National Geographic – Augmented & Virtual Reality Confabulation

November 6, 2019

Machu Picchu Is Coming To Quest Via National Geographic Explore VR

An all-new adventure is making its way to the National Geographic Explore VR app; Machu Picchu.

This Oculus Studios-published app was released at the launch of Quest back in May. Developed by Force Field VR, the interactive experience takes you to extreme places on the planet. Its first experience, for example, takes you on an expedition to Antarctica, where you can kayak in icy waters and climb mountains.

Soon, though, we’ll see an entirely new destination based in the Andes Mountains in Peru. You’ll be learning about the area’s history as you trek through the Incan citadel. There’s a very brief teaser below which shows players taking pictures of mummies, learning about the architecture, and having a closer encounter with what I think is a llama (apologies if not, I’m not entirely up-to-date on my Peruvian mountain life).

Force Field confirmed to us that the update will be free for existing National Geographic Explore users. The app itself costs $9.99. No word yet on a possible Oculus Rift release, nor if there will be any further levels added later down the line.

This continues a busy streak of Quest releases for Force Field. Since launching National Geographic, the Amsterdam-based developer has also delivered a port of its Anne Frank House VR experience and released the likable puzzle game, Time Stall. The team is certainly keeping its hands full on Quest.

Will you be heading back into National Geographic Explore to take a look around Macchu Picchu? Let us know in the comments below!

The post Machu Picchu Is Coming To Quest Via National Geographic Explore VR appeared first on UploadVR.

April 26, 2019

Oculus Quest Is Getting A Room Scale National Geographic Experience

The library for the upcoming Oculus Quest standalone headset is mostly games- but National Geographic Explore VR is an exception.

The experience takes you on a “dramatic trip” through Antarctica with the ultimate goal of finding a lost penguin colony. Users will ride on a kayak through ice filled waters, then climb an ice cliff and tackle a snow storm.

Nat Geo partnered with dutch developer Force Field to develop the experience. Force Field has developed games such as Landfall, Coaster Combat, and Pet Lab.

While the experience can be a passive experience if you want, more experienced users have the option of interactivity. Users will be able to use their Touch controllers to set up camp, build a wind barricade, and zip up their survival tents. “We’ve built these activities with an option to be physically active or passive, so they’re enjoyable for the entire family,” National Geographic said.

While National Geographic has released 360 videos in the past, this is their first realtime positional tracked experience. This form of documentary is new, and while it doesn’t give a real world view, the fidelity and ability to move around in and interact with the environment proves compelling in experiences like Everest VR.

This experience will last roughly 30 minutes, but National Geographic aren’t stopping here. Future updates will add more parts of the world, such as “archaeological expeditions packed with cultural heritage.”

There’s no word on whether this experience will come to Rift or other platforms, but we’ve reached out to Facebook to find out this information.

Tagged with: National Geographic, Oculus Quest, VR documentary

The post Oculus Quest Is Getting A Room Scale National Geographic Experience appeared first on UploadVR.

October 19, 2018

Life in 360°: Campeón del Capitán

Sometimes you just need to get away from everything and frankly this last week can get right in the bin. Then the bin can be locked up with chains and hurled into the sea. Preferably above the Mariana Trench. So, I’m not going to be about this next week. Were only I able to take a short break to see somewhere new, I think things might feel a heck of a lot better – and looking at where today’s Li360 lands us what a sight that would be to see in reality.

Life In 360° / 360 Degree Video tional geograBut we don’t deal in reality round here, so we’ll have to make do with a 360 degree video from two names we’re pretty familiar with: Framestore and National Geographic Documentary Films.

Called Free Solo 360°, the short film follows Alex Honnold as he gets ready to achieve a lifelong dream: climbing Yosemite National Park’s El Capitan. A 3,200ft climb and since Honnold is a free soloist climber he’s doing the entire thing without a rope or safety equipment. Just his skill, experience, preparation and mental and physical toughness separating him from the sky and then the ground in short order. The climb, which was a record breaker, was the subject of a full documentary of the same name (though minus the 360°, obviously).

“It can be tricky in traditional filmmaking to portray a good sense of scale and context, but it’s all there in the 360° footage.” Explains Framestore’s Executive Creative Director Aron Hjartarson. “You are transported thousands of feet above the ground, hanging out with Alex as he weaves his way upwards, with the beauty of Yosemite National Park spread out below and reaching to the horizon. It was also a great project to play with the emergent art of 360° cinematography, using camera moves to add drama to the piece and lead the point of interest around the environment.”

