WebVR pioneers look to turn Supermedium into the home for fresh and diverse VR experiences.

The creators of VR web framework ‘A-Frame have launched a new fully VR browser called Supermedium. The team behind the product have lots of experience in Web-based VR as they were part of the original Mozilla team behind the WebVR initiative. Now the team is part of the Y Combinator Winter batch with a goal of breathing freshness and diversity into the VR content ecosystem.

The beauty of web-based VR is that content loads fast and has an easier barrier to entry. This allows for quicker experiences for the user and more experimentation opportunities for creators.  A VR Gif, a low fidelity game, a VR journalism page dedicated to Cats And VR, the possibilities are endless. If you want to spend 2 or 20 minutes on those experiences you don't have to worry about installing an app since you can travel just like you would the classic web. 

To start the team is featuring a few dozen curated VR sites. Traditional URL input will be supported later on as more VR sites appear and also adhere to best practices for WebVR. The platform also currently supports both Oculus Rift and HTC Vive headsets.

We witnessed first-hand how slow the Web was to react to the rise of
smartphones and app store ecosystems. We're not going to let that happen again
with VR. We want to ensure the Web is a first-class citizen for VR and for
immersive platforms going forward. For the next big personal computing shifts,
we think we're right on time. - Kevin Ngo, Diego Marcos, Diego Goberna

https://www.supermedium.com/

BestMeta, the world’s first Blockchain based ecosystem for esports talent, launches today

BestMeta, the first cryptocurrency based platform designed for the esports community, is revealed today. BestMeta aims to give the freedom of creative control back to the talent by providing esports personalities, shoutcasters and professional gamers with an unrestricted platform to connect with fans. The pioneering ecosystem offers a sustainable and transparent network for talent and consumers by utilising the power of Blockchain.

BestMeta was born from a passion for esports and a desire to address the issues which threaten to limit the industry. Led by esports superstar TobiWan, the legendary Dota 2 shoutcaster with more than a decade of experience throughout the esports scene, this is a brand that understands esports and its community. Esports is the fastest growing digital industry in the world today, with over 385 million people watching esports events throughout 2016. For talent, including shoutcasters and professional gamers, though, it can be a different story as there is currently no control for the esports community and no transparency for donation and spending within the industry. Content creation for talent can be restricted by industry giants and sponsors, and the talent themselves have little to no financial independence, or the wiggle room to create their own content outside of stifling sponsorship guidelines.Meaning no sustainable income for talent and no rewards or incentives for fans.  

By creating the BestMeta platform, its founders believe they can provide a sustainable ecosystem for esports talents, providing an opportunity open to all talent to create content and the all-important esports community who can be rewarded through BestMeta Tokens. Through the platform’s token system, BestMeta aims to create a streamlined ecosystem where the talent and the fans are seamlessly connected. The platform gives full control back to talent, allowing them to create content how they want, when they want, whilst also allowing the esports community to benefit through their support. BestMeta utilises Blockchain technology which offers complete transparency and full accountability with all spending and donations between content creators and fans. BestMeta tokens can be purchased by the esports community allowing them to exchange funds for interaction with their favourite talents. A little like collecting your favourite sports cards only you actually get something back in return.

“Utilising Blockchain technology, we harness the power of mass community passion into a trusted, accountable and sustainable esports ecosystem”, says Amy Yu, Managing Director of BestMeta. “BestMeta is the first of its kind to be developed exclusively to support esports talent, born out of a passion to help content creators reach their true and fullest potential.”

Talent can launch their own personalised tokens representative of their brand value, the community is then able to purchase these talent tokens to financially support their favourite esports personalities. As the talents grow in popularity, they will generate greater support, adding to their brand value and rewarding fans for their loyalty and creating a system where the talents and the fans are constantly giving back to each other.

BestMeta’s system of constant cyclical support not only enables the esports talents to earn a regular sustainable income, it offers pay for entry into competitions, opens up funding to explore creative freedoms, and constantly gives back to the fans that are supporting them on their journey. For the community, alongside the value of their BestMeta tokens constantly increasing as their talents grow in popularity, the talent tokens completely break down the barriers between the talent and the fans, offering up unique collaborative opportunities and the option to interact with and support their favourite esports personalities.

“The esports community is one of the strongest in the world and we want to empower that community to achieve great things”, states BestMeta’s Esports Director, Toby ‘TobiWan’ Dawson. “Through BestMeta, we will enable talent the power to build their brand the way they want, their only limit will be their imagination.”

