. In terms of visuals, Sansar is probably the most advanced of the social VR platforms, but that often comes at a cost in terms of slow loading times and intensive demands on your GPU and CPU, so it will be interesting to see whether they manage to lure enough pundits to develop this as a scalable commercial avenue. I’d say that for $10 it’s worth a try, just for laughs.

This article was originally published on VRScout

Sansar To Host Live VR Comedy Series With YouTube Star Steve Hofstetter via @alicebonasio https://t.co/54OlwLk8Cs pic.twitter.com/3TgSfza2Ku

— VRScout (@VRScout) December 9, 2018

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 A Virtual Comedy Experience appeared first on Tech Trends.

Intel and The Smithsonian partner up with Sansar to bring everyone the ephemeral art of Burning Man.

Linden Lab’s Sansar just announced a partnership with Intel and the Smithsonian American Art Museum (SAAM) to provide virtual access to the museum’s Renwick Gallery collections as well as its research, and education resources

“With Sansar, we hope not only to make the museum experience more accessible, but to also let people curate their own experiences and share their unique perspectives with the world,” says Jason Gholston, Head of Sansar Studios, which last year launched similar initiatives such as the Art of Star Wars exhibit to help expand the reach of unique and exclusive art collections.

The Smithsonian’s goal in doing this is to expand the reach of the Institution’s collections to a billion people, in five years’ time. This means making its museums’ objects available to the public across a wider range of mediums including immersive domains.

“Technology has the potential to achieve new goals and ambitions for museums and galleries. Immersive technologies, like virtual reality, unlock new and exciting ways to experience art and exhibitions. Fans can now check out the No Spectators collection from their own home,” says Raj Puran, director of immersive technology business development at Intel.

Anyone, anywhere in the world, either on a desktop computer or via Sansar, can now experience these artworks
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With Intel’s advanced data-processing on the Sansar Social VR platform, the Smithsonian has been able to accelerate the digital 3D capture, preservation, and distribution of artefacts in its collections, so that students, educators, and the broader public can virtually access and engage with the museum’s collections from anywhere in the world. It hopes to provide a new kind of viewing experience and transform the museum business, from the creation to the consumption of educational content.

“I don’t fear technology usurping the importance of art and museums,” says Stephanie Stebich, The Margaret and Terry Stent Director of the Smithsonian American Art Museum. “I think technology can make museums and their collections even more inclusive, approachable, and dynamic,” she adds.

The first phase of the partnership will focus on the “No Spectators: The Art of Burning Man” exhibit, which features large-scale works of art from the event on view for a limited time at SAAM’s Renwick Gallery. No Spectators captures the spirit of creativity and community, and has been digitized through hours of careful laser scanning and photogrammetry.

Spectators captures the spirit of creativity and community, and has been digitized through hours of careful laser scanning and photogrammetry
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Technology has the potential to achieve new goals and ambitions for museums and galleries
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Anyone, anywhere in the world, either on a desktop computer or via Sansar, can now experience these artworks. So far, 17 pieces of art were digitized for this experience (first phase is the first floor of the Renwick Gallery, in Washington, D.C.). 12,490 photos were used to generate the 3D models of these pieces. This took the team a total of 1,050 labor hours to complete VR ready models of the artworks

“This is an innovative new way to access educational content from the Smithsonian American Art Museum, and to preserve art for future generations,” concludes Gholston. “We’re democratizing the museum experience one exhibition at a time.”

This is a really interesting use of immersive technology, since the artistic installations at Burning Man are ephemeral (the event’s “leave no trace” policy sees amazing artworks ritualistically burned to the ground each year) yet here we have a medium which would allow them to become accessible as VR experiences, giving those expressions of creativity a new and permanent home in the virtual world.

VR could actually give a sense of permanence to the essentially ephemeral art of Burning Man
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This article was originally published on VRScout

Experience The Art Of Burning Man In VR via @alicebonasio https://t.co/zQ7Rpr7sMF pic.twitter.com/hepaeefk9T

— VRScout (@VRScout) July 30, 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 Creating Virtual Museum Experiences appeared first on Tech Trends.

AltspaceVR brings out new tools to make it easy for anybody to make and share their own personalized virtual environments.

Recently unveiled updates to Microsoft’s social VR platform will allow anyone to build customizable VR spaces. The two new world-building kits are based on Altspace’s most popular environments: Campfire and Alien World /Origin but Microsoft says they’re aiming to release more kits soon, as well as allowing for more customization options.

“This is step one of a greater plan to make sure our community can help build AltspaceVR with us,” says Katie Kelly, Head of Engagement for AltspaceVR. “The experience is fun and easy no matter what level you’re at. We’re so excited to see the new worlds our users build in reality.”

