08 Freshers Week - HTC Vive and Nosulus

I attended the Liverpool Freshers Week and found one of the cubicles was to promote computers and gaming and offered students a chance to win computer towers. They were also showcasing a VR shooting game using the HTC Vive and motion sensor handheld controls. This was probably more to promote the headset rather than the game since they didn't mention the title of the game. I was intending to try it out myself, however the man ahead of me was quite the dedicated gamer and I didn't have the time to wait for him to defeat all waves of enemies or to finally get a "game over".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G1nCSPsrK04

http://nosulusrift.ubisoft.com/?lang=en-GB#!/subscribe

http://www.techtimes.com/articles/174579/20160822/forget-oculus-rift-meet-nosulus-rift-this-wearable-tech-will-let-you-smell-fart-in-new-south-park-game.htm

I've also found a few days ago that a device called Nosulus Rift has been developed through watching youtuber Pewdiepie's video where he's been given exclusive access to play the upcoming South Park: Fractured But Whole role-playing game. The Nosulus Rift is of course a play on the name of "Oculus Rift", as the name suggests this device enabled wearers to smell smells to match whatever smell is introduced in the game. In this case, South Park's RPGs use the power of flatulence as attack moves, and since you can't progress in the game without having to encounter enemies to battle or to access certain areas using farts the player will have to endure the smell provided. The Nosulus Rift does provide a step up to the game's humorous element compared to the first game though and there has been many positive feedback on its immersiveness.

The Nosulus Rift is essentially a form of smellivision for gaming, however this particular version seems to be only for this particular game, but it won't be long before game developers come out with games all to do with the sense of smell.

07 Madame Tussauds and Experiencing the Marvel Super Heroes 4D Film

Captain America

Iron Man

4D Cinema Screen

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marvel_Super_Heroes_4D

While on holiday to New York with my family we went on a number of tours, within New York and others outside of the city. The tour within New York included visiting Madame Tussauds, the popular tourist attraction wax museum with a number of branches in major cities around the world. The museum has a Marvel section where wax figures of Marvel's characters were on display, towards the end of this was a showing of Marvel Super Heroes 4D. The New York version of this 4D film has a different plot to the one showing at London; Dr Doom and Loki attack Stark Industries, Iron Man, Spider Man, Hulk, Thor and Captain America unite as the Avengers to stop Dr Doom and Loki's army of robots.

The 4D aspect of the film consisted a pair of 4D glasses, the interactive aspects were light sprays water, gushing wind, things beneath the seats that tapped the sides of viewers' feet, and seats with a hidden contraption to poke the back of viewers to match the actions of the characters in the movie.

Having experienced this 4D film first hand I'm confident in saying that personally, the 4D effects using water, wind, and poking was actually more distracting than immersing. On top of the water and wind being uncomfortably cold and the glasses not doing any significant effect when worn, I was also always aware that the cinema and the setting within the film were very different; Stark Industries was CGI and brightly lit whereas I was sitting was in a very dark room. It was probably the combination of cold and dark that made me feel more detached from the film.

Despite not being immersed in this film it doesn't mean that other 4D films will give me the same reaction nor does my own response apply to any other person. But for now, until I come across another 4D film, I will say that 4D might need some development in order to fully immerse their viewers.

The Hulk

The wax models themselves were crafted very accurately to the point that I found them eerily believable as flesh and bone beings (the human ones at least). There was a particular model sitting on a bench and my mother's friend genuinely thought it was a woman taking a rest. Whether it was the manager of NY's Madam Tussauds museum or personal decision, a person working in the museum took advantage of believable models by standing at the entrance of the Ghostbusters section in a mid-greet pose, and after tourists stand up close to his face he would surprise them with a "Boo!"

Ghostbuster's Slimer ghost

The room itself displayed a hologram of Slimer menacingly flying around and laughing behind a glass wall. To the side of the glass wall was a table with a red button and pressing the button would activate the Ghost Trap beneath Slimer, the hologram appears to get sucked into the trap and is gone for a while. The hologram itself was the first I'd seen in person and I wasn't sure if the hologram was projected to a clear wall, but the effect did as it intended.

