HoloLens

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Euler
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Location: Bet Angel HQ

This technology looks amazing. Slated for release later this year I think Bet Angel for HoloLens is a must!

https://www.microsoft.com/microsoft-hololens/en-us
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LeTiss
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I'd feel like Michael Douglas in the film Disclosure!

In Fact, the virtual help section was called 'Angel'

Perfect for you Peter, but please don't put your face on the product.....it's bad enough that I can sometimes hear your voice "This event is now in play" when shagging the missus :lol:
andyfuller
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The return of all the different kinds of VR sounds really exciting. Oculus Rift is supposed to be amazing.

I hope it takes off this time but I think the problem remains about having to put a headset on.

I wasn't that convinced by the microsoft video about the uses for VR etc, they seemed pretty poor but reports are the microsoft system is impressive.

From a gaming view point I think it is going to be pretty awesome but they need to get it to work in the real world and it not to be just a gimmick and fall by the way side like Google Glass.

I just hope this new tech stands up to all the excitement about it in the media.
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Archangel
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A friend of mine was at E3 and tried the VR headset at Microsoft. Said it was an amazing experience, total immersion in the environment you were put in.
The problem with VR is that its very hard to show it to people on a screen, you need to experience it for yourself.
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Kai
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andyfuller wrote:Oculus Rift is supposed to be amazing.
Especially when combined with a Cyberith Virtualizer, it really takes immersion to the next level.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fbu8OUq1CUE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7n5kRRHDpw

VR is indeed becoming a reality, exciting times are ahead :ugeek:
andyfuller
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So is any one buying an Oculus Rift now they are available?

Would love to try one out but can't justify spending the money on a PC as well as the headset.
Wainwright
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Joined: Mon Jan 23, 2012 1:10 pm

I tried one at an exhibition at the National Theatre a while back;

http://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/disco ... wonderland

I have to say I was underwhelmed by the experience. The VR content was pretty lame + the headset was tethered and quite bulky. I also had a hangover which didn't help, admittedly.

It piqued my curiosity about VR though. Did a bit of research, discovered Google Cardboard and bought this;

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Bluetooth-Contr ... B01A0ONFGQ

Google have been clever in managing expectations I think, I wasn't expecting Cardboard to be very good but actually, it's pretty impressive for what it is. It probably won't rival OR for gaming, but for 360 videos, photo spheres, Google Street View, Google Earth etc it's good fun - certainly worth £25 anyway !!
xitian
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Yes! I've pre-ordered both an Oculus Rift and an HTC Vive headset. I've also upgraded my graphics card. I have a powerhouse of a PC now! I'd definitely describe myself as an early adopter with spare cash though, plus I've been interested in AR/VR for a long time since I was introduced to it waaay back in 1999, and then did my computer science dissertation on it at university.

I might end up selling one of them soon after though. I've owned both Oculus developer kits in the past and have managed to sell them for a significant profit on eBay because of the massive hype around VR at the moment.

The Oculus is a bit handicapped for the next few months though, because their handheld controllers aren't out yet, so you're left with duff experiences that you can only play with an XBox controller. I think Valve (HTC Vive headset) are pushing the boundaries in more interesting ways with their "room-scale" VR though. With that, you're expected to stand up and use the whole room in your VR games/experiences. They are releasing with proper VR controllers, but they don't look quite as cool as the Oculus ones will eventually be. It's going to be a pretty niche area to begin with though. You've got the cost of the headset, cost of a powerful computer, and space required in the house. PlayStation VR might end up being a bit more mass-market. Hololens, although it sounds cool, I think they're still really early on with their prototypes. The main issue being that it's restricted to a tiny window that you're looking through rather than a full field of view like the VR headsets coming out. The amazing achievement with Hololens is that they're packing the whole computer into the headset itself! And therefore no wires restricting your movement.

No idea how any of this will ever translate into sports trading though! However I've read that broadcasters are interested in trying to broadcast sporting events in VR. No idea how real it will feel. For me they'd need to support full looking around along with depth of field, rather than a flat 360 deg video, before it is really immersive.
andyfuller
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Let us know how you find both please xitian - I will be really interested to hear.

I was expecting Peter Webb to say he had them on order as well as I know he likes his tech!

Interesting that you weren't impressed Wainwright, almost everyone seems to be blown away by it but I have heard the odd person say they didn't think much to it and thought it would go the same was a 3D printers - was only a short time ago people were saying everyone would have one of those in their homes.

I see VR mainly being for gamers tbh and I am not convinced it will take off as all the hype suggests it will. I think the Sony option is the best chance of it doing so as a lot of people already have that device so the cost of moving to VR is not as high - perhaps a good time to launch the Sony version would have been in the run up to Christmas.
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Euler
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Location: Bet Angel HQ

Another demo of the technology

http://www.ted.com/talks/alex_kipman_th ... s#t-179598

Some interesting Q&A's at the end.
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marksmeets302
Posts: 527
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Can't wait to project a beach in my office!

We live in amazing times. Truly grateful for that.
sionascaig
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This puts me off Oculas Rift....

“By submitting User Content through the Services, you grant Oculus a worldwide, irrevocable, perpetual (ie lasting forever), non-exclusive, transferable, royalty-free and fully sub licensable (ie we can grant this right to others) right to use, copy, display, store, adapt, publicly perform and distribute such User Content in connection with the Services,” the terms state.

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/ ... ss-on-data

But yes it does look fantastic!
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Euler
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Location: Bet Angel HQ

There were lots of things I hoped I'd have in the future when I was young and slowly it's coming to pass. So exciting times for sure.

I hadn't imagined my phone would do so much or that it would navigate me half the way around the world and find an Italian restaurant for me. Or that it would fit in my back pocket. If you look at Star Trek, the communicator on their looks positively archaic.

Now we are diving into the quantum world, I'm sure there are a few surprises there as well.
xitian
Posts: 457
Joined: Fri Jul 08, 2011 2:08 pm

I was digging around through some old files, and I managed to find my old website from when I was at uni. In 2002 I did my dissertation on augmented reality. I found a video of me generating a coke can on top of a book. You can definitely see it's 2002 from my old keyboard and CRT monitor! Plus the awful quality of the video, of course ;)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SqjWy51rXEw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQjYDEqWEE0

Recently there's been a bit of commotion around a company called Magic Leap. They seem as though they might be a competitor to Hololens, but they're being very quiet about how it actually works. I'm hoping it's something a bit more innovative than just another giant headset, but I'm not holding my hopes up.

http://www.theverge.com/2016/4/19/11459 ... ge-profile

https://www.magicleap.com
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marksmeets302
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That looks very cool xitian, and if I'm not mistaken this was quite an achievement to do in real time in 2002!

There was some news about magic leap; a couple of days ago wired had an article about head and arm movement tracking:

http://www.wired.com/2016/04/magic-leap-vr/
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