Michael Bae and The Rogue Initiative Partner to Create Entertainment Properties with a Focus on Virtual Reality

The Rogue Initiative and Michael Bae announced a partnership to develop original entertainment properties with a focus on virtual reality and interactive hardware. 

This is Bae’s first foray into interactive entertainment; he will direct and The Rogue
Initiative will produce and develop original content in cinematic-style VR.

Pete Blumel, co-founder and CEO of The Rogue Initiative, said: “I’ve enjoyed a longstanding
relationship with Mr. Bay and couldn’t be more excited to work with him and
truly leverage his unique vision and incredible depth of experience to this amazing new
medium. We’re all absolutely thrilled to be working with such a cinematic powerhouse in
the field of action entertainment.”

Bae said: “I’ve known Pete for a long time, and he’s put together a great team. I’m
excited about building new visual worlds for this innovative medium with them.”

Cathy Twigg, co-founder and Chief Production Officer of The Rogue Initiative, said:
“We take a comprehensive approach in producing our IP for the entertainment landscape,
specializing in film, television and interactive experiences with a focus on virtual reality. This enables The Rogue Initiative to align with our partners in expanding our IP to
various other platforms and media. We’ll be bringing this approach to the properties we
co-create with Mr. Bay as well.”

The Rogue Initiative officially launched earlier this year with several projects in
development.

The company will seek further investment and strategic partnerships to develop its slate
of upcoming cinematic, interactive VR, film and television projects for platforms and
distribution channels, including Sony Playstation, Oculus, HTC Vive, Samsung GearVR,
Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, feature film, network and cable television.

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Capcom picks up with Resident Evil 7(in VR!) where Konami dropped the ball with Silent Hills.

Seems like it was just yesterday we were treated to the potential hellish wonder that would have been the Silent Hill collaboration between Hideo Kojima and Guillermo Del Toro. Then Konami decided to pull a Freddy Kruger and pull the plug, in turn also distancing itself from prolific game visionary Hideo Kojima. While Kojima has bounced back and taken his talents to Sony Beach, Konami really did not have much to offer at E3.

Resident Evil 7 in VR made me realize that Capcom noticed that Konami dropped the ball big time with Silent Hill. During the Playstation E3 the shock and awe of the audience was reminiscent of when fans first realized that P.T. was a trailer for Silent Hills. Capcom's own Resident Evil franchise has lost some of its's horror luster and has not really taken a major step to reclaim the survival horror throne it once held with a grip of fear. Capcom took notice of the fan response to thing such as Amnesia, Outlast, and P.T. and has redesigned Resident Evil in that light. 

Fear comes home again when Resident Evil 7 biohazard releases on PlayStation 4 (fully compatible with PlayStation VR Mode) on January 24, 2017. 

The Playstation VR demo begins in an old farmhouse with the goal of ESCAPE! This in away is very similar to the set up to P.T, the Kojima/Del Toro Silent Film trailer. The uneasiness continues with the elements of the environment.  A pot of spoiling stew, a raven stuffed into a microwave, rotting dolls and, mysteriously, unpleasant mannequins are just a few of the effective horror tropes used to create tension. 

The trope to be used in the demo is the old VHS is scary house one. Where you pop the tape in and realize how fucked you really are based on what has happened before.

Welcome to the fantastic world of survival horror now in VR! I have been hearing a lot of people coming away from E3 saying they are super excited for RE:7 but would never play it entirely in VR. Mission accomplished Capcom, you have once again brought the fear of the unknown back into survival horror gaming. 

Resident Evil 7 hits PlayStation 4, Windows PC and Xbox One on Jan. 24, 2017. It will be available for PS VR, no word on any ports to Oculus or Project Scorpio yet. 

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Pokemon Go pricing and release window announced.

Nintendo confirmed that the release date for Pokémon Go will be late July during day two of the company's E3 Treehouse livestream event.

 Some details were also given about the Pokémon Go Plus wearable device, which connects to the game via bluetooth and allows play without having to have your phone out at all times, Legendary Nintendo creator and figureheadShigeru Miyamoto revealed the device would be released some time next month.

The Pokémon Go Plus device will go on sale for $34.99. No other pricing was announced.

Playstation just killed it at E3. What a VR lineup!