To coincide with the launch, BestMeta will also be producing a brand new 4 episode show called Well Played. Presented by TobiWan, Well Played is the first of its kind to bring together a host of esports pros, content creators, cosplayers, casters and streamers including SirActionSlacks, PyrionFlax, SingSing, Cyanide and OD Pixel for a fun, light hearted, comedy Never Mind the Buzzcocks-style panel show with a mini game storyline. Filmed in partnership with the Department of Theatre, Film and Television at the University of York, Well Played aims to bring the esports community together as an inspirational example to content creators of what they can achieve with their own brand through the BestMeta platform, and what the community can expect to see through the token purchases of their favourite talent. The first episode of Well Played will air at 8pm (GMT), Wednesday 24th January on the BestMeta YouTube channel. 

The BestMeta token pre-sale goes live on 15th February, giving the opportunity for talent and the community to snap up BMT at exclusively discounted prices.

https://www.bestmeta.gg/

One of the best VR titles of 2017, Arizona Sunshine is getting a LBVR spin-off

Vertigo Games has announced the he hit VR shooter Arizona Sunshine is coming to location-based VR (LBVR) with a spin-off version currently in development for VR arcades exclusively.

Arizona Sunshine for LBVR is playable this week at the HTC VIVE Expo at the Wynn’s Alsace Ballroom at CES 2018. Bringing together up to 4 VIVE users in the same physical play space, Arizona Sunshine for LBVR uses the power of real-world movement to bring unrivaled immersion to the virtual zombie apocalypse.

“Arizona Sunshine has consistently topped the list of most played games at VR arcades,” says Richard Stitselaar, Managing Director at Vertigo Games. “We strongly believe Arizona Sunshine will again be a must-play in this new, exciting LBVR space. Who doesn’t want to brave the zombie apocalypse alongside their friends in an even more immersive experience than home VR offers?”

“Vertigo’s forward-looking approach to the arcade business and implementing technology such as the Vive Tracker, have pushed the expectations for VR title forward,” said Daniel O’Brien, GM US, Vive. “We’re excited for this unveil to showcase all that’s possible on Vive.”

Recently unveiled as a Best of Virtual Reality 2017 title on Steam, Arizona Sunshine puts you in the midst of a zombie apocalypse – solo or with up to four survivors. Handle weapons with real-life movements, freely explore a post-apocalyptic world and put your survival skills to the test in VR. Putting the undead back to rest is more thrilling than ever before.

HTC VIVE enters CES2018 with new VIVE PRO Upgrade, Wireless VIVE Adaptor, and major upgrade to Viveport

Heading into CES2018 HTC VIVE announced the introduction of Vive Pro and Vive Wireless Adaptor.

In addition, the company debuted new improvements to Viveport VR and Vive Video. These improvements promise on VR   users higher resolution, improved audio, greater comfort, wireless freedom and immersive content discovery.

Vive Pro is a new HMD upgrade from Vive, built for VR enthusiasts and enterprise users who want the best display and audio for their VR experiences. Vive Pro includes dual-OLED displays for a crisp picture resolution of 2880 x 1600 combined, a 78% increase in resolution over the current Vive HMD.

“There’s a clear need in the VR market for a premium VR experience with high resolution display, integrated audio and the best components available today in a headset,” said Daniel O’Brien, GM U.S., VIVE. “Vive Pro offers an immediate upgrade for both VR enthusiasts and enterprises that want to utilize the best VR experience.”

More details on Vive Pro availability and price will be made available soon.

Vive Wireless Adaptor

Also unveiled today, the Vive Wireless Adaptor will be the first to market with a truly wireless VR headset integration for both Vive and Vive Pro.

The Vive Wireless Adaptor features Intel’s WiGig technology and offers a premium VR wireless experience that operates in the interference-free 60Ghz band, which means lower latency and better performance. The Vive Wireless Adaptor will ship in Q3 to customers worldwide. 

“Wireless VR has been on nearly every VR user’s wishlist since the technology was unveiled,” said Frank Soqui, General Manager Virtual Reality Group at Intel Corporation. “By collaborating with HTC to commercialize Intel’s WiGig technology, we will guarantee that wireless VR meets the most discerning quality bar for home users and business VR customers.”

“Viveport is moving to a VR first experience model, and with the all-new Viveport VR, we are changing the way consumers discover, experience and acquire VR content,” said Rikard Steiber, president, Viveport.  “Until now, there has not been a shopping and browsing experience that takes advantage of the full functionality of VR. Available in early access today, Viveport VR increases interaction with content and offers developers a preview that showcases the quality of their titles and experiences.”

Earlier this year, Viveport launched the world’s first VR subscription service to provide a whole new way to access the best VR experiences for a great price. With more than 1,000 titles available on Viveport today, and more than 325 available for subscription, Vive is changing the way users browse and discover content through Viveport VR.

