Category: Ultrahaptics

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VR Awards 2018: The Winners Speak

There are all kinds of awards out there – mainly because most everything has some organisation quantifying who are the best in what they do. Now we’re in the fourth quarter of the year it’s only natural that we end up seeing more awards ceremonies to reveal the high achievers of 2018.

Earlier this week VRFocus hit the red carpet for the VR Awards 2018, which once again celebrated the field of virtual reality (VR).

VRAwards 2018 logo“The VR Awards is at the centre of recognition and celebration of outstanding achievement in VR.”  Says the organisation, “Combined with year-round international initiatives, the VR Awards brings together a night of red carpet highlights, the celebration of excellence and unique access to the world’s most influential names in immersive technology.”

A media partner for the event, Nina Salomons and Kevin Joyce were both in attendance and even helped dish out the awards during the evening. You can find a list of the winners below, as well as some footage of the event and interviews with several of the victors.

VR Awards 2018 Winners

VR Headset of the Year:
HTC Vive Pro

VR Game of the Year:
Episode 2: Heart of the Emberstone (Cloudhead Games Ltd.)

VR Experience of the Year:
Manifest 99 (Flight School)

VR Film of the Year:
CARNE y ARENA (ILMxLAB)

VR Marketing of the Year:
Coco VR (Magnopus)

Rising VR Company of the Year:
Neurogaming Limited

Innovative VR Company of the Year:
Ultrahaptics

VR Education of the Year:
HoloLAB Champions (Schell Games)

VR Healthcare of the Year:
Virti

Out-of-home VR Entertainment of the Year:
Star Wars: Secrets of the Empire (ILMxLAB and The VOID)

VR Social Impact Award:
Window to our World (VISYON & The Cornerstone Partnership)

VR Architecture and Real Estate of the Year:
Bostoen – Creating your dream house before it’s even built (Nanopixel)

VRFocus will bring you more news and videos very soon.

 

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Zerolight Discuses Their Automotive Haptic Solution

Automotive visualisation specialists Zerolight have been developing high quality content to enable consumers to get up close and personal with automotive products in virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) for some time. Recently, VRFocus’ Nina Salomons got to sit down with Joseph Artgole from Zerolight to discuss their latest advances including a new solution that provides haptic feedback to users experience automotive demonstrations.

Showcasing their new solution, Zerolight have partnered with Ultrahaptics to use sound wave based haptic feedback to build a more immersive experience that offers deeper immersive for users. “So we’ve partnered with Ultrahaptics and Meta to deliver what we believe is an intuitive interactive experience which we will see in the future.” Artglove explains: “So we’re combining augmented reality, haptic feedback through the use of sound waves to bring a sensation to the palm of your hands, and we’ve putting that in an automotive experience where you can actually configure a vehicle. You can actually going and feel the engine vibrate and then you can blow up the car and actually see the individual components around you

Zerolight opted to use this method of interaction to ensure that they solution could be used by anyone. Artglove goes on to explains that although a number of successful AR solutions are already on the market they are designed for mobile use. This is seen a strong install base, but to look to the future Zerolight wanted to move away from mobile and focus on being able to deliver outstanding quality within their immersive experiences.

“The idea is to deliver an immersive experience which are becoming common within the automotive industry at the moment.” Artglove adds: “Everyone is interacting and exploring with a car at life size scale to configure and digitally discover it. What we want to do is take that experience future and showcase what’s going on in the future using augmented reality. With those experiences we need to make them as accessible as possible to open up the marketplace even further.”

The full interview can be seen below and Artglove goes into a lot of detail about where Zerolight hope to take the solution and the thought process behind it. For more on Zerolight in the future, make sure to keep reading VRFocus to stay up to date on all the latest.

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Ultrahaptics On How Haptics Can Transform VR

Much of the appeal of virtual reality (VR) revolves around the ability to feel like you are truly present in a space. The move from traditional joypads to motion controllers like the Oculus touch have enhanced that, but are still limited in many ways. Heather Tait of Ultrahaptics things that haptics are the way forward.

Ultrahaptics are a company based in Bristol, UK who are aiming to make VR environments much more real by allowing users to truly feel their environment and interact with it purely through touch, pushing, pulling and grabbing with no buttons or touch pads required.

The company has been working with Meta and ZeroLight to produce a mixed reality experience that lets a user touch a car that is in front of them in augmented reality (AR) and feel the vibrations as the car revs its engine. The car then disassembles itself and each component can be individually explored and handled.

