Mental health has become one of society’s biggest issues with around one in seven people now taking antidepressants. Whether this is caused by events such as pandemics, wars and economic difficulties, social media reporting of such events or simply a greater awareness and tendency to self-diagnose, there is a tsunami of potentially ill people in need of therapy. There is … Read More
Colombia VR Project #2: Medellin and the Colombian Book Festival
After a successful week in Bogota at the Centre for Memory, Peace and Reconciliation, I traveled to Medellin, Colombia’s second largest city, to give another VR workshop and present the immersive experiences at the Medellin Book Fair. The workshop was held at the Parque Explora, next to the Botanical Gardens, which has proudly jumped with both feet first into VR … Read More
HOW VR can help us learn about the world
Is virtual reality too immersive? It’s a question that has been raised as the new technology has become more accessible to a wider audience of creators and users.”With virtual reality, rather than telling a story, you are putting someone inside a story – and usually involving them in it,” said freelance BBC VR producer Catherine Allen at the VR & … Read More
Global indigenous communities find their voices through new technology
In 2016, activists around the country gathered at the Standing Rock Sioux reservation in North Dakota to protest the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline, which they said could have detrimental environmental consequences. While the most publicized depictions of the historical event were photos and videos of protests between activists and police, The New York Times decided to create a 360-degree video … Read More
Celebrating Women in Tech
When it comes to technological innovations, women have always been at the forefront. Ada Lovelace, the daughter of poet Lord Byron, is considered to be the world’s first computer programmer for recognizing that a computer could have applications past simple calculations back in the first part of the 19th century. During World War II, it was largely female engineers who pioneered … Read More
January VR/AR News #3: the VR White House, New Tech Projects and Empathy in Gaming
For Salon, Games for Change president Susanna Pollack discussed the power that VR games can have on encouraging compassion. “VR in itself, I think whether it’s a game or a story telling experience is a great opportunity for teaching empathy,” said Pollack. “We’re talking about the first-person and the role-playing opportunity to actually be immersed in an environment that you … Read More
January VR/AR News #2: AR/VR market growth, social connection and how museums might change
Google is partnering with museums to enhance visitors’ experiences with its augmented reality platform Tango. Starting with the Detroit Institute of Arts, Google is using the Tango-enabled Lenovo Phab 2 Pro, which is geared towards AR, to bring history to life. “Advanced sensors not usually seen in a phone are used to map depth and scale, which allows digital overlays to be … Read More
January VR/AR News #1: Predictions for 2017
Happy new year to you all – for our first post of the New Year, we are sharing some predictions for VR and AR in 2017. With the success of Pokémon Go, 2016 proved to be the year of AR. This will continue to be true in 2017, as Snapchat just brought Cimagine Media, which uses AR to sell products. … Read More
December VR/AR News #4: AR audio, post-VR sadness and music in VR
Around the world, more and more developer spaces are being devoted to VR and AR startups “to share resources, experiment, and network.” These include the Upload Collective in San Francisco and the Realities Centre, which opened earlier this month in London. Game designer Jack de Quidt talks with Jason Rubin, the head of content at Oculus, about how the technology company can embrace … Read More
December VR/AR News #3: new Samsung hardware, virtual world building and our bodies in VR
Samsung announced it is working on a successor to the Gear VR headset and a mixed reality device that The Verge compares to the Microsoft HoloLens or Magic Leap. Google has partnered with British startup Improbable, which according to Wired, “offers a new way of building virtual worlds, including not just immersive games à la Second Life or World of Warcraft, but … Read More
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