You can follow this frankly amazing climb in the video below. Life in 360° will return next week.

August 31, 2018

National Geographic’s Explorer Academy: The Nebula Secret Launching at National Book Festival With VR Experience

National Geographic is involved in numerous forms of content creation and publishing, from its iconic magazine to 360-degree films and kids books. Its the latter that the company has recently revealed, due to launch its largest campaign for its fiction franchise, Explorer Academy, at the National Book Festival tomorrow.

Nat Geo Explorer Academy — (PRNewsfoto/National Geographic)

The first title in the seven-book, middle-grade series, Explorer Academy: The Nebula Secret, written by Trudi Trueit, is the initial phase in National Geographic’s 360-degree franchise launch. At the National Book Festival in New York City the marketing campaign will offer an array of activities for festival-goers, including in-booth and stage presentations from author Trudi Trueit and National Geographic Explorer Zoltan Takacs, a scavenger hunt, a code-breaking station, explorer trivia, and a virtual reality (VR) experience.

“We want kids to be inspired to explore and take on the mindset of explorers,” said Jennifer Emmett, National Geographic Kids’ Vice President for Content. “Kids who grow up to be explorers are the next caretakers of our planet, so we need to empower the whole generation.”

Explorer Academy: The Nebula Secret has been written to offer kids a thrilling quest that combines science-based fact whilst learning about other cultures. The story follows Cruz and his friends as they travel the world aboard the ship Orion, with readers having to break codes and solve puzzles along the way.

After the festival Trueit will embark on a North American tour beginning in New York City with a one-day Explorer Academy Recruitment Center stop, open to press and the public on 5th September, 2018.

Additionally, National Geographic Expeditions is holding a competition where a family of four will win the Explorer Academy Sweepstakes—a shipboard adventure through Alaska’s Inside Passage, at exploreracademytrip.com). For any further updates on National Geographic keep reading VRFocus.

June 29, 2018

An Augmented View of the Stars

An observatory in Quebec, Canada is turning to immersive technology in order to give visitors a unique and enhanced view of the night sky by utilising augmented reality (AR) at its newly opened open-air AR planetarium, the ObservEtoiles.

The new planetarium can seat up to 190 guests in a mountain side amphitheatre which has been specially built for ObservEtoiles which has heated seats so that visitors can enjoy the show at any temperature while engaged with the AR-enhanced view of the sky.

Guests will be equipped with an AR headset from Aryzon, which will allow visitors to see the night sky, with a digital overlay that will show constellations along with the names of stars and other interesting information.

Aryzon launched its cardboard AR headset in 2017 with the aim of reducing the cost of entry to users who wish to enjoy AR content without the investment costs of high-end AR and mixed reality (MR) headsets like the Microsoft HoloLens.

The software for the AR experience is being provided by UK-based company Escapist Games, the creators of popular AR app Star Chart. Escapist Games have created a special version of its software for use by ObservEtoiles.

The AR experience is powered by the Asus Zenfone 3 Zoom, which uses its HD AMOLED display to provide a view of the night sky, over which guests will be able to see 17th Century illustrations of the sky, overlaid across the real stars and planets in a way that will not obstruct the view.

Further information will be provided to visitors by audio narration, with a voiceover recorded by Andrew Fazekas. The content for the app will be regularly updates so repeated visitors can get a new experience.

Further information about ObservEtoiles, including a special presentation video, can be found at the official website. For future coverage of new an innovative uses for AR technology, keep checking back with VRFocus.

April 23, 2018

5 Historical Events And Time Periods You Can Visit In VR

Virtual Reality (VR) is a tool that can be used for complete immersion into a number of different experiences. Everything from horror videogames to simulating the experience of flying. There are a wealth of user experiences to try in VR. As VR applications become more realistic and as more genres are explored, it’s possible to give VR users the chance to take on new experiences.

One of the most popular new applications that VR users are enjoying is an app called Timelooper. This application allows individuals to completely immerse themselves in historical scenes from the past. Timelooper can help to place people into accurate historical scenes where they can experience them from a first-person view.

Timelooper isn’t the only way to experience history from the perspective of VR of course, you can also can find excellent immersive content on YouTube.

