Category Archives: Virtual Reality

As the metaverse trend spreads online, universities are riding the wave to create metaversities. Several U.S. colleges plan to open virtual reality (VR) replications of themselves in fall 2022.

TikTok user Metaverse Cam shared this video briefly explaining the metaversity project.

Metaverse Cam explained that each participating school will digitally re-create its campus, including its buildings, statues and walkways. Students who opt into the metaversity learning experience will receive VR headsets that theyll use to attend online lectures. Its unclear whether the VR tuition cost differs from each colleges in-person tuition.

The idea is to make remote learning feel more personal with the VR campus interaction and to utilize the ability virtual reality gives us to present things in ways that are not possible in the physical world, Metaverse Cam explained.

The metaversity concept is a joint project between VR company Engage XR and VictoryXR, a team of VR education specialists. VictoryXRs website states that its VR college courses will have synchronous and asynchronous options. Each online class will be geographically agnostic, allowing students and educators to work together no matter how far apart they are in the world.

According to EdSurge, the Immersive Learning team at Meta (formerly Facebook) is funding the metaversity project.

We want to create an ecosystem for learning in the metaverse, Monica Ars, Metas head of Immersive Learning,toldEdSurge. We want to make sure that not only are we preparing the future workforce to interact with these technologies, but also to build them.

The universities confirmed by VictoryXR as participants for the metaversity project include:

Metaverse Cam closed his TikTok by asking viewers whether or not they believe metaversities could replace regular universities in the future; most commenters had adverse reactions to the concept of VR school, still not understanding the metaverse concept.

Oh, so college is getting even more devalued, a TikToker joked.

Watch them upcharge for tech fees and make it more expensive than actually going, another noted.

Theyre forcing this junk so hard, does anyone even use the metaverse? someone wrote.

Other TikTokers saw the potential of metaversities, intrigued by the possibilities they hold for the higher education system.

No doubt it will be a huge part of education in the near future, but the tech is still pretty early, give it 5 years, a TikToker commented.

As long as its cheaper, then yea bring it on, it will give soo many more people the chance they didnt have before, another said.

Despite the potential benefit of metaversities, many commenters were still concerned about the logistics behind the concept. TikTokers argued that certain aspects of the college experience would not make sense when transferred to a VR setting and vice versa.

Im not so sure about this one will you have to virtually walk across the entire campus to get to your online class? If so, Im out, lmao, a TikTok user said.

Didnt we see how completely virtual college absolutely ruins the experience? Except for convenience like travel time (which this includes so??), another user questioned.

College is more important for the social opportunities available. Friends helped me land jobs after graduation, someone commented.

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TikTokers divided on the concept of virtual reality metaversities - In The Know

Image: NASA, ESA, CSA, and STScI

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With Meta Quest 2, you can view the James Webb Space Telescope footage in cinematic virtual reality format and possibly discover new details.

On July 11 and 12, NASA, ESA and CSA presented the first images of the telescope, which is located at a distance of about 932,000 miles from Earth. The images reach deeper and farther back into the history of the universe than any previous images and provide new insights into the formation of galaxies.

Featured are the star-forming region NGC 3324 in the Carina Nebula (see cover image), a group of five galaxies called Stephens Quintet, and the Southern Ring Nebula, catalogued as NGC 3132, 2,500 light-years away.

Meta packaged the images into a virtual reality movie that shows the high-resolution images at various zoom levels. The widest format fills the Meta Quest 2s field of view. It looks like sitting in the front row of a movie theater and looking at a big screen. This allows you to immerse yourself in the telescopes footage and see new details that would be difficult to see on a smartphone or monitor.

You can find the VR movie on Oculus TV by typing James Webb into the search field.

If youre reading this article on a smartphone or computer, click on the appropriate Oculus TV media content and select Watch Later. The VR movie should then appear in Oculus TV under Saved.

For the best picture quality, you should download the VR movie. Heres how to do that:

Hungry for more? This video isnt the only way to explore space in VR.

