9/9/2016
The Cats And VR app of the day for September 9th 2016 is Mars Odyssey from Oakland based company Steel Wool.
Mars Odyssey is a single player VR simulator experience. Land on Earth’s sister planet. Walk the surface of Mars in your living room and interact with full-scale, realistic NASA Landers and Rovers. Learn about the Red Planet, its history, and its geography in this interactive experience. Play time: 20 min.
8/30/2016
The Cats And VR App Of the Week is Damaged Core From High Voltage Software.
August 18th 2016
CatsAndVR has been talking about Wands for a while and now the best looking new game for Gear VR, Wands, launches today in the Oculus store:
http://www.catsandvr.com/blog/wandsgearvr
https://www.oculus.com/experiences/gear-vr/1124164450939641/
Set in late 19th-century London, Wands presents an alternate history and drops gamers into a virtual reality steampunk world where they can join a secret society of spell wielders who seek to prove their power and unlock hidden magical talents. An online PvP (player vs. player) game for Samsung Gear VR, players train in Wands by learning ancient spells, dueling other wielders online, harnessing their mystical power to become the most powerful magician in the realm.
August 5th 2016
The Cats And VR App Of The Day for August 5th 2016 is Smash Wars from FaunaFace: https://madewith.unity.com/games/smash-wars
Get immersed in this endless VR smashing arcade racing, smashing and surfing game. In this colorful endless arcade space racer, the goal is to "Smash Till You Crash". Fly and drift through the obstacles while you smash through the glass and pickup shards to build your drone shield and thrust.
Features include:
- 14 Drones to unlock & Upgrade
- VR/ Google Cardboard support
- Four levels of difficulty
- Supports offline mode.
- Earn free currency by watching Ad's
- Try drones before you buy
- Simple Tilt or Touch to controls
July 22 2016
The Cats And VR App Of The Day is VeeR Pong: Beer Pong in VR. Enjoy the weekend!
http://steamcommunity.com/app/494850#scrollTop=40
July 19th 2016
Check out the Cats And VR App Of the Day for July 19th.
July 15 2016
The Cats And VR App Of The Day is Raw Data!
Raw Data is a highly immersive, made-for-VR co-op combat game with a lively world influenced by classic sci-fi thrillers. The player becomes the adrenaline-charged hero of his own futuristic action blockbuster, complete with an arsenal of advanced weapons and futuristic technopowers driven by Active VR gameplay.
The initial Early Access version of Raw Data features multiple heroes and enemies, a variety of missions, networked co-op gameplay, locomotion, special ability unlocks, and much more. All players who buy the game in Early Access will also receive the final game on release, expected later this year.
Raw Data has received high praise from both VR insiders and mainstream gamers at Game Developers Conference, PAX East, and E3. TechCrunch hailed the two-player experience as “the most advanced first-person shooter in VR.” Tom’s Guide named it the best VR game of GDC 2016. And at E3, Unreal Engine and GamesBeat awarded Raw Data with their “Awesome (Hardware Mover)” and “Technical Achievement (VR Voodoo)” accolades.
“The VR community greatly influences our game direction, and we’re very excited to hear what they have to say now that our first public build of Raw Data is available for everyone to experience,” said James Iliff, co-founder and Chief Creative Officer of Survios
“Our goal is to deliver a complete VR gaming experience with intuitive gameplay, thrilling action, compelling environments, and hours of replayability. Player feedback is invaluable in making that happen,” added Chris Hewish, Survios’ Head of Studio. “We’re fully supporting Raw Data with continuous content updates.”
Raw Data is now available for HTC Vive on Steam Early Access for $39.99 (plus a 20% launch discount). For more details, please visit www.RawDataGame.com .
July 12,2016
The Cats And VR app of the day is Hyper Room.
In Hyper Room, you create “rooms” in VR that you can share with other people, who can then join your room. Once someone’s in your room you get shared voice chat and presence, and you can both draw in 3D together a la Tiltbrush, or use tools like a whiteboard. Everything’s in real time so you see an avatar synced with their movements, and the strokes get rendered as the other person is drawing them.
