Google – Page 49 – Augmented & Virtual Reality Confabulation

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 Announces Standalone Daydream VR Headsets Coming From HTC, Lenovo

On stage at the company’s Google I/O 2017 developer conference today, the company announced that it is building standalone Daydream VR headsets. The first partners work with the company to bring such headsets to market is HTC and Lenovo.

Google announced Daydream, their high-end Android VR platform at I/O last year, and then launched the Daydream View headset, which is powered by a snap-in smartphone, in late 2016. Now the company has announced that it is building standalone VR headsets for Daydream which build everything into the headset.

In a surprise announcement, Google says one of the first companies it is working with to develop a standalone Daydream headset is HTC, which makes the high-end Vive VR headset for PC. Lenovo was also announced as a partner working a standalone Daydream VR headset. On stage an outline teaser of two different looking VR headsets was teased. These devices will launch later in 2017, Google said.

Google Reveals WorldSense Standalone VR Headsets, Working With HTC

Looks like the rumors are true; Google just announced it’s working on its very own standalone VR headsets at its I/O conference. Meet WorldSense.

Google’s VP of VR Clay Bavor introduced this new initiative towards the end of the conference. These devices are being made with partners, a little like Microsoft works with partners for its Windows 10 headsets. The company worked with Qualcomm to create a reference design for these headsets, though it’s not clear if this is the existing reference designs the company has already showcased or new ones.

They’ll be running on Daydream, the mobile VR ecosystem Google established last year, and can already be accessed through certain other mobile-based VR headsets using smartphones. Pictures for the first devices included what look very much like the Daydream controller, a three degrees of freedom device (3DOF).

WorldSense, meanwhile, will provide ‘positional tracking’, like seen on Oculus’ Santa Cruz prototype. The term inside-out tracking wasn’t used, and a brief video showed the headset moving as if it was leaning rather than walking around a space.

Google also confirmed it’s working on a standalone headset with HTC and another with Lenovo. Both are set to come to market towards the end of this year. No prices have been announced yet, but Google has another session on VR at I/O tomorrow.

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, 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

May 11, 2017

Google Street View Testing New 360-Degree Camera

Google Streetview is an invaluable tool for many people, and Google are always wanting to improve the product relied upon by so many people. As such, Google are set to trial a new 360-degree imaging camera to capture updated footage for Street View.

The camera is produced by NCTech and is designed to be mounted on any kind of vehicle for a 360 x 300 field of view, capturing data at five frames per second to be sent to the Street View platform. The camera is due to be trailed by Google in three countries. Early details of the camera were revealed at the Google Street View Summit in Tokyo, and manufacturers NCTech believe a commercial version of the camera will be available by Q4 of 2017.

“We are keen to explore technologies that can help increase the volume and frequency of data uploaded to Street View,” said Charles Armstrong, Street View Product Manager at Google. “NCTech is a truly pioneering company – they continue to set the bar in spatial reconstruction by blending futuristic tech with accessible design and price points, and we look forward to seeing the results of our pilot with their new camera.”

“We’re delighted that Google will pilot our new camera in support of its Street View offering,” said Camerson Ure, CEO, NCTech. “With this new camera, we aim to enable a further wave of expansion in digitising the planet with the goal of increasing the 10 million miles per year currently available online, to one billion miles per year.”

Another NCTech product announced at the Summit was a Street View compatible virtual reality (VR) camera. The VRC camera was designed for the consumer market for capturing interior places in 360-degrees to let users explore VR at low cost.

“The VRC is the first affordable consumer Virtual Reality Camera. It will help democratise virtual reality by making the capture of user generated 3D VR content easy and abundant,” said Neil Tocher, NCTech’s CTO, “The VRC’s Street View API compatibility now enables anyone to be able to share their virtualized places on Street View.”

VRFocus will bring you further news on new VR/360-degree products as it becomes available.

May 11, 2017

Google Acquires Owlchemy Labs, VR Game Studio Behind ‘Rick and Morty VR’, ‘Job Simulator’

In an interesting move, Google has acquired Owlchemy Labs, makers of the multi-platform hits Job Simulator (2016) and Rick and Morty: Virtual Rick-ality (2017).

