Category: google earth vr

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Google Teases New Google Earth Experience

Google Earth has been around for a while, it has seen a number of interesting uses by organisations, companies and individuals. It has enabled the discovery of previously unknown archaeological sites and spawned amusing news stories about giant insects. Now the tech giant is promising a ‘brand new experience’ for users of Google Earth.

Few details have emerged so far about what the ‘new experience’ for Google Earth will entail. Google have sent invites to selected parties for an event set to line up with ‘Earth Day’ to play on an obvious theme. The event is set to take place on 18th April at the Whitney Museum of Art in New York.

Google Earth VR_user

Google launched a virtual reality (VR) version of Google Earth on Steam last year, which is currently only available for users of HTC Vive. Some analysts are predicting that the new version of Google Earth will support Google Daydream, which would seem to make sense is it is Google’s own platform. Bringing Google Earth to Daydream would also have advantages when it comes to promoting it as an educational tool, since the Daydream is a more affordable option that the HTC Vive.

The company previously said that support for other platforms was due to be added to Google Earth sometime this year, so it could well be that the new update will see users of Oculus Rift or Google Daydream also getting the ability to soar freely over the Grand Canyon or visit the Eiffel Tower.

As always, VRFocus will bring you further updates on Google Earth when they come in.

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Field in View: What’s The Best VR To Show Friends And Family This Holiday?

Field in View: What’s The Best VR To Show Friends And Family This Holiday?

In the festive spirit, I’m throwing this one out to everyone, though I’ve got my own ideas below. This is VR’s first Christmas. Over the next week we’ll be travelling back to family homesteads or welcoming others into our own. For many of us, it’s going to be the first chance to show off VR to our loved ones. We’ll frantically clear desks and shift tables to make room for room-scale, and load our rigs with the latest apps to proudly put on display.

But there’s a question. What are the best apps to show everyone this holiday season? What are the games and experiences that will ensure anyone that puts on an Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, or PlayStation VR won’t soon forget it? I decided to come up with a little list, but I’d love to see what submissions everyone else has in the comments below. If you have an app that you think strikes a particular chord with VR first-timers, share it below. You might just make someone’s Christmas.

For The Uninitiated – Perfect (Rift, Vive, PS VR)

Perfect is actually the app that got me thinking about this article. nDreams latest release is not a game for anyone that actually bought a VR headset, but it is a great way to show them off to people with no prior knowledge of the tech, or even its foundations in gaming. It requires minimal input from the player, providing a fitting platform for those incredible few moments that you first see VR with your own eyes. Your granddad won’t soon forget it.

For The Family Gathering – The Playroom VR (PS VR)

If you want a VR game that will get the whole family playing together look no further than The Playroom VR, Sony Japan’s brilliant free mini-game collection that’s specifically designed to showcase its headset. Several of the games included here are sure to win over the crowds, incluing the excellent Monster Escape, which has players on a 2D screen running away from a beast controlled by the headset wearer. It’s VR at its most social.

For The Bedtime Story – Gnomes and Goblins (Vive)

Nothing beats an atmospheric, festive story, especially on Christmas Eve. If you want to send people off to sleep with a little extra magic this year, let them try Iron Man director Jon Favreau and Wevr’s memorable preview of its upcoming Gnomes and Goblins series, which has you befriend an adorable little critter that simply wants to eat. Though brief, its has the perfect mix story and atmosphere to make for the perfect Christmas tale.

For The Action Fan – Superhot VR (Rift)

If you’ve got anyone in the household getting the latest Call of Duty for Christmas this year, then you simply have to show them Superhot VR [Review: 9/10]. It’s arguably the best FPS for VR yet, effortlessly capturing the intense rush of being the hero in your own action movie with the perfect blend of style and vulnerability. Time moves only when you do, and Superhot VR uses this to give you several Matrix-worthy moments that players won’t soon forget.

For The Art Lovers – Tilt Brush (Vive)

If you know someone that would be better suited making things in virtual reality than they would simply interacting with it, then Tilt Brush is the perfect app for them. Google’s painting app is beautifully intuitive. Using Vive’s wands, anyone can get the basic concept of Tilt Brush in just a few seconds, and set to work making their own pieces of art. If you don’t have a Vive, then we also recommend Medium and Quill on Oculus Rift with Touch.

For The Distraction – Minecraft (Rift, Gear VR)

Virtually every child on the planet has spent their fair share of time in Minecraft by this point. But they’ve never seen it like they have inside VR, where the iconic blocks take on a 3D form and the world comes to life. You’ll need to make sure no little ones are getting over excited with your $599 Rift of course, but showing kids their favorite game inside the magic of VR is sure to make them a believer, and hopefully an owner by this time next year.

