2016 Disney Accelerator Participants include eSports & VR companies.

Today The Walt Disney Company announced participants in the 2016 Disney Accelerator, a program that provides entrepreneurs with mentorship and immersion into the media and entertainment industry. The three-month program connects participants from around the world with Disney’s creative expertise and resources to help them develop their products and consumer experiences.

Past participants in the Disney Accelerator have continued to work with The Walt Disney Company after completing the program, such as, Sphero, which created the BB-8 droid toy, the number one Star Wars toy in 2015. Additionally, Statmuse, an interactive sports stats platform powered by natural language search, is currently providing ESPN with statistical content; Israel-based imperson launched The Muppets’ Miss Piggy and Disney’s Zootopia chat experiences on Facebook using their artificial intelligence technology and EMOTIV’s Insight wearable for the brain was featured on ABC Television’s The Bachelor.

This year’s program includes nine startups and one internal project, and builds on Disney Accelerator’s success since its initial launch.

“We are evolving this year’s Disney Accelerator to include many later-stage start-ups, and for the first time, an internal project,” said Michael Abrams, senior vice president, Innovation, The Walt Disney Company. “This year’s Disney Accelerator program is designed to advance a broader spectrum of the strategic investments we make in innovation across all of our businesses.”

The companies selected for the 2016 Disney Accelerator include:

Ader is a marketplace connecting brands with eSports and gaming influencers. The company’s network of influencers reaches more than 50 million monthly viewers.

Atom Tickets is a new mobile movie-ticketing app where customers can buy movie tickets, pre-order concessions, invite friends without having to pay for them, easily discover new movies, browse trailers, read reviews and plan their next night out at the movies. Atom Tickets is movie-going for the 21st century.

Hanson Robotics is a leader in creating human-like robots with a full range of facial expressions. Based in Hong Kong, Hanson Robotics is building a range of robots for the business and consumer markets. The videos of its robot “Sophia” have been viewed more than 1 billion times.

Jaunt is pioneering end-to-end solutions for creating and publishing immersive cinematic virtual reality and a leading developer of the hardware, software, tools and applications that put the power of virtual reality in the hands of some of today’s best content creators. Jaunt has raised more than $100 million, and has launched Jaunt China, a virtual reality joint venture with China Media Capital and Shanghai Media Group in May.

littleBits is a platform of easy-to-use electronic building blocks that empowers kids to invent anything, from a remote-controlled car to a dancing robotto a smart home device. littleBits was founded by Ayah Bdeir, co-founder of the Open Hardware Summit, a TED Senior Fellow and a graduate of the MIT Media Lab. On a mission to unleash the inventor in everyone and get kids excited about STEM, littleBits has raised more than $60 million in funding.

Nom, an online live-streaming video community for chefs and food lovers, allows its users to create, share, watch and participate in live videos while chatting and interacting with each other. Nom was founded by Vijay Karunamurthy, former YouTube engineering lead, and Steve Chen, co-founder and CTO of YouTube.

OTOY is a “holographic content” platform bringing the power of light field rendering and network streaming to virtual reality and augmented reality experiences. OTOY’s investors include Autodesk and its advisers include Eric Schmidt, executive chairman of Alphabet (formerly Google) and Ariel Emanuel, Co-CEO of WME|IMG.

Playbuzz is a content-creation and audience-engagement platform that empowers tens of thousands of publishers, marketers, bloggers and brands to easily create engaging content using mobile-friendly formats that are optimized for social sharing. With headquarters in New York and Tel Aviv, Playbuzz has raised $31 million in funding.

Pley is a leading toy subscription company that is pioneering the next generation in e-commerce for toys. For a monthly fee, members receive their preferred toys from a catalog of 500+ toys shipped directly to their door and can play with, keep or return each toy whenever they wish. Pley has raised more than $16 million in funding.

For more information go to www.DisneyAccelerator.com.

Hear about The Beatles’ Early Days in this 360° video from JauntVR.

On this day in history, Paul McCartney met John Lennon. Hear about The Beatles’ Early Days in this 360° video from JauntVR. 

