Author: Scott Hayden

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Sony’s PSVR Video Quick Start Guide Makes Way for Arrival of New Model (CUH-ZVR2)

Now that Sony’s hardware refresh of PlayStation VR is nearly here with Christmas around the bend, the company has published an updated version of it 3-part guide on how to set up PSVR including instructions for both models, CUH-ZVR1 and CUH-ZVR2. While the updated model is slated to arrive via a Skyrim VR + PSVR bundle, the video is clearly making way for the anticipated fun dealing with wires, adaptors, so on and so forth.

You should find a much more comprehensive written guide in the box. You can also download the manual here.

Part 1 – Unboxing

This section covers everything that comes in the box, including printed manual, Processor unit, USB cable, AC adaptor, stereo headphones, AC power cord and HDMI cable. Users with the previous model (CUH-ZVR1) should also find a VR headset connection cable in the box, something the newer model has integrated.

Part 2 – Plugging it in

The second part gets a little more complicated. We’ve included a quick recap below the video if you have trouble following along.

  1. Plug in headphones.
  2. Connect the PS Camera to PS4.
  3. Disconnect HDMI from the back of the PS4 and plug it into the processor unit, leaving the other end still plugged into the TV.
  4. Take the number 1 HDMI cable and connect the PS4 and Processor unit.
  5. Plug USB cable number 2 to the back of the PS4 and back of the Processor unit.
  6. Connect the power cord to the AC adaptor and plug the AC adaptor cable (labeled number 3) to the back of the Processor unit. Make sure it’s plugged into a wall socket.

CUH-ZVR2: Since the Processor unit is slightly different (allowing for HDR pass-through), you don’t have a ‘VR headset connection cable’, but rather a ‘VR headset cable’. Connect the PSVR to the front of the Processor unit using this cable, making sure to line up the symbols.

CUH-ZVR1: The older unit has a cable-locking function on the Processor unit that slides back in order to connect the ‘VR headset connection cable’. Take that cable and attach it to the PSVR’s number 5 cord.

Once everything is hooked up, you can then turn on the TV first, then the PS4, then the PSVR last. The blue tracking lights should be glowing

Part 3 – Getting the Perfect Play Area and Right Fit

This last section covers Camera Placement, since the headset requires unobstructed view with the camera to maintain adequate tracking. Sony suggests either directly on top of your TV, or directly under. You can then setup your play area, which Sony suggests at 6 x 10 feet. Remember to clear out your play area so you don’t punch your mom or kick your collection of Fabergé eggs.

Sony asks you to stay seated for your PSVR experience, although there are clearly games designed for a standing experience (Skyrim VR sounds like a great candidate). Just keep in mind that the closer you are to the PS Camera, the less of a ‘tracking cone’ you’ll have, so you need to stay well aware of your area not only for safety, but for optimal function of the headset.

From here, it’s all about finding your right fit. First, adjust the ‘scope’, or how close the display fits to your face, all the way out. Make the headband bigger with the ‘headband release button’. Placing it correctly on your head, you can then crank the headstrap down nice and snug with the little adjustment dial in the back. Now, move the display closer or farther away using the ‘scope button’.

And there you have it! That was only slightly less complicated than setting up an HTC Vive or Oculus Rift!

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Oculus is Now Offering Free Demos of ‘MARVEL Powers United VR’ at Select Retail Locations

Oculus is now giving free demos of MARVEL Powers United VR, the upcoming super hero adventure for Rift, across its many partner retail locations. If you’ve had a chance to try out Rift in a store lately, you might just be able to secure a demo for Powers United at the same location.

Oculus is hosting MARVEL Powers United VR demos at hundreds of participating Best Buy stores in the US, select Currys PC World and John Lewis stores in the UK, and participating FNAC locations in France.

To see if a location demoing MARVEL Powers United VR is near you, click here.

The demo session tosses you into the Sakaar Arena, where you battle minions with your super powers while working together to collect power cells so you can turn on a shield generator. Once the shield is up, you’ll go head-to-head with Loki.