After you choose one of the kits you can add assets from the curated library of shapes, structures and flora to build custom worlds and virtual hangouts. Once you’re done, simply save your version of that world and it’s then ready to share with whomever you like via a link.

These updates to Microsoft’s social VR platform will allow anyone to build customizable VR spaces
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Updates also include the ability to create labels and text to guide your guests through your creations, host multiplayer social games in VR, plus import and showcase in-world photography snaps. Most interesting from a social VR perspective, however, is the functionality to link these custom spaces by adding teleporters that take you straight to common spaces or your friends’ worlds. Creating your own virtual network of connected spaces certainly opens up some interesting possibilities.

My favorite picture from the @AltspaceVR after party today… what do you think? pic.twitter.com/0kCRU8PmG5

— Alex Kipman (@akipman) August 10, 2018

Also, considering what a big part Spatial Sound plays in Microsoft’s Mixed Reality hardware, it’s not surprising to see them baking the ability to experiment with custom sound as well as 3D design in these toolkits.

To start building, login or create an AltspaceVR account, then:

• Select << Worlds >> on your menu.
• Select << Create >> to start on a new World. Or continue to edit a World you built.
• Give your World a name, a profile picture, and choose a starting environment. Templates include: Base Worlds and SDK Playground Worlds. Virtual spaces for both newbies and creative developers to build custom Worlds.
• Once in-world, click on << Spawner >> to activate your dashboard

Creating your own virtual network of connected spaces certainly opens up interesting possibilities
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Kelly promises to keep an eye on user’s creations and to feature the best ones on @AltspaceVR Twitter and Facebook, emphasizing their focus on building a tight-knit community rather than monetizing the platform at this stage. She adds that they’re particularly keen to have users create spaces with “structure, design, and purpose.”

Kelly promises to keep an eye on user’s creations and to feature the best ones on @AltspaceVR Twitter
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As part of its efforts to make Mixed Reality content cross-platform Microsoft has kept all AltspaceVR places and experiences accessible not only in Virtual Reality (AltspaceVR is compatible with most headsets including Daydream, HTC VIVE, Oculus and Samsung Gear VR, as well as all the Windows Mixed Reality HMDs) but also via Desktop or Mobile app.

This feels in step with Microsoft’s broader Mixed Reality strategy, keeping its eye on the long-term prize and building the infrastructure that will allow for scaling and adaptation
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Overall, it feels like an announcement firmly in step with the company’s broader Mixed Reality strategy, keeping its eye firmly on the long-term prize and building the infrastructure that will allow for scaling and adaptation, depending on how the technology develops and what consumers demand. It will be interesting to see not only how engaged the existing community gets with these new tools, but if they manage to entice some new users to the platform as more people buy their first HMDs and look for content and experiences. Watch this space.

This article originally appeared on VRScout

AltspaceVR Releases New World-Building Kits via @alicebonasio https://t.co/SOuFANjeY5 pic.twitter.com/q9Ei5ewLoT

— VRScout (@VRScout) August 10, 2018

For companies looking to get into VR/AR/MR our Virtual Reality Consultancy services offer guidance on how these technologies can enhance and support 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 LinkedIn and follow @alicebonasio and @techtrends_tech on Twitter.

The post Building New Worlds in Virtual Reality appeared first on Tech Trends.

As we experience the second coming of VR, what can we learn from this enduring Virtual World?

$68 million paid to Second Life creators in 2017 alone
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In advance of Second Life’s 15^th Anniversary in June, its makers Linden Lab have released an infographic celebrating the successes of the platform since it first launched in 2003 (feeling old yet?).

• 428,000 years of total time users have spent in Second Life
• $68 million paid to Second Life creators in 2017 alone
• 57 million accounts created since 2003

These statistics highlight how Second Life has allowed its users to not only connect with others, but also make millions in real money through the platform’s virtual economy.

428,000 years: The total time users have spent in Second Life since it launched in 2003
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For more on what’s in store next for Second Life and Linden Lab’s new Virtual Reality Social Platform Sansar, you can hear it directly from the horse’s mouth – CEO Ebbe Altberg:

57 million accounts were created in Second Life since 2003
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To find out how to leverage VR/AR/MR in your enterprise, Tech Trends offers bespoke 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 and @techtrends_tech on Twitter.

The post Infographic: 15 Years of Second Life appeared first on Tech Trends.

With the launch of its new fashion marketplace, Linden Lab wants to attract more users to Sansar.

While still in public Beta, Sansar does seem to be gathering some momentum. In October I was impressed by the quality of the scary and atmospheric experiences they showcased in a Halloween competition that I helped to judge, while only last week they also opened the virtual doors of their Hollywood Museum to showcase some exclusive Star Wars movie memorabilia.

