Category Archives: Virtual Reality

No Mor Kows for Chick-fil-A? Chick-fil-A: The kows are here to stay Amazing hilltop Virginia Highland home!

The company will make a new website live and run two commercials during the Grammy more

Chick-fil-A's cows are going high tech by donning virtual reality headsets in the first ads for the chicken chain by McCann New York.

AdAge reports that "This week, Chick-fil-A began teasing a 'Cowz VR' site and distributing thousands of free Chick-fil-A-branded cardboard viewers." The company will make the website live and run two commercials during the Grammy Awards, AdAge reports in a Feb. 10 story. Read the full story here.

The company will make a new website live and run two commercials during the Grammy more

The ads are the first produced for Chick-fil-A by McCann New York, which won Chick-fil-A's ad business last year.

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Chick-fil-A cows will dive into virtual reality in new ads - Atlanta Business Chronicle

Today is Sunday. Speaking of Sundays, the most famous work by the French post-impressionist, Georges Seurat is titledA Sunday on La Grande Jatte.I am the king of segues.

Completed in 1884, this oil on canvas work is best known to the art world as a prime example of the post-industrial frieze and amasterclass in fine brushwork. Most of us, however, know it because of this guy:

The world of high-art was introduced to an entire generation of young people in the 1986 film Ferris Buellers Day Off. A film about one vice principles noble quest to do his job despite the selfish actions of a charismatic truant.

Seurats masterpiece is being used once again to bring culture to the masses. This time, however,were swapping the emotionally confused adolescent for the immersive powerof virtual reality.

VR artist George Peaslee recreatedA Sunday on La Grande Jatte usingGoogles 3D creation platformTilt Brush. In Tilt Brush, users can draw, sculpt, colorusing special hand controllers and a VR headset. You can see the results below along with other notable VR art projects. Feel free tointeract with these creations as well usingthe 3D image hosting capabilities of Sketchab.

VRart is on the rise and, as you can see from the works above, artists are beginning to find their own styles, forge their own voices and bring emotion to theirdigital masterpieces. We cant wait to see what they do next.

Tagged with: art, masterpiece, painting, recreation, sunday on la grande, tilt brush

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See This Famous Masterpiece Recreated in Virtual Reality - UploadVR

Monday, February 13, 2017 5:27 AM UTC

Later this week, Google announced that they have added WebVR to the web browser Chrome.

The announcement read as follows, Virtual reality (VR) lets you tour the Turkish palace featured in Die Another Day, learn about life in a Syrian refugee camp firsthand, and walk through your dream home right from your living room. With the latest version of Chrome, were bringing VR to the webmaking it as easy to step inside Air Force One as it is to access your favorite webpage.

Toms Hardware said this type of virtual reality support help push ongoing commercial efforts. The site said, The ability to visit a web page and immediately start poking around VR content--even if it's not as immersive as a dedicated VR headset would be--could help people better understand why VR can be so exciting.

According to Forbes, this support now allows any device to their web browser into a virtual reality platform. Simply go on a WebVR-enabled site via Chrome and then navigate using a mouse for your laptop or desktop, or your fingers on your mobile device.If you have a DayDream-ready phone or a DayDream headset, you can have a full virtual reality experience using WebVR.

Google says users can expect more headsets to handle the virtual reality-enabled websites, including the most popular Google wearable, the Google Cardboard. Techradar reports that in the meantime, there are several virtual reality-enabled websites that uses can now access. Theres Bear71, which is an interactive documentary about animals and technology, Matterport, a virtual tour of luxury homes and historic locations, Within, a compilation of VR films and documentaries, SketchFab, which features artist-made 3D scenes, and Web VR Lab, an explorable 3D area with interactive objects.

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Google Chrome Now Allows Users To Experience Virtual Reality Via WebVR - EconoTimes

When it comes to virtual reality (VR), the technology most frequently arises in discussions surrounding gaming and entertainment. But one of the hottest technologies of the last several years may ultimately find that the enterprise market is the one that provides it with its killer app.

While much of the interest in VR last year came from gamers, this year enterprise apps may take the lead in the market, according to analysts. In fact, the fastest growth area for VR is in non-gaming sectors.

Training and Education

Perhaps one of the most obvious non-gaming applications for VR technology lies in the design space, since VR's 3D interface can allow designers to manipulate objects in every dimension. Architects are already using the technology to help design buildings and interiors. VR may also hold significant promise for prototyping, as it is able to fully render 3D objects.

