The 66th All-Star game and sponsored events that precede it will be given the premium highlight treatment in the NextVR app immediately following the TNT broadcast of the festivities each night. Viewers will get an intimate look into Saturday’s skills challenge, the three-point contest, and the slam dunk event in addition to the All-Star game itself on Sunday. The highlights will be hosted by three-time NBA champion Bruce Bowen and will feature multiple camera angles.
“We’ve gone from learning the best practices, camera positions, and audio to working to build and enhance the product around the technology,” says NextVR’s VP of content Danny Keens via email. “We’ve combined the best of a live experience with the best of a broadcast experience.”
In addition to this new development, NextVR will be offering a-la-carte live NBA VR broadcasts for single games starting on February 23rd. This is a solid option for those not committed enough to subscribe to one of the NBA League Pass packages, but would like to experience a game in VR anyway. Individual games on the broadcast schedule start at an introductory price of around $7.
The NextVR app is available on Google Daydream via Google Play and Samsung Gear VR from the Oculus Store.
The art of drawing just got an uplift – enter the world of .
Adding to your tool basket it’s a great freestyle drawing and coloring tool for your creative thinking…
Art world is catching up with the technology and in today’s world of Virtual and Augmented Reality, HoloPaint is the new dimension when it comes to adding color, depth and design creations in your real world environment
So what is HoloPaint?
HoloPaint is a new tool in augmented reality drawing & painting that allows the user to paint freely in their real world 3D space. With the array of color schemes, it is easy to pick the right combination to achieve the desired design. HoloPaint features area learning and depth sensing to let your drawings stay anchored to exactly where you painted them, also allowing you to snap your paint brush directly onto any surface around you!
HoloPaint includes a range of tools to facilitate drawing freeform lines, straight lines, perfect circles and squares and even animated brush textures. Let your creativity flow as you walk through your art and share your creations with others.
Currently, it works on Tango and Lenovo, but the company is trying to get the tool to be headset compatible ( like HTC Vive , Oculus and more )
Come, give a try to HoloPaint and see how your creativity gets an uplift……
VR headsets are the gateway to incredible experiences, but they can alienate you from your other forms of media. Previously, unless you were using apps like BigScreen, you’d have to remove the headset and return to the real world when accessing your browsers, music, or movies but creators are regularly creating applications that bring a lot of your PC content into virtual space. Plex is a media server that was created so that you could stream the media on your PC or in a cloud to all of your devices including mobile. Now, PleVR (Plex for VR) is bringing media consumption to your virtual escape.
In mid-January, Alex Keybl showed off a Plex client in Beta form that showed off a virtual wall of media reminiscent of the stockroom scene from The Matrix. Keybl is the founder of FerVRLabs and what he showed off here was minimalist, but functional. In the video, Keybl starts by showing off a feature that allows you to mirror your virtual recliner to whatever seating area you’re utilizing in your physical space. You can scroll the wall from a seated position, but it’s built for you to choose while standing so that you can slide multiple rows comfortably. Once you’ve made your decision, you sling the selection to a screen where it starts to play and you can easily travel the video’s timeline with your VR controller.
A neat touch to the interface is that, when you grab a video from the wall, it attaches to your Vive controller and starts to play a clip or trailer while in your hand. It’s a small feature, but it really brings your collection to life as you filter through your choices. You can sign up for launch emails on the website and there’s no teases release date for the app, but it did get greenlit on Steam at the beginning of February so look for some news very soon.
This week’s collection of new HTC Vive releases isn’t exceptionally lengthy, but it does provide a handful of interesting experiences. The highest profile of the bunch arrives alongside a film counterpart with fans taking on the role of an infamous assassin in John Wick Chronicles. We reviewed the game and, while it lacks depth, it’s a solid tie-in to what’s becoming a major franchise. An experience that’s on the complete opposite of the scale from the wave shooting of John Wick is Vision Therapy VR, a collection of exercises to supplement your eye’s health. It’s a simple experience, but another example of how VR has a great deal of potential when blending beneficial and entertainment experiences.