The beta can be downloaded here:
https://storage.googleapis.com/nodejstest-1364.appspot.com/builds/hyper-room-0.0.2.zip
Please note that currently Hyper Room exclusively supports the HTC Vive*
Before you launch Hyper Room please make sure you have:
SteamVR running.
Your default/current microphone set to your Vive’s microphone.
A good internet connection. This is mostly for the voice chat, if you can run Skype or Hangouts then you should be fine.
Other people to try it out with!
Controls:
Right trigger to draw.
Swipe the right touchpad horizontally to resize the brush.
Click into the right touchpad to switch between eraser and brush.
Click into the left touchpad to activate teleport mode. A parabola will appear and teleport you to where it lands once you release.
https://medium.com/@yoshikischmitz/announcing-hyper-room-beta-838a8c0c82fd#.ollkg1oa2
June 11, 2016
Dark Days, Parallel Studio’s newest VR experience, immerses you in a creepy motel in the middle of Death Valley to solve puzzles while you fight for survival. Fans of escape-the-room puzzles and thrilling supernatural narrative have a new VR game to look forward to. Dark Days is as an excellent Gear VR title that mixes the weirdness of Twin Peaks with the unknown supernatural bumps in the night of The X-Files and the hide-and-seak game play of Amnesia. The game puts you in the role of heroine Jade Lacroix, a writer who checks into a very seedy motel filled with mystery.
June 18th 2016
The Cats And VR App Of The Day is Guided Meditation VR.
May 28th 2016
The Cats And VR App Of The Day for May 28th is Floor Plan.
May 26th 2016
The Cats And VR App of the Day for May 26th 2016 is Catlateral Damage VR
Catlateral Damage is a first-person destructive cat simulator where you play as a cat on a rampage, knocking as much stuff onto the ground as possible. See the world through the eyes of an ordinary house cat, now with virtual reality support for the HTC Vive! Use your motion controllers as paws to swat at all your owner’s beloved belongings within procedurally-generated houses. Race the clock in Objective Mode or just chill at your own pace in Litterbox Mode. After experiencing the life of a cat in VR you’ll finally understand why cats are so mischievous: because it’s fun! Check it out on Steam: http://store.steampowered.com/app/474720/
May 24th 2016
The Cats And VR App Of The Day for May 24th 2016 is Arizona Sunshine for HTC VIVE
Arizona Sunshine is a VR shooter built and optimized for room-scale VR from the ground up. Step into the midst of a zombie apocalypse as if you were really there, and defend yourself against enemies close enough to touch. A custom-built physical animation system makes striking your undead enemies more thrilling and satisfying than ever before.
Room-space VR. Step into the midst of a zombie attack as if you were really there and defend yourself against enemies close enough to touch. Arizona Sunshine is a shooter built and optimized for VR from the ground up.
Motion-controlled weapon handling. With HTC Vive's motion controllers in room-scale VR, handling, firing and reloading your guns never felt so realistic. Anticipate attacks, manage your ammo and consumables, and aim down the sights to blast your enemies to undead pieces.
Check out Arizona Sunshine: http://store.steampowered.com/app/342180/
May 22nd 2016
The Cats And VR App Of the Day is Audioshield for HTC VIVE.
Experience your entire music collection in VR. Audioshield puts you at the point of impact for every hit in your music. Beats glide in slowly for mellow parts of songs, then ramp up for intense parts of songs with cross-body, double-shield, and high-altitude hits.
Audioshield uses an advanced version of Audiosurf 2's music analysis system to sync with any song from your collection - and also with online streaming from Soundcloud.
Every song has its own online leaderboard. Audioshield also supports local leaderboards to easily compete with friends during look-at-my-awesome-new-VR-system parties.
