Daily Archives: May 28, 2017

Ronnie Rahn, principal at TWH Architects, explains the benefits of virtual reality renderings Wed., May 24, 2017, from TWH Architects in the University Tower building in Chattanooga, Tenn. Virtual reality can help sell ideas to clients and help clients better envision each room within a property they've had commissioned.

Ronnie Rahn, principal at TWH Architects, explains the...

Photo by Erin O. Smith

Dennis Tumlin was looking for a way to quite literally level the playing field when he pitched a hilly industrial site north of Dayton, Tenn., to Finland's biggest tire maker in March.

"We knew we were competing against a flat site in Georgia, and our property still had a slope and was harder at first glance to visualize how a major factory might look [there]," said Tumlin, the executive director for the Rhea County Economic and Tourism Council.

Sam Wills, the Southeast Tennessee regional director for the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development, suggested the industrial prospects be shown a 3-D view of what the factory could look like in a finished, flattened version of the Rhea County Rail Hub South industrial park.

In only 10 days, the architects and technology team at TWH Architects in Chattanooga, a division of the Michael Brady Co., created the images that allowed top executives from Nokian Tyres to visualize their 830,000-square-foot plant on the site by looking in virtual reality headsets.

Two months after the site visit, Nokian Tyres announced it had picked the 330-acre industrial site north of Dayton for a $360 million tire production plant the biggest private investment ever in Rhea County.

"Did virtual reality alone seal the deal?" Tumlin asked. "No. But it was very effective in showing what we can do and what could be done with this site. I think it was a real help."

The virtual reality (VR) headsets allow users to see and walk through buildings and properties in the virtual world created by the new 3-D design equipment. They can move through the space with a controller and, wearing the headset, get a full 360-degree view.

Although still relatively new, VR proponents think it could gain widespread use by architects, designers and real estate agents trying to show houses, rental properties or office layouts even if the viewer is not on site or before anything is ever built.

The Michael Brady Co., which last year merged with TWH Architects, was one of the first architectural firms in the region to begin widespread use of 3-D modeling of its building projects nearly a decade ago.

"We're actually building 3-D modeling in our computers for building design, which helps us as designers and engineers to not only visualize how a project will look but also to be more precise in our drawings and to work out and detect in advance any conflicts or clash of things like duct work and support beams," said Ronny Rahn, principal architect at TWH Architects Inc. "But in the past couple of years, virtual reality headsets have taken that to a whole new level and really give our clients a chance to immerse themselves in whatever facility we are designing."

TWH uses building information technology developed from the Revit autodesk software. The technology not only helps designers and clients to visualize buildings before they are erected, it also offers a cheaper and quicker way to make changes.

"One of the great things about doing everything in 3-D is we get better feedback from our clients," Rahn said.

Virtual reality can replace costly artist renderings, which can run $2,500 a pop and are outdated as soon as a client asks for a change. And virtual reality headsets are getting cheaper Facebook's Oculus Rift ships for $599, $200 less than rival HTC Vive and could become ubiquitous in coming years as prices fall more.

"We think there's a tremendous potential to help both us and our clients with virtual reality," Rahn said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Contact Dave Flessner at dflessner@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6340.

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Virtual Reality helps lure Finland's biggest tire maker to Dayton - Chattanooga Times Free Press

Virtual reality has made inroads into several industries, and now it's coming to the delivery room.

The University of Newcastle in Australia has launched a new virtual reality project that aims at teaching midwives how to safely deliver babies in a "life-or-death situation." The virtual environment, which was announced on Friday, places midwifery students in a "real-world delivery room" and requires them to act quickly to resuscitate a newly born child. It depicts a child that needs resuscitation, tools that can be used to revive the child, and more. It also asks students to answer questions as they're dealing with the situation.

With 15% of births in Australia and New Zealand requiring some form of resuscitationa number even higher in premature babiesit is imperative our students feel comfortable and confident applying their experience in a time-critical, emergency environment, co-project leader Jessica Williams said in a statement.

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Virtual reality and augmented reality are widely considered useful tools for teaching people in the corporate and medical worlds important aspects to their jobs. Microsoft's HoloLens headset, for instance, is designed for corporate use and provides users the ability to see virtual elements overlaid on the real world. Virtual reality headsets, on the other hand, place users into a completely virtual world they can interact with.

The Newcastle project, which was earlier reported on by CNET, is using Samsung ( ssnlf ) Gear VR and HTC Vive virtual-reality headsets for its project. But the university also created an app that can run on iOS, Android, and the PC, so students can test themselves on the devices of their choosing. Newcastle is testing some midwifery students with the virtual reality headsets and some without. It plans to compare those results to determine whether the virtual option is worth using into the future.