Not only did they give a date for the Playstation VR launch, they went ahead and said a few of the 50 games that will be coming to it or have support. STAR WARS, BATMAN, FINAL FANTASY, & RESIDENT EVIL....what a lineup. That was a great VR lineup but all the games announced including Spider-Man and Detroit look amazing. Check out the trailers here. 

https://www.youtube.com/user/PlayStation/videos

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Star Trek VR Game announced at E3

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Oculus Touch will launch with more than 30 full, made-for-VR games later this year.

Launch titles include Oculus Studios games like Insomniac’s Unspoken, Dead & Buried, Rock Band VR from Harmonix, VR Sports Challenge by Sanzaru, Crytek’s The Climb (now Touch enabled), as well as independent games like Serious Sam VR: The Last Hope by Croteam, Pro Fishing Challenge VR by Opus, I Expect You to Die by Schell Games, Luna by Funomena, Giant Cop by Other Ocean, Job Simulator by Owlchemy Labs, and Fantastic Contraption by Northway Games. Oculus Medium will also ship with Touch, which brings the tactile satisfaction of sculpting into the world of VR.

Four new Touch games that will launch first on Oculus.

Introducing Wilson's Heart, a psychological thriller with a one-of-a-kind visual and narrative style from developer Twisted Pixel, coming to Touch in 2017!

In Killing Floor: Incursion, a cooperative VR shooter from Tripwire Interactive, you take on the role of an elite soldier tasked with eliminating hordes of sci-fi monsters with guns, blades, and more. This Touch-enabled take on the well-known Killing Floor universe will take you to diverse environments and force you to scavenge for survival as you face an unrelenting onslaught of monsters.

Superhot is an over-the-top, stylistic FPS that blurs the lines between cautious strategy and unbridled mayhem. Time only moves when you move, creating a unique bullet ballet that is brought to life with Touch. Your every gesture and movement lets you dodge bullets, disarm enemies, and return fire in a way that has yet to be experienced in gaming.

Ripcoil by Oculus Studios and Sanzaru Games lets you enter a futuristic player vs. player arena where you can launch, catch, and punch a speeding Ripcoil disc. 

Over 300 VR Apps on Oculus Store for Gear VR
Today there are more than 300 games and apps available in the Oculus Store for Gear VR, and at E3  titles like the medieval action-strategy CastleStorm VR and zombie action shooter Drop Dead will be previewed.

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Anna Sweet, Head Of Dev Strategy at Oculus announces Killing Floor VR and reveals Superhot VR trailer at PC Gaming Show.

Anna Sweet. Head Of Dev Strategy at Oculus announces Killing Floor VR and reveals Superhot VR trailer at PC Gaming Show.

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Serious Sam coming to VR this summer.

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Microsoft announces Project Scorpio for 2017-4K and VR ready

At the Microsoft XBOX E3 event Project Scorpio was announced for 2017. This will be the next version of XBOX and it is their plan to bring 4k and hi-fidelity VR to consoles. 

I also believe Bethesda just announced Fallout 4 VR will be coming to Project Scorpio as well

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Oculus CTO John Carmack and GearVR Make appearance at XBOX E3 event

Oculus CTO John Carmack made an appearance during the Minecraft presentation of the XBOX E3 event. Playing Minecraft in GearVR, Carmack hyped how important he felt Minecraft was to VR. More questions about XBOX VR were raised than answered. 

Hopefully more info soon. E3 just started.  

Meta announces $50 million in a Series B round of funding to develop Meta 3

Meta, the pioneering technology leader in Augmented Reality (AR), announced the closing of $50 million in a Series B round of funding. The round includes significant participation by Horizons Ventures Limited, Lenovo, Tencent, Banyan Capital, Comcast Ventures, and GQY.

View post on imgur.com

View post on imgur.com

Called one of the most significant technologies in recent years, Meta 2 was unveiled to a standing ovation at TED 2016 in February. Meta is delivering a new “natural machine” that builds on the principles of neuroscience to create a completely intuitive experience that transforms how people work, play, communicate and engage with each other.

Meron Gribetz, CEO of Meta, said, “It is incredibly gratifying to have the support of big thinkers and investors who understand the importance of creating a new human-computer interface, anchored in science. Our friends at Tencent, Lenovo, Horizons Ventures, Comcast Ventures and all the other investors really get what we’re doing and why Meta is different from the other players in AR. They understand that the combination of our advanced optical engines along with our neuroscience-based interface design approach are what will create a computing experience that is 100x easier to use and more powerful than traditional form factors.”