Tait said: “There are so many control technologies, gesture recognition is becoming huge, the ability to control anything from mid air and touch anything without having to interface a 2D piece of glass. What we’re able to is give you that sense of touch when you’re dealing with 3D objects.”

A number of big companies such as Bosch and IBM have already begun working with Ultrahaptics to incorporate the haptics gesture control technology into their products, such as the Bosch concept car.

The first product to make it to market with Ultrahaptics technology contained within is a casino gambling machine which lets users see 3D objects coming out at them, and provides tactile feedback such as feeling coins coming out, or when the user gets a bonus.

“What we want for this year is more of our customers getting their products to market so customers can try them In their everyday lives.” Tait said.

The video interview is available to view below. Keep checking back with VRFocus for more news and interviews from the VR industry.

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Create 3D Mid-Air Objects With Ultrahaptics’ STRATOS Explore Development Kit

Last month, haptics technology company Ultrahaptics announced the STRATOS platform, designed to create advanced touch-based sensations in mid-air. Now it’s launching STRATOS Explore, the first development kit based on the platform.

STRATOS Haptic Development Kit

With STRATOS Explore tech companies and developers can begin experimenting with haptics as a new way for users to interface with their products, whether that’s for virtual reality (VR), 3D gesture interfaces or advanced automotive controls.

Ultrahaptics’ core mid-air haptic technology creates the sense of touch in mid-air by using arrays of ultrasonic transducers to project haptic feedback directly onto users’ hands. Through the emission of ultrasound waves developers can manipulate them so that the combined pressure of the waves interacting produces a force that can be felt. Due to the device’s close arrangement of arrays multiple pressure points can be created, so that the user can feel 3D shapes, buttons, sliders and virtual objects in thin air.

“The STRATOS Explore development kit is the best solution for customers who want to explore how mid-air haptics can enhance their products. We can now offer an off-the-shelf development kit based on our most advanced platform,” said David Hearne, VP Sales. “Whether customers are looking to create cutting-edge, cleaner and safer user interfaces, or to design immersive experiences in which users can reach out and touch 3D digital media, we now have the perfect tool for them to start innovating with.”

Available to purchase now through Ultrahaptics distribution network, the STRATOS Explore doesn’t come cheap with it listed on Arrow.com for $5,000 USD. The kit includes:

  • 16×16 transducer array (Murate transducers), control board and frame structure
  • Leap Motion camera module for hand tracking and gesture recognition
  • 5 frame mounted cover materials (2 metal, 3 acoustic fabric)
  • Software Development Kit with Time Point Streaming, supporting C#, C++ API and Unity integration
  • Support for Windows, OSX and Linux based platforms
  • Sensation Editor tool to assist with customisation and and development of sensations
  • Mid-air haptics demonstration suite
  • Multi-region (US/UK/EU) power supply and USB cables

For further updates from Ultrahaptics, keep reading VRFocus.

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The Sensation of Touch at the Tips of Your Fingers with Go Touch VR

There are various hardware manufacturers who are in the business of trying to make virtual reality (VR) even more immersive by introducing haptic feedback to experiences. From the exoskeletal hands of Senseglove, to sensors inside a glove as utilised by Bebop Sensors, to using ultrasound to project sensations onto the hand as with Ultrahaptics.  VRFocus spoke to Eric Vezzoli, the CEO of French hardware developer Go Touch VR about their first SDK VR Touch devices that allow users to believe they are physically interacting and manipulate objects by adding the sensation of touch to a user’s fingers.

VRTOUCH
Go Touch VR devices will allow you to feel sensations on the tips of your fingers.

The sense of touch is conveyed through haptics, the Go Touch VR devices being designed around the neuroscience of manipulation and touch. Using separate devices for each digit, actuators inside the units provide up to 1.5N (Newtons) of pressure to the user’s finger allowing for multiple types of feedback. From touch feedback, click and button feedback, vibration and material compliance feedback. Vezzoli promises a lot more to come. The headset does also need to include a Leap Motion attached for it to work. and Go Touch VR have been working on correcting Leap Motion’s problem with occlusion. The battery life for the devices can last from 30 minutes with intensive use to an hour and is compatible with every Windows-based headset

Go Touch VR has managed to raise almost $1 Million (USD) through their fundraising effort and since their sales campaign last October the team’s developer kit has already shipped to several companies – among them the automotive giant BMW.

Vezzoli explains that they only work B2B at the moment across four verticals; professional training, data manipulation, engineering and showcasing. The VR content can range from an automotive training simulation, to selling a house or surgery. Vezzoli explains that in future iterations they are looking to make the Go Touch VR devices half the size and half the weight, they will be able to feel different textures, stiffness, programmable buttons, gesture recognition and hand tracking system correction.

