Category: DayDream

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Google Brings Stable WebVR Support To Chrome on Daydream

Google Brings Stable WebVR Support To Chrome on Daydream

Late last month Google opened the doors to its Daydream mobile VR ecosystem up to developers, and now it’s doing the same for the web.

The tech giant today is releasing a stable build of WebVR support in the Chrome browser for Daydream compatible phones and headsets. That means when reaching a WebVR compatible page, you can slot your phone into a Daydream View — or Huawei’s upcoming headset — and view that content in VR, be it a 360-degree video or a full virtual experience.

You won’t need to download anything to access these experiences; they offer a quick way to jump into VR as naturally as you surf the web itself. You can jump into 360 YouTube videos with no need to access the Daydream app, for example.

To celebrate the launch, Google provided a few examples of where to find the best WebVR content so far. Check out Bear 71 for an interactive VR documentary, Matterport for a library of 360 photos and videos, Within for 360-degree movies, Sketchfab for user-created content and, interestingly, Playcanvas’ WebVR Lab, which appears to integrate the Daydream controller into an immersive experience.

The feature’s been a long time coming for Chrome, and it’s not finished yet; stable support for Cardboard and wider phone integration will be coming at a later date, and Chrome on Windows still only has experimental support at this point in time.

Google isn’t the only one pushing WebVR right now; Samsung is supporting the API with its internet browser for Gear VR, and Oculus is working on its very own browser, codenamed Carmel, that will work with both Gear VR and the Rift. While there’s still years of development ahead, eventually WebVR should grow to be a widely-available feature on a range of browsers and headsets. Last month we also reported on the reveal of a new tool from Google itself that would help optimize VR on the web.

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ZTE Rolls Out Daydream Update for Axon 7

When Google first revealed details for its next virtual reality (VR) head-mounted display (HMD), Daydream, a number of smartphone manufacturers were announced to be partnering with the company, one of which was ZTE. Then in the summer of 2016 ZTE launched its flagship device, the Axon 7, with confirmed compatibility for Daydream. Today the smartphone manufacturer has announced an update roll out for the Axon 7 adding Android Nougat and Daydream functionality.

While Google has partnered with the likes of Samsung, Huawei, Alcatel, Asus, HTC, LG, Xiaomi and ZTE on Daydream compatible devices, very few have appeared since the HMDs launch in November, with Google’s own Pixel being the main entry point for Daydream use.

ZTE_Axon 7-Daydream

“Delivering Android Nougat for the Axon 7 provides consumers with an enhanced experience and greater value when purchasing this flagship device,” said Lixin Cheng, chairman on CEO of ZTE USA. “Also, with Daydream certification, consumers are now able to have an immersive VR experience at a price they can afford when paired with the Daydream View headset.”

As ZTE’s top-of-the-range smartphone, the Axon 7 features a Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor, a 5.5 inch quad HD AMOLED display, 4GB RAM, 20MP Hybrid IS rear-camera and a 8MP front-facing camera, dual hi-fi quality speakers with Dolby Atmos Surround Sound, and dual sim card slot

The start of 2017 has been decidedly quiet for the fledgling headset with few notable software launches. The few that have happened included live event streaming specialist NextVR launching its app and Resolution Games porting its popular fishing title Bait! from Samsung Gear VR, having surpassed one million players.

For any further Google Daydream updates, keep reading VRFocus.

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CCP Games Adds Challenges and a Loadout System to Gunjack 2: End of Shift

Shortly after the launch of Google Daydream View last year CCP Games Shanghai released Gunjack 2: End of Shift as an exclusive on the platform. A sequel to the popular Gunjack on Samsung Gear VR, Oculus Rift, HTC Vive and PlayStation VR, the followup has now been updated adding four major new additions to the videogame.

With the aim to bring greater depth and replayability to Gunjack 2, the new features are: Challenges, Weekly Shift, a Progression System and a Loadout System. In the Challenge mode players will be matched against others in a competition for the highest score, with a mission mutator altering the characteristics.

