CES 2018 – Page 13 – Augmented & Virtual Reality Confabulation

January 5, 2018

HTC Vive Teases ‘New Resolution’ At CES 2018

There have been a number of interesting developing coming from HTC Vive recently, such as the announcement of the upcoming standalone virtual reality head, the HTC Vive Focus, as well as a price drop for its existing headset. Now HTC Vive is teasing its audience with a potential big reveal for its press conference at CES 2018.

CES, or the Consumer Electronics Show, is often a place where new products and developments are unveiled to the public and press, often alongside a suitably impressive showcase of its abilities. HTC Vive seem to be heading down the same route, according to a cryptic tweet published on the HTC Vive official account.

The Tweet shows an image with the words ‘New Year’s Resolution’ along with a stark image of the inside of a VR headset. The words ‘New Year’s’ are slightly blurred, while Resolution is shown as perfectly crisp. The general consensus is that this indicates HTC Vive have something up its sleeve with regards to a new type of display for the HTC Vive.

There have been a number of recent technological developments with regards to higher-quality VR displays, and consumer demand for such ultra-high definition displays is strong, as shown by the enthusiastic response to the Kickstarter campaign for the Pimax 8K headset.

Of course it is unknown at this stage if any potential new display will be an exclusive to a new HTC Vive model, or be able to be retro-fitted into current versions. It is very unlikely to involve the HTC Vive Focus, as the specifications for the Vive Focus display have already been released, involving a 3K 75Hz AMOLED screen, and first shipments of the device are due to go out by the end of January.

The HTC Vive press conference will be on the 8th January, 2018 at CES in Las Vegas. VRFocus will be there to bring you all the latest developments.

January 5, 2018

Virtual Worlds Become Real With Teslasuit at CES 2018

A common depiction of virtual reality (VR) in cyberpunk and near-future science fiction involves the user wearing a full-body rig to allow them to be truly ‘present’ in the virtual environment. The Teslasuit Project brings this idea out of the realm of science fiction and into the real world, as will be demonstrated at CES 2018.

The creators of the Teslasuit will be exhibiting the full-body smart suit to demonstrate a number of features that are designed to help aid immersion and give VR users more control and investment in the environment. The suit offers a full-body haptic feedback system which can simulate a sense of touch, a climate control system provides sensations of hot or cold, so users wandering the cold mountains of The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim VR can feel the icy chill, while casting (or receiving) fire spells will cause blasts of heat.

Teslasuit full-body image

The Teslasuit is completely wireless, and the team behind the project will be demonstrating how the suit can enhance the VR experience at its booth during CES 2018. Motion capture technology is used to provide a two-way communication between the real world and VR environment, allowing for gesture control and position tracking, while haptic stimulation provides the sense of touch and weight, using TENS technology of the sort of seen in electronic pain-relieving devices.

“We wanted the Teslasuit to erase the difference between the virtual and the real worlds. The gaming market, entertainment and enterprise in VR and AR are currently the natural applications for this technology. Also, as this is smart clothing, it will work well for day to day life and well-being, for example in sports training and fitness.” said Dimitri Mikhalchuk, CEO of Teslasuit Project. “But, we see its potential future use in a variety of different sectors including manufacturing, automotive, healthcare and medical fields in particular for use in rehabilitation, biometric data set building, collection and data management.” added Mikhalchuk.

Teslasuit Avatar

The Teslasuit Project will be located at Booth #51916 at Eureka Park. CES 2018 will take place in Las Vegas from 9th-12th January, 2018. VRFocus will be at the event, bringing you the latest news and hands-on reports from the show floor.

January 5, 2018

SimforHealth to Demonstrate Multi-User VR Medical Training at CES 2018

Just like the last couple of years, CES 2018 is expected to be filled with the latest virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) innovations from across the world. These aren’t necessarily to do with entertainment and videogames however. SimforHealth, a company that specialises in medical training using virtual solutions, has announced it’ll be on the show floor to demonstrate its multi-user VR medical training software thanks to an invitation from HTC Vive.

SimforHealth

Based on a virtual clinical case developed in partnership with Stanford Medicine, Simforhealth’s multi-user VR solution looks to highlight the importance of team work and collaboration in healthcare practice training.

For this 2018 version, the participant will be immersed in an operating simulation in the role of an intern in medicine at the University of Stanford and, working together with the instructor, will have to prepare for placement of a stent. From the anesthesia to the operation, all steps will be guided by ultrasound.

“The tool allows an operation scenario to be rehearsed several times before actually starting the procedure,” explains Oliver Gardinetti, the CTO at SimforHealth in a statement.

