Samsung to release new mixed reality glasses and Gear VR aid for the visually impaired at Mobile World Congress.

Samsung’s is set to release a set of mixed reality glasses at Mobile World Congress 2017 that appear to use Microsoft’s Windows Holographic Shell for PC and  while on the phone it would have a multi-window shell for Android.

On the right of the device is a  CPU, Wi-Fi chip, and projector, while the left incorporates a battery and speaker. Content is capable of being streamed over Wi-Fi Direct or peer-to-peer Wi-Fi.

"Monitorless addresses the fact that there isn't enough AR and VR content currently available and also enables users to play high-capacity PC games on a mobile device,"- Samsung

This could be the holy grail for all the "second-screen experience" talk during the recent years.

An application to consider would be it's functionality for Twitch streamers, allowing for chat control, multiple games, and social aspects.  

Monitorless is a remote-control VR/AR solution that enables consumers to use devices such as smartphones and PCs without a monitor. The solution consists of a special pair of glasses that resemble regular sunglasses. They are used to view content from other devices such as smartphones and PCs and can be used for both Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality functionality thanks to the electro chromic glass featured on the glasses.

Samsung has also developed a  visual aid application for Gear VR to help near-blind and visually-impaired read books and watch TV more easily.

This is part of a big push by Samsung at next weeks Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.

Cats And VR

Ex Marvel CEO and corporate turnaround genius Peter Cueno to join VR/AR company Uncorporeal Sytems

Uncorporeal Systems, today announced that corporate turnaround genius Peter Cuneo has joined the company as Chairman. Cuneo has a distinguished career in leadership roles at world-renowned corporations across industries, from CEO of Marvel Entertainment to president of a Black and Decker business group, with a reputation for unleashing unprecedented growth.  Uncorporeal Systems is known for their volumetric capture, holographic photography and static photogrammetry technology. 

"Peter is a gamechanger," said Kul Wadhwa, Uncorporeal CEO. "With an esteemed career leading major companies working in everything from entertainment to consumer goods, Peter brings us an unparalleled understanding of what customers need to embrace VR and AR. When you add his shrewd operational acumen and extensive relationships at the highest levels of industry, Peter is an ideal partner to scale Uncorporeal's technology."

Cuneo has more than thirty years of experience leading companies into rapid growth phases and facilitating successful market exits. Cuneo is currently Chairman of Valiant Entertainment, a leading character-based entertainment company and one of the most successful publishers in the history of comic books. He is Chairman of Iconix Brand Group, which licenses major consumer brands including Peanuts, Danskin and Mossimo. He previously held several senior leadership roles at Marvel Entertainment, including president and CEO. Ultimately, Disney purchased Marvel for $4.3B. Before that, Cuneo was President and CEO of Remington Products Company and held leadership roles at Black & Decker, Bristol-Myers Squibb and Clairol.

"When I saw the technology Uncorporeal's team developed, I realized the enormous market potential and had to get involved," said Cuneo. "The company is creating incredible experiences that help brands deepen relationships with audiences anywhere, from moviegoers and gamers to online shoppers and travelers. As we enter a new era of visual engagement, Uncorporeal provides an incredible value proposition that businesses can't afford to ignore."

Cats And VR

Attention Cat fans: You will love the Hololens Hello Kitty Collaboration.

Yesterday Sanrio launched Hello Kitty on Actiongram, the HoloLens video creation app. Created by Vine animator Alicia Herber; you can see some examples of the 14 animations included in the Hello Kitty pack in the above video. 

Though AR and the Hololens are still very niche and used more as a development tool than for consumer use Sanrio is looking to be ahead of the curve. 

"Sanrio is always looking for the newest trends and collaborations, including augmented reality," says Egita Di Filippo, a member of Sanrio's digital team. "Mixed reality storytelling is an interesting new medium for expressing creativity which allows the many Hello Kitty fans to engage with and experience her in an entirely new way."

The Hello Kitty video is just one of several that has been created from a collaboration with Microsoft and several social media video influencers. 

Mark Zuckerberg may be working with OptiTrack for their new glove system. Check out video of how that may work.

