Category Archives: Virtual Reality

Sudbury's Pure Realism harnesses gaming technology to create immersive experiences for industry problem solving

Pure Realism, a Sudbury-based designer of virtual reality environments, said demand for its immersive technology has been so high, that its looking to double the size of its team in the next three months.

Kris Holland, chief executive officer of Pure Realism, said acceptance of virtual reality [VR] technology signals the beginning of a paradigm shift in the business world. Now that businesses are starting to see what we can do with VR, they say, Oh, well, we want this for everything, Holland said.

The team at Pure Realism currently eight builds a life-like, virtual reality environment for the user. Theyvisita site, such as an underground mine, where it scans and renders a virtual replica of the space, right down to the finest detail.

From there, any user can interact with the site, simply using a VR headset, Holland said. Its such an easy way of interacting with virtual reality, even the most tech-averse person can get some use from it.

I had my 75-year-old mother walk around one of the environments, he said. I've been trying to get her to use a computer for decades, and she had no problem at all.

The key thing is that the interaction part of this needs to be very intuitive, he said. It just has to work with very little instruction, and you can go off and use it.

The technology rides on a popular gaming platform Unreal Engine designed by Epic Games. But despite its origins in the gaming world, dont expect to see clunky, square forms moving across the screen, Holland said.

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Pure Realisms virtual representations can be so life-like that first-time clients have even been known to utter a string of profanities at first glance, Holland said.

At first, they're struggling to deal with what they're seeing, because everybody has a perception of what the world of gaming and computers can do, he said.They always expect it to be fake, and feel fake.

A recent project brought the Pure Realism team together with engineers from mining company Vale to scan their main nickel furnaces, where they scanned six floors in just over 12 hours.

We were able to take [the client] through his furnace, Holland said. Five seconds later, he was in another shop. And then five seconds later, he was in another city. Five seconds after that, he was back in another part of his shop looking at an issue, then at the press of a button, we were able to take the whole building away, and leave just the piece that he was interested in.

The technology, Holland said, allows users to have meaningful conversations and problem-solve despite the real-world, physical limitations of the space. Thats especially useful for environments, like Vales hot furnace rooms, which can be dealt with from the comfort of a boardroom. It can also save the client plenty of money, Holland said.

Imagine not having to pay an expert to fly in from a different country to consult on an issue.

What we're doing is we're making virtual reality as real as the real world, Holland said. So sort of like what people actually want the metaverse to be, that's what we're doing.

In October, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg made headlines when he announced the company, which includes social media giants Facebook and Instagram, would be morphing into Meta, introducing users to a shared 3D experience, or virtual reality.

What Meta/Facebook is doing, it tends to be what you would have experienced in the '90s- era computer games, Holland said. "Very Technicolor, a lot of primary shapes like cylinders and spheres. It doesn't feel real.

What we're doing is we're making virtual reality as real as the real world. What people actually want the metaverse to be, that's what we're doing," he said.

The secret sauce in there is being able to make these really complex environments run in virtual."

To get such a sharp VR rendering of a physical space, Holland said he employs 3D animators, game developers, and a crew of hands-on technicians who set up laser scanners and cameras or rigs in the environment.

The process involves enormous amounts of coding expertise, but also old-fashioned problem-solving on the fly, Holland said. The ability to stand back to assess and attack issues from a different angle is the secret sauce he brings to the table.

Our customers are asking us to scan really weird things in really weird places, Holland said. We're always making new camera rigs to be able to do those locations, as well as developing and advancing the current ones we have.

Its a constant process, developing prototypes, adjusting, tinkering, and trying new things, he said.

It's a little bit of duct tape and glue, versus something that eventually will be a much more manufacturable product, easier to use, Holland said.

But with that constant development comes a great flexibility within his team, Holland said, and a heightened capacity for problem-solving.

Because all of these different areas constantly having to develop, here we are, a small company in Northern Ontario. And for all intents and purposes, we're going toe to toe with billion dollar multinationals.

