Category: DayDream

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Google Confirms Huawei Mate 9 Pro Now Daydream Ready

Google Confirms Huawei Mate 9 Pro Will Be Daydream Ready

Update: Google today announced that both the Huaewi Mate 9 Pro and Mate 9 are Daydream-ready devices via an Android update. No word yet on the upcoming Huawei-made Daydream headset, though.

Original story: Daydream’s launch yesterday was just the first step in a long journey. The first headset, Daydream View, works with the first Daydream-ready phones, Google’s Pixel and Pixel XL, but other companies will be bringing new devices to the ecosystem over time. It looks like Huawei could be the next to do so.

Earlier this month the China-based smartphone maker revealed its latest handsets, the Mate 9 and enhanced Mate 9 Pro. The latter of these two devices had already been rumored to support Daydream, but Google’s VP of VR, Clay Bavor, just confirmed it. Speaking at Recode’s An Evening With Code Mobile event this week, Bavor stated that the Mate 9 Pro will be “Daydream-ified over a software update soon.” He didn’t say how soon, though the Mate 9 Pro isn’t even available in western territories yet and we don’t know when it will be.

According to GSM Arena, the Mate 9 Pro boasts a AMOLED 5.5 inch display with a resolution of 1080 x 1920. It’s powered by a 1.8GHz octa-core HiSilicon Kirin 960 processor and has 4GB RAM. That’s not a make of chipset we’re familiar with, though if it’s Google-approved for Daydream it obviously meets to quality standards the company has laid out for its mobile platform.

Huawei is just one of many companies making Daydream-ready smartphones, though, and we’re still expecting to see handsets from Samsung, ZTE, LG, Asus, Lenovo and others, as well as new takes on the headset.

We don’t know which of those we’ll see next, but Bavor did drop a hint as to when we might here some news. “I’ll just say it, I think CES and Mobile World Congress will be very exciting for VR,” he said later on in the interview. CES takes place in January while Mobile World Congress gets underway at the end of February. Daydream-related reveals for both events seems likely.

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Go on a Space Adventure with Vendetta Online for Google Daydream

Last year Guild Software announced plans to bring its massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) Vendetta Online to virtual reality (VR). October saw the title arrive on Samsung Gear VR, and today that support has expanded to Google Daydream.

Vendetta Online enables players to create their own character and roam the stars however they choose, whether that’s a hero fighting the good fight or a criminal looking to loot the next unsuspecting space traveller.

As well as engaging in online space battles, players will be able to trade in a galactic economy, mining valuable resources, whilst helping other players manufacture items and ships. Friends can even team up to attack capital ships or command their own.

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“We’re excited to see our title debut on this mobile-VR ecosystem,” said John Bergman, CEO of Guild Software. “The immersion made possible by Daydream, along with the intensity and social dynamics of a true space MMORPG will give people an unforgettable experience.”

The release will allow Daydream users to join thousands of other players online, with cross platform support across VR headset as well as Windows, Mac, Linux, Android and iOS.

The Daydream version features extensive support for its motion controller, so that players can fly and navigate their ships, alongside a special ‘laser pointer’ mode for selecting distant objects.

That’s not all. A new Vendetta Online HD version –  separate from Android’s historical package of Vendetta Online – will include optimizations or modern ARMv8 CPUs and OpenGL ES 3.1, along with higher definition texture assets.

Vendetta Online HD is a hybrid VR+touchscreen app, and is priced at $2.99 USD on Google Play.

VRFocus will continue its coverage of Vendetta Online, reporting back with any further updates.

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Watch Hack and Slash Action in Twilight Pioneers: Chapter 2 Trailer

Watch Hack and Slash Action in Twilight Pioneers: Chapter 2 Trailer

The VR ecosystem is jam-packed full of shooters, zombie games, escape the room puzzles, and dense horror fests, but it’s severely lacking in one of gaming’s greatest and most iconic genres: the hack and slash roleplaying game. Popularized by the likes of Diablo, Devil May Cry, God of War and other franchises with similar elements, these games are all about flashy combat, addictive combos, and tons of enemies. The first chapter of Twilight Pioneers by NetEase, originally released last year, is a fun romp that even echoes thoughts of The Legend of Zelda. By the looks of it, Chapter 2 is poised to pick up right where that one left off. You can see the first trailer for it at the top of this post.