We also have a top list of the absolute best HTC Vive games — which is updated every few months with the latest and greatest options.
Thunderbird: The Legend Begins, from
Price: $5.99
In the first chapter of Thunderbird, The Legend Begins takes you into the heart of an ancient realm of myth and legend. This introductory chapter serves as an example of what can be achieved in a room-scale adventure experience.
Recommendation: Very short (15-20 minutes) but may be the introduction to a very universe of games.
Vision Therapy VR, from
Price: $2.99
Vision Therapy VR is just what the title says, providing a collection of exercises for your eye muscles.
Recommendation: Pretty functional and fun way to manage a part of your health. Not super useful for most people though.
VRog, from ByteRockers’ Games
Price: $2.99 (Currently Discounted)
The experience you’ve all been waiting for…the virtual life of a frog. In VRog you either leap your way around a pond and try to find something to eat, run away from a stork, or play in party mode to set scores against your friends.
Recommendation: Casual arcade fun for cheap. Grab it if you dig silly.
John Wick Chronicles, from Starbreeze Studios, Grab Games, GamecoStudios, Big Red Button
Price: $19.99
Right on time for the theatrical debut of John Wick: Chapter 2, John Wick Chronicles gives VR players the chance to become the infamous assassin. We recently had the opportunity to interview the president of Lionsgate Interactive about it as well. The game is a wave shooter that embraces the style and intensity of the film.
Recommendation: Very polished and fun, but fairly short. Keep that in mind before you make the purchase. Full review.
Pyro VR, from Virtual Light VR
Price: $8.99
This visually compelling experience asks you to let your inner pyromaniac loose in the safety of VR and tinker with a bunch of different types of fireworks. You can set up intricate firework shows or just blow everything up.
Recommendation: A unique way to get creative in VR, but a little pricey given the scope.
Dimensional Rift, from
Price: Free
Dimensional Rift is an arcade game where you wield your sword and shield and take on waves of projectiles so you can survive as long as possible.
Recommendation: Free and forgiving gameplay…but not a really compelling grab.
PowersVR, from Pseudocode Games
Price: $7.19 (Currently Discounted)
The classic power fantasy is on display in PowersVR as you take on the role of a comic book superhero…or villain. In this game you control of group of either with the goal to conquer Metropolis Island.
Recommendation: Very fun concept and is shaping up to be a good game. Keep an eye on it throughout Early Access and make the leap if it clicks for you.
Archery Practice VR, from Virtual Rage Studios LLC
Price: $1.19 (Currently Discounted)
Become a master archer in Archery Practice VR, the target shooting simulation. Switch between three different arrow types to take down 5 types of targets across five targeting locations.
Recommendation: Pass on this one. There are plenty of better archery options.
Break Time!, from Space Toast Games
Price: Free
Break Time! is a free physics sandbox where your task is simply to destroy all that you can. Grab items, slam them into things, or throw them across the room.
Recommendation: A free stress reliever! Grab it.
Tomorrow, from Future Lighthouse
Price: Free
In Tomorrow, take a journey through human evolution as you see them grow from prehistoric caves and amazonian jungles to the top of the Himalayas.
Recommendation: An experience that’s worth the free install. Grab it.
VR Golf Online, from MAUMGOLF Co., Ltd.
Price: $14.99 (Currently Discounted)
It’s been a little while, but here we have another virtual golf simulator. VR Golf Online includes 36 realistic golf courses (with more planned) where you can practice your technique with a full roster of clubs.
Recommendation: Robust and visually appealing sim that you should definitely add to your library if you’re interested in golf at all.
MonkeyKing VR, from Gene Games Technology
Price: $9.99
The classic tale Journey to the West serves as the backdrop to this wonderfully colorful tower defense game. In MonkeyKing VR, you must move guardians around platforms to protect your inhibitor from 20 waves of monsters with 5 seconds in between each wave.