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The James Webb footage is even more impressive in virtual reality - MIXED-news.com

Image: FIDENA

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VR experience meets puppetry: The German Museum of Puppet Theater and Puppetry shows puppets and figures in VR.

Admittedly, Ive had little to do with puppets so far. And so, my path would probably not have crossed the Museum of Puppet Theater and Puppetry in Bochum, Germany, anytime soon. But the VR experience Puppet 4.0 piqued my curiosity. I paid a visit to the virtual puppet museum and was pleasantly surprised!

The real puppets from the museums collection cannot be visited in reality at the moment. However, with an Oculus Quest, I can already view three-dimensional images of the figures in virtual reality. I can also move some of the dolls myself to get to know them better.

In the VR experience, I find myself in typical puppet theater scenarios. Picture a forest, a marketplace, or an oriental temple. Fritz Wortelmann, founder of the German Institute for Puppetry, appears in miniature as a puppet himself. Puppet Wortelmann provides information about each individual figure on display.

In five VR rooms, I learn about various aspects of puppet theater. In the first room, for example, I learn about puppets that were used by the Nazis for their propaganda in the 1930s. Or, did you know that because puppeteers were associated with sorcery by the church, they were considered dangerous in the Middle Ages? I didnt.

In other rooms, I look at stick figures from Asia and learn about wayang Indonesian puppetry. A few puppeteers move up to 30 figures at the same time. There were probably shadow play figures already on the island around 1500 BC.

From China, there are figures of hand puppetry from the 16th century. The figures are exact miniature representations of the performers of the Chinese opera at that time. One of the miniature heads on a wooden stick represents a 17th-century Japanese performer.

I can lift some dolls to look at them closely. However, the exhibits are rarely interactive. This is intentional, says Mareike Gaubitz from the museums documentation and research center. They want to remain a museum and not develop a VR game.

The programmers deliberately refrained from using VR controllers. I only use my hands to move through the computer-generated environment. The operation should be as simple as possible, both for children and for seniors, who are already somewhat skeptical about VR headsets, says Gaubitz, whose enthusiasm for the puppet theater is plain to see.

Strictly speaking, it is not called puppet theater, but rather figure theater, I learn from little Mr. Wortelmann. Because when you hear puppets, you immediately think of childrens programs and toys. But the world of miniature theater is more diverse than the classic childhood shows. Some figures transform or are split down the middle, for example when they are fatally struck with a sword by an Italian soldier in shining knights armor.

Those who want to immerse themselves completely in the virtual tour should set aside some time. It takes a good 90 minutes if you wish to watch and listen to everything. But its worth it: little Mr. Wortelmann can tell gripping stories and, as is usually the case in museums, you learn a lot in the process. In any case, the VR experience opened up a new world of puppet theater and puppetry to me.

The Puppets 4.0 project was funded by the federal government and the city of Bochum. The plan is to introduce more people to the world of puppet theater. On the one hand, we get VR enthusiasts to perhaps engage with the topic of puppet theater for the first time, says Mareike Gaubitz, on the other hand, puppet enthusiasts come and are fascinated by the possibilities of virtual reality.

For more information and tickets, visit the official website (You can select English language in the upper right corner).

Note: Links to online stores in articles can be so-called affiliate links. If you buy through this link, MIXED receives a commission from the provider. For you the price does not change.

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VR experience Puppets 4.0 takes you into puppet theater - MIXED-news.com

Last year, when the festival was half in and half out of lockdown, the actor and playwright Tim Crouch gave a talk as part of the online SHEDx programme. His theme was the future of the Edinburgh Fringe and the possibility of making it better after the pandemic.Thinking about the festival's inordinate size, he made an analogy with industrial farming. He compared the millions of cobs of corn being harvested from the fields near where he grew up with the thousands of shows ripe for the picking in August. "The industrial scale of the Fringe now makes it difficult for delicate organic material to thrive," he said. "The deeper nutritional value is denied us by the pace of the market."

