Some of the best modern games are influenced heavily by classics such as Dungeons and Dragons and they wear that influence proudly. As VR developers attempt to cultivate that spirit in the growing ecosystem, gamers are all too ready to escape into the immersive virtual worlds flooded with magic and the creatures we’ve come to love or hate over the years.
Symmetrical is a 6-month-old game development team that wants their debut game to exude the majesty of high-fantasy, but they’re going the scientific route sans magic with Gates of Nowhere.
In Gates of Nowhere you take on the role of a cliche amnesiac lead character and you’re dropped into a dungeon filled with trolls, ghouls, locusts, and more. You’ll explore, fight, and solve riddles across four large levels (The Awakening, Through The Dark, Waterworks, and At The Gates) and the mystery of your predicament will unfold and become complete in the end. Although devoid of magic, a major element of the game is its creation of consumable items through chemistry and some items that you create can ultimately end up displaying effects of a magical kind. You’ll also have a collection of weapons to choose from including a flail, sword, ax, and a crossbow.
A relatively unique element of Gates of Nowhere is their spin on the teleportation style of locomotion in VR, called “locoportation”. You activate your avatar which then resembles a spirit form of yourself, steer it to whatever location you can see, and then teleport to that spot. It works similarly to the “comfort” option we saw in From Other Suns for Oculus Rift with Touch at GDC. On paper, it’s a subtle change but it allows for more precise movement which also allows the developer to create more intricate environmental puzzles and obstacles. It also adds a new element to the teleportation mechanic because you now have to be mindful of the amount of time it will take you to move if monsters are in your vicinity.
Gates of Nowhere will be released on Steam Early Access for HTC Vive in a couple weeks and the Symmetrical team is already plotting out a PlayStation VR (PSVR) port. The Early Access version will include The Awakening and Through The Dark, evolving with more content up until launch. For more details, check the official website.
This new week of HTC Vive releases welcomes a few deviations from the usual formula. There aren’t as many new games as usual, but this week signals the launch of the Steam 360 library. Give it a go and you can check out Lego Batman, the Amazon rain-forest, and more.
A highlight game for the week is the critically well received Battlezone. It released on PS VR last year as one of its best launch titles and is now available for HTC Vive (and Rift), giving PC players a high-octane tank shooter to experience.
We also have a top list of the absolute best HTC Vive games — which is updated every few months with the latest and greatest options.
New HTC Vive Releases on Steam
Freeze Climbing, from Bottino.Games
Price: $2.99
Plan out your hand placement strategically in Freeze Climbing as you work your way up an icy dreamscape. Throw yourself across gaps and climb quickly, but be careful not to fall.
Recommendation: Look into this one but be careful if you’re quickly susceptible to motion sickness.
Dali 17 – VR Museum Tours, from Greenfield Workshop
Price: $19.99
Embrace your cultured elements as you explore 18 suites in the virtual museum that is Dali 17. Immerse yourself into the mind of the legendary Salvador Dali via 280+ works. You can also take in the surroundings of the place where Dali lived and worked in the 1940s.
Recommendation: If you’re an art enthusiast, this is for you.
Star Dust: The Book of Earth, from SKYLENS TECHNOLOGY
Price: $5.99
In Star Dust, 21st century humankind concocted a plan to explore into the furthest reaches of space. Science and technology blossomed, but we weren’t ready for our first contact with alien life. Your role in this space action shooter starts after the homeland has been left in ruins and a new star fleet has been built.
Recommendation: Great visuals, but relatively boring gameplay. Worth a shot if you want something pretty, though, at that price.
Domain Defense VR, from Inclusion Studios
Price: $8.99 (Currently Discounted)
Domain Defense is a table top tower defense with dynamic weather, a table you can walk around fully, special abilities, and bosses that expand outside of the play area. The game includes a few different modes such as an endless rush and an immersive experience where all data is handled on the game board.
Recommendation: Clever premise for fans of board games.
Void Rangers, from Martin Senovsky
Price: $9.59 (Currently Discounted)
Grab yourself a couple blasters and immerse yourself in Void Rangers, an intense shooter with endless waves, weapon upgrades, and a leader-board to be conquered.
Recommendation: This is VR bullet-hell. In a really good way. Purchase this even if you’re bored of wave shooters.
