Category Archives: Virtual Reality

SwitchVR, a virtual reality arcade in the Shops at Rockvale, is now permanently closed.

Rick Palmer, who opened SwitchVR in November 2018, announced the decision June 1 week, saying the business closures meant to slow the spread of COVID-19 prompted the decision.

The ride was certainly bumpy but we were on a path that was smoothing out. Unfortunately, a large crater (covid 19) made it impossible for us to continue this journey, Palmer wrote in a post on SwitchVRs Facebook page.

We started SwitchVR from the ground up creating one of the coolest virtual reality arcade and gaming centers around. I've tried to remove emotion as we closed her up but it's impossible to be cold hearted when you've put so much into something just for it to end abruptly, he wrote.

Palmer, who also owns Bounce House Rentals of Lancaster County, was featured in an LNP | Lancasteronline article April 5 about commercial tenants struggling to pay rent on businesses they were forced to keep closed.

If we were cash happy, we could survive through this. But we were kind of living on the edge as it was, Palmer said in early April.

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Virtual reality arcade in Shops at Rockvale permanently closed because of COVID-19 - LancasterOnline

Author: FutureCar Staff

More vehicles today are equipped with some standard high tech options, such as voice control, automatic braking, automated highway driving or even "night vision", to help detect pedestrians in the dark.

But electronics company Samsung came up with a unique solution that may one day help drivers to better and more safety navigate. The company applied for a patent for a pair of virtual reality glasses that projects turn-by-turn navigation directly onto the lenses for the wearer.

The glasses work like the head-up-display (HUD) in some vehicles that displays information, such as the current speed, directly on the windshield in front of the driver. Instead of projecting the information onto the windshield, it can be sent to a pair of virtual reality glasses that the driver wears while they are navigating a route.

In addition to overlaying turn-by-turn driving directions in the glasses, features such as nearby fuel stations (including prices), restaurants or other points of interest can be viewed in virtual reality while wearing the glasses.

Samsung's AR glasses sync with a mapping app on a smartphone, or the vehicle's built-in GPS. The concept is similar to the VR walking directions option while using the mobile version of Google Maps.

The automotive industry accounts for the largest investments in augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) technologies and their use in vehicles is expected to only increase.

The Samsung VR eyeglasses can sync to a vehicle's forward-facing camera or navigation app. (Photo: Samsung)

The global market for automotive AR & VR solutions is expected to reach about $673 billion USD by 2025 according to Statista, with a compound annual growth rate of 175% by 2025.

The concept of using VR technology to navigate is not new. In 2017, Swiss company WayRay unveiled the first ever holographic navigation system for cars, which the company called "Navion." It's an augmented reality navigation system that allows the driver to see navigation information and images that appear to be laid out on the road ahead using holographic projections.

There is no additional eyewear or headwear needed for WayRay's system to work.

In January of 2017, WayRay announced a strategic collaboration with Harman, the car audio giant that was acquired by Samsung two months later in March. German automaker Porsche led a $80 million investment in WayRay in 2018.

Currently, VR technology that's projected onto the windshield only utilizes a small projection area. To extend the capabilities of HUDs, solutions are in the works that turn the entire windshield into a giant virtual lens. Samsung's VR technology may be able to do that with just a pair of glasses.

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Samsung Submits Patent Application for VR Eyeglasses That Can Display Turn-by-Turn Navigation for Drivers - FutureCar

Anyone who has been bingeing Netflix and ESPNs documentary series The Last Dance, about Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls, knows that the greatest of athletes arent just competing against one another; theyre competing against the high standards they set for themselves. This isnt just reserved for great athletes, however. The same rationale is true for even average exercisers, albeit for very different reasons.

When many of us take up a new form of exercise be it cycling, running, or rowing were not necessarily looking to smash the competition. We just want to know that were improving, and a good way to do that is to try and beat our own previous personal best. Thats the idea thats galvanizing members of the REal and Virtual Environments Augmentation Labs (REVEAL) in the U.K.s University of Bath.

Led by Christof Lutteroth, a senior lecturer in computer science, researchers at the university have developed a virtual reality system that allows people exercising to don a virtual reality headset in the gym and compete against, well, a ghostly version of themselves. Or several of them.

Athletes really enjoy competing against others, Lutteroth told Digital Trends. For them, the racing experience is really exciting. It can be euphoric, exhilarating, with this cocktail of emotions thats really powerful. This is not really accessible to the average person especially to people who are not motivated to exercise or maybe not very fit to begin with. Its really difficult for them to find enjoyment in racing against another person.