Both app and service can be fantastic for education and for helping people truly feel like time travelers! If you are interested in trying Timelooper or other history video content, here are some five historical events and time periods that you can currently visit in VR:

Washington’s Inaugural – 1789

Experience Washington’s inauguration in the year 1789 through the Timelooper app. This re-creation was filmed on location in period costume and it is truly a unique moment in history where you can step back and experience the inauguration of the first president of the United States. If you are a presidential history buff or you are simply interested in what public gatherings were like in the year 1789, this is a wonderful experience to try.

Pearl Harbor – 1941

Experiencing the attacks on Pearl Harbor firsthand is possible thanks to a TIME magazine experience that has been published on YouTube. In a 360° video you can listen to a veteran retelling their experiences over some stunning visuals in a beautiful tribute to those that lost their lives. Although this is a short experience it can truly leave an impact.

The John Lennon Memorial – 1980

This experience which dates back to the year 1980 is a 360° immersive experience of what it would be like to attend the John Lennon Memorial. With scenes filmed at the time and remastered into a 360° experience, you attend John Lennon’s Memorial first-hand just like a time traveller. This is another experience built just for Timelooper VR.

Dunkirk – 1940

In the Dunkirk VR Experience also published by Time magazine, you can go through a four minute journey of what the beaches of Dunkirk were like during this bloody battle. This experience places you on the beach with British forces as you are waiting to be picked up. It can be haunting but an incredible VR experience to visit. It was created as a preview for the Dunkrik film by Christopher Nolan and features many of the same costumes and sounds that were found in the film. If you are a fan of this film or if you are a history buff interested in this event from World War II, this could be an experience that you should try first.

Life As A Viking – c.800-1050

See what a true Viking battle was like from a 360° camera that was brought into a re-enactment fighting pit. With a gigantic group of 600 reenactors all armed with real axes and swords, you can join in the immersion and see what a true Viking battle would be like. National Geographic filmed this re-enactment on location at the Wolin Festival. The sounds and the visuals make you feel as though you are clashing swords with everyone first-hand!

Keep in mind that VR is now making it easier for anyone to transport themselves into a number of incredible experiences. With the help of immersive content you can find in Timelooper and Youtube, you can feel like a time traveler and see what it was like to be at each one of these important moments in History!

March 19, 2018

Life In 360°: Lions…

Welcome back to another edition of Life In 360, where every Monday, Wednesday and Friday we start the day at VRFocus with me surfing my way around the web and picking out something interesting or different, or maybe just bringing you some news all of which is related to 360 degree video.

Life In 360° / 360 Degree Video This week the majority of the team are off on their travels, as we enter the first truly busy period of the year in terms of everyone being at events. So, I’ve prepared this one a bit in advance as we’re having something of a ‘theme week’ on Li360. We’re getting close with the animal kingdom in a trilogy that will take us all over the world, and we’ll be looking at the animals in question from three very different sources as well. We start off by heading to back to the team at National Geographic and a short VR film by National Geographic Explorer Martin Edström.

Edström follows the story of young male lion Gibson, and he has a problem. Namely that the pride already has a strong male figure in it, and he doesn’t want any others around that might become a rival for the attentions of the lionesses. Gibson’s brother has already been killed, and he and his mother have fled the safety of the pride, ironically, for safety. Does Gibson have a chance of a future or will the dominant male hunt him and his mother down?

This is obviously not the first time we’ve featured one of the excellent videos from the National Geograhic team on Life In 360°. We’ve journeyed with them to the top of the Victoria Falls to take in the “Devil’s Pool”, we’ve gone wingwalking with them, taken in some, frankly outrageously cute baby pandas and even headed off to Antarctica. If you’re looking for something to pass the time later today, I’d definitely recommend checking those out.

For now though we have begun the week getting close to lions. I wonder what could possibly be coming next time? You’d best join us again later this week on VRFocus to find out.

December 28, 2017

Life In 360°: Terra Australis

So yesterday on Life In 360° we spent a long time in the company of some sort of Mickey Mouse organisation – I forget their name – and I did suggest at the end of it that we would be dipping back into the realm of the factual for today’s video. Well, that’s certainly going to be the case I’m pleased to say. I’m also pleased to reveal that once again you’ve got multiple videos to watch today. It’s a video extravaganza on Li360 this week!

Since we’ve not been back with them for a while let’s check back in with the team over at National Geographic for a couple of their excellent videos. And, as we’re in this festive season it only makes sense that we take in a land of ice and snow. So, we’re off to… Antarctica.