Dark Mechanism, from Field Of Vision
Price: $1.19 (Currently Discounted)
In Dark Mechanism, take on an infinite amount of levels and obstacles to the tune of upbeat music. Styled after infinite runners, your reaction speed and focus will be put to the test.
Recommendation: If you have an affinity for infinite runners, this is right up your alley.
Battlezone, from Rebellion
Price: $33.99 (Currently Discounted)
Battlezone brings the high-octane Cobra tank battle to VR with a procedurally generated campaign for up to 4 players, a plethora of equipment and power-ups, and tanks to unlock.
Speed and Scream is a collection of high-speed experiences that take you from the surface of the moon to the realm of the dead. You and your friends can strap in enjoy the virtual rides of your life.
Recommendation: Don’t buy any more VR coasters.
Blastercell, from Robot Games
Price: $0.84 (Currently Discounted)
Blastercell drops you into the cold reaches of space for a twin-stick shooter experience. Shoot down asteroids and other ships, restoring your fuel and raising the score for as long as you can.
Recommendation: Arcade excitement but not an immersive experience. Super inexpensive though for retro fans.
Puppy Doge VR, from Chun Y.
Price: $0.99
The pup simulator you’ve been waiting for has arrived, but not really. Puppy Doge gives you three puppies to choose from so you can pet, feed, or play fetch with them.
Recommendation: Very limited experience. Skip it. Better VR pet simulators are still a little ways away.
CubeBall VR, from Tachyon Factory
Price: $6.99
CubeBall VR taps nostalgia, bringing back classic puzzle toys that many experienced as a child. There are also some concepts developed from scratch with more to be added in the future.
Recommendation: This game isn’t as exciting as other puzzle experiences for a similar price, but could be worth the nostalgic vibes.
Red vs Blue 360, from Rooster Teeth
Price: Free
Experience the classic Red vs Blue series and watch the chaos in Blood Gulch unfold in 360-degrees.
Recommendation: This first episode is part of the Steam 360 beta program. Check it out.
Alien Covenant In Utero, from MPC VR
Price: Free
This Alien Covenant tie-in comes right in time for Mother’s Day. The 360-degree journey takes you through loving and personal experience of giving birth to an alien neomorph. What more could you ask for?
Recommendation: Get this and bring extra underwear.
A CHALLENGE, from Brigantine Films, LTD.
Price: Free
Shot with OZO, A Challenge is a VR thriller is a captivating look into the realities of Stockholm Syndrome.
Recommendation: Another entry for the Steam 360 program. See if it’s to your liking.
Red Cube VR, from Egidijus Bachur, Bartosh Polonski, and Urte Milda Sirvinskaite
Price: $9.79 (Currently Discounted)
Confront your own consciousness in Red Cube as you dive into your deepest fears. The game brings an intense shooter experience to a distorted and imaginative world filled with your inner demons.
Recommendation: The atmosphere and art direction set this game apart and make it a solid addition to any library.
The Hunger Games 360, from Lionsgate
Price: Free
In this 360-degree Hunger Games experience, you’ll be able to journey through key moments in Katniss’ battles across all four films.
Recommendation: If you’re a fan of the franchise, check it out for zero dollars.
The Blank Canvas – Hacking Nature, from The Blank Canvas, Lobo
Price: Free
The Blank Canvas is a 360-degree film experience that uses the immersive medium to better express the ideas of some of the most brilliant minds. Some concepts are difficult to express but creators believe this format to be a better way to explain.
Recommendation: Definitely check this one out.
Lego Batman ‘The Batmersive Experience’, from Warner Bros.
Price: Free
The Lego Bat is the best Bat in the business. The Batmersive Experience gives you a 360-degree look into the Lego Batcave and how it feels to be his esteemed sidekick. You’ll also encounter some of his friends and Gotham’s rogue gallery.
Recommendation: It’s Batman. Come on.
Under the Canopy, from Jaunt, Inc.
Price: Free
Under the Canopy is an immersive documentary about the world’s greatest rainforest and how it is under threat. Soar over treetops and plunge into rivers around the Amazon and learn of one of the planet’s greatest and most beautiful treasures.
Recommendation: This is a different flavor for the Steam 360 launch. Watch it.