An emotional journey with Paul through Early Days and the formation of The Beatles. A visual and aural landscape of light, sound, and a few kids from Liverpool. Directed by Tony Kaye. Soundscape by Geoff Emerick.

Check out more from Paul McCartney provided by JauntVR. 

Zeality launches 360° Video contest to be the next VR producer for the San Francisco 49ers!

THE 2016 ZEALITY 360 SHOOTOUT
The hunt is on to find the next VR producer for the San Francisco 49ers! Zeality and The 49ers Studios are excited to announce the 2016 Zeality 360° Shootout -- a first-of-its-kind industry event where five teams of 360°/VR filmmakers will compete head-to-head in a two-day Shootout/Hackathon to produce the best 360°/VR video. Learn from the industry’s best VR production companies, get hands on experience with the full ecosystem of cutting edge VR gear and tech solutions and showcase your talent to top VR media and tech leaders.

Teams enter by submitting their best 1-5 minute original 360°/VR video for consideration. Entries will be voted on by the Zeality online community and judged by a panel of VR Industry leaders from Hollywood and Silicon Valley to determine which five talented teams will shoot it out at Levi’s® Stadium. The winning team with the best, 360°/VR video will win $20,000 in cash, plus top VR gear and tech solutions and the once in a lifetime opportunity to produce a Game Day 360°/VR video for The San Francisco 49ers.

http://zeality.co/shootout/

Are you a VR startup? HTC & Friends are looking to help and have 10 BILLION to share!

HTC  announced a 10 billion dollar Virtual Reality Venture Capital Alliance ,bringing together a close-knit membership comprised of 30 of the top Virtual Reality Investors in the world with the goal of funding startups working in VR as well as AR and MR. The  president of VRVCA is Alvin Wang Graylin,President of VR at HTC China.

The purpose of the Virtual Reality Venture Capital Alliance (“VRVCA”) is to foster long-term growth in the VR industry through identifying, sharing and investing in the world's most innovative & impactful VR technology and content companies.

Here is an overview of their plan.

6 opportunities to pitch  per year and $10+ Bn USD in deployable capital to invest in Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality and Mixed reality startups of any size from anywhere around the world. They will meet six times a year with a base of operations out of Beijing and San Francisco.

http://www.vrvca.com/

Google Daydream Labs Update- 6/28/2016

Daydream Labs have been experimenting with ways to reduce technical complexity and even add a greater sense of play when animating in VR. In one experiment they built, people could bring characters to life by picking up toys, moving them through space and time, and then replay the scene. Check out the latest updates from Daydream Labs

An app experiment from Daydream Labs. Instead of animating with graph editors or icons representing location, people could simply reach out, grab a virtual toy, and carry it through the scene.

To create more intricate animations, they also built another experiment that let people independently animate the joints of a single character. It let you record your character’s movement as you separately animated the feet, hands, and head — just like you would with a puppet.

An app experiment from Daydream Labs. Independently animate the joints of a single character.

Check out more from Daydream Labs.

https://developers.googleblog.com/2016/06/daydream-labs-animating-3d-objects-in-vr.html

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Rick And Morty In Altspace VR! Justin Roiland premieres the new Altspace VR drawing app!

Justin Roiland premieres the new Altspace VR drawing app in like :30 min! As you can tell I am a Rick And Morty fanboy.! Rick and Morty is a cult sensation and hit cartoon from Cartoon Network's Adult Swim. Join fans and watch creator and voice actor, Justin Roiland, draw live in VR in AlspaceVR's newest drawing app. Viewers can attend on Samsung Gear VR, Oculus Rift and HTC Vive. To download AltspaceVR visit http://altvr.com/get-altspacevr/. Altspace will be using their feature FrontRow, which mirrors Justin to as many rooms as there are people that want to attend. So everyone gets a front row seat. He'll be joined by Rick and Morty board artist Erica Hayes. They'll be debuting the latest SDK Painter app. See you in VR.

