This Terrifying Camera-head is Supposed to Make Adult VR Content More Intimate

VR Bangers, an adult virtual reality content studio, has announced a new gadget they say will help fans “finally feel like they are getting kissed and caressed, while their favorite girls whisper right into their ears.” While it’s undoubtedly bizarre looking, the camera/microphone mannequin head aims to take the place of a traditional camera or a microphone so that the studio’s actors can act more naturally and therefore give the end user a more immersive experience. If only it didn’t have such lifeless eyes (black eyes, like a doll’s eyes).

VR Bangers CTO Boris Smirnoff says that the rig was especially made for adult VR scenes because they noticed there was “a much warmer and more intimate emotional attachment between the performer and the recording device if the device itself is able to be kissed, caressed and whispered to in the same sort of ways that a real person would sense those subtle communications.”

The rig, reportedly the first of its kind, was custom-built by the studio’s R&D team. It contains binaural sound microphones in each ear and two forward-facing cameras where the user’s eyes would be, delivering “true 4K resolution” at 60fps. The head also includes multiple cameras on the front, back and top to capture a full 360 degree area.

image courtesy VR Bangers image courtesy VR Bangers

“[T]he more we can help our models get the most out of their play space, the better our content will continue to be and the real winner in this line of advancements is always our fans,” says Smirnoff.

So somehow this bizarre mannequin rig is supposed to get the studio’s actors more into their roles, but what about all this ‘kissing, caressing, and whispering’ business we were told about? While spatial (3D) audio is an essential component of any VR experience, and giving someone a realistic audio experience is fundamental to anchoring their consciousness in another world, this may have more to do with triggering a certain response in users than just giving the actors a prop to smooch on.

Is Sound Sexy?

Some people—ok, a surprisingly large number of people—clearly find certain sounds gratifying, and a fairly recent phenomenon called autonomous sensory meridian response (ASMR) has made a splash on YouTube to scratch that particular psychological itch with a binaural flair. Triggering the response supposedly gives certain people a low-grade euphoria that so called ‘YouTube ASMRtists’ try to create by using a number perfectly innocent methods; like rustling paper or whispering softly about painting ‘happy trees’ like Bob Ross. It’s mostly about relaxation and generally feeling fuzzy inside.

While it’s uncertain how many people associate ASMR with sexuality, and ASMRtists can of course come in any shape or gender, there’s certainly a grey area here, evidenced by the fact that the highest number of ASMR clicks are going to angelic, soft-speaking girls in their 20s combing puppies, tapping their fingernails on glass, sometimes roleplaying as store clerks, dentists, or sci-fi maidens.

And ASMR’s chief proponent and gold standard on YouTube is unequivocally Ally Maque, otherwise known as the host of ASMRrequests and the VR-centric vlog PixelWhipt (all of the above examples are from her work). Amassing over 90 million views across her ASMR videos, Maque is far and way the most technologically adept, capturing audio using a number of binaural microphones, at some points even using one of those equally weird-looking 360 microphone rigs.

Omni 2 360 microphone
Omni 2 360 microphone

Check out one of Ally’s more sensual 360 videos to get a better idea of what she’s tapping into. Don’t worry, it’s all wholesome PG fun.

Lastly, there is an entire sub-genre of adult ASMR videos (2D) that can be found on major adult sites, the most popular of which has topped over a million views (we do the research so you don’t have to). So maybe VR Bangers isn’t really so far out with their rubber mannequin-camera-rig-head-thing as we initially thought, because there’s obviously a prospective market in all of this.

We can only hope the studio doesn’t film near mirrors.

The post This Terrifying Camera-head is Supposed to Make Adult VR Content More Intimate appeared first on Road to VR.

‘Guided Meditation VR’ Lets You Calm Yourself And Relax From Life’s Troubles

‘Guided Meditation VR’ Lets You Calm Yourself And Relax From Life’s Troubles

Cubicle Ninjas developed Guided Meditation VR with one objective in mind: let players relax and meditate no matter where they are.

Guided Meditation VR, a relaxation tool available now for Samsung Gear VR, HTC Vive, and coming soon to Oculus Rift, removes the user from reality and plants them in one of several different locales, such as a beach called Costa Del Sol, a mountain range known as Snow Peak, a dense forest called Autumnshade, or even a Japanese Zen garden named Hanna Valley. Each one has some hidden surprises as the user looks around, and all of them are accompanied by soothing music, a soft voice acting as the guide, and an overwhelming sense of serenity.

As a huge proponent of ASMR, relaxation, and guided meditation videos on YouTube, I knew this experience would be right up my alley, so I was eager to try this VR relaxation technique. Both the Gear VR and HTC Vive versions of Guided Meditation VR mellowed me out in beautiful ways.

In my time with the Gear VR version I sat in Hanna Valley just outside of the main gate, in the middle of a group of trees that were flanked by a friendly panda bear sitting on a rock. Ambient synth music slowly swelled in the background as a soothing female voice told me how relaxed I should feel and how the world can be a crazy place but we should always take time to relax. I felt refreshed and relaxed, the perfect way to end a typically busy day. However, the Vive version is where the magic lies that got me truly excited for the future of Guided Meditation VR.

The Gear VR version is great, don’t get me wrong, but due to its lack of processing power I can easily tell I’m in a virtual world. Far-away vistas are pixelated, the panda bear friend to my left was completely stationary despite sitting on a small rock, and the grass at my feet moved with the wind but in the same repeated pattern over and over again. All of these nit-picky but immersion-breaking issues can be fixed with more horsepower under the hood, and that’s exactly what the Vive version displays.

The differences between the two are out of this world. I see ocean waves beating on the beach of Costa Del Sol. I watch the trees of Autumnshade bend to a gentle breeze. The visuals alone make it a much more immersive experience, let alone the inclusion of positional tracking so that I can freely lean and move inside the world itself.

Seeing what Guided Meditation VR can do one more powerful VR hardware makes me think the sky’s the limit for VR meditation and relaxation techniques. Where YouTube videos can only paint a picture through sound and flat visuals, these VR meditation sessions could actually transport the user from the stressful life he or she lives into a world of complete serenity for ten minutes at a time. When the audio component is ready the experience will be even more immersive,  especially if it uses enhanced audio effects like 3D microphones or surround sound nature effects.

Personal use isn’t even what has me so intrigued about this either; imagine once the medical field gets their hands on this technology in a more robust way. The holistic benefits are obvious, as guided meditation is rooted in new age medical techniques as it is, but surely stress therapists could strap a patient in and measure their heart rates before and afterwards — something the Gear VR version already does. Guided Meditation VR could be more than just a way for a stressed out tech-savvy person to come back down to Earth after a long day; this could be a brand new way to help people who suffer from chronic stress-related disorders.

Cubicle Ninjas might have just set out to relax the world with Guided Meditation VR, but their passion project could become a revolution if handled correctly. I wish I could strap on the Vive right now, all of this prognosticating has my heart racing.

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