Category: mediamation

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FOIL 2018, More Speakers and Registration Offer

The Future of Immersive Leisure (FOIL) conference 2018 is taking place this May and in the build up to the event more of the keynote speakers have been details.

FOIL2018 01

Much like FOIL 2017, VRFocus will be supporting the event once again this year as a media partner and will be bringing you all the latest news and updates from the event. With subjects covering virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR) and mixed reality (MR), FOIL 2018 promises to be another exciting conference. Following the announcement of the dates of the conference, more speakers and talks have been revealed along with registration now underway.

I Expect You To Die screenshot_04

Already announced as a speaker for FOIL 2018 is Jesse Schell, CEO of Schell Games having worked on the VR experience I Expect You To Die. Jesse Schell will be joined by Kevin Williams, Founder, KWP Ltd. for a fireside chat about VR and Schell Games. Other speaks that have been announced for the FOIL 2018 conference and their talk subjects include:

  • D’nardo Colucci, The Elumenati, a company that focuses on designing and engineering innovative solutions for immersive visualization will be taking part in the panel titled Dome Theaters- the Next Generation’alongside Markus Beyr, CEO and Owner of Attraktion! GmbH and Jenni Ogde, President, Executive Producer, Eye Q Productions.
  • Charles Fink, a former Disney, AOL and AG Interactive executive who writes about VR, AR and new media for Forbes will be speaking in a fireside chat with Kevin Williams.
  • Wendy Heimann-Nunes, Co-Founder, Nolan Heimann LLP, will be speaking on Surveying the Licensing Landscape for Immersive Location-Based Entertainment to help make sense of the maze that is licensing.
  • Simon Chu, CEO of Escape VR and Ali Khan, Founder, Tick Tock Unlock will be speaking on Leveraging Synergies between Escape Games and VR, moderatored by Kevin Williams.
  • Jan Goetgeluk, Founder and CEO, Virtuix, will discuss the use of VR and AR within eSports alongside Alex Hertel, CEO and Co-Founder, Xperiel and Dan Jamele, CEO, Mediamation.

These are only a taste of some of the planned keynotes with more to still be announced. You can find the full agenda for the FOIL 2018 conference here.

The FOIL 2018 conference is set to take place on 16th and 17th May, 2018 at the Mandalay Bay Resort in Las Vegas. Registration is now open and those booking tickets can take advantage of a VRFocus discount code but using VRFOCUS at the checkout to get 15% off the cost of tickets.

For more on FOIL 2018, stay tuned to VRFocus.

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The Rogue Initiative Release First Gameplay Footage for Steel Cobras

Several months ago Los Angeles-based production studio The Rogue Initiative (Crowe: The Drowned Armory) revealed its first location-based virtual reality (VR) project Steel Cobras, an on-rails flying shooter. Now the company has released the first gameplay footage showcasing what’s in store.

Steel Cobras

The Rogue Initiative has created Steel Cobras in partnership with MediaMation and its MX4D Motion Effects chairs. The  immersive 2-player co-op VR shooter puts players in control of a massive gunships armaments, able to rain destruction down on enemies with a selection of weaponry.

As the gameplay video below highlights, as players fly through the level they’ll face an onslaught of ground and aerial enemies. At their disposal are machine guns and explosive rockets to blow up fortifications, other gunships, tanks and anything else in their way.

The big draw for the experience is the inclusion of MediaMation’s MX4D Motion Effects chairs which include a myriad of haptic feedback sensations such as rumble functions, neck ticklers, a back poker, scent dispensers, air and water blasts built into the arm rests and leg ticklers.

Steel Cobras 1

The Rogue Initiative and MediaMation debuted Steel Cobras at the International Association of Amusement Parks Attractions Expo 2017 (IAAPA Expo) in Orlando, Florida last year.

Describing what the videogame is all about, Pete Blumel, Co-Founder, CEO and Chief Creative Officer of The Rogue Initiative has said: “The experience will put you in the gunner’s seat of the feared Steel Cobra gunship on a high-speed trench run in high, fist-pumping style. We took the latest technology in interactive VR and blended it with a 80s nostalgia to create a fun-filled co-op experience that thrills your senses.”

Currently, neither The Rogue Initiative or MediaMation have confirmed when or where Steel Cobras will be made publicly available, whether it’ll be a VR arcade in California or possibly somewhere like a cinema.