Via Vive Blog

Cat dating sim, Purrfect Date set to hit Steam and your cat loving hearts December 15th.

Drawing inspiration from the dating sim genre (Dream Daddy, Hatoful Boyfriend) and the overall unique world of indie games (Undertale, Pony Island), Purrfect Date is a cross between a visual novel, dating sim, and dark British comedy. You, a human, will get to date cats and uncover the secrets of the mysterious Cat Island.

The trailer says this is about love and not bestiality so I am pretty sure it is going to be a fun light-hearted ode to cat friendship. 

Throughout the game’s seven chapters, you’ll adopt the roles of multiple freshly employed research assistants on an island almost entirely populated by cats. Choose your own adventure as you romance talking cats, balance your stats and carry out your research into the dark and questionable history of the Island.

Developed by Bae Team, a duo of Oliver Hindle (aka YouTube’s Oliver Age 24) and Ruby-Mae Roberts, Purrfect Date’s origins are explained in the game’s new release date trailer.

Published by Bossa Studios (I Am Bread, Surgeon Simulator), Purrfect Date mixes dark British comedy influences with (decidedly furry) dating sim mechanics. Throughout the game, the player adopts the role of several freshly employed research assistants on an island almost entirely populated by cats, on a mission to uncover the location’s shady history.

Get ready for hijinks and hairballs by adding Purrfect Date to your Steam wishlist here. For more information, follow the game on YouTube, Twitter,  Facebook and Instagram.

Virtual reality haptics startup Contact CI announces equity crowdfunding campaign with SeedInvest

Cincinnati based startup Contact CI ,has announced that they have partnered with the equity crowdfunding online platform SeedInvest to help grow their vision of haptics and spatial computing. SeedInvest is a equity crowdfunding platform that allows access to venture capital and angel investing to everyone. 

Recently Contact CI sent their Maestro glove haptic technology to selected Alpha partners to begin the first in-market use their tech.  Using the feedback the received in the Alpha the team has reduced the size and improved tracking in their prototype haptic glove

"For VR to reach its ultimate potential as a computing platform, the limitless and immersive environments need to feel life like. Our work is focused on enabling virtual reality experiences to be as tangible as the natural world. To improve simulation training capabilities, enable physical feeling virtual handshakes, and create higher levels of presence in VR, we are seeking to raise a seed round with the equity crowdsourcing platform SeedInvest."

         -Craig Douglass, Co-Founder & CEO Contact CI

Related Links:

More info can be found follow this link to the fundraise profile: https://www.seedinvest.com/contact.ci/seed

Tonight TheWaveVR and Ash Koosha challenge the boundaries of music and take on tyranny with the power of VR.

London-based electronic musician Ash Koosha will perform in the US for the first time via virtual reality in TheWaveVR. Originally from Iran, Koosha is currently hindered by Trump’s travel ban, which targets people from majority-Muslim countries and bars them from entering the United States.  In Ash's 2016 Ted Talk from Oslo he challenged where is the boundary of what is just a sound, and what is actually music. Is there even such a boundary? Tonight TheWaveVR accepts that challange
 

Our real-time 3D visual controls. @AshKoosha will be controlling the entire environment, in addition to the music.

AKTUAL 8.16 7PM PT pic.twitter.com/l6uLe0Fre4

— THΞWAVΞVR (@TheWaveVR) August 15, 2017

Ash Koosha, who had been imprisoned and blacklisted by his home country for making rock music and films, lives in asylum in London, where he produces what RollingStone calls, “uncompromising, dizzying and dense” electronic music. RollingStone named him “An Artist You Need To Know,” last February, upon the release of last year's I AKA I on Ninja Tune.

Unfortunately, Ash had to cancel his supporting tour due to “extreme vetting” of his visa. Earlier this year, he had to cancel yet another tour due to Trump’s travel ban, and has yet to set foot in the US, where he seeks to promote his music.

In January, he issued a statement on the travel ban, writing, “All of my ambitions, contributions and efforts were reduced to bureaucratic paperwork that left me feeling betrayed and burdened because of my ‘place of birth’."

Ash's wave will bring his audio visual show, AKTUAL, to the US, where users will be transported inside his mind to watch him perform his music and conduct dynamic visual forms using TheWaveVR's revamped performance tools.
 

http://thewavevr.com/

HP’S VR STRATEGY PAVES THE WAY FOR COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS FOR VR.

HP’S VR STRATEGY PAVES THE WAY FOR COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS FOR VR.

