HuffPost RYOT – Augmented & Virtual Reality Confabulation

May 7, 2017

The VR Job Hub: HTC, Sony, Oculus & More…

As we saw this week, in the technology industry things can change day by day. People leave, people join, studios wind down and close and existing companies get investment. It’s a ball that does not stop rolling and there are always opportunities for those new to virtual reality (VR) or augmented reality (AR) or already in the industry looking for something different.

Let’s see what the listings hold this week:

Location	Company	Role	Link
Seattle, US	HTC	Performance Marketing Manager / Digital Advertising Manager	Click Here to Apply
Slough, UK	HTC	Product Intern	Click Here to Apply
Seattle, US	HTC	VR Intern	Click Here to Apply
Seattle, US	HTC	User Experience Designer	Click Here to Apply
San Mateo, US	Sony Interactive Entertainment PlayStation	Senior Staff Programmer – VR	Click Here to Apply
Los Angeles, US	SPACES, inc.	VR Lead Programmer	Click Here to Apply
Chicago, US	RYOT Studio	Content Partnerships Manager	Click Here to Apply
Los Angeles, US	Mindshow, Inc	Community Manager for VR Content Creation Platform	Click Here to Apply
Los Angeles, US	Mindshow, Inc	Lead Unity Engineer / Virtual Reality	Click Here to Apply
Los Angeles, US	Mindshow, Inc	Unity Engineer / VR Platform	Click Here to Apply
Menlo Park, US	Oculus	Front End Engineer, Oculus	Click Here to Apply

You can check back at last week’s edition of the Job Hub for additional listings. If you’re an employer and are looking for someone to fill a VR or AR related gap on your workforce and would like your role to feature on next week’s VR Job Hub please send details of the role to either pgraham@vrfocus.com or keva@vrfocus.com.

Check back with VRFocus at the regular time of 3PM GMT every Sunday for the latest positions in this ever growing industry.

February 13, 2017

Bashir’s Dream Now Available on Jaunt

During the Sundance Film Festival last month Jaunt and RYOT debuted Bashir’s Dream as part of a continued collaborative effort between the two companies. Today they’ve now launched the 360-degree film via Jaunt’s VR app.

Bashir’s Dream tells the story of Qusai Bashir Masaama, a 14-year-old Syrian refugee living in Jordan who was shot in the back by a sniper while walking to buy a candy bar. Using a combination of live action and animation from Director Angel Manuel Soto and Designer and Animator Fernando Rodriguez, the film was shot entirely in Jordan. Masaama narrates throughout talking about his dreams of playing basketball and traveling abroad for better care and education.

Bashir's Dream screenshot

Alongside the release of Bashir’s Dream, 11 other experiences have been uploaded to RYOT World within the Jaunt app. These include The State of Standing Rock, a first-person glimpse into the acts of violence the water protectors at Standing Rock are subject to on a daily basis as they peacefully demonstrate to protect the natural resources of 18 million Americans, and Mongolia: The Ancient Art of Eagle Hunting, a look at the ancient tradition of hunting with eagles that continues to pass from generation to generation.

The Jaunt app for iOS, Android, Samsung Gear VR, PlayStation VR, Google Daydream, Oculus Rift, HTC Vive and major desktop browsers is free to download and start watching.

For all the latest Jaunt and RYOT news, keep reading VRFocus.

November 7, 2016

Virtually Mike and Nora Debuting on Hulu for Daydream View Launch

This week sees the launch of Google’s next virtual reality (VR) head-mounted display (HMD), Daydream View, on Thursday. There’s going to be plenty of videogames and apps to get owners started, one of which will be Hulu. As part of the Hulu content line-up will be HuffPost RYOT’s scripted comedy Virtually Mike and Nora, debuting on Google’s headset.

Virtually Mike and Nora first came to light in September when HuffPost RYOT announced the show alongside 10-part news programme The Big Picture: News in Virtual Reality.

Virtually Mike and Nora - image

Shot using Nokia’s professional 360-camera, OZO, the comedy show will have five episodes for the inaugural season. Starring Nora Kirkpatrick (The Office, Edward Sharpe) and Mike O’Brien (SNL, Portlandia), the pair also co-created, co-wrote and co-directed the sketch series.

Virtually Mike and Nora experiments with what’s possible in VR using a narrative. Viewers will find themselves as a character in sketches and an omnipresent voyeur in others. Through the entire series the audience will be a necessary part of the humour.

While Virtually Mike and Nora will premiere on Hulu for Daydream View, the app is also available for Samsung Gear VR and Oculus Rift, with the series due to arrive on the latter headsets in the near future.

In addition to Hulu’s library of VR content, Hulu subscribers can stream the company’s entire library of 2D content, including current season content, past seasons of hit shows, movies and Hulu Originals, in immersive 3D environments.

To keep up to date with the latest Daydream View news, keep reading VRFocus.

October 10, 2016

RYOT and AOL Partner With ELLE for AR November Issue

ELLE, one of the biggest fashion magazines in the world has announced a partnership with virtual reality (VR) and 360-degree content studio Huffpost RYOT to create and augmented reality (VR) experience for November’s ‘Women in Hollywood’ issue.

Through the ELLENow app and utilising HuffPost RYOT and Verizon’s proprietary immersive platform, Envrmnt, readers will be able to unlock an AR content experience by hovering their smartphone over any one of ELLE’s eight November covers. Readers will then be able to view an exclusive video interview featuring stars Kristen Stewart, Lupita Nyong’o, Amy Adams, Anna Kendrick, Aja Naomi King, Felicity Jones, Helen Mirren, and Kathy Bates.

ELLENow app

“This is one of our biggest, most important issues of the year, and we are always looking to take it further. This partnership gives our readers dynamic bonus content that they can’t find anywhere else,” Robbie Myers, editor-in-chief of ELLE, said. “Technology’s effect on fashion is fascinating to me and to our readers – we cover it and the women who are innovating in the field in every issue, and in our annual Women in Technology issue. Film is a medium our Women in Hollywood honorees have mastered, and augmented reality is the perfect way to further celebrate their collective genius.”

“Augmented reality will radically transform nearly everything around us. It’s just a matter of time,” said Bryn Mooser, CEO and co-Founder of RYOT. “We couldn’t be more excited to harness the momentum of this platform shift together with Hearst Magazines, to help write the future of editorial and advertising together.”

ELLE is the first Hearst Magazines brand to partner with HuffPost RYOT, with more brands scheduled for 2016 and 2017. “ELLE is a first-mover in so many ways – it was the first to use beacon technology to drive to retail, and in fact, it was the first fashion magazine to launch a website years ago,” Michael Clinton, Hearst Magazines president of marketing and publishing director, said. “RYOT’s ability to power augmented reality through our owned-and-operated app opens up so many possibilities, and we’re looking forward to collaborating with RYOT on more of the brands in our portfolio, and to bring the opportunities to our marketing partners as well.”

Currently AR functionality on the ELLENow app only supports Apple devices, with Android coming soon. The issue hits newsstands nationwide on 18th October, with an event to celebrate the Women in Hollywood taking place in Los Angeles, California on 24th, October 2016.

As Hearst Magazines implements more AR into its publications, VRFocus will bring you the latest details.