Disney Pixar Coco VR & Elixir Studio Magnopus Developing a VR Multiplayer

CocoVR

Los Angeles-based creative studio Magnopus has a prestigious back catalogue, working on a multitude of XR experiences. When it comes to virtual reality (VR) content the company has created the likes of Disney Pixar Coco VR (2017) and more recently Elixir (2020), the magical experience designed to showcase Oculus Quest’s hand tracking. These have all been single-player experiences but a new job listing indicates the studios’ intention to get into multiplayer gaming.

Elixir

Currently, Magnopus is looking for a “Senior Backend Server Multiplayer Engineer” to join its team in LA, someone who can “Design, develop, and maintain a highly distributed, scalable, low-latency multiplayer environment.” As is always the case when trying to glean new project details from job listings there’s very little to go on. However, it does note that it’ll bode well for applicants: “Past experience working with VR/AR content and understanding what makes these mysterious worlds so enticing.”

There’s a good chance Magnopus is working with a client’s IP considering past projects. Apart from the aforementioned Coco VR, Magnopus has created Blade Runner 2049: Memory Lab, The Lion King – Virtual Production and Mission: ISS. So what films would make a good multiplayer experience?

Co-founded in 2014, by Ben Grossmann, an Academy Award-winning visual effects supervisor, to date Magnopus has created over 80 immersive projects, some of which have made it to home VR headsets. The company recently made the news thanks to its acquisition of British XR specialist REWIND, which it has previously worked with on several projects.

Mission:ISS Gear VR

REWIND built projects like Danny MacAskill’s VR Ride Out and Universal Monsters Presents: Bride of Frankenstein holoride. When talking about the announcement Grossmann did mention: “The team is brimming with talent so this acquisition has just given us a turbo boost on our journey toward big things we’ve been cooking up.” There’s always the possibility that with such a rich talent pool to draw from Magnopus is creating its own in-house experience which would be exciting.

As VRFocus learns more about Magnopus’ future VR plans we’ll let you know.

Mission:ISS’ Magnopus Acquires XR Design Studio REWIND

REWIND x MAGNOPUS

In the latest acquisition news British virtual and augmented reality (VR/AR) specialist REWIND has announced its now joined Magnopus, another prominent immersive design company that has worked on projects including Disney’s remake of The Lion King.

Bride of Frankenstein
Universal Monsters Presents: Bride of Frankenstein holoride, developed by REWIND

REWIND has worked on a number of well-known experiences for global brands such as Red Bull, BBC, HBO, Jaguar, Paramount, and Universal Pictures. Danny MacAskill’s VR Ride Out appeared in Amsterdam last year, where shoppers heading to the city’s Ride Out bike store could test a one-of-a-kind bike rig and ride the dizzying Collies Ledge in the Isle of Skye, Scotland. Its Universal Pictures collaboration was for Universal Monsters Presents: Bride of Frankenstein holoride, an in-car entertainment experience in collaboration with Ford.

As for Magnopus, its credentials include Mission:ISS, an interactive experience about life on the International Space Station (ISS). The company also worked on Disney Pixar’s Coco VR as well as many more immersive projects.

“We’re thrilled to join the Magnopus group and it represents a landmark step in our company’s transformation. We were already at an inflection point as we sharpened our offering to focus on hybrid, real-time experiences, now we are ushering in a new chapter. This acquisition will not only fuel our growth but build a transatlantic powerhouse,” said Sol Rogers, CEO and Founder of REWIND in a statement. “We have worked together on many projects over the years, so it feels good to be able to officially call the entire team at Magnopus our colleagues.”

Mission:ISS image2
Emmy-Nominated VR experience Mission:ISS, a real-time engine recreation of the International Space Station, which Magnopus developed in collaboration with NASA, European Space Agency, and Oculus.

“We’ve always admired REWIND and enjoyed working with them. The team is brimming with talent so this acquisition has just given us a turbo boost on our journey toward big things we’ve been cooking up. Together we’re stronger and I’m incredibly excited about what we’re building now. Our ambition is to continue to bring great experiences into the world while empowering others to do the same,” Ben Grossmann, Co-Founder of Magnopus adds.