8/1/2017 - LOS ANGELES - “76% of virtual reality applications are geared towards video games” explains Xavier Garcia, VP for HP Z Workstations. And on Monday, HP announced a set of products as part of a broader strategy to diversify the VR landscape with offerings geared towards businesses. The two most noteworthy: A wireless VR workstation - The HP Z VR Backpack, and 13 Immersion centers slated to open globally.

THE BACK PACK - Solving Untethering

The backpack addresses a major hurdle for higher end VR developers - an untethered experience allowing full freedom of movement without sacrificing computing power. Partnering with giants like Intel, NVIDIA and VIVE (the major hardware giants in the space) HP hopes to solve the tethering problem by strapping the user with the workstation. Other solutions which include streaming the signal from the workstation to the headset (TP Cast for example) or offering an all inclusive headset (such as the GEAR VR or HTC Vive’s unreleased 3 DOF heasets)

Speaking with HP reps, it was clear that at the very highest end of the market, the mild inconvenience of carrying the workstation would be the only downside to giving enterprise clients a best in class VR experience. Streaming solutions as of yet, have resolution hiccups and are limited in multi-user experiences. All inclusive headsets such as Samsung Gear VR, are too underpowered when compared to high end workstations.

When demoed - the backpack itself felt super light weight (approximately 10 lbs), pretty quiet and didn’t overheat. I didn’t get a chance to demo it for longer than 15 minutes so the jury’s still out on how it performs over long periods but from what I could see and feel, It was a far superior experience to being tethered to a traditional workstation. It’s also built to be rugged - withstanding the demands of military and law enforcement training requirements. Lastly the pack can be charged with a docking station, and since I didn’t get a chance to test it for long periods of time I’m uncertain of how much power you’ll get with the pack.

The backpack will start at $3299 and will be available in September.

THE IMMERSION CENTERS

The second announcement addresses another hurdle - a crisis of imagination. The immersion centers hope to allow commercial clients to see VR applications applied to their businesses. Whether that be virtual showrooms, design and product prototyping or training applications.

This could go both ways - if the demos and applications are well thought out and targeted, it could help push commercial VR adoption. But, if the demos fall short it may turn off businesses from considering VR technology. I’m optimistic for the former, and applaud HP for making the investment. VR’s commercial adoption hinges on companies and business leaders finding value and use cases in the technology. Showcasing commercial applications, if done right, could help decision makers find these use cases.

While VR hasn’t yet become an integral part of industry or business in the same way the internet, smartphones or PC’s have, the big hardware manufactures think its adoption as another tool is around the corner. Hopefully, with manufacturers shifting their priorities towards businesses, we’ll be moving a little closer to that breakout moment.

www.catsandvr.com/blog/

Ahead of Comic Con Disney’s D23 Expo announced Marvel VR for Oculus, A Star Wars AR HEADSET!, and a Star Wars theme park..oh AND reveled the Kingdom Hearts 3 Toy Story Trailer!!!

I consider my self a Disney fan, I love Tron and Darkwing Duck, also since I am a big Star Wars and Marvel fan over the past few years I have to say I have become a bigger Disney fan. All that being said Disney’s D23 Expo was not on my radar and its a damn shame because they just announced some major things for its entertainment empire including big VR and AR news.

 First up is Marvel Powers United VR  being made by Oculus and Sanzaru Games. Though the full lineup details is being held out for Comic Con we do know  The Hulk, Captain Marvel, and Rocket Raccoon are playable. The announcement came during the “Level Up” gaming panel, which also includedDisney reveal of a Star Wars AR headset in development with Lenovo.  The collection of games reveled is called Star Wars: Jedi Challenges, includes holochess  a lightsaber game of course. Check out the reveal video .

No word yet on when the release date for headset will but the website is currently live. 

Speaking about Star Wars, Disney also offered several new details about its Star Wars Galaxy expansion confirming rumors that the company was working on an Westworld-esq set in George Lucas’ universe.

According to Walt Disney Parks and Resorts chairman Bob Chapek, the project amounts to almost exactly that. “We are working on our most experiential concept ever,” he told the crowd during a Saturday panel. “It combines a luxury resort with immersion in an authentic environment.”

At D23 today, Disney announced that it's making an augmented reality headset with help from hardware manufacturer Lenovo. It's designed specifically with Star Wars experiences in mind.

And last but not least Disney keyblade dropped a new Kingdom Heart 3 Toy Story trailer for good measure. This is some crazy stuff and Im blown away at what the media empire has in store for the future. I think I may skip E3 next year and focus on D23. 

http://arkittens.com/

Dean Takahashi's GamesBeat events are the type of events you want to skip work for. You may get to talk Rick And Morty with John Underkoffler.