While still in public Beta, Sansar does seem to be gathering some momentum
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Marvelous Designer is a 3D fashion design tool used by numerous mainstream brands and independent designers to visualize true-to-life 3D garments
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Now Linden Lab has announced it is launching a fashion market for user-created avatar clothing. It will be powered by integration with Marvelous Designer sofware, which is widely used in the film and games industry to create digital clothing. It can virtually replicate fabric textures and physical properties to the last button, fold, and accessory, which is pretty important if people are actually going to start spending money to kit up their avatars and spending more time in social VR platforms like Sansar.

Linden Lab has announced it is launching a fashion market for user-created avatar clothing
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Users will now be able to play around with those realistic cloth simulation as they customize the fit and style on their avatars
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Marvelous Designer is a product of CLO Virtual Fashion a 3D fashion design tool used by numerous mainstream brands and independent designers to visualize true-to-life 3D garments. CLO can be used to express a variety of design details for every type of garments from simple T-shirts to complex outerwear, and Sansar users will now be able to play around with those realistic cloth simulation as they customize the fit and style on their avatars.

“Our experience operating Second Life has shown how important and valuable user-created avatar fashions are, and with Sansar, we’re taking it to an exciting new level,” says Ebbe Altberg, CEO of Linden Lab. “Our integration with Marvelous Designer means that not only can you change what you wear, you can customize the fit and style to adjust how you wear it in Sansar. For example, you can roll up your sleeves, loosen your collar, and arrange your scarf just as you like it.”

For designers, Sansar’s fashion market could prove to be a tangible business opportunity
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Linden Lab says that this opens up new creative and entrepreneurial opportunities for users. For designers, Sansar’s fashion market could prove to be a tangible business opportunity, if Second Life (SL) is anything to go by. Over the past 15 years, SL users have created nearly two billion virtual objects, and avatar fashions account for a major portion of the $500 million (USD) user-to-user economy, and some designers have earned millions of dollars from their virtual fashion businesses.

“Innovative fashion companies, world-leading film and gaming studios, and creative hobbyists around the world are already using Marvelous Designer to create incredible virtual clothing designs,” said Jaden Oh, CEO & CTO at CLO. “Our integration with Sansar is the first of its kind, and it makes it easy for our users to sell their creations in this new market.”

New and existing Sansar users can currently get a 60-day free trial of Marvelous Designer
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New and existing Sansar users can currently get a 60-day free trial of Marvelous Designer, and Linden Lab is clearly hoping that this move will not only help kick-start Sansar’s in-world economy, but also increase user take-up and engagement by allowing them to customize their avatars in creative ways. Fashion is a major part of how humans convey individuality and personality IRL, and the same applies in virtual reality.

This article was originally published on VRScout

Time to Dress to Impress—in Social VR #Sansar via @alicebonasio https://t.co/HoAPe4lSki pic.twitter.com/CqZh6U3e0A

— VRScout (@VRScout) December 28, 2017

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 on Twitter.

The post Dressing Up Social Virtual Reality appeared first on Tech Trends.

Tech Trends went along to Facebook’s Christmas Event in London to try out the best Virtual Reality games and applications for the Oculus Rift.

We were invited to an exclusive London event where we got into the festive mood by demoing a range of fun virtual reality content for the Oculus platform.

Facebook was showcasing the latest Oculus games and content in London
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Some of the experiences like Fantastic Beasts I had already tried on other platforms (in this case the Google Daydream) but still good fun. I stand by the fact that casting spells is one of the greatest and most natural applications of VR. It just feels right, and downright wizardly…

Casting spells remains one of the most natural and awesome applications of VR
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I got to smash things as The Hulk in the latest Marvel Powers United VR Game
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The other highlight of my visit has to be getting exclusive access to a demo of the Marvel Powers United game, where you get to play The Hulk (SMASH!).

It was very hard not to get entirely carried away with the whole smashing thing, and every once in a while I could feel the attentive minder steering me gently back to my space to stop me from punching a nearby player in the face.

It was very hard not to get entirely carried away with the whole smashing thing #VR
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The game's motion made me feel slightly queasy
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The only downside was that the gliding motion made me feel rather queasy, but I am prone to it (which makes my job endlessly interesting).