Magnopus and REWIND have yet to reveal any new projects just yet. When they do VRFocus will let you know.

40+ Resources For Bringing AR/VR To The Classroom

VRFocus Creators

Do you work within or interested in the education industry and looking to bring VR/AR to the classroom? In this blog, you’ll find a collection of links to FREE apps plus much more! 

Want to download the whole list as a downloadable spreadsheet? CLICK HERE and get the resource for FREE.

Alchemy VR

Alchemy VR has partnered with Expeditions to produce experiences narrated by naturalist David Attenborough. They are creating immersive educational experiences on an impressive scale. It is an experimental virtual reality studio based in London, United Kingdom.

4D Anatomy

The subscription-based app allows students and teachers to explore the human anatomy. 4D Interactive Anatomy puts you in control of navigating and learning from real photographic anatomy on any screen.

Curiscope

Curiscope was founded at the start of 2016 with the belief that they could use AR & VR tech to change how kids engage and interact with Science. Take your lessons to a new dimension with the Augmented Reality Virtuali-Tee. Learn about the human body…on a human body.

Schell Games

Schell Games is the largest full-service education and entertainment game development company in the United States. Schell Games counts some of the world’s most respected brands as clients, including The Walt Disney Company, Yale University, SeaWorld Parks, Lionel, The Fred Rogers Company and Microsoft Corporation. 

Timelooper

Timelooper is a 360-degree virtual reality smartphone app that lets visitors re-live iconic moments from historical & cultural sites around the world. They are transforming the learning process from one that is inherently passive to active. They bring the classroom to life by empowering teachers to deliver highly interactive and historically and scientifically accurate content that will serve to inspire, emote, and inform students.

Unimersiv

Unimersiv is the largest platform for VR educational experiences. By downloading the app, you will have access to multiple experiences that will let you learn about history, space or human anatomy. Technology using virtual reality, however, has introduced new levels of experiential education. Virtual 3D worlds allow students and teachers to visit places otherwise impossible to visit without it. They can go to space, history places, deserts, or foreign countries without physically traveling there. Unimersiv’s VR app is available on the Samsung Gear VR and the Oculus Rift for now.

Quiver

Quiver Education content is designed around topics as diverse as biology, geometry, and the solar system. Quiver Education provides the same magical augmented reality colouring experience, but with a greater focus on educational content than the awesome Quiver App.

Wild Eyes

Wild Eyes use specially designed cameras to capture the natural world in 360-degrees. They are working with designers, educational organizations, and teachers to produce interactive lessons that allow the viewer to see a realistic depiction of the lessons they are learning including Biology, Physics, and Earth Sciences. They are using Virtual Reality to create an educational and immersive experience.

360cities

The world’s largest collection of stock 360° images and videos. The students/teachers can tour anyplace in the world with a 360-degree view for free. 360cities goal is to bring 360 VR photography to the mainstream and create new applications from this geographic data. We aim to cover hundreds of cities with tens of thousands of artistic, high-resolution, spherical panoramas.

CoSpaces Edu

CoSpaces Edu is an educational technology widely used in schools around the world and letting anyone easily create their own virtual content. With CoSpaces Edu, students can create virtually anything in the classroom!

Immersive VR Education

Immersive VR Education is a virtual/augmented reality company dedicated to transforming how educational content is delivered and consumed globally by providing educators and corporate trainers the tools they need to create their own content using virtual classrooms or virtual training environments.

Google Expeditions AR Pioneer Program

With the Expeditions app, through the use of VR and AR, teachers are no longer limited by the space of the classroom. VR lets you explore the world virtually while AR brings abstract concepts to life—allowing teachers to guide students through collections of 360° scenes and 3D objects, pointing out interesting sites and artifacts along the way. Introduce your students to a new way of learning with virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR).

Nearpod

Nearpod strives to empower educators to create learning experiences that engage and inspire millions of students around the world. Nearpod is an all-in-one solution for the synchronized use of iPads in the classroom that makes lectures more engaging through interactive multimedia presentations.