Mark Zuckerberg has revealed a potential new Oculus Rift input system. These Oculus gloves bring to mind the future Nintendo predicted with the Power Glove. The pictures Mark shared on his Facebook wall look like they are using OptiTrack sensors. If that is the case I had the opportunity to try these out a while back in October.

HTC Vive and Viveport are bringing some of my favorite VR experiences to Sundance.

HTC Vive and Viveport is heading to Park City, Utah during the 2017 Sundance Film Festival to exhibit at “VR on the Mountain,” a virtual reality hub for festival attendees taking place January 20-22. HTC Vive and Viveport are bringing a lineup of apps including two of my favorites of 2016, Mindshow and The Price Of Freedom.

I'm actually in a promotional video for The Price Of Freedom but that is because it is super rad.

I am also a huge fan of Mindshow and have been hanging in the Alpha for a bit.

Mindshow is a product built from a passion for VR. Not just because VR is cool but because we were promised the future when we were kids and still seeking it. 

Mindshow is Walt Disney. Mindshow is Jim Henson. Mindshow is Steve Jobs. Mindshow is the spark in humanity that made them create characters out of the stars. Mindshow are the muppet babies playing make believe come to life. 

Vive is also highlighting new content from Baobab Studios, a studio that brought its impressive animation pedigree to VR last year with “Invasion!,” an award-winning title launched last year.  Headed by veterans from Pixar and DreamWorks Animation, including “Madagascar” writer-director Eric Darnell.

The Viveport exhibit is part of HTC Vive’s sponsorship of “VR on the Mountain” during the 2017 Sundance Film Festival. “VR on the Mountain” will be held January 20-22 at Firewood, one of newest venues located on Main Street in Park City, Utah. Attendees will be able to experience all of the titles listed for the duration of the exhibit with the exception of “Asteroids,” which will debut on January 21.

HTC is already killing it in 2017 with a rad showing at CES including the Vive Tracker. Also who in the hell is dotdotdash?

HTC has kicked off 2017 by showcasing new Vive accessories and services at CES that will lay the foundation for VR in 2017 and beyond.  

First up: The Vive Tracker

The Vive Tracker will ship in the Q2 of this year. The company showed off a video featuring Portland, Oregon VR design studio dotdotdash, one of the first developers to use the Vive Tracker. The company developed a camera accessory called D3-U for its VR experience called Exoplanet. I would describe Exoplanet as Pokemon Snap on Acid.

Second Up: Vive Deluxe Audio Strap.

I love my HTC Vive but I have always thought that Oculus had them beat with the way they integrated audio into the headset. HTC has finally addresses it with the Vive Deluxe Audio Strap.

The Vive Deluxe Audio Strap is designed with adjustable integrated headphones and a new customizable sizing dial for quickly adjusting the fit of the headstrap ala the Playstation VR headset. The Deluxe Audio Strap will also be available in Q2. Pricing for both the Tracker and Deluxe Audio Strap will be announced soon.

HTC also announced a collaboration with Intel to jointly bring to market a commercial-grade wireless VR adaptor. TPCast is a wireless adaptor  incubated through the Vive X accelerator program. It includes a one and a half hour battery, and latency as low as 2ms. TPCast will be shipping in Q2 2017 and will retail for $249 USD.

Lastly: Viveport & Chill?

In early 2017, Viveport will be launching a subscription service to help you navigate and find the best VR apps in the world, as well as introduce a new channel through which VR developers can monetize their content. There are currently thousands of apps available on Vive globally. Viveport’s subscription service will help people navigate this growing marketplace and discover new apps, providing access to an ever-growing library of content for a low monthly fee. 

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The CatsAndVR.com top 5 VR compaines in 2016 (for Us). Have a Great NYE! Have a Great 2017

First of all I would like to thank all the people who supported CatsAndVR.com this year. This started of as a pet project so I could learn and immerse my self in the world of Virtual Reality. 

As 2016 started I was in a job I hated but thanks to CatsAndVR.com I was able to get a job in VR that allows me to travel, be plugged in, and also follow my passion. I have learned a lot and due to that job I have I have not been able to put as much time into CatsAndVR.com over the last month. Since the end of 2016 falls on Caturday, I am closing 2016 out with a post. 