In addition to its midwifery project, Newcastle is separately using Microsoft's ( msft ) HoloLens headset to teach students about the human body with software that projects different body parts and their functions for students to explore.

"We hope these key educational projects will progress health and medicine education in ways that havent been explored before," the university's innovation manager Craig Williams said in a statement.

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How Virtual Reality Could Help Midwives Deliver Babies - Fortune

The bride is a sleek white robot with accents of pink on her shinyexterior. The groom is identical, except withblue trimaround his head and body. They are standingin front of more thana dozen guests some robots, some cutesyhuman avatars on a platform built over a churning red lake of lava. Glowingcloudsloom in the distanceof this strangespace,asguests unleashsmiley face and heart emojis to register their joy, and a disco ball spins overhead.

Welcome to one of thefirst-ever virtual reality weddings.

On Thursday, Elisa Evans and Martin Shervington, a couple from Wales,did just as so many couplesdo on their wedding day. She slippedona white wedding dress, he donneda suit, and then they headed to a local wedding venue.

It was all very traditional, really except that when they got there, there were no guests or officiantspresent. Instead, they each put ona VR headset and entered a virtual futuristic disco, asShervington put it. Their officiant, a community managerfrom the virtual reality companyAltspaceVR, beamed infrom San Francisco. Guests gathered from all over the world using the AltspaceVR app all of them sitting in their respective homes and offices, connected onlybytheirheadsets.

The very first virtual reality wedding of this sort happened in San Francisco in 1994 backwhen peoplewere still earnestlyusing the termcyperspace. The bride, an employee at an early virtual reality company, and groom, usedcrude headsets and graphics, withgear totaling an estimated $1 million. But Shervington, a business consultantwho recently helped launch a VR companys app, stakes the claim thathe and his bride are the first to get virtually hitched in this new age of accessible consumer headsettechnology and in a legally-binding ceremony.

Companies are justbeginning to captureweddings with 360-degree cameras, so that couples, along with family and friends, can relive the big day in immersive VR.A truly virtual wedding like this one, though, has a bizarre, niche appeal which is, perhaps, why Evans andShervington are likely only the second couple to do it.

Shervington proposed to Evans in November, after just a fewmonths ofdating, and a friend was quick to suggest that they do itin VR. It was fun, he said of the idea. That was where it began. Its also been a challenge conceptually. With new technology, I enjoy exploring, so its been an experience going through and puttingtogether thepieces.Along the way, though, we just want to laugh.

Plus, Shervington who has done stand-up comedy, including in VR, about things like the singularity and artificial intelligence is a bit of a sci-fi and tech geek. Evans not so much, but shes gamely gone along with the plan. I thought it sounded like a lot of fun, she said. Its so different, and we knew we didnt want to have a conventional wedding.

During the ceremony, Evans andShervington stood several feet away from each other with a wall in between themto avoid any audio feedback from the mics in their respective headsets.In VR, their avatars stood next to each other in front of a largescreen thatShervington used to display a Powerpoint-like presentation that took up most of the hour-long ceremony and could easily have been mistaken for anawkwardstandup routine. He told the story about how they met and fell in love, peppering his speech with inside jokes, random YouTubeclips, many of which took a painful amount of time to load, andsnippets of music Queen and The RollingStones made appearances.

It was an indulgent, self-involved affair rife withtechnical difficulties in otherwords, a whole lot like a regular wedding. And, just as with any wedding, there were a lot of details to decide on. Only, in addition to the usual questions around things like theguest listand music,they also had to design their avatars, choose a virtual venue, and work out a bunch of technical challenges. In fact, as he put it, the virtual has hadmuch more attention than the real world in the details.

Some of those challenges were unsurmountable. When the officiant instructed the couple to seal their vows with a kiss, their avatars leaned in toward each other, not quite touching and, of course,Evans and Shervington were physically separated and wearing bulky headsets in the real world, none of which exactly allows for that picture-perfect moment.

For guests, too, it was a somewhat awkward experience. To prevent total chaos, only a limited number were allowed to attend with a physical avatar, while the rest could watch a YouTube livestream of the virtual wedding.Our avatars milled about at will, with nowhere to sit. I would try navigating in front of another guest for a better view, only to have someone else step right in front of me. At one point, as the couple waspreparing to exchange vows, I accidentally directed my avatar to stand right in between Evans andShervingtons avatars embarrassing. (I wasnt the only one either it was as though wed all already gotten tanked atthe open bar.) Also, forget showing up in the same dress trydiscovering that youve chosenthe exact same avatar as another weddingguest.