For the Rollercoaster Riders – EVE: Valkyrie (Rift, Vive, PS VR)

EVE: Valkyrie has longer been a poster child for the Oculus Rift, if not VR gaming as a whole, and it’s easy to see why. This is still the best VR experience to put you in the cockpit of a spaceship, and that will make it essential viewing for many people this holiday season. Put people in the free roam maps so they don’t have to worry about the pressures of multiplayer and they’re sure to have a blast.

Grand Prize Winner – Google Earth VR (Vive)

Without fail, everyone I show Google Earth VR to comes out absolutely astonished. Ask people where their favorite place in the world is, don’t tell them a word about the app, and then get them to put a Vive on to find themselves towering above that location. It drops jaws every time, and people easily get to grips with the controls. If there’s one app you make sure you show people this Christmas, make it Google Earth VR.

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Field in View: Google Earth VR Gave Me The Trip Of A Lifetime Inside My Kitchen

Field in View: Google Earth VR Gave Me The Trip Of A Lifetime Inside My Kitchen

In between the 55 miles of water separating Russia and Alaska, there sits a tiny island. Or rather, there are two tiny islands; Big Diomede and Little Diomede. Though one is larger, they’re both minute plots of land, about 2 miles apart. A handful of people live on the smaller of the two, but the larger is now barren. When it’s cold enough for the water to freeze over, it’s possible to walk between the two.

But here’s the amazing thing: Big Diomede is Russia, Little Diomede is America.

I’ve always been fascinated by this part of the world and it’s one of my dreams to one day stand at the top of Little Diomede and point out towards Russia. The idea excites me to no end. And yet it’s going to take some planning; I’m from the UK and getting to the smaller island requires taking a helicopter from the viyu of Nome to the one helipad. What with work, money and timing, I thought it was going to take a few years before I could go.

As it turns out, I went there yesterday.

The second I dived into Google Earth on the HTC Vive, I knew where I had to go. After marveling at the Welcome Tour (a must for any new user), I immediately grabbed the globe and pointed myself towards the Bering Strait. Turning on the human scale option, I found the highest point of Little Diomede, zoomed in, and just stood there. Sure enough, I could see its bigger brother off in the distance. I could see the miles of icy ocean surrounding me and the vague outline of mainland Alaska behind me. It was incredible.

Of course, I wasn’t really there; the ground below me was blurred beyond recognition, I couldn’t hear the waves of the Bearing Sea brush up on shore, and I longed to feel the biting chill of the air on my face, but for standing in my kitchen and not travelling hundreds of miles it was more than good enough. It was one of the most amazing VR experiences I’ve had.

What’s incredible about Google Earth in VR is everyone has access to that spot in the world. I don’t mean that hilltop on Diomede, I mean that one place that can create a powerful emotional response in you just by being there. It’s a shame every inch of the world doesn’t have 3D modelling, though the gap will hopefully close as time goes on, but this is an incredible tool that you can put into the hands of just about anyone.

I can see myself using Google Earth a lot in the coming years. I want to check out my vacation destinations before I go, and then chart the paths I walked to friends when I’m back. I want to take relatives to places they never thought they’d see again, from angles that have never been possible before. I want to have my own digital globe of memories, sitting right there inside my headset.

We often talk about the VR killer app. Google Earth has a world of potential to be that.

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Hack Makes ‘Google Earth VR’ Compatible With Rift and Touch

Google Earth VR was launched this week to great excitement, except to Rift users who found out that the game wouldn’t work with their headset. Little more than a day later, a hack surfaced that adds compatibility for the Rift, Touch, and even Razer Hydra to Google Earth VR.

While SteamVR is primarily the home of the HTC Vive, it also supports the Oculus Rift and Touch controllers, making it easy to developers to release games that work with both headsets. Rift users were surprised and upset to find that Google opted not to take advantage of the platform’s cross platform capability, and instead restricted Google Earth VR to the Vive only.

SEE ALSO
'Google Earth VR' Launches on HTC Vive, A Breathtaking New Way to Know Our Planet

Given that SteamVR technically already supports the Rift, a hack surfaced in short order that forced Rift compatibility for Google Earth VR. Created by Reddit user Shockfire7, the hack is called FakeVive, because it spoofs SteamVR into thinking that the attached Rift is actually a Vive, and thus Google Earth VR does it’s thing without fussing about the Rift.

FakeVive is a DLL which you can drop into the app’s folder to make it believe that a Vive is connected. It’s not a reverse Revive or anything, it just intercepts the OpenVR requests for HMD information and spoofs the model string. I don’t care to make it much more complex than this because SteamVR already supports the Rift fairly well.

