google i/o – Page 3 – Augmented & Virtual Reality Confabulation

May 17, 2017

Google I/O 2017: Samsung-Unterstützung von Daydream angekündigt

Letztes Jahr stellte Google auf seiner Entwicklerkonferenz die Weiterentwicklung der Cardboard vor: Daydream verbessert wesentlich die VR-Erfahrung gegenüber den klassischen Pappbrillen und schließt zur Samsung Gear VR auf. So richtig durchsetzen konnte sich das System bisher nicht, was vor allem an der noch sehr begrenzten Auswahl an Smartphones liegen dürfte, welche die Daydream Plattform unterstützen. Zudem fehlte bisher vor allem der Top-Player Samsung, der zwar im Daydream-Team sitzt, aber nach wie vor auf seine erfolgreiche Gear VR und damit der Zusammenarbeit mit der Facebook-Tochter Oculus setzte.

Samsung Galaxy S8 wird Googles Daydream unterstützen

Das ändert sich jetzt, wie Google auf der Entwicklerkonferenz bekannt gab: Durch ein Software-Update wird das Samsung Galaxy S8 auch Daydream unterstützen, womit Anwender zukünftig die Wahl haben: Samsungs Gear VR oder Google Daydream? Oculus Store oder Daydrram Store. Oder sogar beide? Auf jeden Fall haben Benutzer des Galaxy S8 jetzt die Sicherheit, offiziell beide Systeme benutzen zu können. Vielleicht spielt aber auch die Klage von ZeniMax gegen Samsung eine Rolle. Der Spielentwickler wirft Samsung vor, weiterhin die Gear VR zu verkaufen obwohl inzwischen bekannt sei, dass Oculus Code von ZeniMax verwendet. Einen Termin für das Software-Update nannte Google auf der Konferenz nicht, es kann also durchaus sein, dass die Entscheidung sehr kurzfristig fiel.

Der Beitrag Google I/O 2017: Samsung-Unterstützung von Daydream angekündigt zuerst gesehen auf VR∙Nerds. VR·Nerds am Werk!

May 17, 2017

Google Announces Standalone Headset to be Made by HTC and Lenovo

Google’s currently holding its annual I/O conference today detailing plenty of plans for the future. Saving virtual reality (VR) to the end the company has announced a brand new head-mounted display (HMD) that’s completely standalone.

Making the reveal was Clay Bavor, vice president of VR at Google, who said the company had been working alongside Qualcomm Technologies on the headset. It’ll be completely free of cables, smartphones and PC’s, with all the technology built into the device. One piece of tech the headset will feature is inside-out tracking that Google is calling World Sense, developed from Tango, meaning no additional cameras are needed to track the device, sounding very similar to Microsoft’s HMDs.

Vive Standalone VR Product 2

But possibly even bigger news is the fact that Google has been working with HTC and Lenovo to build the HMD. Essentially meaning a mobile standalone Vive.

On HTC’s blog the company said: “We have been working closely with developers and consumers to define the best VR experiences over the past few years, and we are perfectly positioned to deliver the most premium standalone headset and user experience. Vive’s standalone VR headset will provide a deeper and more immersive portable VR experience than ever before.”

“We are thrilled to once again work with Google and offer a powerful premium Snapdragon experience for devices on the Daydream platform,” said Keith Kressin, senior vice president, product management, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc in a statement. “Our companies share the same vision: to make it possible for everyone to enjoy rich and immersive VR experiences on a smartphone device or a dedicated VR head-mounted display while being fully mobile, rather than being restricted by cables or limited to predefined rooms setup for outside-in tracking.”

“The Daydream standalone headset reference design created in close partnership with Qualcomm will enable manufacturers to build a whole new category of VR devices,” said Bavor. “These headsets have everything needed for VR, built right into the headset itself and are as easy to use as picking them up. They’ll feature WorldSense for positional tracking right out of the box without any external equipment. We’re thrilled that headsets will begin to hit shelves later this year.”