Dean Takahashi pretty much said during his panel at the last GamesBeat summit that you are 100% better off skipping a day or two of of work in order to go to one of the events he puts together. He is absolutely right! These events have less of the super networking vibes of the W hotel during GDC and is more of a Socratic critical thinking forum to snap you out of your tech daze. During the event I went to I felt no one was trying to sell me an ideology or a glimpse of the future but just real talk on how did we get to the place in tech we are and share insights on how you too can predict the future. 

At the last event I got to talk to John Underkoffler, a HUGE pioneer in Augmented Interface growth and direction into the future. Don't know the name? Remember the data interface from Minority Report? Well, it's real, John Underkoffler invented it — as a point-and-touch interface called g-speak. 

John Underkoffler led the team that came up with this interface, called the g-speak Spatial Operating Environment. His company, Oblong Industries, was founded to move g-speak into the real world. Oblong is building apps for aerospace, bioinformatics, video editing and more. But the big vision is ubiquity: g-speak on every laptop, every desktop, every microwave oven, TV, dashboard. "It has to be like this," he says. "We all of us every day feel that. We build starting there. We want to change it all."
 
Before founding Oblong, Underkoffler spent 15 years at MIT's Media Laboratory, working in holography, animation and visualization techniques, and building the I/O Bulb and Luminous Room Systems. He also took some time to break down Rick And Morty for my limited mind. 

This year, GamesBeat 2017: Time Machine is parked right on that event horizon:

Early bird registration is open now — just in time for E3 — and the discount is solid: Sign up today and you’ll save 40 percent off the full-price ticket. Register now for GamesBeat 2017 and save $395!

Speakers Include

• Steven Roberts, chairman of ESL, the biggest independent esports tournament company
• Hilmar Veigar Pétursson, CEO of CCP Games, creator of Eve Online and VR games such as Eve Valkyrie
• Bernie Stolar, CEO of The Stolar Group and former head at Sony’s U.S. PlayStation business and Sega of America 

At GamesBeat 2017: Time Machine, will dive into the parts of gaming that are driving excitement, triggering powerful growth, and launching the startups that are about to transform the industry.

www.catsandvr.com/blog/

Stereolabs is allowing you to use the Vive or Rift you already have as a AR/MR headset.

Cecile Schmollgruber founded STEREOLABS in 2010. As chief executive officer, Cecile has taken her company to a new level: STEREOLABS is today the leading provider of 3D vision systems. 

Stereolabs is a leading provider of depth and motion sensing solutions for autonomous robotics and VR/AR. Before launching the ZED camera, Stereolabs has a long experience in the 3D movie industry working with clients such Cameron-Pace Group of Avatar fame. Now with their ZED depth sensor, Stereolabs provides a means for machines to see depth the way humans do, for applications in autonomous navigation, AR/VR and more.

Instead of a standalone headset, Stereolabs is releasing a mini stereo camera you clip to the front of a Rift or Vive. From there, it scans the environment in front of it in real-time, while also capturing the "background" video for each eye. The only downside is it's tethered, unlike many of the AR/MR headsets making headlines (including the company's own Linq). But in exchange, consumers can try out an incredible mixed reality experience using tech that's available today, rather than waiting years for standalone headsets to get better, and developers can get a head start working on content (they're shipping an SDK for Unity and Unreal). 

www.catsandvr.com/blog/

Oculus partners with the California State Library to continue their goal of making VR accessible

“Without libraries what have we? We have no past and no future.” —Ray Bradbury

Access to information and knowledge opens the doors to new possibilities and let us experience worlds that would otherwise be beyond reach. Through a new partnership with the California State Library, Oculus is giving access to VR to people that may never have the chance. This pilot program will place 100 Rifts and Oculus Ready PCs in 90 libraries throughout the state.

“It’s pretty cool to imagine how many people will try VR for the very first time—and have that ‘wow’ moment—in their local libraries,” says Oculus Education Program Manager Cindy Ball. “We hope early access will cause many people to feel excited and empowered to move beyond just experiencing VR and open their minds to the possibility of one day joining the industry.”

The 90 participating locations span nearly half of the state’s 184 library jurisdictions—with the possibility for future expansion.

“If this pilot is successful, that shows that library patrons and librarians value the availability of VR equipment in libraries,” Ball said. “Next steps would include the California State Library expanding the program by allocating or raising additional funding to scale the presence of VR.”