Event link: https://account.altvr.com/events/445747139373432922

Jaunt ONE Camera to be made available to public allowing anyone to Shoot, Edit and Distribute High-Quality, Immersive Cinematic VR Experiences

Jaunt Inc., the industry leader in cinematic virtual reality, today announced that the award-winning Jaunt ONE camera will be made available for public use through a pilot program with Radiant Images, a Los Angeles-based digital cinema innovator and rental house. In addition to the patented camera technology, Jaunt Cloud Services (JCS), Jaunt’s cloud based stitching and rendering pipeline, will also be available to creators providing them with the only scalable, end-to-end, hardware and software solution for shooting, producing and distributing immersive cinematic VR experiences.

Starting in July, the Jaunt ONE camera will be available for rent via the Radiant Images website and rental house, giving everyone from rising filmmakers to established creatives and brands the opportunity to shoot with the highest quality professional-grade stereoscopic VR camera, designed with visionary VR creators in mind. The Jaunt ONE 24G model features 24 global shutter sensors, ideal for low-light and fast moving objects, and the setup can be coupled with 360° ambisonic audio recording, which in post can be mixed with Dolby ATMOS.

"Over the past 12 months we have used Jaunt ONE to film hundreds of hours of content all over the world. Jaunt ONE is a production tested camera that we are thrilled to be opening to the public through this rental program with Radiant Images," said Koji Gardiner, VP of hardware engineering at Jaunt. "Radiant is the perfect partner to enable broader access to our technology, and their expertise in the VR space makes them a great resource for filmmakers eager to explore VR as a new storytelling medium."

“The incredible Jaunt ONE camera is the perfect match for the many visionary VR creators we collaborate with who are eager to continue to push the boundaries of this new technology,” said Michael Mansouri, VP and co-founder of Radiant Images. “We’re honored and excited that Jaunt has entrusted us to help get this camera into the hands of talented filmmakers determined to take VR content to the next level and beyond. The power and versatility of the Jaunt ONE, together with Jaunt’s seamless software and distribution solutions, is unmatched. We’re thrilled to be the first rental house to have this amazing camera available to clients.”

After capturing stunning omnidirectional video with Jaunt ONE, production teams can also stitch and render their footage in the cloud using JCS, Jaunt’s proprietary cloud based algorithms and tools. JCS transforms footage into the highest quality stereoscopic VR experiences, ready for publishing. JCS also integrates seamlessly with most off the shelf post production tools for compositing, editing and color correction.

Once the experience is finalized, creators have immediate access to all of the assets necessary to publish to any platform that supports 360° video, including the Jaunt VR App. The Jaunt VR platform utilizes ‘deep-links’, allowing content creators to publish directly to their audiences. These unique content specific ‘deep-links’ give global audiences immediate access to the experience without having to search for it, regardless of the device or platform.

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Coverage- UploadVR's Art & VR event.

The tech and art world are arguably in one of the most exciting times in regards to VR. This is something that I get up every morning excited to be part of. There are several people that share these same sentiments. One of the fastest growing set of influencers in the VR community recently hosted a sold out event to facilitate the discussion and discovery of Art & VR. 

UploadVR turned their offices into an art gallery and held an excellent event hosted by artist in residence and art curator of the Upload Collective space, Stuart Mason. 

The evening art showcases included "Floating World" -Marina Berlin's wire installation inspired by Virtual Reality as well as a collection of curated pieces.

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Event attendees included world renowned multimedia artist, Luska, Business Dev superstar @ SubPac, Zach Jaffe, & Co-founder at VR Weekend & Editor at Epic Magazine, Kelly Vicars.

The event drew an eclectic crowd of influencers from the art and VR world mixed with enthusiasts who were generally excited to discover the impact of VR in art world.  Those in attendance were treated to the cutting edge of Virtual Reality art including an amazing abstract art maze by Academy Award winning visual effects pioneer Kevin Mack of Shape Space VR.

via GIPHY

Of course what would an Art & VR event be without the inclusion of Google's killer VR art App, Tilt Brush. Elisabeth Moran of Google VR was on hand to not only demo Tilt Brush but also speak about creativity and expression in VR as a whole.

One of my favorite moments of the evening happened when Elisabeth Moran gave a shout out to The Wave, the amazing Vive DJ'ing tool that captivated the audience that evening including the Tilt Brush team.

