Tampa Bay Rays

The Tampa Bay Rays, a professional Major League Baseball team, can be added to the list of sports teams to immerse itself in the field of virtual reality. According to the Tampa Bay Times are using VR to prepare themselves for the games by watching themselves take at-bats against potential opposing pitchers during their pregame routine. By doing this, players can familiarize themselves with the the pitchers and their skills so that they can better see the movement of pitches when in real game situations. “It’s pretty awesome,” said outfielder Steven Souza Jr., one of the early adopters. “I think anytime you can see a pitcher before you actually get in there, it’s unbelievable. It’s like standing in the bullpen. And how many times do you honestly get to do that for the opposing team?” The Rays are not the only MLB team to utilize VR for preparation, just the latest. You can read the full article here.

 

Virginia Tech Football Joins the VR Party

As has been seen in multiple instances throughout this semester, virtual reality is a mechanism being used not just for real world application, but in sports for simulating game scenarios. A few weeks back I wrote about how Purdue University is implementing VR technology into their practice schedule in order to help better prepare their quarterbacks for the intensity and speed of the game.

Yesterday, ESPN published an article discussing how Virginia Tech has taken this same approach, using VR to help get its players acclimated to the game. After this past season, Frank Beamer, a VT alumni, retired following 29 years as the Hokies head coach. With the coaching change, and a younger generation entering the VT athletics program, it is interesting to see virtual reality implemented so quickly.

The Next Step: Virtual Reality Cameras

Lucid VR’s 180-degree virtual camera

The company Lucid VR has raised $2.1 Million for a 180-degree virtual reality camera. In partnering with Taiwanese manufacturing company Wistron, Lucid plans to unveil a pocket sized virtual reality camera that can take pictures in three dimensions. This technology would cost one $400, and would convert its content directly to a smartphone so one could view their 3D content in simple VR mediums such as Google Cardboard. Below is a statement made by Lucid CEO Han Jin

To read the full article, click here

“LucidCam brings people together across the world by capturing incredible immersive experiences in VR, the same way as your eyes see them, and which can be easily shared with friends and family within seconds,” said Han Jin, cofounder and CEO of Lucid VR, in a statement. “With our relationship with Wistron we will be developing a beautifully designed and engineered camera that is going to surpass our original plans. We are very excited to announce that we will be upgrading our backers with a first production version of the LucidCam with double the resolution and frame rate, in addition to extended battery capacity. The viewing experience in VR headsets will be so much smoother with 2K and 60 frames per second.”

Will Facebook be Next?

FACEBOOK AND VIRTUAL REALITY

In an article posted by Fortune.com, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg indicated that in the next 10 years, the social networking site plans to work its way into the augmented and virtual reality world. Plans involved allowing users to view 360 degree views of scenery, and not just the 2D photos that currently exist.

University of Illinois Interview

The Daily Illini, a student run publication at the University of Illinois, conducted a

Q&A with Virtual Reality expert Steven LaValle, a computer science professor at the school. Attached is a transcript of this interview, including his perspective on the potential for VR, his experiences with the Oculus Rift, and his personal goals in the field of VR:

What was your experience at Oculus like, and what input did you have in their product?

I started working for the company a few days after its Kickstarter campaign that was back in 2012. The company was a couple of months old then; there were only a handful of people.

I started working on head tracking, which was this problem in virtual reality, when you turn your head, you have to get the images to appear in the right place. If there’s some delay or latency in that, then it just doesn’t look right.

Then I got very far into perceptual psychology, because virtual reality is taking over these very basic senses that we have … and replacing the stimulus that we normally get in the real world with something artificial and engineered. There were a lot of strange side effects that needed to be understood.

SuperData Research Firm Projects Low VR Sales

RESEARCH FIRM LOWERS PROJECTIONS FOR VIRTUAL REALITY SALES

Although there are many who believe this is the beginning of the track towards VR becoming a mainstream aspect of gaming, one research firm feels otherwise. SuperData research firm has lowered their projections for upcoming Virtual Reality sales at $2.86 billion, which is 22% lower than a previous 2016 projection.

One the the main reasons for this drop may be the ability to produce the demand of equipment, while others believe that content and interest just aren’t there yet.

Japan Enters the VR World

Japanese development company Gree has created a $12 million investment fund with the purpose of funding virtual reality expenses. By 2020, virtual reality is projected to be a $30 billion industry, so it is only fitting that large investments will continue to roll in during the coming years. Gree’s investment firm covers outside VR partners as well. This shows that the phenomenon is not just Americanize, and has the capabilities to hit some of the largest markets all over the world.

 

 

Can VR relieve your pain?

CNN investigated the claim that virtual reality may be even more productive in curing pain than the standard over the counter medications used to relieve physical tension. Research showed that psychology plays a major role in the creation and disappearance of both acute and chronic pain. Credit for this pain relief can be attributed to the multi-sensory aspects of virtual reality technology.

 

Which VR is right for You?

If you are at all interested in purchasing a virtual reality device, Time Magazine published an article detailing specific traits of three popular and currently market available, and even more user specific, which technology is the right one for you.

Click the link below or above for access to the Time article:

Virtual Reality Buyer’s Guide: Oculus Rift vs. HTC Vive vs. Samsung Gear VR

NYT Virtual Reality Reviews

NEW YORK TIMES VIRTUAL REALITY REVIEW

Today, the New York Times rated and reviewed the HTC Vive and the Oculus Rift, two of the most prevalent virtual reality technologies in the industry. In describing the Vive, the times said “Similar to the Rift, the Vive — a joint development by the Taiwanese manufacturer HTC and the video game distribution company Valve — is a virtual reality headset that connects to a powerful computer.”

This article discusses what is included in each technology, the type of computer needed for operation, games available, pros and cons of each technology and more.