ThingLink

ThingLink gives images a new role in online communication and learning. It allows teachers to create interactive images and videos. It is the easiest way to save and share notes and observations about real-world spaces, situations, and artifacts.

Boulevard (Previously WoofbertVR)

Boulevard creates immersive, user-controlled experiences and enriched art education content unlike any other in virtual, augmented and mixed reality. Boulevard Arts partners with the world’s leading museums and cultural sites to share their collections through virtual, augmented and mixed reality technology.

ISTE Librarian’s Network Webinar

Elissa Malespina, author of Augmented Reality in Education: Bringing Interactivity to Libraries and Classrooms has created a webinar about using AR and VR in the classroom. She talks about ways to incorporate AR into your schools.

zSpace

zSpace is an interactive, immersive virtual reality desktop platform. The system is focused on the learning market, specifically STEM education, medical instruction, corporate training, research, and design. zSpace applications engage students in standards-based learning experiences that align with the curriculum. Students construct knowledge and understanding of concepts across multiple curriculum areas with a strong focus on STEM subjects.

EON Reality (EON Reality Education)

EON Reality founded EON Reality Education, a non-profit focused on advancing the cause of Augmented and Virtual Reality (AVR) education and research. EON Reality Education will also guide and commission research and development projects with partner institutions to better understand the cognitive benefits of AVR.

Mattel View-Master Virtual Reality Viewer

Enter the world of virtual reality with the View-Master Virtual Reality Starter Pack. This kid-friendly device will surround you with stunning 360-degree environments so you feel as if you are really there. Immerse yourself in 360-degree interactive environments and explore these amazing virtual worlds.

ClassVR

ClassVR is a groundbreaking new technology designed to help raise engagement and increase knowledge retention for students of all ages. It is the world’s first affordable VR/AR solution designed to give schools everything they need to deliver an exciting, engaging and truly immersive learning experience, whilst ensuring it is fully managed and controlled within the classroom.

ENGAGE

ENGAGE is an advanced virtual reality training and education platform that makes it easy to collaborate, create and learn in virtual reality. The tools are very easy to use and require no technical expertise. The platform allows educators and corporate trainers to share their own content in a virtual setting, inspiring students whether in a classroom, lecture theatre, or operating theatre.

Titans of Space

Titans of Space is a densely educational guided tour of the Solar System, designed first for virtual reality. Multiple versions are available for mobile and PC platforms, for VR and otherwise.

VirtualSpeech VR

VirtualSpeech provides a training platform for people to practice soft skills in VR. Combining VR with e-learning or in-person training gives participants a chance to practice what they have learned in realistic environments, helping develop essential soft skills more effectively. Founded by Dom Barnard and Sophie Thompson in early 2016.

Veative

Veative is bringing VR in education that improves learning outcomes and increases engagement. Veative has launched its Awareness drive for Virtual Reality (VR) in Education. They develop immersive technology solutions that have shown an incredible ability to educate, train, and solve real-world problems.

Arch Virtual

Arch Virtual creates VR medical training experiences that help students practice surgical operations. They practice medical procedures in virtual reality environments before conducting them for real. They create real-time 3D environments for visualization, simulation and marketing using gaming and VR technologies like Unity3D and Oculus Rift.

Gamar

Gamar is an award-winning platform that enables anyone to easily map spaces and create augmented reality games or tours. Within the app, there are many kid-friendly activities available to keep the whole family entertained. Gamar allows museums and local attractions to easily create engaging tours with augmented reality to engage visitors.

InMind 2 VR (Cardboard)

InMind VR is an adventure game about a scientific journey inside the emotional chemistry of the human brain. It allows the students to experience the journey into the patient’s brains in search of the neurons that cause mental disorders. The game places emphasis on the chemistry behind human emotion, greatly inspired by the Pixar/Disney movie “Inside Out” and (more scientifically) Lövheim’s theory of emotions.

