Google’s Latest Spotlight Story ‘Age of Sail’ Delivers a Powerful & Emotional VR Experience

Google just released Age of Sail, its latest Spotlight Story for VR headsets. The company’s ability to assemble talent to deliver quick but meaningful storytelling seems to have paid off again, as Age of Sail hits a home run in nearly every department.

The short is story set in the early 1900s, and centers around William Avery (voiced by Ian McShane), an old sailor set adrift on the open sea. Avery comes upon Lara, a young girl who’s fallen overboard a luxury steamer.

Image courtesy Google

The experience plays out aboard Avery’s small cutter sailboat, already a relic as the world adopts a new class of steamers and ocean liners. You sit beside the two as you experience a breathtaking tale of bygone memories and mounting danger on the North Atlantic.

Image courtesy Google

Without spoiling it further, Age of Sail is an extremely polished experience that puts two believable characters front and center. While it could do with some anti-aliasing on PC VR headsets along with supersampling, the whole experience smacks of expertise in lighting, animation, writing, voice acting, and direction—the whole lot. After Google’s other high-performing Spotlight Story Pearl (2016) won an Emmy for Outstanding Innovation in Interactive Storytelling, we’d expect no less.

There’s some artificial locomotion here, but it’s fairly tame considering you’re sitting aboard a boat in stormy weather. It’s best experienced sitting down.

Image courtesy Google

Google has published a 2D theatrical recording of the entire experience, but if you want the full impact, VR headset users can download the real-time rendered version via Steam (Vive, Rift), Viveport (Vive, Rift), and versions for both Android VR and Apple devices.

Age of Sail premiered at the Venice Film Festival in August, and was produced by Chromosphere and Evil Eye Pictures and directed by Academy Award-winning filmmaker John Kahrs.

The post Google’s Latest Spotlight Story ‘Age of Sail’ Delivers a Powerful & Emotional VR Experience appeared first on Road to VR.

Second Google Glass for Enterprise Appears in Leaked Images with USB-C & Modest Spec Bump

It’s been nearly two years since Google launched its first Glass Enterprise Edition, something the company called “a new chapter” for the device. Originally introduced in its Explorer Edition in 2013 targeting early adopters and developers, it now appears the second gen Enterprise Edition Glass could be well on its way to the final stages of production.

Update (March 6th, 2019): Google Glass 2 passed FCC testing late last year, although now the emergence of supposedly leaked images could mark a nearby launch for the enterprise-focused smartglasses. Images obtained by Brazilian publication Tecnoblog show the glasses add-on sporting a new USB Type-C connector which replaces the previous version’s pin-style magnetic connector, and labeling that’s consistent with the previously revealed FCC markings.

According to a Geekbench benchmark, the new version contains a Snapdragon 710, an integrated LTE modem, and support for Bluetooth 5.0 and 802.11ac Wi-Fi. It also supposedly contains 3GB of RAM, Android Oreo OS, and a 32MP camera which is capable of 4K video at 30FPS, or 1080p video at 120FPS.

We’ve included those images below the update. The original article announcing the device’s FCC testing follows below:

Original Article (November 15th, 2018): As first reported by 9to5Googlethe company is heading back to the enterprise market with another business-focused Google Glass, the heads up display (HUD) device that snaps onto a pair of glasses, providing real-time information to the user in a small transparent window.

Dubbed ‘Glass Enterprise Edition 2’, the FCC listing doesn’t reveal much outside of a single sketch. FCC certifications almost never list components or specs, but there are a few things to notice draw from the device label sketch. Like the previous iteration, the new Glass features a button-and-hinge mechanism so the device can fold and a similar power button configuration.

Citing a source familiar with the matter, 9to5Google reports that the new Glass is however “mostly just spec bumps for performance, battery life, and other core functions.”