He hoped the festival would benefit from the fallow period imposed by the pandemic and would return with healthier produce. Today, though, he wonders if his optimism was not misplaced. "A lot of people are trying to will it back to how it was and it can't be how it was," says Crouch when we meet in the Royal Lyceum's rehearsal room. "If we have these last two years and don't actually change from it I worry that we haven't taken this opportunity."

His own contribution to this summer's 3,171-show harvest is a one-man play, Truth's A Dog Must To Kennel. Like so much of Crouch's work, it is as bold in concept as it is simple in execution. Take, for instance, his 2005 play An Oak Tree, in which one of the characters was played by an actor who had never seen the script. Or consider 2009's The Author, in which the actors sat among the audience as they talked about a play they had supposedly performed in.

Then there was 2019's Total Immediate Collective Imminent Terrestrial Salvation for the National Theatre of Scotland, in which the audience sat in a circle reading a book that foretold the fate of a messianic cult leader and his acolytes. "The form is as central to the play as the story," he says.

Similarly stripped-back in presentation, Truth's A Dog Must To Kennel requires Crouch to spend much of the time wearing a virtual-reality headset, a portal to action happening elsewhere. That action is taking place in an altogether grander theatre where a production of Shakespeare's King Lear is in progress.

"It's the idea of one thing inside something else this other theatre inside this theatre," he says.

Crouch is fascinated by the scene in King Lear in which Edgar pretends to take his blinded father Gloucester to the edge of a cliff. Edgar's description, and the old man's leap of faith, is like an act of theatre: it is not real but the audience implicitly agrees to believe it. "That's a piece of virtual reality without any digitalisation whatsoever," he says. "It's using a mind, words and imagination. That's where the root of theatre exists for me."

He says it is not necessary to have a knowledge of King Lear to follow Truth's A Dog Must To Kennel, but he is fascinated by the play's modern-day parallels. For some of the time, he takes on the part of the Fool, a character who departs from King Lear before the interval and misses the tragedy's bleakest moments.

"The Fool disappears from a world that is increasingly becoming unliveable," he says. "It has the potential of a civil war, the dismantling of governance all those things that feel acutely contemporary. If I write about the schism in Lear the deposing of a leader and the arrival of a lawless, ego-driven, reckless tyranny we're quite close to that now."

In the Fool's early departure from the play, he also sees a connection between all those in the performing arts industry, from actors to carpenters, who were forced to make an exit when the pandemic threatened their livelihood. "This is about leaving," he says. "It's about the last two-and-a-half years, wondering what we're doing, how we carry on, how we re-engage, how difficult everything is, where is theatre in all of this and the invasion of the digital. This play celebrates the fact that we are all together and that in each one of us sits an alternative one of us."

Tim Crouch: Truth's A Dog Must to Kennel, Royal Lyceum, Edinburgh, 628 August.

Original post:

Tim Crouch on his virtual-reality themed riff on King Lear: 'It's about the last two-and-a-half years' - The Scotsman

It was hailed as the biggest virtual reality gaming centre of its kind outside of London.

The hospice created it after looking for imaginative new ways to generate income for its care services after being hit hard during lockdown.

It also aimed to introduce more younger people to its work.

But Alice House has today (Friday, August 8) announced that NEVRlabs is to close for business on Sunday, August 14.

Despite regular custom and partnerships with schools and businesses, the hospice says the centre was unable to attract the level of income needed.

The ongoing impact of Covid and the cost of living crisis have been blamed, together with the forthcoming end of the Governments Kickstart Scheme in September which funded many of the staff.

Ray Priestman, chairman of the hospice trustees, said: Like many organisations in Hartlepool and beyond, we must invest carefully and focus on our priorities.

"As most people know, these are hard times for families, businesses and charities.

We have made the difficult decision to close NEVRlabs and move all virtual reality services back to Alice House, returning the project to its original focus of offering entertainment and wellbeing support to Hospice patients.

He added: As the economy heads towards further uncertainty, we have reviewed our commitments and this is the most financially responsible thing to do, in order to help protect the future of the Hospice, which remains our entire reason for being.

"We would like say a special thank you to all the staff at NEVRlabs for their hard work, effort and enthusiasm we wish them every success in the future and hope that they leave us with new skills and some happy memories.

