Thursday, March 28

Tag: VR

Microsoft Wins $22 Billion Deal to make VR Headsets for US Army
USA

Microsoft Wins $22 Billion Deal to make VR Headsets for US Army

Earlier today, the United States Army announced Microsoft won its $22 billion VR headset deal. In contract Microsoft to supply U.S. Army combat troops with its augmented reality headsets including Integrated Visual Augmentation System (IVAS) program as it moves from rapid prototyping to production and rapid fielding. The IVAS headset, based on HoloLens and augmented by Microsoft Azure cloud services, delivers a platform that will keep Soldiers safer and make them more effective. The program delivers enhanced situational awareness, enabling information sharing and decision-making in a variety of scenarios. The IVAS aggregates multiple technologies into an architecture that allows the Soldier to Fight, Rehearse, and Train using a single platform. The suite of capabilities leverages e...
Facebook Acquires Startup Working on to control Computers Using Brain
ACQUISITION

Facebook Acquires Startup Working on to control Computers Using Brain

Facebook acquires a startup working on ways to command computers or other devices using brain thought instead of taps, swipes, or keystrokes. CTRL-labs will become part of Facebook Reality Labs with an aim at perfecting the technology and getting it into consumer products, according to Andrew Bosworth, vice president of augmented and virtual reality at the California-based social network. "We know there are more natural, intuitive ways to interact with devices and technology," Bosworth said in a post at Facebook announcing the acquisition. "And we want to build them. The vision for this work is a wristband that lets people control their devices as a natural extension of movement." Bosworth explained that the wristband will decode electrical impulses such as those sent to h...
FlixBus Adds VR on Routes to and from Las Vegas
News

FlixBus Adds VR on Routes to and from Las Vegas

FlixBus, the low-cost tech-forward bus service out of Europe has reportedly added a VR experience to some long-distance routes to and from Las Vegas. The service launched in the US this year. For now, the FlixBus VR feature, which includes about 50 virtual reality games and travel experiences, is limited to routes from Tucson, Phoenix, Los Angeles and San Diego. And it will run for three months. Travelers who reserve a panoramic seat on these routes will get the VR experience for free. Once on board, passengers will receive VR headset loaded with content. The Pico Goblin 2 headsets are from Pico Interactive. Inflight VR provides the content and software updates of the VR platform. Inflight VR has experience with offering a platform to people who are traveling. The company al...
These are the Best VR Experiences in 5 Years
Tech

These are the Best VR Experiences in 5 Years

If one thing has become clear about virtual reality in the last two years, it’s that it’s going to take time to develop into what we all want it to be. Right off the bat VR was capable of some awfully impressive things, and it has definitely gotten better over the course of roughly two-and-a-half years of public attention. Even now though, in mid-2018, VR can feel vaguely lacking - as if we’re right on the cusp of something truly incredible, but we haven’t quite gotten there yet. In the coming years, VR is going to wow us through headlines across all walks of life. It’s going to facilitate breakthroughs in healthcare, and it’s going to restructure certain kinds of education and training. It may change how we watch sports, and help us to visit faraway places in a way that feels real. Eve...
Home Decor Startup Foyr Raises $4.2 Million Series A Funding
FUNDING

Home Decor Startup Foyr Raises $4.2 Million Series A Funding

Hyderabad based VR platform Foyr raises worth $4.2 million from SRI Capital, JLL partners & others.  Foyr registered in Singapore as RBJ International Pte. Ltd used by interior designers, architects, and property developers to design the architect online and see it in 3D mode using Virtual reality. SRI capital invested $2 Mn in this extended series A round, marked its first investment from his recently launched $100 Mn venture fund based in Philadelphia, USA. Foyr will use this funding round to enter the US market, which is expected to be its largest market in two years. Foyr has raised a total $9.7 million funding till date. "We are excited to be backed by SRI Capital which is one of the only VCs who understands the US market as well as Indian development teams. Having a suc...
SV.CO, Facebook To Partner With Academia For Tech Training
News

SV.CO, Facebook To Partner With Academia For Tech Training

Start-up Village Collective, in association with Facebook, will partner academic institutions to train students on latest technologies developing globally, starting with virtual reality technology. "Most of the companies work with US universities to reach out to students and build innovative product and application on emerging technologies. We in partnership with Facebook will take up every new technology to students in India and train them on it," Start-up Village Collective (SV.CO) Chairman Sanjay Vijayakumar today said. Under the School of Innovation program, select students will be trained by SV.CO and Facebook. "Facebook will give students scholarships and there will be no fee charged from them for training," Vijaykumar said. "Our aim is to bring Indian students at par with ...
Facebook’s Oculus Ordered Pay $500 Million in Suit on Stolen Tech
Tech