Recommendation: Visually appealing but limited in content. Pass for now but keep an eye on it to see if it evolves.
VRemin, from Heiko Ihde
Price: $0.89 (Currently Discounted)
In VRemin, players get their hands a virtual theremin so that you can learn to play with the electrical instrument. There are four oscillators to choose from and a virtual stage for you to test your skill.
Recommendation: Pretty niche. Pass unless you’re really interested in learning to play this.
SpaceJourney VR, from GEESCAN
Price: $3.67 (Currently Discounted)
SpaceJourney VR is a sci-fi escape the room game where you solve puzzles and collect items to unravel the full story about the stars you’re out to save.
Recommendation: Relatively pretty and interesting at a cheap price. Check it out if you like space!
One of the most frustrating things about introducing people to virtual reality (VR), especially on a Samsung Gear VR, is that they can’t see what you see while you’re wearing the headset. Sony smartly included a mirror feature on the TV screen when using the PlayStation VR (PSVR) headset with a PS4 and most Oculus Rift and HTC Vive applications do something similar. But in the case of the Gear VR and other wireless headsets, you’re out of luck. Mobile devices, by default, don’t have a way of displaying their screens on other, larger screens.
There are some apps and workarounds out there that require installing third-party software on a PC, or things that potentially introduce significant lag, but there still isn’t an accessible and easy to use solution. That is, until now.
“We created a prototype of a ‘live viewer’ for the Samsung Gear VR,” said David Robustelli, Head of Digital at CapitolaVR, in an email to UploadVR. “This application makes it possible to see on a tablet what the Gear VR user is seeing in real-time.”
Robustelli sent me footage of the prototype, which you can watch above, showing a man progressing through a virtual store inside the Gear VR headset. The footage is perfectly mirrored onto a tablet that anyone could then watch to get a better idea of exactly what the VR user is looking at. This prototype application goes a step beyond simply mirroring the footage as well, even allowing creators to track where a user is going and looking while inside a VR application.
“This specific tool focuses on following the user journey though a (digital) showroom and it creates a heat map so store owners can determine how to design their stores based on the users path,” said Robustelli. “The software can also be used to make VR games even more interactive by adding a multiplayer option for the non-VR user.”
Luckily the concept doesn’t end at just tablets, as this application will theoretically work on most any network-connected device, such as TVs and computer screens as well.
“The live viewer was setup through the network of Unity,” explained Robustelli. “The Gear VR is the host, which can connect to any device/screen which allows you to connect to a network. This is in a nutshell how we made it work. So yes, any screen with connectivity would work.”
There’s no word yet on if or when this will become a consumer-facing application, but the usefulness should certainly elevate it above other non-consumer prototypes. CapitolaVR has released pieces of content for VR in the past, such as Duckpocalypse, a simple and fun wave shooter, as well as other prototypes, such as a HoloLens concept for Pokemon Go.
We’re starting to dig into the second month of 2017 and have a solid handful of new experiences this week spanning from social platforms to virtual escapist villas. Our first highlight is VRChat, a deeply customizable and free social VR application that could potentially see plenty people burning hours at a time in virtual reality. Hollywood Hills Mansion is a minor highlight and it provides a visually appealing, photo-realistic luxury villa for players to explore or just relax and throw some side-loaded content up on the big screen television.
We also have a top list of the absolute best HTC Vive games — which is updated every few months with the latest and greatest options.
Air Rage, from Emblematic Group
Price: Free to play
Air Rage is a 90-second educational feature that explores the changes to air travel that have increased aggression in passengers.
Recommendation: Worth a view if you’re into this sort of stuff.
Tribocalypse VR, from Totemic Entertainment Ltd
Price: $4.96 (Currently Discounted)
In Tribocalypse you grab your bow and arrow to defend against waves and waves of thieving tribols. You’ll also have some exploding fire flasks on hand to dwindle their numbers.
