iMyth

Author: Chris

  • River Startups

    River is a collection of 13 new VR start-ups receiving funding from Rothberg Ventures.

    As with any new venture, it will be interesting to see where and how far these start-ups will attain.

    Hardware

    •  Fove
      • Founders: Yuka Kojima, Lochlainn Wilson

        Based in: Tokyo, Japan

        Website: http://fove-inc.com/

    Education and Training

    • Solarax
      • Founders: Tomas Mariancik and Karel Hulec

        Based in: Czech Republic

        Website: http://www.worldofcomenius.com/

    • SDK
      • Founders: Shaun Wilson, Christian Yves Fongang

        Based in: South Africa

        Website: http://sdklab.com/

    • Discovr
      • Founder: Josh Maldonado, Omar Charles, Professor Bernard Frischer

        Based in: Toronto, Canada

        Website: http://immersivediscovery.com/

    Medicine

    • PSIOUS
      • Founders: Xavier Palomer, Danny Roig

        Based in Spain

        Website: http://psious.com/

    • Deepstream VR
      • Based in: Seattle, WA

        Founders: Howard Rose, Ari Hollander

        Website: http://deepstreamvr.com/

    Gaming

    • Reload Studios
      • Founder: James Chung

        Based in: Los Angeles, CA

        Website: http://reload-studios.com/

    • Innerspace
      • Founder: Balthazar Auxietre and Hayoun Kwon

        Based in: Paris, France

        Website: http://innerspacevr.com/

    • Thotwise
      • Founder: Ariel Arias

        Based in: Argentina

        Website: thehumgame.com

    Journalism

    • Emblematic
      • Founder: Nonny de la Pena

        Based in: Los Angeles, CA

        Website: www.emblematicgroup.com/

    Video

    • Vantage VR
      • Based in: Dallas, TX

        Founders: Juan Santillan, Michael Richardson

        Website: vantage.tv

    • Triggar
      • Founders: Bruce Allan and Rob Allan

        Based in: Australia

        Website: http://www.triggar.com.au/

    • EmergentVR
      • Founders: Peter Wilkins, Chris Wheeler

        Based in SF

        Website: n/a (but placehold, www.emergentvr.com)

    News Article

  • Microsoft’s Holographic HoloLens Experience

    Here it is guys and galls. Microsoft, in support for their Windows 10, released information about a holographic AR headset they have been working on called, “HoloLens”. With Hololens, the user’s perspective of reality is altered and changed.

    Microsoft HoloLens

    In my prior article, Immersive Storyworld, I call for a technology which transforms an existing physical reality into a new alternative virtual storyworld. Will HoloLens be able to satisfy that need? It hard to tell, I’ll need to grab one of these, along with an Occulus Rift, and do me best to start developing a virtual reality experience. Time will tell.

  • What’s Going on at Magic Leap

    This recent article explains some of the features of the new patent registered by Magic Leap:

    Magic Leap Patent

    While a patent does not really mean anything directly, it does show the direction which progressive thinks are thinking of taking immersive, technologies.

    A tool such at the device introduced in the article would be perfect for the the Raconteur Immersive Storyworld.

    Waiting for more to develop.

  • Animating Camera Direction in VR

    Challenges For VR Animators

    This article explains some of the problems associated with storyTelling in VR. It also provides some initial methods how animators are resolving them.

    I added an article summary in a new page: Animating Camera Direction in VR

  • Immersive Jounalism

    Immersive Journalism

    Here is a link to an article about a Jounalist Using AR and Immersive technologies to breath new life into covering news stories.

  • Procedural Node based Interface for Game Creation

    NOWHERE Programming Environment

    Here is a link to a node based Procedural game engine Leonard Ritter is creating to help generate the game, “NOWHERE”

  • Message From Kim Davidson

    Message From Kim Davidson

    While this is a sponsored add, I think Kim Davidson does a spectacular job introducing how procedural tools, such as Houdini, can be used for generating Grammar Based Universes. I believe, in the very near future, the consumer demand for digital assets and digital content will exceed the supply of available resources. In other words, there will be more demand for game, film and other digital media assets than the world’s digital artists can supply. Procedural techniques will be necessary to meet the demand. I further believe that for interactive Storytelling to take off, the interactive experiences will probably take place within Grammar Based Storyworlds. When the story worlds are Grammar Based, or procedurally generated, the individual experiencing the Storyworld is bound only by his imagination and rules originally generated by the Storyworld creators.

  • Possible Directions for VR?

    I came upon an article from Gamasutra lately discussing the possible avenues upon which VR could entertain:

    http://gamasutra.com/blogs/KimberlyVoll/20141028/228726/Game_Design_in_VR_Pushing_Off_from_a_New_Frontier.php

    Ultimately the article says that if VR is only good for first person shooters, what else can it be used for?

    The article mentions that one of the possible uses of VR could be towards interactive storytelling:

    “Interactive narrative (an opportunity to generate different points of connection brought about by presence in a story)”

    I concur with this belief for it is one of the angle upon which I believe I will be able to launch Raconteur. Interactive Storytelling is still in its infancy. There is a mountain of work needed to be done before anything like the Holodeck is created. In the US, money for research flows where there is opportunity to make money. This is where I believe VR can help interactive Storytelling. I consulted Chris Crawford about this opportunity. He concluded the more substantial problems of language were slowing the progress of Interactive Storytelling, “the central problems in interactive storytelling are not matters of presentation; our killer problems are matters of language.”

    Indeed, VR may be a superficial aspect of Interactive Storytelling especially concerning interpersonal interactions within the story. However, VR Is “virtually” here. By exploiting this wave I feel we could piggy-back the realm of Interactive Storytelling to increase attention and ultimately funding for addressing the big problems within the field. The more people and we have creating demand for Interactive Storytelling, the greater the opportunity to mature it to its full potential.

  • Why Raconteur’s Business Model will Succeed

    I look for occasional motivations and conformations that what I am trying to do with Raconteur is the right thing and the approach I am taking will succeed.

    I recent came upon this article in Gamasutra which talks about the business side of game authoring:

    http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/PaulWu/20141110/229786/How_to_Make_Games_a_Real_Business.php

    While I am not trying to develop Raconteur as a computer game company, I am trying to develop it as a juxtaposition with the film world. This article explains many of the problems plaguing game developers and offers possible solutions to resolve those issues. These solutions are are mostly taken from the film world. I have integrated many of these same concepts into the Raconteur business model.
    This mutual thought process gives me inspiration that the direction I am trying to take Raconteur is a good one.

  • Groovy Diagram from Oculus Explaining Why VR is Tough

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