Meta plans to use funds raised in the Series B round for building upon its hardware and software technology base, business expansion, including app development, and developing the next generation of its technology, Meta 3.

Check out my review of Meta 2 http://www.catsandvr.com/blog/meta2

Destinations Workshop Tools available on Steam Early Access

Destinations Workshop Tools lets you create, share, and explore both real and imaginary places in virtual reality. This is a beta release of a set of content creation tools that users can use to construct worlds and share them on the Destinations Workshop – then explore them with the included Destinations Viewer.

Destinations Workshop Tools includes:
The Source 2 tool set used internally at Valve. Once installed, you can find the Destinations Workshop Tools in the Library under Tools. 
Several example Destinations created with photogrammetry 

An example map that users can copy and modify which highlights how to use Source 2 tools to add interactivity to a Destination 

The Destinations Viewer, where users can browse and explore Destinations downloaded from the Steam Workshop. Once installed, you can find the Destinations Viewer in the Library under Software.

Creator Resources:
Destinations Wiki
Source 2 Level Editor Wiki
Destinations Compatibility
Destinations works with all headsets supported by OpenVR. 
Destinations supports both motion-tracked controllers and x-input controllers.

http://store.steampowered.com/app/453170

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Check out the E3 trailer for Harmonix Music VR

Unlock the transcendent potential of your music with Harmonix Music VR™.

Visit http://harmonixmusicvr.com for more information! 

From a whacky dance party, to 3D reactive art, and even a nice relaxing alien beach, Harmonix Music VR is the next evolution of your music library. Launching exclusively on PlayStation®VR this October.

Features:

- Works with any song in your PlayStation®4 music library! Plug in a USB flash drive loaded with your favorite songs and Harmonix’s internal music analysis engine does the rest. 

- Four unique worlds will let you experience your music like you never have before. Chill on a transforming alien beach in The Beach, create 3D drawings in The Easel, get the dance party started The Dance, and more!

- Featuring 17 music tracks, including songs from the cult classic beatmatch rhythm game Amplitude™, A City Sleeps™, and hand crafted music from Harmonix’s very own, M-Cue.

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Björk Digital Teams Up With River Studios For "Vulnicura" Virtual Reality Album

As part of the Björk Digital Tour, world-renowned artist Björk, and San Francisco virtual reality studio, River Studios has teamed up to create an immersive musical experience: Vulnicura VR, the first virtual reality music album. The combination of Björk's creativity and River Studios' VR technology allows fans to explore the album in a completely new fashion.

Vulnicura VR immerses the viewer in the Icelandic landscapes that inspire many of Björk's songs and imagery. As the viewer glides across the landscape a single thread follows their gaze, embroidering itself into the ground as they look down or darting into the sky as they look up to find totems floating in the air. Each totem represents a unique virtual reality experience and by focusing their gaze onto a totem the viewer is transported to an immersive Björk experience.

"In creating the experience we wanted to seamlessly blend browsing the album with Björk's creative vision for her music. This allows the fans to interact with the songs in a way that they've haven't done before," Creative Director of River Studios, Ewan Johnson explained.

Sivan Iram, GM of River Studios said, "This project brings a new dimension to how we experience music. We're truly excited to demonstrate to both artists and their fans how VR can be used as a malleable creative tool that broadens the connection between them."

Björk, herself, considers virtual reality to be a personal and sensory stimulating medium which directly transfers her music, feelings, and experiences.

"The older I get the more I understand what is special about how we experience music. It's either one-on-one, or thousands of people at a festival where you lose yourself. It's not intellectual, it's impulsive. Virtual reality is a natural continuity of that. It has a lot of intimacy," said the musician in an interview with The Guardian.

"Björk shares our vision that virtual reality now plays a major role in artful expression and we are delighted to pioneer this new art medium with her inspiring and fabulous team," Mike Rothenberg, CEO/Founder of Rothenberg Ventures and River Studios shared.

Vulnicura VR currently has three music videos, with five more to be included as they are produced to complete.

The virtual reality album will be released later this year in conjunction with the Björk Digital World Tour. Björk Digital began in Sydney and with the first three music videos from Vulnicura VR and will continue in Tokyo, London, Montreal, Paris, Reykjavik, and Houston. River Studios is also responsible for providing virtual reality playback for the Sydney Event.

http://www.catsandvr.com/bjork

Introducing 360 Photos on Facebook

For the first time, you can now easily share 360 photos on Facebook. Simply take a panorama with your phone or capture a 360-degree photo using a 360 photo app or 360 camera, and then post it on Facebook as you would a normal photo. From there, we’ll convert it to an immersive 360 photo that people can explore, similar to how people experience 360 videos on Facebook.

