Here is a look at what some of the most brilliant minds are doing to produce mind-bending virtual experiences!
It’s not just because Google made a hefty investment in the company that the US based Magic Leap deserves your attention. For the company the idea is to rev up the headsets with light field solution. Light fields can replicate perfectly what your eyes can see- meaning, the bridge between what’s real and what’s not will be non-existent. Perhaps the most important challenge for the company will be in coming up with new chip models that will enable a product to function in such a way that light fields can be projected directly into the wearer’s eyes. Companies like Occulus, on the other hand aim to capitalize on the already existing smartphones and PCs to bring out an affordable product.
The Israel-based WakingApp is an augmented and virtual reality content developer. The company intends to create a cloud-based platform, having the savvy name of ENTiTi Creator. With its aid, users can create their own AR/VR content, and here’s the key thing-you don’t have to have any programming experience WHATSOEVER to do that!
The tools from WakingApp already cater such things as games, live data feeds, 3D imaging and even 3D animation. The solution they provide gels well with many of the leading AR/VR platforms including Samsung Gear Vr, Vuzix and Epson Movario. According to the company’s CEO, Udi Shani, smart glasses will be a growing trend in 2016 but the products lack the feasibility to exist long-term unless there’s good content for them. This is apparently where WakingApp comes in.
The company’s main product, in fact is a camera. The fact that it costs $4,500 must be enough of a hint to know that it’s not a regular point and shoot we are talking about here. Along with softwares across VR and desktops, the camera effectively captures interiors and helps create walkthroughs. In other words, it’s taking the idea of a realty walkthrough and transporting it into the virtual reality domain.
Based in Silicon Valley, Matterport’s core area of business at the moment is obviously real estate. But, it’ll be interesting to see what other things the technology could be used for- a walk through the streets of Paris while you are in Hyderabad? Why not?
Razer didn’t start out as a VR company. But that doesn’t mean that what they are doing now is anything less than exciting. The company’s core business has been creating gaming hardware-including laptops and controllers aside from accessories like keyboards and mice. However, last year Razer entered the VR space with a project that could be seen as a sign of the sector coming of age.
Their project is called Open Source Virtual Reality(OSVR) and yes, as the name suggests the idea is to create a single open standard for virtual reality as a whole. Bolstering the project is backing from huge companies including Ubisoft and Unity. As a sign of bigger things to come, the California based company has already released a modular ‘Hacket Dev Kit’ of the OSVR hardware.
Founded as recently as 2013, the Palo Alto based Jaunt nonetheless is already one of the biggest players when it comes to live action VR content. The company has partnered with giants like Google for the content creation. They also have an advanced proprietary camera called “Neo.” The projects of Jaunt is set to make watching 3D movies feel like having a boiled yet bland potato for dinner when you have the option of a well-made marinated turkey. For it’s the cinematic content of the highest quality that the projects of Jaunt always aim for.
WEVR used to be called ‘WemoLab.’ Based in Los Angeles, the company is one of the most promising in creating VR experiences. And in a world where ‘Experience Creator’ is a job title that’s hardly sound legit, let alone cool, that’s saying a lot.
The company has already brought out THeblu which is one of the core HTC Vive demos. Another notable project to their name is Virtual Brainload- a project they finished in conjunction with another company, Adult Swim. The company is currently working to create a content ecosystem for virtual reality. To this end they give a million dollar grant fund for VR content creators. Exciting times, these…
High Fidelity is the name of a movie. For those who haven’t seen it, it’s highly recommended(so is the novel which it is based on). High Fidelity is also the name of a San Francisco based company that aims to do something creative in the VR segment: their idea is to build and “open source deployable worlds” for VR, which is essentially a distributed network of virtual worlds High Fidelity aims to achieve this by using user contributed devices.
It looks like the kind of place where games, creative applications, socialization and education all could have a field day.
Nod Labs is focused on creating input devices for virtual reality. They purportedly have three major products lined up, called the Backspin, the Nod Ring and what is termed as a “casual motion capture” system. The exact nature of these devices still remain sketchy in public view. The nature of the VR industry which is still in its early stages has necessitated a high level of secrecy.
But the company, based in Mountain View, N.California has already attracted funding from major business houses and also going for Nod Labs is the presence of some of the finest minds in the technology field working for them-many of whom having an accomplished track record with organizations such as Apple, Google and NASA.
Another Silicon Valley-based entity, Altspace is a shared social VR service. What with social media being THE place to be on the internet right now, Altspace seems to become something that will have plenty of young people in a frenzy- much to the chagrin of the ‘elders’ of course. Another cool thing about Altspace is that you can use it with or without headsets. Meaning, it’s not just the ‘cool’ kids who have a Rift development kit who can use it.
Also, by using a powerful browser which can be used within Altspace, you can indulge in some fun things like watching a Youtube video with your friends. Tell us you are not excited about this and we’ll show you a liar
Locomotion while using VR, while sounds exciting is hard to pull off. Virtuix offers a good solution to that end with Omni. Simply put, Omni is an omnidirectional treadmill on which one can walk to get a better illusion of a VR environment. The device works with a pair of shoes that come with it. The shoes notch into the slots that are on the otherwise ultra-smooth surface of the bowl. And as the user moves on the pad, the movement of their feet is mapped onto the virtual space. It seems like, with its unique take on locomotion, the Texas based company is certainly going places in the VR space!
NextVR, based in Orange County, California has some good-no, great news to share with sports fans across the world. Their project is a one-of-a-kind wraparound video capture and live streaming technology which gives you a closer look at a game like never before. And when we say closer, we mean closer. The company gave the world(or rather potential investors) a taste of their technology when they broadcast live the U.S Open last year. The company has some 20 patents on both camera technology and software. They have also partnered with some of the biggest names in the broadcast industry. In other words, in the arena of games, they are bound to be a game changer.
Some say that Merge VR is a spinoff of Google Cardboard but that’s a mistake. For while the firm based in San Antonio, Texas does create a smartphone based mobile HMD, Merge is still distinct from most mobile phone HMDS: owing to the fact that it come with a proprietary motion controller. The controller is compatible with both Android and iOS and can act as a head tracking motion sensor. The controller is mounted on the side of the headset. And yes, it looks kinda cool.
LA based Reload Studios are making VR games that are only getting better and better.The World War Toons- the world’s very first first person shooter game built for VR also came out of their doors. To bring outstanding gaming experiences to the VR platform, the company uses talents from both the animation and game development disciplines- for instance, developers who worked on the Call Of Duty Series and also the presence of such a person as Nik Ranieri as the animation direction. Ranieri has worked for many of Disney’s popular films including Aladdin and Hercules.
The Santa Barbara-based WorldViz has for its primary target audience the enterprise consumers. The company produces simulation softwares including those for VR training. They have also created the Vizard VR Toolkit-an engine that enables creation of VR content. Another of their prominent products is Vizmove- a “complete VR system” using which one can both create and experience VR content inside a tracked environment.
VRideo is a web based content hosting service for virtual reality and 360 degree video. Before you roll your eyes and say, “What’s so hot about that?” let it be known that the service is hardware agnostic. They’re also in the works of a browser based solution that would cater to desktop HMDs and and also a Gear VR app. Virtual Reality startups are a heightened version of that reality-no pun intended; the reality of changing the way we look at things and also expanding our horizons by adding ever new experiences to our catalogue of feelings-experiences which we have only dreamed or fantasized of before. And as with the best of technology, many of its offerings sound so cool it’s positively unreal!