Tag: Virtual Reality

Engineering, TechnologyLeave a comment

#PokemonGO takes world by storm – an annotated infographic

E&T magazine

As you may already be aware – unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past couple of weeks – Pokémon GO, the augmented reality game for smartphones, has taken the world by storm. It is the successor to Nintendo’s smash-hit Game Boy games from the 1990s, featuring many of the same beloved characters, such as Pikachu. People have been propelled out of their houses and offices en masse to explore their local environs, eternally on the hunt for elusive Pokémon characters that must be captured and secured.  The appearance of an especially ‘rare’ character can cause intense excitement … Continue reading #PokemonGO takes world by storm – an annotated infographic

Engineering, TechnologyLeave a comment

#VR motion sickness – curing what ails ya when you’re exploring other worlds – an annotated infographic

E&T magazine

Virtual reality (VR) motion sickness, a common side effect of exploring VR worlds for many users, could be eradicated with a new system that dynamically changes the field of view (FOV). Nausea and discomfort is a complaint shared by some VR users, caused when the brain receives visual information that is at odds with sensory information received from the inner ear’s vestibular balance system. This new proposed method of combating VR sickness is touted as being easily applied to existing consumer head-worn displays, such as the Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, Sony PlayStation VR, and Google Cardboard. E&T reported on this … Continue reading #VR motion sickness – curing what ails ya when you’re exploring other worlds – an annotated infographic

Engineering, TechnologyLeave a comment

#OculusRift launch date getting closer – #VR fans getting frothy for March 28 – an annotated infographic

E&T magazine

Oculus Rift, the virtual reality headset developed by a subsidiary of Facebook, is taking pre-orders for its hardware, due to ship on March 28. The level of excitement in the tech sphere can be gauged by the three-hour wait in line at CES 2016 that VR fan boys were prepared to patiently endure, simply for the opportunity to try out a Rift headset. Think about that: THREE HOURS. That’s like watching two English football matches in full, back to back. Or one Superbowl 50.  Make a note of the time on your clock right now and then stand up and … Continue reading #OculusRift launch date getting closer – #VR fans getting frothy for March 28 – an annotated infographic

Engineering, TechnologyLeave a comment

Virtual reality, immersive experiences and drones in flight at #CES2016

E&T magazine

Two of the most popular show areas at CES 2016 are virtual reality – be that immersive and/or augmented – and drones. Inevitably, Oculus Rift dominated the VR space – literally, given the size of Oculus’ enormous two-level exhibition stand – and the lure of the most famous VR headset for show attendees was apparent in their willingness to queue for two and a half hours just to be able to try it for themselves. Of course, Oculus Rift is not the only VR game in town. Other VR projects, such as Google’s Cardboard, are broadening the technology’s reach and … Continue reading Virtual reality, immersive experiences and drones in flight at #CES2016

Engineering, TechnologyLeave a comment

#Facebook buys Oculus Rift – #Minecraft creator abandons VR plans immediately – an annotated infographic

E&T magazine

While Facebook’s acquisition of virtual reality (VR) headset developers Oculus has been hailed as a significant win for the tyrannical social networking behemoth, an equally significant PR besmirching of this coup was landed on it by the developer of the popular construction game Minecraft. On hearing the news from Big Blue HQ, Markus ‘Notch’ Persson announced he was immediately cancelling his plans to develop an Oculus Rift version of Minecraft. The simple reason? One that may be familiar to millions of social networking followers: “Facebook creeps me out”, Persson tweeted. Genius. It’s not only Persson that Facebook’s news has disappointed. … Continue reading #Facebook buys Oculus Rift – #Minecraft creator abandons VR plans immediately – an annotated infographic

Engineering, TechnologyLeave a comment

Train with the England Six Nations rugby team with @Oculus_Rift virtual reality headset technology – an annotated graphic

E&T magazine

Love rugby, hate pain? Virtual reality technology is your friend. Network provider O2 has created ‘Wear the Rose’, which allows fans to train with the England rugby team in an immersive 360-degree sports experience. The concept uses Oculus Rift virtual reality headset technology to transport users to the training pitch, where they will experience what it’s like to be part of the England team, whether its listening to a team talk from captain Chris Robshaw, getting tackled by hooker Tom Youngs, or receiving a pass from fullback Mike Brown. Released to coincide with the Six Nations competition, the multi-sensory experience … Continue reading Train with the England Six Nations rugby team with @Oculus_Rift virtual reality headset technology – an annotated graphic

Engineering, TechnologyLeave a comment

Google Glass – the augmented reality future is now, providing you adhere strictly to the end-user agreement…

E&T magazine

Despite the Draconian restrictions imposed by Google on anyone foolish enough to fork out over £1,000 on a pair of Glass (Google can turn them off at any time, if it feels that you’ve overstepped the end-user agreement stipulations), apparently people are still extremely anxious so to do. To us, Glass seems uncomfortably like the optical equivalent of those people in the late 1990s who’d stride towards you on the pavement, booming away to apparently no one in particular, until you realised they had a Bluetooth earpiece and were on the phone to their mum. Oh well, to each his … Continue reading Google Glass – the augmented reality future is now, providing you adhere strictly to the end-user agreement…

Engineering, TechnologyLeave a comment

New issue of #EandT magazine now online – #AugmentedReality special – AR brings E&T to life

E&T magazine

The latest issue of E&T magazine is available online now. It’s our augmented reality special, looking at the myriad ways AR technology can be applied to engineering and technology. It’s also a very interactive special, so if you have a paper copy to hand there are plenty of pages waiting to leap in to life. We look at the Google Glass project (as seen on the cover of the new issue); how augmented reality could soon have a serious impact on the defence, medical and education industries; the ways in which retailers are turning to augmented reality to drive sales, brand reinforcement, … Continue reading New issue of #EandT magazine now online – #AugmentedReality special – AR brings E&T to life