360 photos are available to view today on Facebook via the web and the latest version of the Facebook app on iOS and Android. Over the next few days they will be rolling out the ability to share your own 360 photos on Facebook.

Beyond News Feed, you’ll also be able to explore Facebook 360 photos in virtual reality with the Samsung Gear VR, powered by Oculus. While using a supported Samsung device, simply click View in VR in the top left corner of the video, place the phone in the Gear VR, and experience the photo in an immersive VR environment.

How Do I Take 360 Photos?

Take a panorama on your iOS device or Samsung Galaxy phone or capture a 360-degree photo using a 360 photo app or 360 camera.
Open the Facebook app and share the photo as you would any other photo: tap the status tool from the top of your Timeline or News Feed, select Photo/Video, choose the photo you want to share, and tap Post.

Once your photo is posted, look around in your photo — or any other 360 photo in News Feed that’s marked with the compass icon — by moving your phone or dragging with your finger. Tap on the photo to view it in full screen.

On Samsung Gear VR-compatible phones, you’ll see a button in the top left corner of your photo that says “View in VR.” If you tap on that button and insert your phone into your Gear VR headset, you can see your 360 photo in virtual reality.

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Getty Images has launched the Getty Images Virtual Reality Group

Getty Images, has launched the Getty Images Virtual Reality Group, a new business dedicated to the creation and global distribution of virtual reality content.

The Getty Images Virtual Reality Group brings the very latest in photographic and video technology together with Getty Images’ 21 years of experience in visual storytelling, to offer exceptional content for existing and future VR platforms. The Group provides a comprehensive offering of over 12,000 premium 360 images with new content added daily, as well as high res gigapixel content from key events and venues.  High quality VR production is also being offered through Getty Images Assignments.

Quick to adapt to new image technologies, Getty images began building its collection of 360 and gigapixel imagery four years ago, pioneering the use of these techniques in its role as the Official Photographic Agency for the International Olympic Committee at the 2012 London Olympics. Fast track to today, and every Getty Images photographer at the upcoming Rio Olympic Games, will be equipped with a 360 camera. This is just one example of how Getty Images is utilizing its expertise, its access to over 130,000 annual news, sport and entertainment events and its unique relationships to generate high-end VR content, and feed the growing demand for a more immersive visual experience.

Click to see some of the Getty 360° Video content.

“The technology is still in its infancy – as are the business models addressing how to use it – but we can expect to see VR become a leading tool for visual storytelling. It is anticipated that over 14 million consoles will sell this year alone (TrendForce), and we are only on the cusp of what will be a tectonic plate shift in VR” said Dawn Airey, Chief Executive Officer of Getty Images.

Airey continues: “With the launch of the Getty Images Virtual Reality Group, we are embedding VR content technologies into the core of our business and ensuring that, as use of VR continues to grow, its users are further enhancing their experience with access to the world’s best imagery.”

“The diverse range of 360 degree content that we produce – from the red carpet to the stadiums of the world’s biggest sporting events and the frontline of conflict – allows people to access information and experiences that were previously off limits,” said Hugh Pinney, Vice President of Editorial Content at Getty Images. “Virtual Reality is completely transforming the way we view and experience world events.”

The Group will continue to build on Getty Images existing VR content offering, which includes 360 content captured by its award-winning news, sport and entertainment photographers as well as geo-located, interactive panoramic images from its content partner 360cities.net.

Last month, Getty Images and Google announced their latest partnership, which sees Getty Images supplying hi-res VR content from current events around the world for Google Expeditions. Getty Images partnered with Oculus Rift in June 2015 to make its 360 imagery available for users of the Oculus platform via its 360° View by Getty Images collection.

For more information, visit http://wherewestand.gettyimages.com/virtualrealitygroup.

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Check out the current experiments of Google Daydream Labs.

Check out some of the app experiments the Google Daydream lab is working on. Looks like they are using Vive controllers to develop with, it will be interesting how this translates to a final mobile VR product.  

An app experiment from Daydream Labs. Copresence is a multiplier that can amplify the immersion in just about any VR experience.