Pixvana 360 Production Series, from Pixvana Productions
Price: Free
The Pixvana Production Series collects a broad range of content for the 360-degree medium that shows off unique ideas and techniques. Currently, you get soccer, dance, and an inside look into a Seattle artist studio.
Recommendation: Give it a go.
Cyberdrifter, from UziGames
Price: $9.99
In Cyberdrifter you take on the role of Jack Torrents and take on a rogue AI in a virtual world. The retro design of the game has you infiltrating, shooting, and dodging as you work toward your goal.
Recommendation: Still in Early Access, but not bad so far.
New HTC Vive Releases on Viveport
StarPlayerVR, from OrangeStar
Price: $9.00 (also on Steam)
StarPlayerVR is a virtual media manager that gives you the expected features for a collection of media formats, while also giving you the chance to view within different settings. Once you make your choice of video, you can sit on the surface of the moon, the beach, or even a cemetery for a viewing.
Recommendation: No need to jump on it if you have a media manager you’re satisfied with, but certainly look into it if you haven’t found your favorite yet.
There are a handful of apps in the VR software ecosystem that serve as escapist experiences by whisking the user away into calm environments like serene forests or a private island. The interactive elements in some of these are minimal, instead getting the user to embrace a sort of virtual trance inspired by the sights and sounds of these places.
Fisher Wallace Labs, a company known for their stimulator that is used to combat insomnia and depression, is taking the isolated nature of VR and magnifying it to become a tool for stress and sleep management. Created in conjunction with Arrow Electronics, Fisher Wallace Lab’s Kortex device is strapped to the rear of a user’s head where the device stimulates the brain in order to produce serotonin and melatonin while reducing cortisol. The combination of actions increases the potential for a calming sensation and rest while countering stress. It can be used by itself or in conjunction with any VR headset. This all sounds wonderful in theory, but what do the studies say?
We reached out to Fisher Wallace via email and discussed some results of using Kortex with Fisher Wallace Labs co-founder Kelly Roman.
“In 2009, we performed a 392-subject study with the Fisher Wallace Stimulator at Phoenix House, the nation’s largest non-profit drug rehab center,” Roman says. “Heroin and cocaine addicts reported improved sleep as a result of using our device, and we increased 90-day rehab retention by 50% versus standard rehab. This is one reason why the Fisher Wallace Stimulator was approved by Medicaid in Maine last year to treat opioid addiction patients – the first state Medicaid to approve us.”
That approval means Medicaid patients in Maine can get the Fisher Wallace Stimulator at no cost to them. There’s a 100-subject, double-blind, placebo-controlled insomnia study currently underway at the University of Texas but the data already received from the stimulator is beneficial right now because Kortex clones it technologically. “By combining our neurostimulation with VR that’s geared to relaxing patients, we expect to see even better results – much more to come,” Roman says.
If you want to read up a bit more on the free game included with Kortex, Land’s End, you’ll see it found a home on our list of the best nine games for the Samsung Gear VR back in November of last year. When asked if the Kortex could have proprietary VR content designed for it, Roman told us they’re planning to build an engagement app modeled after the same apps used in clinical trials that will help users stay motivated and retained with reminders and goals.
“I think there is a huge opportunity on the content side – not just for relaxing or meditative VR, but also for prescription VR therapy, telepsychiatry and physical therapy, and performance/learning/training software,” Roman adds.
“There may be times that you don’t have a VR headset, or just want to use Kortex with your eyes closed on the plane, etc – those use cases are the same we have for the Fisher Wallace Stimulator. But Kortex was designed for VR because VR content is a powerful and complimentary tool,” Roman explains. “I see a very near future in which many baby boomers and other demographics will primarily use VR only for the healthcare value – who will never play an action game. Kortex is synonymous with VR healthcare. Right now, Kortex gives VR healthcare the scientific legs it needs to start sprinting.
The Fisher Wallace team recently added MIT engineers to their team specifically to complete the design package and everything looks to be on track for a late July release with the slightest potential to bleed into August. Head over to the IndieGoGo page if you want to get your hands on Kortex, currently priced at $349, at launch.
