Tag: VR

‘We’re running with scissors’: Why some experts worry about VR dangers

Virtual gaslighting, augmented torture

What if virtual reality wasn’t just a new way to play games or watch movies? What if the technology wasn’t just creating new methods of communication, of medical treatment, of military training?

What if virtual reality was used in the pursuit of mayhem?

Much has been said about the positives of technology that can reshape reality or even create a new one, but last month two respected academic researchers held a talk at South by Southwest in Austin to explore not just those positives, but also the potential negatives of reality technology.

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HTC Vive can do wireless VR with this $220 add-on

HTC promises it won’t affect the VR headset’s latency.

HTC is opening up pre-orders for a $220 add-on that cuts the Vive’s wires and transforms it into a wireless VR headset. The peripheral that clips onto the device was made by a company called TPCAST and was designed under the Vive X program. If you’ll recall, HTC launched the program to invest $100 million into startups looking to build accessories for the Vive. According to the company’s interview with UploadVR, there’ll be no “noticeable difference” when you use the device, implying that it won’t turn VR experiences into laggy nightmares. HTC even promises that it will “greatly improve” the overall Vive experience.

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T-Mobile leaks new Windows 10 phone ahead of announcement

The Alcatel Idol 4S is a low-cost VR handset.

T-Mobile accidentally leaked the newest Windows 10 phone, the Alcatel Idol 4S, ahead of the handset’s official announcement during Microsoft’s Surface event in New York City today. The handset was originally released in July as a low-cost competitor to the Galaxy VR, though, back then, the Idol was still running Android. T-Mobile is now offering the Idol 4S bundled with a VR headset as well as a 45-day trial subscription of Hulu, a 60-day trial subscription to Groove Music and a free copy of Halo Spartan. There’s no word yet on pricing or availability.

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HP, Dell, Lenovo, Asus and Acer will all ship VR headsets for your PC starting at $299

Microsoft is currently holding a press conference in New York. The company is focusing a lot on 3D and all sorts of realities, from augmented reality to virtual reality. As part of this big push, Microsoft announced that it is partnering with five different brands that will all ship VR headsets for the next Windows 10 update.

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Oculus founder responds to ‘Nimble America’ political controversy

Luckey: ‘I contributed $10,000…because I thought the organization had fresh ideas.’

Last night The Daily Beast reported that Oculus founder Palmer Luckey is the “NimbleRichMan” behind a group of Donald Trump supporters pushing anti-Hillary Clinton memes, and now Luckey has responded. In a Facebook post claiming recent news stories don’t accurately reflect his views (and light on references to either shitposting or meme magic), the 24-year-old claimed his support of the Nimble America group consisted of a $10,000 donation because he “thought the organization had fresh ideas,” and that he did not write the posts credited to the pseudonym or delete the account.

 

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Nvidia’s new “VR ready” notebook GPUs are another small step to making virtual reality mainstream

Nvidia brings its latest desktop GTX 10-series GPUs to laptops, and aims to bring VR to the gaming masses.

GTX 10-series GPUs

You don’t need a desktop PC to be able to make use of VR, as Nvidia releases three new GeForce GTX 10-series GPUs for laptops.

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HTC Vive now £70 more pricey in the UK, thanks to Brexit

The impacts of the U.K.’s Brexit vote to leave the European Union will undoubtedly be playing out for years and years to come. But here’s one short term effect: the HTC Vive VR headset is now £70 more expensive — rising from its original pricing of £689 to £759 (+ P&P) from today.

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VR needs a hit

I believe virtual reality is going to be huge. Huge. …Eventually. But when? Are we talking years, or decades? I visited yet another VR festival this week, and I couldn’t shake the feeling that we’re still in the very early days of the medium. It’s amazing! It’s thrilling! And it’s still kind of the Stone Age. When do we get to discover bronze?

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NVIDIA’s latest pro video cards help you livestream VR video

Did you think NVIDIA’s newest Titan X was a monster of a video card? You haven’t seen anything yet. The GPU maker has unveiled its latest Quadro workstation cards, the Pascal-based P5000 and P6000, and they both pack power that makes your gaming-grade card seem modest. The P6000 (above) is billed as the fastest graphics card to date, and for good reason. It has even more processing cores than the Titan X (3,840 versus 3,584) and twice as much memory — a whopping 24GB of RAM. The P5000 is closer to the GTX 1080 in performance with “just” 2,560 cores, but its 16GB of RAM handily bests the gaming card’s 8GB. If you’re working with massive amounts of 3D data, these are likely the boards you want.

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