Twilight Pioneers: Chapter 2 is releasing on March 30th exclusively for Google Daydream.

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Google Cardboard title Dead Target VR coming to Daydream

VNG Game Studios, a developer in Vietnam, announced at the recent Google Daydream/Tango Code Lab’s event that it’ll be bringing its mobile shooter Dead Target: Zombie to Google Daydream.

Dead Target VR, originally launched for Google Cardboard, will be upgraded for for the new head-mounted display (HMD) adding mechanics for the controller such as: shooting, reloading, and throwing grenades. The developer also plans to add melee attack and more complex actions in future updates.

Dead Target VR unveiled at Google DaydreamTango Singapore Code Lab (6)

As the name suggests, Dead Target VR is focused on shooting zombie hordes through countless missions, challenges whilst providing the player with tons of guns and upgrade options.

Made by a two person team from VNG Game Studios, Dead Target VR is still in alpha stage catching Google’s attention which led to the invitation to present at Google Daydream/Tango Code Lab’s event.

Some of the key features of the title include:

  • Big boss battles: Players encounter lots bosses throughout the game
  • Endless mode:  With quests and missions
  • Alternating Quests: Quests system (main quest, daily quest, event quest).
  • Challenge Mode: Win reward such as Golden guns.
  • Casino: Earn supported items and cash.
  • Customisation: Unlock weapons and armor for the upgrading system.
  • Capture: Select highlights with in-game screenshots and share immediately with other players while playing.

As development continues VRFocus will bring you the latest updates.

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YouTube Is Improving The Quality Of Its VR Videos

YouTube Is Improving The Quality Of Its VR Videos

YouTube offers thousands of hours of content for your VR headset with its 360 degree videos, but the massive amount of data these clips require means they often show up blurry. Google is working to fix that.

The search engine giant this week announced that its YouTube and Daydream divisions are working together as part of a new series looking at how to improve the quality of VR video. It makes sense; YouTube is one of if not the biggest providers of VR video content in the world and Google’s Daydream mobile VR ecosystem features a dedicated app for watching those videos.

This week, the company is talking about projection, which refers to mapping spherical content into the rectangular layout that you’ll see either in a YouTube window or through the limits of your own field of view inside a VR headset.

Since launch in 2015, YouTube has been using equirectangular projection, which renders pixels best at the top and bottom of an image, where a user normally isn’t looking, and has lower quality pixels closer towards the center of the screen, where they usually are looking. After comparing saturation of pixels with cubemaps, Google has come up with what it calls equi-angular cubemaps, which gives a more consistent image.

A detailed run through is available on the Google blog, but the image above shows you some improvement, however marginal. Still, the company says this project method offers “better results” and “more efficient use of resources”.

Though the results are far from perfect, it’s great to see that companies are working to resolve VR video’s blur problem. YouTube is available across a range of VR headsets, including Sony’s PlayStation VR (PSVR), but the quality of the videos can often deter people from spending much time watching them. News that YouTube is doing something about that will come as a big relief to fans of the platform.

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Google’s creating higher quality streamed video with Equi-Angular Cubemaps

The world is used to watching videos on YouTube and depending on bandwidth, altering the resolution to get a steady stream, regardless of quality. For immersive 360-degree content however that’s not as easy. While poor internet speeds can ruin virtual reality (VR) viewing, low resolutions can also destroy immersion and make content an unwatchable mess. So in a joint effort between the YouTube and Daydream teams, they’ve been working on new techniques to solve the issue, one of which is Equi-Angular Cubemaps (EAC).  

In a new series of blog postings, Google VR will be taking an in-depth look at improving VR experiences, and with immersive video gaining popularity as it becomes more widely available the company has chosen to start there.

So what are Equi-Angular Cubemaps and how do they help improve 360-degree content? 360-degree videos require a significant amount of pixels to create a decent experience, ideally being 60 pixels per degree of immersive content to match human visual acuity. But due to current device capabilities and internet speeds this isn’t generally possible, instead clever projection methods are needed.