With any type of head-mounted display, prescription lens garbed users are typically left out in the cold (or profoundly uncomfortable in some of the major HMDs) until a special solution is crafted. Some VR headsets can be a nuisance especially, not allowing a lot of room for glasses to be worn depending on their design. The VR Lens Lab sought to be the solution for this particular problem a year ago when their VR headset inserts were crowd funded. They’ve served over 5,500 people since and now they’re taking the next step with glasses specifically designed for major VR headsets.
The VR Frames start at 49 euros ($53.23 USD) for the standard frame shaped for HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, Google Daydream, Samsung Gear VR, and PlayStation VR. If you have a prescribed lens, you add 39 euros ($95.59 USD total). When you select the prescription option, you’re given 7 drop-down menus to customize your order (8 if you have a different pupillary distance for each lens).
The VR Lens Lab has positioned themselves well as a place where users must go to achieve end-to-end comfort for their VR experience, an experience that lives or dies on that comfort. Considering how important accessibility is, VR Lens Lab or a competitor could end up developing an even closer relationship with VR headset manufacturers as the immersive technology becomes more popular.
The lenses are also available with an additional safety feature option. VR Lens Lab’s Blueguard coating, for an added 20 euros, protects your eyes from harmful low-energy blue light emitted from displays and also enhances contrast for a sharper image.
The glasses are currently available to order on the VR Lens Lab website and, if your prescription can’t be recreated in the standard form, there’s also a custom request form where you can submit and await a response as the team determines if and at what price they complete the order.
On March 1st of this year, we reviewed Oculus’ and Epic Games’ Robo Recall on the Rift with a score of 7.5. We defined it as a fun and frantic shooter that expertly showcases the potential of the Oculus Touch controllers (the game comes free with their purchase) only truly hindered by a high degree of repetition. It continues to receive support since launch and, in a pretty big move, Epic Games is adding localization for other non-English speaking markets.
In the press release for the announcement, game producer Tommy Jacob says “players have been blowing up the Robo Recall leaderboards since launch”. Localization for Korean, German, Spanish, and French players will welcome and hopefully inspire new players in the regions to throw their hats into the ring and try to dethrone top players. The translations will include both spoken dialog with characters as well as written text.
The virtual headsets and the software ecosystem both continue to try to find their identity as interest expands in their limited markets, so localization efforts are few and far between to areas without a substantial VR market. It’s encouraging to see Robo Recall get an update such as this and, with things like fan-made mods coupled with continued developer support, VR software moves ever closer to providing the full PC gaming experience end to end.
The acronym for Augmented World Expo (AWE) welcomes a wonderful play on words, recognizing the incredible minds behind augmented and virtual reality as the tech superheroes they are and having attendees to stare in “AWE” at their work. Even their website and trailer (below) for 2017’s expo imbue a heroic theme, building buzz for the event with high energy.
Today, they’ve announced the keynotes and speaking sessions for its 8th year and it certainly seems excitement for AWE permeates across the tech industry as they gain more and more notable speakers, exhibitors, and partners.
The event’s three keynotes will be hosted by “Shots of Awe” filmmaker, philosopher and futurist Jason Silva, “The Fourth Transformation” author and Transformative Group partner Robert Scoble, and game designer, author and Carnegie Mellon scholar Jesse Schell. In addition, over 300 speakers are on the agenda from a wide range of companies in and around the AR and VR industries. Individuals from companies such as HTC Vive, NVIDIA, Osterhout, Unity, castAR, Qualcomm, Leap Motion, Meta, Verizon, Dell, Oculus, and more will be among the over 300 featured speakers in attendance.
“Together, iconic technology companies, Fortune 500 brands and pure platform startups are building groundbreaking experiences and business models using augmented and virtual reality, at a pace we’ve never seen before,” said Ori Inbar, founder and executive producer of AWE in a prepared statement. “We are excited to have AWE back in Silicon Valley this year for what we expect to be our biggest and most inclusive event yet. AWE has become the premier deal-making marketplace for the AR+VR industry, where Fortune 500 companies find business solutions, strategic partnerships are forged, funds raised, talent hired, and new startups are born.”
AWE 2017 is being held at the Santa Clara Convention Center from May 31st to June 2nd. Event details and registration options are now live at the official website.
Some of the most common questions asked by people interested in the VR industry are: What headset is selling the most? What content gets downloaded? And is it worth it for me to buy now?