The only way that we can do that is through continuous development.

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Jobs of the Future: 'Making virtual reality as real as the real world' - Sudbury.com

Meta has debuted its Quest 2 Super Bowl ad ahead of the big game, and its hard to get a grasp on how exactly its supposed to promote the metaverse (via Wall Street Journal). It evokes a strange mix of nostalgia and the slight fear associated with a childhood spent around unsettling animatronics, all while simultaneously giving off Five Nights at Freddys and Black Mirror vibes.

The commercial opens in a Chuck E. Cheese-esque environment so cleverly called Questys with a fuzzy animatronic dog, a pink six-armed creature, and two penguins performing Simple Minds Dont You (Forget About Me) on stage at the arcade. Soon after, a moving crew drags the lifeless bodies of the animatronic band out of the building as the location shuts down for good.

The dog (which falls directly on the line between cute and creepy) winds up staring out the window at a pawn shop, sans the rest of its animatronic crew, and takes on different roles as it's passed around among owners. After a brief appearance as a mini-golf course decoration, its seen getting flung out of the back of a pickup truck, and then laying helplessly inside of a trash compactor until its miraculously pulled out just as the machine starts closing in on its head.

The same woman who pulled the dog out of the trash compactor puts the animatronic on display at a space center, fixing it in a stationary pose pointing towards the cafeteria. A young man trying out the centers VR exhibit takes off his Quest 2 headset and somehow gets the idea to strap it on the animatronic dog.

Well, heres where it gets Black Mirror-y the dog gets transported into Metas virtual reality, where he meets up with his old band members and is able to perform once again, a theme you might remember from the San Junipero episode, which features a virtual world where the elderly and consciousnesses of dead people thrive.

In the second-to-last scene, Dont You (Forget About Me) resumes playing, and the ad shows all four friends each at new locations happily dancing with Quest 2 headsets on, as the words Old friends. New fun, pop up on the screen. It ends with the animatronic dog, still outfitted with Quest 2, howling in the now-closed space center.

Am I supposed to feel happy at the end of that commercial? The reality that the animatronic dog is likely to get his headset ripped off as soon as the space center opens has left me feeling empty inside or maybe Im just reading too much into it. This may be the reality that Meta wants to rebuild, but, if anything, its that depressing realization this ad draws attention to even more.

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Metas Quest 2 Super Bowl ad takes a retired animatronic dog into the metaverse - The Verge