So Happy Caturday, Happy NYE, and Happy 2017 to all of you. Here we go.

The Top 5 VR Companies for me in 2016 (in no particular order I think they are all awesome)

Number One

Unity Technologies announced a host of new partnerships and exciting updates in 2016.The dev team I work with uses Unity as our bread and butter. There is a reason it is the game engine helping to push VR into a consumer product.  

With nearly 5 billion downloads of made with Unity mobile games in Q3 alone including  Super Mario Run, Unity continues to enable developers to create content and are now using that for VR and AR.

At the end of the year they released their EditorVR for constructing environments for VR in VR. For now, if you’re building VR games and experiences, EditorVR will likely help you with laying out a scene in VR and building your own custom VR tools

Unity has helped the VR ecosystem with innovation and has made some great hires this year to help chart them into 2017 including hiring innovators such as Tony Parisi and Danny Lange.

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

Number Two

As VR grew in the past few years, so has UploadVR. UploadVR has helped create an awareness of VR in the San Francisco Bay Area and is now helping to evangelize globally.  This growing set of influencers in the VR community known for their events and ability to connect the VR world.. Upload VR is not just a blog but a group helping to shape VR not only as a consumer product but through connecting VR to the world of art, cinema, as well as using these connections for good. 

They are also helping to push Unity by hosting Learn Unity events. I hope to take one of these in 2017 so I can better my own skill set. On a personal level I owe something to Upload VR due to the fact that they gave me tickets to their E3 Upload Party. If I had not received those tickets I may have not went to LA to try to get in to E3 as press. I was successful in getting press for CatsAndVR and thus my 2016 VR year actually seemed like a reality. 

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

http://www.catsandvr.com/blog/uploadvre3

Number Three

Mindshow is a product built from a passion for VR. Not just because VR is cool but because we were promised the future when we were kids and still seeking it. 

Mindshow is Walt Disney. Mindshow is Jim Henson. Mindshow is Steve Jobs. Mindshow is the spark in humanity that made them create characters out of the stars. Mindshow are the muppet babies playing make believe come to life. 

It was hard to try to write something about Mindshow after I first tried it at VRLA because everyone who tried it in the media loved it to some degree and has been able to post before me. What do you write to be different. CatsAndVR.com can't compete with UploadVR, Techcrunch, VRScout , and the other cool kids in resources, turnaround time, etc.

Mindshow reminded me I did not start the site to do that at all but instead I started it to learn and to grow. In the end maybe this post did not fully explain what Mindshow really is or do the experience justice, but neither did the trailer. You have to experience it to really know that this is what we have been seeking in VR the whole time. You see in the end what Mindshow really is can just be described as inspiration captured and then shared for the sake of shared inspiration itself. Inspiration is what I walked away with from VRLA. Inspiration is what I walked away with from Mindshow.

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

Number Four

As you may know, TheWaveVR recently made headlines for raising $2.5 million to create a VR music ecosystem. http://www.catsandvr.com/blog/thewavevrfunding

TheWaveVR is a VR platform for people who love music, enabling them to view, host and socialize in live and recorded shows worldwide, anytime, anywhere.  TheWave creates a VR venue where artists can perform live music by simply importing their tracks, customizing the visuals of the venue, and sharing virtual shows. Fans can attend via most major VR head mounted displays, interact with performers, socialize with friends, dance, paint and more.

One of the major highlights of the VRLA Summer Expo was the VR Rave presented by Skullcandy, Subpac, WeLens, and TheWaveVR. Attendees like comedian Reggie Watts got to experience a next level audio visual experience that incorporated 3D visuals as well as the ability to experience it all in VR.

Number Five

Thank you everyone this year. I started this year just wanting to be part of the VR world and now I have an HTC Vive, Playstation VR, and Gear VR I can call my own. I used CatsAndVR.com to get me a paying job in VR. I have traveled all over America evangelizing VR for my day job and got to meet a bunch of pro Football players.

I watched two Warriors games from a private suite because of VR and got to travel to 3 new states due to VR. All in all I think CatsAndVR.com was a worthwhile investment. I look forward to growing, writing more, learning Unity, going to VR meetups, and being a member of the VR community. Have a safe NYE and great 2017. 