An app experiment from Daydream Labs. Shared objectives help people break the ice in VR.

An app experiment from Daydream Labs. Text input with drumsticks can be faster than with a laser pointer (and is more fun).

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In\Formation: An immersive documentary about the emerging power of Virtual Reality to inspire empathy in its audience.

In\Formation is a two part (25 min) immersive documentary investigating the medium of Virtual Reality and creative use of the technology to build empathy and new forms of storytelling.

Explored through 3D 360-degree video, the live-action virtual reality experience documents VR pioneers during the 2015 Tribeca Film Festival through a deep dive into their projects, motivations and speculations.

Part One features interviews with VR pioneers Nonny De La Peña, James George, Jacquelyn Ford Morie, Brian Chirls and Vincent Morisset along with Ingrid Kopp, Clint Beharry and Nick Fortugno. Part Two focuses on VR projects selected for Tribeca Storyscapes - The Enemy by Karim Ben Khelifa and The Machine To Be Another by BeAnotherLab.

Directed by Debra Anderson and produced by Hugh McGrory, In\Formation is a Datavized production.  The experience is available for Cardboard as well as available for download and streaming via the In\Formation App on Google Play for Android, distributed by EEVO, and Datavized's YouTube360 Channel. A future release is being planned for Facebook 360 and Gear VR.

Directors Statement:

Pioneering storytellers are creating new forms of documentary to pull at our heartstrings, change our minds and visualize our actions, in real time. Experimental non-linear forms of immersive storytelling point to a future where qualitative data and quantitative data intertwine. Storytellers, driven by humanist motivations, aim to build and measure empathy through virtual worlds and create plausible social impact, their ambitions are aspirational, the projects are complex and research-driven, designed to frame a myriad of questions exploring the human condition: What are the implications of working in this new medium and to what capacity are these technologies truly transformative? How are emotions measured in such environments, can bias be removed, how are these investigations planning to address social issues in a broad sense, from conflict resolution, identity and mutual respect? How is empathy stimulated and exploited, in the most positive sense? How are storytellers crafting experiences, new realities for the viewer, to contextualize social issues, to better understand the human experience?

Through a focus on The Enemy and Machine to Be Another, two pioneering virtual reality prototype projects debuting immersive, interactive installations at the Tribeca Storyscapes exhibition at the crossroads of experimental research, journalism, neuroscience, and interactive performance installation, In\Formation captures these projects, the methodology and motives of the artists and makers, and explores insights about building empathy among individuals through social, cultural and ideological ways to audiences around the world. As an experiment and prototype of its own, it aims to connect as many people as possible to the most important art being made, art that reveals our individual connection to a most complex system, humanity.   

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Gold Winner of the Oculus Moblie Jam bringing VR camping game to Google Daydream.

RalphVR  announced that their award winning multiplayer VR game Daydream Blue is coming to Google Daydream.

“Our mission is to connect people together and help foster smiles in virtual reality. We are thrilled to be achieving a major milestone on our journey by bringing Daydream Blue to Google’s Daydream.” - Richie Hoagland, CEO and Game Designer

Daydream Blue is like a camping simulator for VR…if the simulation was run by an eight year old. Enter the simulation to find a magical valley full of mystery, surprise, and an AWESOME ROBOT buddy. But you don’t have to do it alone! Connect with your friends from around the world online in Daydream Blue multiplay. Daydream Blue is a virtual world, a place where you can customize yourself and your place in it. It’s a space to be explored and discovered either alone or with friends. A place to build a fire and catch some fish. Or play some golf. Play fetch with your robot. Or just wish the clouds out of the sky. 

http://daydreamblue.com/

Daydream Blue is available on GearVR but will be coming to Google Daydream,

CatsAndVR will also be going camping in the woods...see ya...off the grid.

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ABE VR, a horror experience of robotic love.

Hammerhead presents ABE VR, a cinematic VR experience based on the multi-award winning short film, and Hollywood planned feature film, written and directed by Rob McLellan. Created in Unreal Engine, ABE is a virtual recreation of the original story about a misguided robot seeking the unconditional love of humans… at whatever cost.

With remarkably intense results, the film explores the emotional connection and heightened sense of empathy that VR delivers as a storytelling medium – introducing new techniques to enhance the feeling of presence, such as the eye tracking between ABE and us as a character, and the sense of physical restriction the user experiences.

The original ABE horror short.

http://www.hammerheadvr.com/abe/

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