Google I/O news

Google made a slew of announcements this week on new projects, updated plans, and what’s next for Google. Here are the most interesting announcements of the week.

Google’s next operating system, code named Android N, is apparently far enough along that Google thinks it's ready for more people to try it out. This third beta release is out now. If you want to opt in, you'll be able to do so at Android's website. You can also submit what you think the “N” in Android N should be since Google is taking name submissions.

Google announced a voice-activated device called Home that has a speaker in the base and integrates with other cast devices like Chromecast Video and audio, and supports home networking systems for Home Control. Google Home won't arrive until later this year so Amazon’s Echo doesn’t have to worry until then.

Google also announced a messaging app called Allo.  It includes a the voice-activated smart assistant and an incognito mode that offers, end-to-end encryption, discreet notifications and permanent deletion of messages. It's coming to iOS and Android this summer. https://youtu.be/QJ3WV8N92Hs

Google also announced VR Mode in Android N and the Daydream platform for VR development which gives VR apps exclusive access to the device’s processor cores. Looks like Google’s recognized the success of the GearVR and wants all devices running android to be able to get VR now. https://youtu.be/KNR4j1DJ4Cc

Google’s VR Head Clay Bavor confirmed Google will sell its own version of DayDream VR gear saying on stage at I/O, “And, by the way, it’s not just going to be partners building from the reference design, we, Google, are also going to build a controller and a headset and make it available.” Google is partnering with Epic Games and the Unity on the motion-sensing controller.

Try Oculus at Best Buy

Today Oculus announced details of their plan to let users try out the Oculus Rift in Best Buy stores starting May 7th. Initially in 48 Best Buys, you’ll get to try demos like Oculus Dreamdeck, The Climb, and in the coming weeks, you’ll be able to explore the beautiful alien world of Farland.

There will also be a small number of Oculus Rifts to purchase at Best Buy and Amazon stores on May 7th. You don’t have to get angry if you’re still on that 3 month pre-order waiting list though. Oculus says you can opt to buy one of these Rifts in store at Best Buy and you’ll still get to keep your pre-order bonuses, just let them know so they won’t charge you again.

You can schedule your Rift demo with Oculus Live at Best Buy locations up to a month in advance. Guess they’re expecting quiet the rush.

Facebook Chatbots and VR camera

Further proving this is the year of bots and VR, Facebook announced some interesting new products.

·       Facebook announced “Agents on Messenger” a program for business to create chatbots for customer service, ecommerce and more. Customers can send a text to the chat and the Chatbots can respond with texts, custom links, and buttons that would allow users ask questions, to pay for items, or book rooms.

·      

·       Facebook also launched a Live video API that lets you broadcast to Facebook from any device.

·       The company also revealed an open source VR camera called Surround 360. The 17-lens camera require almost no post-production work. Rather than selling it Facebook will open source the designs and video stitching-algorithms and post to Github. Parts are estimated to cost $30,000.

Live Streamed Surgery using VR

Medical Realities, a company that uses VR and augmented reality as a medical education tool, is set to host the first live VR stream of surgery on April 14th, using a 360-degree camera to show the entire operating table. You'll only need the company's app and Google Cardboard (or a viable alternative) to tune in. The surgery isn't particularly risky (it's a fairly standard tumor removal), but the company is aware of the dangers -- the feed is delayed by a minute in case something goes awry.

HTC Vive ships

This week the HTC Vive, the main Oculus VR competitor, has begun shipping this week. While the fervor in the media has not been quiet as high as Oculus’ release last week, the reviews have been good. Most reviews admit the Oculus Rift is more comfortable and the screen is slightly better, the Vive’s hand controls and the ability to move around a room are more immersive.

However, Endgadget reports that both Oculus and HTC are shipping their new VR headsets slower than expected. Oculus told Rift pre-order customers that the delay is due to a component shortage. Oculus will update preoders on April 12th and give free shipping. Some HTC Vive orders were declined by credit card companies causing some folks to lose their order or be bumped to the end of the waiting list. HTC says it is working to put everyone back in the right order.

Oculus Rift Delivery

The first consumer versions of the Oculus rift arrived this week and the internets have been going crazy. The very first rift was hand delivered in Alaska by founder Palmer Luckey to the 1st person who preorder it. Luckey live streamed the event on Facebook Live. Overall the reviews of the rift, with its included games Lucky’s Tale and Eve Valkyrie, have been very positive. However, take into account that there’s not anything else to compare it to right now since it’s the only consumer VR headset available. The HTC Vive ships in April.

http://techcrunch.com/2016/03/26/oculus-founder-palmer-luckey-hand-delivers-first-rift-vr-headset-to-customer/?ncid=rss

VR Porn

The video site PornHub is partnering with BaDoinkVR to launch a new VR section of the PornHub website. The site is offering free cardboard VR goggle’s to its users.