Very rarely do we get a completely candid look into the exact sale and download numbers, typically having to collect scatterings of information to create an educated estimate. There are companies that are dedicated to these types of estimates, but even they should be taken with a grain of salt. Understanding that, the data they accumulate can paint an interesting picture and Superdata Research‘s newly released information paints a telling picture: the PlayStation VR (PSVR) and Samsung Gear outsold the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive by a large margin in Q1 of 2017.
Reported on Venturebeat, the new info from Superdata gave estimates for Q1 2017 sale numbers of five VR headsets and the numbers went as follows:
Gear VR: 782,000
PlayStation VR: 375,000
Google Daydream: 170,000
HTC Vive: 95,000
Oculus Rift: 64,000
With a little bit of math, we can tell that the PSVR actually sold almost 4x as many units in the first quarter of 2017 as the HTC Vive. Moreover, the Vive is outpacing the Rift and Gear VR is outpacing them all by quite a large margin.
Gear VR leading the charge is no surprise considering the ease of adoption with a significantly lower price than Vive and Rift and the dependence on the largely available smartphone. PSVR coming in second place highlights another aspect of accessibility since that headset piggybacks on the PS4, which already has a massive install base estimated to be nearly 60 million worldwide. Purchasing or upgrading a capable gaming PC is an expensive endeavor for the average consumer and, in the eyes of that consumer, the value of the higher-end tethered units isn’t enough for them to dig into their piggy banks.
Ultimately, not much of this is surprising. The Vive and Rift will continue to charge forward with ways to improve their definitive VR experiences while finding ways to lower the price and mobile VR will attempt to find ways to counteract their limited power and resolution to provide a stout virtual experience that’s widely accessible. It’s only a matter of time before a headset lands right in the sweet spot.
Today Google announced via their blog that they’ve acquired Owlchemy Labs, the creators of Job Simulator and Rick and Morty: Virtual Rick-ality. The move comes as a bit of a surprise, given the two companies didn’t seem to have much of a preexisting relationship, but is huge news for the VR industry nevertheless. The partnership will be similar to Google’s role with Tilt Brush studio, Skillman & Hackett.
Owlchemy Labs have established themselves as a premiere developer of VR content over the last year, earning $3 million in sales with Job Simulator, and has a penchant for creating intuitive, hilarious, and immersive worlds that you want to reach out and interact with. It’s worth noting that, even though Google has its own VR content platform in the form of Daydream, they will not prevent Owlchemy from releasing their projects on other headsets such as the Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, or PlayStation VR (PSVR).
In fact, Owlchemy doesn’t have a single app available on Google Daydream as of the time of this writing.
“We set out on a journey over six years ago to build the kinds of games we wanted to see exist,” states the Owlchemy blog post on the topic. “Over those years, we learned that Owlchemy, at its core, cares deeply about a few key things: building quality multi-platform games, solving tough problems with a small but absurdly talented team, sharing our learnings with the community, and Austin’s famous tacos. Now, as we look to the future with Google by our side, we couldn’t be happier. Our plan to build awesome things will continue forward stronger than ever.
“This means Owlchemy will continue building high quality VR content for platforms like the HTC Vive, Oculus Touch, and PlayStation VR. This means continuing to focus on hand interactions and high quality user experiences, like with Job Simulator. This means continuing our mission to build VR for everyone, and doing all of this as the same silly Owlchemy Labs you know and love. We are continuing to do all of this with even more support and focus on building awesome stuff. It’s incredibly exciting that Google and Owlchemy are so well aligned on our goals and vision for the future of VR.”
We will continue to provide updates on this story as we find out more information. For more details on the making of Rick and Morty VR, read our behind-the-scenes story and watch the mini-documentary above.
Update: This story was originally published as a short blurb and was updated with more details afterwards by Games Editor David Jagneaux.
USC’s Institute for Creative Technologies works across graphics, learning sciences, medical VR, mixed reality, and much more, and the institute has played a major part in the development of many new technologies that move from research labs into widespread use.
“This is where Palmer Luckey cut his teeth in our mixed-reality labs before he did his Kickstarter,” says current ICT Research Assistant Professor Ari Shapiro. Luckey went on to co-found one of the breakthrough companies in the VR industry with Oculus and its Rift headset, so it is no surprise that ICT could end up serving as the origins for other pioneering pieces of technology.