Originally posted here.By: NewsBTC

Virtual reality is set for a major upgrade with the upcoming release of Cosmos, a Metaverse framework by ICICB Group. The Metaverse has evolved following the release of Cosmos by ICICB Group. The digital and internet ages find themselves at an interesting crossroads in time currently as the emergence of blockchain technology over the past decade have given way to the rise of the Metaverse, a fully-realized digital world that exists in a different dimension than our physical reality. Despite the misconceptions that have arisen from Facebooks transition to Meta, there is no one entity or organization that is creating or holds rights to the Metaverse, but instead, it has arisen more organically to provide an interactive framework for the yottabytes of data that exist across the internet. As global awareness of the emerging Metaverse grows, ICICB Group is well-positioned to capture this momentum and help evolve the space as a whole thanks to the launch of the ICICB Chain, the backbone of the ICICB Metaverse, also known as Cosmos. Cosmos offers a never-before-experienced journey through time with separate epochs that represent ancient, modern and future human life, each with its own unique set of nonfungible tokens and artifacts that will keep users enthralled with gameplay while also accumulating real-world value. Each user in the ICICB Metaverse will become an expert time traveler, teleporting from the stone age to the world of the future on a whim and exploring the vast multitude of experiences that human life has to offer. Extra precautions have been put in place to prevent the destruction of the timeline, however, as items from the past can be brought forward to the future while artifacts from the future are unable to make a journey backward in time for fear of creating a universe-destroying paradox. With each epoch of time including an expansive virtual world that eclipses the size of the virtual worlds found on The Sandbox or Decentraland, Cosmos is on track to become the largest virtual ecosystem in existence across time and space. For users who wish to focus on our present time to explore what the world has to offer, ICICB has specifically crafted its Atari 3D blockchain casino that can only be found in the modern age and provides explores with an interactive gaming playground where they can earn money and place bets through a variety of popular games and contests. First-person shooter fans can frag to their hearts desires in the new ARES by ICICB MMORPG game, which utilizes blockchain technology to allow for the creation of game assets that can be owned in the real world and sold on the ICICB NFT marketplace. Thanks to the underlying strength of the ICICB Chain, the worlds best blockchain network in terms of speed, cost, and security, Cosmos is destined to be a major fixture in the ongoing Metaverse revolution as the digital age continues to unfold at a quickening pace. ICICB Group is a financial services company based out of the Middle East that has a network of hundreds of offices around the globe, providing financial and banking services to over 26 countries. As part of the groups overall mission of helping to advance the development of digital technology that can be integrated with the everyday aspects of peoples lives to increase efficiency and sustainability. To take things to the next level, the firm is about to unveil their upcoming launch of an expanded ecosystem, ICICB Chain on 22 February 2022 that incorporates the hottest sectors of the expanding cryptoverse. With an ecosystem that integrates a wide range of blockchain-based solutions that allow clients worldwide to play, trade, and earn in one place, the ICICB Metaverse is laying the groundwork to emerge as a popular global hub for entrance into the virtual world of the future.

Virtual reality is set for a major upgrade with the upcoming release of Cosmos, a Metaverse framework by ICICB Group. The Metaverse has evolved following the release of Cosmos by ICICB Group.

The digital and internet ages find themselves at an interesting crossroads in time currently as the emergence of blockchain technology over the past decade have given way to the rise of the Metaverse, a fully-realized digital world that exists in a different dimension than our physical reality.

Despite the misconceptions that have arisen from Facebooks transition to Meta, there is no one entity or organization that is creating or holds rights to the Metaverse, but instead, it has arisen more organically to provide an interactive framework for the yottabytes of data that exist across the internet.

As global awareness of the emerging Metaverse grows, ICICB Group is well-positioned to capture this momentum and help evolve the space as a whole thanks to the launch of the ICICB Chain, the backbone of the ICICB Metaverse, also known as Cosmos.

Cosmos offers a never-before-experienced journey through time with separate epochs that represent ancient, modern and future human life, each with its own unique set of nonfungible tokens and artifacts that will keep users enthralled with gameplay while also accumulating real-world value.

Each user in the ICICB Metaverse will become an expert time traveler, teleporting from the stone age to the world of the future on a whim and exploring the vast multitude of experiences that human life has to offer.

Extra precautions have been put in place to prevent the destruction of the timeline, however, as items from the past can be brought forward to the future while artifacts from the future are unable to make a journey backward in time for fear of creating a universe-destroying paradox.

With each epoch of time including an expansive virtual world that eclipses the size of the virtual worlds found on The Sandbox or Decentraland, Cosmos is on track to become the largest virtual ecosystem in existence across time and space.

For users who wish to focus on our present time to explore what the world has to offer, ICICB has specifically crafted its Atari 3D blockchain casino that can only be found in the modern age and provides explores with an interactive gaming playground where they can earn money and place bets through a variety of popular games and contests.

First-person shooter fans can frag to their hearts desires in the new ARES by ICICB MMORPG game, which utilizes blockchain technology to allow for the creation of game assets that can be owned in the real world and sold on the ICICB NFT marketplace.

Thanks to the underlying strength of the ICICB Chain, the worlds best blockchain network in terms of speed, cost, and security, Cosmos is destined to be a major fixture in the ongoing Metaverse revolution as the digital age continues to unfold at a quickening pace.

