360 rumors

I can use the  HTC Vive (reviewed here)  for hours without discomfort, but its face cushion tends to get soaked with sweat.  It's kind of gross when you're sharing it between more than one user.  Fortunately, there's a replacement face cushion that is both cleaner and more comfortable. VR Cover makes accessories for VR headsets, including the Oculus Rift, Samsung Gear VR, and HTC Vive.  They made a replacement face cushion for the HTC Vive that uses viscoelastic foam (memory foam), similar to the one used in mattresses such as Tempur-Pedic.  It also has a fine-textured polyurethane synthetic leather cover similar to the type used in some headphones, that won't absorb sweat, and can be cleaned easily with antibacterial wipes. front view (HTC wide face on  top, narrow face on the bottom) The size is similar to the "narrow face" cushion that comes with the Vive.  In my case, there is a slight light leak on both sides of my nose with the VR Cover cus...

For professional image quality 360 video, a rig is still the way to go.  The 360Heros 3DPro is a 3D 360 rig that can capture fully spherical 3D 360 video that is stereoscopic in all directions, even the zenith and nadir. The 3DPro converts to use either twelve or fourteen GoPro Hero 4 Black cameras.  With fourteen cameras, it has omnidirectional 3D.  With twelve cameras, the horizon is 3D in all directions, but the zenith and nadir are not stereoscopic. The 3DPro allows you to capture 3D 360 video at up to 8k resolution (8000 x 4000).  The minimum focus distance is 4 feet. To sync the cameras, the 3DPro relies on audio syncing.  It includes an audio sync clicker. The 3DPro is available for preorder from B&H for $999.95 with free expedited shipping.  It includes the following: (1) 3DPro 360 Plug-n-Play™ Holder (1) 360RIZE 1/4"-20 to 3/8" mounting accessory/ adapter (1) Audio sync clicker (1) 360RIZE screwdriver/ camera removal tool (1) Velvet holder ba...

​ The Kyocera / Yashica YAC-300/360 is a hemispherical 360 action camera with what appears to be a waterproof housing.  It's in stock and available from B&H for $149.99 with free expedited shipping .  So far, there is no other information about it available.

​ A couple of days ago, NVidia announced that they were making VR-ready desktop GPUs available for notebooks.  Specifically, NVidia would put the VR-Ready GTX 1060, GTX 1070, and GTX 1080 in notebooks.  These aren't watered-down M versions, but nearly identical to their desktop counterparts.  This achievement was made possible by the efficient Pascal architecture.  See the official announcement here . I wondered how long it would take for the actual products to show up.  To my surprise, they're actually now available and in stock at B&H , starting at $1499. Please note that these notebooks have VR-ready graphics cards, but you'll also need to make sure the USB ports are compatible.  In that regard: - Oculus Rift requires three USB 3.0 and one USB 2.0 port .  When the Oculus Touch comes out, it will add a second sensor, which I believe will require another USB 3.0 port .  One of the USB 3.0 ports will be for the upcoming Oculus Touch,...

​ If you want to add Photosphere metadata to your photo, or change the Photosphere metadata parameters for custom control, you can do so easily in Photoshop with this easy-to-use tool! Photosphere metadata are standardized information that allows your 360 photo to be interpreted correctly by 360 viewers.  It includes information such as the resolution, initial point of view, the pitch and roll (to level it properly).  Sometimes, when editing a photo, this information is lost and the image is no longer recognized as a 360 photo.  Adding Photosphere metadata allows it to again be recognized as a 360 photo.  Sometimes also, we want to have more control over the 360 photo.  Modifying the Photosphere metadata gives you this ability. You can get a free tool for Photoshop on Turkish 360 panorama website Yalimli.com  that gives you the ability to add and modify Photosphere metadata.  Here is the official website .  You simply extract the Zip file into you...

Nico360 is touted as the world's smallest fully spherical 360-degree camera.  When it was announced, the video resolution had been 1440p.  However, the Nico360 creators established a stretch goal at $200,000 to add 4k video.  They reached that milestone a while back.  But there were many questions about the 4k video, such as the framerate.  The creators have now added a little more information about the 4k video . According to Nico360, the 4k video will be 3840 x 1920 @ 24fps.  This is a slightly lower framerate than the Samsung Gear 360  (3840 x 1920 @ 30 fps) but higher than the Insta360 4k beta (3840 x 1920 @ 15fps).  Nico360 also said they might be able to increase it to 25 to 30 fps by optimization. Nico360 said that adding 4k capability will add one to two months to the production schedule.  Rather than delay the Nico360 production, they decided that they would release the Nico360 without the 4k capability.  The 4k capabilit...

2D screenshot SteamVR was updated to enable the HTC Vive (reviewed here) to take 3D screenshots, and now you can do it from the controller, without having to remove the headset.  The feature had been in the Beta version briefly but was later removed.  Now it's been implemented in the regular version of SteamVR. Previously, taking screenshots required a keyboard shortcut (Ctrl + F12 iirc), which was inconvenient because you had to remove the headset.  Now, to take screenshots, you can just press the System button and the trigger simultaneously on the Vive controller.  No need to remove the headset. You'll get two screenshots - a 3D version (side-by-side) and a 2D version. 3D screenshot from The Night Cafe If you view the screenshot in the Vive, it will appear 3D (not side-by-side). The screenshots also show the chaperone bounds (visible in the sample shots above as the blue outline). The screenshots can be uploaded to the Steam cloud and/or shared to Facebook.