I had been looking forward to trying Facebook Spaces for a while
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Whatever marks were lost to the sudden urge to throw up, however, were set off by the fact that the game boasts a (sadly unplayable) character that looks just like my dog Watson. I mean, it’s downright uncanny, and of course I spent a large amount of game time just trying to pet it with my huge green hands…

Spaces is still very much in Beta but you can see the potential
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Like a lot of emerging tech, you sometimes have to use your imagination
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Spaces is still very much in Beta, so I try not to hold the cartoony look of the avatars, grainy resolution of some of the environments, and various glitches against it. Like a lot of emerging tech, you sometimes have to use your imagination a bit, and I am most of all excited about the potential for how it could develop in future.

The movement of my projected hands felt rather natural
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The seeds are all there, such as the idea of creating environments that you can invite your friends to and where you can hang out together, or making live video calls using animated avatars (I surprised my husband by springing that one on him during my demo).

When I finally caught a fish, I was so excited I promptly dropped it
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Bait! is collaboration between Facebook Spaces and Resolution Games
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Often it turns out that the simplest actions are the most pleasing in a VR experience, and with Facebook Spaces it was no different. The best thing for me was the way that the movement of my projected hands felt rather natural, and I was able to high-five my guide – triggering an emoji explosion – grab and use objects such as a pen, fishing rod or selfie stick (which I used to take the picture below) just as I would in real life.

The simplest actions are often the most pleasing in a VR experience
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And speaking of fishing, the prize for most fun I’ve had in VR for a while definitely belongs to Bait!

This is the result of a collaboration between Facebook Spaces and their first developer partner Resolution Games and it does what it says on the tin. Grab a fishing rod, throw your bait in the water, and wait for an adorable array of fish to bite. Even though I absolutely sucked at it – while my Facebook guide pulled in catch after catch, my line broke the first time, and when I finally managed to catch something, I got so excited I promptly dropped my fish – the physics worked so well it was immensely satisfying. I could definitely see this becoming a thing.

The prize for most fun I’ve had in VR for a while definitely belongs to Bait!
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Some of the other experiences showcased included:

Space Junkies

A visceral, jetpack-fuelled VR Arcade Shooter where you fly through deadly Orbital Arenas in hostile space, facing off in extreme battles. Coming in 2018.

Echo Arena

Join a team of up to two other players and face off against the competition in a zero-gravity clash of robotic glory as you glide, boost, and punch your way to scoring goals in a breath-taking virtual arena. Available now. 

Medium

An immersive VR experience that lets you sculpt, model, paint, and create tangible objects in a VR environment. Available now. 

Luna

Brought to you by Funomena’s uniquely diverse team of veteran developers (Journey, Flower, Boom Blox, The Sims 2) Luna is an interactive fable about learning by the light of unexpected mistakes. Available now. 

Blade Runner 2049: Memory Lab

In this single-player adventure from the world of Blade Runner 2049, you’ve been transported to the Wallace Corporation’s Memory Lab where an eager Joi-Tech model hologram is ready to scan your mind to reveal thecircumstances behind your latest retirement. Available now.

Coco VR

Coco VR is Pixar’s stunning debut into virtual reality: an adventure into the beautiful Disney-Pixar film, Coco, coming to theaters November 22. You can choose either a single or multi-player experience, and follow the magical alebrije into the luminous world of Coco filled with lovable characters and beautiful settings from the film. Available now.

Killing Floor: Incursion

In Killing Floor: Incursion, players must take on the role of an elite Horzine Security Forces soldier as they, along with allies, fight their way through a story driven zombie campaign using an array of weapons including pistols, shotguns, axes, and more. Available now.

Brass Tactics

Brass Tactics takes real-time-strategy to the next level by placing you in the middle of the action on a fantastic clockwork battlefield. From Hidden Path Entertainment, experience the thrill of directly moving and interacting with your clockwork creations: grab structures and place them on the battlefield and direct your units with the sweep of your hand. Coming in early 2018.

Arktika.1

From the creators of the Metro series comes a new vision of the apocalypse. ARKTIKA.1 is a highly immersive, action-packed, first-person shooter designed exclusively for Oculus Touch. Nearly a century in the future, the world has fallen into a new ice age in the aftermath of a silent apocalypse. Only the equatorial regions remain habitable, yet pockets of humanity survive in small numbers all over the planet, hanging onto existence in the resource-rich territories to the north and south–resources that everyone wants to control… Protect the colony in the wastelands of old Russia from raiders, marauders, and horrifying creatures. Be the saviour. Available now.

The Climb

Scale huge heights and feel the exhilaration of extreme free solo climbing. Explore and enjoy the view or compete for the fastest times on leaderboards with Touch or gamepad controls. Developed by Crytek and achieved with CRYENGINE.

VR Sports Challenge

Grab a helmet, polish your lucky bat, lace up your kicks, and sharpen your skates as you step out of the tunnel and onto the gridiron, ballpark, hardwood, and ice as an elite athlete in VR Sports Challenge. Available now. 