For those wishing to see the quality of The Rogue Initiative’s VR work then you can try Crowe: The Drowned Armory for either Oculus Rift or HTC Vive via the Oculus Store or Steam. For any further updates on Steel Cobras, keep reading VRFocus for the latest VR announcements.

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The Virtual Arena: A Snapshot Of The Latest VR at IAAPA 2017

Deep in the trenches at the World’s largest theme park, visitor attraction and amusement extravaganza (called IAAPA), in the heartland of the theme resort industry (Orlando, FL), and VRFocus special columnist on the Digital Out-of-Home Entertainment (DOE) sector – Kevin Williams – gives us a brief snapshot of developments spied on the expo floor.

The vast IAAPA 2017 show floor breaks record on attendance and number of exhibitors.

MediaMation

Presented a brand new HTC Vive powered platform incorporated with their 4D motion chairs, in partnership with Viveport Arcade.

CJ4D

Demonstrated their new 4DX VR 360° incorporating the Samsung Gear VR into a unique fully rotational motion seat platform.

Birdly

The developed VR flying experience makes its first appearance at the theme park convention looking to attract interest from facility operators – running on the HTC Vive.

Lotte World

An amazing mixture of augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) demonstrated from the Korean based developer, representing a virtual coaster based on the movements of a real model traversing the track in real-time, powered by Samsung Gear VR’s and an amazing new motion platform.

Skyfun Animation

A number of the latest Chinese VR Park platforms start to make landfall in the West, Skyfun running a number of their VR platform for the show audience to try, running on the groundbreaking Deepoon DPVR E3 headset (seen for the first time in the States).

Hologate

VR Arcade one-stop solution for interested operators available from a number of providers on the show floor – Hologate, partnering with laser-tag and escape room specialists Creative Works to provide a solution for interested buyers.

VRStudios

The latest free-roaming (Arena-Scale) experiences presented with VRcade Arena running on the show floor – the company in partnership with NVIDIA and HP to bring this platform to the market.

Maxflight

Veteran developer of their unique 360° motion simulator has revealed a brand new concept of their platform now running twin Oculus Rift headsets to supply the virtual environment, married to the extreme motion platform.

And finally, forget VR – how about actual reality! Calinfer S.A working in partnership with UNIS, recreates Atari’s PONG, using a mechanical recreation of the legendary title that started the video game genre!

This brief snapshot, of just some of the new releases on display, is intended to wet the appetite for his full coverage of the trends and development for the VR community from the 2017 IAAPA Attractions Expo, in the coming days.

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The Rogue Initiative Announce Location VR Project Steel Cobras

In May, Los Angeles-based production studio The Rogue Initiative released its first virtual reality (VR) title in the form of Crowe: The Drowned Armory for HTC Vive, with an Oculus Rift version arriving last month. The studio collaborates with world-class filmmakers, studios, and technology companies on various projects, the latest being a location-based VR experience called Steel Cobras in conjunction with MediaMation’s MX4D motion effects seats.

Few details have been released on Steel Cobras, other than the title is a co-op flying experience where players take control of a massive gunship. What is unique about the experience is it’s combination with MediaMation’s MX4D seats which feature fully motorised seats which can move up and down, tilt backwards and forwards as well as side to side. They also include a rumble function, neck ticklers, a back poker, scent dispensers, air and water blasts built into the arm rests and leg ticklers.

Steel Cobras

“The Rogue Initiative and MediaMation are proud to announce our first co-op location-based 4D VR experience, Steel Cobras!,” said Pete Blumel, Co-Founder, CEO and Chief Creative Officer of The Rogue Initiative reports CatsandVR. “The experience will put you in the gunner’s seat of the feared Steel Cobra gunship on a high-speed trench run in high, fist-pumping style. We took the latest technology in interactive VR and blended it with a 80s nostalgia to create a fun-filled co-op experience that thrills your senses.”

While Cathy Twigg, Co-Founder and Chief Production Officer added: “I’m very excited for The Rogue Initiative to debut its first location based entertainment multi-player experience, Steel Cobras, with our wonderful partners MediaMation at IAAPA. We are looking forward to seeing it at the event.”

The Rogue Initiative and MediaMation will be showcasing Steel Cobras at the International Association of Amusement Parks Attractions Expo 2017 (IAAPA Expo) in Orlando, Florida this week.