The applications available for discover and explore include Google Earth, Apollo 11, Titans of Space 2.0, Everest, Ocean Rift, The Body VR, Guided Meditation VR and Star Chart. This program also gives some additional life to the excellent work of the now defunct Oculus Story Studio. Dear Angelica, Lost and Henry will also be available.

http://www.catsandvr.com/blog/

Women In Tech Spotlight: Emily Olman (Hopscotch Interactive and VR/AR Association)

Emily Olman is the founder of Hopscotch Interactive, a marketing and media services company for promoting extraordinary spaces. They create custom marketing solutions with Matterport 3D Photography, 360°, and VR. Hopscotch Interactive was recently nominated as Matterport Service Partner of the Year from over 1000 MSP's for the inaugural "Matty Awards". To see a list of all of the nominees, winners, and some stunning examples of 3D photography visit the Matty Awards homepage here.

Emily is also the San Francisco Chapter Co-President of the VR/AR Association (VRARA), the global association for the Virtual Reality & Augmented Reality industry with local chapters in major cities, connecting leading solution providers with brands and customers. VRARA works with each member company to promote their solutions and services and puts on high-level VR/AR events in the San Francisco Bay Area. 

You can join Hopscotch Interactive and the VR/AR Association SF Chapter on Wednesday, June 14 (6pm-10pm) at The Flight Deck in Oakland for an exciting program on Lightfield Technology & Volumetric VR featuring speakers from: Lytro, Visby, and Lightfield Labs and Hopscotch Interactive. The fun continues with demos, giveaways, VIP networking, and Exit Reality in action with their mobile VR truck!

And, 360° Filmmaker Kevin Kunze of Kunze Productions will be giving away 100 cardboard viewers to lucky attendees. Use code SPEAKER5 for $5 off tickets. Reserve your VIP ticket here. 

http://www.catsandvr.com/blog/

Could DIAMONST be the 1st killer app to showcase Apple's AR Kit? Maybe with funding?

After #AWE2017 we are back to work to solve the last bugs and yes, we will use #ARkit for the iOS version of DIAMONST AR RPG#wwdc2017 pic.twitter.com/RkkvF3bOAX

— ZenkoGames (@_ZenkoGames_) June 6, 2017

Could DIAMONST by Zenko Games be the killer app to showcase Apple's AR Kit?

Diamonst will be a story-driven augmented reality experience that will take place in the real world and is inspired by classics JRPGs like Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest and Chrono Trigger as well as the more recent Geolocation hit Pokemon Go. 

On the map of your city you will be able to see the missions and the side quests of the story and when you will be close enough you will be able to visualize the events in 3D Augmented Reality (6 degree of freedom AR).

During the single player campaign, you will meet allies, face enemies and solve the riddles that will lead you to discover the reason why the Diamonst have returned to our planet and everything will happen, for the first time, in our world.

Diamonst will mix gameplay mechanics from various turn-based and card games like Magic, Hearthstone, Yu-gi-oh, Pokémon and Yo-Kai watch.

The game will put a lot of focus on intra team and same element synergies that will allow the player to create intricate combos and strategies.

A first playable demo of Diamonst is currently in development with Unity and Vuforia for Android and iOS and will be soon available for Google Tango, Microsoft Hololens and for the Bridge Headset form Occipital.

The team is currently looking for funding to finish the full game.

http://www.catsandvr.com/blog/

Beast In Show @ AWE 2017 is Beast Pets! Check out this interview with the Mother Of Dragons Vivian Tan.

Beast is a VR platform that brings digital pets to virtual "life" through artificial intelligence and personalities. It is also the winner of the very first CatsAndVR Best Of Cute award which goes to the cutest thing I saw at a particular conference.  Seriously Beast Pets are basically smart pets for VR. The dragons are basically flying puppy-kittens that actually interact like I would expect out of Cat Dragons. I spent a little bit rubbing their lil dragon tummies, playing laser with them, and just overall going into cute overload.

I could go further into this cute thing and say Chief Beast Of Beast Inc is cute as a button but I'm not. I'm going to say she is the mother of Dragons and beasting her way with a product that has the potential to not only be a cute VR experience but also have the ability to touch the lives of those who have disabilities. I believe this company is doing a good job of separating it self from the multitudes of VR gaming startups in the ecosystem.

For one Beast Inc is part of the current Boost VR class and is using that to establish connections and be everywhere.  Beast Inc recently had the chance to showcase their product and brand in partnership with SVVR at Maker Faire and was so very well received they won a blue ribbon. 

I ran into the team at AWE2017 and all I really had to say was AWE! I totally loved the product and suggest CatsAndVR readers be part of the beta. We even secured our readers access to the private beta. Just send an email to Team@BeastPets.com and mention CatsAndVR.com sent ya. 

