Monthly Archives: August 2017

Image: Sergey Dolzhenko/Epa/REX/Shutterstock

If you've always wanted to visit the abandoned location of the Chernobyl disaster, you'll be able to do that from the safety of your home soon with PlayStation VR.

The Chernobyl VR Project is coming to PS VR "in the near future," according to a PlayStation Blog post, sending people into the abandoned area of land around the site of the Chernobyl disaster.

In 1986, there was a disaster at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant near Pripyat, Ukraine, resulting in more than 30 deaths and sending radiation into the air. The area was evacuated and has been largely abandoned by humans ever since.

The Chernobyl VR Project is an "interactive journey" to the abandoned area of Ukraine, allowing players to experience the surreal scene that has gone largely untouched since the '80s.

Here's a glimpse of the game, which is already available on Samsung Gear VR, HTC Vive and Oculus Rift.

The game takes a tour through the nuclear power plant, the iconic amusement park, a school, a hospital, and more.

"The Chernobyl exclusion zone, filled with a vast number of abandoned buildings, offers stories at every turn," developer Dawid Biegun said in the blog post. "You can spot everyday objects left behind by the populace during the evacuation, as they were told theyd return in a few days. 30 years later we came across rooms that seemed frozen in time, untouched since they were originally vacated."

While capturing footage for the project, the developers carried a Geiger counter to make sure they didn't step into radiated areas. They saw some of the structures falling apart while they were there, which further instilled their desire to document the area.

Read more:

Visit Chernobyl in virtual reality on PlayStation VR - Mashable

When Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) bought Oculus in 2014, Samsung released Gear VR in 2015, and HTC released the Vive in 2016, it seemed like the world of virtual reality was upon us. Soon, we would all have VR headsets and we could live in a world of our own with the convenience of being at home. But Oculus Rift, Gear VR, and HTC Vive haven't exactly become household devices, and there are signs companies are starting to realize the disappointment.

Facebook recently lowered the price of its Rift headset from an original $800 to $399 for a short-term sale, ultimately settling on $499 recently. You don't discount a product that's selling like hotcakes, indicating that Oculus's flagship product isn't living up to expectations. According to SuperData, HTC Vive isn't selling much better. Is VR doomed to disappoint, like 3D TV did, or is the industry just setting up for growth?

Image source: Getty Images.

Rather than becoming a big business, VR has thus far been a small hobby for VR companies. According to Venture Beat and data from SuperData, the immersive VR systems of HTC Vive and Oculus Rift are selling fewer than 100,000 units per quarter. And while Gear VR and Alphabet(NASDAQ:GOOG)(NASDAQ:GOOGL)subsidiary Google's Daydream are selling more units, they're less expensive and less advanced and may be given away for free.

Data source: SuperData via VentureBeat.

To attract developers and content creator, hardware companies need to increase adoption rapidly. And they're not doing that today.

The problem with early VR systems is that they're either not powerful enough or so powerful they're difficult to use. Samsung VR uses common Samsung headsets, as does Google Cardboard, which limits their processing power. Sony (NYSE:SNE) Playstation VR requires a console and Oculus Rift and HTV Vive require high-powered computers, which aren't exactly items the average person has in their home today. The hardware dynamic doesn't make VR easy to adopt, even for early adopters.

Compounding the problem facing VR is that content is very limited. There aren't a plethora of immersive games people can spend days playing, like you could do on a console, or video content that would make movies a viable reason to go VR. And this is where we get into the chicken-and-egg challenge VR companies will face going forward.

If there was either amazing hardware or amazing content in VR, it may drag the other along, creating a virtuous cycle of adoption. But hardware isn't amazing yet and content that could attract users hasn't emerged yet.

The two biggest video game content creators haven't even gotten into the game. Activision Blizzardand Electronic Artshave looked into VR, but aren't developing much content yet. EA CEO Andrew Wilson recently said:

People seem to have come to terms of the fact that VR while an unbelievably wonderful innovation for how you consume interactive entertainment and all forms of entertainment for that matter is going to take a couple of years at least to going to get to a point where it is truly a mass-market consumer opportunity.