That is where the VR software created by Lutteroth and his team comes into play. It lets people compete, in a virtual environment, against their previous time records at completing tasks like running on a treadmill or cycling on a stationary bike. By turning this into a VR race, with all the players previous attempts taking the form of other avatar racers, the exerciser gets to see how far theyve come on their fitness journey while being pushed to continue improving. It provides the motivating feeling of competing against more than just an abstract number on a treadmill or stationary bike. But it does this without the demotivating element of competing against other real people who may be considerably better than you are.

In a four-week study carried out on the Bath University campus, participants were assessed as they carried out high-intensity sessions on a stationary bike. Cyclists using the VR exergames to race against ghostly versions of their past performances doubled their power output compared to solitary racers. They also hit far higher heart rates. While competing against just one ghost was better than racing against none, the best results were found when players were competing against an array of their past performances.

People put an enormous amount of energy into overtaking their own avatars, Lutteroth said. One way to think about this project is that it basically manifests your fitness journey in a virtual game. The race that youre taking part in is basically your fitness journey from when you start and youre really slow, getting faster and faster, to where you are in the present and even extrapolating that into the future. We can put another avatar in the game that represents what you may be able to achieve. Its aspirational, while also being realistic and within your capabilities.

Virtual reality is a technology that enthusiasts have been excited about for decades. But despite some amazing advances during that time, its still failed to catch on as a mass-market technology outside of a few core use cases. The smart fitness device market is a fast-growing marketplace, expected to worth an estimated $29.4 billion by 2025. If VR-aided exercise was to find popularity among large numbers of people as a gym essential, it could provide an enormous opportunity for the makers of VR headsets and software.

As Lutteroth said, however, the technology does have its limitations. The main limitation when exercising with VR is safety, because you cant see where youre going, he said. For example, you cant just run [on the street] with a VR headset on your head.

Lutteroth sees some potential with technology like AR glasses, which overlay computer-generated imagery over the real world. But he said that, right now, the technology is not yet ready to make this a feasible approach for expanding the number of places this kind of system could be used. Part of this is that no one has yet cracked the perfect format for AR wearables. However, there is an additional safety aspect.

There are other things that happen out on the street, from cars to pedestrians, he said. Lets say youre really immersed in your virtual game and following your other avatars, and one races across the road in front of an oncoming car or a pedestrian. It could get really dangerous. That would probably require a bit more work on the safety side before it could [be feasible.]

For now, Lutteroth is happy sticking with his virtual reality setup. He said that he is planning to release the system so that people will be able to try it for themselves. In the age of social distancing, and many people still working from home without the daily steps required to commute to the office, this might be the perfect way to get people exercising.

Is there anything more 2020 than the idea of eschewing flesh-and-blood exercise partners to cycle solo against the ghost of your less fit past?

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Soon youll be able to exercise by racing a virtual ghost of your past self - Digital Trends

The global COVID-19 Impact on Global Augmented and Virtual Reality (AR VR) Market report is based on comprehensive analysis conducted by experienced and professional experts. The report mentions, factors that are influencing growth such as drivers, restrains of the market. The report offers in-depth analysis of trends and opportunities in the COVID-19 Impact on Global Augmented and Virtual Reality (AR VR) Market. The report offers figurative estimations and predicts future for upcoming years on the basis of the recent developments and historic data. For the gathering information and estimating revenue for all segments, researchers have used top-down and bottom-up approach. On the basis of data collected from primary and secondary research and trusted data sources the report offers future predictions of revenue and market share.

The Leading Market Players Covered in this Report are : Microsoft Corporation,Google,Eon Reality,Aero Glass,Upskill,Oculus VR,Jasoren,IMB .

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COVID-19 Impact on Global Augmented and Virtual Reality (AR VR) Market: Qualitative Insights On Application 2026 - Jewish Life News

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Atheer, Inc.,Apple Inc.,Facebook Inc.,Blipper,Gravity Jack,Google Inc.,Holition,Layer (Blipper Group),Improbable,Meta Inc.,Marxent Lab LLC,Microsoft Corporation,Qualcomm Technologies, Inc.,Nintendo Co.,Ltd,Sony Corporation,Sphero,Others

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Virtual Reality in Education Sector Market 2019-2025 Growth and Status Explored in a New Research Report Adroit Market Research - 3rd Watch News

Per a new update, one hospital in Baltimore is now reportedly using a virtual reality video game in order to help patients regain their mobility.

How A Video Game Is Helping Patients Regain Mobility In Baltimore Hospital

As the video gaming industry continues to progress, it becomes clearer that games are so much more than a pastime, what with modern technology making the play factor and stories that they tell more immersive than ever.