Finally, thanks to everyone else that supported us throughout this journey; we hope that your warmth towards Hospice care will continue and that we will see you again soon.

Resources from the centre will either be repurposed in the hospice, based in Wells Avenue, Hartlepool, or sold.

Continued here:

Why a Hartlepool virtual reality gaming centre is to close after less than a year - Hartlepool Mail

Technology like virtual reality (VR) has taken the travel industry by storm as travel agencies, airlines, and tourism boards embrace the growing interest in virtual travel. By 2030, the global virtual tour industry is predicted to generate $6.5 billion, and similar growth patterns are happening in other industries that have adopted virtual technology, such as the real estate industry.

With virtual tourism, people from around the world can visit Spains top museums,such as the Prado Museum and the Dali Museum, in an online and immersive space.According to Head Out, virtual international visitors can also walk through Spanish cities like Barcelona using video and virtual reality to visit landmarks such as Sagrada Famlia.

Even though Spain is one of the most visited countries in the world, recording more than 80 million tourists in 2019, travel is set to change next year with ETIAS. Because of this, the countrys embrace of virtual tourism may pay dividends.

Since Spain is a country in the Schengen Area, travelers visiting from a visa-free country starting in 2023 will need to get an ETIAS to visit the country for stays of up to 90 days. Some visa-free countries, as perETIAS Visa, include Canada, the United States, and Mexico.

While the ETIAS application is quick and easy, and all you need is a valid passport and debit or credit card to pay the fees, it may be a hurdle in someones travel plans. Plus, since the ETIAS will be a new system, there could be processing issues and other problems that follow the launch of new ideas and procedures. If an international traveler cant go on their trip, there are dozens of virtual tours they can take.

Then again, Spains embrace of virtual tourism may be a sign of the times rather than a helping hand since virtual tourism has reached all corners of the world. You can tour some of the main attractions at Yellowstone National Park in the United States and go on virtual safaris in Africa on the same day. Or, you can wander freely around the gardens of the Palace of Versailles in France.

Live entertainment has become an integral part of our lives, so its no surprise to see travel, another form of entertainment, join the film and gaming industries. The gaming industry, in particular, has embraced the idea of using digital, virtual, and live technology to replicate and transport players to another place, such as traditional land-based casinos.

For example, The Hippodrome Casino in Londons Leicester Square is regarded as one of the most famous casinos in the world, built at the turn of the 20th century. Recognizing its global popularity, the land-based Hippodrome launched its digital partner,Hippodrome OnlineCasino.

This online casino platform has replicated the history and atmosphere of its land-based sibling, allowing international players to experience the closest thing to being at the London venue from their home countries.

Technology has improved our lives in many ways, and its advantages are now seeping over to the real estate and travel industries as virtual showings and tours skyrocket in popularity.

In Spain, virtual tourism may be useful when the ETIAS launches in 2023, but even then, the growing virtual tourism market is a sign of the times. We get most of our entertainment like games and movies virtually, so why not travel that way too?

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How Will Virtual Reality Help Spains Tourism Industry? - The Leader Newspaper

Have you ever heard someone say, If it weren't for tomorrow, it'd be the future today or The future is unwritten?" Well, dear readers, when it comes to the use of augmented reality (AR) technology in the events space, that future is now!

The natural fit between AR and events is something to be explored and celebrated. AR is so well suited for expos, trade shows, conferences, and festivals. Basically, anywhere large groups of people come together in a flexible space, AR can make a difference. It adds big value to event management software by providing wayfinding meta maps, engaging spatial experiences, and deep location intelligence. It is making groundbreaking new experienceswith no programming required.

A Total Package for Event Management Solutions

Event management companies of all sizes are turning to Map D and ARway, both from Nextech AR Solutions, to make their trade shows, conferences, festivals, and other events sizzle. Map D, which has long been a well-respected product for association event management, has blossomed when combined with ARway. ARway is advanced AR technology that makes creating rich experiences easier than ever.

