Charles Singletary – Augmented & Virtual Reality Confabulation

June 4, 2019

Smashbox Arena League VR Dodgeball Competition Includes $4,500 In Prizes

If you can throw on a VR HMD, you can throw a dodgeball. The Smashbox Arena League is a virtual competition held across 16 of Ctrl V’s global VR arcade locations and the second annual event is going down this summer. Teams of three have to be registered by June 28 with the competition for a piece of the $4,500 total prize pool starts on July 8.

This year’s Smashbox Arena League will be sponsored by Survios and welcomes VR gamers of all ages. The event is set up like traditional sports summer leagues, giving participants competition for up to eight weeks. The cost of entry is $100 per person and comes with Smashbox League T-shirt in addition to league access.

The prize pool will be distributed at the end of the Smashbox Arena League to the top three teams. The competition starts on July 8 and the top two performing teams will be selected on August 19. Those teams will face off in the grand championship on August 26 and it will be livestreamed on the If you’d like to play Smashbox Arena without the pressure of live competition in a VR arcade, BigBox VR’s game is available on Oculus Home or SteamVR and can be played on the Rift and HTC Vive. It features a single player story mode and online multiplayer supplemented by AI bots if there aren’t enough players around. If you want to participate in Smashbox Arena League, check to see which venue is the closest to you via the list below and Full list of competing Ctrl V venues

Brampton (West)
Calgary (Glenmore)
Cambridge
Edmonton (West)
Guelph
Hamilton
Howell
Lethbridge
Lindsay
London
Mississauga
North York
Red Deer
St Catherines
Waterloo
Winnipeg

Grand championship winners will walk away with $3,000 to split between the three team members. Second place gets $1,000 and third place takes home $500. Check out the CtrlV, smashbox arena

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May 31, 2019

Hack Kids In Tokyo Teaches Game Programming Using Nintendo Labo VR

Nintendo’s cardboard Labo creations have been an avenue for gamers to explore creativity, especially so for those of a younger age. Now, the company is utilizing its Nintendo Labo VR Kit in the Hack Kids in Tokyo special event where parents and children age 6 and up learn to program their own games using Toy-Con Garage VR.

Hack Kids in Tokyo is an event organized by Yahoo and welcomes elementary school children in third to sixth grade along with their parents. Toy-Con Garage VR is a way for Nintendo Labo VR users to take a look under the hood of over 60 games that have been created by Labo’s developers. Hack Kids will use this same program to teach kids and parents how the games are made and help them to develop their own.

The Hack Kids, Labo VR, Nintendo Labo VR, Switch VR

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May 27, 2019

Reclaim! Brings Four-Player Arena Shooting To Location-Based VR

Location-based gaming experiences remove the larger price of admission for more intense and immersive experiences and VR developers have found a lot of success in this market. Video game studio Minority Media is hoping to tap into that with a PvP virtual reality shooting experience that translates a classic arena shooter style to VR called Reclaim.

‘Reclaim!’ is a four-player competitive VR shooter set in a dystopian future that has players battling across maps to reclaim cities. Laser tag is a fun, social experience that gets players physically active and Minority Media’s VP of Business Development and Global Sales Michael Zaidan coined the game the “next evolution of laser tag in VR.” Reclaim! can be executed in tighter spaces than a laser tag match, though, since the shooter utilizes teleportation locomotion instead of having players move around freely in large spaces.

Chaos Jump is Minority Media’s previous project and now Reclaim will work using the Chaos Jump, Reclaim

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May 22, 2019

WalkOVR’s $249 Wearable VR Locomotion System Funded In Four Hours

We’ve seen a multitude of practical and impractical solutions pop up for locomotion in virtual reality. Treadmills and the like may offer us immersion similar to VR we’ve seen in science fiction shows and television, but solutions that don’t require massive pieces of equipment are the ideal pathways to households. WalkOVR is doing just that with its wearable motion capture system that allows VR users to walk in place to move through virtual environments.

WalkOVR works by attaching four sensors to a user’s legs, two on each, and one to the torso. Then motion capture sensors work as a lightweight motion suit, allowing more realistic movement in VR. It’s not 1-to-1 movement, but walking in place enhances the immersion with more natural movement compared to just waving your arms or using an analog stick.

The WalkOVR Kickstarter page features demonstrations using the HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, Oculus Go, Gear VR, and PSVR — but the PSVR requires a workaround for the WalkOVR keyboard mode. Walking in place is a…step…in the right direction, but other forms of movement with WalkOVR aren’t as natural.

Observed in the demos, stepping to the side without turning requires leaning and walking backward requires you to lean back while walking in place. These will take some getting used to but, beyond that, the project has potential and can also benefit software developers that want to get users more physically involved with different applications and games.

The project has a long way to go in terms of viability, but it has garnered a lot of crowdfunding interest already. After going live on Kickstarter, the new VR locomotion solution was funded in just four hours. As of the time of this writing, WalkOVR has drawn in $55,539 on a goal of $25,000.