To find out more watch the video below.

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Air Becomes 3D With Ultrahaptics new STRATOS Platform

Ultrahaptics, a tech startup which originally started as a project within Bristol University has today announced a new technology platform that can create advanced haptic sensations in mid-air, STRATOS.

Ultrahaptics

STRATOS features the company’s patented Time Point Streaming (TPS) technology to create complex haptic sensations suitable for the rendering of 3D objects by using arrays of ultrasonic transducers to project haptic feedback directly onto users’ hands.

Ultrahapics explains in a blog posting that: “In the STRATOS platform, the Time Point Streaming algorithms are fully embedded in an FPGA solver, reducing CPU load and allowing easier integration and lower manufacturing costs for the company’s customers.  The architecture is also scalable, supporting arrays of up to 2048 transducers, which enables customers to build larger interaction zones.”

The technology can be used in a wide range of applications, from controls to immersive environments. In automotive infotainment for example, controls are made safer and more intuitive by combining gesture-recognition technology and mid-air haptic feedback. While for augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) purposes, whether that’s in consumer, enterprise or location-based entertainment products, haptic technology has the ability to create a stronger sense of presence through the addition of tactile sensations to complement audio and visual stimuli.

“It’s fantastic to bring our most advanced technology to a scalable, production-ready, embedded solution, and to be able to share this with the world!,” said Robert Blenkinsopp, Ultrahapics VP Product. “There are so many applications for this technology, and I’m very excited to see what our customers will create with it. I’m immensely proud of the technical leaps we’ve made in bringing STRATOS to market, and I’m looking forward to launching new products on the platform in the next few months, including reference designs for multiple applications.”

Last year, Ultrahaptics secured £17.9 million GBP of funding through an investment round. Then last month it announced a partnership with ZeroLight and Meta on an AR experience where users could explore a Pagani Huaya roadster hypercar. As  Ultrahaptics continues development, VRFocus will keep you updated.

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Touching The Future of Augmented Reality

Augmented Reality (AR), for the most part, tends to be restricted to one sense – vision. It acts as an overlay on the real world, changing how it looks, but not how it feels. That might be about to change thanks to a partnership between Ultrahaptics, ZeroLight and Meta.

The three companies have worked together to create technology that encompasses three of the five senses in order to create a more involving and immersive form of AR. The proof-of-concept technology will be demonstrated to visitors at CES 2018.

The AR experience at CES 2018 allows visitors to don a Meta 2 AR development kit and explore a virtual recreation of a Pagani Huaya roadster hypercar. The car is set within a real-world environment, but users of the AR experience can configure the car, take it apart to see its components up close, and even feel the powerful vibrations of its V12 AMG engine using haptic feedback.

“Touch is intrinsic to our understanding of the world and how we interact with it. This shouldn’t be lost when we interact with digital media and virtual objects,” said Anders Hakfelt, vice president, product and marketing, Ultrahaptics. “Ultrahaptics uses ultrasound to create tactile feedback on the hand, allowing you to explore and manipulate virtual objects and react to tactile cues without inhibiting natural movement. By stimulating contact with digital models, we can amplify the overall impact and response of each digital interaction.”

“The vision behind Meta is to deliver a machine that acts as an extension of the body, allowing us to intuitively create, communicate and collaborate in a natural way,” said David Oh, head of developer relations for Meta. “We are working closely with our partners using the Meta 2 Development Kit to deliver such experiences through augmented reality today, while defining what the future of computing will look like in the years to come.”

“Brands are continuing to reinvent the way they engage customers through digital experiences. ZeroLight’s high fidelity visualisation software harnesses the full potential of cutting-edge hardware, bringing products to life in stunning detail through cohesive, personal experiences. Such quality enables the clear perception and understanding of virtual vehicles, allowing for more informed decision making,” said Joseph Artgole, associate marketing director, ZeroLight.

There will be a VRFocus presence at CES 2018, bringing you all the latest news and hands-on reports from the show floor.

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Ultrahaptics: Feedback-System der Zukunft für Virtual Reality ausprobiert

Eines unserer Highlights auf der Gamescom 2017 in Köln stellte das Unternehmen Ultrahaptics vor. Das arbeitet an einem Feedback-System für Virtual Reality Inhalte, das auf eine Armee von Mini-Lautsprechern setzt. Diese erzeugen Ultrasound, einen nicht wahrnehmbaren Ton, und somit Schallwellen, die anschließen auf euren Körper beziehungsweise auf eure Hände treffen. Somit kann euch das System ein Feedback geben, ohne dass ihr spezielle Elemente am Körper tragen müsst. Für das Tracking der Hände kommt eine Magic-Leap-Einheit zum Einsatz. Wir haben im Messetrubel Hand an das System legen und schildern euch, ob Ultrahaptics sein Versprechen einlösen kann.

