Pi Mu Rho posted:

I've been developing demos for a company that can detect your facial expressions when wearing a HMD. The difference it makes to any kind of avatar is pretty immense.

Olesh posted:

I'm technically stereo blind (although I can temporarily focus with an effort to get stereo vision) and the Rift/Vive are basically like magic for me. Not only do I have zero problems focusing and getting stereo 3d in the headset, for a while after using them my eyes will continue to naturally focus without effort and I get depth perception again.

I'm a bit of a weird mutant edge case, though, but it's encouraging to hear not only that other people are also finding that 3D has therapeutic effects but that it's significant enough that its uses in treatment are being actively pursued.

Surprise Giraffe posted:

How do they pull that off? Maybe you can't give details but for the HMDs currently on the market you'd have put tiny cameras or something in the faceplate to pick up the bits of face that are totally obscured, right? Unless you could sort of extrapolate from the expression on the uncovered portion of the face

ShadowMoo posted:

That is a lot of sensors and cameras just to track facial expressions. Unlikely to come out anytime soon like that. And having to stay in front of the camera to see the mouth seems like it would be a pain.

ShadowMoo posted:

From what I've read the current Vive mic is absolute crap.

ShadowMoo posted:

That is a lot of sensors and cameras just to track facial expressions. Unlikely to come out anytime soon like that. And having to stay in front of the camera to see the mouth seems like it would be a pain.

Ciaphas posted:

Interesting. And just making sure before I probably pull the trigger tonight, it won't refuse to run just because my processor is slightly undergunned, will it? (i5 4570 vs their recommended 4590, but a 980ti for video)

nelson posted:

Eh, I'm pretty sure just a single video camera could detect facial movement as well. Maybe not to the same fidelity, but good enough for us normals who just want a fancy chat room.

ShadowMoo posted:

(VR dicks everywhere)

quote:

http://i.imgur.com/K2aCRhl.jpg

Thanks to Ubisoft and developer Red Storm, soon you'll be able to conquer the final frontier in a brand new VR game called Star Trek: Bridge Crew.

Set in the rebooted JJ Abrams universe, the game actually takes place on a new USS Aegis ship, with your mission being to find a new home world for the Vulan population. It's set after the timeline of the first Star Trek film.

http://i.imgur.com/EUGj38y.jpg

It's a four-player co-op experience, with you and three mates taking on the various roles of the bridge crew – Captain, Helmsman, Engineer and Tactical Officer. The entire game is mission-based, but you'll need to work together with your fellow Bridge Crew members to make sure you accomplish all the various tasks.

You'll be communicating to each other as you explore, encountering the Klingons and other alien species en route.

http://i.imgur.com/r6oaDLa.jpg

"The Bridge Crew experience is highly social. That's the type of VR we've been exploring at Red Storm – social VR," explained David Votypka, Senior Creative Director at Red Storm. "Like with Werewolves Within, we really take the tech and apply it to this brand. The social element is already in the DNA of the Star Trek brand.

"They rely on each other. They have to communicate and work together. That dynamic about the brand is like a perfect fit for this technology, where you have that presence. You feel like you're there with other people, but you also get to do it on the bridge of a Federation starship."

Star Trek: Bridge Crew uses hand-tracking and special lip sync technology to make you feel like you're talking to real characters and really are part of the USS Aegis crew.

http://i.imgur.com/OwROnIZ.jpg

It's a bit sad that we're not going to be piloting the USS Enterprise in Red Storm's upcoming VR title, but it seems there's a deliberate reason for making it the USS Aegis.

"Pretty early on, we talked about how players, of course, would love to be on the Enterprise and fly the Enterprise – but, at the same time, this is a new technology that lets you immerse yourself in this world.

"That was one of the reasons why we wanted to allow players to become a Federation officer themselves, for them to become the crew. So, in a lot of ways that made sense. If you're becoming the crew, if you're becoming the Federation officer – it's about your career, your mission, your adventures [then] we should do a different ship.

"Secondly, we wanted to do some narrative story missions as well. If you're on the Enterprise, it's immediately confusing. It's like, 'I'm on the Enterprise, but where are Kirk, Sulu and Spock?' For those two main reasons, we wanted to create a different ship in a different area of space in its own setting and it's own storyline."

http://i.imgur.com/Fu50rm9.jpg

Regardless of the lack of Enterprise, the game still has a uniquely Star Trek feel. Although we've not had a chance to go hands-on (or head-on) with the VR title, three familiar faces have already been strapped into the headsets and given the game a whirl.

Those faces are Karl Urban of the Star Trek reboot and Star Trek: Into Darkness, LeVar Burton of Star Trek: Generations and other titles and Jeri Ryan of Star Trek: Voyager – all of whom have quite the insight into the Star Trek world.