In one recent case, Restaurants Canada (RC) used Map D and ARway to manage its event, which is one of North Americas largest hospitality industry conferences. They were able to add delicious layers of richness to the attendee experience. So how big was the team and how did they do it? Oh, just two people with a smart phone.

Just as the use of AR and other advanced technologies for events and tradeshows has evolved over the past few years, so has Map D. It was once a niche product tailored mostly to association events and tradeshows, festivals, and expos that needed an easy way to sell booths online. Now, with the development of new features needed to optimize and enhance complex contemporary events, it has matured into the total package for event management.

No Special Equipment or Expertise Required

Some of the key features in Map D that event managers are coming to depend on are attendee ticket sales, interactive floor plans; online booth sales, real-time event updates; management tools for exhibitors, sponsors, speakers, and sessions; location-based content and notifications; and (of course) the ability to easily create compelling AR experiences.

ARway is the secret sauce behind creating those experiences. Its a no-code spatial technology platform that allows anyone to tap into the creative potential of the metaverse. Creators and users alike enjoy the powerful potential of the technology. People stay engaged with AR content longer than any other type. More than a billion people use AR on a regular basis, a number that will only grow. For events, AR is a game-changer. It opens the door to so many critical capabilities - from virtual signage, to wayfinding, to location-based popup information. While its easy enough for anyone to create these experiences, custom development offers an even wider array of rich experiences and services.

Sponsored byMap DandARway

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Industry Trends: Map D and ARway Make Augmented Reality a Reality for Events - TSNN Trade Show News

Virtual reality (VR) will eventually have a place within the Metaverse, but not for the foreseeable future given its slow adoption rates, according to experts.

There isnt much that can rival the experience of having ones senses almost immersed in a virtual world which is why many believe that the technology will have a natural fit for the Metaverse.

It's a technology that Mark Zuckerbergs Meta is betting big on by introducing Meta accounts that it says will allow users to access its Meta Horizons platform more easily through Oculus VR headsets.

Founder and CEO of metaverse platform CEEK Mary Spio is also one waving the VR metaverse flag. In an interview with Cointelgraph, Spio argues that the true power of a Metaverse cannot be realized unless users are totally immersed through the use of VR devices.

Spios metaverse platform CEEK helps digital content creators, including musicians and athletes, connect directly with their fanbase in a virtual world setting.

Spio said that her platform opted for a focus on VR immersion because the benefits of the Metaverse cannot be fully realized in the non-VR mode:

However, Spio admits that their metaverse needs to allow for both VR and non-VR accessibility, as content, ease of use, and accessibility are all still required for the mass adoption of VR technology.

She believes that a quantum leap will be in the next two to three years for Metaverse and VR adoption.

Janine Yorio, CEO of metaverse ecosystem developer Everyrealm, however, disagrees.

To Yorio, Metaverse platforms and VR technology should develop exclusively of each other without mutual consideration.

By her estimation, a very small portion of Metaverse experiences are being built for VR like CEEK, noting VR making a significant change in the world likely wont happen in any meaningful horizon.

The reasons for this lie in technological obstacles and simple human preference for the most casual applications of technology:

Her view is backed by the numbers, as Statista found that the VR market size was about $4.8 billion in 2021 from only 2.4 headsets per hundred households,according to Virtual Reality Marketing. Compare that to Web2 metaverse companies that enjoy a $14.8 trillion market cap and the metaverse token market worth $7.1 billion,according to CoinGecko.

Related: The opportunities and risks of Metaverse for small businesses

Meanwhile, the creative and technical director at Human Park, Rick Pearce, took a middle-ground stance on the issue.

He told Cointelegraph in an interview that it might be five to ten years before VR becomes a Metaverse-ready item due to developer-side limitations, as well as the various hurdles to mass adoption though he admitted that VR implementation isnt off the cards.

To Pearce, the main hurdle is the headset, which he says Oculus has solved for the most part by making the device more accessible. However, connectivity and gameplay will remain a difficult challenge for least the next five years.

