iMyth

Author: Chris

  • Dragon Ball Z Coming to a VR Arcade Near You

    Dragon Ball Z Coming to a VR Arcade Near You

    Whether you are a fan of the Dragon Ball Z theme world or not you had better watch out because it is coming to a VR Arcade near you. While there may not be a VR arcade near at this moment in time, fear not! That issue will be remedied within the near future. But, alas, this article is about Dragon Ball Z world becoming a familiar theme in the VR world.

    The HADO Company in Japan is already well on top of things. Even as early as last IAAPA, HADO was offering a room scale MR experience where participanst could fight against monsters or against each other using a Dragon Ball Z like game motion mechanic. While not sticking strictly the the Dragon Ball Z theme world, this company has taken its own artistic licenses and created a commercially viable product of their own.

    The San Francisco based entertainment company “SCRAP Entertainment” has installed this Dragon Ball Z like experience in their San Francisco location. I am currently unaware of the details except the installation will only be available through August 31. Their location is 1746 Post Street.

    If instead of a cheap rip-off you want the real deal with officially licensed Dragon Ball Z characters then you will have to go to Japan to the Bandai Namco VR Arcade Zone in Shinjuku, Tokyo. An earlier review of this VR Arcade has already been provided in this post, Bandai Namco VR Arcade. This place is really cool. they are a 40,000 square foot, 2-floor VR arcade featuring games operating on the HTC Vive. Many of these games are integrated with motion controlled apparatus such as motion chairs and stationary bicycles. Much of their special content seems to be IP related, custom built experiences. Check out this main atrium in the facility.

    I’m sure there will be future articles describing their Mario Kart and Doreomon VR experiences but this article is devoted to the Dragon Ball Z Theme world.

    The experience is available for 2-4 players simultaneously. The crew starts off a group of new recruits in a typical martial arts training ground led by series protagonist, Goku. AFter mastering the basic the crew is teleported to an iconic, barren field where he executes a Kamehameha, made more immersive by an open-hand custom device using Vive Trackers. That’s when the battle begins, and you’re positioned at different intervals, using your training mates as target practice.

    What I think is really cool about this experience is that each participant is isolated into their own VR play space. But in the battle field their relatives positions change dynamically. The field of play has been transformed from a 40’x10′ strip to an entire battle field. This demonstrates some of the true potential VR Arcades and and immersive experiences have. I look forward seeing new additions to this already groovy attraction.

  • Follow the Money!

    Follow the Money!

    The Disney Accelerator class of 2017 was just announced and two of its newest partners are The Void and Epic Games. The details of these new partnerships have yet to be understood. Two things for sure are these relationships will include a three month mentorship in the Disney creative campus in LA and a financial investment.

    The Void has already established itself as a leader in immersive experience games. They have four operating installations open around the world. Epic Games is already a leader in the gaming world with its Unreal 4 Game editor. They have been an integral contributor to the ILMxLab Star Wars immersive experience demo.

    What Disney expects to gain from these strategic partners is anyone’s guess. They typically enroll much smaller fish for their yearly cohort. One thing that can be for sure is that Disney is very bullish on immersive experiences and is investing on two of the industries heavy weights. To me is sounds like a slam dunk for Disney and an indication that immersive/location-based experienced is where a large portion of future industry is headed.

  • Starbreeze Confirms Future of VR in Location Based Entertainment

    Starbreeze Confirms Future of VR in Location Based Entertainment

    In a a recent interview with Starbreeze Games Chief of Technology, Emmanual Marquez, Dean Takahashi of GamesBeat asks the gaming executive his thoughts on VR and where VR is headed in the near future. Starbreez overall is still very bullish with VR but not necessarily with the home enthusiasts:

    We’re doing Star VR. Since day one I knew it would be difficult to install VR in the home. We all know why. It’s expensive. You need space. It’s difficult to set up. It’s for geeks. When I created Star VR as a piece of hardware at Starbreeze—first of all, I did it because we believe in content, and I knew we could develop at the same time. We always planned to go for the arcades. I envisioned the console model. Console games grew out of the arcades. People played Pac-Man in cafes for years before consoles ever became successful as something everyone had at home. I think VR will follow the same path.

    Admittedly, many people are disappointed with the lack of progress VR has made of the last two years. iMyth has been very bullish on the Location based, Mall driven market. In fact, iMyth has never presented itself as a Game company but rather an Immersive Experience company. Here is what Marquez had to say on the subject:

    People that are disappointed by VR right now are the same people who were enthusiastic two years ago. It’s hobbyists and researchers. There are a lot of other markets, as we all know, and we work with them too, all the verticals outside of games. We know it works. We’re monitoring IMAX VR centers and stuff like that. It’s successful.