"VR Missile Command inside a neon rave, set to your own music." (PC Gamer)
"The physicality of standing in place to fend off incoming orbs feels powerful" (IGN)
"Audioshield: Feels like music-melee Missile Command-and we love it" (Ars Technica)
"...felt like we were being pulled into a futuristic trance-like state with sparks of orange and blue splattering about" (Maximum PC)
"...your music library comes to life as a fully immersive gaming experience" (UploadVR)
May 17th 2016
The Cats And VR App Of The Day is Disney Movies VR. Disney is a small indie film studio that has created some very under the radar releases but as of recent had some semi big hits. Disney is currently riding a wave of popularity due to helping bringing some obscure comic book and Sci-Fi properties into the mainstream a bit. Disney recently launched a VR app that they hope will help their films get some more exposure. Check it out on Steam: http://store.steampowered.com/app/469650/
May 16th 2016
The Cats And VR App Of The Day for May 16th is Kismet. Kismet was produced by world-renowned creative studio Psyop, famous for their contributions to the worlds of animation and advertising which have earned them awards including Annies, Emmys, Cubes, Lions, Pencils, Webbies, and more.
May 10th 2016
The Cats And VR App of the Day is Ghibli VR Demos by Fire Panda. If you are a Hayao Miyazaki please check out this free app for VR. A lot of love was put into this so please support Fire Panda on future projects as well. https://www.wearvr.com/apps/ghibli-vr-demos
Explore 3 scenes from classic Studio Ghibli films:
-Spirited Away's Boiler Room
-My Neighbor Totoro, the Bus Stop scene
-Howls Moving Castle, the Meadow
May 4th 2016
The Cats And VR App Of The Day will of course have to be Star Wars related since it is May the fourth. It's a great app for Star Wars fans and has some Google Cardboard and AR features that are excellent!
The Star Wars app is your official mobile connection to a galaxy far, far away.
With a dynamic interface, the Star Wars app immerses you in breaking news, rich media, social updates, special events, and interactive features. Here’s where the fun begins:
● Get instant notifications on big announcements, including trailer releases and movie news
● Theme your app with Light Side, Dark Side, or Droid interfaces, each containing different designs, sounds, and animations
● Immerse yourself in Jakku Spy, a first-of-its-kind serialized Google Cardboard Virtual Reality (VR) feature that ties directly to Star Wars: The Force Awakens..
● Unlock 3D characters from Star Wars: The Force Awakens using a special Augmented Reality camera feature
● Take and share a Star Wars “selfie” in various iconic costumes and settings, including Jedi, Princess Leia (with hair buns), Han Solo’s carbon freeze, and more
● Get Star Wars-themed weather and five-day forecasts, featuring original art and parallax effects of in-universe planets and locales
● Wield a lightsaber and hone your skills against a training remote, as seen in Star Wars: A New Hope
● Share Emojis and animated GIFs with your friends and family
Check it out on Android or iOS.
May the 4th be with you.
May 1st, 2016
Cyberpong VR takes the core experience of classic paddle ball games and brings it to life in an immersive and futuristic game world fully controlled by the player,” said Jikhan Jung, CEO of colopl NI. “Our goal is to create engaging social VR experiences such as what Cyberpong VR provides through its intuitive head-to-head action and easily relatable game style.”
Cyberpong VR was developed and published by colopl NI’s San Mateo, CA studio, which has been staffing up with VR-focused development talent from Silicon Valley to forge new VR games. The title is available now for the HTC Vive on Steam for MSRP $14.99, with a special 10% discount during launch week for just $13.49.
Get Cyberpong VR here: http://store.steampowered.com/app/462000/
For more information on colopl Nl, please visit www.coloplni.com
April 30th 2016
The Cats And VR VR App of the Day is The Climb, out now for Oculus Rift.
April 28th 2016
The Cats And VR App Of The Day for April 28th 2016 is The Cat Detector. The Cat Detector uses a Kinect v1 sensor to take a baseline image, then scan for large, contiguous blobs. It plays a loud warning sound whenever it detects two or more blobs at a time, until one of the blobs disappears. Aim the Kinect at your HTC Vive VR playspace, get out of the picture, and hit "Baseline & Arm" to start it up. Make sure it has a clear view of any possible places a cat would enter the space, and immediately pause the game and look around if a warning sound plays, since cats tend to quickly slip into your shadow/out of sight.
Q: How does it work?