VR Space

VR Space is one of the VR apps available to learn about space. It is an immersive virtual reality tour of Sun Star and planet systems. Kids will learn all about the different planets in our Solar System and can guess some of space’s greatest facts.

Mission: ISS

Mission: ISS is to date the most detailed and elaborate space-oriented educational app for virtual reality. Take a trip into orbit and experience life onboard the International Space Station!

MEL Chemistry VR

One of the best educational VR apps on the subject of chemistry. MEL Chemistry VR lessons are aligned with the school chemistry curriculum, covering all of its main topics.

Universe Sandbox ²

Universe Sandbox ² is a physics-based space simulator that allows you to create, destroy, and interact on an unimaginable scale.

The VR Museum of Fine Art

A must-download VR education app. Explore the Second Floor of the Museum! Explore a virtual museum in room-scale VR: see famous sculptures in full, 1:1 scale and see famous paintings without the limitations of glass and security guards.

VictoryXR

VictoryXR is a world leader in virtual reality and augmented reality educational product development. VictoryXR gamified learning for middle school and high school science while keeping all units tied to the Next Gen Science Standards. In addition to gamification, there are 48 virtual field trips around the world.

AR Flashcards-Alphabet & More

Made for younger students, AR Flashcards make learning fun with the technology of Augmented Reality! With AR Flashcards, learning is fun! When you point your device at the printed flashcard a beautifully rendered 3D animal will pop up on the screen. Tap the animal to hear the letter and animal name.

Anatomyou VR

Anatomyou VR is an educational mobile application that presents human anatomy to the user from a different perspective. Anatomyou can be used in two different modes: Virtual Reality and Full Screen.

ImmerseMe

ImmerseMe aims to be the world’s best academic language tool. ImmerseMe uses virtual reality (VR) to simulate everyday conversations in foreign languages. You can choose from over 3,000 interactive scenarios across 9 languages: German, Spanish, French, English, Japanese, Chinese, Italian, Greek and Indonesian.

TheBodyVR

The Body VR: Journey Inside a Cell is an award-winning educational virtual reality experience that takes the user inside a human cell.

FotonVR

FotonVR is the first virtual reality in education provider company, that provides complete solution of VR classroom set up, hardware supply, complete content for school syllabus and training to teacher. It has the largest library of science activities for school science subjects. It is an app specially designed for school to teach science subjects. It has more than 480 immersive VR activities that cover biology, physics, and chemistry topics.

Axon Park

Axon Park is an education technology company focused on democratizing access to education through XR and AI.

BRIOVR

Create an immersive learning environment for your classroom with virtual reality. BRIOVR is helping teachers bring VR into their classrooms by offering free sign-ups, storage and sharing to all students. BRIOVR has made it easy for users to build, create and share virtual reality content. Simply register with an email and your classroom has access to the latest VR technology. No coding or downloading required. Built for beginners.

Want to download the whole list as a downloadable spreadsheet? CLICK HERE and get the resource for FREE.

Explore the International Space Station as Mission:ISS Lands on Gear VR

There are plenty of virtual reality (VR) experiences available for those who enjoy heading out into the stars, some more realistic than others. In March developer Magnopus launched true-to-life simulation Mission:ISS for Oculus Rift, made in collaboration with NASA. Now Samsung Gear VR users get to try the experience for themselves, completely free for the mobile headset.

Mission:ISS has been created to provide an accurate representation of the ISS for users to explore, using NASA Space Station models, the VR Laboratory at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston and feedback from astronauts themselves.

Mission:ISS Gear VR

Just like the Oculus Rift version players will be able to dock incoming cargo capsules, conduct spacewalks, and perform mission-critical tasks. They’ll also be able to learn about the station’s 18 year history and hear stories from the astronauts that have spent time in orbit above the Earth.

But Mission:ISS In a blog postingisn’t a straight port due to the performance limitations of the mobile headset. the developer states: “The Mission:ISS development team did some investigating and rather than port the experience directly to mobile using much of the existing code, we decided to redesign from the ground up to get the best quality and interactivity.”