-

Bobby Venom

Calling all developers for the Samsung Gear VR Killer App Contest

Samsung is searching for the next killer GearVR app and is incentivizing devs with an app challange. If your app has not been published for Samsung Gear VR yet, send them yourdemo/app experience created in the Oculus SDK with Unity or Web VR. It doesn’t have to be a complete app or experience. It doesn’t have to be a game also. Apps previously published to other platforms since this September are also eligible. Samsung is looking for diverse and amazing uses of Samsung Gear VR, and want to help promote them to the world.

Don't waste anytime cause the deadline is November 23 2016 and the prizes are pretty good.

Oculus Connect 3 Developer Session Videos are now up to view.

If you were not able to make Oculus Connect 3 this year here is a Youtube playlist with 32 videos from the event included:

I was able to attend quite a few and some highlights for me include the sessions below. Check them out to really get a great understanding of not only what Oculus and Facebook are doing with VR but how the industry is developing as a whole. 

The proliferation of 360 content coupled with the new WebVR standard promises to bring a wave of fresh content to VR. Using familiar tools such as WebGL, three.js, and React, developers can easily create interactive 3D and 360 experiences.

Virtual reality has changed how we create. From games and movies, to experiences and tools-we're just beginning to see what's possible. But what happens when you take traditional artistic methods and transfer them to VR? Learn how Oculus is creating new tools, specifically for Touch, to help more people express themselves.

VR has become a powerful empathy machine. What is it about this new medium that's so effective at connecting humanity? This panel discusses how we can continue to harness the power of VR for positive social change.

AR shopping tool PointShop wins TechCrunch Disrupt SF Hackathon

The Hackathon was part of the start of this years TechCrunch Disrupt SF and was won by  PointShop.space. The app utilizes augmented reality with the aim of helping consumers better understand what they’re looking at before a purchase by simply lining up a phone camera with a real world product. 

The two person team of Yosun Chang and Anuj Agrawal, demoed the hack working on an iPhone during Disrupt.

Chang told TechCrunch "“People like to buy random things that they see, We were thinking originally what if you can use reality as your primary key — usually a primary key is a string or an integer somewhere but what if it’s the objects? And every object is made by a company that’s probably in CrunchBase.”

https://techcrunch.com/2016/09/11/disrupt-hackathon-winner/

MyDream Launches LightVR, A Customizable and Interactive Virtual Reality Desktop

Virtual Reality company and development studio MyDream Interactive Inc. today announced the early access release of LightVR  a multi-window computer interface for VR that lets users interface the Windows desktop, web apps, and games all from a fully customizable 360 VR space with multiple screens, 3D props, and environments. MyDream Interactive will be showcasing at booth VR3 during PAXWest.

LightVR is an experiment in creativity and functionality in VR, with a vision to be a virtual room simulator. This allows anyone to create the room of their dreams, with pre-made props and “technology posters” allowing users to decorate their rooms to their liking. For example, LightVR users could build a cozy and intimate environment, an enchanted forest, or a futuristic spaceship-style room. Part of a dream room is allowing infinite TVs and monitors, which is supported through LightVR’s functionality, allowing users to create as many web apps as they like, whether that means watching YouTube videos and playing a video game or Skyping with friends.  With LightVR, the screens can be either familiar computer monitor screens, web apps (such as YouTube, Facebook, and Skype), or games. They can be freely positioned, oriented, curved or sized with the VR headset motion controllers.

Interaction with the Virtual Reality content can be either through a traditional mouse and keyboard input or directly with the controllers, where intuitive gestures are implemented. 3D applications are captured and presented in the VR space at 90 frames per second, providing seamless presence. The controllers can also be used to configure the LightVR space and to interact with other applications. 

With LightVR, MyDream has pioneered the concept of enabling the forward-facing camera on the VR headset for users to see their keyboard, grab a drink off the desk, or engage with people around them without the need to remove the VR headset. The camera is blended with the virtual world and is activated based on a set of configurable gestures, such as the user looking down at the keyboard. This “blended reality” allows for ease of typing and maintaining awareness of the physical world. 