And with immersion the main focus of games, its no surprise that virtual reality is slowly being adapted by the industry, making players feel like theyre actually in the game. Now, this same virtual reality in video games is reportedly being used by the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore to help in patient therapy and rehabilitation.

According to Dr. Preeti Raghavan, of the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, the MindMotion GO gaming platform that the telehealth rehab is using is a brand-new rehabilitation technology platform on the U.S. market that has been immensely helpful in patients who are trying to regain their mobility after a serious sickness that impeded it, such as a stroke or a coronavirus.

This is so exciting. Even before COVID, there were so many situations when patients could not make it to their therapy appointments even though they really wanted to, and we had no solutions for these patients. But now, we can provide them with this platform and monitor their progress as if they were on location, Raghavan, who is also an associate professor of physical medicine and rehabilitation and neurology, said.

Per Raghavan, the hospitals rehabilitation game activities are usually displayed on either a monitor or a TV, all while a specialized camera tracks the movements of the patient. A doctor or therapist then has the choice to either be part of the process or review sessions after theyve been recorded.

The system can access what kind of movement problems the individual has, and it provides 26 different activity or gaming options that can become progressively more difficult as the patient improves, Raghavan explained.

MindMotion GO was first used in Europe.

Virtual reality might be the future of depression therapy. Maurizio Pesce CC BY 2.0

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How Virtual Reality Video Games Are Helping Patients Regain Mobility - Medical Daily

Embracing the new cultureof social distancing, Prada will enable its users to take a look into stores from home through popular online streaming platforms!

The pandemic has set off new trends. Due to the growing number of cases and deaths per day, almost every country was under a lockdown for a number of months. This led to sellers coming up with innovativeconcepts to allow consumers to get a peek into their stores and showrooms. One of the major ideas, was virtual reality tours since social distancing norms, constant sanitisation, etc. need not be followed through a television screen and it also allows consumers to get a peek into the latest items from the comfort of their homes!

The idea kicked off as a brand new retail initiative to help enhance the shopping experience of customers. Luxury brand Prada, is the first to adapt to this due to the current situation and plans to engage the brand's fans at home through virtual reality!The range of content will be available on YouTube VR and VEER and will help consumers into taking a peek at stores across several locations including Tokyo, New York, Los Angeles, Milan and Venice. This virtual reality system will allow users and potential customers to take a look at the brand's Spring 2020 collection.

The brand is the first to step into virtuality and embrace innovation and go digital. In May, WWD reports that the Prada Group signed a partnership with Sprinklr, a platform that wishes to reinforce digital culture within the company.

What are your thoughts on Prada going digital? What brands would you like to see following suit? Comment below and let us know.

ALSO READ:Marc Jacobs is unfazed by his stores being looted during BLM protests, says 'A life cannot be replaced'

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Prada becomes the FIRST luxury brand to bring virtual reality home to show its 2020 spring collection - PINKVILLA

Today, educational institutes are increasingly using technology to make learning more interactive, fun, and exciting. In the era of digital devices, technology gives us an opportunity to enable better learning for students, and enabling Virtual Reality (VR) in education seems to be the next step in this direction.

Even when it comes to science subjects, teaching should not be limited to textbooks and visits to the labs. It is important to enable students to not only read books, but also interact with it.

To eliminate mugging up and help children understand the fundamental concepts better, four friends - Vijay Thakkar, Mayur Patel, Mehul Patel, and Dhaval Sonpal started fotonVR, an edtech startup, in December 2017.

Based out of the incubation centre of Ganpat University in Mehsana district of Gujarat, fotonVR facilitates practical experiments in the virtual world.

The startup recently won an award at the National Conference in e-Governance of India, and has been awarded the Best Startup of Gujarat Award by the CM of the state in 2018.

The founding team at fotonVR

Vijay is an Instrumentation Engineer, and previously co-founded Kachhua, an edtech startup. His brother, Dhaval, is a commerce graduate. With strong skills in finance and cost management, he joined fotonVR as the Co-founder and VP of Finance.

Vijays friend Mayur and his brother Mehul were both Aircraft maintenance engineers. Mayur started his career with Kachhua, and currently serves as the Co-founder and VP of Operations at fotonVR. Mehul is the VP of Technology. He manages all technical development of fotonVR.

Besides the co-founders, fotonVR has a team of 50-plus members. The startup has a combination of subject matter experts, technical experts, animators, 3D object designers, programmers, and market research experts with a business development team.

The fotonVR team

The startup provides VR classrooms and labs, and also makes individual kits for students.