Mission:ISS

Take a trip into orbit and experience life on board the International Space Station! In this Emmy-nominated simulation, learn how to move and work in zero-gravity using Touch controllers. Dock a space capsule, take a spacewalk, and let real NASA astronauts guide you on the ISS through archival video clips. 

The Unspoken: Acolytes

An all-new single-player chapter in the world of The Unspoken. It reveals the untold story of Chicago’s secret spell-casting duels. You’ll travel through neon alleys to face down other-dimensional Demons, cross vertigo-inducing rooftops to battle large-scale Wraiths, and sneak into hidden sanctums to investigate the murder of an acolyte. You’ll cast spells with your bare hands. From a finessed flick of the wrist to a visceral push, the play style is up to you– five classes channel their energies to cast over thirty spells. You’ll levitate cars, unleash electricity, and see the future. Coming soon. 

Robo Recall

Robo Recall is an action-packed VR first-person shooter with visceral Touch gameplay and an in-depth scoring system. Earn the high score by using creative combat tactics and skill shots as you teleport through city streets and rooftops in an awe-inspiring ballet of bullets. Purchase and activate Touch to get Robo Recall for free! Available now. 

Windlands 2

Return to the world of Windlands, alone or with friends. Armed with grappling hooks and a bow, embark on a journey to destroy the gigantic titans and save the world from an ancient danger. Coming soon.

From Other Suns

From the creators of Game Informer’s 2016 VR Game of the Year, Chronos, From Other Suns is an action-packed co-op VR space adventure designed from the ground up for the Oculus Touch. Available now. 

Dear Angelica

From Emmy-Award Winning Oculus Story Studio comes Dear Angelica, a journey through the magical and dreamlike ways we remember our loved ones. Entirely painted by hand inside of VR, Dear Angelica plays out in a series of memories that unfold around you. An immersive, illustrative short story starring Geena Davis and Mae Whitman. 

Melita

In 2026, the world is rapidly deteriorating due to climate change. Anaaya, a brilliant Inuit female scientist, is appointed to find a planet that humans can inhabit, and she’s joined by Melita, an advanced A.I sent to help her on the task. Together, they will embark on a journey against time to save humanity from extinction. We are exploring new ways to interact with a linear story, having two possible camera views. Available now. 

The People’s House

The People’s House takes you on a historic visit to President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama’s White House. Through the transportive power of VR, the Obamas take you on an intimate journey inside the West Wing, Executive and Private Residences, reflecting on their time there, and recounting the building’s profound history since its creation over two centuries ago. Available now. 

Step to the Line

In this VR short documentary shot in prison, we see how the release from incarceration can be just as jarring as the intake and how parallel lives diverge when someone serves time. Step to the Line has been selected for the 2017 Tribeca Film Festival. Available now.

Face Your Fears: Stranger Things

Just another day in Hawkins, Indiana. October 31st. Getting ready to hand out candy. What could happen, in such an idyllic town? Certainly there’s no chance of you getting sucked into the Upside Down, fighting off Demogorgons, and desperately trying to get back to the real world. There’s a very slim chance you’ll make it through the night! Available now. 

Tech Trends offers comprehensive Virtual Reality Consultancy services to support businesses looking to adopt VR/AR/MR technologies into their 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 Unwrapping the Latest Oculus VR Content appeared first on Tech Trends.

Could Decentralised ownership using blockchain technology help kickstart the social VR revolution? Emerging platforms are looking to democratise ownership of immersive environments.

VR has often been considered something of a solitary experience, but that’s changing fast. Social VR platforms are on the rise, and as the acquisition of AltspaceVR by Microsoft shows, major players in that space are taking notice.

AltspaceVR was recently acquired by Microsoft
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In the VR gold rush a spate of social VR platforms have proliferated. High Fidelity, for example, is a sandbox environment allowing players to create their own avatars and social worlds and explore others all interconnected in one limitless Metaverse. It also features a marketplace where you can purchase avatars and additional 3D building elements.

VR Social platforms have proliferated
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Vtime is a stationary platform which offers fully rendered interesting environments for up to 4 people at a time wherein they can interact. One unique feature of the Vtime platform is the vCast feature which allows you to host and record your own chat show in VR. With around $1.5 million in venture funding VR Chat is developing a sandbox platform that allows you to interact and explore virtual worlds. VR Chat features full body and lip sync and eye tracking as well as a SDK that allows you to create your own worlds and avatars.

Supported by $5 million of funding, RecRoom from Against Gravity has also become a popular platform for social VR recreation featuring a games room where people can join and play games against each other in VR from all around the world. Noted for its great sense of community it makes great use of its touch and vive controllers in such games as golf, paddle ball or charades.