The product is geared towards everyone from the casual VR user to those who want a fully-immersive VR experience with their headset on throughout. LightVR offers quality graphics which are realistically lit by the screen, and props which personalize the VR space. Window orientation, backgrounds, and additional features can also be customized and automatically saved so that when you exit and restart the application, it restores the same VR state. LightVR will be released on Steam on September 2, 2016. 

“LightVR’s advantages over competing virtual desktops are freely customizable position, orientation, curvature and size of the virtual screens, gesture activated pass-through vision and lighting fast performance,” said Rouslan Dimitrov, lead developer of LightVR. “The ability to customize your VR preferences and to visually tap into the physical world are what make LightVR so groundbreaking.” 

Pricing and availability
LightVR is an early-access product, available for $13.99. It will be on sale for $6.99 during the launch period, from September 2 to September 16.  http://www.lightvr.co/

Mindshow lets us remember the promises of VR and captures the spirit of the VRLA Summer Expo.

This weekend I attended one of the best up and coming conferences dealing with VR. Just like the humble beginnings of GDC, VRLA started because of a true passion for its respective industry. Having attended E3, PAX, GDC and many more events in the gaming industry VRLA may have been one of the most productive events I have ever attended. In fact the reason this post is late is because I may have possibly joined a stealth startup while attending the expo and had some work to do (more to come in the future)

Cosmo Scharf started Day 2 of the expo basically asking the audience to take a journey with him into our unconscious minds. To him VR is a journey into greater human understanding not just a race for the next big thing or monetization conversations. 

I was intrigued by his presentation that featured many references to Terrence McKenna and included a very trippy set of slides. He would then introduce Gil Baron, CEO of VisionaryVR, a startup that also includes includes the co-founders of the VRLA conference Jonnie Ross, Adam Levin and Cosmo Scharf as well as Luke Patterson who was the lead engineer on the virtual reality sandbox game ElemenTerra. 

GIl would go on to show the trailer for Mindshow and I was instantly captivated and said it might be worth checking out. I then went about my business which included interviews with an amazing DJ, checking out the awesome game Wands offsite, doing a job interview, and checking out the rad upcoming VR headphones from Skullcandy. I decided I had a quick break and I will now try to check out Mindshow, well the line was about 2 hours long and I was not press enough to cut the line apparently. Well after lunch with an Adult VR company I decided I NEED to see this and tried again. After some smooth talking I was able to check out Mindshow. You see the point I am trying to make is that I took a Greyhound bus from SF to LA because of passion for VR. I made sure I checked out Mindshow because of a passion for VR.

Mindshow is a product built from a passion for VR. Not just because VR is cool but because we were promised the future when we were kids and still seeking it. 

Mindshow is Walt Disney. Mindshow is Jim Henson. Mindshow is Steve Jobs. Mindshow is the spark in humanity that made them create characters out of the stars. Mindshow are the muppet babies playing make believe come to life. 

It was hard to try to write something about Mindshow because everyone who tried it in the media loved it to some degree and has been able to post before me. What do you write to be different. CatsAndVR.com can't compete with UploadVR, Techcrunch, VRScout , and the other cool kids in resources, turnaround time, etc.

Mindshow reminded me I did not start the site to do that at all but instead I started it to learn and to grow. In the end maybe this post did not fully explain what Mindshow really is or do the experience justice, but neither did the trailer. You have to experience it to really know that this is what we have been seeking in VR the whole time. You see in the end what Mindshow really is can just be described as inspiration captured and then shared for the sake of shared inspiration itself. Inspiration is what I walked away with from VRLA. Inspiration is what I walked away with from Mindshow.

Cats And VR

TheWaveVR team raises $2.5M from KPCB and others to help grow their interactive VR DJ/Production tool.

Well I woke up this morning in shock but not surprise to learn that The WaveVR team had just raised $2.5M from KPCB and others to help grow their interactive VR DJ/Production tool. 

Shocked because I have met Grimecraft, one of the primary architects of this amazing piece of software. Not surprised because I have met Grimecraft, one of the primary architects of this amazing piece of software. 