To be completely transparent I was a tad bit jealousy that Vivan beat me to the VR Pet market but I am ok with it because that market I care about looks to be in the hands of a very sharp individual who cares about the product, the ecosystem, and the true value of pet friendship to others. She has partnered with BoostVC, SVVR, and has assembled a team that also cares about her vision including Kate Hughes who is known for her Holo-Dog project for Hololens. 

All in all I believe in this product and I am V glad there are others out there that believe in the Beast Inc vision. 

Edit: Can't end this with out giving a shout out to Beast Co-Founder Mat Tyndall. Thanks for the demo!

Meta: Making Augmented Reality Fashionable.

At AWE 2017 Meta announced its Meta Workspace, a spatial AR operating environment designed for creativity and collaboration.

The original Meta AR headset was a great proof of concept with a great 40° field of view much like Microsofts Hololens is today. That was three years ago. The feedback the Meta team received from this was that it was good for R&D, good for innovation, good as a glimpse into the future of computing, but not good enough to replace the screens that characterize our lives in technology. 

The teams answer was to tap in some of the most innovative AR minds globally to develop an optical engine that can create a 90° field of view. The Meta team also tapped into the Google Project Tango framework to acquire the expertise of Alan Betran in developing a sensor array capable of dexterous hand interaction.  With over 600 patent claims for the technology, the Meta team now offers us a truer vision of their future of reality. 

I spoke with Meta's evangelist extraordinaire Ryan Pamplin about what its like to be part of an award winning AR company making the term Augmented Reality fashionable. 

Ryan Pamplin: It is an honor, really and truly, the team loves this. The team sleeps, eats, and breathes Meta. Not for the sake of AR, not for the sake of technology but for the sake of a more natural computing experience.  

Check out my interview with Ryan above. 

What is the Meta vision for the future of computing? To shift the paradigm of computing from a small scale flat experience to a visceral reality of interaction and point of view.

The Meta team has stepped their game up with their new operating system which overlays the physical world with your computer's desktop, eliminating the need for a monitor. Meta won an Auggie award for Best In Show at AWE 2017.  

Meta is the precursor to a future that will use VR, AR, voice control, a digital canvas and haptic technology (recreating the sense of touch) all working together to let people create in more natural ways.

Ryan Pamplin had some advice for me to work on AR cats.....well maybe if I had a Meta Cat shirt I might be incentivized. 

www.catsandvr.com/blog/

A River Resurrection Part One

In 2014, identifying the huge potential in VR, Mike Rothenberg decided to build the world's first startup accelerator focused on VR companies, and named it The River Accelerator Program. The program founded by Mike Rothenberg has evolved to now be part of a bigger vision called River Ecosystem.

Oh and yes it is THAT Mike Rothenberg, the one who earlier this year was described by many a media outlet as a VR Great Gatsby, a person with a Wolf of Wall Street personality, a man steering his VC fund Rothenberg Ventures like it was the Titanic. Come to think of if I think tech media really has a thing for Leonardo Dicaprio films.

Well perhaps those things about Mike are true, I don't know the guy personally but I can say he sure has some Steph Curry like attributes to him. First one up is vision. Just take a look at some of the companies Rothenberg Ventures has helped in some sort of fiduciary capacity. I mean come on this is just in the VR/AR space. I know the word ecosystem gets tossed around a lot but really how do you describe what the River/Rothenberg team were trying to pull together before a lot of news came out about a lot of alleged things.  We still have no true answers on those allegations so I can really only do one thing. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERm_WNxGs1U

River, Rothenberg, Frontier Tech, or whatever the team was using as its main identity for the past few months continued pushing for a goal of a true VR/AR future of growth not a constant stream of fads. In fact Mike threw a small intimate post AWE 2017 event in which he spoke about his vision of a VR/AR ecosystem and a future of content creators not just tech evangelists. Check that video at the top of the page. Robert Scoble was in attendance and you know if Scoble is jumping on the bandwagon the team must be doing something right at this time. That was a joke Scoble, lets grab a drink sometime. 

Oh back to Steph Curry, one of the biggest things about Steph Curry is his ability to understand the value of the players around him and maximize their potential. Just look at how Javale Mcgee is playing this year. Just look at how KD seems just happy to be able to work like a teammate with Steph. This brings me to the point of the people River has on the squad. VR/AR evangelist and all around good person Dulce Baerga was brought on to be the CEO of River Studios. That is that a major free agent acquisition for River Ecosystems that brings a lot of passion to the court. Dulce is a #WomenInVR #WomenInTech #PERSONINVR #PERSONINTECH to look out for as she helps grow the ecosystem. Check her talking about the future of River Studios including a new version of Quarteback Snap. QB Snap was one of the first if not the first football game for the HTC Vive.

http://store.steampowered.com/app/482210/Quarterback_SNAP/

Just like the Golden State Warriors, the River Ecosystem team has a solid lineup including Nick Canifax, Skye Jordan, and many more. Skye was on site and Dulce made sure to point out the value Skye is brining to the table with the events element of the River Eco equation. 