This meant reconsidering the main navigation controls for the Gear VR controller whilst re-optimising both the interior and exterior environments for mobile devices. “Players can still use the same set of basic and advanced controls as the Rift including: snap rotation, pressing forward or backward on the touchpad to move in space, or grabbing walls and bars with the trigger to move through the ISS,” the team adds. “We’ve upgraded you to one-handed rotation in the GearVR release. But we didn’t stop there. Now, we’ve added the ability to roll while floating!  Just push forward on the touchpad while twisting your wrist, to roll while floating through the ISS.”

There’s also a bunch of new additions for the Gear VR release, including a faster way for users to jump to a favourite specific mission, an updated tablet interface so that users can now see all the achievements they’ve currently unlocked as well as browse the remaining achievements, plus re-recorded all the voiceovers adding a bit more polish.

VRFocus will continue its coverage of Magnopus, reporting back with any further announcements.

VR Experiences Get Emmy Award Nominations

Virtual reality (VR) has been steadily gaining recognition from the mainstream entertainment industry, but very few forms of recognition are more prestigious than the Emmy Awards. The 69th Emmy Awards nominations have been released, and the list includes six VR experiences.

While the Emmy’s have not gone so far as to have a separate VR category, but two categories have VR included in the nominations list, ‘Outstanding Original Interactive Program’ and ‘Outstanding Creative Achievement in Interactive Media Within a Scripted Program’.

DearAngelica

Outstanding Original Interactive Program:

  • Dear Angelica – Oculus Story Studios – Oculus
  • Mission: ISS – Oculus – Magnopus / Oculus
  • The People’s House – Inside The White House With Barack And Michelle Obama – Samsung / Oculus – Felix & Paul Studios and Oculus

Outstanding Creative Achievement in Interactive Media Within a Scripted Program:

  • The Mr. Robot Virtual Reality Experience – USA Universal Cable Productions, Here Be Dragons, Esmail Corp. and Anonymous Content
  • Stranger Things VR Experience – Netflix – Netflix and CBS Digital
  • The Simpsons – Planet Of The Couches – play.google.com – Gracie Films in association with 20th Century Fox Television and Google Spotlight Stories

Several of the nominated titles, Dear Angelica, Mission: ISS and The People’s House were produced by Oculus Story Studio, which was recently closed, though Facebook says funding for non-gaming content it set to continue to allow for the continued growth of the market, with $50 million (USD) of its VR investment heading towards that goal.

The Emmy Award ceremony will be broadcast on 17th September, 2017. You can see the full list of Emmy Nominations here. VRFocus will bring you further news on any VR titles that make it.

Oculus Rift lässt uns mit Mission:ISS zu Astronauten werden

Für nicht wenige Menschen ist es wohl der größte Traum: Als Astronaut in den Weltraum fliegen und unseren blauen Planeten von oben betrachten. Allerdings waren bisher nur 500 Menschen im All und der Beruf des Astronauten bleibt den meisten von uns verwehrt. Und doch kann man seit dem 09.03 diesem Traum ein großes Stück näher kommen: Für die Oculus Rift kam nun, in enger Zusammenarbeit mit der NASA, das kostenlose Virtual-Reality-Erlebnis Mission:ISS heraus. So kann jeder, überall auf der Welt, die internationale Raumstation ISS betreten. Und durch ihre Flure schweben und sogar Ausflüge in den Weltraum unternehmen, um einen Blick auf die Erde zu werfen. Atemberaubend!

Oculus Virtual Reality Erlebnis auf der ISS

Oculus liefert mit Mission:ISS einen realistischen Simulator, welcher uns das alltägliche Leben auf der Raumstation erleben und bestreiten lässt. Und das mit Hilfe der immersiven Mittel der Virtual Reality. Die ISS entspricht dem offiziellen Bauplan der NASA und um das Erlebnis authentisch gestalten zu können, redete Oculus mit vielen Astronauten und Angestellten des VR-Labors der NASA im Johnson Space Center in Houston. Für das Design und die Entwicklung ist Magnopus verantwortlich. Das in Los Angeles angesiedelte Team erhielt bereits einen Academy Award für ihre Arbeit an den Visual Effects.

