Category: mrtv

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All the Winners from VRFocus’ Better-Than-Reality Awards 2020

VRFocus Awards

What a year it has been for the XR industry, with both highs and lows felt across the board as companies deal with remote working conditions, lockdown restrictions and much more. So in October VRFocus decided to launch its very first awards showcase, celebrating the best of what the industry has to offer; all with a little twist, public voting. So now it’s time to reveal who the lucky winners are.

Half-Life: Alyx

Dubbed The Better-Than-Reality Awards, there were eight categories up for grabs, ranging from the consumer-focused ‘Best VR Game of 2020’ to business solutions and rising stars in the XR space.

Whilst some categories were almost dead certs having redefined AAA VR gaming, there were still a few surprises considering all the winners were chosen by the public.

VRFocus’ The Better-Than-Reality Award winners:  

Time for a few words from our award winners:

“For us, building a Half-Life game from the ground up for Alyx was always about bringing that universe back in an exciting way, and to do that through VR was a rewarding process. But the positive feedback from fans of Half-Life is truly the most rewarding part, and we are just super grateful for the community support,” said Robin Walker, Programmer / Designer at Valve Software.

Magic Leap enterprise

“We are extremely honoured that STYLY received the Best AR App award, and we are incredibly grateful for this recognition from VR Focus and the AR community. STYLY continues to move forward, taking on new challenges in XR. We are very proud to be designing and building a new XR world in Tokyo, Japan, with incredible XR artists and content creators from around the World,” said Ryohei Watanabe, CMO of Psychic VR Lab Co., Ltd. “It is an ambitious goal, but we are incredibly excited to bring VR, AR, and MR content together in a spectacular showcase in the heart of Tokyo. We hope that everyone can come to Japan to enjoy this XR world. Once again, we are honored and grateful for receiving this award, and thank you to everyone who helped make STYLY the Best AR App!”

“We are thrilled that VRFocus’ readers named Transformers: VR Battle Arena as their favourite location-based VR experience in a category filled with such worthy competition,” noted Vander Caballero, CEO of Minority Media. “This just goes to show the power of a great brand and social gameplay in attracting players, even in these challenging times.” 

“I’m truly honoured to receive the Top XR Influencer 2020 award! Thank you! My mission with MRTV though is not to “influence” my viewers but rather to give them all the information they need so they can make their own educated purchasing decisions!,” said MRTV’s Sebastian Ang. “Therefore I’d rather call myself an XR Content Creator! This award shows me that the community appreciates independent XR content on YouTube! Thanks again to everyone who voted for MRTV!”

“It’s a huge honour to take home the award of Favourite VR headset for Oculus Quest 2. We’ve seen an incredible response from the VR community since launch in October, and to know this award was voted for by the public means a lot. We’re looking forward to delivering more incredible Quest 2 content in 2021 for people to experience,” said Rangaprabhu Parthasarathy, Product Manager, Oculus Quest 2.

“We’re extremely excited that FitXR has been announced as the winner of the Most Promising XR Startup award, as given by VRFocus. This is a great win for us so thanks to everyone for their votes and continual support for FitXR,” said Sam Cole, CEO & co-founder, FitXR. “We’re focused on continuing our mission of creating a virtual reality exercise experience that remains fun and effective at its core and have lots of exciting updates in store for the FitXR platform in 2021. Next year is going to be huge so keep your eyes peeled!

Congratulations to all of VRFocus’ The Better-Than-Reality Awards winners and their contribution to the industry. Best of luck to everyone for 2021!

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YouTube’s ‘MRTV’ Launches Kickstarter to Showcase Current VR Headsets to Paying Public

MRTV, the YouTube channel led by Germany-based VR enthusiast Sebastian Ang, launched a Kickstarter recently to create what he calls the MRTV Experience, which will invite the paying public to step in to try out a variety of the most recent VR headsets on offer. The location is set to open in Dortmund, Germany where Ang will also be moving his dedicated studio as well.