But, most notable of all,my VR goggles keptfogging up, as they tend to do over prolonged periods of use. So, instead of the usual periodic wiping of tears at a wedding, I was routinely cleaning my headset.

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This Couple Just Got Hitched In A Surreal Virtual Reality Wedding - Vocativ

NEW YORK Baseball games will soon arrive on virtual-reality headsets.

Video in the new At Bat VR app wont be in VR. Rather, the app places the user behind home plate and shows graphical depictions of each pitch, including a colored streak (red for strikes and green for balls) tracing the balls trajectory. The data come from sensors Major League Baseball already has installed in all of its stadiums.

The app also lets users hover over icons to see the speed and type of each pitch, as well as which parts of a strike zone are strong or weak for a particular batter. Traditional TV coverage of the games will appear on a virtual screen, alongside play-by-play information and individual player statistics.

Its more information that casual baseball fans will want, but hard-core fans might get a kick from having this perspective supplement what they see with regular TV cameras. Baseballs regular At Bat app does have some of this information, but not in 3-D and not while watching video.

At Bat VR also will have a section for 360-degree video packages, but not of actual games.

At Bat VR is included with Major League Baseballs existing streaming packages. At Bat VR also is subject to the usual blackouts for local teams; in such cases, the graphical depictions will still be available, but not the live video within the headset.

The VR app comes out June 1 and works with Android phones and headsets compatible with Googles Daydream VR system. Theres no version for iPhones.

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Virtual reality coming to baseball June 1 - Altus Times

Eddie Avil and Ashley Rodriguess 12-minute film, Crackle, is touted as Indias first VR horror short film

The gaming and animation world has long embraced Virtual Reality and with apps and programs like Oculus Rift, Twitch, Pokemon Go, and countless others, its possibilities seem limitless. Now, filmmakers across the globe are slowly warming up to the format as well. Steven Spielberg is making a VR Film,Ready Player One, which is coming in 2018, and closer to home, Bahubali fans are soon to be treated with a VR cut of the sequel and AR Rahman is all set make his directorial debut with a VR film called LeMusk. Meanwhile, lyricist and composer Eddie Avil and sound engineer Ashley Rodrigues, are also trying their hands on the format and they have picked the horror as their genre.

While VR horror has seen an explosion of content in the short film format internationally, this 12-minute short, titled Crackle, is touted at Indias first VR horror short. According to Eddie and Ashley, although virtual reality has been explored in India before, no one has ever completed a story line using Virtual reality as a platform. We caught up with the duo to know more. Excerpts:

What should the audience expect from this film?

Eddie Avil: Nobody has attempted 3D 360 -degree VR Horror Short in our country before. So, it is a first of its kind.

Ashley Rodrigues: We focused on the immersive experience of VR for this project. We thought it would be a great genre to explore. In VR the viewer is literally in the centre of the movie. Its a whole different way of storytelling and viewing a movie. We hope to give our viewers an unforgettable experience.

What are your backgrounds and what made you take up VR?

Ashley: We are sound engineers and had started an audio production house. We have been in the industry for more than 20 years. We dabbled in video production a couple of years ago made a couple of music videos. A client of ours wanted us to figure an immersive solution for their marketing needs. We thought of VR and researched the options and what we dug up really piqued our interest.

Eddie: I have been a musician all my life and discovered VR because of a clients requirement. I believe VR is one of the most radical technologies that have hit our world. It has the power to blur the lines of our reality once it converges with Haptic Technology. The possibilities are endless.

Why did you choose this particular story for this medium?

Eddie: VR is an Impactful medium so we had to think and write a story that would do justice to the medium.

Ashley: The story is very simple. It is about five friends having fun when they decide to hold a seance and then the experience begins. Traditionally we have viewed movies in a rectangular format. Imagine watching a horror film and turning back only to be confronted by something truly spine chilling. It is very much like a real-life situation.

How different is shooting a virtual reality film? And what were the main challenges you faced?

Eddie: Its unlike 2D filming and it is a severely technically challenging medium. Each scene was thought about with the camera placement and was rehearsed a few times so we understand the look and feel of it before we did the final shoot.

