Facebook wants one billion people to experience virtual reality—about one-seventh of the entire human population. That’s an audacious goal even without a timeframe, which Mark Zuckerberg did not provide. But to lure that many people into the void, users don’t just need their minds blown. They also need to feel safe.
When it comes to VR, you really only have two choices today: a big, expensive headset that needs to be connected to a PC, or a less immersive setup that relies on your smartphone. However, Facebook is looking to give us a third option with the $200 Oculus Go.
On Monday, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg promoted the social media giant’s new Facebook Spaces app, which allows users to remotely cast cartoon avatars of themselves walking around locations in the real world, by taking a “magical” tour of Puerto Rico.
VR, like that one cousin on Facebook, can be hard to love. The potential is there, and you have all these fond memories—mainly rooted in cool science fiction books you’ve read, but in reality VR is pricey, buggy, and kind of limited to one experience: games. Yet Microsoft has been making a lot of low key noise about…
Back in July, Air France announced plans to launch an airline that specifically targets millennials, raising the question of what, exactly, that actually means. Well today, Air France shared some new details: “Joon” will offer young folks various lifestyle innovations, like surprise destinations, “Airbnb experiences,”…
You know what’s cool about finding someone you’re actually into? Holding hands. Making out. Gazing into each other’s (actual) eyes. You know where you can’t do these things? In the void. So why the hell are people proposing in virtual reality?
If you don’t have the budget for a $500 Oculus Rift headset and a thousand dollar VR-ready gaming PC, here’s a far cheaper solution. A die-hard Commodore 64 fan created a pair of virtual reality goggles for the classic 8-bit computer that can be easily found for just a few bucks at thrift shops around the country.
Your mouth doesn’t move when you talk and your slightly misshapen legs bend away from your body. But it’s a first date so you’re making the best of it. Mood lighting and romantic music come on, so you move in closer for a dance.
The It teaser broke the internet, and the first trailer was equally scary. Now, the much-anticipated Stephen King adaptation has released another horrific peek, and this time it’s interactive. IT: FLOAT—A Cinematic VR Experience allows you to peer around inside the sewer, where Pennywise the Clown eagerly awaits.
The themed lands called Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge won’t open at Walt Disney World or Disneyland Resorts until 2019. However, later this year, Disney is giving fans a little something to hold them over.
Virtual Reality is tech’s biggest question mark. Could it become a mainstream medium, like movies or video games, or something completely different? A lot of people have tried and failed to answer that question, and while Intel’s VR Happy Hour at the New Museum on Tuesday is no exception, roleplaying as a tree and…
Virtual reality is cool and all, but it won’t really become mainstream until a) it’s affordable and b) it doesn’t require a $1,000+ gaming PC. But it seems Facebook is attempting yet again to make VR a thing.
With the introduction of iOS 11 and a development tool called ARKit, Apple is betting that augmented reality could be the next revolutionary feature for smartphones. At the very least, it’s facilitated a secret feature that lets iPhone users pretend they’re giant monsters stomping through a tiny city.
In 2003, when Second Life launched, all it took was a few customization bars and the promise of infinite possibility to get users hooked on the idea of a virtual reality. Now, in 2017, our standards are a bit higher. “Immersion” isn’t as easy to sell with a microphone, an avatar and some content creation software. …
When you strap on a virtual reality headset, your body has a constant (heavy) reminder that what you’re seeing isn’t real. But what happens when virtual reality spills out into the real world? This tech-filled room is able to warp and bend reality making you feel like you’re tripping on drugs you don’t remember taking.
Person of Interest’s Sarah Shahi is headlining NBC’s latest series order, a scifi thriller about a woman tasked with rescuing users who are trapped in an addictive, immersive VR program. At least she already has experience working with advanced, sinister technologies, right?
Today at its annual Build developer conference, Microsoft announced its own set of motion controllers made for its burgeoning Windows Mixed Reality platform. As we’ve mentioned in previous reports, the company is calling its new computing platform “mixed reality” because it combines different elements of augmented…
Unsurprisingly, witnessing a xenomorph emerge from its host from the xenomorph’s perspective is really, really gross.
NeuroSpeculative AfroFeminism is an art installation and virtual reality experience recently featured at the Tribeca Film Festival. The project, which seeks to put women of color in the virtual reality space, was created by Hyphen-Labs, a collective of women from diverse backgrounds.
Physical therapy often involves the use of a device providing transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation—TENS, for short—that uses electrodes attached to the skin to stimulate the muscles beneath. But virtual reality researchers have found an alternate use for the shocking technology: to let someone in a virtual…