Recommendation: A solid wave shooter that at least features a bow instead of a gun.
TheScreamer VR virtually recreates the classic carnival pendulum ride. That’s about it.
Recommendations: Pass on this one.
Hollywood Hills Mansion, from LOOT Interactive, LLC
Price: $9.99
Every once in a while you’d love to escape to a luxurious and peaceful villa and that’s exactly what this experience offers. You wander the virtual home, relax poolside, and can even watch Facade TV or your own side-loaded content on the the big screen television.
Recommendation: It may be a bit pricey for the experience it offers, but this quite a visual feast.
Recommendation: A cool one off for the price if you dig the track.
Orbital Injection, from Packet39
Price: $1.99
Play god a bit in Orbital Injection and toss planets into stable orbits. Set up as many as you can without crash the planets into each other or into the sun.
Recommendation: Arcady time sink for cheap, but there’s not much to it.
Across The Line, from Emblematic Group
Price: Free To Play
Across The Line is another polarizing and informative virtual feature from Emblematic Group, this time tackling the subject of abortion. 360-degree video and CGI combine to give you a deeply personal experience.
VRChat, which we covered recently, is aiming to be a definitive social experience with custom avatars, worlds to create, games to play with each other, and more.
Recommendation: A must have social experience that’s free to play.
Snow Games VR, from Kenziko Ltd.
Price: Free
Groundhog Day confirmed another 6 weeks of winter so Snow Games still has a timely theme for players to embrace. Shape and throw snowballs at your targets while dodging the snowballs of enemy snowmen.
Recommendation: Free. Grab it and give it a shot.
Brush Up VR, from Games That Work
Price: $0.99
Brush Up partners you with a large toothy companion and your task is to clean up his teeth as well as you can. Serves as a tool to teach players how to brush correctly.
Recommendation: Solid grab for teaching the young ones how to brush through VR. Otherwise, pass.
Snailiens, from 562 Interactive
Price: $14.99
Snailiens are stealing all of Earth’s cabbages and you’re taking them on as part of the S.A.L.T. defense network in this tower defense shooter. Strategize as you choose your weapons and build towers to fight off the invasion.
Recommendation: Solid experience thus far. Keep an eye on it while it’s in Early Access to assess personal value.
Power Solitaire VR, from Parkerhill Reality Labs
Price: $1.99
Solitaire fan? Well get comfy. Power Solitaire VR is a seated experience for the card game. It only has single player in early access, which has special pricing, but will include multiplayer at full release.
Recommendation: It’s a steal at EA pricing if you love the game.
CuVRball, from Hypergolic Games
Price: $12.74 (Currently Discounted)
CuVRball blends a lot of the best elements of VR and multiplayer sports, dropping players into competitive zero-G arenas where they slingshot a ball into goals. The game also includes power ups like explosives, black holes, and more.
Recommendation: Clever concepts show a lot of promise. Worth it if you’re looking for something unique.
King Kaiju, from Fire Hose Games, Chris Chung
Price: $3.99 (Currently Discounted)
Live out a power fantasy in King Kaiju as you take on the role of a massive, city-destroying monster. This sandbox virtual city is yours to demolish using your hands or breathes of fire as you gain more and more points.
Recommendation: Are you kidding? Get this game.
Racket: Nx, from One Hamsa, Waves Audio
Price: $19.99
Racket: Nx is an experience built to deliver the ultimate VR arcade sci-fi sport. Inspired by racquetball, you’ll have to utilize full spatial awareness as you send your ball careening off the virtual platforms at high speeds.
Recommendation: Solid visuals, great gameplay, and a good workout to boot. Give it a go.