Image courtesy Google

The first Google Glass Enterprise Edition included a well-deserved spec overhaul since the 2013 Explorer Edition, featuring an Intel Atom CPU, 32GB of storage, and a 780 mAh battery.

SEE ALSO
Hands-on: HoloLens 2 is a More Than Just a Larger Field of View

Google Glass Explorer version two, a hardware refresh from 2014, added 2GB of RAM to version one, which featured a Texas Instruments OMAP 4430 SoC, 16GB of storage, and 570 mAh battery.

Considering that Glass was widely decried for looking weird (neologism “glasshole” withstanding), the company may never market it again to consumers in its current form. And while Google doesn’t appear to be diving back into the consumer market with it latest Glass, a continued interest in purely functional usecases for the HUD could translate to greater insights as the company inevitably marches towards more immersive tech such as a hypothetical Google-developed AR headset.

The post Second Google Glass for Enterprise Appears in Leaked Images with USB-C & Modest Spec Bump appeared first on Road to VR.

YouTube VR Is Finally Available on Oculus Go

YouTube VR Is Finally Available on Oculus Go

Google’s YouTube has now made their app available on Facebook’s Oculus Go standalone headset. The app was previously available on Samsung Gear VR, which uses the same store as Oculus Go, but Go was blacklisted until today.

YouTube VR launched on Gear VR back in July, but no word was given on Go support. At Oculus Connect 5 in late September, Oculus Product Manager Sean Liu finally announced that YouTube VR was coming to Go.

Google Patents Eye-Tracking System To Read Expressions For VR

Google Patents Eye-Tracking System To Read Expressions For VR

Google may one day make our virtual avatars more expressive by tracking our eyes.

That is according to a patent published last week in which the company details a system for ‘Classifying Facial Expressions Using Eye-Tracking Cameras’. According to the description, the method uses “one or more eye tracking sensors implemented into one or more head mounted devices”.

Eye-tracking is thought to be one of the next big things for VR, though that’s largely because an accurate, reliable system will enable foveated rendering, which only fully renders the area of a screen the user is directly looking at. Google, however, wants to use an algorithm to scan a user’s expression in real-time and then translate that into a virtual expression on their avatar.

The patent also notes that these expressions could be personalized, which we’d guess means developers would be able to make reactions work with their style of avatar. The cheery little diagram below shows you how slight changes in the size and shape of an eye could change what others see when they look at your virtual avatar.

If accurate, such a system could be revolutionary to social VR applications which, notably, Google doesn’t have yet. Of course, it also doesn’t have a VR headset with an embedded eye-tracking sensor just yet but, if it did, you’d have to imagine this was just one of a variety of potential uses for the tech.

Given that Google only just released the Lenovo Mirage Solo Daydream headset (and is busy bringing 6DOF controllers to it), we wouldn’t expect to see anything come of this patent for a good while yet.

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More Patent Reveals With News of Google Eye-Tracking Patent

A number of companies involved in immersive technology such as virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) have filed patents in the past year that relate to new developments for the next generation of AR and VR headsets. The latest to be revealed is a Google patent to track facial expressions using eye-tracking cameras.

The patent is called ‘Classifying Facial Expressions Using Eye-Tracking Cameras’. It works by using machine learning algorithms, combined with eye-tracking sensors in order to analyse the expressions on users faces.

The Eye Tribe - Eye

The patent goes on to describe how the system would allow users to interact with each other in the virtual world through avatars, which would not only resemble the user, but would also be able to reflect their facial expressions.

It is noted in the patent that since VR headsets tend to obscure the user’s face, facial expressions can be difficult to ascertain when the user is wearing one. The machine learning algorithm is said be able to be trained to recognise expressions related to anger, happiness, surprise and more, as well as identifying more subtle expressions such as a raised eyebrow.

Eye-tracking has been widely recognised as an important part of the development for the future iterations of VR hardware, since eye-tracking will not only enable more accurate representations of user avatars, but can also introduce new interaction methods, as well as technology such as ‘foveated rendering’ which can save processing power by ensuring only the areas currently in view are fully rendered.