Momentum is building around social VR
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This shows how momentum is building around social VR, and although it’s unlikely that such platforms will replace social media in terms of popularity overnight, the question is certainly being asked about who will emerge as “Facebook of VR.”

Facebook itself is keen to be the Facebook of VR
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With Mark Zuckerberg announcing a year ago a host of new Social VR features at the Oculus Connect 3 keynote (such as the ability to create ‘parties’ and ‘rooms’ wherein friends can gather in VR environments), appointing Rachel Rubin – previously vice president and executive producer of The Sims 4 at Electronic Arts – as the head of Social VR and subsequently channeling $250 million into VR development, it seems clear that Facebook itself is keen to step up to that plate.

Tech giants have so far shirked the responsibility which comes with their vast power
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Yet as the ongoing revelations about Russia’s use of platforms like Google and Facebook to influence elections in the US and elsewhere show, allowing any one company such widespread reach gives it extraordinary power. And tech companies have not so far shown that they accept the responsibilities that come with such great power. A possible alternative? Decentralized ownership.

“We believe virtual reality will flourish once users have a more prominent role in controlling their creations. Currently, the companies that create the virtual worlds own all of the content built by the users. They are the ones who profit, reap the benefits from the network effects, and have the power to undo, change or censor what happens within the world itself. The true potential of VR might be realized, and certainly surpass what already exists, if this power were put into the hands of the users instead,” believes Ariel Meilich, founder of blockchain-based virtual platform Decentraland.

A blockchain is a digitized, decentralized public ledger of cryptocurrency transactions. Essentially each ‘block’ is like an individual bank statement. Completed ‘blocks’ (the most recent transactions) are added in chronological order allowing market participants to keep track of the transactions without the need for central record keeping. Just as Bitcoin eliminates the need for a third party to process or store payments, and isn’t regulated by a central authority, users in any blockchain structure are responsible for validating transactions whenever one party pays another for goods or services.

Decentraland started as an open source initiative in 2015
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Meilich says that the project began in 2015 as an open source initiative to build a virtual world, before pivoting into a blockchain tokenization model. Earlier this year, the company’s ICO (Initial Coin Offering) raised over $25M USD – in less than a minute. They are now planning to launch in early 2018 following its first land auction which will take place in December.

The notion of monetising Virtual Real Estate and assets is well established
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The notion of monetising Virtual Real Estate and assets is far from new, however. Second Life (SL), the longest enduring commercial virtual world launched back in 2003 thrives on the principle of enabling users to make money from digital assets.

Decentraland users will collectively own and regulate the platform
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Monetization was a bit aspect of the platform from the outset, incentivizing users to create high-quality content by allowing users to retain copyright for these virtual goods. The profits stemming from this virtual economy are very much real, with many SL users deriving a regular income from such activities, and Linden Lab itself being a financially independent company thanks to the fees and commission it makes from these.

Monetisation has been a big aspect of social VR platforms like Sansar
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With Sansar, Linden Lab is now laying its own stake to that next-generation of virtual worlds by offering similar functions to High Fidelity in terms of development, yet taking a more user-centric approach which also focuses on enabling monetization for individual users, who can earn Sansar Dollar (S$) for their VR creations. This in-world currency can be cashed into various currencies via PayPal and traded on a dedicated online exchange called the Sandex. This built-in economy with real-world application is borrowed directly from Second Life and its Linden Dollar (L$).

“If I can make an experience by building just a few original content assets and buy the other stuff, I can do way more interesting experiences at a much faster pace, because I don’t have to build everything from scratch. In the real world you see companies and brands specializing in certain types of content, and it’s no different in virtual worlds, we’ve seen this in Second Life,” explains Linden Lab CEO Ebbe Altberg.“

What makes Decentraland fundamentally different from other virtual platforms is that it’s not only the content that will be owned by users, but the platform itself. This means the community will also have collective responsibility for regulating it. According to its creators, the blockchain structure – which uses the Ethereum network – creates a mechanism for consensus among strangers that allows this to work at scale.

“The networks provides landowners with actual ownership over their property and the creations that reside on it,” explains Meilich. “As is it decentralized and the content does not reside on our servers, we do not have the power to modify it or censor it. At some point, we could turn off our servers and the world would keep running.”

This all opens up new and interesting possibilities for users to communicate with each other, as well as new business models that enable them to create, share and monetize immersive content and experiences. But so far we haven’t seen any one model emerge as a clear winner and claim that crucial “first mover advantage” in the social VR space. The race is, by all accounts, still wide open, which is what makes for such exciting watching.