Stuart Mason drove home the point of the artist portion of art by making attendees aware of H.E.ART Project, a non-profit organization created to give back to the SF art community. The project works with landlords and homeowners to provide selected artists with extended rent-controlled leases. 

UploadVR opened up their space to cultivate the connection between art and VR and I would say the Brothers Mason succeeded in that mission.

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GDC spinoff conference VRDC gets standalone event: VRDC 16

The Virtual Reality Developers Conference (VRDC), the premier event for creators of immersive VR (and AR) experiences, today announced dates and location for its second edition – its first standalone event.  Bringing an expanded focus and new Advisory Board, the two-day event will bring together designers, programmers, business professionals, producers, artists, and audio practitioners to share best practices, demo new technology, create new business partnerships, and exchange ideas with innovators shaping the industry.

VRDC will take place November 2-3, 2016 in the Park Central Hotel in San Francisco, CA. To register or submit your speaking abstract by July 8, visit: vrdconf.com.

VRDC's Second Edition: November 2016

To meet the growing demand for high-quality content in the space, VRDC's second edition will expand to cover virtual and augmented reality in games, entertainment, brand experience, and a wide range of innovative use cases. Sessions from NASA and Chernobyl VR Project have been confirmed, reflecting the event's broad scope and top tier content.

"Now that VR platforms have hit the market, virtual experiences that entertain, inform, and provide entirely new ways to engage are increasingly in demand," explained Meggan Scavio, General Manager, VRDC and GDC. "We're thrilled to provide the highest quality content for VR developers, while exploring innovative applications for the technology across entertainment, healthcare, journalism, travel, manufacturing, retail, live events, real estate, training, and so much more."

Call for Submissions Now Open: VRDC is seeking the latest research and innovations in VR for November's lineup. Potential speakers may submit detailed technical and business-centric talks today through July 8, 2016. For more information, visit: www.vrdconf.com/conference/c4p/

New Advisory Board: An unprecedented advisory board of top names in VR will lead content for the show, including representatives from major platform holders such as Google (Noah Falstein), Oculus (Robert Stevenson), and Valve (Chet Faliszek), as well as creators behind experiences like Job Simulator (Alex Schwartz, Owlchemy Labs), Fantastic Contraption (Colin Northway) & VR experience experts like Pete Isensee (HBO Labs), Jazmin Cano (High Fidelity), Timoni West (Unity Labs), Tracey John (Havas Health) & Christina Heller (VR Playhouse).

Show Floor + Exhibitor Opps: VRDC will include a significant vendor area showcasing the latest innovations and advances in Virtual Reality. Those interested in exhibiting at this year's show should visit www.ubmgamenetwork.com/vrdc for more information.

VRDC's first edition was held alongside the Game Developers Conference (GDC) in March 2016 with two sold out tracks covering VR/AR for Games and Entertainment.

As part of the VRDC portfolio, organizers intend to continue running VRDC Game and Entertainment sessions alongside the Game Developers Conference in February 2017. More information on these sessions will be available in the near future.

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The Fathers Of Virtual Reality-a post about VR on Fathers Day.

It is hard to state with any assurance who the father of virtual reality is, as like any new creation it draws upon a wide range of sources and impacts, including several women innovators. 

More than one individual has been included in the improvement of this innovative framework yet in the event that we are discussing the domain of virtual experience then the answer is Morton Heilig. 

He delivered the principal intuitive film involvement in which viewers were welcome to watch a film which would utilize the majority of their faculties. For instance: he utilized a swaying fan so that the viewer could feel wind blowing all over. 

The Sensorama was not broadly embraced but rather the thoughts drove future exploration into virtual reality and the ensuing results. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morton_Heilig

The term 'virtual reality' was begat by Jaron Lanier in 1987 amid a time of extraordinary movement into this type of innovation. In any case, before then, he had set up VPL Research – an organization which spearheaded research into virtual reality and 3D illustrations which likewise sold the intitail virtual reality apparatus, for example, virtual reality glasses, data gloves and later, the full data suit. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaron_Lanier

The Sword of Damocles is widely considered to be the first virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) head-mounted display (HMD) system. It was created in 1968 by computer scientist Ivan Sutherland with the help of his student Bob Sproull. Before he began working toward what he termed "the ultimate display"  Ivan Sutherland was already well respected for his accomplishments in computer graphics.