Launched in mid-August, Ang is offering pre-sales for tickets via the Kickstarter page, which will let curious would-be VR headset owners take a 90-minute spin in many of the most up-to-date VR headsets out currently. Ang says he’ll be personally available to show MRTV Experience-goers through their chosen 90-minute slots.

Ang is promising to showcase a number of VR headsets in his library, including Oculus Quest, Oculus Rift S, Samsung Odyssey Plus, Vive Pro, HP Reverb, Valve Index, Pimax 5K Plus, Pimax 5K XR, HTC Vive Cosmos, and StarVR One, a headset intended for the enterprise sector.

In a wave of community support, the €3,000 goal was reached in only seven minutes of the project going live on August 17th, Ang writes in a community update. Within 24 hours of the project’s launch, it had already doubled its funding goal to €6,000 (~$6670 USD).

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At the time of this writing, the MRTV Experience has garnered over €13,700 ($15,300), bringing with it a number of stretch goals including more VR PCs and upgraded camera equipment, which Ang says will allow him to shoot the next season of MRTV in 4k.

Other stretch goals include purchasing a Magic Leap One for the MRTV Experience space if it reaches €15,000, and buying a Holo Lens 2 at the €18,000 mark too, making it one of the few places where consumers can experience the full range of AR/VR headsets currently on the market.

Ang is planning to hold MRTV Experience’s opening party fundraiser at the Dortmund, Germany location on October 5th, 2019. The opening day fundraiser starts at €90, which includes entry, snacks, and soft drinks. An opening party livestream will be available for some lower-tiered backers who can’t make it for the festivities.

Pre-sale tickets (not including the opening day fundraiser party) are currently still available starting at €39 (~$43). Check out the Kickstarter here for more information.

The post YouTube’s ‘MRTV’ Launches Kickstarter to Showcase Current VR Headsets to Paying Public appeared first on Road to VR.

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VRgineers Want to Build a Cheaper XTAL Headset for Consumers

VRgineers, the Prague-based VR startup behind the enterprise-focused headset XTAL, have announced they’re planning on building a version of their wide field of view (FOV) headset for the consumer market.

The company revealed its plans to produce the consumer-facing XTAL headset last weekend at meeting with YouTubers MRTV, SweViver, and VooDooDE where the three tested out the latest version of the headset.

The recently updated enterprise XTAL headset is touted for its pair of 2,560 × 1,440 OLED displays, delivering what the company now claims is a 180 degree diagonal field of view thanks to new non-Fresnel lenses—10 more degrees than the penultimate version.

Image courtesy VRgineers

The three YouTube channels have been stalwart proponents of Pimax’s “8K” and “5K” headsets, participating in a program to provide feedback to Pimax in an effort to refine it for the consumer market. Here, it appears MRTV, SweViver, and VooDooDE have been tapped to fill same role with XTAL in a beta testing program, or as Sebastian Ang of MRTV writes “to be involved in the development process of the new device and to provide suggestions and experience.”

Ang maintains the headset “should be much more affordable than the current XTAL headset that comes in at $5800.” Work on the headset is said to begin sometime in 2019.

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VooDooDE, a German language channel, says in the description of his latest video (German) that the “whole process is under NDA, so I’m not allowed to publish anything from the tests, including any release dates or prices.”

Continuing:

“It was already clear that the collaboration with the VRgineers is worlds more professional than with Pimax. Marek, the CEO of VRgineers, is very knowledgeable and knows what he’s talking about. He already has a very detailed vision and I am in good spirits that it will be reasonable. I will keep you updated on my channel as far as the NDA allows me! Work on perhaps the best virtual reality headset for gamers will start in 2019.”

VRgineers are staying tightlipped on the details for now, so there’s no telling when the device will be available to consumers, or at what price. More importantly, it isn’t clear what features the company will decided to either add or sacrifice to hit a lower price-point.

The post VRgineers Want to Build a Cheaper XTAL Headset for Consumers appeared first on Road to VR.