Tag: Virtual Reality

You Too Can Be The Dark Knight with Sony’s 3D Tech in Batman: Arkham VR

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By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

Sony’s PlayStation VR bundle is now available and if some people are still in the fence about it, they can try it out at special events like Fan Expo Vancouver. This 2016 show had Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment exhibiting LEGO Dimensions and demonstrating Batman: Arkham VR (now available on AmazonArkham VR) on the PS4 ProArkham VR and the experience has me believing the hardware is very capable. I was told this updated system is not absolutely necessary in order to become the crime-fighting detective, but it does help with the frame rates and rendering for those players wanting to go by the numbers.

The headwear certainly can use some fine-tuning for people like myself wearing eyeglasses. It is certainly comfortable with or without (I tried both methods on two different demos of the game) and I experienced minor fogging on the lens. If the addition of micro-fans or vents can be put in version two of the hardware, this problem can easily be solved.

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The feeling of being immersed in the digital environment is almost there; the fact the view does not fully fill the peripheral (i.e. I can see the edges of where the screen ends) shows virtual environments are not that all-encompassing. Part of the fact has to deal with the psychological aspects of distinguishing between real space and imagined space. If the eye detects an object at the edge of perception, the body will be inclined to react.

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Ed’s Top 10 Picks of the 2016 Vancouver International Film Festival

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By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

The 2016 Vancouver International Film Festival starts today and their selection of animated films and nerdy delights is fantastic! From a few television spotlights to films, this year’s event is of particular interest to me because the industry is paying attention to the coming thing  — virtual reality. From an industry exchange and VR pass to a discussion on how it affects storytelling in a cinematic medium, I am interested. This new technology to immerse audiences into a virtual world is challenging, and just how storytellers and filmmakers can use the medium certainly needs to be discussed. Does the story work like a choose-your-own-adventure book or is the narrative just that much more difficult to curtail? If the viewer is in total control, they can navigate anywhere. This industry panel will certainly explore it all for much of the day.

With a unique catalog of horror and animation films, I just wonder if I can see it all? or will I have to limit what my budget can allow? At least I have this top ten list of what I has my eye in this year’s programme:

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Why VR at CES 2016 Is Not Necessarily Going to Fly

True VR should allow the person to run around instead of sitting within a confined space.

dk2-productA few media watch reports are saying that the 2016 Consumer Electronics Show will help launch Virtual Reality (VR) as a ready item for market. That’s been said last year and the year before, but the wait has been slow. The Oculus Rift and HTC Vive are two high-profile devices that will finally arrive in retail outlets and the PlayStation VR is to follow. Already out is Samsung Gear VR and it can be ordered through AmazonArkham VR. But when people are required to strap on a piece of headwear to feel the illusion of being immersed, not everyone will take to this idea right away. One issue that still remains is that does the user have to sit down to experience the environment or can that person walk around until a piece of real world collides, making a dent in the headset he or she is wearing?

Eyeglass wearers are most likely not going to be able to try this out unless the space inside the box is designed to accommodate various eyewear designs.

The big issue with any new technology release is if there’s enough unique software to go with it.  The current pieces of simulated environment assumes the person is sitting down instead of moving around. Reality involves the person being able to interact with all the objects in that world, and not everything in the computerized realm is going to be real or handled with the hand, unless handled by a controller or force feedback gloves. Ultimately, the software that’s initially coming with the headwear is simply limited.

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