In other words, content creators think VR will be big someday but not today. And they're not going to take a chance investing on the bleeding edge.

VR is definitely an interesting technology, but hardware costs need to come down and content and quality need to improve to grow the industry. I think the early phase of growth will be in location-based VR, much like arcades were the home of the video game industry in the 1970s. Once computing power catches up, maybe it will make sense for VR to be something everyone has in their home.

The bottom line is that VR just doesn't move the needle for most big companies yet -- and it may not for years to come.

Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fools board of directors. Travis Hoium has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends ATVI, Alphabet (A shares), Alphabet (C shares), and Facebook. The Motley Fool recommends EA. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Originally posted here:

Is Virtual Reality the Future or Another Disappointing Technology? - Motley Fool

The delivery company announced Tuesday that it will add virtual reality tests to its driver training program starting next month. UPS expects virtual reality will make its drivers safer and smarter.

"It's a game-changer for training." Laura Collings, UPS training and development manager, told CNN Tech. "Nothing can really replace real-world training, but virtual reality complements it in a way that engages our employees."

During the virtual reality tests, new trainees will experience trips around city environments. They'll have to identify hazards along the way by shouting out "hazard left" or "hazard right." The virtual reality tests last about three to six minutes.

UPS (UPS) wants its drivers constantly scanning roadways to be aware of potential trouble ahead. Virtual reality allows UPS to include a heavy dose of hazards in training, that a driver might not otherwise see when practicing in the in real world.

For example, in one instance a ball rolls out onto the street ahead of the virtual driver. UPS wants its drivers to immediately watch for a child that may dart into the street to recover it. The drivers are also taught to identify other problems, such as a billboard, tree or building that blocks their view.

Related: UPS drivers may tag team deliveries with drones

With virtual reality, drivers have a chance to learn lessons and make mistakes without doing any damage.

Drivers of UPS package delivery trucks spend a month training. The first week is spent at a driver training center, followed by three weeks in the field shadowing an experienced driver.

UPS drivers used to train by having to identify hazards in virtual environments that were displayed on computer screens. But UPS executives wanted the more immersive experience that virtual reality provided.

The company told CNN it sees additional chances down the road to use virtual reality, such as for training mechanics on how to service an engine.

CNNMoney (Washington) First published August 15, 2017: 11:24 AM ET

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UPS is training drivers with virtual reality - Aug. 15, 2017 - CNN Money - CNNMoney

Virtual Reality (VR) is one of those technologies that's been promised for years, but has -- until recently -- failed to live up to the hype. There's plenty of evidence pointing to a bright future for VR, but investors need to know a few things first -- like how big the market will be, what the risks are, who the key players are, and why they should to play this strategy out over the long term. So, let's take a look at six things you should know before investing in VR.

Grand View Research estimates that that the global VR market will be worth $48.5 billion by 2025.That's the top-end of some estimates and others range from$7.5 billion and $22.5 billion.The VR market was worth just $1.8 billion last year, which means virtual reality is poised for huge growth no matter which estimate is more accurate.

Image source: Getty Images.

VR investors need to keep in mind that this technology will likely need more time to get off the ground, mainly because of virtual reality's expensive hardware costs. Consider that when Facebook's (NASDAQ:FB) Oculus launched its high-end Rift headset. It priced the device at $599 and its Touch controllers at $199. That's a hefty price tag for most consumers and Oculus ended up dropping the price of its VR package twice to its current $399 price tag for both the headset and controllers.

But most consumers still don't have an extra $400 to just spend on VR equipment, and these price points are going to keep mainstream consumers away from high-end VR tech for a while.

Additionally, high-end VR equipment requires lots of processing power to deliver high-quality graphics with low latency (so that the virtual world moves smoothly as a user looks around). NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) noted last year that less than 1% of PCs were capable of running high-end VR, and while that percentage has likely gone up this year, investors need to remember that most consumers won't be using high-end virtual reality for many years.

One of the great things about VR investing is that there are several avenues investors can take in order to benefit. If you're interested in chipmakers, then you can invest in NVIDIA, which makes graphics processing units (GPUs) that are the go-to high-end chips that PC makers choose for their graphics processing needs. NVIDIA makes about 53% of its total revenue from the gaming segment (chips for gaming processing), which makes the company a keyer in the VR space.

If you're looking for a solid hardware and software VR play, then there's Alphabet's (NASDAQ:GOOG) (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Google. The company has focused its attention on the mobile VR market, and it's already getting far out ahead of its competition. Google's Cardboard and Daydream View headsets are by the far the best selling mobile VR headsets on the market, accounting for 69% of mobile VR headsets sold last year.

Additionally, the company's Daydream platform -- where users can download more than 100 VR apps -- is one of the first, and only, of its kind. Google is quickly building its mobile VR dominance in the same way it did with Android and is already figuring out how to earn money from VR through advertising.

I've already mentioned Facebook, NVIDIA, and Google, but plenty of other technology companies are looking to virtual reality for more growth. Sony (NYSE:SNE) has an advantage in the console market after the company released its PlayStation VR headset that works on current versions of its PlayStation 4. The company has already sold 60.4 millionPS4s to date and has already sold more than 1 million VR headsets since its launch last October.

The sheer number of PS4 consoles on the market make Sony an attractive VR hardware play, and considering that the company's Game and Network Services segment (which includes its console sales) accounts for the majority of its total revenue,then Sony could certainly benefit if headset sales continue to expand.

Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) has also made several moves indicating that the company wants to be a serious virtual reality player. Most recently, the company has started hiring engineers that can build high-end graphics processors. The company may still be a few years away from fully realizing those ambitions, but in the meantime Intel is working on a VR headset, called Project Alloy, that can has all the internal processing power built into it. This means that the headset doesn't need to be tethered to a PC in order to deliver a high-end VR experience.

One thing VR investors should remember is that many companies that are betting on VR are also making plays in the augmented reality (AR) space as well. Augmented reality is the digital overlay of information onto the real world and its so entwined with VR that investors may end up benefiting from both.

For example, I mentioned earlier that Google is doing quite a lot in VR, it also just relaunched its Google Glass device, which is being tested out by healthcare professionals, factory workers for General Electric, and package distribution for DHL. Because VR and AR share similar tech (like headsets, displays, 3D digital information, and graphics), there'slots of overlap between the two that could end up being a hidden benefit for VR investors. IDC expects the combined total spending for AR/VR products and services to skyrocket from $11.4 billion this year to $215 billion by 2021.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has said that VR could take at least five to 10 years to truly take off.It's worth remembering that this timeframe is coming from one of the most forward-thinking tech billionaires of our time. So if Zuckerberg is playing the long game with his company's VR investments, then you can expect that you'll probably have to do the same.

And as with any investment, picking a good VR stock starts with finding a solid business that you can stick with over the long-haul. All of the companies listed above have lots of potential in VR, but none of them are betting on it entirely or even earning significant profits from it right now. Rather, each company is creating a long-term strategy right now so that they can benefit from VR later -- and investors should take a similar approach.

Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Chris Neiger has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Alphabet (A and C shares), Facebook, and Nvidia. The Motley Fool owns shares of General Electric. The Motley Fool recommends Intel. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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6-Point Checklist for Investing in Virtual Reality - Motley Fool

What is dead in VR may never die, perhaps?

Social VR startup AltspaceVR may not be shutting down after all.

The company, which raised more than $15 million in funding from GV, Comcast Ventures and others, announced last month that it was unexpectedly closing its virtual doors after a funding deal fell through at the last second. But oddly, less than a month later, the startup has shared that its not going anywhere thanks to new interest from third parties.

We are now in discussions with third parties to develop a sustainable solution to continue development and growth for the future. We look forward to communicating more as details solidify over the coming weeks and months, a company spokesperson told TechCrunch in an email. The company said it will be revealing more details in the coming weeks and months, AltspaceVR CEO Eric Romo did not offer further details when reached for comment.

For now, the service is available to users thanks to askeleton crew at the startup keeping things going.

Last month Oculus co-founder Palmer Luckey sent a message to his Twitter followers polling them on whether or not he should save the startup.Today, soon after a blog post detailing AltspaceVRs continued operation went live on the companys site, Luckey tweetedout a link to the story.

We have reached out to Palmer Luckey on Twitter for comment.

The startup had initially announced it would be shutting down the social network earlier this month and hosted a large community event to mark the sunsetting, but that day came and went with its CEO latertweeting Im thinking we keep the lights on a little longer. Just in case Sound ok to you?

Its honestly unclear what to make of the sudden shutdown and un-shutdown announcements and whether they were just efforts to grab attention and put together a last minute deal, but it is apparent that AltspaceVR still has their work cut out for them as they look to carve out a niche in a crowded social VR space that still has Facebook to compete with.

The startup has also laid off several of its employees and has shut down the majority of its servers, a source close to the company tells TechCrunch. The company revealed last month that its service had just 35,000 monthly active users, despite its presence on most major VR headsets as well as a desktop web interface.

Read more:

Social virtual reality startup AltspaceVR may not be dead after all ... - TechCrunch

Benefits of virtual reality

In addition to making rehabilitation more enjoyable for the patients, virtual reality also has the potential to improve rehabilitation outcomes compared to traditional exercise-based therapies. By using an avatar in a virtual reality environment, healthcare professionals can directly stimulate not only the body of the patient, but their brain.

We know that if you see another person doing movement, you activate the brain regions that normally activate when you do the same movement, explained Serino. By having an avatar in our MindMotion Pro machine which represents the movement of the patients while the patient is moving, we are stimulating both the motor cortex to produce the movement, and an action observation loop to activate the brain regions that have been damaged by the stroke.

Patients that have no mobility on one side of the body can enter a virtual reality environment and participate in games that require them to move only their working arm. At the same time, their avatar can move the opposite arm, activating the areas that correspond to the damaged part of their cortex.

There is also potential to pair this type of virtual reality technology with robotics technologies that could physically move a paralyzed limb during this exercise.

Utilizing virtual reality for stroke rehabilitation also has benefits for the clinicians that work with these patients. Intensive, repetitive movements continued over a long duration have proven to be the best way for a patient to recover from a stroke. However, this type of treatment requires significant supervision and effort from medical personal.

A virtual reality machine can guide the patient in these repetitive exercises, allowing them to train more often and with increased intensity, while requiring a lower level of supervision and assistance. In addition, the machine monitors each patients progress, allowing healthcare providers to track and update their treatment regimen more specifically.

Whats Next

MindMaze is working to expand their MindMotion offerings for stroke rehabilitation virtual reality technology.

The idea of MindMotion is to take care of patients from the beginning of their disease to the end, said Serino. We want to help patients all along the journey of their rehabilitationfrom the acute care units, to the rehabilitation units, to the outpatient screenings, and when they go home. This means that you cannot have a single device to do all of these things, because depending on the status of the patient, and the phase of the disease, you will need different approaches and different technologies with different ideas behind them.

In addition to MindMotion Pro, MindMaze has already developed MindMotion Go, which was created for patients in the later phases of stroke recovery. This is meant to be used in clinics and incorporates more gamified types of exercise.

There is also potential to branch out into other neurological diseases, although Serino said MindMaze wants to focus their resources on providing care to stroke patients first. However, he sees future applications for this technology for patients with multiple sclerosis, Parkinsons disease, or those with dementia and mild cognitive impairment. He also sees potential for these devices to be used in children suffering from attention challenges or other cognitive challenges.

As virtual reality continues to take off within healthcare, and specifically within the neurological space, it is important that new technologies are designed with thought and care to the specific disease they are treating, said Serino.