A: You click "Baseline & Arm" to capture a frame of depth data, and then the app sounds an alarm if it detects two or more large contiguous blobs that are different from the baseline. The alarm stops when it gets back to one blob, and note that unless you're very careful with the way you position your Kinect, there will likely be large blind spots in your VR playspace, so pause the game ASAP and look around if the alarm goes off!
I have not tried it yet but it was developed by Ray Marcilla who is employed by Microsoft as a BIOS/driver developer on the first party devices team. By default of the site name I have to put this on.
To learn more: http://hardmodecode.com/CatDetector/
April 26th 2016
The Cats And VR App Of The Day for April 26th 2016 and perhaps my current favorite App is The 2016 SXSW Accelerator Award winner for Virtual Reality: SPLASH.
Splash your reality - create and share videos in 360 with friends using only your phone!
* Tap around to capture and add videos to make a Splash
* Dive into the best Splashes from around the world
* Share Splashes with friends on Facebook and other social networks
* Double-tap to show your love in 360°
* Check out VR mode to experience Splashes in Google Cardboard or other headsets. VR just got social!
Simply put Splash is a super accessible way to enter into creating 360° video content. All you need is an iPhone. The app allows you to shoot and stitch 360° videos and pictures right in your phone. You can easily share on Facebook and to the Splash community through the app. One of the most AMAZING features of the app is the ability with just one tap to make your video Google Cardboard available and to be shared on the fly. This could be used for amazing promotional content.
You may have seen me post some Splash vids on my 360° Video page. Here we have a video that is an 80's Cat video wall with an homage to Prince hidden as well as my DJ set from the Camp Zoom Burning Man Fundraiser.
Download Splash and start making immersive content today. The Future Is Meow!
Click to play the video then use your mouse or trackpad to move the videos in a 360° space.
Cats And VR.
April 21st, 2016
The CatsAndVR.com VR app of the day for April 21st, 2016 is Lucky's Tale from Playful. This is a fantastic platformer and though it is not the type of experience I expected from VR it works very well. It is good to have a pure platformer to break up the first person flood that is currently available on headsets. If anything Lucky's Tale made me hope the PSVR gets a Crash Bandicoot VR game. http://www.playfulcorp.com/
Lucky's Tale is a delightful platforming adventure game designed exclusively for the Oculus Rift. Join Lucky as he runs, jumps, climbs and spins his way through bright, colorful worlds filled with thrilling challenges, wacky creatures, and all the shiny things a little fox could ever want!
Built from the ground up for virtual reality, the game invites you to step inside a vibrant, living world like never before. Whether you’re racing with Lucky through lush trees, dodging swamp pits, battling menacing bosses, or mastering mini-games, you’ll feel like you’re really there thanks to the magic of VR.
April 19th 2016
The CatsAndVR VR App Of The Day comes to you from Techland, the makers of the original Dead Island, the Call of Juarez series, and Dying Light.
Download on Steam: http://store.steampowered.com/app/357010/
April 18th 2016
The CatsAndVR.com VR App Of The Day for April 18th, 2016 is Virtual Desktop for HTC Vive and Oculus Rift.
Official website: http://www.vrdesktop.net/
Virtual Desktop is an application developed for the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive that lets you use your computer in VR. You can browse the web, watch movies, Netflix or even play games on a giant virtual screen.
Other features include:
- Hardware accelerated 360 video playback
- Ability to play/stream YouTube 360 videos
- Browse and view 360 photos
- MilkDrop support for music visualization
- 3D Side-By-Side video support
- Game launcher with voice commands
- Multi-monitor
- Environment Editor to create custom environments
- Steam Workshop integration for environments
“These are the kinds of programs that change the way people look at technology. In this case, it’s a program that, for some people, might actually make virtual reality a enjoyable, even practical, replacement for their monitor.”
Kotaku
“It's an incredibly polished app that take minimal resources to provide a number of functions that feel like they should be a standardised part of the VR experience coming to consumer homes.”