    My conclusion is that the audience isn’t necessarily gamers. It’s not the normal gaming audience. It’s anyone. It’s families out on a Sunday trying this out the same way they’d go and see a movie. It’s every age, so you need to provide an experience that works for everyone.

    When you get in the John Wick experience, you’re holding a real gun. Or not real, but it’s an exact replica. You don’t need an explanation of the game mechanics. You get in, you pick up the gun, and you shoot. It’s like going to the fair, the same principle. You play, win, lose, have fun, and come back. You rack up a leaderboard score and your friends try to beat you. Then you have an experience that people play together. The immersion becomes very social. VR is fun to play, but it’s also fun to watch and share.

    Indeed, Immersive Experiences are meant to be social experiences. However, where Starbreeze will focus more on the Esports, game driven community, iMyth will focus on the narrative seeking community. We both have different perspectives how social collaboration will happen. Regardless, that social collaboration will be one of the keep components of VR’s success.

  • Introducing, from Mother Russia : Anvio!

    Introducing, from Mother Russia : Anvio!

    The newest competitor in the location based VR experience market is a start up from Moscow called Anvio. Anvio is a great looking, full body motion capture VR experience.

    The setup employs full body motion capture from a Moscow based company, Vortex LLC., mixed with off the shelf HMD equipment (Oculus Rift) and backpack computers. From the videos they seems to have a very fleshed out experience.

    With their 2,150 square foot arena, one can’t help compare Anvio with Zero Latency. However with plank walking, floors breaking apart, soccer balls, and a seemingly less arcade like experience, it would seem Anvio has a superior product. An interesting observation is that Anvios offers fill body Motion capture which none of the existing experience companies are providing. By effective tracking of wrists, ankles and bodies, the participants are empowered to interact on a far more organic and intimate level. It will be interesting to see where this company goes. They plan on opening a facility in London in the near future. These guys are really exciting!

  • Location Based VR Experiences Gaining Market Traction

    Location Based VR Experiences Gaining Market Traction

    I have been ranting about Location Based VR Experiences for the last few years and it seems as if the business model is starting to gain traction. In a Road to VR article written by Greenlight Insights analyst Colin McMahon, VR Developers Prioritizing VR Arcades for Content Distribution, the ground work for such business is explained. VR Arcades are opening around the world and it would seem the trend is only building. Location based VR is extraordinarily popular in China where the cost entry point for getting into VR is out or range for most consumers. VR Arcades offer an excellent way for experiencing VR without having to pay the enormous start-up costs.

    In many ways, the LBVRE industry has done a much better job of fulfilling the early potential and expectations of what virtual reality as a technology can offer, than home systems. With no restrictions on hardware customisation and the freedom to eschew out-of-the box tracking technologies for current generation VR headsets, startups like The Void and VRCade have shown what pure virtual reality attractions can offer right now. Companies such as IMAX VR are already distributing content created by other developers.

    McMahon says, “The emergence of the LBVRE sector will benefit VR-first studios, as it is another premium channel to distribute their experiences, much like Hollywood studios benefit from movie theaters.” He then goes on to explain the intentions of VR development company Survios to distribute their new title Sprint Vector as an ideal LBVRE content.

    Utilizing LBVRE for distribution is on many developers mind’s as well. The graph shown below demonstrates a 36{76c5cb8798b4dc9652375d1c19c86d53c1d1411f4e030dd406aa284e63c21817} concern for the availability for VR distribution channels.

    It’s obviously too early to identify a specific trends but there does seems to be a building interest.

    Based on Greenlight Insights March 2017 forecast, LBVRE is expected to grow in revenues to $1.2 billion in 2021, propelled by commercial and consumer spending on VR technology, content and services at cinemas, arcades, and other venue attractions.

  • State of VR Arcades

    State of VR Arcades

    I just bumped into an interesting article today written by Ian Sherr for CNET talking about his experiences with VR Arcades. VR Arcades are very similar to what iMyth is trying to create. The big difference is that the VR Arcade are positioning for smaller term, fast experiences where as iMyth is striving for longer episodic experiences. VR Arcades such as the IMAX VR Arcade have already made a presence in Los Angeles and are opening another facility in New York in the near future.  Companies such as Dreamscape Interactive will be joining in the competition in the very near future.

    The author goes on to describe his experience with Nomadic VR. I documented  Nomadic a couple of months ago. Nomadic is positioning itself to create Turn-key systems based on theatrical props and sets borrowed from the movie industry. They are looking for industry partners but only if your are big enough to register a blip on their screen :). Sherr believes that location based experiences such as IMAX, Dreamscape and Nomadic will be the big winners with the advent of the VR Arcade. SO far VR has failed to capture the dollars of the mass public. Could VR Arcades be the answer? I believe so!