"I have to say, this was an extraordinary experience. It's one thing to be on set and imagine a scenario like this, but it's an entirely different beast when you are actually in this game and your adversaries are fully-3D rendered right [in front of you]," said Karl Urban after playing Star Trek: Bridge Crew.

http://i.imgur.com/C8WjoAe.jpg

"I've sampled VR in various iterations of the technology. This [game], by far, is the best I've ever had the chance to play," added LeVar Burton. "This is where we all hoped we were heading, certainly where gaming is concerned.

"The graphics are amazing, the art – it's all terrific. But one of the things I love most about it is that they have really maintained the integrity of the Star Trek ethos – the values of cooperation are actually built into the gameplay. I think that's very cool because Star Trek really is unique in that it is our hopeful look at the future."

"It's incredible. The things that you do and the way that you interact, everyone working together – it's beautifully done," said Jeri Ryan. "It's not just blowing things up. You're not just shooting. There's a million games where you can shoot people. This is more than that. Star Trek was more than that because also you're trying to rescue people and get them home. It's really cool."

In a time when very few people have virtual reality headsets at home – we currently don't know what platforms Star Trek: Bridge Crew will launch on – we still wonder whether social VR is the way to go. But with our Star Trek guinea pigs, it seems that's one of the biggest sells for the game.

"It was actually my favourite part of the experience," explained Urban. "You learn to work together as a better team. You each have a specific set of functions to perform. If one of your colleagues fails to perform, it could impact the wellbeing of everybody in the game. There's pressure there to get it right and do your job."

"The ability to be in a virtual reality environment with your friends, that's pretty cool. It's absolutely unique and I can't tell you how much fun it is," said Burton. "You're all in different locations, different cities, sometimes different countries. Imagine being able to actually have a physical representation of one another and be able to share a singular environment. That's pretty cool."

But Burton actually wants to take the Star Trek experience a step further by reuniting Star Trek: Next Generations in Bridge Crew.

"I'd love to play this game with other members of the Next Gen cast. I think it would be an absolute blast. Playing with Brent [Spiner], Jonathan [Frakes] and Michael [Dorn] – it would be a gas! So much fun!"

robostac posted:

Theres a reddit wiki with lists of cables people have used:

https://www.reddit.com/r/Vive/wiki/cables

I'm using the bluerigger 10m USB and Startech 10m active HDMI without any noticeable difference in latency. The HDMI cable is slightly awkward as it's quite thick and not very flexible, so it ends up sticking out when going round corners.

Surprise Giraffe posted:

How do they pull that off? Maybe you can't give details but for the HMDs currently on the market you'd have put tiny cameras or something in the faceplate to pick up the bits of face that are totally obscured, right? Unless you could sort of extrapolate from the expression on the uncovered portion of the face

Krenzo posted:

Can you say who this company is?

ShadowMoo posted:

So it basically requires you to have 3 friends who also have VR headsets. I guess it might work if goons start splitting up 4-packs. This doesn't seem like the sort of thing you would want to pug though. And it would get dull once you have done all the set pieces.

EdEddnEddy posted:

V Signup for the Alpha/Beta

Their Twitter is a little stale, but they are hard at work on their new tech. Basicly it allows you to multitask with an overlay drawn inside your VR environment from what I can tell. Similar to some stuff that the Leap Motion guys were working on for their use cases.

What It means is being able to throw up a VLC/Browser/Explorer window anywhere in your VR environment so you can watch Netflix/Video/Browse the web (not sure how) inside your Cockpit of Elite, or to the side of your view in Minecraft, etc. This, will be amazing.

r0ck0 posted:

https://twitter.com/JustinRoiland/status/741172407105265664

Pi Mu Rho posted:

Sorry, not at the moment. They've not gone public with it yet.

Ludicrous Gibs! posted:

Um, context? Is this supposed to be Oculus' idea of a typical use case for Rift+Touch? A sign that an announcement about the latter is coming soon? Or is it just "ha ha, look at the obviously staged promotional photo"?

Ciaphas posted:

I wonder how common it is that people like you and me can gain stereo vision with these things. The science over the next few years is definitely gonna be fascinating.

Now that I'm home, I've realized my living room is quite a bit less cramped than I thought--it'll be very easy to move things around and create a Vive play area. First gen be damned I want in on this

Hamelekim posted:

It's a gaming coming out where you and 3 other people are on the bridge of a starship in star trek.

homeless snail posted:

homeless snail posted:

smh if you can't recognize Geordie LaForge in his natural element

s.i.r.e. posted:

I must be the only person who doesn't care for Audioshield, the presentation is absolutely terrible and the gameplay got dull after a couple songs. Must of been the fastest refund I've requested on Steam.

sliderule posted:

no feedback for movement embellishment

DrBox posted:

Has anyone tried this "Destinations Workshop Tools" on steam? It says it has Rift and gamepad support, but when I run it, SteamVR comes up and then nothing else happens.

Manky posted:

This, at least, is wrong. There is visual feedback for how hard you hit the orbs and your ferocity effects your score.