SimforHealth CES2018

Beyond providing a complete reconstitution of the environment in 3D, with a life-like virtual patient, the educational objective of this functionality is to highlight the importance of communication in health care situations. “In medicine, it is important to be able to work together, both for decision making and for carrying out joint procedures,” adds Dr Vincent Varlet, VicePresident and Medical Director of SimforHealth.

Initially developed with the Department of Vascular and Endovascular Medicine at Stanford and Dr. Oliver Aalami, this model of collaborative clinical cases in VR is a new advance in the development of MedicActiV – an international platform for consultation and distribution of virtual clinical cases, dedicated to the training of health care professionals. Health care training establishments also have the possibility of creating and distributing their own clinical cases, thereby facilitating the sharing and spread of health care knowledge to address the challenges of accessing and updating this information.

VRFocus will continue to report on all facets of VR, keeping you updated on the latest advancements.

January 5, 2018

TwoEyes Tech Takes Cues From Human Eyes

The popularity of 360-degree video continues to grow, remaining one of the biggest ways that people experience virtual reality (VR) content. As such, many companies are searching for ways to improve the experience for 360-degree video viewers. TwoEyes Tech are taking lessons from human vision with its new binocular 360-degree field-of-view VR camera.

TwoEyes Tech are mirroring human eyes sight by producing a camera by taking the standard distance between human eyes into consideration when capturing images, using two pairs of fisheye lenses arranged 65 millimetres apart in order to produce 360-degree video that is more comfortable to watch.

By using this approach, a single filming session can capture 360-degree 3D footage that can be used on VR headsets, smartphones, PC monitors and 3D TVs. The videos captured are in full high-definition, 3D and red-cyan mode and can be converted into 180-degree and 360-degree content, so a single recording can create up to six different types of content.

The company says that the camera is simple to use. When held horizontally, it will automatically capture images in binocular mode, but when help vertically, it will switch to monocular mode. Recordings captured by the device can be viewed using a paired smartphone or uploaded to social media.

Song HunJoo, CEO of TwoEyes Tech said: “We are planning to revamp our product name for a more global audience once we start mass producing and selling the cameras. The challenge we are facing now is to create a quality product that functions well and is easy to use.”

TwoEyrs Tech is planning further expansion from VR cameras into video-related software, with initial plans for a VR video editing program to be added to its product line.

Visitors to CES 2018 will be able to view demonstrations of its products at Booth #51677, Eureka Park, Hall G. VRFocus will be present at the event as well, bringing you the latest news and hands-on report from the show floor.

January 3, 2018

BeBop Sensors To Display VR Glove At CES 2018

Motion controllers such as the Oculus Touch or Vive wands do a great job in letting virtual reality (VR) users control and explore the VR environment, but no controller can quite match the precision and versatility of the human hand. Recognising this, BeBop Sensors will be exhibiting its wireless data glove at CES 2018, a device designed for VR and AR environments to increase flexibility and immersion.

BeBop Sensors will be showcasing the Forte Wireless Data Glove to the world at CES 2018, where the company hopes to demonstrate its haptic feedback capability, accurate rapid sensors and affordability and its ability to improve the experience for VR and augmented reality (AR) users.

The Forte Data Glove uses a hand-tracking system to track fingers and fingertips and send tactile feedback. The sensors offers speeds of 500 Hz, data rates of 15 fps for fast response times and low latency. There are 6 actuators on the four fingertips, the thumb and palm, along with 10 smart fabric bend sensors located above each knuckle. There are 64 unique haptic sound files can be resident on the glove, with new files able to be uploaded through Bluetooth or Micro USB. The battery can be charged over a standard Micro USB cable and offers approximately 15 hours of battery life.

BeBop Sensors will also be showcasing other products at CES 2018, including a foot mat and trackpad which has been designed for medical and consumer electronics applications. Medical VR has become increasingly used throughout the world for a variety of applications, including training, surgery, medical imaging and patient education, so there are a growing number of products geared towards this market.

Visitors to CES 2018 can find the BeBop Sensors booth at Booth #52868 SANDS, Eureka Park, Hall G, Level 1. CES 2018 will take place in Las Vegas from 9th-12th January, 2018. VRFocus will have a presence at the event and will be bringing you all the latest news and hands-on reports.

January 3, 2018

VR Industry Forum to Publish Industry Guidelines at CES

With an increasing number of companies entering the virtual reality (VR) industry, there is an ever increasing danger of market fragmentation, which could potentially have dire consequences for mass adoption of the technology. To tackle this, The Virtual Reality Industry Forum, or VRIF, will be presenting its first set of VR Industry Guidelines at CES 2018.

