Category: Lucid VR

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Oculus Co-Founder To Join Lucid VR

Lucid VR, producers of the compact LucidCam virtual reality (VR) camera, have announced a new addition to its senior team. Jack McCauley will be joining Lucid VR as its new Chief Engineer.

Jack McCauley is a co-founder and former Chief Engineer at Oculus, as well as previously working at Chief Engineer at Red Octane, who were part of the team behind the Guitar Hero franchise. MacCauley’s main responsibilities will revolve around Lucid VR’s VR and augmented reality (AR) camera, the VR180 LucidCam.

“We are very excited to welcome Jack to the team, as his experience ramping up Oculus and its product production will help us dramatically improve our manufacturing capabilities. We built our initial supply chain to address the 1000s of buyers, but demand has outstripped supply, and we are projecting millions of users worldwide. To properly scale to meet growing demand, we needed Jack because he possesses the experience, connections and know-how, and throughout his career, has proven he can address all possible scalability challenges,” said Han Jin, CEO and Co-founder, Lucid VR.

The senior staff at Lucid VR believe that the VR/AR industry is currently at a critical point in its development, and believe that McCauley’s expertise will help the company in making the upcoming LucidCam 2 a success.

“I’m super excited to be joining the talented team at Lucid,” said Jack McCauley, Chief Engineer, Lucid. “Lucid has a great product with tremendous market potential. The industry incorrectly believed that 360-degree cameras were the way to go, but Lucid has simplified the user-generated content creation process with its VR180, a product that offers a revolutionary click-of-a-button system to capture content and its lightning quick processing time using a smartphone. LucidCam gives creators more time and greater freedom to create amazing 3D content.”

VRFocus will continue to bring you news on Lucid VR’s new products and other developments within the VR industry.

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LucidCam Celebrates Commercial Launch With Tour of San Francisco

Lucid VR have announced the general commercial launch of its pocket-sized virtual reality (VR) 3D camera, the LucidCam and will be celebrating the general availability of the device with a billboard truck tour of the famous landmarks of San Francisco.

The launch tour will take place on 23rd June, 2017 and is aimed at encouraging consumers to use VR photography and filming to share experiences with friends and family. This forms part of Lucid VR’s core vision, as expressed by Lucid VR’s CEO Han Jin when the LucidCam was first brought to Kickstarter two years ago.

“It’s been an incredible journey to bring this product to life and to the masses, as initially all I wanted was to build one for myself which would capture and share my life with my grandmother in China,” said Jin. “LucidCam creates images and videos which let you for the first time see the world through someone else’s eyes as if you were really there. I want everyone to have such incredible superpowers.”

Lucidcam virtual reality camera

As the Lucid VR truck visits various famous sights of San Franscisco, people who are nearby can follow the truck and take pictures to share them with the hashtag #LucidCam for an opportunity to win a free VR camera. The truck tour also marks the start of the preview sale month for the LucidCam, which begins officially on Monday 26th June, 2017. During the preview month, which closes on 26th July, the LucidCam will be available at a discount with 15% off the normal retail price.

A video announcing the commercial launch of the LucidCam is available to view below.

VRFocus will bring you further updates on the LucidCam and other VR hardware as it becomes available.

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LucidCam Taking its Upgraded 4K Model to NAB 2017

During CES 2017 in January, Lucid VR revealed an upgraded version of its 3D point-and-shoot camera, LucidCam. The new model now features 4K image capture for both lenses, and today Lucid VR has announced it’ll be taking the device to NAB 2017 this week.

Unlike 360-degree cameras such as Samsung’s Gear 360, or Insta360 Air, which can capture video and images in any direction, the LucidCam has a 180-degree field of view. Due to its duel lenses the camera can capture a 3D image rather than a flat one, giving a much more immersive picture or video.

LucidCam 360 rig clip prod shot face 2

For those that want full 360-degree coverage, Lucid VR also sells a mounting rig for three LucidCam’s, getting the best of both worlds, full coverage which is entirely in 3D.

“Our goal is to transform the way we create content live and share experiences with people around the world,” said Han Jin, CEO, Lucid VR. “LucidCam is the first and only 4K 3D VR live production camera. It’s versatile enough to mount on a tripod or fit into your pocket. You can livestream to your phone or VR headset in seconds so people feel like they are there with you. More importantly, because it is very compact, it is mountable so in a sports game, for example, you can even place it above the basket or behind the goal or fly it on a drone to get amazing footage that people have never experienced before. LucidCam allows you to scale your 3D VR broadcasting projects from one to fifty angles, so you can keep your viewers interested and show the game flow of an exciting sports match.”

“Imagine the creating, sharing and broadcasting opportunities with 3D VR in real-time. Livestreaming a sports game, a concert or event taking place anywhere in the world and making the audience truly feel part of that experience. It’s priceless,” continued Jin. “Having the ability to create this kind of content without expensive equipment and a tedious setup will empower more broadcasters and individuals to access the power of 3D VR livestreaming.”