This article was originally published on The Next Web

Will blockchain help make Virtual Reality more social? https://t.co/G5CAeBhxhg

— TNW Contributors (@TNWcontributors) November 6, 2017

To find out how to leverage VR/AR/MR in your enterprise, Tech Trends offers bespoke 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 and @techtrends_tech on Twitter.

The post Democratising Social VR with Blockchain appeared first on Tech Trends.

Linden Lab’s ambitions to make Virtual Reality accessible to everyone are shaping up nicely, if this newly released video is any indication.

While it doesn’t contain any new product announcements, the footage showcases the functionalities they’ve been promising and testing out in their closed “Creator’s Preview” for the last few months.

You can watch the video below, or read the complete overview on UploadVR

Linden Lab's Social VR Platform Sansar is on track for Open Beta release this Spring
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New @LindenLab video promises Sansar Open Beta this Spring! via @alicebonasio #VR #Sansar https://t.co/RXP7WrTyva pic.twitter.com/NIXCg7a5Gq

— Upload (@UploadVR) March 7, 2017

The post Building Excitement Around the Sansar Social VR Platform appeared first on Tech Trends.

Another sign we’re fast approaching the vision set out by Ernest Cline in his VR-themed novel Ready Player One is that more people are now able to make a living in Virtual Reality worlds.

With full-time VR-based jobs, we're getting closer to the world of Ready Player One
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By that I don’t mean earning salaries developing VR hardware or software – that is clearly a very healthy industry in its own right – or even designing elements, environments and experiences which can be sold in the model proposed by platforms such as Sansar (a proven formula that has generated millions of dollars in revenue over the years for Linden Lab through its legacy Second Life platform).

But as social VR begins to really take off, and people start spending a lot more of their time in those computer-generated immersive environments – just like in Cline’s book which is also being made into a film directed by Steven Spielberg – those platforms are looking to recruit virtual employees that replicate real-world tasks in VR. These aren’t technical roles at all. Rather, the people they are looking for will perform a variety of roles to ensure that users have a great experience while using the technology.

New VR jobs are emerging that aren't technical roles at all
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In advance of its worldwide launch in the summer, Geekzonia has just advertised one such full-time position for a VR Events Host that will be undertaken entirely in virtual reality “whether that’s in a dungeon filled with dragons or at the heart of middle-earth.” Duties include meeting and greeting users and celebrity guests, assisting in event organisation and promotion.

Geekzonia has just advertised one such full-time position for a VR Events Host
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As the name suggests, Geekzonia is a social VR platform focused on geek culture, allowing users to explore themed zones like sci-fi, fantasy and horror, attending events with other like-minded geeks (again, much like in RP1). It describes itself as a “24/7 virtual reality comic-con filled with the latest geek content from movie studios, games publishers, TV networks and geeky brands.”

Geekzonia Co-Founders Stephen and Carina Walsh and Peter Dobson

Its co-founder Stephen Walsh says he was inspired to start the platform when he realized that the demand for the geeky events he was running in his Geek Retreat comic book shops was outstripping the venues’ physical capacity:

“In June 2016, at the TEDx Glasgow, I happened to meet Martin McDonnell, owner of Soluis, a design visualisation studio, and got talking about a haven for geeks unencumbered by the dull limits of the physical world. Geekzonia was born soon thereafter, and we’re worked together to develop the platform alongside two co-founders, Carina Walsh and Peter Dobson,” he explains.

The full job spec is included below and salary – although negotiable – is in the region of £17k, with promises of “abundant progression opportunities as the start-up expands.”

This role would suit an enthusiastic and passionate geek
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This role would suit an enthusiastic and passionate geek with excellent communication skills. We have several open positions located in the UK and the US on a work from home basis. The company will supply a VR headset and required hardware.

Experience in either events hosting, promotions or sales is preferable and candidates must be prepared to spend a large part of the working day using a VR headset (with hourly breaks). A fanaticism for geek culture is also essential for everybody in our company.

Job Role:

• Meeting and greeting users in VR
• Assisting with organisation of events
• Coordination of event guests, speakers and celebrities
• Creating and maintaining buzz at in VR events

Our team is made up of software wizards, comic book shop owners, social media geeks and VR design geniuses, to apply to join us just send us your CV and a note about why you’d be the perfect fit.

Salary & Hours: Negotiable

To find out how to leverage VR/AR/MR in your enterprise, Tech Trends offers bespoke 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 and @techtrends_tech on Twitter.

The post Full-Time Virtual Reality Job With a Real-World Salary appeared first on Tech Trends.

AltspaceVR wants to enable people to attend live events in virtual reality.