The standalone headset will be powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 835 platform and is scheduled to launch later this year.

As further details are released VRFocus will keep you updated.

May 17, 2017

Google I/O: The New Google Lens Shows AR Potential

Google I/O’s 2017 keynote kicked off with some exciting statistics, showing off just how impactful and widespread the company’s applications are. There are 800 million Google Drive users and 500 million active Google Photos users. For hardware, they’ve even reached an incredible milestone with over 2 billion active Android devices. Later into the keynote, Google’s CEO Sundar Pichai spoke of the advances Google is making with their computer vision technology.

From 2010 to now, the vision error rate for image recognition has fallen to a point where it is even below the rate of the human eye. An element of this allows for cleaning up noisy images taken with a Google device and even completely removing obstructions like a fence from a picture of a child playing baseball. Pichai followed this up with the announcement of Google Lens.

“All of Google was built because we started understanding text and web pages,” Pichai says. “The fact that computers can understand images and videos has profound implications for our core mission.”

May 17, 2017May 18, 2017

Watch Google Discuss The Latest On VR And More With I/O 2017 Livestream

Microsoft may have wrapped up its Build developers conference for another year, but now it’s Google’s turn. The search engine giant’s I/O event kicks off today with a keynote speech, and you can watch it right here.

Day One Keynote

Wednesday, May 17 – Opening Keynote
10am Pacific, 1pm Eastern, 6pm London/GMT+1

Embedded below, archived:

Day Two VR/AR Session:

Thursday, May 18 – VR at Google
9:30am Pacific, 12:30pm Eastern, 5:40pm London/GMT+1

Embedded below, livestream, until completed:

We’re expecting updates to Daydream and Google Tango at the show and more on Daydream plus standalone headset plans.

Tagged with: Google I/O

May 17, 2017

Report: Google May Introduce a New All-in-one VR Headset at I/O Developer Conference

According to a Variety exclusive, Google may be gearing up to show off a brand new mobile VR headset at Google I/O developer conference this week, one that not only delivers VR in an all-in-one device, but could likely offer inside-out positional tracking as well.

The Variety report maintains information of the alleged all-in-one mobile VR headset—which won’t require a phone or PC to use—was gathered from “multiple sources with knowledge of the project.” Predictably, a Google spokesperson declined to comment.

The report posits that the headset is likely to debut this week in similar fashion to Google Daydream, which was introduced at last year’s Google I/O. Daydream is the company’s high-quality mobile VR platform designed to work with several flagship devices including the company’s own Pixel phone.

It’s unsure at this time exactly what a Google-made, all-in-one headset will look like, and whether it will incorporate the company’s augmented reality initiative Tango’s computer vision capabilities or not. Google’s interest in room-scale, interactive experiences is clear however, as evidenced by their early acquisition of VR studio Skillman and Hackett, known for creating Tiltbrush (2016), and more recently their acquisition of VR studio Owlchemy Labs, the minds behind Job Simulator (2016) and Rick and Morty: Virtual Rick-ality (2017).

The conference takes place today, May 17th, and goes until the 19th. The opening keynote will be livestreamed on the company’s developer channel on YouTube at 10 am PDT today.

The post Report: Google May Introduce a New All-in-one VR Headset at I/O Developer Conference appeared first on Road to VR.

May 17, 2017

Report: Google May Show Standalone Inside-Out Tracking Headset At I/O

Just ahead of Google’s I/O developer conference last year rumors ran rampant that the company would show a standalone VR headset. The truth was actually something very different, but those murmurs have returned again just ahead of this year’s show.

Variety is citing multiple sources with knowledge of the project in saying that Google may showcase its standalone device at this week’s show, which kicks off today and runs through to Friday. The headset is expected to use an inside-out tracking system similar to that which can be seen in Microsoft’s upcoming Windows 10 headsets, which are made with partners. Those systems are still tethered to PCs, though, and this device is expected to be completely standalone, with all the processing power on-board.