Education and training are two other areas that are expected to be heavily impacted by VR technology in years to come. HTCs virtual reality headset Vive (pictured above), which was co-developed with gaming platform Valve, is being used to help train new firefighters by providing more realistic simulated environments where they can practice their skills.

The same sort of approach could be applied to other fields that require extensive training but for which creating realistic simulations is difficult. Police and military training facilities spend a lot of money building real-world simulated environments to provide trainees with experiences that are as close to reality as possible. Switching to VR-hosted simulations could make training much cheaper, while also making it more accessible.

Virtual Keyboards

Facebook, meanwhile, is looking at ways that its VR technology can be applied throughout the enterprise market, rather than just for training new employees. Through its Oculus Rift VR subsidiary, Facebook is developing accessories that could allow workers to apply VR technology to their existing workflows.

For example, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg recently demonstrated a new set of glove controllers for the Oculus Rift platform that could potentially allow users to manipulate virtual keyboards to type, eliminating the need for laptops to conform to the keyboard form factor.

The ability to type in virtual reality could be a significant boon for people who spend much of their days in front of their monitors. According to reports, engineers within Facebook are already experimenting with using the gloves to make programmers more productive. In theory, coders would be able to display their codes on virtual monitors of any size, allowing them to work with much more code at once.

Oculus Rift's new gloves may also provide haptic feedback, which could open up entirely new fields of applications for the technology. By allowing users to input information using gestures and hand movements, VR technology could open up telecommuting work to entirely new jobs. Surgeons, for example, could perform operations on patient hundreds of miles away.

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Virtual Reality's New Horizons: Enterprise Apps and Gloves for Typing - NewsFactor Network

WFMY 11:12 PM. EST February 12, 2017

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. -- When you think of UNC School of the Arts, you might think of the Oscar, Tony and EMMY award-winning students who studied there. Or maybe it's that the Schools of Dance, Film and Drama rank as some of the best in the country. Now, the university has a new act taking center stage virtual reality.

"We will be the pioneers in this technology."

Chancellor Lindsay Bierman calls their curriculum groundbreaking and says virtual reality is one of the most rapidly exploding industries in the world.

"Like the early days of the digital revolution, I think it's impossible to predict the impact that it will have globally," said Chancellor Bierman.

In December, Chancellor Bierman announced a $10 million gift that will establish the school's Institute for Performance Innovation.

"This will be a forward leaning laboratory for our students to really develop the next generation of virtual reality and augmented reality," said Chancellor Bierman. "This is going to radically transform the way we consume media."

"I just wanted to jump us in quickly."

Susan Ruskin, Dean of the School of Filmmaking, is the director in the immersive world of virtual reality. She challenges the students to think outside of the silver screen.

"How does the audience which is actually a person in a headset, see the movie that you are making and how can we tell stories in that space?"

It's not just about entertainment. Dean Ruskin says the future of virtual reality is limitless.

"If you think about psychology, to help people with phobias, they can confront some of the things they are afraid if," said Dean Ruskin.

She added, "You can build a CG heart and have it right in front of you while you're listening to the lecturer and he can be breaking down the aspects of the heart, and you can go to the aorta and you can travel through it."

Dean Ruskin says virtual reality can transport you to another place while still sitting in your living room.

"That's amazingly evocative. And you can emotionally be really connected even when you are not physically present," said Dean Ruskin.

It's that connection that first attracted junior Trent Spivey. He was a student in the school's first virtual reality class.

"The most exciting thing for me is that by immersing people in places that they can't otherwise go, it builds empathy, a more informed society," said Trent Spivey, student, UNC-School of the Arts.

Spivey is studying cinematography and knows virtual reality will likely be a big part of his future.

"It's a bigger jump than when cinema went to sound. I mean we really don't have a precedent for what's about to happen," said Spivey.

UNCSA is one of only 11 schools in the country chosen for the Oculus NextGen inaugural program. The partnership provides guest lecturers, hardware and exposure to the virutal reality industry.

UNCSA is planning to offer a joint master's degree in engineering and virutal reality within the next few years.

( 2017 WFMY)

WFMY

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UNC-School of The Arts: 'Pioneers in Virtual Reality' - WFMYNews2.com

Outside of trade shows, there is limited consumer interest in VR, according to Windsor. Among several reasons for the pushback on VR devices, foremost among is cost, he said. VR headsets can run several hundreds of dollars, they also require an expensive personal computer to function.

The devices tend to be large, clunky and uncomfortable to wear," Windsor wrote, and "in many cases they also make the user feel foolish when wearing one.