Pearce added that some of the limitations of integrating VR and the Metaverse may have no solution because of physical limitations that stop those things from connecting on a fundamental level:

Human Park has not yet implemented VR to its platform, but says it is a possibility for the future.

Link:

Experts clash on where virtual reality sits in the Metaverse - Cointelegraph

Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook, speaks during the virtual Facebook Connect event, where the company announced its rebranding as Meta, in New York on Oct. 28, 2021.

Michael Nagle | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Facebook parent Meta lost $2.81 billion on $452 million in revenue from its virtual reality division, Reality Labs, during the quarter ending in June as it forecast a second consecutive quarter of declining revenue on Wednesday.

The substantial sum is the latest sign that CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Meta continues to spend heavily to pivot the social media giant to developing virtual reality and augmented reality products and the so-called "metaverse."

It's a substantial but affordable expense to a company that earned $8.36 billion in operating income on $28.82 billion in total sales during the quarter.

Zuckerberg and other Meta leaders believe that virtual and augmented reality headsets will be the major next-generation computing platform and are willing to spend heavily on technologies that might be years out and prototypes that aren't ready to be released, as well as a substantial staff of technical experts, in order to compete with Apple, Google, Microsoft, and other companies eying the industry.

Meta's Quest 2 headset is currently the most popular VR headset on the market, although the overall market remains small. Meta said earlier this week it will raise the price from $299 to $399.

Meta plans to release more advanced goggles later this year that will use cameras on the front of the device to "pass through" the real world to the user inside the headset.

Meta has also spent to acquire VR companies and startups that develop core headset technologies. But the FTC sued them on Wednesday to block it from buying the maker of the popular VR app Supernatural, suggesting that any future acquisitions would face significant regulatory scrutiny.

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Meta lost $2.8 billion on its virtual reality ambitions during Q2 - CNBC

Zero Latency offers a free-roam experience that allows users to move in a large, unrestricted arena with a group of friends working together in a campaign or battling each other in virtual reality. Players wear a headset and have a controller and play the game. The arena is about 54 ft. by 27 ft. Players become immersed in the game.

You will be roaming. Youre in the game, and you feel like youre covering much more ground even than that. Theres not anything tethering you to anything else. So, you feel like youre taken away, all the way into another realm, Reamsnyder said.

Zero Latency has also developed partnerships with leading hardware and software companies to launch VR versions of industry leading games such as Far Cry.

Zero Latency offers eight different games for ages 12 and up. Games include Far Cry VR, Sol Raiders, Singularity, Engineerium, Adelaide, Undead Arena, Zombie Survival, Outbreak Origins, and Mission Maybee. Overall, the experience is about 45 minutes in length, which will include a 15-minute mission briefing and up to a 30-minute game. Pricing starts at $49 per person.

With 57 locations in 26 countries, Zero Latencys mission is to provide a new entertainment option for people who have a passion for gaming. However, you dont have to be a gamer to play. This is the 13th location in the U.S. Latency VR opened the worlds first free-roam VR entertainment venue in 2015. Another new Ohio location opened in Cleveland in March.

We were drawn to the area, and we plan to open more locations in the future, but this is our first one, said Reamsnyder.

Watch for a grand opening celebration later in Aug. Zero Latency is located at 9405 Civic Centre Blvd. in The Streets of West Chester. Hours of operation are Wed. and Thurs. from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m.; Friday 3 p.m. to 11 p.m.; Sat., 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. and Sun. 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Zero Latency is only open for private events on Mondays and Tuesdays.

Were very excited to open, and to bring this level of entertainment to the community, and watch it grow, Reamsnyder said. This is unprecedented. Theres nothing like this in the areaIts a remarkable experience.

For more information on Zero Latency, visit http://www.zerolatencyvr.com, and connect with Zero Latency Cincinnati on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and TikTok. Community members can make an advance registration on the Zero Latency reservation portal at booking.zerolatencyvr.com. Walk-ins will be accepted, if time slots are available. Zero Latency is also available for corporate events and birthday parties.

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New virtual reality experience to open in West Chester - dayton.com