Samurai Sword VR, from SAT-BOX
Price: $7.99 (Currently Discounted)
Using a samurai sword may or may not have been one of the first thoughts that came to mind when VR officially took root in the gaming industry. Samurai Sword VR is a rail melee experience where you slice targets as you pass and toss shurikens as well.
Recommendation: Decent concept but is trumped by other games with a similar experience. Pass for now.
Skip Sport: Jumping VR, from Ramotion Inc.
Price: $4.99
With realistic physics, Sky Sport: Jumping VR virtually recreates the exciting winter sport. Luckily, missing a jump won’t actually kill you this time around unless you just flat out have a heart attack from the intensity.
Recommendation: Keep an eye on it to see if it evolves in Early Access, but otherwise, pass.
Magic Lantern, from Parovoz Animation Studio
Price: Free
Magic Lantern brings a family-driven virtual space where you can watch classic children videos, play games, draw, rearrange the space, and play with toys.
Recommendation: Very neat child friendly virtual experience. Definitely give it a go at the low price of zero dollars.
1-2-Swift, from MNGOVR
Price: $2.63 (Currently Discounted)
To all the Overwatch fans, it’s officially HIIIIGH NOOON. 1-2-Swift is a gunslinger part game that utilizes one set of motion controllers for a two player experience. It’s essentially a shameless ripoff of the Nintendo Switch’s identical mini-game.
Recommendation: Not a bad way to get some use out of your VR controllers without the headset. Very cheap.
Cosmic Sugar, from Object Normal
Price: Free
For something a bit more psychedelic, there’s Cosmic Sugar. This app is all about putting you inside the kinetic potential of beautiful nebulas with powerful music.
Recommendation: Yet another free thing. If the trailer looks cool, check it out.
What happens when that creepy survivalist out in the woods turns out to be right about impending doom? That’s the story we’ll get to witness in this year’s film The Recall written and directed by Mauro Borrelli and featuring Wesley Snipes and Breaking Bad’s RJ Mitte.
Before we get the feature film, though, we’re going to get a virtual reality experience centered on Wesley Snipe’s character “The Hunter” as he takes on alien invaders.
Mind’s Eye Entertainment is producing the feature film and has teamed up with SkyVR, VMI Worldwide, Bridgegate Pictures, Invico Capital, and Talking Dog Studios for a 10 minute VR experience that takes place in the same world as the film which is similar to Samsung’s recent 360-degree short film that ties in with the new season of the 24 television series. In The Recall, RJ Mitte’s character Brendan comes across Snipes’ unnamed “Hunter” right before the alien invasion commences and the VR clip will be placing viewers in Brendan’s shoes.
“This will change the way we hear about movies and rewrite the way we package content,” says producer Travis Cloyd in the press release for the new feature. “Viewers today are smarter and have access to more content right at their fingertips not just to watch the movie, but live in the realm and watch the feature through this new medium.”
The VR excerpt will be the first time Snipes has been a part of a project utilizing the immersive technology and didn’t feel completely like a fish-out-of-water, instead likening it to theater work.
“The cool thing is that for theater actors, or thespians, this is a great format because shooting in VR is similar to shooting a play, or performing a play,” explained Snipes. “You don’t have the luxury of cuts, and short takes, and do-overs,” he says. “You have to be on your game, and since everything is in the shot, everyone else needs to be on their game at the same time.”
The Recall VR Abduction does not have a set release date, but will release prior to the film which is slated for a summer 2017 debut. There will also be VR and 360-degree behind the scenes clips available on the film’s Facebook page.
Knott’s Berry Farm is an amusement park located a short drive from Disneyland in Orange County, California. The sprawling 160 acre playground literally began its life as a berry stand and now boasts over 40 roller coasters, water rides, and other attractions. The park receives nearly 4 million visitors every year, and starting Q2 of this year park guests will have a whole new way to enjoy their stay: virtual reality.