ICICB Group is a financial services company based out of the Middle East that has a network of hundreds of offices around the globe, providing financial and banking services to over 26 countries. As part of the groups overall mission of helping to advance the development of digital technology that can be integrated with the everyday aspects of peoples lives to increase efficiency and sustainability.

To take things to the next level, the firm is about to unveil their upcoming launch of an expanded ecosystem, ICICB Chain on 22 February 2022 that incorporates the hottest sectors of the expanding cryptoverse.

With an ecosystem that integrates a wide range of blockchain-based solutions that allow clients worldwide to play, trade, and earn in one place, the ICICB Metaverse is laying the groundwork to emerge as a popular global hub for entrance into the virtual world of the future.

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ICICB Prepares to Enter the Metaverse Arena with the Release of Cosmos, a Virtual Reality Ecosystem That Spans Across Time and Space - Geeks World...

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Virtual Reality Glove Market Overview 2022

The Virtual Reality gloves provide the closest real-life experience. VR uses synchronized sound, sight, and touch with data suites. This has increased the number of gamers who prefer VR over traditional gaming devices. The increasing disposable income and enhanced adaptability with devices are making VR headsets and consoles more and more affordable for consumers.

This has brought along several changes in This report also covers the impact of COVID-19 on the global market.

The report offers detailed coverage of Virtual Reality Glove industry and main market trends. The market research includes historical and forecast market data, demand, application details, price trends, and company shares of the leading Virtual Reality Glove by geography. The report splits the market size, by volume and value, on the basis of application type and geography.

The Top key vendors in Virtual Reality Glove Market include are:- CyberGlove Systems, Manus VR, GloveOne, Virtalis

Get a Sample PDF copy of this Virtual Reality Glove Market Report @ https://www.reportsinsights.com/sample/597432

This research report categorizes the global Virtual Reality Glove market by top players/brands, region, type and end user. This report also studies the global Virtual Reality Glove market status, competition landscape, market share, growth rate, future trends, market drivers, opportunities and challenges, sales channels and distributors.

Major Product Types covered are:Wireless VR Gloves

Wired VR Gloves

Others

The Application Coverage in the Market are: Private

Commerce

Region wise performance of the Virtual Reality Glove industry

This report studies the global Virtual Reality Glove market status and forecast, categorizes the global Cable Conduits market size (value & volume) by key players, type, application, and region. This report focuses on the top players in North America, Europe, China, Japan, Southeast Asia India and Other regions (Middle East & Africa, Central & South America).

To get this report at a profitable rate.: https://www.reportsinsights.com/discount/597432

The study objectives of this report are:

Scope of the Report:-

The report scope combines a detailed research of Global Virtual Reality Glove Market 2022 with the apprehension given in the advancement of the industry in certain regions.

The Top Companies Report is designed to contribute our buyers with a snapshot of the industrys most influential players. Besides, information on the performance of different companies, profit, gross margin, strategic initiative and more are presented through various resources such as tables, charts, and info graphic.

Access full Report Description, TOC, Table of Figure, Chart, etc. @ https://www.reportsinsights.com/industry-forecast/virtual-reality-glove-market-597432

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Reports Insights is the leading research industry that offers contextual and data-centric research services to its customers across the globe. The firm assists its clients to strategize business policies and accomplish sustainable growth in their respective market domain. The industry provides consulting services, syndicated research reports, and customized research reports.

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Virtual Reality Glove Market Latest Innovations, Demand and Business Senario Outlook by 2028 Talking Democrat - Talking Democrat

SUWANEE, Ga.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--InVeris Training Solutions (booth #M7) will showcase its newest training technology SRCE (See | Rehearse | Collectively Experience or "Source") at World Defense Show in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, March 6-9. Debuting in late 2021, SRCE is the worlds first and only augmented reality-based training simulator, providing groundbreaking mission rehearsal for militaries and law enforcement. In addition to SRCE, InVeris will also be displaying a full array of live-fire range offerings.