The introduction of eye-tracking into VR could be used to create more immersive experiences for VR users, but the technology is yet to be integrated into any of the commercially available VR headsets.

Google Logo

The Google patent could change this, but as with any patent, there are no guarantees that it will be used in a product.

For future coverage on new developments in VR technology, keep checking back with VRFocus.

The VR Job Hub: From ARKit To Artist

Here we are again everyone. Another Sunday and another selection of roles from here, there and most definitely everywhere that involve any and all aspects of the immersive technology spectrum. Whether it’s doing engineering with a firm that make augmented reality (AR) smart glasses, brand management at a videogame company that do virtual reality (VR) titles or demoing things for one of the big names in headset manufacture. There’s usually something for everyone.

Let’s see what the end of October 2018 brings. Check out this week’s listings below.

Location

Company

Role

Link

San Bruno, CA, US YouTube Software Engineer, Virtual Reality

Click Here to Apply

London, UK

Scape Technologies Lead Developer Relations Engineer | Augmented Reality

Click Here to Apply

Menlo Park, CA, US

Facebook

Product Marketing Manager, VR Gaming

Click Here to Apply

Munich, Germany

Dassault Systèmes Virtual Reality Software Developer

Click Here to Apply

Orlando, FL, US

Cameron Resources Group Software Engineer – Virtual Reality

Click Here to Apply

Allentown, PA, US

Clarity Consultants Augmented Reality Developer (Telecommuting)

Click Here to Apply

London, UK Pearson Frank Web VR Developer

Click Here to Apply

Los Angeles, CA, US Survios UI Artist Click Here to Apply
London, UK Facebook Product Manager – AR Camera Team

Click Here to Apply

Sunnyvale, CA, US Niantic Labs Software Engineer, Computer Vision

Click Here to Apply

Sunnyvale, CA, US Niantic Labs Researcher, Computer Vision

Click Here to Apply

 Cupertino, CA, US Apple Software QA Engineer, ARKit

Click Here to Apply

That’s all for this week, but don’t forget if there’s nothing here for you this week you can always check out last week’s listings on The VR Job Hub.

If you are an employer looking for someone to fill a VR, AR, MR, XR or related technology role – regardless of the industry you’re a part of – don’t forget you can send us the lowdown on the position and we’ll be sure to feature it in that following week’s edition. As always, please send details to both myself (keva@vrfocus.com) and also Peter Graham (pgraham@vrfocus.com).

We’ll be back next week on VRFocus at the usual time for more jobs from around the world.

Google: Neue Pixel-Smartphones vorgeführt; AR-Stickers in Playground umgetauft

Gestern präsentierte Google auf dem Made by Google Event 2018 seine neuen Smartphones Pixel 3 und Pixel 3 XL, welche mit größerem Display, optimierter Kamera und verbesserter Software erscheinen werden. Das Thema VR ließen die Verantwortlichen dabei jedoch außen vor. Neben den neuen Modellen werden zudem die AR-Funktionen der Pixel-Smartphones aufgewertet. So wird die bisherigen Kamerafunktion AR Stickers in Playgrounds umgetauft und durch zahlreiche Features erweitert. Ebenso erhält die Google-Lens-Funktion weitere Optimierungen.

Google – Neue Smartphone-Modelle Pixel 3 und Pixel 3 XL

Die meisten Informationen und Spezifikationen über die neuen Smartphones Pixel 3 und Pixel 3 XL waren bereits im Vorfeld bekannt. So besitzt die Standardversion eine Auflösung von 2160 x 1080 Pixeln bei einer Bildschirmdiagonale von 5,5 Zoll. Das Pixel 3 XL kommt auf 2960 x 1440 Pixel bei 6,3 Zoll. Das Herzstück bildet ein Snapdragon-845-Prozessor, während vier GB RAM integriert sind. Insgesamt sind 64 oder 128 Gigabyte Speicherplatz vorhanden mit der Option zur Aufwertung per MicroSD-Karte.