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

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NBA All Star Kyrie Irving shows off Timbaland's new favorite state of the art audio technology, SubPac

Cavaliers All Star Point Guard Kyrie Irving was wearing one of the hottest accessories on the market today. No not a pair of Kanye West shoes or Dr Dre headphones but a very interesting black body harness.

When asked by a reporter what the black body harness was, Irving said, "It's a SubPac, you'll be hearing about it soon."

SubPac, a transformational technology brand, is pioneering a cultural shift across the music and technology industries by revolutionizing the traditional perception of sound. SubPac is immersive physical-sound technology that brings music to life, expanding beyond an audio concept to a full-body experience. The startup has attracted major investors and industry leaders who have joined forces to engineer this unprecedented sound movement.

I recently had a chance to watch the hella dope Run The Jewels 360° video in a Viewmaster headset while using a SubPac device. I feel it's the addition of accessories like SubPac that will make VR a real fully immersive experience that will keep you coming back. 

Here is my 360° video Demo and interview with SubPac. Use the Mouse to move around

 SubPac recently announced the close of $6M Series A financing with notable investors that include veteran DJ, Richie Hawtin, Dada Life, Azure Capital, NBA All Star Carmelo Anthony's M7 Tech Partners, and Andy Rubin of Playground Global and formerly Google Android. The funds are earmarked for development as the brand is positioned to significantly disrupt the music and tech industries.

"SubPac opened my eyes to the power of physical sound. It will absolutely change the way people experience music, VR and cinema." said Andy Rubin, founder & CEO, Playground Global.

SubPac is creating its own physical-sound category through two unique products; the SubPac M2, a wearable vest, and the SubPac S2, a seatback device. Both create a new form of expression for musicians and sound designers to connect with their fans on a deeper level by using innovative technology that allows consumers to physically feel sound. This tangible connectivity captivated GRAMMY-winning producer Timbaland to come on board as a partner and introduce the brand to the music industry.

"SubPac is a game changing experience for both artists and fans," said Timbaland. "It lets you feel the music like never before.  It's the feeling that's been missing, until now."

SubPac is a privately held technology company and was the brainchild of Co-Founders John Alexiou and Todd Chernecki. The startup's leadership team also includes Sean Leonard, Head of Strategic Development and Sarosh Khwaja, Head of R&D. SubPac is based in the heart of the entertainment industry, Los Angeles and has offices in San Francisco, Palo Alto, London and Toronto.  

"Andy Rubin and Timbaland are two of the finest creative minds on the planet," said John Alexiou, Co-Founder and CEO of SubPac. "They have both moved culture in significant ways, and will play leading roles in SubPac's mission to bring the feeling of music & sound to the world."  

SubPac is currently available on thesubpac.com with the SubPac M2 retailing for $349 and SubPac S2 for $299.

 thesubpac.com

Destinations Workshop Tools available on Steam Early Access

Destinations Workshop Tools lets you create, share, and explore both real and imaginary places in virtual reality. This is a beta release of a set of content creation tools that users can use to construct worlds and share them on the Destinations Workshop – then explore them with the included Destinations Viewer.

Destinations Workshop Tools includes:
The Source 2 tool set used internally at Valve. Once installed, you can find the Destinations Workshop Tools in the Library under Tools. 
Several example Destinations created with photogrammetry 

An example map that users can copy and modify which highlights how to use Source 2 tools to add interactivity to a Destination 

The Destinations Viewer, where users can browse and explore Destinations downloaded from the Steam Workshop. Once installed, you can find the Destinations Viewer in the Library under Software.