In the demo, you can choose from between 5 characters, although there’s at least 13 heroes coming to the full game. For the demo, you can choose from:

  • Black Bolt
  • Captain Marvel
  • Crystal
  • Hulk
  • Thor
1 of 6



Loki, image courtesy Marvel



Thor, image courtesy Marvel



Black Bolt, image courtesy Marvel



Crystal, image courtesy Marvel



Captain Marvel, image courtesy Marvel



Hulk, image courtesy Marvel

Marvel Powers United VR doesn’t have a specific launch date yet, although Oculus has said it should be coming sometime in 2018. In the meantime though, take a look at our hands-on with the game where we get a chance to suit up as the high-flying Captain Marvel.

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Pimax Ends VR Headset Kickstarter With Over $4.2M and a Truly Massive Job Ahead

Pimax, the China-based company promising a few flavors of its high field of view (FOV) headset, has successfully completed its Kickstarter with $4,236,618, a good 21 times more than the initial $200,000 funding goal set at its launch back in mid-September. Now, Pimax’s road ahead will be defined by how they deliver on the plethora of ‘next gen’ add-ons promised to go along with 3 versions of their SteamVR-compatible headset.

First revealed mere days before the launch of the Kickstarter, Pimax showed off a bevy of modular accessories like a wireless transmitter, prescription glasses frame, scent-enabling module, inside-out hand tracking module, eye-tracking module, cooling fan, and headband with integrated audio—all either neatly clipped in place with magnets or attached with a simple screwdriver.

Being able to snap high-tech pieces onto an already decidedly ‘next gen’ package, which has been shown to deliver a highly immersive 200 degree FOV and a massive uptick in resolution over current consumer headsets, is a genuinely interesting prospect to say the least.

It was an interesting idea, but it wasn’t until the first set of stretch goals were announced that we learned Pimax intended on actually offering a selection of these extendable modules to backers, some of them for free of course as a hearty thank-you for being an early adopter. While it’s difficult to say if these are all feasible or not, one thing can be said: this is a herculean undertaking. If Pimax can deliver on most of what it’s set out to accomplish, it’ll make them a trusted name among the VR community. If not, well, fading into obscurity is always an option too.

image courtesy Pimax

We of course can’t pretend to know the company’s manufacturing capability outside of what it’s already shown with the Pimax “4K” headset, which at very least demonstrates their ability to mass manufacture and ship headsets. There’s also the prototype headsets shown all over the world that provided a reassuringly positive experience to many, including Tested.

Some of these freebies however could easily fetch the interest of their own dedicated Kickstarter campaigns (some even have already, including VR Lens Lab, VR Cover Facial Interfaces, and FOVE eye-tracking headset), so it remains to be seen exactly how Pimax intends on delivering some of their more complex add-ons. Because the “4K” headset doesn’t offer any of these things, this makes it a company-first.

SEE ALSO
Pimax "8K" Surpasses Oculus Rift as Top VR Headset Kickstarter Project, $2.45M Raised So Far

The count of free items coming to all backers above the $349 Early Bird “5K” headset tier includes:

  • additional face cushion
  • headstrap with integrated audio
  • customized prescription glasses
  • cooling fan
  • eye-tracking module

The company is also promising backers a $100 off coupon for their TPCast-style wireless transmitter.

If this weren’t already enough, with only a few dollars shy of the $4 million mark, Pimax barely had time to offer its final stretch goal—the choice of two Knuckles-style controllers—before the Kickstarter clocked well past $4 million. Now the company says it will be offering both styles of Knuckles controllers, one with a trackpad and another with a thumb-stick.

These two controllers are being offered (presumably at an additional price) on top of the company’s Vive-style controllers and its own version of Valve’s Lighthouse basestations that, thanks to open licensing, offer interoperability with HTC Vive’s accessories.

Pimax says in their latest update that producing both controllers instead of settling on one isn’t particularly difficult: “Mass production is not an issue for us. Our manufacturing partners are top tier ODM factories, e.g. BYD, with over 180,000 workers. Many of our team members have rich experiences in producing and shipping smart devices. e.g. mobile phones, tablets. Our team members have shipped totally over 100 million in their career.”