Augmented reality enables us to combine virtual training in real-world locations, said InVeris Chief Executive Officer Al Weggeman. SRCE provides mission readiness training to global defense forces that is totally lifelike, seamless and customizable. Live-fire training is equally important, and our comprehensive selection of shooting range equipment underscores why InVeris has been a leader in the live-fire space for over 95 years.

At World Defense Show, InVeris will feature its industry-leading shooting range equipment, including the XWT wireless target carrier, GranTrap rubber bullet trap, as well as a Multi-Function Stationary Infantry Target (MF-SIT) with a LOMAH (location of miss and hit).

To speak with an InVeris representative during World Defense Show, visit booth #M7 or schedule an appointment at https://www.inveristraining.com/request-a-meeting.

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About InVeris Training Solutions

InVeris Training Solutions provides cutting-edge training solutions for militaries, law enforcement agencies and commercial range owners around the world. With its legacy companies, FATS and Caswell, InVeris Training Solutions has fielded over 15,500 live-fire ranges and 7,500 virtual systems globally during its 95-year history. The company is headquartered in Suwanee, Georgia, and partners with clients in the U.S. and around the world from facilities on five continents.

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InVeris Training Solutions to Highlight Augmented-Reality Training and Live-Fire Range Systems at World Defense Show 2022 - Business Wire

Newswise New Brunswick, N.J. (Feb. 10, 2022) Researchers at Rutgers University-New Brunswick have published Face-Mic, the first work examining how voice command features on virtual reality headsets could lead to major privacy leakages, known as eavesdropping attacks.

The research shows that hackers could use popular virtual reality (AR/VR) headsets with built in motion sensors to record subtle, speech-associated facial dynamics to steal sensitive information communicated via voice-command, including credit card data and passwords.

Common AR/VR systems on the market include the popular brands Oculus Quest 2, HTC Vive Pro, and PlayStation VR.

Led by Yingying Jennifer Chen, associate director of WINLAB and graduate director of Electrical and Computer Engineering at Rutgers University-New Brunswick, the study will be presented at the annual International Conference on Mobile Computing and Networking in March. Other research collaborators include Nitesh Saxena of Texas A&M University and Jian Liu at University of Tennessee at Knoxville.

To demonstrate the existence of security vulnerabilities, Chen and her fellow WINLAB researchers developed an eavesdropping attack targeting AR/VR headsets, known as Face-Mic.

Face-Mic is the first work that infers private and sensitive information by leveraging the facial dynamics associated with live human speech while using face-mounted AR/VR devices, said Chen. Our research demonstrates that Face-Mic can derive the headset wearers sensitive information with four mainstream AR/VR headsets, including the most popular ones: Oculus Quest and HTC Vive Pro.

The researchers studied three types of vibrations captured by AR/VR headsets motion sensors, including speech-associated facial movements, bone-borne vibrations and airborne vibrations. Chen noted that bone-borne vibrations in particular are richly encoded with detailed gender, identity and speech information.

By analyzing the facial dynamics captured with the motion sensors, we found that both cardboard headsets and high-end headsets suffer security vulnerabilities, revealing a users sensitive speech and speaker information without permission, Chen said.

Although vendors usually have policies regarding utilizing the voice access function in headset microphones, Chens research found that built-in motion sensors, such as an accelerometer and gyroscope within a VR headset, do not require any permission to access. This security vulnerability can be exploited by malicious actors intent on committing eavesdropping attacks.

Eavesdropping attackers can also derive simple speech content, including digits and words, to infer sensitive information, such as credit card numbers, Social Security numbers, phone numbers, PIN numbers, transactions, birth dates and passwords. Exposing such information could lead to identity theft, credit card fraud and confidential and health care information leakage.

Chen said once a user has been identified by a hacker, an eavesdropping attack can lead to further exposure of users sensitive information and lifestyle, such as AR/VR travel histories, game/video preferences and shopping preferences. Such tracking compromises users privacy and can be lucrative for advertising companies.