Creator Resources:
Destinations Wiki
Source 2 Level Editor Wiki
Destinations Compatibility
Destinations works with all headsets supported by OpenVR. 
Destinations supports both motion-tracked controllers and x-input controllers.

http://store.steampowered.com/app/453170

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Björk Digital Teams Up With River Studios For "Vulnicura" Virtual Reality Album

As part of the Björk Digital Tour, world-renowned artist Björk, and San Francisco virtual reality studio, River Studios has teamed up to create an immersive musical experience: Vulnicura VR, the first virtual reality music album. The combination of Björk's creativity and River Studios' VR technology allows fans to explore the album in a completely new fashion.

Vulnicura VR immerses the viewer in the Icelandic landscapes that inspire many of Björk's songs and imagery. As the viewer glides across the landscape a single thread follows their gaze, embroidering itself into the ground as they look down or darting into the sky as they look up to find totems floating in the air. Each totem represents a unique virtual reality experience and by focusing their gaze onto a totem the viewer is transported to an immersive Björk experience.

"In creating the experience we wanted to seamlessly blend browsing the album with Björk's creative vision for her music. This allows the fans to interact with the songs in a way that they've haven't done before," Creative Director of River Studios, Ewan Johnson explained.

Sivan Iram, GM of River Studios said, "This project brings a new dimension to how we experience music. We're truly excited to demonstrate to both artists and their fans how VR can be used as a malleable creative tool that broadens the connection between them."

Björk, herself, considers virtual reality to be a personal and sensory stimulating medium which directly transfers her music, feelings, and experiences.

"The older I get the more I understand what is special about how we experience music. It's either one-on-one, or thousands of people at a festival where you lose yourself. It's not intellectual, it's impulsive. Virtual reality is a natural continuity of that. It has a lot of intimacy," said the musician in an interview with The Guardian.

"Björk shares our vision that virtual reality now plays a major role in artful expression and we are delighted to pioneer this new art medium with her inspiring and fabulous team," Mike Rothenberg, CEO/Founder of Rothenberg Ventures and River Studios shared.

Vulnicura VR currently has three music videos, with five more to be included as they are produced to complete.

The virtual reality album will be released later this year in conjunction with the Björk Digital World Tour. Björk Digital began in Sydney and with the first three music videos from Vulnicura VR and will continue in Tokyo, London, Montreal, Paris, Reykjavik, and Houston. River Studios is also responsible for providing virtual reality playback for the Sydney Event.

http://www.catsandvr.com/bjork

Introducing 360 Photos on Facebook

For the first time, you can now easily share 360 photos on Facebook. Simply take a panorama with your phone or capture a 360-degree photo using a 360 photo app or 360 camera, and then post it on Facebook as you would a normal photo. From there, we’ll convert it to an immersive 360 photo that people can explore, similar to how people experience 360 videos on Facebook.

360 photos are available to view today on Facebook via the web and the latest version of the Facebook app on iOS and Android. Over the next few days they will be rolling out the ability to share your own 360 photos on Facebook.

Beyond News Feed, you’ll also be able to explore Facebook 360 photos in virtual reality with the Samsung Gear VR, powered by Oculus. While using a supported Samsung device, simply click View in VR in the top left corner of the video, place the phone in the Gear VR, and experience the photo in an immersive VR environment.

How Do I Take 360 Photos?

Take a panorama on your iOS device or Samsung Galaxy phone or capture a 360-degree photo using a 360 photo app or 360 camera.
Open the Facebook app and share the photo as you would any other photo: tap the status tool from the top of your Timeline or News Feed, select Photo/Video, choose the photo you want to share, and tap Post.

Once your photo is posted, look around in your photo — or any other 360 photo in News Feed that’s marked with the compass icon — by moving your phone or dragging with your finger. Tap on the photo to view it in full screen.

On Samsung Gear VR-compatible phones, you’ll see a button in the top left corner of your photo that says “View in VR.” If you tap on that button and insert your phone into your Gear VR headset, you can see your 360 photo in virtual reality.

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Getty Images has launched the Getty Images Virtual Reality Group

Getty Images, has launched the Getty Images Virtual Reality Group, a new business dedicated to the creation and global distribution of virtual reality content.