SEE ALSO
Acer Takes Majority Control of StarVR with $5M Capital Injection

The Final Tally

So here’s a quick re-cap of everything Pimax has to produce to fulfill their promises to Kickstarter backers (some free, some paid add-ons):

  • Special backer-only “5K” headset (dual 2,560 × 1,440 LCD panels)
  • “8K” VR headset (dual 3,840 × 2,160 LCD panels)
  • “8K” X VR headset (same resolution as “8K”, but no upscaler)
  • Lighthouse basestations
  • Knuckle-style controller w/ trackpad
  • Knuckle-style controller w/ thumbstick
  • Cloth headstrap
  • Halo-style headstrap w/ and w/o integrated audio
  • Extra face cushions
  • Prescription eyeglasses frame
  • Cooling fan
  • TPCast-style wireless transmitter
  • Clip-in eye-tracking module
  • Hand motion-tracking module

According to the campaign, headsets are slated to arrive starting January 2018 for both Early Bird “5K” and “8K” headsets, with the bulk of them coming in February 2018. The “8K” X is slated to ship sometime in May 2018.

As the top-funded VR Kickstarter campaign in existence, we’ll be following Pimax as it starts out on its journey to manufacturing and ships out its plethora of headsets and headset accessories to eager backers with the clear hopes that the company delivers on everything it’s promised.

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Microsoft to Expand HoloLens Availability to 29 More European Markets in December

Microsoft announced at their at Future Decoded conference in London that HoloLens, the company’s augmented reality headset, will be expanding its international availability to include all of the European Union in December. HoloLens is currently only officially available in Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Ireland, Japan, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

Starting December 1st, HoloLens will be available in the following countries: Netherlands, Norway, Switzerland, Austria, Sweden, Denmark, Italy, Spain, Belgium, Finland, Luxembourg, Poland, Liechtenstein, Iceland, Estonia, Czech Republic, Latvia, Slovakia, Lithuania, Romania, Hungary, Portugal, Bulgaria, Turkey, Croatia, Greece, Malta, Cyprus, and Slovenia.

image courtesy Microsoft

If you’re in one of those countries, you can either wait for local availability, or alternatively contact Microsoft here via e-mail to begin the ordering process now. Microsoft says it won’t be stocking HoloLens in stores, making it only available through your local version of the online Microsoft Store.

At a base price of €3.300 for the HoloLens Development Edition and €5.490 for the HoloLens Commercial Suite, the headset mostly appeals to enterprise users, with Microsoft providing industrial and information workers Universal Windows apps focused on tasks like remote assistance, training, design, real-time collaboration, virtual meetings, and data and analytics processing. Microsoft says the HoloLens Commercial Suite is “[i]deal for organizations,” and includes the Development Edition hardware, plus a warranty and enterprise features “for added security and device management.”

Currently HoloLens only supports English, something that will hopefully change in the near future despite EU-based professionals almost universally relying on English for both extra-EU as well as inter-EU dealings.

image courtesy Microsoft

What’s in the box

  • Microsoft HoloLens Development Edition
  • Clicker
  • Carrying case
  • Microfiber cloth
  • Charger
  • Micro-USB 2.0 cable

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Amazon Brings Augmented Reality Product Previews to iOS App

‘Try it before you buy it’, the old adage goes. Well, an AR preview might not exactly be ‘trying it’, but Amazon’s new ‘AR View’ function aims to help you figure out if a crock-pot clashes with your marble counters, or if that chair can really fit in that corner, adding a little more depth to the online shopping experience than you’re used to.

Now, US-based iPhone users running iOS 11 can start placing thousands of true-to-scale virtual items in their home to see just what they’re getting before the package comes.

Simply tap the camera in the Amazon app and then tap ‘AR View’ to browse products in AR—containing everything from chairs to teapots.