Oculus Quest, for example, supports voice dictation for entering web addresses, controlling the headset and exploring commercial products. Rutgers Face-Mic research shows that hackers may leverage these zero-permission sensors to capture sensitive information, leading to severe privacy leakages.

Chen said she hopes these findings will raise awareness in the general public about AR/VR security vulnerabilities and encourage manufacturers to develop safer models.

Given our findings, manufacturers of VR headsets should consider additional security measures, such as adding ductile materials in the foam replacement cover and the headband, which may attenuate the speech-associated facial vibrations that would be captured by the built-in accelerometer/gyroscope, she said.

Chen and her WINLAB colleagues are now examining how facial vibration information can authenticate users and improve security, and how AR/VR headsets can capture a users breathing and heart rate to measure well-being and mood states unobtrusively. To learn more about ongoing studies at WINLAB, click here.

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ABOUT RUTGERSNEW BRUNSWICKRutgers UniversityNew Brunswick is where Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, began more than 250 years ago. Ranked among the worlds top 60 universities, Rutgerss flagship is a leading public research institution and a member of the prestigious Association of American Universities. It has an internationally acclaimed faculty, 12 degree-granting schools and the Big Ten Conferences most diverse student body.

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Rutgers Researchers Discover Security Vulnerabilities in Virtual Reality Headsets - Newswise

While most virtual classes have been held over Zoom since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, one class in the University of Miamis College of Arts and Sciences is using a different modality: the MetaVerse.

Religion and Sacred Space in the Era of Virtual Reality and Artificial Intelligence began last Thursday. Instead of the typical classroom setting, the class is taught in the MetaVerse.

Religion is really fundamentally appropriate to the metaverse, said William Green, a professor of religion and one of the professors for the course. The class takes advantage of the new technology.

The class encompassees three different subjects: religion, architecture and computer science. Teaching the course in a virtual reality setting helps intertwine the three focuses of the class.

The students in architecture help design the class, the students in interactive media help with the user experience and the religion students are content experts,Kim Grinfeder, another professor for the course focusing on virtual reality, said.

During the first class, students received their Oculus 2 virtual reality headsets and had an orientation with the product. Now that the students have their headsets, classes will be held remotely, taking place solely in the MetaVerse.

It was bizarre to be in the same room but also not in the same room, Grinfeder said. It is best to discuss virtual reality in virtual reality.

As the class progresses, students will use the headsets to travel across the world to observe religious experiences in 3D instead of 2D. Some of these experiences include a Hajj, a Muslim pilgramidge to the city of Mecca or a Christian Baptism.

There is a notion of space and place, Green said. We can now experience places that you cant go to easily.

During the first class, most students quickly became accustomed to the intriguing technology but there were some initial issues with the headsets. Some students were experiencing eye strain and headaches making it so that they had to step out of the MetaVerse and back in to reality

Students would say I need five minutes, take the headset off and just set it down and chill for five minutes, said Matthew Rossi, a junior computer science major who is the teaching assistant for the course. But VR endurance, as some people might say, is just something you build up naturally by using it.

As for the future of the MetaVerse, Green believes more classes will use virtual reality as the technology advances and new virtual reality tools are created.

Technology develops how people learn and how people teach, Green said. Computers are second nature and already virtual reality will be for many students in the future.

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UM class enters the future with virtual reality class - The Miami Hurricane

San Diego State has doubled down on virtual and extended reality technologies by launching the Virtual Immersive Teaching and Learning (VITaL) Research Center dedicated to expanding usage across classrooms, campuses and disciplines.

The decision comes after the Information Technology Services unit on campus launched the VITaL initiative in fall 2017. According to a school press release, it served as an incubator for faculty to explore virtual and extended reality applications as potential tools they could adopt for stronger comprehension in students; the apps can mimic the intensity of a high risk medical situation or allow students to operate with rare situations without any of the necessary equipment or subjects while still receiving all the mandatory field experience.

