Category: Virtual Arts

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New Update For Lightstream Racer Brings Multiplayer AR To iOS 12

Developer Virtual Arts have announced a new update for their popular augmented reality (AR) mobile racing title Lightstream Racer that brings multiplayer to the title. Thanks to the power of iOS 12 and ARKit 2, players will now be able to enjoy multiplayer racers against other players in real-time while still enjoying the immersive power of AR.

Lightstream Racer Multiplayer

Released early this year, the mobile title uses a mobile device’s camera to scan the environment around the user and then place a unique rack track within virtual space. This futuristic racing track comes complete with all manner of stuns and tight turns that will see the vehicles needing to manage as they fly round at unbelievably fast speeds. Players will need to be paying close attention to the track and their vehicle if they want to ensure they stay in first place and take home the trophy at the end of it all.

Now, thanks to the new update, players will be able to go up against each-other in intense multiplayer races that will see them battling it out on that AR track. This means it is more important than ever before that players master their driving skills so to keep their vehicle on the track. Know when to speed up and slow down so not to drift off the edge and loss time against the other player. If you can beat the Seeker that is racing around the track then you will win the race and prove you’ll the better driver.

Lightstream Racer Multiplayer

Furthermore, because AR allows players to get fully immersed within the experience players will still be able to move as close as they want to the track and see the action up close and personal. Just make sure to not lose focus on the race because it’s the winner that matters.

Lightstream Racer is available now on the Apple App Store for free on compatible iOS devices with those running iOS 12 able to enjoy the new multiplayer features right away. There is still no word on when or if an Android version might be released but VRFocus will be sure to bring you all the latest on the title and the work of Virtual Arts in the future as it becomes available. You can enjoy a short trailer for the new update below as well.

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Lightstream Racer Accelerates On To iOS

If you ever played with Micro Machines or Hot Wheels toys, you may have spent some time crafting an intricate racing course for them around your bedroom, living room or kitchen. This experience is recreated in augmented reality (AR) with new ARKit-powered experience Lightstream Racer.

Created by developer Virtual Arts, Lightstream Racer uses a smartphone camera to scan a space, then places a unique race track in that space and spawns futuristic racing vehicles to send zooming through the course, doing loop-de-loops and making impossibly tight turns.

Visually, it looks like an AR take on WipEout crossed with the classic Micro Machines videogame franchise. Players can choose to race in career mode to build your skills and earn advancements in your Pilot Grade, or play online in a fight to reach the top of the Worldwide Leader Board. Players can pick a specific Rival Pilot to chase up the leaderboard.

The way that the AR works means that at times the track can completely encircle the player, providing a new perspective on the racing action. This means that almost any surface can act as the basis for an improbably miniature racing track.

Developer Virtual Arts previously worked on another madcap racing title with Cargo Racing VR for the Samsung Gear VR, a VR title that tasked the layers with getting their vehicle full of cargo to the finish line in one piece as fast as possible, whilst contending with tracks that twist and turn in unusual ways. By completing tracks with the best time, players can unlock perks such as custom paint jobs for their vehicles.

The Virtual Arts studio was formed by ex-ARM employees Nizar Romdan and Doug Day, who set out to develop new interactive experiences with a focus on mobile VR and AR apps and videogames.

Lightstream Racer is out now for iOS, available through the Apple App Store priced at $0.00 (USD). No plans for an Android version have yet been announced. A gameplay trailer is available to view below. VRFocus will bring you further news on Virtual Arts as it becomes available.

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Virtual Arts Launch First VR Title Cargo Racing VR for Gear VR

Looking like a cross between Micro Machines, Matchbox Cars and BlazeRush, indie developer Virtual Arts has released its first virtual reality (VR) in the form of Cargo Racing VR for Samsung Gear VR.

In Cargo Racing VR players have to race their vehicle through tracks that twist, turn and undulate all over the place in a bid to get the cargo they’re carrying to the finish line as fast as possible.

Cargo Racing VR screenshot_2

A purely single-player videogame, Cargo Racing VR features nine tracks to complete with players only having to worry about acceleration – no steering is involved. On the back of their truck are four parcels which need to be taken to the end of the track. Each track can be completed even if the parcels fallout, should they make it to the end the overall time will be reduced by one second for each parcel that remains.

Players will then be awarded medals depending on the time, with the best unlocking perks like a new paint job.

You’ll find Cargo Racing VR on the Oculus Store for £2.29 GBP. For further updates from Virtual Arts, keep reading VRFocus.

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New VR Studio Virtual Arts Will Focus On Mobile Apps

Though Cambridge-based development studio Virtual Arts was formed back in December 2016, it has been very quiet up until now, as it gathered personnel and funding for its projects. Now, having successfully acquired seed funding, ex-ARM employees Nizar Romdan and Doug Day are setting out to create virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) projects.

An announcement on the company’s blog explained that the company plans to create ‘New content IP’ in the form of animations, interactive experiences and videogames, using Romdan and Day’s experience in the mobile market as a guide.

Aside from its two founders, Virtual Arts is largely staffed by former staff of the Sony Guerrilla Cambridge staff, who were snapped up by Virtual Arts after the studio closed on early 2017. The new studio plans to be focussed on creating “A unique technology platform that will meet the requirements and challenges of VR/AR/MR development and enable stunning content for entry-level devices.”

“There will soon be a world where virtual reality headsets are as readily available and as easily disposable as coffee cup holders. The devices of today with their current performance capabilities will be the dominant devices. The content being delivered to these devices will come from Virtual Arts and the companies using Virtual Arts’ unique technology platform to create content.” commented Virtual Arts CEO Nizar Romdan.

The Virtual Arts team will be appearing at the Develop: Brighton Conference, where they will be on the ground floor of the British Airways i360 Experience, opposite the Hilton Metropole Hotel.

VRFocus will bring you further information on Virtual Arts and its projects as it becomes available.