There is always a temptation for companies to seal its customers off inside proprietary walled gardens, but experts widely believe that this could delay the entry of VR into mainstream and even effect the growth of the industry as a whole. The VRIF will be presenting its guidelines on interoperability, security, privacy, best practices and other areas during a 2-hour masterclass at CES 2018, which will feature demonstrations from Fraunhofer and Qualcomm as well as featured speakers from Ericsson, Intel, Sky, Irdeto and others.

VRIF includes more than 40 member organisations, and was created to further the availability of high-quality VR experiences for consumers. To that end, the VRIF guidelines focuses on the delivery of 360-degree video with three degrees-of-freedom and includes:

Documentation of cross-industry interoperability points, based on ISO MPEG’s Omnidirectional Media Format (OMAF)
Best industry practices for production of VR360 content, with an emphasis on human factors such as motion sickness
Security considerations for VR360 streaming, including user privacy and content protection.

“VRIF is helping the video industry to create and support a thriving VR ecosystem. This technology represents an extremely promising and powerful opportunity, and it is imperative that we work together to create a powerful experience for users out of the gate,” said Christian Egeler, Director of XR (Extended Reality) Product Development at Verizon. “Beyond ensuring that the entire video ecosystem can collaborate to deliver compelling VR experiences, we must work together to effectively protect that content and enable monetization. At the VRIF, we are focused on all these various challenges and opportunities.”

“As virtual and augmented reality continue to evolve, the VRIF Guidelines serve two main purposes: first, to support end-to-end interoperability across the virtual reality ecosystem, from production to consumption, and second, to ensure a high quality user experience,” said Rob Koenen, President of the Virtual Reality Industry Forum. “As the industry moves towards standardized VR solutions, we are also cooperating closely with other industry organizations including MPEG, 3GPP, DVB, VR Society and ITU to facilitate technology integration for VRIF member companies and other related partners.”

Further news from the VR industry and the latest from CES 2018 will be right here on VRFocus.

January 3, 2018

ANTVR Return With Plans For Hybrid AR/VR Headset

It’s been quite some time since ANTVR first made waves with its successfully crowdfunding campaign for its all-in-one virtual reality (VR) headset. The company is hoping to draw attention again in 2018 with the announcement that it is working on a hybrid Vr and augmented reality (AR) visor.

ANTVR first came to the attention when it launched a Kickstarter campaign for a ‘all-in-one’ VR headset back in 2014, successfully raising over $260,000 (USD) for its device, which was able to run on a wide range of devices, not just PC but even older consoles such as the Xbox 360. After the campaign finished, little else was heard from the company, who are still quietly selling the ANTVR headset on its website, priced at $699. The company also sells inexpensive Google Cardboard-style mobile VR viewers and 360-degree cameras, with a consumer base mostly located in China.

The company is now working on launching a new Kickstarter campaign to finance a new project for a hybrid VR and AR visor called the ANTVR Mix, which the company says will utilise a newly developed optical technology that can blend light from the real world with light within a virtual environment. ANTVR call this technology Time Division See-Through, or TDST.

ANTVR say that the aim for developing the ANTVR Mix is to create a VR/AR visor with a small form factor, but also a wider field-of-view, with the ANTVR Mix aiming for a 96-degree field of view. The ANTVR Mix will run from a connected PC and work with SteamVR. The company believes that using the SteamVR SDK will allow developers and content creators to quickly and easily develop AR as well as VR content for the device.

The exact date of the Kickstarter campaign is yet to be confirmed, but ANTVR are planning on exhibiting the ANTVR Mix during CES 2018, which will run from 7th-12th January, 2018 in Las Vegas. Further information can be found on the CES website.

Further news on ANTVR and the latest from CES 2018 will be here on VRFocus.

December 22, 2017

Sony Reveal CES 2018 Press Conference

Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) doesn’t normally have a presence at CES. While it was considered an important part of the annual videogame exhibition circuit in the early days of the PlayStation brand, CES has since given way to emerging technologies opposed to videogame consoles and content therein. However, this year it appears that PlayStation VR will feature in SIE’s CES 2018 plans, as parent company SONY has announced a press conference for the event.

PlayStation VR 2 headset Little is currently known about what is planned for the press conference. The SONY brand as a whole will take part in the event, with everything from cameras and headphones to external hard-disk drives featuring. However, important to gamers is the fact that the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation VR also appear to be included in the event.

No official briefing has been issued, simply the image below (edited to remove location details). The press conference will take place on 8th January 2018, the day before CES 2018 officially opens. Furthermore, this same date will host many press conferences from companies involved in VR hardware, such as Qualcomm.