VR in cuts the user off from almost all sensory inputs from his immediate environment severely limiting the situations in which the user would feel comfortable using one, Windsor said. Several VR devices also require an HDMI cable, which prevents the user from moving freely and increases the risk of a fall.

Windsor pointed out that many users describe feelings of nausea associated with VRs imperfect replication of the real world compared to what the brain is expecting.

In some stores entire days have gone by without a single demo being given, Windsor said of Oculus. Best Buy will continue to range the Oculus Rift but the real estate given up will be re-used for products that produce better sales per square foot.

While VR may have a limited future with consumers, Windsor believes that augmented reality (AR) holds massive appeal for enterprise customers. Unlike virtual reality, which is total immersion in a computer generated world, AR is the blending of virtual reality and the real world, allowing users to add virtual overlays to glasses conjuring about something like the visuals in the sci-fi movies Minority Report or Iron Man.

Augmented reality has uses in areas like e-commerce, browsing, streaming, advertising, consumer apps, games and theme park rides. Companies to watch in the space include ODG, Microsoft HoloLens, Meta, Atheer Labs and Magic Leap, according to Windsors report.

The AR user experience is still miles from where it needs to be but critically it does offer productivity improvements that have led to many companies trialling it particularly for employees in the field, Windsor wrote. Hence AR in the enterprise should see both unit shipment growth as well as good growth in revenues from software and services in 2017.

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Why this analyst is warning investors to steer clear of virtual reality in 2017 - L.A. Biz

Forbes

'JAEPO 2017' Shows That Japanese Arcade Gaming Is Beginning To Incorporate Virtual Reality Forbes One of the more interesting developments in the arcade gaming scene in Japan is how publishers have started to experiment with virtual reality, or VR, for new games. The latest JAEPO in Tokyo has shown that this experimentation phase is over, as arcade ... and more »

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'JAEPO 2017' Shows That Japanese Arcade Gaming Is Beginning To Incorporate Virtual Reality - Forbes

Wichita Eagle

Wichita-created virtual reality can re-create crime scenes Wichita Eagle They introduced him to what they say is the biggest virtual reality cave in the world. It is 39 feet long, big enough to hold the interior of a virtual business jet. Klamm's mind started racing about how he could use the cave with crime scene scans ... and more »

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Wichita-created virtual reality can re-create crime scenes - Wichita Eagle

Opening night red carpet gala

When: 8 p.m. March 2

Where: Boulder Theater, 2032 14th St.

Cost: $50, free for passholders

Pre-party: 5:30-7:30 p.m.at Hotel Boulderado and Rembrandt Yard

Screening: "Their Finest" (2016, United Kingdom, 116 minutes), a rousing romantic comedy following a female screenwriter during World War II, starring Gemma Arterton, Sam Clatlin and Bill Nighy.

Closing night

When: 7:30 p.m. March 5

Where: Boulder Theater, 2032 14th St.

Cost: $30, free for passholders

Screening: "Chasing Coral" (2017, Boulder 93 minutes), fresh from winning an audience award at Sundance, BIFF's closing night film follows a team of divers, photographers and scientists on an ocean adventure to discover why coral reefs are vanishing around the world. Directed by Boulder's Jeff Orlowski; produced by Longmont's Larissa Rhodes

More information at biff1.com

A truck delivering the Boulder International Film Festival's programs may have severed the power to the festival's office on Friday, but co-founder and director Kathy Beeck's excitement in sharing the 2017 lineup and details for the March festival far outweighed her tinge of concern.

New this year, BIFF will expand its boundaries beyond the real world with its Virtual Reality Pavilion.

"It is going to be pretty cool," Beeck said. "We'll have eight virtual reality films screening at Galvanize, and we'll have a whole variety of different headsets from very high tech to cardboard ones."

Boulder technical school and co-working space Galvanize, 1023 Walnut St., will be one venue the festival will utilize for its programming. Over the long weekend, films will be screened at various spots in Boulder and Longmont.

The Virtual Reality Pavilion will be free and open to the public March 3 and 4, and will have Google's Nicholas Whitaker on hand to moderate a few of the talks, Beeck said.

"Swing by, put on a headset and learn about the future of storytelling," Beeck said.

BIFF will screen 58 films, three of which are Sundance Film Festival award-winning films and four are nominated for Academy Awards. And 23 of these films were directed by females, Beeck said. The popular shorts programs, which Beeck said are always the first to sell out, expanded to include four different programs this year.