TheWaveVR is a VR platform for people who love music, enabling them to view, host and socialize in live and recorded shows worldwide, anytime, anywhere.  TheWave creates a VR venue where artists can perform live music by simply importing their tracks, customizing the visuals of the venue, and sharing virtual shows. Fans can attend via most major VR head mounted displays, interact with performers, socialize with friends, dance, paint and more.

Ever since I heard about TheWaveVR I thought this may be something that will be big and looks like investors share the same sentiments.

“TheWaveVR is building music experiences that can only exist in virtual reality. They're giving musicians superpowers they've never had before, and allowing listeners to experience performances in ways that have never been possible. We're excited to help them build this platform that will forever change the music industry,” said Anjney Midha, founding partner at KPCB Edge.

Photo Credit: Clarke Nordhauser

You may have not tried TheWaveVR yet but if you are into VR or even electronic music in general it is a must experience app.  Grimecraft, a game industry vet and SF based DJ  has been spending his time at conferences and VR events on an almost Fight Club like schedule(no sleep) to demo this to anyone interested. I knew it was something big when I saw the Tilt Brush team basically in awe of The WaveVR during a recent VR event. 

The company also announced that it has added David Wexler (aka Strangeloop) and Dave Haynes as advisors. Wexler is an audio-visual artist and founder of Strangeloop Studios in Los Angeles, CA. He is one of the most recognized live visual artists in the world, having worked with Flying Lotus, Skrillex, The Rolling Stones and more. Haynes is a longtime entrepreneur and currently on the investment team at Seedcamp. He was formerly a VP and part of the early team at SoundCloud, helping the company grow from launch to the world's leading online audio platform.

“We’re working toward empowering artists and music lovers alike and transforming the way people connect through music by building the world’s first musical metaverse in VR,” said Adam Arrigo, CEO of TheWaveVR. “Music creators will be able to fully customize how their audience experiences the music – whether that’s by transforming the venue from a realistic nightclub to outer space or putting on the most unimaginable light show ever.”

TheWaveVR will be unveiling the world’s first VR Rave at VRLA on August 5-6 in partnership with SubPac, Skullcandy, PhaseSpace and 3DLive. A curated list of DJs will be performing in the HTC Vive, while multiple attendees will wear positionally tracked Gear VR’s and SubPacs (subwoofer vests). The DJs will be performing in front of a giant 3D screen, so music lovers can also experience eye-popping visuals from the metaverse on 3D glasses

thewavevr.com

Cats And VR

HelloVR bringing MetaWorld social VR experience to Vive, Oculus, & PlayStationVR

"We are creating something magical with Improbable,” says Dedric Reid, founder and CEO, HelloVR. “Creating a social VR experience poses new challenges like head tracking on a massive scale, and networked physics so people can realistically interact in a persistent shared space. We are happy to reveal how we will be solving all of these challenges and opening up a new category of entertainment - by collaborating with Improbable, and building on SpatialOS.”

HelloVR’s MetaWorld will place players in nearly 10,000 square miles of virtual environment in the first ever massive, physics-based virtual social space of its kind. The scale of the simulated world, and its networked physics, is enabled by SpatialOS.

“HelloVR has designed MetaWorld from the ground up to take full advantage of room-scale VR and 360 degree freedom of movement,” said Herman Narula, Founder and CEO, Improbable.

“That means that, standing inside this massive VR world and looking out at the horizon, there's something distinctly otherworldly about knowing that “out there” really does exist. Building on SpatialOS means that there are no loading tricks or fake backdrops: if you can see it, you can travel to it - step by step if you want to. And if you make a change to any part of the world, that change persists and can be experienced by everyone else who visits. Your actions have lasting consequences; they matter. That’s a key part of making a virtual world feel real.”

Later this year, the studio plans to release an early version of this vast open-world experience. The release, entitled MetaWorld Pioneer Edition, invites early adopters to begin populating and shaping the new world. Visitors will be able to participate in outdoor physics simulations including: camping, fishing, farming, archery, hot air balloon flights, road trips, meditation retreats and more. A suite of creative tools for building and making in MetaWorld will follow next year.MetaWorld Pioneer Edition from HelloVR is currently in closed alpha, and will be available for HTC Vive Oculus Rift, and PlayStationVR.