Amazon’s ‘AR View’ is exclusive to iPhones for now. Android users with flagship-level phones could soon have access to a host of similar AR functions however thanks to Google’s ARCore, which was announced a few months after Apple’s ARKit. ARCore is soon to be available on Google Pixel devices and Samsung Galaxy S8 and above, but won’t be integrated into other Android phones until Google and its partners think it’s ready.

Retailing giants like IKEA, Target, and Wayfair have also added AR functions to their iOS apps, making it easier for you to buy physical items by giving you a reliable visual representation—but there’s an interesting side effect to all this that people still aren’t really talking about. Effectively companies are now digitizing their products, and probably trying to find out ways to do it quicker so they can eventually offer their entire catalog virtually.

SEE ALSO
8 Cool AR Apps to Try Now That Apple iOS 11 is Here

While low-profile, high-function AR headsets are still somewhere in our near future (with a form factor that doesn’t make it look like you’re wearing a weird helmet), these first steps by retailers to offer virtual shopping, albeit it with a limited catalog, will no doubt be considered integral features in upcoming AR headsets of tomorrow. Now, the virtual items represented are little more than hollow props, but the level of articulation these items could take on in the future might actually let you ‘try it before you buy it’ in a certain sense. The possibility of browsing through AR portals stocked with virtual microwave ovens that let you microwave a burrito to hear what the ding sounds like when it’s done, or a flat-pack desk that shows you how to assemble it before you buy it, aren’t really that far out. Creating such a detailed 3D item is entirely possible now, although probably not feasible on a large scale. Not yet anyway.

Healthy speculation aside, virtual reality is here now in consumers hands from a variety of established brands, and companies like Amazon haven’t plunged head-first into creating VR shopping apps for a reason—retailers know AR is instantly going to appeal to average consumers as a productivity device and they’re starting now so that when it comes time, they’ll be at the forefront.

Some of our articles feature Amazon affiliate links. We’ve disabled them for this article.

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‘Star Wars: Droid Repair’ VR Experience Comes to Consumer Headsets Next Week – New Trailer

Hold onto your extendable plastic lightsabers, kiddies, because ILMxLAB and Lucasfilm recently announced a new Star Wars–themed VR experience, Star Wars: Droid Repair Bay — Astro-Mechanic for the Resistance. While the experience was originally only announced to debut… for some reason… in Nissan car dealerships, the experience is now set to launch next week on SteamVR, Viveport, and Gear VR.

Update (11/29/17): Announced earlier this month, Star Wars: Droid Repair Bay became available first in select Nissan car dealerships, but today ILMxLab announced the experience will launch come December 6th on SteamVR, Viveport, and Gear VR. A new trailer accompanied the news:

Though the announcement makes no mention of the Rift, it’s expected the SteamVR version will work fine given the platform’s inherent Rift support, and that the prior Trials on Tatooine (2016) experience works with the Rift. No price is mentioned in the announcement, though it isn’t clear whether or not the experience will launch for free.

Original Article (11/2/17): As chief astromech technician aboard General Leia’s ship, users are tasked with repairing BB-8 and a number of (less-marketable) droids that are needed for the war effort, according to the Lucasfilm’s Star Wars blog. Developed for HTC Vive and Samsung Gear VR, the experience is coming soon to select Nissan dealerships in the US, Mexico, and Canada.

From the description, it sounds like a neat diversion, similar to Valve’s Portal: Aperture Robot Repair released as an early demo for HTC Vive. Hocking it in Nissan dealerships feels odd, though it’s likely that Nissan paid to have the experience produced to draw people into their dealerships as part of their broader Star Wars themed marketing campaign.

As Lucasfilm’s experimental immersive media wing, ILMxLab has been producing its distinctly Star Wars–flavored pieces for VR like Star Wars Trials on Tatooine since it was founded in 2015, which ideally immerse you in the galaxy far far away as a bid to keep you living and breathing Star Wars until they can get you into theaters for the next big franchise movie. And as the next Sisyphean Star Wars hype cycle moves into full swing, I can’t help but think this was whipped out, or re-purposed to fulfill a contractual obligation to provide Nissan with something, anything for its ‘Master The Drive’ sales event.

image courtesy Nissan

Given it’s an official VR experience promoting Star Wars: The Last Jedi, it’s also hard to imagine anything more banal than experiencing the Earth-shattering debut of “brand new astromechs with their own unique personalities and original designs” while waiting for the salesman to finalize your Altima lease, but at least it’s sure to be realized in the same high-quality we’ve come to expect from ILMxLab.