Destructoid
“This is the first program you should buy for your Oculus Rift”
Polygon
“It's pretty darn dope”
April 16th, 2016 and April 17th, 2016
The CatsAnd VR VR App Of The Day for the Caturday weekend (Saturday and Sunday) is Bazaar from Temple Gates Games.
Fly on a magic carpet through the mystical land of Bazaar, collecting exotic trinkets for your journey! Beware dart traps, sea cobras, and hungry crocs that lurk around corners. Vandal monkeys have stolen relics from the guardian of the labyrinth - will you recover them in time or be trapped forever?
Steer with your eyes and consult the constellations to navigate this multi-award winning game made by developers that created indie hits Plants vs. Zombies and Cannon Brawl.
Now available on Steam for the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive VR headsets. Also available on Gear VR
Features:
25+ collectible items, with unique abilities
10+ traps and enemies
Ever-changing labyrinths
Extensively designed for player comfort
Looks like the game has come a long way since it was in the VR Jam. The Gear VR version got John Carmack's as well as CatsAndVR.com's seal of approval.
April 15th, 2016
The CatsAndVR.com VR App Of the Day for April 15th, 2016 is Tomb of the Golems.
GREE, a global mobile social company, announced the company has created the GVR Fund: an investment fund that works with strategic investors to give early-stage virtual reality, augmented reality and mixed reality companies the opportunity to accelerate growth. The fund will be managed by San Francisco-based GREE VR Capital, LLC and will invest in gaming and non-gaming software and content companies. To date, the fund has invested in two companies: VRChat Inc., a platform that allows users to create, publish, and explore VR worlds with users around the world, and SPACES, Inc.
The first game from the GREE VR Studio, Tomb of the Golems, has launched in the Gear VR Oculus Store Tomb of the Golems is an exciting shooter VR game that takes players on an epic journey through Egyptian ruins.
April 11th 2016
The VR app of the day for April 11th 2016 is Discovery VR. Why? Because it is #NationalPetDay and who doesn't like cute animals.
Explore the immersive world of Discovery VR. In this growing collection of dynamic 360 video experiences, you’ll find exclusive clips from behind-the-scenes of your favorite shows, puppy bowl videos, heart-pounding adventures and stunning celebrations of our incredible planet. Viewable with or without Google Cardboard and Samsung Gear. http://www.discoveryvr.com/
JUMP, developed by Endeavor One Inc.©, enjoy the world's first large scale virtual reality jumping puzzle to utilize the awesome power of SteamVR! JUMP is a world where you the player get to enjoy the power fantasy of being a superhero in large major metropolitan cities from around the globe. The goal of the game is simple - get to the top of JUMP Tower in the fewest jumps! Once completed - outwit and out-jump your friends on the worldwide leaderboards.
- Jump like a superhero in VR!
- Play though 5 major real world cites in this unique VR action/puzzle game (Philadelphia, Detroit, Seattle, New York City and Tokyo)!
- Aim for the top in both the worldwide and friend Steam leaderboards!
- Soundtrack by Seattle's own Hush Hush Record Label!
What is Fulldive?
Fulldive is virtual reality (VR) navigation platform. Fulldive allows you to browse and view a new generation of media, such as watching 3D and 360 photos and videos, and also browse the Internet at a completely new angle like never before.
Fulldive VR app works with any Virtual Reality viewer, such as Google Cardboard VR headset.
Features:
➢ YouTube: Stream all YouTube videos in VR
➢ 3D YouTube: Stream 3D YouTube videos in VR
➢ 360 YouTube: Stream 360 YouTube videos in VR
➢ VR Video Player (2D/3D Player): Play all videos on your phone like in a movie theater
➢ VR Browser : Browse anything on the internet in VR
➢ VR Camera : Take pictures and video in VR
➢ VR Photo Gallery : Store and access your pictures and videos in VR
➢ VR 360 Photo Gallery : Store and access your 360 photos
➢ VR Market : Access all VR applications on your phone
For more information: http://fulldive.com/
April 7th 2016
The VR App of the day for April 7th 2016 is Lost Cities VR, a great title from Canadian developers The Campfire Union and is based on a board game by designer Reiner Knizia. It launches today on Gear VR.