Sword Art Online: The Beginning, Game or PR project?

It’s been widely reported this week IBM and Namco Bandai have partnered up to create a VR game using Sword Art Online as it’s that the recently announced Sword Art Online: The Beginning is an actual virtual reality MMO game that’s in development, sponsored by IBM Watson, and that 208 lucky people selected to participate in an event in Tokyo in March will see a glimpse of the game’s “Alpha”.

Road to VR, a major source of VR news, wrote an op-ed piece examining the announcement made about the new collaboration between IBM and Namco Bandai. They point out several facts that lead them to concluded that Sword Art Online: The Beginning as a 20 minute VR marketing demo. It is a neat marketing stunt for both IBM Watson and the Sword Art Online anime/manga/movie.

1) Sword Art Online: The Beginning was announced as an ‘Alpha’ that is referenced is not an ‘Alpha’ in the game design sense. It is an “Alpha” in the fictional sense since the Manga and Light Novel set the fictional characters in a 'Beta' Version of the SAO world.

2)It is said that a certain Dr. Akihiko Kayaba has met with an IBM Researcher who, through Watson, have made the ‘Alpha’ possible. Dr. Kayaba, however is not a real person, he is a character in Sword Art Online who, inside the show, creates Sword Art World and the fictional NerveGear VR system.

3) The experience is not being created by a game design studio, but instead it’s being developed by an independent creative agency (with the very confusing name of 1→10), which has previously created a VR marketing experience for Pepsi.

4) Road to VR spoke with Shun Kubota, Editor in Chief of Mogura VR, the leading virtual reality publication in Japan. He confirmed that the marketing concept behind Sword Art Online: The Beginning is to show “what it would be like when the cognitive computing IBM is developing is used in future gaming technology.”

“So it is not actually a real game in development, it is just a marketing experience to show off VR, Watson, and Sword Art Online?” I asked. “Exactly,” Kubota told Road to VR.

We at GeekBytesPodcast are disappointed to too.

The biggest announcements from Oculus Connect

This past week the VR company Facebook bought for $2 Billion dollars showed some of their future plans at Oculus Connect, the virtual reality professional development conference sponsored by Oculus. We have a wrap up of the biggest stories to come out of the conference:

Gear VR will get New Streaming options including Netflix, Hulu, and Twitch

Gear VR is the virtual realty project that created a portable virtual reality headset that uses Samsung phones to work. Well now Oculus has shown some of the non-gaming content coming to the portable headset. Streaming content like Hulu and Twitch will be coming later this year but Netflix was announced to be available right now.

We had a chance to test out the VR Netflix option and found it to be very smooth and comfortable. The Netflix TV app puts the user on a couch in a virtual room decorated in popular Netflix content (think posters of Daredevil on the walls). While on the couch user watches Netflix on a big screen TV. The interface is almost exactly like the one you'd use on your traditional PC, phone, or smart TV. 

100s of games listed to be ready for Oculus Launch in 2016

Oculus has had their developer kits out for over a year now allowing hundreds of game developers a chance to create game content for the device. The new games announced for the recently announced touch controllers include: Final Approach, Moon Strike, Pulsar Arena, Job Simulator, I Expect You To Die, Nimbus Nights, Dead & Buried,  and Surgeon Simulator.

However, the biggest game announcement had to be Minecraft. That's right Minecraft for Windows 10 was added to the list of games to be available for the consumer version of Oculus. Now you can build from a overhead 3rd person view or jump right into the world you create in 1st person virtual reality. 

Oculus Ready computers at $1,000

Oculus Ready is a partnership with manufacturers including Asus, Dell, and Alienware, which will guarantee a simple, plug-in-and-go VR experience on PCs carrying the logo. All the PCs in the program are built on Intel and Nvidia hardware, and pricing will begin at under $1000.

This means that you no longer have to worry about building a custom PC for your VR needs. Just look for the Oculus logo on a new PC and know it'll be able to handle the first consumer version of the Oculus Rift. 

New Gear VR headset that will work with all Galaxy 2015 phones for $99

The most exciting VR news that came out of Oculus Connect was likely the hefty price drop of the Gear VR from $250 to $99. The additional compatibility with any 2015 Samsung Galaxy phone is a great since it adds a much wider potential audience for the device. Previous versions of Gear VR only worked with one model of the Samsung phone.

The new price plus the added phone compatibility options for the Gear VR make the virtual reality headset much more appealing to the average consumer and may just kick off a new trend for affordable portable VR rigs.