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There’s Equirectangular Projection, where latitudes and longitudes are used to form a square grid, but as Chip Brown, Staff Software Engineer, Daydream, explains: ‘when used for video transmission, it has serious problems. First, the poles get a lot of pixels, and the equator gets relatively few.’ Then you’ve got Cube Maps, this deforms a sphere into a cube which can then be unfolded. “This is an improvement over equirectangular projections, but it still causes substantial variation in pixel density,” explains Brown. “The problem is that the centers of the cube faces are close to the sphere, while the corners are further away.”

This is where Equi-Angular Cubemaps come in. “The traditional cubemap has samples of varying length depending on the sample’s location on the cube face. EAC is specifically constructed to keep these lengths equal, creating uniformly allocated pixels,” said Brown. “The EAC formula is mathematically precise in 2D, but only an approximation of an equal angle pixel distribution in 3D, albeit a pretty good approximation with manageable distortion.”

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As you can see from the image above, what this means is a higher quality video for consumers creating a far more engaging experience.

YouTube engineers haven’t stopped there, they’ve also developed a Projection Independent Mesh, which they hope will eventually become a widely agreed upon industry standard.

“A Projection Independent Mesh describes the projection by including a 3D mesh along with its texture mapping in the video container. The video rendering software simply renders this mesh as per the texture mapping specified and does not need to understand the details of the projection used,” said software engineer Anjali Wheeler. “Some 360-degree cameras do not capture the entire field of view. For example, they may not have a lens to capture the top and bottom or may only capture a 180-degree scene. Our proposal supports these cameras and allows replacing the uncaptured portions of the field of view by a static geometry and image.”

Android already benefits from EAC projection streamed using a projection independent mesh and the techniques will be coming soon to iOS and desktop.

To keep up to date on Google’s latest advancements in VR, keep reading VRFocus.

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NextVR And Live Nation To Exclusively Broadcast Galactic And Robert Randolph Concert

Galactic and Robert Randolph & The Family Band will be performing a concert at the Boston House of Blues today and the NextVR app will be broadcasting the event live to music fans all over the world.

Fans of Jazz-fun and soul bands Galactic and Robert Randolph who own a Google Daydream or Gear VR along with a compatible smartphone will be able to watch the concert, which will be broadcast for free through the NextVR smartphone app to give fans a virtual front-row seat to the event.

NextVR has made a name for itself by offering a range of live broadcasts of sporting events, concerts and even political debates. They have previously worked with the likes of FOX Sports, NBC, and CNN. Their work in that area won them an award for Best In Sports Technology at the 2016 Sports Business Awards.

NextVR - Galactic

As is usual for NextVR broadcasts, the Galactic and Robert Randolph broadcast will have multiple cameras around the venue so fans can get the best view of the action on stage.

Galactic come from New Orleans and have become well known for fusing a range of influences such as hip-hop, electronic and blues into their own distinctive jazz-funk sound.

Robert Randolph is a renowned steel guitar player who leads funk and soul group Robert Randolph & The Family Band, who have recently released a new studio album ‘Got Soul’.

The broadcast will begin at 7:30pm (ET) on Thursday March 9th 2017.

VRFocus will continue to bring you news on VR broadcasts.

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Climax Studios Unveils Daydream Exclusive Lola and the Giant

Today Climax Studios, the British developer behind virtual reality (VR) titles such as Bandit Six, Hunters Gate and Gun Sight, has announced a new adventure videogame for Google Daydream, Lola and the Giant.

Telling the story of Lola, a little girl who meets a lonely stone giant in a mysterious world, Lola and the Giant, takes players on a fantastical journey as they search for a way home.

Lola and the Giant - Companion App

On their travels through the world, players will have to solve puzzles whilst encountering weird and wonderful creatures in this lighthearted escapade. Gamers will be able to switch between third and first-person viewpoints as they control each character to utilise their individual abilities to succeed.