06 Reading Materials

https://www.ted.com/talks/clay_shirky_how_cognitive_surplus_will_change_the_world?language=en

For reading material on the subject of technological advancement I found "Cognitive Surplus: Creativity and Generosity in a Connected Age by Clay Shirky". This book explains how we as a society are capable to help one another through the wonders of technology and that we now use our free time not for pleasure but to create and share.

https://www.ted.com/talks/ray_kurzweil_on_how_technology_will_transform_us?language=en

Ray Kurzweil believes that with the exponential progress with technology we will soon be able to reach nanobot tech as well as increasing the life of humans. Towards the end of his TED Talk he shares the idea of being able to experience virtual reality using nanobot technology:

"...full-immersion virtual reality from within the nervous system, the nano-bots shut down the signals coming from your real senses, replace them with the signals that your brain would be receiving if you were in the virtual environment, and then it'll feel like you're in that virtual environment. You can go there with other people, have any kind of experience with anyone involving all of the senses."

05 Summer Research: 02

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GmdXJy_IdNw

https://www.magicleap.com/#/home

http://www.techinsider.io/magic-leap-raises-793-million-2016-2

Magic Leap is a secretive startup who are developing what the CEO refers to as a "Mixed Reality" device. His objective is to create images in the real world seem realistic by using a mix of AR and VR. Using a chip with specific patterns inside it supposedly then tricks the brain into believing the images put before the user are real. Many responses seem to compare this to Microsoft's Hololens, however we've yet to see what exactly Magic Leap will bring forward physically for this project.

http://www.pokemongo.com/en-uk/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pok%C3%A9mon_Go

US software development company Niantic partnered up with Nintendo to produce a free-to-play AR game for iOS, Android and Apple Watch devices. It was announced on September 2015 that Niantic were developing an app with Nintendo and The Pokemon Company. With over 500 million downloads all over the world, Pokemon GO made it as one of the most used and profitable gaming app of 2016. It's praised points is its location-based AR gaming, physical activity and promoting local businesses.

05 Summer Research: 01

http://www.drawandcode.com/tag/software-development/

Based in Liverpool, this studio consists of innovative artists, programmers and designers who work together to produce engaging art using emerging technologies. This team were behind the Marks and Spencer projection mapping and the city-wide augmented reality treasure hunt in Liverpool 2014 during the Christmas holiday.

http://store.steampowered.com/app/447270/

IKEA has joined many other companies in using VR technology to promote their products. Using the digital distribution platform Steam IKEA have made a VR experience within the kitchen allowing players to design, alter and interact with a premade kitchen. The VR support is the HTC Vive, using motion-tracking controllers and a room scale play area, the player is able to walk around the kitchen as well as change the height of the in-game character to view the room from different perspectives. Reviews for this interactive game on Steam however seem to delivery few legitimate

https://cospaces.io/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LUsZS4D13kg

Delightex is a startup based in Munich and CoSpaces is the main project they currently are working on. CoSpaces is a free online platform where you can create a 3D space and using a library of objects and characters you can make your own virtual world. Using your smartphone you can experience your creations in VR. Support for the Oculus, Gear VR and HTC Vive are in development.

04 Virtual Reality head-mounted displays of 2016

The Oculus Rift was the first consumer-targeted VR head-mounted display (HMD) which started as a Kickstarter back in August of 2012. The Oculus has been through 5 iterations and finally the consumer version is ready to be shipped, first batch was being shipped on the 25th March this year.
Compared to it's original version where the wearer was limited to rotating their head and to remain seated while using either a console controller or keyboard, the newest version now has infrared (IR) sensors which allow the wearer to be able to move within the virtual world within the confines of the room they're using the HMD in. There are also optional Oculus Touch controllers allowing wearers to also interact with objects in the virtual world.

The HTC Vive is one of the competitors of the Oculus Rift which also integrates IR sensors and motion-tracked handheld controllers. Pre-orders for this HMD started on the 29th February and I'm currently subscribed to a Youtuber (Jacksepticeye) who has this device currently and has already played a variety of VR games. The HTC Vive was developed by HTC and Valve company.

The third competitor in VR HMDs this year is the PlayStation VR. Sony's interest in head-mounted technology dates back in the 1990's, in 1997 the Glasstron was in the US markets. It had 2 LCD screens and 2 earphones for video and audio was the first. So in a sense, this HMD is its successor. The PlayStation VR has 9 positional LEDs on its surface so the PlayStation camera can capture the 360 head movements. In some events, this HMD will require the PlayStation Move controllers.  Its official release will be October this year.

03 Coca-Cola 12 pack VR viewer

Youtube video on how to make the viewers: http://bit.ly/1QHiNLF

Coca-Cola have also decided to advertise themselves through their 12 pack cardboard packaging, though unlike the McDonalds' Happy Goggles, this process requires a cutting tool and some tape to keep it together.