Gunjack 2 End of Shift - Loadout screenshot

Then there’s the Weekly Shift, taking over from the daily shift, where seven procedurally generated new missions will be made available each week, with high scores for each mission displayed on a leaderboard, rewarding the best players.

Gunjack 2: End of Shift’s new progression system utilises both of these two new features, as players complete Challenges and Weekly Shift missions they’ll be rewarded experience. In turn this unlocks new weapons and upgrades including such as the Pyro Slicer gun, the ‘Maelstrom’ Autocannon upgrade, for raw damage and faster reloads and the ‘Carnage’ Flak Cannon upgrade, for a larger area-of-effect.

Lastly there’s the Loadout System with which players can customise their own particular choice of weapons for the Challenges and Weekly Shift game modes, ensuring they’re ideally equipped for the fight ahead.

As a Daydream exclusive Gunjack 2: End of Shift can be found on Google Play for £12.99 GBP.  Checkout the new trailer below, and for any further updates, keep reading VRFocus.

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Virtual Reality Toolkit für Unity Entwickler auf Kickstarter

Wenn ihr Virtual Reality Spiele mit Unity entwickelt, dann seid ihr eventuell bereits über das Virtual Reality Toolkit (VRTK) im Asset-Store gestolpert. Das Kit steht dort kostenlos zum Download bereit und hat aktuell eine Bewertung von 5 Sternen bei 234 Reviews.

Virtual Reality Toolkit für Unity Entwickler auf Kickstarter

Der Vorteil des aktuellen Toolkits ist, dass ihr nicht das Rad neu erfinden müsst. So sind bereits diverse Skripte enthalten, die euch die Fortbewegung im virtuellen Raum, das Aufnehmen von Objekten und Vieles mehr ermöglichen. Doch die Entwickler wollen das Toolkit noch weiter ausbauen und deshalb benötigt das Team eine Finanzspritze für die Version 4.0 der Software.

Die neue Version soll eine Unterstützung für mobile VR Brillen bieten, die Einbindung der HTC Vive Tracker vereinfachen, simple Eingabemethoden für Texte ermöglichen und eine schnelle Lösung gegen Belästigungen im virtuellen Raum schaffen. Dies ist aber nur ein kleiner Auszug aus den geplanten Erweiterungen, denn die Entwickler wollen das Virtual Reality Toolkit zu einem perfekten Tool für alle Entwickler ausbauen. Alle Details findet ihr auf Kickstarter.

Doch auch wenn das Tool eine Finanzierung über Kickstarter benötigt, so soll die Software weiterhin kostenlos bleiben. Es sind aber auch fünf Assets geplant, die separat über den Asset-Store verkauft werden sollen. Dazu gehören professionelle Avatare und Hände, neue Darstellungsformen für das Teleportieren, eine realistische Interaktion mit Waffen und ein ausgeklügeltes Inventar-System.

Wenn ihr das Projekt mit 25 £ unterstützt, dann erhaltet ihr eines der Pro-Assets kostenlos. Wenn ihr sogar 100 £ in das Projekt investiert, dann erhaltet ihr alle vier geplanten Pro-Assets.

Aktuell läuft die Kampagne aber schleppend und es sind nur noch 11 Tage zum Erreichen des Ziels übrig. Insgesamt will der Entwickler 150.000 £ für die Entwicklung haben und bisher kamen erst knapp 30.000 £ aus der Community. Die schlechte Quote liegt wohl kaum am Produkt; eventuell sind die Ziele zu ehrgeizig gesetzt.

Falls ihr das Toolkit testen wollt, dann findet ihr die Anwendung hier im Asset-Store.

Der Beitrag Virtual Reality Toolkit für Unity Entwickler auf Kickstarter zuerst gesehen auf VR∙Nerds. VR·Nerds am Werk!