At this point some of you will probably be confused because you were expecting something in Australia. Which is actually kind of understandable since Australia was indeed named after Terra Australis – which is Latin for Southern Land. That term was, however, coined in ancient times for a continent that was only believed to exist and appeared on maps (again, only as a ‘we think it’s there’) from the 15th century. Australia would be named after the term because it was believed it was the most southern landmass and nothing else was there.

Then they found Antarctica. Whoops.

But by that point people had kind of gotten used to calling Australia, well, Australia by that point and so there was no desire to switch the name! Enough of the history lesson though, let’s get travelling! In the first video Antarctica – Unexpected Snow from October 2016 a storm is coming in to the Errera Channel. NatGeo explores a penguin and seal colony.

In Antarctica – Journey Through The Ice from just over a year ago, NatGeo takes you on an icebreaker – a ship capable of traversing the ice fields. Much to the bemusement of some of the locals.

That’s all for now, but VRFocus will be back tomorrow at the same time with another Life in 360°. I’ll see you then.

December 4, 2017

Vuze Camera Goes Into Orbit

The Vuze Camera was designed to offer a high-quality 360-degree image capture at an affordable prize to consumers and has proved popular for this reason. The Vuze camera has now gone stratospheric as it was selected by NASA and National Geographic to capture 360-degree footage from the International Space Station.

The International Space Station was launched in 1998, and ever since has housed astronauts from all over the world who conduct important experiments aboard the station. The Vuze camera will be used by astronaut Paolo Nespoli of the European Space Agency to capture virtual reality (VR) footage to create a National Geographic film called ‘One Strange Rock‘.

Mission:ISS Gear VR

The documentary will allow viewers on Earth to experience what life is like aboard the space station, as well as showing a view of Earth that few humans ever get to see. The One Strange Rock documentary is planned to come to National Geographic sometime in 2018.

The Vuze camera was sent up to the International Space Station aboard the Cygnus cargo spacecraft, along with other cargo including science experiments, technology demonstrations, Holiday gifts for the astronauts from their families and even the makings of a special Thanksgiving dinner.

Shahar Bin-Nun, CEO of Vuze creator Humaneyes Technologies: “This is an incredibly exciting time for us. We are delighted to have been selected by and associated with two of the world’s leading and most adventurous organisations. Partnering with NASA and National Geographic for this project will result in some incredible footage captured by our VR camera, showcasing its true potential.”

The Vuze camera was chosen due to a number of features, such as its eight HD cameras that can capture 360-degree images in 4K per-eye resolution, and four internal microphones to create 3D audio. The camera can capture up to two hours of video on a single charge, and is a lightweight device for easy portability.

The Vuze camera is available from the Vuze website, priced at £395 (GBP).

VRFocus will bring you further news on the Vuze camera and the National Geographic documentary as it becomes available.

November 24, 2017

Life in 360°: One Small Step for Vuze

It’s Friday so you’re expecting VRFocus’ regular weekly dose of 360-degree video goodness to start the day. Alas, as today is somewhat different. It’s only on rare occasions that Life in 360° doesn’t actually include some sort of immersive video, with today’s article looking towards the future in preparation of a 360 video that’s yet to come. Recently the Vuze VR Camera was selected by National Geographic and NASA to film a 3D, 360-degree cinematic virtual reality (VR) experience as part of National Geographic’s upcoming series One Strange Rock.

Due to premiere next year and directed by Darren Aronofsky (director of Requiem for a Dream), the Vuze VR Camera will be used by European Space Agency astronaut Paolo Nespoli to document a day in the life on the space station.

At the International Space Station, European Space Agency astronaut Paolo Nespoli films the Earth through the windows of the Cupola observatory. Credit: ESA/NASA/Twitter

“One Strange Rock explores how intricate, interwoven and fragile life as we know it is on Earth and how rare it may be in the universe,” Aronofsky said in a statement. “The more we appreciate how awe-inspiring the development of life on this planet has been, the more likely we are to become inspired stewards of the home that sustains it.”

“We’re thrilled to once again partner with National Geographic to tell an incredible story about our strange planet,” said producer Jane Root. “We’re going to combine dramatic visual storytelling and real science to tell the story of our planet Earth and focus on the unbelievable ‘coincidences,’ and the complex, unlikely connections that all had to happen to create complex life.”

One Strange Rock will premiere on the National Geographic Channel in 2018, with Nespoli’s videos distributed via platforms like Facebook, Oculus, YouTube and PlayStation VR, and of course Life in 360°.

Don’t forget to come back on Monday when Life in 360° resumes its regular programming.