After a couple years of “studying” the virtual reality possibilities for its Switch console, Nintendo is wading in with a set of build-it-yourself cardboard kits. The Nintendo Labo: VR Kit will launch on April 12 with six cardboard designs, including simple goggles, a blaster, a camera, a bird, a wind pedal, and an elephant head. The cardboard will fit around the Switch’s screen (think Google Cardboard, but more elaborate), and will have slots for the console’s “Joy-Con” controllers that will allow either button or motion controls. Nintendo hasn’t shown off any of the accompanying software yet. Nintendo launched last April. Nintendo has since sold about 1 million of those sets–not a terrible number, but not nearly on par with hit games like Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, which sold 12 million units in December alone. A VR version might be a bit easier for players to wrap their heads around (at least figuratively). The full Nintendo Labo: … [Read more...] about Nintendo gets into VR with cardboard kits for the Switch
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Gadgets: Sling TV subscription on Oculus Go is good way to dip toe in VR
SLING TV OCULUS SUBSCRIPTION $25 a month Subscription good way to dip toe in VR Sling TV recently introduced an app for Oculus Go that allows users to watch content through the VR goggles. First, the Oculus Go. To start streaming, you need one of the headsets, which start at $199. The Oculus Go is completely wireless. Charge up the internal battery, power it up and connect it to your Wi-Fi network, and you are ready to jump into VR. The Go is a stationary VR experience, meaning you can turn around and see 360 degrees, but you can’t walk around inside the VR experience. This is a limitation of the hardware. It also makes the Go a “sit-down” VR experience, with one of the best features the ability to watch videos. It takes about three hours to charge the Go, and you will get around two hours of gaming or 2.5 hours of video watching on a full charge. The Go has a built-in microphone and small speakers that work well. The sound is pretty good, but anyone else in the room … [Read more...] about Gadgets: Sling TV subscription on Oculus Go is good way to dip toe in VR
VR gets reality check with significant decline in investment
To be sure, some local VR companies have found a niche. Culver City-based Dreamscape Immersive, which has raised more than $40 million in financing, creates VR attractions in malls where people pay $20 to experience a virtual reality adventure. Participants strap on virtual reality goggles, a backpack and sensors, and then walk through a room where they experience a virtual world with their friends in a communal experience, where they might grab a real flashlight to ward off a virtual enemy. Dreamscape opened its first mall venue Dec. 14 at Westfield Century City. … [Read more...] about VR gets reality check with significant decline in investment
What you need to know about kids and VR before it reaches the classrooms
What you need to know about kids and VR before it reaches the classroomsTechnology inside the classroom is not a new idea. Even though technology progresses, the message is relevant. I came in an era of filmstrip projectors, copy machines, tape recorders, cassette players and television sets. Then VCRs, CD players, DVD players and a myriad of other tools came along. These are forms of technology that have aided teachers and enhanced instruction in the past. Today, Virtual reality (VR) is the future of education. Students will enjoy VR-enabled textbooks and virtual classrooms soon. The skepticism of VR on our kids is a concern. I dealt with the same apprehension when I first introduced my children to the internet in 1995. The decision to make technology a healthy and positive part of family life was to embrace it. I learned to educate myself about it and go hands-on with new devices, apps, social networks and services wherever accessible. A Common Sense research in 2018, titled … [Read more...] about What you need to know about kids and VR before it reaches the classrooms
VR goggles, AI wizardry dazzle stores struggling with retail 101
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By Matthew Boyle Bloomberg Emma Chandra Fri., Jan. 11, 2019 Across three floors of Manhattan’s Javits convention centre, about 37,000 retail-industry professionals will come together this weekend to “revolutionize” the shopping experience with virtual reality, artificial intelligence and facial recognition. But after this week’s series of lackluster holiday sales reports, retailers might want to ditch the VR goggles and focus instead on the stark reality that many aren’t even getting the basics right. A selloff in retail stocks Thursday showed just how much pressure companies are under to compete in a digital world, and how little margin for error they have. At Macy’s Inc., Black Friday went well, but changes to a holiday promotion backfired and the stream of shoppers coming in the doors dwindled during December. Fellow department store J.C. Penney Co. admitted that it still has too many under-performing locations and pledged … [Read more...] about VR goggles, AI wizardry dazzle stores struggling with retail 101