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2016 wurden 6,3 Millionen Virtual Reality Headsets verkauft

Laut des US-Marktforschungsunternehmens Super Data sollen 2016 weltweit insgesamt 6,3 Millionen Virtual Reality Headseats verkauft worden sein. Sollten die Zahlen stimmen, müsste die wirtschaftliche Größenordnung innerhalb der Branche neu betrachtet werden. Allerdings halten sich die Unternehmen offiziell noch weitgehend mit Verkaufszahlen zurück.

Samsung verkaufte die meisten Virtual Reality Headsets

Super Datas Marktanalyse geht davon aus, dass 2016 allein 4,5 Millionen Einheiten von Samsungs Gear VR verkauft wurden. Auf dem zweiten Platz folgt Sonys Playstation VR Headset mit 750.000 verkauften Geräten. Auf den weiteren Rängen platzieren sich HTC (420.000 verkaufte Einheiten der HTC Vive), Google (260.000 verkaufte Einheiten der Google Daydream VR) und Oculus (240.000 verkaufte Einheiten der Oculus Rift).

Damit hat die HTC Vive einen klaren Vorsprung gegenüber Facebooks Tochterfirma Oculus, das als Unternehmen zudem eine saftige Strafe an die Holdinggesellschaft ZeniMax (u.a. Bethesda Softworks) zahlen muss. Laut der Analyse scheint Oculus aber zudem sowieso mehr den Fokus auf Spiele und soziale Anwendungen legen zu wollen, während die HTC Vive immer beliebter für Unternehmen und die B2B-Branche wird.

Sony wäre Marktführer im High-End-Bereich

Inwieweit die Zahlen tatsächlich aussagekräftig sind, ist fraglich. Denn die Unternehmen halten sich mit offiziellen Verkaufszahlen bis jetzt stark zurück. Eine Ausnahme bildet Samsung, das laut eigenen Angaben 2016 „mehr als fünf Millionen Gear VR Headsets“ verkaufte. Aber hier zeigt sich auch, dass die Zahlen von Super Datas Analyse und Samsungs Verkaufsreport zumindest auf dem Papier auseinandergehen.

Näher betrachtet ist der Branchenreport zudem wenig differenziert dargestellt. Schließlich werden die verschiedenen VR-Brillen in einen Topf geschmissen, was verkaufsanalytisch und wirtschaftlich wenig Sinn ergibt. Denn während High-End-Geräte wie die Oculus Rift oder die HTC Vive nicht unter einem Verkaufspreis von 600 Euro erhältlich sind, ist die Gear VR bereits ab 60 Euro zu haben. Laut Super Datas Verkaufsanalyse wäre damit aber Sony mit der Playstation VR und einem Verkaufspreis von ca. 400 Euro zumindest Marktführer im High-End-Preis-Segment. Samsung könnte aber auf die meisten verkauften Einheiten im Bereich Mobile VR zurückblicken.

Der Beitrag 2016 wurden 6,3 Millionen Virtual Reality Headsets verkauft zuerst gesehen auf VR∙Nerds. VR·Nerds am Werk!

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Google öffnet seine VR-Plattform Daydream für jedermann

Google arbeitet bereits seit einiger Zeit an seiner neuen VR-Plattform Daydream, wenngleich der durchschlagende Erfolg bisher noch ausgeblieben ist. Googles größtes Problem stellen hierbei die Anwendungen selbst da. All zu viele gibt es nämlich noch nicht und nur wenige laden diese auch noch herunter.

Lösung für Daydream

Daydream Ready Smartphones

Um dieses Problem nun anzugehen öffnet Google sein bisher nur begrenzt geöffnetes Entwicklungskit. Fortan kann jeder ohne Restriktionen Apps für Googles VR-Plattform entwickeln und diese über den Android-Store zum Download freigeben. Bevor die Apps jedoch auf die interessierten Endkunden losgelassen werden, durchlaufen sie zuvor noch einmal eine Google-interne Prüfung, welche sicherstellt, dass die verlangten Qualitätskriterien eingehalten werden.

