Augmented & Virtual Reality Confabulation
What Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality developers are talking about
Want to see something totally mesmerizing? Check out several of the best Rube Goldberg machines from across the internet, including one from 'Fallout 4' and another from the collective mind of pop-rock band OK Go.
The post Look at them go! The best Rube Goldberg Machines on the internet appeared first on Digital Trends.
Want to see something totally mesmerizing? Check out several of the best Rube Goldberg machines from across the internet, including one that serves cake and other that do...nothing particularly useful.
The post The best Rube Goldberg machines appeared first on Digital Trends.
At this time many of us will be charting a course home to family and friends for the holiday period, as we look to spend some time in the company of those we hold dear and taking stock of both the year behind and the year ahead. Of course, not everyone gets to go home. There are those that can’t travel due to one thing and another, those who are busy with work, and those who have no choice in the matter.
For those battling serious illness home is not four walls, cards on the mantlepiece and waking up in your own bed every morning. The reality is corridors, doctors and nurses. Of waking up in a hospital bed and another hard day making it through to the next one. Christmas time is magical, especially for children but for those in hospital… not so much. Some though were recently treated to a bit of augmented reality (AR) magic care of Honda and Psyop.
Honda is a long-time supporter of the Children’s Hospital of Orange County (CHOC) and the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation (PBTF) and back in September it came up with the idea to send the ultimate ‘get well soon’ card in the form of an AR experience, one that would transform the room around kids into a dynamic winter wonderland and would also bring the kids messages of hope and inspiration from around the world, brought together through Honda’s activity on social media.
“Sending warm wishes to others is one of the best traditions of the holiday season.” Explained Honda’s Assistant Vice President of Marketing Susie Rossick. “And through a little Honda innovation we’re using augmented reality to send messages that will brighten the lives of young patients at Children’s Hospital of Orange County,”
The fact that car manufacturer Honda are behind the tech should not really surprise you, this is after all the same Honda that have been investing in robotics for years and have, particularly over the last two decades, been increasingly engaged about how technology can be used to better mankind. This, though on a much smaller scale to some of their efforts, certainly raised some smiles.
You can see the experience for yourself here, care of Blippar’s website and the reactions of the kids it was shown to below. Honda will donate up to $100,000 (USD) to CHOC and PBTF based on likes/loves for the video on its social media channels. Although, whilst information from Honda indicates this to be related to Facebook at the time of writing this could not be found on Honda’s Facebook channel.
For more VRFocus stories about the latest uses of AR from around the world click the ‘augmented reality’ tag above the story.
Congratulations one and all on surviving another week and making it to the weekend. Of course Saturday means our weekly look at all manner of things sport and virtual reality (VR) related returns, and this weekend there are a number of sport-linked VR items including a sport we very rarely talk about – horse racing. So let’s start with that as things are, potentially, time sensitive for you.
In just two and a half hours from the time of posting will come The Grand National, being held (as always) at Aintree racecourse in the Merseyside area of Liverpool. A (at the time of writing at least) field of forty runners are scheduled to brave the thirty fences over the course of two laps to join the likes of Red Rum, Hedgehunter, Miinnehoma and last year’s victor Rule The World as winners of one of the world’s most famous steeplechase races. 360-degree footage from the day, captured from multiple cameras around the course will be stitched together by broadcaster ITV and made available YouTube channel and Facebook page tomorrow Sunday 9th April, the day after.
“One of the aims of ITV Racing’s on-air coverage is to give viewers ‘the best seat in the house’, and this exciting VR highlights package will immerse consumers in the unique live event atmosphere The Randox Health Grand National creates.” Explained Ed Ross, ITV’s Head of Marketing and Media. “We’re delighted to be working with VR City and Goodstuff once again to bring this experience to Racing fans.”
It’s not the first time that VR is being added to a British horse racing event however, as Laura Moorcraft, Business Director at Goodstuff explained: “The popularity of the VR highlights package for Cheltenham Races demonstrates how brilliant VR is as a way of giving viewers an entirely new perspective on their favourite sport.”
Project CARS 2 Gets Rallycross, And A Driver RevealIf you’ve never seen Rallycross you’re missing out. A staple of the UK’s sports coverage in the 1970’s to the late 80’s (because Grandstand was brilliant that way), for those who have never seen it Rallycross has cars race around a track which is a combination of surfaces and also splits partway into two different routes each of which must be taken at some point. It’s quick, exciting, and relatively inexpensive. Making it attractive to both amateurs and professionals alike. It’s also seen something of a resurgence in recent years from both sides of the racing divide.
Rallycross is also being included in Project CARS 2, which had a special preview event this week in Los Angeles based around the sport and VR is very much a part of the package. As a matter of fact VRFocus is hoping to get hands-on with it very soon.
However Honda turned up to the event to make a very important announcement as well: the reveal of their 2017 Honda Global Rallycross driver line-up. The trio of Sebastian Eriksson, Oliver Eriksson and Mitchell DeJong will be driving 2017 Honda Civic Coupes in the event next season – and you can be just like them in Project CARS 2.