Easy 3D Avatars
The graphics lab at ICT captures high-quality digital faces for film with special (and expensive) scanning equipment. Shapiro runs a research group there called the Character Animation Simulation Research Group and one of its goals is to create a digital person that can behave like a real one. There are certainly means to do this, but not in a financially accessible way that produces a high-quality final product.
“Can we generate something high-quality with off the shelf scanners and an automatic process,” ask Shapiro. “When you do that, do you essentially democratize this type of data? What if everyone could have their own avatar?”
Shapiro’s team has done studies to determine the objective value of such a tool, learning that there’s an interest in running a simulation with a version of yourself. Then they determined what elements of a person needed to be reflected in these digital creations.
“What other elements of us need to be embedded? Our personality, our style, our posture, and that sort of thing,” he adds.
The research group started testing with Microsoft’s Kinect four years ago, doing some body scanning and facial scanning. It resulted in ways to scan the face/body, attach hands and fingers, etc, but the major key was that it was obtained with off the shelf components. Not only does the removal of specialized equipment drop cost, you also don’t need artists or technicians in the loop. Years later, the video above shows a functional prototype that shows off realistic avatars with realistic expressions to boot.
Where Are We Now?
Shapiro says the plan is to commercialize this tool as much as possible and he sees opportunities for social VR and augmented shopping applications where users can try on different things using a replica of themselves. The software is up and running and they’ve done a few hundred demos so they’re moving rapidly along the path to making this available, but Shapiro says there’s still more to figure out when it comes to the face.
“We’re making a choice that a lot of people don’t make when they do these facial generation systems,” he says. “Most of the time, they have a working facial rig and they try to adapt it to a scan or a photograph.”
With that style, you end up with something that works and is able to “emote your speech” well but it doesn’t resemble the person as closely as desired. You’re basically trying to “fill in data” where you don’t have it.
“We’re doing the opposite. We’re basically saying that whatever you give us, we’re going to use that to reproduce the person. Ours look real with the limitation that, if you don’t give it particular emotional expressions, your character can’t do it,” he explains.
The attempt to stretch and pull these reproductions in order to exhibit emotions is how you fall into the uncanny valley — where an avatar looks almost human but is off just enough to make people seeing it uncomfortable. This is something Shapiro and his team hopes to avoid. They also want to reach a high level of quality for facial scanning that can allow for teeth and tongue modeling too.
Ultimate Goal
“If you have to use specialized equipment that can only be used in specific places, you might as well go down the traditional pipeline,” Shapiro said. He explains that well-equipped visual effects teams can produce content that looks and possibly functions better than what this rapid-scan technology puts out, but accessibility is the end goal.
“We’re trying to work it into a consumer platform,” Shapiro says. “The overall goal of this project is to create a set of technology that anybody can use to produce their avatar for any means.”
Ari Shapiro also serves as CEO for Embody Digital, a company specializing in technology for the “digital you”, and they’re already working on ways to commercialize the technology and make it available to consumers. Seems like it is only a matter of time before you’re scanning yourself into the virtual experience of your choosing.
As companies maneuver through content plans that include VR and AR, it is encouraging to see renewed interest with a doubling-down of efforts. Such a thing hopefully signals that the teams making the calls for immersive content truly value the medium.
Back in October of 2016, we reported on USA Today launching their cleverly named VR news series VRtually There. The show transported viewers to unfamiliar places, even giving us an intimate look at the Toughest Mudder endurance event, and USA Today has now announced the release of the second season.
The press release for the newly announced 2nd season of VRtually There revealed some exciting statistics for the first season. “With over ten million views of ‘VRtually There,’ we are bringing together amazing advances in VR technology and an even higher ambition to tell the most gripping stories and bring new experiences to our audience in VR,” says David Hamlin, Executive Producer of VRtually There. “We are focused on five content areas that we know our audience enjoyed based on prior performance, and are even more unique and thrilling for viewers.”
We don’t have any specific insight on the five content areas that VRtually There’s second season will focus on but, considering it mirror’s the debut episode, it stands to reason that the Hawaii hang-gliding focus on the first episode of season two means extreme sports did well with USA Today’s VR audience. In addition, the episode will give viewers a look at a Goodyear blimp that will be retired after 50 years in service and elephant seals in a California state park.