Was wird man in Mission:ISS erleben können?

Spektakulärer als im All kann ein Arbeitsplatz nicht sein. Allerdings sind die Aufgaben, die dort oben von Astronauten zu erledigen sind, erstaunlich normal. Zumindest insoweit im All ohne Gravitation etwas normal sein kann. Die Aufgaben welche man in Mission:ISS zu erledigen hat, schließen das Andocken von Liefermodulen und die Wartung der ISS mit ein. Oculus lässt uns aber auch außerhalb der Station schweben und Weltraumspaziergänge unternehmen.

Mit Mission:ISS verbindet Oculus Virtual Reality und Wissenschaft

Es gibt bereits einige Weltraum-Erlebnisse für die Virtual Reality. Der Traum ins All zu fliegen ist aber wohl tief in jedem Menschen verankert. Und eine realistische und authentische Version einer wirklichen Raumstation wie in Mission:ISS eröffnet neue Möglichkeiten. So bietet das Erlebnis neben beeindruckenden Bildern und Erfahrungen auch ein interaktives Lernen. Sowohl die Historie der ISS, wie auch zahlreiche Geschichten und Berichte von Astronauten, werden in Mission:ISS mit einer Reihe von Videos vermittelt. Um diese Möglichkeit des Erlebens und Lernens auch vielen jungen Menschen bieten zu können, veröffentlichte Oculus ein Beta-Programm in Amerika, welches High-School-Schülern einen direkten Zugang zu Mission:ISS verschafft. Hinzukommt, dass Mission:ISS kostenlos erhältlich ist.

Oculus teilt zweifellos unsere Begeisterung für die unendlichen Weiten des Alls, beschäftigt sich aber auch intensiv mit der Nutzung und Verwendung der Virtual Reality für die Forschung. Neben der Unternehmung das All in die VR zu holen, bringt Oculus auch eine seiner Brillen in das echte All. Die Oculus Rift soll auf der ISS dazu verwendet werden, Experimente durchzuführen, welche die Auswirkungen der nicht vorhandenen Gravitation auf das menschliche Gleichgewichts- und Greif-Empfinden untersucht. Über dieses Projekt berichteten wir bereits.

Diese Reise in den Weltraum sollte sich keiner entgehen lassen. Mission:ISS ist im Oculus Store  für Oculus Touch kostenlos erhältlich.

Der Beitrag Oculus Rift lässt uns mit Mission:ISS zu Astronauten werden zuerst gesehen auf VR∙Nerds. VR·Nerds am Werk!

Become an Astronaut as Mission:ISS Launches onto Oculus Rift

Last year at the Oculus Connect 3 event the company announced that Oculus Rift users would soon be able to get their hands on Mission:ISS, a true-to-life simulation lets them explore the International Space Station (ISS) in virtual reality (VR). Created in collaboration with NASA, the European Space Agency, and the Canadian Space Agency, Mission:ISS has now launched for free on Oculus Home.

The experience has been created to provide the most accurate representation of the ISS, utilising NASA Space Station models, the VR Laboratory at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston and feedback from astronauts themselves.

MissionISS_screenshots-04

Using Oculus Touch, Mission:ISS players will be able to dock incoming cargo capsules, conduct spacewalks, and perform mission-critical tasks. They’ll also be able to learn about the station’s 18 year history and hear stories from the astronauts that have spent time in orbit above the Earth.

Oculus also revealed it’ll be piloting a limited beta program in the US so that high school students will get to experience Mission:ISS.

Additionally, Oculus will be sending its head-mounted display (HMD) to the ISS through a partnership with CNES, the French Space Agency. European astronaut Thomas Pesquet will get to use Oculus Rift for the first time in orbit, testing the effects of zero-gravity on human spatial awareness and balance using software developed by the space agencies.

Checkout the trailer below, and for all the latest Oculus news and updates, keep reading VRFocus.