Future VR Technology

Virtual reality was imagined as a human simulation technology long before the most recent wave of innovation that brought us the Oculus RIFT and the wave of innovation that followed. Now, rendering high framerate graphics using multiple, stereoscopic points in virtual reality is matching the speed and accuracy of robotic sensors and cameras. By modeling physics, motion, and material interactions, virtual reality is poised to become a simulation tool for training automatons - robots, drones, and diagnostic gear - before they need to perform in the real world. That’s one small step for robotics, but it foretells a much bigger step forward for artificial intelligence. Russell Foltz-Smith Recent advancements point to a potentially disruptive combination of virtual reality and artificial intelligence which will unlock a future with safe and competent intelligent machines, able to learn exponentially through self training and intelligent, realistic simulations. Ongoing acad...

Virtual reality is becoming a more popular technology in the wake of high-profile product launches like the  Oculus Rift  and  HTC Vive  but it is still several years away from “hypergrowth” and mainstream adoption, a new study found. In the  2016 Virtual Reality Industry Report , issued jointly today by Greenlight VR and  Road to VR , and which offers a 10-year roadmap for the VR ecosystem, the researchers predicted that while there will be 2 million–non-Google Cardboard–virtual reality headsets in consumers’ hands by the end of this year and 36.9 million by the end of 2020, the VR industry is still six to eight years away from hypergrowth or a tipping point in adoption of the medium. That said, the study predicted that by the end of 2025, there are likely to be 135.6 million VR headset in use, of which 122 million will be mobile. The consumer VR era kicked off in earnest last fall with the launch of Samsung’s mobile Gear VR and was further bol...

The latest version of the YouTube app can play any video in virtual reality mode, on both Android smartphones and iPhones.  Just open up the app on your smartphone, and pull up any video. For any  virtual reality video there is a  little Cardboard outline at bottom right.  Hit play and then click on Cardboard icon to switch to VR mode. Y ou should then see the side-by-side virtual reality view where you feel in the middle of the action. You then  put the smartphone into your Cardboard-compatible viewer and enter the video. I f you want to watch a regular video, one that wasn’t filmed in 360-degrees y ou can still watch it with your headset. It will feel a bit like you’re sitting in an extremely dark movie theater, watching the video on a giant movie screen. You  open the video on your smartphone s tart the video, then click on the three-dot settings button at the top right.  A menu will pop up and the c lick on the Cardboard icon. T he screen will...