Ein besonderes Augenmerk liegt dabei natürlich auf dem Design, der Funktionalität, der Performance und der Stabilität der VR-App. Diese Grundfaktoren sind für ein VR-Produkt letztlich unersetzlich, damit dieses eine angenehme und für den Nutzer verträgliche Erfahrung bietet.

Quelle: Google

Der Beitrag Google öffnet seine VR-Plattform Daydream für jedermann zuerst gesehen auf VR∙Nerds. VR·Nerds am Werk!

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Google Opens Daydream App Submission to All and Publishes VR App “Quality Requirements”

Google has put out the welcome mat and unlocked the doors to all developers wishing to develop apps for their Daydream VR platform, but in order to keep the standards high have also issued a “Quality Requirements” guide.

As we reported in September last year, just prior to the launch of Google’s Android integrated Daydream VR platform in October, the search and mobile giant was keeping a tight reign on applications available at launch. Only those who made it into Google’s curated Daydream Access Program (DAP) were able to prepare content for the fall launch lineup, a clear effort on their part to ensure the Daydream Home portal wasn’t flooded with poor quality dross whilst the system was was fresh in the media spotlight. The move was entirely understandable of course, but less in line with Android’s ‘open’ attitude to app submission for standard mobile platforms, more inline with a certain Cupertino based competitor perhaps.

Google's Daydream View Headset and Motion Controller
Google’s Daydream View Headset and Motion Controller

But now, Google is lifting the DAP restriction for submissions to the Daydream Home app store, meaning that any developer who wants to build for applications for use with Daydream View and compatible phones can do so. That said, Google are understandably keen to ensure this is still not a free-for-all. According to an updated help page on “Publishing Daydream Apps“, developers can opt-in to have their application or game distributed through Daydream Home (the default content portal for Daydream users out of the box) but only if that app complies with its quality assurance guidelines, which are detailed here. In Google’s words: “Upon publication, Google Play submits apps that are opted-in to Daydream for review against the Daydream App Quality criteria and notifies you of the result. If your app meets all criteria, Google Play makes it discoverable to Daydream users in VR.”

SEE ALSO
Google Daydream Review: Casual VR Closes the Gap

Just how strict the vetting process is for newly submitted Daydream VR apps is unclear. The app quality requirements are targeted largely at the technical and comfort aspects of Daydream development best practices, drawn up to ensure maximum performance and minimum discomfort for user. Items like “App maintains head tracking” and “App never goes to 2D monoscopic unexpectedly” are examples of the checklist developers will need to rundown to make sure their app makes the grade, and its encouraging to see items focusing on usability in VR too.

In any case, it’s encouraging to see Google open its Daydream doors to the wider developer community. Up to now, the reception to the platform has been a little muted with little on the content front generating much excitement. Clearly this latest move should encourage a wider creative gamut to be represented on the Daydream Home store.

Are you a developer considering making apps or games for Google Daydream? We’d love to hear what you think of Google’s approach to content curation and developer relations thus.

The post Google Opens Daydream App Submission to All and Publishes VR App “Quality Requirements” appeared first on Road to VR.

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Vive’s VP Of Design Claude Zellweger Leaves HTC For Google Daydream

Vive’s VP Of Design Claude Zellweger Leaves HTC For Google Daydream

Claude Zellweger, HTC’s VP of Design, is making the switch from PC VR to mobile VR.

The designer, who worked on both HTC’s smartphones and its Vive VR headset at its San Francisco office, yesterday confirmed that he was leaving the Taiwanese company to join Google, where he’ll work on the company’s new Daydream mobile VR ecosystem.