As far as VR game studios go, Owlchemy Labs is not only one of the most senior, but one of the most successful out of the gate. While in no small part due to the fact that the studio’s breakout success Job Simulator was available at launch for HTC Vive, PlayStation VR and then later Oculus Touch, the company has become well-known for tackling some of the early problems in VR like creating believable, 1:1 object interaction. Of course, it’s not only a primo spot at launch and some refined mechanics that helped generate over $3M in sales for Job Simulator—the game is also worth plenty of laughs.

And the same goes for their latest game, Rick and Morty: Virtual Rick-ality, which utilizes the same type of object-based interactions set to the ridiculous and off-beat stylings provided by show maker Justin Roiland.

image courtesy Owlchemy Labs and Adult Swim Games

But what does Google have in store? Are they going to be bankrolling VR games, acquiring more studios to produce a fleet of Google-made content, or do they have something else up their sleeves? Healthy speculation time: The reason for acquiring Owlchemy Labs may have had more to do with their unique understanding of VR interaction design.

The studio hasn’t shied away from experimenting with entirely new types of UI, in-engine mixed reality solutions, and creating a robust object interaction format upon which more VR content of all types, be it games or otherwise, can be produced. Having that, including the talent that created it, could be a serious asset in creating grander, wider-reaching VR applications in the march forward towards mass adoption.

Owlchemy says via the blogpost announcement that the acquisition means the studio will continue building VR content for platforms like the HTC Vive, Oculus Touch, and PlayStation VR. This most importantly includes a focus on hand interactions and high quality user experiences.

Job Simulator, image courtesy Owlchemy Labs

Google says that together, they’ll be “working to create engaging, immersive games and developing new interaction models across many different platforms to continue bringing the best VR experiences to life.”

Owlchemy sums it up: “We both believe that VR is the most accessible computing platform and that there’s a ton of work to be done, especially with regards to natural and intuitive interactions. Together with Google, with which we share an incredible overlap in vision, we’re free to pursue raw creation and sprint toward interesting problems in these early days of VR.”

We’ll no doubt see more from Owlchemy Labs in the years to come, and while we can’t say just yet what Google has in mind regarding the acquisition, one thing is for sure: whatever comes out of it is going to be exciting, ridiculous and absurdly polished.

The post Google Acquires Owlchemy Labs, VR Game Studio Behind ‘Rick and Morty VR’, ‘Job Simulator’ appeared first on Road to VR.

May 11, 2017

Google kauft Owlchemy Labs

Nicht viele Virtual Reality Spiele sind direkt ein Erfolg, doch die Owlchemy Labs haben bewiesen, dass man auch bereits heute gutes Geld mit lustigen VR Spielen generieren kann. Wie Google mitteilt, hat das Unternehmen sich die Owlchemy Labs nun geschnappt und sichert sich damit das Studio hinter preisgekrönten Spielen wie Job Simulator und Rick and Morty: Virtual Rick-ality.

Google kauft Owlchemy Labs

Trotz der Übernahme werden die Entwickler aber weiter an ihren aktuellen Projekten arbeiten und diese Spiele auch für unterschiedliche Plattformen veröffentlichen. Interessant an dem Kauf von Google ist, dass die Spiele von Owlchemy Labs nur mit trackbaren Controllern funktionieren, welche Google derzeit nicht anbietet. Relja Markovic, leitender VR und AR Ingenieur bei Google, sagt, dass Daydream bereits ein tolle Produkt sei, doch es kämen noch viele weitere Produkte nach Daydream.

Die Owlchemy Labs sind auch nicht das erste Entwicklerstudio, welches von Google übernommen wird. Das Unternehmen hatte sich ebenfalls die Entwickler hinter Tilt Brush gekauft und die Anwendung anschließend direkt als Produkt von Google vermarktet.

In der nächsten Woche findet wieder die Entwicklerkonferenz I/O von Google statt und vermutlich wird Google auf dieser Konferenz wieder ein paar Einblicke in die Virtual Reality Pläne des Unternehmens geben. Wir dürfen gespannt sein.

(Quelle: Google, The Verge)

Der Beitrag Google kauft Owlchemy Labs zuerst gesehen auf VR∙Nerds. VR·Nerds am Werk!

May 10, 2017

Google acquires ‘Job Simulator’ developer Owlchemy Labs

Owlchemy Labs, the independent studio behind the 2016 VR hit Job Simulator, has been acquired by Google. This comes on the heels of Owlchemy's second VR game, Rick and Morty: Virtual Rick-ality.

The post Google acquires ‘Job Simulator’ developer Owlchemy Labs appeared first on Digital Trends.