​​ At the Intel Development Forum 2016, Intel announced its new Project Alloy, a VR headset that I believe represents the next step in the evolution of VR.  A couple of weeks ago, Intel engineer Dmitri Diakopoulos tweeted an image of a modified HTC Vive headset that had a "unicorn" attachment to it.  The tweet was later deleted but not before the press picked up on it. Today, Intel​ revealed what it was really about.  Project Alloy is a VR headset that is totally wireless, has full positional tracking, and doesn't require any external sensors.  Moreover, it can track your hands and fingers, allowing you to interact with VR objects as you would with the real-world.  Intel calls it "merged reality," and it's made possible by two sets of Intel's RealSense depth-sensing cameras.  You can see from the press release that the prototype Project Alloy headset has two sets of vertically-oriented realsense cameras, just like the headset tweeted by ...

UCVR Eye is a unique camera that can take 180-degree* 3D panoramic photos and can also be folded in half to take "360-degree" panoramas. The manufacturer claims that the field of view is 120 x 180 per lens, but it seems that it wouldn't be able to take a hemispherical 3D photo - more like 120 degrees.  Thanks to Thomas Popovich for this correction. Claimed specs: Field of view of each lens: 120 degrees Field of view when folded: "360 degrees"  (*panoramic; not fully spherical) Photo resolution: 16mp Video resolution: 4k @ 15fps or 1080p @ 30 fps. uses Micro SD cards up to 32GB A seller explained to me that it can be folded in half, not just at a 90 degree angle.  This seems to be supported by the drawing below. However, because the field of view of each lens is only 120 degrees, I'm confused about how the image would look if it were indeed folded this way.  It would seem to be as though there would be a super wide stitch line in a fully spherical 360 photo...

The  Benro MK10  is a selfie stick that can quickly convert to a tripod, and is a very useful accessory for a 360-degree camera.  Here's why. While photographers scoff at selfie sticks, they are one of the most important accessories for a 360 camera, because they enable you to move the camera farther away to avoid the giant hands / giant thumbs look.  A selfie stick is even more useful when it can convert into a tripod, because it allows the photographer to move away from the shot. iKross selfie stick / tripod The selfie stick / tripod that I use for indoor photos and videos is the iKross .  However, it's since been discontinued. Fortunately, there's a similar product called the Benro MK10 .  Like the iKross, the Benro's handle converts to tripod legs.  There's no need to attach tripod legs to the MK10. The top of the MK10 is a built-in ballhead with a universal 1/4-20 tripod attachment that can work with most 360 cameras.  The MK10 also includes ...

Usain Bolt became the first person to win gold in the 100-meter dash for the third consecutive time, and Reuters captured the historic moment in a series of 360 photos.   Check them out here .

​ Superbook , a laptop shell for Android phones, has raised over $2 million in its Kickstarter campaign.  There are just 4 days left in the campaign, so it's your last chance to back the Superbook for $99 (+shipping), +$30 if you want to upgrade the screen to 1080p IPS. Superbook is a laptop shell that uses your smartphone for its processing, leveraging the power of modern VR-capable smartphones.  Because the Superbook shell has no processing power or storage of its own, it is much more affordable compared to previous attempts to create a laptop dock for a smartphone.  You also won't have to worry about syncing your data between your devices. Please note that backing a crowdfunding project is NOT a preorder.  There's a chance the product won't live up to the creators' promises or might not even be delivered at all.  On the other hand, there are also crowdfunded projects that were exactly as described.

Minecraft is now officially available in VR for the Oculus Rift (first impressions here) .  A demo version is now  available in the Oculus Store , which you can upgrade to the full version for $9.99.  Alternatively, it is a free update for owners of Minecraft Windows 10 Edition Beta. Here is a video showing how Microsoft and Mojang brought Minecraft to VR: Minecraft VR had been available for the Samsung Gear VR (reviewed here) in April.  I'm not a Minecraft player myself, but my son is, and he loves the Gear VR version.  I'm sure the Oculus Rift version will be even better. There's no word on whether it will also be available for the HTC Vive (reviewed here)  or Playstation VR.  However, there's an unofficial version of Minecraft for HTC Vive called Vivecraft . Here is the official announcement  of Minecraft for Oculus Rift.

After much deliberation, I finally decided to get the HTC Vive the other day. Here is a preliminary review. I will cover these topics: Background and rationale Hardware and space requirements Where to buy Kids Components Setting up Using the Vive Games Compatibility with Rift games Photos and videos Disadvantages Preliminary evaluation TL/DR Executive Summary : For viewing 360 photos and videos, an HTC Vive is overkill, in my opinion, unless you want to set it up for a demo kiosk for a business.  But if you enjoy playing games (even casual ones), a desktop VR system will provide you with a unique gaming experience that you can't get on a non-VR PC or gaming console.  Among desktop VR systems, HTC Vive is currently the only one that is designed for room-scale VR, which makes it arguably more immersive.  Contrary to what I read about elsewhere, setting it up is actually simple and easy.  The Vive is also more comfortable than I expected.  Finally, low-...

Nico360 is a fully spherical 360 camera that aims to be the world's smallest. It is currently being crowdfunded through Indiegogo, with delivery due in October.  The campaign finally issued a long-awaited update, including new sample photos and a few more details. Nico360's crowdfunding campaign had been going strong, raising about 5 times its crowdfunding goal.  About 3 weeks ago, Nico360 posted sample images from its prototype , which caused some controversy because it appeared that it was not gamma-corrected, and its white balance was wrong.  In response, Nico360 promised an update with new sample images by August 7.   When there were no sample images, many backers were upset. Nico360 finally posted new samples: 360-degree versions are available here: http://get.nico360.com/20160814/1.html http://get.nico360.com/20160814/2.html http://get.nico360.com/20160814/3.html The new samples show some improved contrast and stitching compared to the previous sample. There i...