Learn more about Lost Cities and the development team behind it here.
https://www.lostcitiesvr.com/blog/post/31/lost-cities-vr-here-and-what-journey-its-been
April 6th 2016
The VR App of the day for April 7th 2016 is the VR Jurassic Island Beta Demo for the Microsoft Hololens Development unit.
The HoloLens Development unit has started shipping to pre-order customers throughout the US and Virtual World Arcade founder Jeremy Lam a Program Manager on the HoloLens team at Microsoft has already developed a game. VR Jurassic Island Beta is now available on the Windows Store. VR JURASSIC ISLAND FOR HOLOLENS - BETA is designed to play at a Virtual World Arcade where players can run around a large space while wearing the Microsoft HoloLens.
Cats And VR.
April 5th 2016
The VR App of the day for April 5th 2016 is Squarepusher’s ‘Stor Eiglass – a VR experience from Marshmallow Laser Feast, Rob Pybus & Blue Zoo.
To mark the release of ‘Stor Eiglass’, a track from Squarepusher’s ‘Damogen Furies’ album, bleeding-edge artists Marshmallow Laser Feast (MLF), Blue Zoo and Rob Pybus came together to create not just a standard music video, but a virtual reality (VR) promo that can be experienced via a VR headsets, mobiles, tablets and Youtube’s new 360º platform. For the fully immersive complete virtual reality experience:
Android / Google Cardboard Version: http://smarturl.it/stor-eiglass-play
IOS: http://smarturl.it/stor-eiglass-ios
April 2nd 2016
The VR app of the day for April 2nd 2016 is Sisters. It's Caturday so why not sit on the couch and relax...then behold the terror that awaits you!
Sisters is an episodic haunted house meets room escape VR experience. Go room by room to discover clues to the mysterious and deadly sisters' past. Rescue your own sister before it's too late! Try it out on Cardboard and then check it out when it comes to the HTC Vive in 2016. Sisters is one of Sundance 2016's New Frontier Selections!
April 1st 2016
The VR App Of the day for 4/1/2016 is none other than SnoopaVision. Google has basically knocked it out of the park today. The Google Cardboard Plastic reveal followed by the SnoopaVision announcement has shown that upstart startup Google may be a big time player in VR in the future.
When CatsAndVR.com asked Mr. Broadus why he chose to partner with Google he had the following to say.
" Look my shizzle ever since I invested well in Medical Marijuana startup Eaze I have been looking to pick winners. After Samsung and Oculus picked Lil Wayne over me and then Sony and HTC aint even come to me I was like if Samsung, Oculus, Sony, and HTC aint got love for Snoop Dogg and Beats by Dre we aint got love for them" The rest was hizztory. By the way you should use Eaze and use my promo code as well" https://www.eazeup.com/invite/icbfqqw
Well thats Snoop for ya, always ahead of the curve. Cats And VR.
March 31st 2016
The VR App of the day for 3/31/16 is a really awesome Google Cardboard app that will be a hit with music fans as well as Beatle aficionados. Inside Abbey Road makes it possible for anyone around the world to step inside the iconic Abbey Road Studios the spiritual home of British Music and follow in the footsteps of musical legends. Explore the rooms, discover stories, historic images and videos, and play with innovative Abbey Road equipment.
Feel like you've stepped inside one of the world's most iconic musical landmarks, Abbey Road Studios. Place your phone into a Google Cardboard viewer (http://g.co/cardboard) and discover the studios where the Beatles, Oasis, Coldplay, Muse and Adele have all recorded tracks.
The experience begins with a nine-part guided tour narrated by Giles Martin who shares some of the secrets and history of the studios from 1930s to current day. After the tour, quite literally move around the studios at your own leisure to see hidden treasures like Studio 3’s Mirrored Drum Room where musicians such as Tony Bennett and Amy Winehouse have recorded. Uncover one of Abbey Road's Mastering Suites, where a record gets its finishing touches before a release. In Studio 1, experience what it actually feels like to be in a recording session with the London Symphony Orchestra with surround sound.