Facebook’s Oculus Ordered Pay $500 Million in Suit on Stolen Tech

A US jury has ordered Facebook and creators of its Oculus Rift to pay USD 500 million to gaming software firm ZeniMax in a lawsuit that claimed the virtual reality technology was stolen. The Texas jury made the award yesterday in a trial in which Oculus was accused of basing its Rift headset on technology stolen from ZeniMax's virtual reality software, court documents showed. The lawsuit claimed Oculus founder Palmer Luckey and his colleagues developed the virtual reality gear using source code illegally obtained from the gaming firm. Luckey was ordered to pay USD 50 million of the award and another former Oculus executive, Brendan Iribe USD 150 million. The two executives were accused of violating a non-disclosure agreement with ZeniMax and copying the source code and other do...
Ex-Xiaomi India Head Hugo Barra Appoint as a Facebook Virtual Reality Head
News

Ex-Xiaomi India Head Hugo Barra Appoint as a Facebook Virtual Reality Head

Social media giant Facebook has announced it had recruited Hugo Barra, who recently quit a top position with Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi, as its new head of virtual reality. "I'm excited that Hugo Barra is joining Facebook to lead all of our virtual reality efforts, including our Oculus team," CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced on his personal Facebook page yesterday. "Hugo shares my belief that virtual and augmented reality will be the next major computing platform. They'll enable us to experience completely new things and be more creative than ever before," Zuckerberg wrote. "Hugo is going to help build that future, and I'm looking forward to having him on our team." Barra caused a sensation in 2013 by leaving Google to become a vice president at Xiaomi. The firm, created in 2010...
Facebook Has Invested $250M in VR “Oculus” To Make it More Social
FUNDING

Facebook Has Invested $250M in VR “Oculus” To Make it More Social

Zuckerberg said his company has invested $250 million to back developers building new games and other virtual-reality programs for Oculus, and is vowing to double that amount. The investment will make virtual reality more social as the industry gets more crowded. Facebook's Oculus division is hoping to distinguish its offerings from other leading tech companies whose selling their VR products. At an event on Thursday, the company announced a long-awaited shipping date - Dec. 6 - for its Oculus Touch hand controllers. In a two-hour presentation, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, meanwhile, donned one of those headsets for an onstage demonstration in which he visited Mars, played virtual cards with two other people, then made a video call to his wife while standing in a digital simulation ...
Karbonn Mobiles Launched First Virtual Reality Based Smartphones
Tech

Karbonn Mobiles Launched First Virtual Reality Based Smartphones

Karbonn Mobiles, India's low cost smartphone brand launched it's first virtual reality (VR) enabled smartphones with free VR headsets. This the first VR set from the company which looks to be getting back in the competition with the new launches in India. The two VR headsets are Karbonn Quattro L52 and Karbonn Titanium Mach 6, priced at Rs 8,790 and Rs 7,490, bundled with VR headsets free of cost. "VR is the next big growth area in consumer technology. As per a recent report, the global Virtual Reality market is expected to touch an estimated USD 120 billion by 2020," Karbonn Mobiles Executive Director Shashin Devsare said. "Karbonn's VR glasses are an effort to bring VR technology at disruptive price-points in the under Rs 10,000 bracket. We are optimistic about the consumer ...
Pranav Mistry, Global VP Samsung Launched Gear 360 Camera
Tech

Pranav Mistry, Global VP Samsung Launched Gear 360 Camera

BARCELONA– Pranav Mistry, VP, Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd today Launched the Samsung Gear 360, a 360-degree camera that lets consumers easily create, view and share their favorite experiences through video and still image content. Gear 360 is designed for travel, festive gatherings and every activity in between to provide an all-encompassing visual experience. The new camera leverages the best of the Samsung Galaxy experience so users can become the creator of their own virtual reality content to enjoy through Gear VR. Here you can watch the #samsung #unpacked2016 live. Less than 5 hours to go. https://t.co/dG7HGf04pJ — Pranav Mistry (@pranavmistry) February 21, 2016 “Samsung continues to push the boundaries of the mobile experience to extend beyond the smartphone,” said DJ Koh...