We have a lot of questions about this rumored device, perhaps the most pressing being what it means for the company’s Daydream mobile VR ecosystem, which it revealed at last year’s I/O and launched last November. It’s entirely possible that such a device would support the company’s new ecosystem, meaning it could launch with a suite of games and apps already availble, but it raises questions about where Daydream’s 3 degrees of freedom (3DOF) controller fits into the plan. A 6DOF headset wouldn’t mash well with a 3DOF controller.

If true, it could be that the inside-out tracking is achieved with Google’s Tango platform, which consists of depth-sensing tech that can map rooms in 3D.

We’d also love to know about availability. Intel expects to have standalone VR headsets on sale this year using its reference design, Qualcomm is making a reference design too, and Facebook’s Oculus is still at work on its Santa Cruz project. These devices will likely be expensive due to the combination of VR and processing power. Just how viable will they be for consumers?

This is also complete speculation on our part, but there’s the question of who’s really making this headset too. Pixel, the phone Google released last year with Daydream support, was actually manufactured by HTC. We can’t help but wonder if, with reports that HTC itself is looking at mobile VR, the two have paired up again to work on this device. Again, though, that’s entirely speculation for now.

We’ll just have to see what Google has in store this week. We’ll be at I/O to bring you all the latest. The show’s keynote kicks off at 10am PT today.

Tagged with: Google I/O

April 24, 2017

Google Play Awards Add VR And AR Categories

Taking place at the Shoreline Amphitheater in Mountain View, California, Google I/O is an outdoor developer festival that lasts for three days. On May 17th – 19th, there will be hands-on learning, tech keynotes, and insight on Google’s latest developer products in the 2nd annual event.

The festival will also be home to the Google Play Awards and it has undergone a bit of change. Last time New York Times VR represented for the AR/VR industries with a win in the Most Innovative category (Within was also nominated) but, this year, there are entire categories dedicated to virtual and augmented content.

For 2017, the Google Play Awards categories have expanded from 10 to 12 to include Best AR Experience and Best VR Experience. Those nominated for the VR category exhibit “optimal use of the Daydream UI” with the AR nominees being recognized for “harnessing the creative and imaginative technology of AR”.

Best VR Experience Nominees

Gunjack 2: End of Shift (Read our review here)
Mekorama VR (Made it onto our list of must-play Daydream titles)
The Arcslinger
The Turning Forest (A touching VR fairy tale)
Virtual Virtual Reality

Best AR Experience Nominees

Having dedicated categories such as these will stand as solid exposure not only for the experiences nominated but for the availability of VR and AR content on Google platforms. The hope is that the casual consumer will be paying attention, give some of this content a try, and remain open to new experiences utilizing this tech in the future.

Tagged with: Google I/O, google play

October 4, 2016

Watch: Google’s Live Event Here – Daydream VR Hardware Unveiling Expected

Daydream VR, Google’s high-end VR platform for select Android smartphones, may be seeing its time in the spotlight at the company’s hardware-focused event today. Although Google hasn’t said specifically whether Daydream will be making an appearance, you’d better watch to find out.

Note: Live stream video is embedded at the top of the page and will start at 9am PST / 5pm GMT.

Poised to become the second most widespread VR device on the planet—after the humble Google Cardboard, that is—specifics around Daydream are still thin.

daydream-headset — image courtesy of Google

From Google I/O 2016 we know that older Android devices aren’t likely to qualify for Daydream, and that manufacturers including Hauwei, Samsung, HTC, LG, Mi, ZTE, Asus and Alcatel have been tapped to produce Daydream-compatible phones.

With the SDK already out of beta, there’s no foreseeable time better than today to announce Daydream, even if rumors are already bubbling around the price and manufacturer of the first headset. According to Variety’s sources, both Pixel and Pixel XL phones will work with the new headset possibly manufactured by HTC, and it could go for as little as $79.

Google’s Daydream microsite only says thus far that the high quality VR platform is coming in fall 2016.

The post Watch: Google’s Live Event Here – Daydream VR Hardware Unveiling Expected appeared first on Road to VR.