What are Head-mounted Displays? If you’ve ever watched TV or browsed the internet, the phrase ‘Virtual Reality’ probably conjures up a very specific image in your mind: that awesome helmet. Well, they’re real. They’re called head-mounted displays, or HMDs, and they are probably the most instantly recognizable objects associated with virtual reality. As such, they … Continue reading Head-mounted Displays (HMDs)
HMD Name: Glyph Designer: Avegant Website: http://avegant.com/ Estimated price $599 Display type: Retinal projection Resolution: 1280×800 per eye Field of view: 45 degrees Head tracking: Yes (mouse/gamepad emulation) Eye Tracking: No Audio: Built-in (non-removable) Refresh rate: 120Hz Latency: 12ms Optics: Diopter and interpupillary adjustment. Inputs: HDMI and MHL Type: Tethered to external computer The extraordinarily … Continue reading Avegant Glyph Virtual Reality Headset
HMD Name: Fove (Developer kit) Designer: Fove Website: http://www.getfove.com/ Estimated price $350 (Developer kit) Display type: LCD (not final) Resolution: 1280×1440 per eye Field of view: 45 degrees (100+ projected feature) Head tracking: Yes Eye Tracking: Yes, infrared, 120fps per eye Audio: Own headphones (projected feature) Refresh rate: 60Hz (90Hz projected) Latency: TBA/Unknown Optics: TBA/Unknown … Continue reading Fove Virtual Reality Headset
HMD Name: Gear VR Innovator Edition for Note 4 Designer: Samsung/Oculus Website: http://www.samsung.com/global/microsite/gearvr/ Estimated price $199 Display type: Super AMOLED (From Galaxy Note 4) Resolution: 1280×1440 per eye (based on Galaxy Note 4) Field of view: 96 degrees Head tracking: Yes, phone dependent Eye Tracking: No Audio: None (Own headphones) Refresh rate: 90Hz Latency: 20ms … Continue reading Gear VR Virtual Reality Headset
HMD Name: Cardboard Designer: Google Website: https://www.google.com/get/cardboard/ Estimated price Approx $10 Display type: Not included Resolution: NA Field of view: Approx. 96 degrees Head tracking: Yes, smartphone dependent Eye Tracking: No Audio: None Refresh rate: Variable Latency: Variable (45mm focal length lenses standard) Optics: Variable Inputs: None Type: Smartphone HMD shell Google Cardboard might look … Continue reading Google Cardboard Virtual Reality Headset
The Google Glass is the most well known early attempt to create a wearable, reality augmenting computer. This product sits at the head of a predicted boom in wearable technology. The Glass is actually an example of an OHMD, or Optical Head-Mounted Display. This simply means that, unlike a VR HMD which will enclose your … Continue reading Google Glass
There’s an exciting branch of computer technology known as affective computing. Yes. that’s “affective” and not “effective”. Affective computing is all about how we can integrate human emotional states into computing. It includes both how computers can read and understand our emotions as well as how they can reproduce them in different ways. Why would … Continue reading How Does that Make You Feel?: Facial Tracking Comes to VR
A Texas jury yesterday has awarded ZeniMax, parent company of Bethesda and iD Software $500 million dollars after finding that Oculus and founder Palmer Luckey had breached a non-disclosure agreement, as well as infringed on ZeniMax’s copyright. The jury did find against allegations that Oculus stole ZeniMax’s trade secrets and as a result the ultimate … Continue reading ZeniMax Awarded $500 Million in Major Legal Case against Oculus
The promise of affordable, high quality virtual reality may have come closer. A crowdsourced mobile VR setup launched on Kickstarter that promises to transform your smartphone into a SteamVR compatible VR setup for less than $100 has successfully made its funding target in just eight hours. NOLO VR, a project by Beijing-based startup LYRobotix and led … Continue reading Smartphone SteamVR Kit NOLO Kickstarted in Eight Hours
As the curtain drops on CES International 2016, there is one clear and very obvious takeaway. Forget self-driving cars and 8k curved TV’s; VR is the Next Big Thing. That much was made obvious by the sheer number of HMD manufacturers, software vendors and third-party hardware companies vying for attention on the exhibition floor, as … Continue reading VR Fever Sweeps CES 2016 Show