"We are so excited about this year's program," said BIFF executive director Robin Beeck, Kathy's sister, in a news release. "This is a stellar lineup with award-winning films from the world's greatest directors and from fresh, new filmmakers just hitting the scene. We're thrilled to be able to present a feast of the best films today."

Robin and Kathy Beeck, the two sisters who run and founded the Boulder International Film Festival. (Courtesy photo)

Kathy Beeck said there will be eight Colorado films screened and she realized during the interview that all eight of those local filmmakers are from Boulder.

"That just tells us something about how much is happening in film in Boulder," Kathy Beeck said. "We are so proud of the major filmmakers in this town."

Among Boulder highlights is the closing night film "Chasing Coral," a documentary produced by a local company that just won the Audience Award for best U.S. documentary at Sundance.

Boulder filmmaker Jeff Orlowski and Longmont producer Larissa Rhodes, the team behind "Chasing Coral," also produced "Chasing Ice," the 2012 Emmy award-winning documentary on climate change.

"Chasing Coral" explores the danger the world's coral reefs face amid global warming. A local team of filmmakers (with many University of Colorado graduates, Rhodes said in an interview last month) from Boulder's Exposure Labs created the documentary.

Kathy Beeck said festival-goers can also see "Chasing Coral, the Virtual Reality Experience" premiere at Galvanize.

Other highlights:

"Maurizio Cattelan: Be Right Back," (4:30 p.m. March 3) produced by Boulderite Maura Axelrod, about contemporary pop artist Maurizio Cattelan, which Kathy Beeck said is "a fabulous movie, really well done."

"Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked the World" (7 p.m. March 3), is a film about the role of Native Americans and indigenous influence in popular music history. "It goes back into history in the film, and it's so stunning to realize that Jimi Hendrix and Robbie Robertson (The Band) have Native American heritage," Beeck said. "Tony Bennett is in the film talking about his early influences."

Cinechef 2017 (5-7 p.m. March 3) at Rembrandt Yard Art Gallery and Event Center, 1301 Spruce St., is in its third year as a part of BIFF and will feature eight of the best chefs in town, Kathy Beeck said. "It's a foodie event that highlights the spectacular food scene in Boulder while we highlight Boulder filmmakers," she said. "I'm loving this event."

The festival runs March 2 through 5 and tickets are on sale at biff1.com.

Christy Fantz: 303-473-1107, fantz@dailycamera.com or twitter.com/fantzypants

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Boulder International Film Festival diving into virtual reality with 2017 slate - Boulder Daily Camera

Sun-News Reports , . 10:29 p.m. MT Feb. 10, 2017

Dona Ana Community College virtual reality faculty and students unpack virtual reality equipment from VR First(Photo: Stephen Osborne)

LAS CRUCES This spring DACC students will take a space flight and learn aerospace fundamentals in a Virtual Reality environment.

Doa Ana Community College and Aerospace innovators Virgin Galactic have announced an exciting collaborative education and outreach research project. The core idea will be to work and learn together, exploring the newest technologies and possible uses of VR in research, education, business, and career technical education.

Our students and instructors are pleased and honored to work with Virgin Galactic on this exciting initiative, said Matt Byrnes, DACC Creative Media Technology Director. Thanks to Dr. Kevin Boberg, Vice President of Economic Development for the New Mexico State University Arrowhead Business and Research Park and Wayne Savage of Arrowhead Center for helping this collaboration take place.

The program will start with a VR simulation that explains core concepts of aerospace fundamentals and gives students, particularly at the Las Cruces Public Schools Challenger Center, an immersive virtual spaceflight experience.

Many people are familiar with the term virtual reality but are unsure about the uses of this technology, Byrnes said. Gaming is an obvious virtual reality application, but there are many different uses, some you might expect and others not so much.

Irrespective of the use, virtual reality produces a set of data which could then be used to develop new models, training methods, communication and interaction, said Mark Butler of Virgin Galactic. In many ways the possibilities are endless.

In September, 2016 DACC became one of only 24 VR First partner institutions worldwide, sponsored by the German game engine development firm Crytek and was awarded several thousand dollars of the newest hardware and software giving DACC students access to the latest VR development tools.

According to Byrnes, This kind of collaboration between the private and public sectors and between technology companies and the creative media arts is central to efforts to develop the larger Creative Campus efforts at Arrowhead Park and build a larger toolset to positively impact not only Aerospace but Healthcare, Agricultural Technology and other industries growing in our community.

Read or Share this story: http://lcsun.co/2kvUDYA

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DACC & Virgin Galactic team up to explore virtual reality - Las Cruces Sun-News