Ultrahaptics: Virtual Reality Inhalte spüren mit Einschränkungen

Ultrahaptics VR Feedback

Wir konnten einen ersten Prototypen von Ultrahaptics auf der Gamescom 2017 in Köln ausprobieren. Schnell stellten wir fest, dass das System bereits sehr präzise arbeitet. In den gezeigten Demos spürten wir den kleinen Windstoß immer genau an den in VR gezeigten Stellen. Der erzeugte Widerstand ist allerdings im aktuellen Modell noch recht gering. Deshalb setzten die Erfinder bei den derzeitigen Demos auch auf Inhalte, die mit einem solchen Feedback hervorragend harmonieren. So durften wir beispielsweise Fliegen fangen und spürten die kleinen Piloten an unseren Handflächen. Mehr als ein starkes Kribbeln war bei dem vorgestellten Prototypen allerdings noch nicht drin.

Das soll sich ändern. Die Entwickler von Ultrahaptics versprachen, dass sie schon bald ähnliche Systeme herstellen werden, die sogar das Drücken eines Knopfes in VR fühlbar machen soll. Die Technik hat auf jeden Fall Potenzial. Das sehen Investoren auch so, erst im Mai konnte sich das Unternehmen über 23 Millionen US-Dollar freuen. Trotzdem dürfte das System noch einen weiten Weg vor sich haben, bis es das heimische Wohnzimmer erreicht. Das VR-Arcades schon jetzt spannende Inhalte mit Ultrahaptics zeigen könnten, steht aber außer Frage.

Ultrahaptics VR Feedback

Ultrahaptics bietet das System aktuell noch nicht zum Verkauf an Endkunden an. Jedoch können interessierte Entwickler auf ein Development Kit zugreifen. Einen Preis nennt der Hersteller auf seiner Webseite nicht. Erfreulich: Einer der beiden Distributoren sitzt in Deutschland.

Der Beitrag Ultrahaptics: Feedback-System der Zukunft für Virtual Reality ausprobiert zuerst gesehen auf VR∙Nerds. VR·Nerds am Werk!

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The VR Job Hub: Ultrahaptics, Adobe Research, Force Field VR and more

Whether you’re an experienced designer, programmer, engineer, or maybe you’ve just been inspired after reading VRFocus  articles, the jobs listed here are located worldwide, from major game players to humble indie developers – the one thing they all have in common is that they are all jobs in VR.

View the new listings below for more information:

Location Company Role Link
Manchester, UK Red Frog Digital Ltd Mobile App R&D Software Engineer Click here to apply
Bristol, UK Ultrahaptics Visual Designer (Contract) Click here to apply
London, UK Facebook Software Engineer, Social VR Click here to apply
San Francisco, CA Adobe Research VR Video Engineer Click here to apply
Amsterdam Force Field VR QA Tester Click here to apply
Amsterdam Force Field VR Lead Programmer Click here to apply
Amsterdam Force Field VR Senior Character Artist Click here to apply

As usual, you can check last week’s edition for further job listings. If you are an employer looking for someone to fill a role in a VR, AR or other related areas in the industry and want that position to be featured on next week’s VR Job Hub, please send details to either pgraham@vrfocus.com or keva@vrfocus.com.

Check back with VRFocus next Sunday at 3PM BST and every Sunday for the latest roles in the VR industry.

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VRTV Weekly Round-Up: Faliszek leaves, SUPERHOT teases, Riccitiello dreams big and more.

It’s been a busy week with a lot of interesting stories for Nina to recap in today’s VRTV weekly round-up. There’s trouble in the US where thanks to Pokemon GO you need an AR permit in Milwaukee, Unity Chief John Riccitiello’s remarks raised eyebrows, there’s AR drone software, Sony releasing a new advert for the PlayStation VR featuring Farpoint, new games, new investment, new and renewed interest in the technology as well as comings and goings.

In fact there’s been so much it’s well worth your while watching just to make sure you didn’t miss anything of note. As usual you can find links to all the stories mentioned in the show below if you want to find out more in detail.

And don’t forget you can also check out this week’s VRTV game preview for Island 359 here.