Following that, HTC itself confirmed to The Verge that Zellweger had parted ways with the company, stating: “HTC can confirm that Claude Zellweger has left the Company. We appreciate his considerable contribution to HTC, and wish him well in his future endeavors. HTC continues to invest in talent and recruitment as part of our broader strategy to ensure the continued strength and integrity of the Company’s organizational structure.”

Zellweger spent almost five years at HTC, acting as Associate Vice President of Advanced Concepts from September 2012 to October 2014 before being promoted to his design role. According to his LinkedIn profile, the designer also managed Vive’s “brand strategy and execution”.

From a strict design viewpoint, Daydream could definitely use some help. That was our biggest complaint about Google’s own headset, Daydream View, when it launched late last year. Still, we don’t know exactly what plans Google has for Zellweger, and we’ve reached out to the company to find out.

The news comes shortly after the announcement that Facebook hired Hugo Barra, former spokesman for Google’s Android operating system, as its new Head of VR. Barra will be leading the Oculus team which itself has split into mobile and PC divisions as former CEO Brendan Iribe stepped down to lead the latter. Executive switch-ups like these show two companies that are rapidly moving to get ready for a new era of immersive technology.

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VR Fishing Title Bait! Passes 1 Million Players, Now Available for Daydream

Less than a year ago Resolution Games launched its second virtual reality (VR) title for Samsung Gear VR, a fishing video game called Bait!. The experience proved to be popular on the fledgling VR headset, garnering nearly 150,000 downloads in less than a week the studio announced. Today the developer has revealed Bait!’s achieved another milestone, alongside expanded head-mounted display (HMD) support.

Resolution Games has managed to hit the one million player barrier for Bait!, putting it in a very exclusive group. Otherworld Interactive’s horror title Sisters achieved the one million mark back in May 2016, but that’s classed more as an experience rather than an actual video game like Bait!.

BaitHeader

And that player count looks set to grow even further as Bait! now supports Google Daydream from today. Daydream owners can find the title on Google Play for £6.49 GBP/$7.99 USD.

“We are so excited to see the initial interest in Bait! as it crests 1 million players,” said Tommy Palm, CEO and co-founder of Resolution Games. “And, we now look forward to making the game available for the growing audience on Daydream, while adding the ability to use the motion controller for casting and reeling in fish, which adds a whole new layer to the game’s immersion within VR.”

Checkout the new Daydream launch trailer below, and for any further updates from Resolution Games, keep reading VRFocus.

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Google Opens The Floodgates To Let More Developers Submit Daydream Apps

Google Opens The Floodgates To Let Any Developer Submit Daydream Apps

For its first few months of availability, Google only worked with a select group of developers on Daydream-compatible apps. While the approach allowed Google to work closely with partners and carefully curate content for the new platform in its opening months, it also severely limited the number of apps one could download for the new headset ecosystem through the Google Play store.

That’s about to change. Starting today, Google is opening the doors for all developers creating apps along the company’s guidelines to submit. The change in policy could dramatically shift momentum in mobile VR, with Samsung recently announcing it sold 5 million Gear VRs to date as we wondered whether Daydream was off to a rough start. Many of Daydream’s apps were showing very small install numbers.

More options on software should represent a good thing for consumers as the Daydream ecosystem grows to support additional headsets and phones, all of which should be compatible with one another. That said, curation and VR is a tricky balancing act. If an app on your phone breaks it is just an inconvenience, but a VR app with problems can make the person wearing a headset feel ill. Additionally, too many apps can make it hard to find the quality content hidden among a number of copycats — a common problem in mobile app distribution as a whole.

We’re curious to see what effect this change has on the overall Daydream ecosystem as it evolves. There are undoubtedly some very skilled developers who have been unable to get their apps on Daydream because of Google’s approach so far, but likewise there might be a lot of low-skill developers waiting to push their incomplete software into VR for a few extra bucks. We may also see even more ports of Cardboard and/or Gear VR apps onto Daydream as well.

We’ll keep you updated as we sort through both the good and bad in the coming wave of Daydream VR content.

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