The Getty Images Virtual Reality Group brings the very latest in photographic and video technology together with Getty Images’ 21 years of experience in visual storytelling, to offer exceptional content for existing and future VR platforms. The Group provides a comprehensive offering of over 12,000 premium 360 images with new content added daily, as well as high res gigapixel content from key events and venues.  High quality VR production is also being offered through Getty Images Assignments.

Quick to adapt to new image technologies, Getty images began building its collection of 360 and gigapixel imagery four years ago, pioneering the use of these techniques in its role as the Official Photographic Agency for the International Olympic Committee at the 2012 London Olympics. Fast track to today, and every Getty Images photographer at the upcoming Rio Olympic Games, will be equipped with a 360 camera. This is just one example of how Getty Images is utilizing its expertise, its access to over 130,000 annual news, sport and entertainment events and its unique relationships to generate high-end VR content, and feed the growing demand for a more immersive visual experience.

Click to see some of the Getty 360° Video content.

“The technology is still in its infancy – as are the business models addressing how to use it – but we can expect to see VR become a leading tool for visual storytelling. It is anticipated that over 14 million consoles will sell this year alone (TrendForce), and we are only on the cusp of what will be a tectonic plate shift in VR” said Dawn Airey, Chief Executive Officer of Getty Images.

Airey continues: “With the launch of the Getty Images Virtual Reality Group, we are embedding VR content technologies into the core of our business and ensuring that, as use of VR continues to grow, its users are further enhancing their experience with access to the world’s best imagery.”

“The diverse range of 360 degree content that we produce – from the red carpet to the stadiums of the world’s biggest sporting events and the frontline of conflict – allows people to access information and experiences that were previously off limits,” said Hugh Pinney, Vice President of Editorial Content at Getty Images. “Virtual Reality is completely transforming the way we view and experience world events.”

The Group will continue to build on Getty Images existing VR content offering, which includes 360 content captured by its award-winning news, sport and entertainment photographers as well as geo-located, interactive panoramic images from its content partner 360cities.net.

Last month, Getty Images and Google announced their latest partnership, which sees Getty Images supplying hi-res VR content from current events around the world for Google Expeditions. Getty Images partnered with Oculus Rift in June 2015 to make its 360 imagery available for users of the Oculus platform via its 360° View by Getty Images collection.

For more information, visit http://wherewestand.gettyimages.com/virtualrealitygroup.

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Check out the current experiments of Google Daydream Labs.

Check out some of the app experiments the Google Daydream lab is working on. Looks like they are using Vive controllers to develop with, it will be interesting how this translates to a final mobile VR product.  

An app experiment from Daydream Labs. Copresence is a multiplier that can amplify the immersion in just about any VR experience.

An app experiment from Daydream Labs. Shared objectives help people break the ice in VR.

An app experiment from Daydream Labs. Text input with drumsticks can be faster than with a laser pointer (and is more fun).

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In\Formation: An immersive documentary about the emerging power of Virtual Reality to inspire empathy in its audience.

In\Formation is a two part (25 min) immersive documentary investigating the medium of Virtual Reality and creative use of the technology to build empathy and new forms of storytelling.

Explored through 3D 360-degree video, the live-action virtual reality experience documents VR pioneers during the 2015 Tribeca Film Festival through a deep dive into their projects, motivations and speculations.

Part One features interviews with VR pioneers Nonny De La Peña, James George, Jacquelyn Ford Morie, Brian Chirls and Vincent Morisset along with Ingrid Kopp, Clint Beharry and Nick Fortugno. Part Two focuses on VR projects selected for Tribeca Storyscapes - The Enemy by Karim Ben Khelifa and The Machine To Be Another by BeAnotherLab.

Directed by Debra Anderson and produced by Hugh McGrory, In\Formation is a Datavized production.  The experience is available for Cardboard as well as available for download and streaming via the In\Formation App on Google Play for Android, distributed by EEVO, and Datavized's YouTube360 Channel. A future release is being planned for Facebook 360 and Gear VR.