It’s unlikely that SIE will have any new hardware or software to reveal at the event, despite the VR community’s wishes to the contrary. However it could be that an official statement on the North American launch of the second iteration of the PlayStation VR head-mounted display (HMD), known as CUH-ZVR2, could be planned. This is just conjecture at this point, however.

This revised HMD lead to a boost in PlayStation VR sales upon its launch in Japan, and it’s already been revealed that the original PlayStation VR HMD has been discontinued in North America. While there have been reports of the CUH-ZVR2 shipping in select bundles in the US, no official comment has yet been offered.

Sony CES 2018 Press Conference Invitation CES 2018 takes place in Las Vegas, 9th – 12th January 2018. VRFocus will be present on the show floor throughout the event, and also attending every major press conference related to VR development and consumer products. Stay right here for all the latest announcements and hands-on reports for every VR HMD and software company present at the event.

December 22, 2017

Peraso Set to Demonstrate Cordless VR at CES 2018

There is currently a great deal of interest in getting wireless virtual reality (VR) technology into the mass market. The appeal of cord-free VR experiences is clear, especially for location-based VR centres. One company working on this technology is Peraso, who has today announced it intends to demonstrate wireless VR at CES 2018.

CES, or the Consumer Electronics Show, is one of the biggest tech events of the year, with many companies, both new and established, looking to show off the products that will hopefully soon be in the hands on consumers. Peraso has been working with wireless gigabit, or WiGig chipsets for a range of uses, including VR and videogames. The company is intending to demonstrate a variety of applications for its technology at CES in January next year.

The Following demos are planned to be available at the Peraso booth:

Wireless VR – An immersive videogame experience using a high-bandwidth, low latency connection
Wireless Gaming – A videogame mirrored wirelessly from a laptop to a high-definition TV
Outdoor Fixed Wireless – Point-to-point outdoor access point with 1km range on the 60 Ghz band.
802.11ad vs 802.11ac – A showcase of the advantages of the 60 GHz band over the 5 GHz band
Wireless Hard Drive – Showing the speed of file transfer when used to access and back-up using real-time connectivity
802.11ad Interop – A demonstration of multi-vendor 802.11ad access point interoperability.

“Delivering multi-gigabit performance, near-zero latency and low interference not possible with traditional Wi-Fi to short-range, in-room and outdoor applications like VR/AR, smartphone-to-HDTV streaming, mobile cloud sync, super-fast public hotspots and 5G fixed wireless broadband, the market potential for WiGig and the 60 GHz band has always been clear and very compelling,” said Ron Glibbery, President and CEO at Peraso. “As we continue to be actively engaged with VR, consumer electronics and gaming companies around the world, we anticipate this CES to kickoff a breakthrough year for WiGig-enabled products and services.”

CES attendees will be able to find Peraso at the Tech East section of Westgate Hospitality Suite 1010. VRFocus will continue to bring you the latest news on what to expect from CES 2018.

December 20, 2017

ThirdEye Gen to Debut its X1 Smart Glasses at CES 2018

Augmented reality (AR) eyewear specialist ThirdEye Gen officially announced its new X1 smart glasses back in August. Today, the company has revealed the device is set to make its first public debut during CES 2018 in Las Vegas, Nevada, next month.

X1 smart glasses side

With a background that spans more than 20 years of AR development expertise for the US Department of Defence (DoD), ThirdEye is now bringing its state-of-the-art X1 Smart Glasses along with its AR Software to the enterprise, education and consumer spaces.

The X1 smart glasses have a 1280x720p binocular display, GPS, 3-axis gyroscope, 3-axis accelerometer, 3-axis compass, BlueTooth and swappable 2,400 mAh batteries that provide around 8 hours of use. As the headset has been designed to be used across a wide range of enterprise needs, from industrial centers to universities and law enforcement ThirdEye has ensured that operators can use the X1 hands free.

This is achieved via ThirdEye’s Enterprise Software which consists of three screens. Looking straight ahead gives a user a clear view of what they’re working on, while looking left brings up live video and audio with a remote expert for guidance. Looking right brings up annotated AR data by the expert to help the operator achieve their task.

X1 smart glasses top

“Augmented Reality has the potential to bring a new era of interaction – whether by placing digital information into your field of view or connecting via Internet of Things,” said Nick Cherukuri, President at ThirdEye Gen in a statement. “Our integrated technologies make businesses more efficient and enhances today’s realities.”

ThirdEye also released its App Store where AR developers can submit their applications and make money. Currently, over 100+ AR software developers are developing applications or forming software partnerships.

If you managed to miss the announcement earlier today, another AR company has finally revealed its headset after many years in development, Magic Leap, with the Magic Leap One Creator Edition. Next year is certainly shaping up to be an interesting one for AR headsets, and VRFocus will continue to keep you updated.