We have not tested the WalkOVR system so we cannot speak to its performance or quality at all, let alone if it actually works as advertised or not.

To participate in its early bird pricing, it takes a pledge of $169 at the least to earn yourself a WalkOVR set. If it gets a full retail launch, it will cost $249.

Tagged with: WalkOVR

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May 20, 2019

Wave Circles VR Rhythm Game Slides Onto Steam For Fitness And Fun

Looking for another stylish way to test your hand-eye coordination and stamina? Game studio PlatformaVR is gearing up to release its new VR rhythm game Wave Circles on May 23, pushing players to bust a move to the beat in a dance space dripping with neon colors.

Wave Circles differs from Beat Saber, a wildly popular virtual reality rhythm game, in a handful of ways. Instead of slicing through boxes on beat and dodging walls, Wave Circles aims for more flowing movement in longer sustained inputs through the game’s waves. There are also pads that you punch or hit and the different songs mix these elements up while throwing in some sharp hazards for you to dodge occasionally as well.

At launch, Wave Circles will feature 17 songs and 51 different beatmaps crafted by the development team to work through. These beatmaps vary in difficulty, so you can engage in some comfortable gameplay or heighten the intensity with a group and friends to see who performs best on the toughest tracks and beatmaps. If you or your friends feel so inclined, Wave Circles will also launch with a beatmap creation system. Create, play the creations of local friends, or grab some online and keep the experience fresh for as long as you want.

If you’re interested in using VR gaming as a workout, the Beyond mode is your ticket. This mode is tailored for fitness and will get your heart rate up with specific songs and beatmaps. Additional features are planned for future updates, as well.

Wave Circles will be available on May 23 for HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, and Windows Mixed Reality VR via Steam for $9.99. The team plans to continue to support the game with five new songs released each month and, eventually, a campaign mode with daily objectives.

Tagged with: fitness, VR fitness, wave circles

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May 20, 2019

North Carolina Zoo Adds Portal To Africa With VR Expedition

One of the simplest understands of virtual reality is the ability for the software and hardware to transport users to worlds different from their own, whether some wild fictional creation or a real destination on the other side of the globe. The North Carolina Zoo is partnering with Looking Glass to enhance their offering of exotic animals by giving visitors a chance to go on a virtual expedition in Africa.

Looking Glass is a North Carolina-based company that specializes in delivering VR content for businesses. Their services include 360-degree media production, VR/AR app dev, consultation, 3D virtual tours, and location based events. You can see a preliminary sample video of the Zoo expedition here.

The North Carolina Zoo has a wealth of habitats for different animals, including a few from Africa. The zoo features lemurs, African lions, red river hogs, baboons, and more. The Expedition Africa VR application, however, gives patrons a look at rhinos, elephants, and meerkats in an environment they’re more comfortable in.

Visitors can step into a themed area at the North Carolina Zoo and put on Oculus Go VR HMDs before being transported to Africa in the experience. The attraction is $3 per person and the zoo organizers anticipate that they will server roughly 2,000 visitors per week. The teaser for the virtual expedition will be playing on a loop around the zoo, so hopefully it will attract even more visitors. Not only is this an avenue for people of all ages to be introduced to VR, this could spark an idea that brings VR into local classrooms.

If successful, Looking Glass has already identified 40-50 other interested locations.

Expedition Africa VR captures 13 exotic African animals in 360 video and, at its most extreme, may inspire zoos to switch up their formats. Virtual reality has incredible potential for real-world impact and this is just one of the many examples of how it can be used as an educational tool.

Tagged with: zoo

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May 16, 2019

Fade Out Is A Violence-Free VR Escape Room For HTC Vive

There’s a new VR escape room experience on the horizon. Game development studio PlaySys is taking the lessons learned from developing puzzle game qb and walking simulator Abyssus into their third creation: Fade Out. It’s built for the HTC Vive and will challenge players to find all of the clues and solve the puzzles when it launches on May 21.

Fade Out is an experiment for PlaySys on multiple levels. It’s the studio’s first attempt at an escape room game and it is their first game for one of the more powerful VR HMDs. PlaySys launched their previous games on Gear VR, Pico Golbin, and Oculus Go, so they have leaped to a much higher tier of power and capability with the HTC Vive.

PlaySys has designed Fade Out for 3x3m rooms and it uses 6DoF movement so players can search spaces top to bottom for various objects and details. It’s a violence-free experience: No zombies, monsters, or blood of any kind. Thus, users seeking something calmer or more experienced VR players that are interested in games to ease new players into could find some value in Fade Out. The team states that the puzzles are designed for players of every age, as well.

Even without violence, you can see in the game’s trailer that there still seems to be some suspense. There are a lot of objects to interact with and there’s foreboding lighting as you attempt to solve all of Fade Out’s riddles. This will be an interesting test to see if PlaySys has what it takes to take the more advanced capabilities of the HTC Vive and develop a memorable experience.