For higher learning, virtual reality technology poses a lot of possibilities spanning across almost every topic of instruction. VITaL resources have already been taken advantage of by 56 faculty teaching 70 courses across all eight colleges at SDSU through the initiative. It is only expected to grow with the new research center, according to the press release.

The VITaL Research Center is led by Chief Information Officer Jerry Sheehan, Deputy CIO James Frazee and the Director of Information Technology Services Sean Hauze.

The very ethos of VITaL is to understand if [the tech] actually matters or not, and thats a really important consideration, Sheehan said.

We think that for our student population, both those that are first generation, those that are in underrepresented communities and diverse communities, its really important that they are given the opportunity to create in a virtual world, Sheehan said. We think it would be problematic if the only thing that exists in the virtual world is advertising which, without the voices from our campus, would be how the market forces would drive us.

A landmark peer-reviewed study by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) suggested that virtual reality learning enlists greater attention from students and better effectiveness overall than typical classroom learning. This study coupled with growing research and market interests gave the school confidence in the research centers relevance.

The tools will just become more and more reliable, affordable and easy to use as we look ahead, Frazee said. Essentially, youre going to take your glasses off and feel dumber just like we have without our phones. Can you imagine not being able to answer every question and access every statistic on the planet from your pocket?

The technology is noted to be especially important for the rural SDSU Imperial Valley campus as they have limited access to things like nursing mannequins and medical equipment. It poses an opportunity to provide higher learning across the board with the democratization of learning tools.

Initial projects faculty proposed with the launch of the center regard how the technology can enhance the way the school of Theater, Television, Film and New Media can adopt the tech to create and teach.

According to Learning Design and Technology Professor Kevin White, it is important to admit there are certain uses that would be redundant for virtual reality technology like reading and writing. However, immersion has been observed to foster a deeper connection to the material. Rather than using the tools to write, an art student could use the tech as a writing prompt being transported anywhere in the world with 360 degree photos to spark inspiration or thought exercises.

The move to virtual tools has been exponentially sped up by the onset of COVID-19, but it still has its fair share of health risks. For example, an entire class using the same headset can pose a problem in germ exchange. This has always been an issue, but becomes less of a risk as more supply access leads to less immediate contact.

With provisions in place faculty was still able to develop interactive moon phase simulations for astronomy students, demonstrate interactions between nano materials for engineering students and animate three-dimensional models of molecules and magnetic fields for chemistry and physics students.

As the research center was proposed based on award winning research and applications dedicated to the further understanding by students, VITaL Research Center Fellowship Grant Proposals are open to all faculty members from every discipline. According to the center, the deadline for preliminary proposals submitted by faculty is on Feb. 28.

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SDSU unveils new virtual and extended reality research center - Daily Aztec

In Virtual Reality News

February 9, 2022 Emerge, a social virtual connection company, has this week announced the launch of a Kickstarter campaign for its Emerge Home system: a product that enables immersive bare-hands tactile experiences and the sensation of physical touch for virtual reality (VR) experiences.

The Emerge Home Kickstarter campaign, which is now live, will reward backers with early access to its first consumer product, which was recently revealed at the Into the Metaverse 2 summit hosted by GamesBeat.

According to the company, the Emerge Home system consists of three components: the Emerge Wave-1 device, the Emerge Home social virtual experience, and the Emerge Home mobile app. The Emerge Wave-1 is a new tabletop device that enables users bare hands to be their controllers. Around the same footprint as a 13 laptop, the device emits sculpted ultrasonic waves that allow users to feel and interact via touch in the virtual world. Through the use of Emerges patented technology, the Emerge Wave-1 creates a mid-air field of interaction up to three feet above the device and 120 degrees around it.