The 4K LucidCam features include:

  • 4K images, 4K 30fps videos (4K per eye)
  • HD Livestreaming
  • 180° x 180° field of view (upgradable to 360° x 360°)
  • 32 GB internal storage
  • Improved image stabilization
  • Waterproof case to film underwater, up to 12 meters depth (accessory, available separately)
  • Mobile phone clip to leverage your phone as viewfinder at the back of a LucidCam (accessory, available separately)

Currently LucidCam is available to pre-order through the company’s website for $499 USD, with shipments beginning this June. VRFocus will continue its coverage of LucidCam, reporting back with the latest announcements.

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LucidCam 4K Camera Showcased at CES 2017, Pre-Orders Now Live

VRFocus has featured quite a few 360-degree cameras this week including the Ricoh R Development Kit, Vuze, Moka360 and Hubblo. Displaying its latest tech at CES 2017 is Lucid VR with the LucidCam a 180-degree camera. A pocket sized device the LucidCam can now be pre-ordered for launch later this year.   

LucidCam first gained VRFocus’ attention back in 2015 when the company launched an IndieGoGo crowd-funding campaign. That campaign was ultimately successful raising just over $116,000 USD for a 2K version of the camera. For this years CES event the company has unveiled a brand new 4K version, boasting 4K pictures and 2K videos. The new device also features HD livestreaming, 32GB storage and improved image stabilisation. Accessories are available which allow users to film underwater or a mobile phone clip to use the phone as a viewfinder on the back of the LucidCam.

Lucidcam Hand Product 1

“We are on a mission to make true virtual reality in 3D as easy to create as a click of a button so people can produce high-quality immersive experiences the way they see them. With our 3D technology, users can create VR content fast and iterate quickly, seeing their 3D content instantly. Pair your LucidCam through Wi-Fi with your phone to see how it looks in 3D, make the appropriate adjustments and then immediately reshoot if you need to,” said Han Jin, co-founder and CEO, Lucid VR.

“We have focused on a simple user experience and design so you can produce 3D VR content easily and fast — from individual VR short movies to live concerts to exciting adventures like skydiving and skiing, and all that from your own perspective. LucidCam will change the way we empathize with other people by seeing life experiences through their eyes,” continued Jin. “We at Lucid believe in a world where everyone has access to the experiences of the few, where our ability to see the extraordinary is not limited by distance, physical ability, savings, or courage.”

LucidCam Developer Kits are available now and the consumer LucidCam can be pre-ordered for just $399 to ship in April 2017.

For any further updates on LucidCam, keep reading VRFocus.

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CES 2017 to feature more than 70 VR exhibitors

More than 70 virtual and argumented reality companies will showcase their products, innovations and demos at CES 2017, starting this Thursday in Las Vegas.

The full list of those exhibiting in the gaming and virtual reality category can be found here and include new virtual reality headsets, 3D cameras, motion and eye tracking technologies and 3D imaging.

Dacuda and ZEISS will be showcasing the world’s first mobile room-scale virtual reality system that uses standard mobile phones on the ZEISS VR One headset. It employs an inside-out tracking system — meaning there is no outside camera that does position tracking.

(Image courtesy Dacuda.)

“This is groundbreaking because almost all mobile VR solutions currently on the market — including the excellent Samsung Gear VR and Google’s impending Daydream — have only three degrees of freedom tracking,” Dacuda spokesperson Vicky Sue told Hypergrid Business.

Three degrees of freedom refers to headsets that only track if the user is turning their head — looking left and right, tilting the head left and right, and looking up and down. Six degrees of freedom adds straight-line motion in all directions, making for a more immersive experience.

“Although Google Tango also offers six degrees of freedom on mobile phones with a world of, primarily, augmented reality capabilities, it also requires special hardware, such as a motion camera, structured-light projector, and an IR camera,” she added.

Another company hoping to improve motion tracking is Ximmerse, which produces outside-in and inside-out room-scale mobile virtual reality systems.

(Image courtesy Ximmerse.)

 

Lucid VR will exhibit its new LuciCam, a $400 180-degree 4K camera that enables anyone to create a true virtual reality and 3D video or photo and instantly share it on Facebook and YouTube.

It’s different from popular 360-degree cameras like the 360fly and the Gear 360 because it captures depth, for a more realistic virtual reality video.

Development kits started shipping yesterday and the general consumer version will begin shipping in the next three months, Lucid CEO Han Jin told Hypergrid Business.

“With additional enhancements beyond its original specs, you can see it and try it yourself at the Lucid VR Booth 50,000 in Eureka Park, Sands Expo,” Lucid VR Spokesman Erica Zeidenberg told Hypergrid Business. “We have a limited number of review units as well.”

3dRudder will exhibit a new take on a motion controller that uses feet:

 

 

 

Vrtify has a virtual reality music library platform where, by working with artists and music publishers, it brings users to virtual concerts and recitals to experience music. The platform is in beta testing right now.

 

VR and AR conference sessions

(Image courtesy CTA.)

Eight conferences on virtual reality and augmented reality out of all the conference sessions at the CES 2017 will also bring together various players and stakeholders in the sector.

They include: