Lifeboat Foundation

2016 has been called the year that virtual reality becomes a reality, as some of the most anticipated devices will be made available on the consumer market. From Magic Leap (valued at over $1 billion) to Oculus (acquired by Facebook last year for $2 billion), there’s plenty of interest in the market, and ample room for it.

Though virtual reality is often depicted as an experience for the recliner or gaming chair, a number of VR enthusiasts want us to rethink how we engage with the technology. Instead of sitting around, they’d like to get us moving and looking beyond the go-to medium of gaming. Developers of these new devices consider fields like military training and healthcare as valuable places for mobile virtual reality to be applied.

Leading this approach is a Kickstarter VR company called Virtuix, whose treadmill-like device Omni encourages users to get upright and active. The reason to develop such a device felt like a natural evolution to Virtuix’s former Product Manager, Colton Jacobs.

“If I am walking in the virtual world my avatar is actually walking…”, he says, “…then the body’s natural reaction is, I want to stand up, I want to be walking with this avatar as if I’m actually there.”

Continue reading “Virtuix Omni Provides Virtual Worlds in Which to Walk, Run, and Jump” »

Consume your favorite foods…without any of the calories. Seriously.

Interesting story on VR.

How did a traditional gaming software company end up creating arguably the most cutting-edge VR hardware on the market, the HTC Vive?

VR for phobias; makes sense. Scared of spiders? Samsung believes VR may be the treatment for you.

Could you face your fears if you knew you weren’t actually facing your fears? That’s the premise behind a virtual reality experiment Samsung is running for a new app called Itsy, which is designed to help people face their fear of spiders. Created with the help of researchers at Stockholm University, Itsy tries to wean people into giving up their fear of arachnids.

The program is being run by Samsung’s Nordic branch, and the reason is extremely specific.

Continue reading “Samsung thinks you can overcome your fear of spiders using virtual reality” »

IRVINE, Calif., July 11, 2016 /PRNewswire/ — From measuring glaucoma to augmenting reality, advances in technology have enabled smart contact lenses to steadily gain traction in the past year. Although still in the early stages of development, the introduction of such novelties will inevitably be life-changing.

Photo — http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20160711/388295

We’re really excited to be working with the Toronto International Film Festival on a three-day event called POP showcasing some of the most inventive VR creations… and it’s coming up very soon — Friday, July 15th through Sunday, July 17th at the TIFF Bell Lightbox in Toronto. Tickets are on sale now, and we’d love to see you there.

Let’s talk about what you’ll see when you’re there. The theme of this POP event is empathy and real-world storytelling — how VR can really impact your view of (and connections to) the world. We have more than a dozen pieces that you can try.

Continue reading “Here’s what you’ll see at TIFF and The Verge’s VR showcase this month” »

Good work by Microsoft.

Autism is a spectrum disorder, meaning not all people that meet the classification have identical behaviors. Some of these folks are very functional, while others may struggle more to socialize, or not be able to hold jobs.

Continue reading “Microsoft uses BBC Micro Bit and virtual reality to prepare autistic kids for jobs” »

During a disaster situation, first responders benefit from one thing above anything else: accurate information about the environment that they are about to enter. Having foreknowledge of specific building layouts, the locations of impassable obstacles, fires or chemical spills can often be the only thing between life or death for anyone trapped inside. Currently first responders need to rely on their own experience and observations, or possibly a drone sent in ahead of them sending back an unreliable 2D video feed. Unfortunately neither option is optimal, and sadly many victims in a disaster situation will likely perish before they are discovered or the area is deemed safe enough to be entered.

But a team at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has developed technology that can offer first responders the option of exploring a disaster area without putting themselves in any risk. Virtual Eye is a software system that can capture and transmit video feed and convert it into a real time 3D virtual reality experience. It is made possible by combining cutting-edge 3D imaging software, powerful mobile graphics processing units (GPUs) and the video feed from two cameras, any two cameras. This allows first responders — soldiers, firefighters or anyone really — the option of walking through a real environment like a room, bunker or any enclosed area virtually without needing to physically enter.

Soon, this tech will move your entire PC interface to virtual reality.