Ashley: You have to unlearn all you learned about film making. In regular film making the camera man guides the viewer to show what the director wants them to see. While in a 360 video the viewer decides what they want to see. So its tricky to guide the viewer to where the action is and its quite possible that you may miss an experience or two when you first watch the film. Each time you watch the film you will get another perspective. Since the camera captures 360 degree, no one else can be in the frame. Thumb rule is that if you can see the camera the camera sees you. Also, you cannot add extra lights as it would take forever to remove them off in postproduction. So, while shooting, the entire crew used to hide behind whatever is available.

How can one watch the film?

Ashley: Since it is in 3D, we would recommend watching the film with a VR headset like google cardboard or the many options available now. You could also watch it on your phone and YouTube.

Eddie: We are talking to a few OTT platforms and we will keep the audience posted on where and how to watch it.

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The virtual reality of horror - Hindustan Times

It was first imagined as science fiction, and for a long time, it was roped alongside hoverboards and time machines as a distant, futuristic dream. But now virtual reality (VR) is slowly seeping into the tech-lovers collection, and one very specific genre is on the precipice of going mainstream. Porn.

In 2016, Playstation, Facebook-owned Oculus Rift, and the lower cost Google Cardboard all released virtual reality headsets. And - surprise, surprise - the conversation has quickly turned to sex. Porn is already leading VR innovation.The question is less, will it happen, and more what the impact will be if it becomes more appealing than porn that doesn't require a headset.

For all the fascination it holds, VR is still in its Nokia 3310 stage. The porn industry, though, is full of innovation. After leading the way with internet cash transactions, it hasturned its sights on the immersive experience of VR. In fact, virtualporn is already available for consumption on some adult sites, and its becoming rapidly more popular. It has grown by 250 per cent over the last year, faster than any other category.Unlike passively watching a film, virtual porn offers additional options such as zooming in, and even Bluetooth synchronisation.

A Newcastle Universitystudy published this month, titled Theyre Just Tixel Pits, Man has investigated the potential impacts of VR porn, and found that it might come with a few health warnings beyond just motion sickness. When the researchers discussed a hypothetical situation involving a virtual porn user, participants were split on whether his experience was wonderful, or "too perfect" - and degrading to women.

Research lead Mathew Wood said that for some participants, VR meant pushing the boundaries, often with highly explicit and violent imagery. With no limitations, virtual porn has the potential to be more addictive and violent.

We know from current research into pornography that exposure to this content has the potential to become addictive and more extreme over time, Wood said.

After reading the participants stories, the researchers also warned that VR porn also raises concerns of consent. A user could create a VR version of their partner and do things [they] would refuse in the real world. It could also widen the possibilities of revenge porn by allowing users to make and share 3D models of former partners.

Because virtual porn users can be participating in the sex scene, as opposed to simply being voyeurs, the researchers believe virtual porn could be viewed as closer to infidelity than regular porn.

Wood told me: VR changes the experience of pornography - generally from third person to first person. This could be thought of as cheating, but whether this would be more so than watching pornography more widely we'll have to wait and see. Reports on the development of VR pornography are that they can be powerful experiences, and arguably could add a new element to sexual relationships, good or bad.

As Wood suggests, the endless possibilities of virtual porn could lead to more experimental ideas of sex. For example, virtual reality could allowa male user to assume a female role, and vice versa. Wood believesVR could offer more emphasis on the relational aspects of sexual experience by focusing more on sensory, narrative-driven experiences. And playing a more active role could make users feel more responsible if they useviolent or non-consensual content. Wood said, Empathy is a huge factor in developing VR experiences, and I think it could foreseeably have a role if experiences were designed in certain ways."

But being so immersed in another world also has risks for users who may be unhappy in the real one. Psychosexual and relationship therapist Sarah Calvert has argued that some people use porn as escapism from an unhappy life, and unhappy feelings could be exacerbated on returning to their unchanged reality after going into a virtual world.

And when youre in someone elses body, if that body happens to be closer to the widely accepted ideal, it could leave your ego wounded. Cavert told the BBC that the self-esteem of young people in-particular could be hit if they use VR and look down to see ripped abs and a big penis. The trip back to reality, she said, could be damaging.

Porn already comes with downsides, including addiction,unrealistic expectations and the turbulence it can cause in relationships.VR porn could heighten these risks, just as the experience itself is intensified.

Wood said that, through his research he found that, for most people, VR porn opened the doors to an apparently perfect sexual experience a scenario which in the real world no-one could live up to. But as his study suggests, perfection may not be quite as blissful as it sounds.

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Is there anything wrong with "perfect" sex? The rise of virtual reality porn - New Statesman