“Coming off Honda’s maiden campaign in Global Rallycross in 2016, we are ramping up for the 2017 season with a great blend of skill and experience, in addition to talented newcomers,” said Susie Rossick, Assistant Vice President of Honda Automobile Marketing. “The Honda Red Bull OMSE Civic team is excited to be back on the track and is committed to increasing its time on the podium.”
Tha mount of funding that goes into College and University sport in America is, to many on the outside looking in, mind boggling. We’ve already discussed how various education establishments are looking to VR or have already added it to their training regimes – particularly in American Football – but what about raising funds in the first place? It takes a lot of money to run these various athletic endeavours and West Virginia University has looked not to VR but to augmented reality (AR) in order to accrue what it needs.
As reported by SportTechie.com, the university added AR elements to its recent Mountaineer Athletic Club Membership Handbook, shown below.
Really excited to share w/ our @WVU_MAC members some special content in this year's Membership Handbook made possible by @aurasma
#HailWV pic.twitter.com/mfzMjM4uBS
— Ryan Schulman (@r_Schulman) February 17, 2017
Ryan Schulman, West Virginia’s Associate Director of Annual Giving, explained the move. “Long-term it was a pilot and a test for our membership to see if it made sense. The opportunities are endless for it. For us it was a neat opportunity to get our student athletes out in front. For the majority of our fans the only time they’re seeing our student athletes is when they’re playing in a game. They’re not seeing them in a humanised role, as student, so that was really our goal more than anything else.”
And that’s all for another week. VRFocus will be back of course next Saturday at the usual time with another round-up of all the week’s sporting action involving VR. Be sure to check back throughout the weekend for more AR and VR news.
Just prior to Christmas VRFocus reported on car manufacturer Honda creating a virtual reality (VR) experience called Candy Cane Lane specifically for the patients at Children’s Hospital of Orange County. The company is continuing its work in VR with a newly announced collaboration with DreamWorks Animation, demonstrating a proof of concept version of its Honda Dream Drive in-car VR prototype at CES 2017 this week.
Honda’s Dream Drive uses a VR headset to immerse passengers in a VR world triggered by the motion of the vehicle. The two companies will focus on creating a software development kit (SDK) that fuses live telematics data to feed in-vehicle entertainment, education and information applications that are contextually synchronized with the motion of the vehicle in real-time. CES attendees will have the opportunity to experience the proof of concept prototype, featuring content from DreamWorks’ recent animated movie Trolls.
“Entertainment in the car is rapidly changing as consumers rely more and more on personal devices and Honda sees new opportunities to create unique experiences for our customers,” said John Moon, Developer Relations Lead at Honda Developer Studio. “The collaboration with DreamWorks enables Honda to enhance the in-vehicle experience through new ways of delivering information and entertainment.”
“We see the cabin of an automobile as an untapped platform for delivering entertaining and educational experiences to consumers,” said DreamWorks Animation’s Chief Animation Technology Officer Jeff Wike. “Working with Honda has enabled us to bring our collective talent together to explore and identify opportunities in adapting and creating new forms of consumer engagement.”
“The idea is to evolve from parallel play to connected, cooperative play that connects passengers and drivers to their drive, each other and the world around them,” commented Bryan Biniak, Entrepreneur in Residence at Nokia Growth Partners and co-developer of the Honda Dream Drive experience. “We want vehicle time to include the ability to have heads-up interactive entertainment, educational and informational experiences as well as increased personal productivity.”
As further details on Honda Dream Drive are released VRFocus will bring you the latest updates.
While brands are using virtual reality (VR) for Christmas promotional marketing, Honda has expanded upon its annual Happy Honda Days campaign with a new VR experience called Candy Cane Lane, bringing the magic of the holidays to patients at Children’s Hospital of Orange County.
Using Oculus Rift head-mounted displays, viewers are sat in a Honda sleigh as it pulls them through a snow-covered neighborhood filled with spectacular holiday light displays. As they travel down the street, the lights and decorations on the houses become more and more extravagant. Bells and harps play throughout the journey as illuminated snowmen and toy soldiers animate to life. After a fireworks finale, the children see reindeer pulling Santa’s sleigh. Finally, just as Santa drops a beautifully wrapped gift into their lap in the video, a real gift was being placed in their lap in the hospital.
“This year Honda has the unique privilege of transporting children at CHOC Children’s to a virtual winter wonderland that brings the festive spirit of the holidays to the kids directly,” said Susie Rossick, Assistant Vice President, Honda Auto Marketing. “Seeing the kids’ heartfelt reactions to the experience and being able to bring magic to their hospital stay is especially meaningful during the holidays.”
Honda is generating awareness for the company’s holiday Candy Cane Lane giving program through work on Facebook. A short, documentary-style video of the children’s reactions to their Candy Cane Lane VR experience will be posted on Facebook: http://honda.us/HolidayMagic. For every “like” or “love” the video receives, Honda will donate $1 USD to CHOC Children’s and the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation, up to a total of $100,000. The video also will be shared on Honda’s YouTube and Twitter channels.
For all the latest VR news from around the world keep reading VRFocus.