Google-Pixel-3-XL

Die Dual-Kamera vorne besitzt eine 8-Megapixel-Linse mit zusätzlichem Weitwinkelobjektiv. Die Kamera auf der Rückseite kommt auf 12,2 Megapixel. Zudem sorgen Software-Updates für verbesserten Zoom, eine KI-optimierte Top-Shot-Funktion, welche selbstständig das beste Bild aus einer Serie von Fotos heraussucht sowie optimierte Nachtfotos dank NightSight-Feature.

Unter all diesen Neuigkeiten blieb ein Thema jedoch außen vor: Virtual Reality. Die Verantwortlichen erwähnten die Kompatibilität zur Daydream-Brille mit keinem Wort. Zwar sind die leistungsstarken Next-Gen-Smartphones weiterhin mit der VR-Brille nutzbar, Optimierungen oder neue Features innerhalb dieses Bereichs bleiben jedoch außen vor.

Google AR – AR-Stickers wird zu Playground mit neuen Features

Das Thema Augmented Reality wurde dafür umso mehr hervorgehoben. So wurden bereits 2017 zur Veröffentlichung des Google Pixel 2 die neuen AR-Funktionen mit Star-Wars- oder Stranger-Things-Paketen vorgestellt. Die AR Stickers werden zukünftig allerdings unter dem neuen Namen Playgrounds zur Verfügung stehen. Doch mit der Umtaufe erhält der AR-Spielplatz zeitgleich viele zusätzliche Funktionen, verbesserte AR-Erfahrungen und KI-gestützte Inhalte.

So werden die Charaktere, um weitere bekannte Lizenz-Pakete, wie Marvel’s Avengers erweitert. Dazu zählen neben diversen Tieren und ähnlichen Wesen, die ikonischen Helden Hulk und Ironman. Weitere Charaktere sollen demnächst folgen. Als besonderes Goodie funktioniert das neue Playground ebenso im Selfie-Modus mit der Frontkamera, wodurch Aufnahmen mit dem Lieblingshelden möglich werden:

Iron Man _ Blog%2FSocial (1).gif

Video: Google / Marvel Studios’ Avengers

Zudem sorgt die neue Playmoji-Funktion für eine interaktive Erfahrung mit den digitalen Begleitern. Diese agieren nun deutlich authentischer mit der Umwelt, anderen Figuren oder dem Smartphone-Nutzer.

Comp-1.gif

Video: Google Playmoji

Dank maschinellem Lernen soll die neue Funktion zudem seine Nutzer/innen auch stets im Alltag begleiten und mit hilfreichen Tipps und witzigen Anekdoten versorgen:

AR_Playground_Garden.gif

Auch die Google-Lens-Funktion wird aufgewertet. Mit den neuen Lens Suggestions werden die bekannten Funktionen Teil der Pixel-Kamera. So muss man zukünftig lediglich die Kamera auf einen Brief, eine Karte oder einen QR-Code halten, um per Druck auf den Bildschirm relevante Informationen, wie beispielsweiße eine Telefonnummer zu extrahieren. Das Ganze funktioniert ohne Internetverbindung.

LensKeynote_Menu_1.gif

Video: Google Lens Suggestions

Die neuen bzw. verbesserten Features Google Playground und Google Lens sind mit allen Pixel-Modellen kompatibel. Die neuen Pixel-3-Modelle werden die Funktionen bereits zum Start besitzen, während sie auf älteren Modellen per Update nachgeliefert werden.

(Quellen: Google Blog – 1 | 2 | Upload VR)

Der Beitrag Google: Neue Pixel-Smartphones vorgeführt; AR-Stickers in Playground umgetauft zuerst gesehen auf VR∙Nerds. VR·Nerds am Werk!