FakeVive doesn’t involve modifying any of the app’s files and it doesn’t do anything specific to Google Earth VR. This makes it easy to install and it will continue to work even if the app is updated (assuming the HMD check isn’t made more complex).

Installation is as simple as unzipping a folder into the right place, and because of the way it the hack works, it could be a foundation to unlocking Rift support in other SteamVR titles which explicitly don’t support it.

In addition to the Rift, the FakeVive hack also makes Google Earth VR work with the Touch controllers, and even the older Razer Hydra controllers.

earthvr_manhattan

LibreVR, creator of the popular ReVive hack which allows Vive users to play many Rift exclusive games on Oculus Home, had posted instructions for a similar hack on Reddit prior, but called FakeVive “a much better solution” thanks to its ease of use. LibreVR has also now contributed to the FakeVive code.

SEE ALSO
Platform Politics: Inside the Oculus and 'Revive' Dilemma

The reason why Google opted not to support the Rift in the first place is unclear. Their response to that question has been relatively vague, along the lines of ‘we want to focus first on making it work well on one headset’, but it seems clear that it didn’t take much effort to implement support. Google could be waiting for the launch of Touch, or maybe withholding their support for business reasons (to our knowledge the company hasn’t released any VR applications on Oculus platforms).

The post Hack Makes ‘Google Earth VR’ Compatible With Rift and Touch appeared first on Road to VR.

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Google Earth VR Brings the Entire World to HTC Vive

The HTC Vive head-mounted display (HMD) allows users to see and experience all sorts of wonders, from the depths of the oceans to the solar system and much more. Today Google has announced the launch of Google Earth VR, giving an new immersive way to explore our planet.

The original Google Earth began life ten years ago, offing a basic look at the world through satellite imagery. Since then the company has expanded what the software can do, providing an in-depth look at the world around us. Now its been upgraded to for the virtual reality (VR) era, and users can head over to Steam to download Google Earth VR for free.

Google Earth VR_Florence

Just as the standard version, Google Earth VR gives you the ability to flyover the Grand Canyon, explore the streets of Tokyo, head to Paris to see the Eiffel Tower, discover the hidden gems of the Amazon rainforest and much much more. Besides being able to wander around the planet however you like, the software also provides cinematic tours and hand-picked destinations like the Manhattan skyline or Swiss Alps to provide a learning experience as much as a good view.

VRFocus previewed an early version during the Game Developers Conference (GDC) 2015, with the technical demonstration using Google Maps.

While Google Earth VR is currently only available for HTC Vive further support is planned. Google hasn’t said which platforms are to be included, just that it’ll happen next year.

VRFocus will continue its coverage of Google, reporting back with any new VR announcements.

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‘Google Earth VR’ Launches For Free To Let You Fly Around The World

‘Google Earth VR’ Launches For Free To Let You Fly Around The World

Looking down on the brilliant orange seats, and crisp green grass below me, two thoughts fight for dominance in my skull. The first is concerning all of the terrible losses that have taken place in this stadium throughout a truly depressing season, and the second is how unbelievable it is to be standing on top of First Energy Field. I grin for a moment thinking how much a seat like this would cost me in the real world before turning away from one of my childhood haunts and flinging myself into the sky and soaring between the familiar grey and brown buildings of Cleveland.

I haven’t seen my hometown in almost a year but even the pull of nostalgia isn’t enough to keep me entertained forever. In the blink of an eye the world around me dissolves and the restaurants of East Fourth Street are replaced by the brilliant purple face of Japan’s Mt. Fuji. I aim for the lid of the famous mountain’s bowl-shaped depression and land smoothly on the craggy ground. Turning slowly I can almost feel the wind in my hair but I know that couldn’t be possible. This is not the real Mt. Fuji. This is Google Earth VR. And I never, ever want to leave.

Our Virtual World

Google Earth VR is a surprise project from Google’s Geo team that is being both announced and released today. This is the team behind Google Maps and the original Google Earth. The group has spent the better part of a decade collecting and cataloging an obscene amount of visual data from all over the planet. Now, all of that information is being used to create a VR experience that can take you almost anywhere on Earth you want to go.

According to Mike Podwal, project manager for Google Earth VR, “94 percent of the world’s population is covered in this experience. 54 percent of the Earth’s land mass is covered. There are around 175 cities with full, 3D data, and over 600 ‘urban cores’ as well.” Google Earth turns all of this data into completely explorable, scalable 3D immersive worlds for the HTC Vive VR headset.