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New Darth Vader VR Experience Coming from ILMxLAB, Here's a Quick Peek

It’s uncertain if the latest Star Wars experience will also be available for the general public at some point to try out in their own homes where, you know, you don’t have to talk to car salesmen. We’ll of course keep you updated, so check back soon. [see update above]

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IMAX And Ubisoft Launch New Mission for ‘Star Trek: Bridge Crew’ at IMAX VR Centers

IMAX and Ubisoft today announced that a special edition of Star Trek: Bridge Crew (2017), Ubisoft’s co-op multiplayer set aboard a Federation vessel, is launching for an exclusive run in IMAX VR centers worldwide.

Created by Ubisoft’s Red Storm Entertainment, the new edition was “re-designed and optimized” for IMAX VR centers, the company’s dedicated out-of-home VR facilities, and contains a mission called Rescue at Perseph.

With up to four people per ‘pod’, the new mission puts players at the game’s familiar consoles set aboard the U.S.S. Aegis, and tasks the crew with rescuing a stranded group of Vulcan scientists escaping from a damaged space station. Klingon interference is mostly assured, because let’s face it, they aren’t known for doing the whole “peace” thing.

Star Trek: Bridge Crew – Rescue at Persephis is now available at the IMAX VR center in Los Angeles, but will be heading to the other two active locations in New York and Shanghai sometime soon. Upcoming centers are also set to open in the UK, Toronto, and other locations worldwide in the coming months.

SEE ALSO
'Star Trek: Bridge Crew' Review

Showings are blocked out in 20-minute intervals and are by reservation only. A minimum of 2 players is required (max 4), and end up costing $15 per person.

The LA location also hosts other VR experiences including Raw Data (2017), Eagle Flight (2016), John Wick Chronicles (2017), and Star Wars: Trials on Tatooine (2016)—making it a great first chance to get into a few different experiences if you haven’t been able to pop a VR headset before.

We gave Star Trek: Bridge Crew a solid [9/10] in our review for absolutely nailing the fun of social co-op. If the out-of-home setting can provide a quick entry into the game that still offers the challenge of learning your role (and owning it like the Captain you always knew you’d become), this stands to be one of the better experiences for larger groups.

‘Star Trek: Bridge Crew’ at IMAX VR LA

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Microsoft Joins OpenXR, Becoming a Decisive Backer in the Open, Royalty-free VR/AR Standard

Khronos Group, the consortium behind the OpenXR project which aims to standardize the way applications communicate with AR and VR headsets, just added Microsoft to its ranks. Among its count of members, the OpenXR working group consisted of nearly every major player in the industry except Microsoft until now.

By the virtue of its Windows operating system, the basis of which nearly every PC VR headset uses to function, Microsoft joining the OpenXR initiative represents a win for the others involved, which include industry players like Google, Oculus, HTC, AMD, NVIDIA, Epic Games, Unity, Intel, Qualcomm, Sony, Samsung and Valve.

image courtesy Khronos Group

Although guessing at a company’s motives is a bit like reading tea leaves sometimes, Microsoft taking part in building OpenXR makes a strong case for its ultimate interest in growing the open, royalty-free standard, and not trying to create its own internally developed “DirectXR” that would essentially dictate how headsets will talk to their OS. Up until now, it wasn’t clear which way Microsoft was headed.

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Revive Creator Joins OpenXR Initiative 'to help create a truly open VR standard'

Khronos says work on the actual OpenXR project has already begun and that it stands to eliminate market fragmentation by forcing VR applications and engines to be ported and customized to run on multiple VR runtimes, and requiring VR sensors and displays to be integrated with multiple driver interfaces.