“The Rogue Initiative is proud to partner with MediaMation, a leader in the field of 4D/5D Motion EFX seats, to bring our signature premium AAA level immersive entertainment content to our fans in amusement parks, location based entertainment centers, and arcades globally,” said Hrish Lotlikar, Co-Founder and Chief Business Development Officer.

As further details are released on when Steel Cobras will be made available to arcades and theatres, VRFocus will let you know.

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‘Ion Torq’ Puts You In a Full-Size ATV For Cooperative Multiplayer

‘Ion Torq’ Puts You In a Full-Size ATV For Cooperative Multiplayer

At the International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions (IAAPA) trade show in Orlando, 3D Live and MediaMation showcased a brand new motion simulator virtual reality ride called Ion Torq. Developed by 3D Live Axo using Epic Games’ Unreal Engine 4 technology, the experience introduces a brand new virtual reality video game that seamlessly connects with full-sized ATVs that have been customized to authentically replicate the in-game driving action.

Nathan Huber, co-founder and CEO of 3D Live, told UploadVR the battle racing game has been designed to thrust players into the middle of a battle between giant robots and aliens. Playing as humans who are trying to stay alive, players will fight drone robots and giant mechs.

“You have a driver with gas pedal, brake and steering wheel and a gunner with a head-mounted tracking target and gun,” Huber said. “He’s keeping you safe and helping to destroy the competitors as you battle robots and aliens.”

There’s one area of the level where you drive through labs where aliens are being dissected, and another portion which offers a glimpse outside at the massive battle happening around you on this planet, where you’re escaping a station before it’s completely destroyed.

The game combines cooperative play as the driver and gunner must work together against the in-game foes, as well as competitive play against the other human-controlled drivers.

The single level beta of Ion Torq on display at IAAPA was created by 3D Live Axo in just eight weeks. The final full game will be completed by the middle of next year.

The multiplayer game has been designed for as many as four ATVs to be linked together. Each ATV holds two players with one driving and the second manning a built-in gun. The ride incorporates 4D elements like wind, which both acts as a further immersion of the in-game action and also helps to combat any type of motion sickness. The game is demoed on the show floor with a single CFMOTO vehicle using two Oculus Rifts with gameplay running at 90 frames per second. But final production models will use a variety of real ATVs, including Polaris, and the current focus on the hardware side is HTC Vive.

One of the things that really makes Ion Torq stand out, according to Huber, is that the experience features a 25 foot wide by 17 foot high 3D LED screen that the company currently manufactures for concerts. The screen was first used by 3D Live in the Mass Effect: New Earth ride at California’s Great America, which opened earlier this year.

“The 3D LED features holographic 3D imagery that allows spectators and people waiting in line for the ride to experience what the players wearing the headsets are seeing,” Huber said. “When a giant robot arm comes out over the ATVs in the game world, it also reaches out into the audience.”

Huber said the one issue VR experiences have always had is offering those not inside the headset world a 2D view of the action. This giant screen serves as a true window into the VR world.

This marks the third collaboration between 3D Live and MediaMation. In addition to creating an 84 motion seat theater for the Mass Effect ride, the companies collaborated with AMD and Dell to build Cry Out: The Lonely Whale Experience for the HTC Vive, which was coupled with MX4D motion seat technology.

Dan Jamele, CEO of MediaMation, told UploadVR while Cry Out was a pre-rendered experience on a set motion path, Ion Torq is using reactive VR, which uses real-time input from the players to sync the in-game action with the ATVs.

“It’s better for us to buy and modify an actual ATV and replace all the suspension with our pneumatic actuators, so it’s being controlled by the players,” Jamele said.

MediaMation has spent the past 27 years working on control systems in theme parks and became specialists in motion simulator controls. Over the past decade, the company began manufacturing its own motion bases and has expanded that into a new business with reactive VR.

Jamele said Ion Torq has been a hit at IAAPA with orders taken from theme parks in the Middle East, China and the U.S. MediaMation has a factory in China that will build the ride.

Because of its size, each ATV is on a 6’ by 7’ platform. Larger theme parks and arcades are currently the focus.

Huber said the ride has been designed for family multiplayer fun, which opens it up to a wide audience.

“Using physical ATVs allows anyone to get in and jump into the action because it’s self-explanatory,” Huber said. “You have competition with other players, trying to knock them out as you go through.”

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