For schools, fotonVR provides a turn-key solution that includes the hardware, setting up the classroom, software, content, and training to the teachers. The cost of setting up a classroom, along with the content, kits, and training to teachers range between Rs 6 lakh and Rs 15 lakh per classroom. Once the setup is done, fotonVR charges between Rs 1 lakh to Rs 2 lakh as an annual subscription charge.

Similarly, for a single student, parents can place an order for the VR device along with the content on its website. For individual kits, the pricing starts from Rs 50,000 Rs 30,000 for the device, and Rs 20,000 for the content.

The startup said it launched the individual kit last month, and already has a couple of users on-board.

Students inside a fotonVR classroom

Currently, fotonVR has on-boarded six schools four in Gujarat and two in Karnataka, with more than 2,000 students. According to Vijay, government and self-financed schools are taking interest in its product.

fotonVR generated around Rs 1 crore in revenue last year, and is targeting Rs 36 crore, by reaching out to more schools and investing more in marketing. The startup has received seed funding of Rs 1 crore from Ganpat Biznovation, and plans to raise pre-Series A round soon.

We once visited a deaf-and-dumb school to give them an opportunity to learn through virtual reality. The students tried touching the objects and enjoying the concepts. A teacher later told us that due to safety concerns, these students cannot be taken for industrial visits.It was then that we realised that we have not just created a product, but we have created values, Vijay says.

A student learning to use fotonVR

Players like classVR, MEL Chemistry, and Google Expeditions provide content aligned with school syllabus, covering science activities for students between the ages of eight and 15. However, according to the startup, what differentiates it from its competitors is its 360-degree images and video content.

As fotonVRs clients are physical schools, they are facing challenges since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic, with schools being shut and not wanting to investing right now. However, the demand for individual kits have gone up, and the startups expects to make sales in that stream. Additionally, fotonVR plans to expand its services to 40 countries. It has already tied up with educational companies in Thailand.

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[Startup Bharat] This edtech startup is using virtual reality-based content to have real-life impact on studen - YourStory

Inventors and scientists have been developing virtual reality (VR) concepts for around a century.

One of the earliest machines was the Sensorama, created by Morton Heilig.

He began working on the machine in the 1950s, but it wasnt made public until 1962.

The Sensoramawas nothing like the virtual reality we know today though.

It was a mechanic contraption the stimulated most of the main human senses: sight, sound, smell, and touch.

It has been programmed to simulate a ride around New York City on a motorcycle, using a fan to simulate the change in airflow, chemicals to recreate the smells of pizza and fumes from engines, and a moving chair to simulate the direction changes of the bike.

Whileit certainly didnt feature the graphics of modern virtual reality headset, it did include stereoscopic 3D images, similar to VR today.

Through the rest of the 20th century, other teams of researchers and private companies continued to develop new virtual reality concepts.

None were practical for real-world use though. In fact, one was so big it had to be suspended from a ceiling and the user strapped into it.

The Virtual Boy wasnt a success for Nintendo Credit: Nintendo

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The Virtual Boy was one of the first consumer products that promised virtual reality gaming.

Like the other attempts though, it didnt catch on, and Nintendo quickly discontinued the product. It lasted five months in Japan and six in North America before being removed from the shelves.

The Virtual Boy failed because it was ahead of its time. It used a poor implementation of immature technology, was impractical, and, due to company politics, was released before it had been fully developed.

Instead of the full-colour 3D graphics that were becoming the norm at the time, the Virtual boy used a red monochrome system of graphics with characters drawn only in wireframe.

The headset didnt change what was shown on screen as the user moved their head, and it had to be placed on a table, with a stand holding it to the users head height.

It would be 15 years before other companies tried again with virtual reality technology.

The Oculus Rift could be the future of VR Gaming Credit: Oculus

Read more: These Are The Top Three Reasons To Switch To Digital

Virtual reality became viable in the 2010s as Oculus launched a crowdfunding campaign for its first headset.

It took several years before the product actually made it to market, but it was quickly followed by devices from Sony, HTC, and Samsung.

These virtual reality headsets finally had enough computing power to deliver photo-realistic graphics and frame rates that were fast enough to offer a quality experience.

Before this, poor graphics would have given it a cheap feel and slow frame rates would have made the user feel nauseous.

There were still several issues though. For example, headsets typically required a computer with a powerful graphics card to run most virtual reality games.

Some could connect to a smartphone instead, but with limited functionality.

They also typically had several cables attached, creating a rather clunky experience that didnt appeal to the majority of consumers.

This has been improving as later versions have been released, with wireless and standalone VR headsets now available.

