XR and the Continuum of Immersion in eXtended Reality Back in 2016 I did a presentation on the Future of VR. On one slide was titled: VR, AR, MR… XR? Basically wondering how to describe yet another way to experience VR where Virtual World, is mapped to the real world, but its fully immerse, but one or two real things pop through. Ug. So… Read More
Controllers for mobile VR will become standard. Thanks Daydream! Although Google Cardboard, Samsung GearVR and the numerous copy cats have basically assumed the user will not have a controller, with exception to some GearVR titles that require a gamepad, the basic UI of most VR apps rely on gaze control or the track-pad on seen on the GearVR. And for a first try at… Read More
The BEST use of deep immersive VR for a promotion, wireless gear VR room positional tracking. I just saw a video that blew my mind. Its not JUST that its a great idea, nor just looking like lots of fun, nor REALLY great combination of xbox tracking and gearVR to allow room scale VR, but the APPROPRIATENESS of the marketing event! Get ready for some serious gushing over the best VR marketing… Read More
Why the Gear S points to the future of smart watches; beyond Apple’s watch Just to be clear, I still think the Apple watch is the best of a generation, that is, the first smart watch generation. But I’m already looking to the next one and with the Samsung Gear S and LG Urbane, I think I already see it. First the Gear S. I’ve been using it for 2 weeks… Read More
VR Hackathon in San Francisco this Memorial Day weekend! DO IT! And Friday is FREE Yeah, I know, who would schedule something on Memorial Day weekend? Hardcore VR hackers, that’s who! So if you have family plans, then you are not fully dedicated to the cause. Ok, that was harsh, but still, you do not want to miss out on this year’s VR Hackathon. Last year was pretty fun…I should know…I… Read More
VR Theme Park! Yes its TECHNICALLY doable, but financially? I just saw this and it already on my bucket list. THE VOID. A VR Theme park where virtual reality technology is taking to it’s cutting edge. And it looks great! But after a bit of thinking, Utah? Really? Why is this not in California? And this will take A LOT of capital, does this… Read More
Self driving cars will make electric cars more practicable, and mechanics less populous When it comes to the auto industry the future is coming on at full speed. Although I think its optimistic to think we will have self driving cars in 5 years, because of both technology and legal reasons, but in 10 I think we will see a large percentage of cars that can drive themselves… Read More
Top 10 Apps for the Gear VR HMD (Note, I’m posting this now, but its not done. But what I do want is feedback. Good list? Bad list? you have a better top 10? Tell me.) I finally got my Note 4 and start loading apps on the Samsung Gear VR and here is my top ten favorites. Normally I do not include… Read More
VR sculpting with the Razer Hydra and the Oculus Rift Sculpting in VR is nothing new. Actually, very little in VR is new, instead its what happens when things get lighter, faster, cheaper. Back in the 90’s we could create sculptures and move walls around in VR but it was very cumbersome, lacked the high feedback fidelity required to really make sculpting in VR productive… Read More
NewsSnacker – Twitter newsfeed on the Pebble watch My first coded pebble app. I’m using Pebbles new beta javascript system, so even though it was very easy to code, there does seem to be an issue when hitting the ‘select’ button to go from story to story. Hopefully this will get better. For iOS users. Right now you cannot download from the Apple… Read More
Moto 360 smart watch sells out before the first hour. What can we learn from this? That was quick! As soon as the Moto 360 smart watch went on sale it sold out. What does that tell us in the wearable world? That looks matter! I have been pounding on this point over and over again, and just yesterday when I wrote about the Samsung gear 2 s, looking better, but… Read More
Samsung Gear 2 S smartwatch with a curved screen. Now we’re talking I have been pretty harsh on Samsung basically asking why are they throwing everything but the kitchen sink onto a watch making it large and ugly. And why have they not released a curved screen yet? Well they finally did. And I think they got it mostly right this time. The Gear 2 S is… Read More
Skully Smart Helmet about to pass the 1 million mark on Indiegogo If you ever needed proof of a market demand for a new type of product, do a crowd funding raise. Skully, producers of the cyber motorcycle helmet that gives the rider a Google Glass like HUD, is just about to pass the $1 million dollar mark for money raised. The helmet is pretty cool. Take… Read More
Why I went back to the Pebble after using the Google G for 24 hours. Buttons! I got the Google LG G watch after Google I/O to try out the new API and if I could implement a push service using my site newssnacker.com. Simple enough idea, I want to write a protocol that will only send message to my watch when something big breaks. However, after just 24 hours I… Read More
Google Cardboard now in Plastic if the Samsung rumors are true Last week at Google I/O, they sprang a cardboard phone holder that basically turn your smartphone into a VR HMD display device. Its extremely cleaver, and was quite the hit. So much so, there is a strong demand for these guys even a week later. Now we are hearing rumors that a plastic version of… Read More
Virtual Reality Hackathon coming to SF. Why its different this time so get your Helmets ready Did anyone watch the Google IO conference broadcast, or better yet, was there? Hope you are enjoying your watches. But more importantly, are you enjoying your cardboard HMD? I have to admit, that caught me by surprise, but very cool! But the point of the VR glasses is to demonstrate Google’s VR Build Kit. I… Read More
A Super computer DID NOT pass the Turing test, point by point reasons why. I was just as excited as everyone else when I read on a post via Reddit that a computer program called Eugene passed for the very first time! Seems a supercomputer running a program called Eugene Goostman passed the Turing test during an event at the Royal Society in London. It convinced 33 per cent… Read More
Google Glass will sell out of all models. But not for pure demand, but speculators Like we used to see when Apple released a new iPhone it would sell out very quickly, then on ebay and craigslist there will be a flood of posts of people selling for .5, 1 or even 4x the original price. I have a feeling the same thing is going to happen with Glass. Even… Read More
WHY would facebook buy Oculus.. Unless… Second life a la Facebook? Sounds crazy but perhaps not as much as you might think. The main expressed reason Facebook bought Oculus is the ‘platform’. Basically trying to get in front of the next shift in hardware. When Facebook launched they were king of desktop, but then mobile takes over and they had to play a bit of catchup. … Read More
Google announces Android wear (watch). Why this is different from Samsung and perhaps better Although Google will not directly build the watch themselves, they are working with HTC, LG, Motorola and Samsung. A bit surprised Samsung is working with them given they have their own watch, but there you go. I may have said this before, but I think watches running the Android wearable system will have a leg… Read More