Virtual reality has such good potential for the rehabilitation field that for sure it will continue to develop, but I think the challenge is how we do that, he said. We are now in the moment where we have to define how we are going to use this technology in healthcare. We have to do it in a way that really incorporates the rehabilitation techniques that we already know. We have to use it with a sufficient level of complexity so that we can implement the knowledge we have from the field of neuroscience. That will be the way that we really benefit from this technology.

Continue reading here:

Virtual Reality Therapy Designed to Help Stroke Patients Recover - R & D Magazine

You'restaring out at thousands of shrieking fans at Chicago's Soldier Field late Thursday night. Look up and a shower of colourful confetti starts falling around you.Lookleft and there's Coldplay's Chris Martin, sweaty and singing.

Andit's all happening in your living room that is, if you have a certain virtual reality headset.

Thursday night's Coldplay concert being shown live in virtual reality via Samsung'sGear VR is yet another high-profile example of virtual realitygoing long. A Coldplay concert, for example,typically clocks in at aroundtwo hours.

Sure, there's a chance you'll get sweaty and fog up the headset lenses. Butcontent creators have gotten a lotmore skilled with VR technology and storytelling, allowing forlonger experiences.

Montreal VR studio Flix& Paul put outMiyubiat the end of July, described as the "world's first long-form scripted VR comedy," clocking in at almost 40 minutes. It tells the story from the point of view of a Japanese toy robot in the '80s.

"The biggest lesson for ourselves is that 'Oh my God, you can do that,"said Paul Raphael, Flix& Paul'sco-founder and creative director."We can probably even push it further into what we would call cinematic feature-length territory."

Paul Raphael, Flix & Paul's co-founder and creative director, works on the set of Miyubi. Raphael says it was supposed to be between 20 and 25 minutes long but ended up being nearly 40. (Felix & Paul Studios/Funny or Die)

The movie, now available as afree download for Gear VR and Oculus Rift headsets, had its premiere at the SundanceFilm Festival and has showcased at other festivals, including South by Southwest. Raphael said there was almost a 100 per cent completion rate meaningbasically everyone watched it until the end.

"This can be done."

But VR at any length hasstruggled to go mainstream weighed down by technology, cost,motion sickness fearsand headsetaccessibility withsome analysts even speculatingits demise.

Anshel Sag, a San Diego-basedVR analyst for Moor Insights and Strategy in Austin, brushesoff all that"doom and gloom" though he admits thenegativityis affecting the industry. He encourages naysayers to try VR again (or in some cases, for the first time), since manyimprovements havebeen made over the past year particularly in long-form content.

"Because the long-form content is getting better, I think there's more appetite for it," he said. "I think longer-form VR is going to become a standard form of content that is going to exist."

Sag said many people's experiences with VR have been short and only now is the length of VR narratives "getting longer and longer."

"I think part of it has to do with people's attention spans are getting longer in VR."

VR analyst Anshel Sag tests out firefighting via virtual reality suit, hose and all. (Submitted by Anshel Sag)

VR video games have been paving the way too, with some games(like Batman: Arkham VR) that you could play for hours.

Sag commends projects likeMiyubi,but said there is still a way to go beforelong-form VR experiences can be moneymakers.

"I know the studios are really working towards that," he said. "I just don't think Hollywood is quite ready for it yet."

That's not to say studios should all rush to start making long-form VR.

Stefan Grambart, a Toronto VR director and writer, said creators have to make sure they have a story worthy of the extendedruntime a difficult taskgiven the viewer can look at all 360 degrees at all times and itshould all be interesting.

"The defining element that makes something a story to be told in VR is the sense of presence."

Content creatorslike Grambartand Raphael knowonly a "minute" number of people are currently watching what they make. But Raphael said he is making long-form content for future consumption, with the hope itwill catch on.

"We can't control how quickly people are going to buy these headsets. What we can control is how good the content is, which may attract them to go and buy these headsets," he said.

"I can't know with any certainty when this medium will become widespread. But my feeling is whether it's in two, five, or 10 years, I can't imagine we're still going to be looking at flat content instead of immersive content."

See more here:

Would you strap on a VR headset for hours? Creators are betting on it - CBC.ca