Emerge Home is for people who see social virtual games as meaningful ways to connect emotionally with others, said Isaac Castro, Co-CEO and Co-founder of Emerge. We are excited for the first adopters of Emerge Home to start sharing this journey, in just a few weeks.

The Kickstarter campaign will offer six product reward tiers for pledgers who will become the first adopters of Emerge Home, in two delivery windows:

Other Kickstarter reward tiers will offer discounts for pledgers securing 2 or more devices, as Emerge Home has been designed for multi-user social VR experiences, for people to gather and play in a safe and trusted environment with their inner circles.

Weve designed Emerge Home staying true to our vision, informed by rigorous research, and inspired by the hopes and ideas of the people who have shared their insights along the journey of developing this product. Our early adopter Beta community will play a pivotal role in helping us shape the evolution of Emerge Home, which we hope delivers new and unique ways for people to feel connected across distance said Mauricio Teran, Co-founder & Head of Insights.

Emerge Home is the first step in a broader journey to create a new language of touch in virtual worlds, said Sly Spencer Lee, Co-CEO and Co-founder of Emerge. Through Emerge Home experiences and game rooms, we are excited to explore how we can better connect, play, and share emotions in the metaverse.

The Emerge Home system is available today, February 8th, on Kickstarter. The company has given its device a retail value of USD $499, but at the time of publishing, there was still time left for early buyers to take advantage of a 24-hour launch sale pledge of USD $350. For more information about Emerge and its solution to provide bare-hands tactile experiences for virtual reality, please visit the companys website.

Image / video credit: Emerge / YouTube

About the author

Sam Sprigg

Sam is the Founder and Managing Editor of Auganix. With a background in research and report writing, he covers news articles on both the AR and VR industries. He also has an interest in human augmentation technology as a whole, and does not just limit his learning specifically to the visual experience side of things.

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Emerge launches Kickstarter campaign to bring bare-hands tactile experiences to Virtual Reality with its ultrasonic device - Auganix

YouTube said it will start creating metaverse experiences on its video platform, beginning with gaming, following competitors investments in the buzzy category.

Well work to bring more interactions to games and make them feel more alive, Neal Mohan, YouTubes chief product officer, said Thursday in a blog post. Its still early days, but were excited to see how we can turn these virtual worlds into a reality for viewers.

The worlds largest video site, owned by Alphabet Inc.s Google, has supported virtual-reality videossince 2016.

Google released its VR platform Cardboard in 2014 and a much-derided augmented reality device, Google Glass, in 2013.

Still, the company has been slower than rivals to discuss its plans for the much-hyped metaverse an immersive digital world where users will interact with digital objects and one another.

While many are skeptical that the metaverse is much more than a rebranding of VR, others in the tech industry think it will be the next major platform for social media, gaming, digital asset ownership and more.

Google has its own VR/AR division but hasnt released plans for any device in the field.

Meanwhile Meta Platforms Inc., formerly Facebook, changed its name to signal an existential commitment to the metaverse. Microsoft Corp. has said its bringing workplace collaboration software to the virtual world. It may also capitalize on the shift through its gaming properties.

Some of YouTubes most popular creators specialize in video game streaming. The company has signed away several broadcasters from rival Twitch.

Last month, YouTubes head of gaming, Ryan Wyatt, departedfor a crypto startup.

In the blog post, Mohan also said YouTube would continue investing in Shorts, its rival to ByteDance Ltd.s TikTok, by adding new video effects and tools, as well as the ability to shop from one of the quick videos.

People watch more than 700 million hours of YouTube content on their televisions a day, making it the companys fastest-growing screen. Now, Mohan said the company would soon let viewers use their phones to engage with content playing on their TVs.

YouTube is still trying to improve its comment section, the executive added. The company will let video creators set channel guidelines to control the tone of conversations, which have sometimes been vitriolic. The site will also give its creators more insight on the types of videos viewers want to see, to help them decide what to produce next.

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YouTube pushing virtual reality in metaverse bet - MyBroadband