The virtual reality escape room game Fade Out will be available on May 21 via Steam for HTC Vive and is playable in standing or room-scale. The team suggests that players who want to play in a seated position can do so using the game’s teleport function.

Tagged with: escape room, Fade Out

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May 16, 2019

LensPen Cleaning Tool Helps Make Sure Your VR Lenses Stay Clear

It’s an incredibly frustrating feeling when an immersive VR experience is ruined by a smudge or spec of dust on your optical lens. Instead of reaching for whatever cloth is hanging around and hoping for the best, LensPen is a solution designed to remove blemishes from AR and VR headsets.

The company is aiming to provide VR gamers and tech enthusiasts access to similar technology that photographers and drone pilots have utilized for their own lenses. Photographers especially tend to invest in some type of cleaning solution to keep their devices in top condition. Something they capture in the moment can be ruined without a clean lens and take extra post-production work when all that was needed was a tool like the LensPen.

PSVR, HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, and Valve Index users can keep one around their gaming rooms while Oculus Quest and owners of other untethered VR solutions can have something on the go.

The Lenspen works on two levels. You use a retractable brush to remove any dust and then, after twisting the cap off the other end, you use a carbon cleaning tip to remove greases, smudges, fingerprints, etc. It can be used on any optical lenses, LCD, plasma, and glass surfaces safely and the company guarantees at least 500 cleanings per pen with no expiration date for the device.

The pen form factor of the LensPen could be ideal for people to take on the go as opposed to misplacing a small cloth in their pockets. It also doesn’t require any type of liquids to use. The company is already partnered with Sony, Nikon, and Panasonic so it wouldn’t be surprising to see VR and AR companies develop a relationship with the company too.

Whether you’re interested in one of the LensPen kits or you rather use a micro-cloth for something like a set of binoculars, you can find different options on the company’s LensPen

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May 10, 2019

VR RPG Swords Of Gargantua Enters Open Beta Next Week

Swords of Gargantua VR, the melee action game that we feel is the closest virtual reality has come to a Dark Souls-like experience, is entering its Open Beta phase this month. From May 15 – May 21, PC VR users can access the game via the Steam or Oculus store and test it out.

The previous closed test for Swords of Gargantua was closed to just Steam users, but the addition of the Oculus Store will give the team an opportunity to stress test for a much larger control group and get some additional feedback from users on other platforms. For the curious new faces that want to jump into the game, Swords of Gargantua is an action game where up to four players team up to fight against the giants known as Gargantua and their forces.

The development team, Yomuneco Inc., is aiming for hyper-realistic VR combat where the weapons collide with solid objects realistically, giving haptic feedback and requiring players to more strategically attack their foes. Parrying and attacking the enemy’s openings is the key to victory, so some players will have to unlearn the habit of wildly swinging that other VR combat games has cultivated. Blade & Sorcery is going for a similar, albeit more traditional visually, physics-based combat style.

To get an idea of how the game plays or any issues we’ve run into, you can read either of our two Swords of Gargantua hands-on previews. We played an early build of the game at GDC 2018 and checked out an updated build a few months later.

The full version of Swords of Gargantua is due sometime in 2019 and will feature 100 single-player missions, 30 weapons, and is playable in seated, standing, or room-scale VR. The four-player online co-op will be cross-platform, between Steam and Oculus Home.

If you’re interested, you can sign up for the Open Beta via the Swords of Gargantua Discord channel or find more details on the official website.

Tagged with: Swords of Gargantua

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April 10, 2019

80s Stealth Game The Spy Who Shrunk Me Now Has Free VR Support

Finnish game studio Catland has announced immediate VR support for its tongue-in-cheek VR stealth game The Spy Who Shrunk Me and set a date for Taphouse 2: The Taphousening, a sequel to the free-to-play bar tending simulator, which will also receive VR support. It’s coming later this summer.

“The goal of Catland is to make hilarious videogames that embrace insanity. If we can make you think ‘what the hell are we playing right now’, we have succeeded at that,” said Catland CEO Tomi Toikka in a prepared statement.

The virtual reality update for The Spy Who Shrunk Me is free to owners of the game and works with HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, and Windows VR headsets. The entire game is playable in VR, including any of the content updates that have been released for the non-VR version thus far.

“[The Spy Who Shrunk Me to VR] feels entirely different in VR due to the amazing feeling of scale through the use of the shrink ray,” Toikka added in the same statement.

If you’re hoping to step out of the dangerous field agent work, Along with the new taverns, customers, and drinks, the taverns from the VR-exclusive free-to-play game (Taphouse VR) are being remade for the sequel, which will have a $5.99 price tag. Catland is opening up the sequel to non-VR players as well.

Tagged with: Taphouse 2, The Spy Who Shrunk Me

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