The videogame was inspired by Climax’s lead designer, Matt Duff recently becoming a father: “Lola and the Giant came to me a few months into me becoming a parent for the first time. I began to wonder how differently my daughter Eleanor saw the world compared to me. How we both occupied the same place but because of our vast differences in size, our perspectives of that world were completely different. One of the most immersive aspects of VR is a sense of place and so it became the perfect fit to tell this fairytale story of a little girl and her huge Giant, working together, trying to find a way back home.”

Climax Studios has also worked on a companion smartphone app allowing a second player to help the person in VR. “We wanted to create a VR game that could be experienced by everyone not just the user in the headset. We feel this is an important step to ensure the growth of the market,” added Matt.

As yet no date or price point have been confirmed Lola and the Giant. For further updates on Lola and the Giant, keep reading VRFocus.

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Mikavaa announces new Virtual Reality game “Glubsch”

Germany-based developer Mikavaa announces the upcoming release of its mobile virtual reality action game with the rather weird name “Glubsch” – yeah, try to say it again. :) Glubsch is a first-person shooter game in which players have to fight against attacking waves of hostile microbes in a creepy and foreboding cave landscape.

One of Glubsch’s unique characteristics is its new approach to first-person interaction inside VR without the use of external game controllers. The clever use of the mobile device´s built-in sensors enables the player to navigate and interact almost freely within the game. An exceptional interaction design lets the players fight with their voice, avoid enemy attacks through skillful body movement, and move around using their viewing direction.

“We wanted to create a game that really pushes the boundaries of what mobile virtual reality can be like and still stick to the old principle: Easy to learn, hard to master.” says Johan Wagner, Co-founder of Mikavaa and head of development. “The most challenging part was to find ways to overcome technical limitations of smartphones such as missing head-tracking. And with the unique and intuitive game controls we did a pretty good job. The player’s body movement takes up the controller functionality.”

The first version will feature a single-player survival mode and one virtual world. Additional worlds and a realtime multi-player mode are already in development and will follow soon.

The cardboard version of Glubsch will be available for free in the Google Play Store in April 2017. Versions for further platforms like Samsung Gear VR and Google Daydream will follow later on.

Further information like social media links, in-game screenshots, game  videos, and a sign-up form for beta testers can be found at www.glubsch.com.

The post Mikavaa announces new Virtual Reality game “Glubsch” appeared first on Infinityleap - Technology stops for no one..

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Ubisoft’s Rabbids Are Coming To Google Daydream

Ubisoft’s Rabbids Are Coming To Google Daydream

Ubisoft’s next VR game isn’t based off of its better known, grittier franchises like Assassin’s Creed, Watch Dogs or Rainbow Six, it’s based off of its cartoonish Rabbids series.

Yes, the very same screaming Rabbids that first featured in a Rayman game years back before splitting off to make a franchise of their own. Today, Ubisoft is announcing Virtual Rabbids: The Big Plan, set to launch exclusively on Google Daydream this spring. You can check out the first trailer below, though it doesn’t tell you much about the gameplay.

Developed by Ubisoft Montpellier and Bucharest studios, the game sees you travelling across the globe to recover a stolen and scrambled nuclear safety password, which is obviously something that shouldn’t be in the hands of children’s characters that scream “BWAAAH” every five seconds. From the sounds of it, the game is pretty similar to other Rabbids titles, in that it’s a complication of minigames that take advantage of motion control tech. The series has traditionally featured on Nintendo’s Wii, so translating it to Daydream’s similar remote controller shouldn’t be too hard.

It’s Ubisoft’s first project for Daydream, a mobile VR ecosystem that is available on a select set of Android smartphones and Google’s own Daydream View headset. Google has brought other high-profile developers and publishers into VR with the platform, including EA with a Need for Speed game.

Ubisoft had previously created a Rabbids VR experience for showing at events like E3, but it doesn’t appear that this is the same thing. This is the fifth VR game from the publisher now, the others being Eagle Flight, Werewolves Within, Trackmania Turbo, and the upcoming Star Trek: Bridge Crew. The latter game was meant to launch last December, but has since been pushed back twice and is now projected to arrive in May.

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