Visitors will also be able to experience the world without a VR headset using standard computers and mobile devices.

To sign up for early access, please visit http://www.metaworldvr.com .

Will Pokemon Go be coming to VR headsets?

Though it may make it hard to see when traveling, but Pokemon Go may be coming to VR headsets.  Opening the games licenses sub-menu will bring up a list of the licensed software that Niantic used to build Pokemon Go. This includes the Google Cardboard SDK.

Perhaps this is an indication that some VR features will be coming to go as I feel that Niantic would not want to take away from the AR experience. This could also be an interesting first step for Nintendo VR and could lead to a Killer VR app for Google's new Daydream platform.

CatsAndVR.com

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.

Oculus working on new Haptic tech for extrasensory VR.

HapticWave, an Oculus research project, uses a metal plate on a ring of electromagnet actuators to send vibrations to your hand to let you feel virtual objects. A headset and audio help the illusion along, says Ravish Mehra, a research scientist at Oculus. 

With this tech, your hand would stand in for your entire body, says Ravish Mehra, a research scientist at Oculus. If someone in a video game is creeping up behind you, you might feel vibrations at the base of your palm. If you're in an educational experience exploring the world of dinosaurs, your entire hand might vibrate with each step. "Our hope around this project was being able to generate this extrasensory input so users can be more perceptive and more believable of virtual objects," Mehra says.

There has been some recent demos created to showcase this new tech and will be showcased later this month at the Siggraph computer graphics and interaction conference. http://s2016.siggraph.org/

Virtual Reality music sandbox SoundStage hits Steam Early Access on 7/7

If you look at old rock concerts, you’ll see these HUGE synthesizers that the musicians connect together to make electronic sounds. These instruments are literally enveloping the player. SoundStage attempts to capture the feel of those epic music machines then take it to the next level with tools only possible in a virtual environment. All in a world inspired by the airbrush paintings and computer graphics of the 80s. 

Available 7/7 on Steam Early Access: http://store.steampowered.com/app/485780 SoundStage is a virtual reality music sandbox built specifically for room-scale VR. Whether you're a professional DJ creating a new sound, or a hobbyist who wants to rock out on virtual drums, SoundStage gives you a diverse toolset to express yourself.

Cats And VR

MetaVRse Launches Canada's First Full Service Virtual Reality Agency

Toronto-based VR Agency MetaVRse has launched as Canada’s first full-service Virtual Reality agency. MetaVRse offers a wide range of experiential marketing and event production, content production and consulting services to brands interested in harnessing the incredible power of virtual and augmented reality technologies.

Founded by Alan Smithson, serial entrepreneur and inventor of the Emulator DJ system and Dan Flatt, a former lawyer, management consultant and leader of social media for Canada’s largest media company, MetaVRse offers a wide range of customized solutions including: 360° video and interactive Virtual Reality content development, 360° live streaming for festivals and events and VR rentals for tradeshows, marketing initiatives and events.

“The biggest challenge facing the emerging VR industry is showing the world VR,” said MetaVRse President, Dan Flatt. “We are leveraging the power of corporate events to solve this challenge.”

“Our mission is to show the world the future,” said an enthusiastic Smithson. “VR is already the most powerful and engaging platform for entertainment, gaming and branded content.”

With over one million active monthly users of the Samsung GearVR, millions of Google Cardboard units and high-end Oculus Rift and HTC Vive pre-orders, Smithson believes that brands that are early to develop unique and engaging content for VR and will have a huge advantage over their competition.

Studies show that people remember VR experiences the same as real memories. With the growing VR user base hungry for new content, marketers can create meaningful connections with their customers through innovative branded experiences.

MetaVRse has worked with marquee clients including: Royal Ontario Museum, Adidas, Footlocker, Niagara Falls Tourism and CDW. MetaVRse has been onsite capturing immersive 360° video at Groove Cruise, Bestival, MuchMusic Video Awards, and more. Smithson will be speaking at the Virtual Reality Toronto (VRTO) conference in Toronto and International Live Events Association (ILEA) conference in Austin. He will also be performing a live DJ set in VR at the Microsoft Worldwide Partners Conference (MWPC) in Toronto.

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/