Check out just some of the interesting events and programs River Ecosystem have done in the last few months. 

All in all there has been a lot of negative press thrown at Rothenberg and by proxy the River team. I however am not getting paid to write negative press, in fact I am not getting paid for positive press either. I am however willing to give a team who is trying to grow VR/AR and actually understand what ecosystem means a chance. River may not be dead in the water. What that means exactly is for another day, thats why this is called A River Resurrection Part One. The Future Iz Meow!

http://www.catsandvr.com/blog/ 

https://riverecosystem.com

The Awesome VR Content Creation Platform MINDSHOW gets a HUGE Update!

As the Mindshow team heads into their upcoming open beta they have released a HUGE update for early adopters. 

First up the team has introduced starter scenes to provide a little creative inspiration!

Starters help you create shows very quickly because they come with half the story - it's up to you to complete the scene by adding your own personality!

Currently their are three starter scenes: Mile High Hug, Made Up News, and Bad Doctor. You can look forward to seeing even more starters as they head towards Open Beta! 

Here is the CatsAndVR take on the Bad Doctor starter scene

The Dev team has also added in some great camera improvements with a fixed camera, a stedicam, and also doubling the size of video exports to 1080!

BUT WAIT THERES MORE!

New Characters and scenes make the platform well worth going back to if you have not touched it in a while.

Now you get to play as: Doctor Cleo, Scientist Franklin. Reporter Carlita, Lenny the Pilot. and Surgeon Clark. 

Operating Room:
Perform surgery on a piñata and other life saving scenarios!

Mindshow Nuze TV Studio:
Shoot your own news segment in VR!

Mindshow is quickly becoming the darling of the LA VR scene and a must play expereience. 

Cosmo and the Mindshow team are hard at work heading into the open beta, if you are currently in the Alpha I suggest you jump back in ASAP. If you have not tried Mindshow yet go learn more about this amazing VR experience and all the new updates here.  https://medium.com/@Mindshow/4-26-update-31e1516bad2e

VR Superdad uses his powers to make his daughter smile and his cat annoyed.

VR Superdad Toby Newman used his VR super powers to put a smile on his daughters face. His latest experiment using a Ricoh Theta and an HTC Vive gives his child an idea of what the world looks like from the point of view of the family cat. A harness, a 360° camera, and a VR headset lets my daughter take a ride around our house on our cat. The cat has a harness that holds a 360° camera. The camera is fed the feed from the saddle-camera to a VR headset. Toby's  daughter uses her Lion King plushy to get an immersive cat experience.

This VR Superdad has also used his powers to shrink his daughter down and put her into her dollhouse. Check out the video below as well as 360 photos of the dollhouse.

Toby is using his powers for good and I hope he and his family have a great life in Virtual Reality and Reality Reality. He is also an inspiration for me to use my Ricoh Theta more. 

CatsAndVR.com

Explore Underwater Depths in Musical VR Experience “Seabed Prelude”, Now Available on Oculus and HTC Vive

MythicOwl today announced that its musical VR adventure, Seabed Prelude , is now available for Oculus Rift and HTC Vive. Featuring a beautifully immersive underwater world, Seabed Prelude takes you on a journey through a post-apocalyptic seascape where you must clear ancient tracks by playing a powerful pipe organ, or alternatively, a system of tesla coils. While traversing the depths you will have control of an RC drone that you can maneuver from within the bathyscaphe to explore stations.

“After launching Note Fighter on mobile last year we are excited to bring our passion for music games to VR with Seabed prelude”, said Tomasz Mularczyk, CEO of MythicOwl. “It’s a unique take on the music game genre that will have players floating through an ethereal environment, surrounded by music”.

Seabed Prelude utilizes VR technology to provide the realistic feeling of being underwater, captaining a bathyscaphe through a post-apocalyptic deep sea landscape. Featuring tangential learning, Seabed Prelude progresses as you play notes on a pipe organ or a system of tesla coils correctly, allowing you to advance from station to station and uncover the dark plot hatched by the Constructors. In Campaign Mode you can progress to various stations by playing color-coded notes successfully as they float through an immersive aquatic environment.

Cats And VR