Is the future of gaming really going to be VR? Credit: Pexels

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There are plenty of virtual reality games now available to buy, including VR-only titles like RC Flight Simulator for Steam and Job Simulator for PlayStation VR.

While the flight simulator genre is well established, many othersrepresent novel concepts with little scope to grow and develop.

There are also some games that have VR Support, meaning they can be played without a headset, but haveextra functionality if you take VR for a ride.

For example, several racing games including iRacing and Gran Turismo Sport and Wipeout Omega Collection let you play the gamefrom a drivers perspective.

This makes it possible to look out the side windows by turning your head in theright direction.

We are even seeing some larger online casinos and poker brands begin to develop virtual reality versions oftheir mostpopular games.

However, there hasnt been widespread adoption of the technology in iGaming.

Instead, many brands continue to focus on live casino action where a real-life dealer takes control of the game, and players watch on via a live-streamed video.

Many casinos, like Virgin Games, continue to rely on welcome bonuses to compete for new customers instead ofharnessing the power of virtual reality.

Is VR the future? Credit: Oculus

Read more: These Are The Classic PC Games You Should Play Right Now

At present, its not yet clear whether virtual reality will be adopted more widely by the gaming community in the coming years.

The current PlayStation VR hardware thats compatible with the PlayStation 4 still feels like a novelty add-on, much like the EyeToy for the PlayStation 2.

Its the next-generation console, PS5 expected to launch within the next year,thats believed to feature improved virtual reality support, integrating into more and better games.

Its difficult to see how virtual reality can win over the masses, which will be crucial to its long term survival.

At present, it remains a niche product. As of December 2019, the three leading manufacturers of VR headsets: Sony, Oculus, and HTC had sold a combined total of 7.8 million units.

This may appear impressive at first glance until you compare it with the 110 million PlayStation 4 consoles and 2.2 billion iPhones sold.

It looks even worse when you compare it to the sales figures of the Virtual Boy.

Nintendo sold a total of 770,000 units in the space of around six months, while Oculus only managed just twice that in five years.

When you look at the numbers, it seems difficult to see how much further virtual reality can go.

Especially when you consider that Google Glass and 3D televisions were commercial failures because consumers dont particularly enjoy wearing clunky head-wear to interact with technology.

If the hardware and associated ecosystems remain profitable within the small market of enthusiasts, then we may see virtual reality gaming stick around.

However, if it cant reach a critical mass of consumers or turn a big enough profit from enthusiasts, then virtual reality gaming may not make a big splash in the next decade.

What do you think of this article?

Do you think the future of gaming is VR?

Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

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Is VR Going To Play A Big Role In The Future Of Gaming? - Small Screen

Manus VRs Polygon, a recently announced suitless and real-time full-body tracking solutions along with the Prime II haptic gloves provide a complete, efficient and robust Virtual Reality system that is applicable in a diverse array of industries including engineering, manufacturing and the automotive industries.

Back in March this year, Manus VR had unveiled its Polygon Virtual Reality solution that was to be out into multi-user collaboration uses. Back then, Manus had announced that the Polygon full-body tracking solution would be released in June this year. It has stuck to the timetable.

The orders and licenses for the Polygon tracking solution can now be placed online. The company has not listed the prices for the full Polygon system but interested buyers can request quotes on the Manus site.

The Manus Polygon is a full-body tracking solution that leverages the Vive Tracker pucks along with hand-tracking via a separate glove to provide end users with a full-body tracking solution for enterprise VR use-cases.

The system deploys 5 Vive Trackers with one tracker on each foot, one on the waist and on the back of each of the hands. The system also includes the Manus full-body inverse kinematics solver as well as the Prime II Series gloves.

Manus touts its system as one that is easy to set up and which removes the need for any full-body suit to realize full-body tracking which would normally require a more complex and costly VR bodysuit design. The Manus Polygon solution will also provide support for multiple users for multiplayer scenarios. It can also produce well-synchronized as well as accurately proportioned human avatars from data. This involves a 45-second calibration process with the finger tracking from the gloves capable of measuring 2 joints per finger with 11DoF tracking.

The Manus Polygon is an enterprise-focused haptic project so there likely wont be any integration with some of the popular of Virtual Reality games.

When you buy the Manus Polygon pack, you will also get plugins that you can use to implement the system in Unreal or Unity. The one-year licenses for the Manus Polygon system can be got online via a request for a quote on the Manus website.

You can read our view review of the Manus haptic gloves here.

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Manus VR Launches Its Polygon Full-Body VR Tracking and Prime II Gloves - Virtual Reality Times