Google AR Stickers Are Now Named Playground, Avengers Coming Soon

Google AR Stickers Are Now Named Playground, Avengers Coming Soon

At today’s Made by Google event, Google announced that its AR Stickers feature, which can be found inside the Pixel’s camera app, is being re-branded as Playground. Along with the re-brand they’ll be releasing all-new characters such as heroes from Marvel’s Avengers (both Iron Man and Hulk were shown) as well as an animated version of Donald Glover’s rap persona, Childish Gambino.

Check them out in action right here:

This is more than just a simple re-naming though, as Playground will also introduce brand new features that weren’t possible before. According to the blog post, that includes, “Using AI to recommend content for expressing yourself in the moment. You can make your photos and videos come to life with Playmoji—characters that react to each other and to you—and tell a richer story by adding fun captions or animated stickers you’ll recognize from Gboard.”

Playground will also work in selfie mode as well, not just with the rear-facing camera, which opens up a whole slew of possibilities. I’ve always wanted to take a selfie with Iron Man and I’m pretty sure you have to.

Other packs are on the way as well when Playground launches with Pixel 3 on October 18th, such as Weather, Pets, Sports, Signs, and more. You can see a bunch of them in the featured image at the top of this article. These are all in addition to Star Wars, Stranger Things, and the animated food stickers that already exist on Pixel.

Playground will also be able to suggest content based on where you are and what you’re doing as well. For example, if you’re cooking in the kitchen it might suggest different Playground items than if you were walking your dog.

I’m pretty excited to play around with Playground — it genuinely seems like a lot of fun. I also can’t wait to see how developers and content creators use this technology to make exciting new experiences as well. Let us know what you think of Playground down in the comments below!

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Google Unveils The Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL Starting At $799

Google Unveils The Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL Starting At $799

Today at the Made by Google 2018 event, Google officially unveiled the Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL, its latest line of smartphones. Sporting what it describes as the most powerful camera on a smartphone to date (they showed seven different magazine covers that were shot using the Pixel 3 camera) the device is set to launch on October 18th with pre-orders open now, starting at $799 through Verizon, or unlocked on the Google Store and with Project Fi.

The camera really does look remarkable in terms of quality and the AI powering it with a 12.2-megapixel rear lens capable of shooting 4K video, but that’s not really directly relevant to VR or AR immediately.

Inside of the Pixel 3 is a Snapdragon 845 processor with 4GB of RAM and either 64GB or 128GB of internal storage. By comparison, the Oculus Go has a Snapdragon 821 and the forthcoming Oculus Quest will have a Snapdragon 835. Both phones have a flexible OLED display and are powered by a 2915 mAh battery.

According to the official Google blog post, the Pixel 3 is 5.5″ and will start at $799, while the Pixel 3 XL is 6.3″ and will start at $899. Both models are available in “Just Black,” “Clearly White,” and “Not Pink” because cheeky color names are fun. In the box you’ll get a pair of USB-C earbuds and a USB-C 3.5mm headphone adapter, as well as an 18-Watt fast charger that can reportedly “give you seven hours of use in 15 minutes of charging.” All Pixel 3 purchases also include 6 months of free YouTube Music Premium.

Depending on storage size the price varies as well. Here’s the breakdown:

Pixel 3 64GB: $799
Pixel 3 128GB: $899
Pixel 3 XL 64B: $799
Pixel 3 XL 128GB: $999

There wasn’t a single peep about Daydream at all during the show, although on the specs page of the Pixel 3 website it does indicate: “Built for VR to work with Google Daydream View headset,” so it’s not a missing feature altogether at least.

AR did get a brief shoutout via AR Stickers, which have been rebranded as Playground with even more options. Nothing on ARCore though. Both phones also have two front-facing camera sensors, presumably to help enable more powerful AR content.

Do you plan on getting a Pixel 3? Let us know down in the comments below!

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