VRstudios is partnering with the amusement park to “design and install a specialized VR experience.” Details as to what exactly this experience is going to be are sparse as of now. However, Christian Dieckmann, the VP of Knott’s Berry’s parent company Cedar Fair, said it will be a “free-roaming VR installation.” The experience will be offered “for a small fee in addition to admission.”
VRStudios is a multifaceted company that creates immersive installations of varying scope. It offers VR solutions for enterprise, simulation and arcades, with a focus on completely wireless walk-around systems. Previously, the company partnered with Universal Studios in Florida for a Halloween-themed multiplayer experience that was tied into a larger attraction within the park.
More and more amusement parks have been incorporating VR into attractions. Last year, for example, Six Flags started using headsets on certain roller coasters for an alternative way of experiencing a familiar ride. The idea of VR entertainment at a theme park seems to be expanding past a supporting role and into its own category of attraction. Check back as we’ll undoubtedly see more theme park VR launches as the year progresses.
Previously, the NFL’s Media Director William Deng spoke on the league’s virtual and 360-degree ambitions and apprehensions. Although the organization doesn’t think the visual resolution of headsets is high enough for live streaming and directing viewer’s attention is hard enough, Deng and company still believe in the platforms and thinks that any growth in use on their end depends greatly on how the mobile platforms develop. There have been no significant shifts since that discussion, but it looks like the NFL doesn’t want to miss out on a big opportunity as they’re partnering with LiveLike to bring the biggest game of the season to virtual reality: The Super Bowl.
LiveLike is a company that doesn’t just thrust viewers into their favorite sporting events, they’ve developed a virtual suite that serves as the ultimate sports fan’s venue with exciting decor and various broadcasts streaming into the dwelling. While the NFL is still not quite diving into a full live-stream of a football game, they’re going to be showing off the Super Bowl’s most exciting plays in near real-time via perspectives from 6 different cameras in the football stadium. Livelike’s co-founder Miheer Walavalkar believes this will be the first of many Super Bowl games to get the VR treatment and feels the massive event is a great way to introduce millions of people to VR.
Over the course of the game, viewers in the virtual suite will be able to see the four best plays per quarter and curated highlights for both teams pre and post game, totaling out to 20 clips as detailed in the press release for the announcement. Those highlights will be easy to access and viewers have can use a navigable timeline. It’s not entirely clear if the amount of clips is a finite number they can’t exceed, but it’ll like be tough for the broadcast team to keep things that limited with explosive performances expected from both the Patriots and the Falcons in the game on February 5th.
The VR broadcast can be viewed via iOS, Android, and Gear VR via the Fox Sports VR application. In the app, you must log-in using your television provider credentials.
Wrestling, especially the WWE, is an incredible window into sports drama. Since inception, this American past time has maintained a degree of excitement built upon high-flying athletes, bloody rivalries, infectious personalities, and stylish violence. Business Insider sat down with Michelle Wilson, WWE’s Chief Revenue and Marketing Officer, about the growing amount of digital content they’ve created, and revealed fans may get the chance to leap from the top ropes with VR as the driving force for some new ideas.
The crux of these newer developments, as so put forth by Wilson during the interview, revolves around the company’s understanding that they’re no longer creating content just for those watching on television, but also on other media devices. They’re adapting to Snapchat and Facebook live with their digital team of 100 – 120 people, including many that utilize those types of social platforms regularly. They’ve shifted over the last five years, growing from 750 hours of content every year to 1500 across long-form television production and the short-form stylings that fit on the more quickly consumed formats like YouTube. They may soon be adding another format to their repertoire as well.
“VR is a really interesting thing to watch for us,” Wilson said. “We know that our fans want to be literally in the ring with our superstars. So I think AR and VR is something we’re really paying attention to.” She goes on to point out that “where” fans will be able to experience these is what they’re thinking about and, in response to a question, she said they’re already testing and evaluating VR and AR technology.
The WWE has already embraced 360-degree video, showing off a new perspective on some of the exciting moments from their television broadcasts.