Directors Statement:

Pioneering storytellers are creating new forms of documentary to pull at our heartstrings, change our minds and visualize our actions, in real time. Experimental non-linear forms of immersive storytelling point to a future where qualitative data and quantitative data intertwine. Storytellers, driven by humanist motivations, aim to build and measure empathy through virtual worlds and create plausible social impact, their ambitions are aspirational, the projects are complex and research-driven, designed to frame a myriad of questions exploring the human condition: What are the implications of working in this new medium and to what capacity are these technologies truly transformative? How are emotions measured in such environments, can bias be removed, how are these investigations planning to address social issues in a broad sense, from conflict resolution, identity and mutual respect? How is empathy stimulated and exploited, in the most positive sense? How are storytellers crafting experiences, new realities for the viewer, to contextualize social issues, to better understand the human experience?

Through a focus on The Enemy and Machine to Be Another, two pioneering virtual reality prototype projects debuting immersive, interactive installations at the Tribeca Storyscapes exhibition at the crossroads of experimental research, journalism, neuroscience, and interactive performance installation, In\Formation captures these projects, the methodology and motives of the artists and makers, and explores insights about building empathy among individuals through social, cultural and ideological ways to audiences around the world. As an experiment and prototype of its own, it aims to connect as many people as possible to the most important art being made, art that reveals our individual connection to a most complex system, humanity.   

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Review: Reggie Watts-Live In Virtual Reality

Last night over 1200 people came to watch musician, singer, beatboxer, actor, and comedian Reggie Watts give an incredible show in virtual reality. This is the first time that many people got together in VR for a live event. 

I actually went to a pop up event put on by WeLens and Upload VR to experience this. First of all there were some technical difficulties that caused the show to start a bit later than scheduled. Some even had trouble getting in or actually getting a chance to see the show. I do have do give lots of credit for the AltspaceVR team for keeping people in the loop as well as sending an email this morning addressing the difficulties. While waiting to jump in the event , WeLens showed people at the Upload VR space some great VR experiences on GearVR in order to keep people excited. 

Personally I understood that AltspaceVR was trying to push the limit of their tech and once I got in it was a very enjoyable experience. The technical difficulties actually reminded me of when I was a Twitch streamer. When you are on the bleeding edge technology unfortunately challenges happen.

Rather than a felling of seeing Reggie in a huge setting, the show gave off more of an intimate feel of seeing Reggie Watts as a performer just starting out. The difficulties actually made me feel like it was an independent show at a small hole in the wall stand up joint. For me this made it an enjoyable experience. 

Though the AltspaceVR Frontrow tech is supposed to give any one the chance to see a show front and center I would have liked if there was perhaps some sort of virtual crowd in the back to give off that intended feeling a little better.

Technical difficulties aside I had a really good time and I felt like I was at one of Reggie's first ever shows and experience something that is about to blow. If you were there last night you can look back in a few years once VR is out of it's current palm pilot era and say remember when shows like this were underground. 

Cats And VR

Virtual Reality music visualization experience vrAMP available on Steam Early Access.

Oriku, Inc. has announced its inaugural virtual reality music visualization experience, for the HTC Vive and Oculus Rift. ­­ vrAMP, available on Steam Early Access and coming to the Oculus Store. Motes of light and dust particles surround and move through you as they float, swirl, and react to the music. vrAMP listens to any program or web browser and can be used with the Steam in ­game overlay web browser. Listen to local files, YouTube, or any streaming service to see the visualizations react.

The beat algorithm works to create stunning and immersive experiences alongside music without being overwhelming to your senses. vrAMP transitions the visualizations automatically as the music shifts and changes. Toggles are available to pause transitions so that you can stay with one you particularly like.

Oriku looks to the build a strong community for vrAMP. Feature requests, suggestions, and bug reports will be a large part of vrAMP which is why they have chosen to release it now with its core functionality via Steam Early Access and soon on the Oculus Store.

Information provided by Oriku, Inc

Cats And VR

The Conjuring 2 360° Trailer is quite spooky.

James Wan's The Conjuring 2 be back in theaters on June 10. Should you want to take on the challenge of exploring the haunted house at Enfield famous for being plagued by demons, now you can. Enter the Hodgson’s house from the upcoming film and experience 360° horror.

While this VR trailer can be viewed without a headset and will still deliver watching it with a headset will create the most chills. 

Cats and VR