There are however two reluctant holdouts left; Apple and Magic Leap, but it remains to be seen what either are bringing to the table.

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‘Stranger Things’ Comes to Gear VR in Latest ‘Face Your Fears’ Update, Face the Demogorgan

Face Your Fears (2016) is a collection of horrifying experiences ripped straight from your nightmares; creepy clowns, monsters in the closet, dangerous heights, and now the world of Netflix’s hit show Stranger Things.

In a new update, the Gear VR app promises a peek into the show’s sleepy town of Hawkins, Indiana, the idyllic small town that plays host to a rip in reality, opening up a passageway to what the show’s protagonists dub ‘The Upside Down’ – “a dimension that is a dark reflection, or echo, of our world. It is a place of decay and death, a plane out of phase, a place of monsters.”

While only about 8 minutes long, the experience is surprisingly well-done for a TV show tie-in, showing Turtle Rock Studio’s clear capability hone in on the level of ‘creep factor’ they’ve cultivated since the launch of the most well-known game Left 4 Dead (2008).

Taking you through a unique mini-narrative, you travel to the Upside Down, come face-to-face with a Demogorgan and sit helplessly as the world decays around you. It’s more than just jump scares and screaming monsters though. Like with all Face Your Fears experiences, it dials in the growing disquieting feeling with a great use of music and positional audio to keep you guessing.

‘Face Your Fears: Stranger Things’ for Gear VR

Locomotion through the real-time rendered experience is on-rails, meaning you go wherever the experience wants to take you. There are some misgivings with this, as the experience makes a brief use of forced rotation and camera bobbing, two ‘VR no no’s in Oculus’ Best Practice Guide. These are brief though and only slightly distract from the mounting terror of the Upside Down as it throws everything it has at you.

Face Your Fears is also available on Rift, but unfortunately doesn’t include many of the Gear VR app’s horrifying scenes like the Stranger Things experience, making this a Gear VR exclusive unless Turtle Rock deems it otherwise.

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Report: HTC to Unveil Standalone VR Headset at Vive Developer Conference in November

HTC could be showing off its standalone VR headset at the company’s November 14th Vive Developer Conference (VDC) in Beijing. As reported by YiVian, the conference has recently published promotional material featuring a veiled image of the company’s upcoming headset. To wit, HTC says it will have ‘some important announcements’ to make.

First teased at Google I/O 2017 developer conference, both HTC and Lenovo announced they were building standalone VR headsets featuring inside-out positional tracking for the Daydream platform—or in HTC’s case, the Viveport platform in China.

YiVian, an English-language publication that covers China’s tech industry, has recently come across a promotional flier for VDC 2017 which positions the shrouded Vive standalone in an unhatched egg – to be revealed at the conference in Beijing at the Crowne Plaza Beijing Sun Palace on November 14th.

While it’s no means a final nail in the coffin, the official promotional flier says (in English) “a new revolutionary immersive experience is here. Stay focused on the next wave of innovations in VR.”

Digging into trademark registrations, YiVian also found that HTC has recently registered the name “Vive M” in China, possibly meaning ‘Vive Mobile’—a move that would position the new standalone as somewhat of a little brother to the tethered PC VR Vive headset. Both ‘Vive Focus’ and ‘Vive Eclipse’ have been registered in the West however, making it less clear what name the headset will take and where.

image courtesy HTC

The crucial difference between current mobile headsets like Gear VR or Daydream View is the inclusion of positional tracking thanks to the headsets’ inside-out tracking capabilities. Built with help from Google, both HTC and Lenovo’s headsets are based off Qualcomm’s ‘VRDK’ reference device and built on the Snapdragon 835.

HTC and Lenovo standalone headsets are shown alongside what appears to be a standard Bluetooth 3DoF Daydream controller as well. Both companies are staying mum on any other specifics, although Google said to expect them some time in 2017.

We won’t be attending VDC, but if on the off-chance you’re in the Beijing area, you can sign up for VDC here. We’ll be following along, so check back soon.

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