AltspaceVR's strategy is increasingly focusing on live events
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With mounting competition from platforms like Sansar and High Fidelity (both of which are in Beta at the moment but planning public releases for 2017), it seems like AltspaceVR’s strategy is increasingly focusing on live events as their unique selling proposition in the Social VR Space.

AltspaceVR held the first UK live comedy show in virtual reality, which marks a significant strategic move for the company as it tries to prove the case for enabling people to attend live events in virtual reality.

With mounting competition from platforms like Sansar and High Fidelity (both of which are in Beta at the moment but planning public releases for 2017), it seems like AltspaceVR’s strategy is increasingly focusing on live events as their unique selling proposition in the Social VR Space.

The strategy of building on geographical clusters makes sense in the context of trying to grow a social-based product
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But why hold such a milestone event in London if the company is still firmly based in Redwood City, CA? It’s actually part of their broader European expansion plan, explains Head of International Market Development Debby Shepard, who has just relocated from San Francisco to London to spearhead that.

With around 30 percent of their current base made up of European users, AltspaceVR hopes to significantly grow that by providing greater support and expanded programming. That strategy of building on geographical clusters makes sense in the context of trying to grow a social-based product, since we’re much more likely to engage with those sort of experiences if our friends are already on board.

The demand for live events in VR is driven by the same desire that people have to attend festivals, concerts, comedy clubs—the shared live experience of performer and audience
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Although the potential of using VR’s immersiveness to make live experiences available to larger audiences is certainly clear, it’s also quite obvious that it’s still very early days for this technology
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The live show featured two very well-known names in the vibrant comedy circuit, Ian Stone (ranked among the top ten stand-ups in Britain by The Independent and a member of the Comedy Store’s ‘Cutting Edge’ team) and Ben Norris (who apart from being the cousin of actor Martin Freeman, is a regular on popular UK television shows such as Mock the Week and Never Mind the Buzzcocks). I was told that attendance for such events ranges/has ranged up into the thousands, and an encore presentation should be available on Dec. 26 at 7 pm Pacific here.

AltspaceVR’s live event capture technology launched in November and can capture live events in full VR, so users can either watch a performance live or an encore after the event (or both). Previously they had tested some of this functionality in a partnership with SyFy for their show Halcyon, where they showed the first episode in VR and hosted a virtual reality international press junket on the platform. The benefits of that for a global audience are clear, as it transcends the need (and associated cost) of travel and lets them do so at a convenient time for them while keeping the social and interactive aspects you don’t get with simply watching a recorded show on TV.

“The demand for live events in VR is driven by the same desire that people have to attend festivals, concerts, comedy clubs—the shared live experience of performer and audience,” says Shepard. “VR uniquely brings the performer and audience into the same space, replicating the live performance experience. With AltspaceVR’s FrontRow, it’s now possible to deliver it to an unlimited number of people simultaneously from around the world.”

This FrontRow technology means that only a fraction of the attendees are visible in these images, explains Gerald Gottheil from AltspaceVR’s marketing team. The idea, presumably, is that no matter how many people sign up to participate in an event, you never get your view blocked by that annoying tall, hat-wearing person standing right in front of you.

Although the potential of using VR’s immersiveness to make live experiences available to larger audiences is certainly clear, it’s also quite obvious that it’s still very early days for this technology. For one, the AltspaceVR avatars still have that characteristic cartoon woodiness that have been a staple of such platforms since the ’90s. That, however, might soon be set to change, especially if they manage to plug into some of the bolder advances in personalized-avatar technology we’ve seen emerging in the space recently.

No matter how many people sign up to an event, you'll never get your view blocked by that tall, hat-wearing person standing right in front of you
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Another interesting aspect of this announcement was the way it overlapped the real and virtual worlds by offering audiences based in London the chance to gather in a physical space to watch a virtual reality performance together with their friends at Camden Square’s recently opened Virtually Reality space.

This represents a new concept that not only plugs into London’s  thriving VR start-up community to help bring their products to market, but also provides ordinary consumers with a physical and social space which invites them to experience and learn about VR and discover its possibilities through hands-on play.  Touting themselves as the “UK’s first virtual reality retail and experience space,” they started out as a stall on Portobello Road selling mobile VR headsets, and managed to capture the imagination of enough passers-by to fund their next move into its current trendy Camden base. It will be really interesting to see how many more such spaces start cropping up in major cities in 2017 as VR takes off.

This article originally appeared on UploadVR

Live comedy shows in @AltspaceVR are growing! https://t.co/S5gJiX7YaY via @alicebonasio #VR

— Upload (@UploadVR) December 23, 2016

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 Are VRlive Events Becoming a Thing? appeared first on Tech Trends.