    There are some cynics to be sure. Sean Kelley, an associate at investment and advisory company The Rain Group, said while his firm has made bets on entertainment and live events, it’s not yet convinced VR arcades are going to be a big draw. “The biggest issue with these VR arcades is not demand or content or whether the experience is cool, it’s throughput,” he said. There are already signs some arcade chains are failing, and part of that is because they just don’t make enough money, he added. “You have to put enough people through.” Throughput is very much a problem. I believe the answer to this is creating a higher end product with a far greater production value than be achieved in the home. In my opinion, “High-End” VR is better than no VR and people will be will to pay for experiences outside of the box.

  • House Scale VR in Sight!

    House Scale VR in Sight!

    I received some bitter sweet news today from the folks at Valve Software.

    After much anticipation, the engineers at SteamVR have found a way to create a cheaper, more versatile Lighthouse solution. The old sensor chip, the TS3633, produced a single “envelope” pulse per laser or sync blinker hit. That hit allows the Watchman module in the device to time the difference between the sync and the laser hit and compute angle from that difference.  There is a new sensor chip from Triad Semiconductor, the TS4231 which is actually simpler and cheaper to produce. What’s most important, it provides a burst of data per laser or sync hit. Using that data allows information to be transmitted on the laser itself, which we can be used to learn about the source of that laser.

    This new capability to encode information in the laser is significant for two reasons:

    • It allows support for more than two base stations, and thus larger tracking volumes.
    • It allows a base station to function without including a sync blinker, which is the source of most of the interference between base stations (and is also a significant driver of base station cost.) This technology is called sync-on-beam.

    Depending on tests, these new sensors will start rolling out in late June. The new lighthouses won’t start rolling out until November.

    Here is a diagram of the compatibility of the two systems:

    Regretfully the old sensors will not work with the new Light House configuration. The new sensors will work with the old but not the other way around. Regretfully I just invested in 7 new Tracker pucks. They can still be used with the old system but not the new.

    So this news is bitter sweet. iMyth will have ware house scale VR in 2018. Regretfully We will need to retrofit will all new sensors. I suppose it was a good thing I had not had a chance to turn the printed iMyth props into controllers since they will be need to be redone anyway. At close to $500 per prop, I suppose the damage could have been much worse. I have recently finished long conversations with the folks at Optitrack and Motion Reality. It seems now Steam VR can join them in the House Scale/Warehouse Scale VR race. Because Steam VR tracking is not bound by cameras, there may be possibility to have vertical structures as well. Very cool!

  • Bandai Namco’s Tokyo-Based VR Arcade

    Bandai Namco’s Tokyo-Based VR Arcade

    I suppose this was inevitable. Not only are location based immersive experience sweeping the the American country-side but it seems as if the fever is also catching abroad. VR Arcade are very popular in China. Limited hi-end PCs and and the desire for social interaction make China fertile ground for this type of industry. Japan is jumping on the bandwagon as well with Bandai Namco opening  its VR arcade, known as “VR Zone: Project I Can” in the Kabukicho district in Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan starting this Friday, April 15th, until October 10th, 2017.

    Not much is known about the experience other than video, shown above. Some of the teaser art promises:

    • Two mech-type battle sequences
    • A singing simulator
    • A skiing simulator
    • A plank walking experience
    • A horror experience
    • A train management simulator

    If the attraction employ real props and are as interactive as the above video then I am sure the patrons will have a rewarding experiences.

    Update 7/17/17

    Here is a quick update with a trailer for each of the unique experiences which can be found at the newly opened Bandai Namco VR theme park.

    Vive Demos at the Bandai Namco VR Arcade.

  • Steam VR Lighthouse Operation

    Steam VR Lighthouse Operation

    I guess I’m just being a geek here. I would not normally create a posting like this but I think it is just so cool.

    It’s very hard to understand just what the Steam VR lighthouses are doing and how they track an object’s position in real time. In my opinion it is a minor engineering miracle. The lighthouses basically works as thus:

    • The LEDs flash which tell the controller’s sensors to get ready for a scan
    • The horizontal(lower) wheel spins and emits a lazer beam spanning from right to left, 120 degrees
    • The sensor counts the time between the led flash and the lazer pulse
    • The LEDs flash again
    • The vertical wheel(right) spins and emits a vertical beam, 120 degrees
    • The sensors records the second time difference
    • The computer then uses the two time differences to compute the sensor’s location and orientation

    https://gfycat.com/BleakAcclaimedJellyfish

    The Lighthouse fundamental operation is cool. But what steams my noodle is that it is doing the cycle 60 times a second!

    How groovy is that?

  • The Void Opens in Linden

    The Void Opens in Linden

    After what seemed to be an almost two year wait, the Void has finally opened their doors in their home Utah location. I have yet to sample any of The Void’s experiences. I have read there are many good aspects and many bad aspects. Overall, each individual needs to be the judge for themselves.

    As The Void claims, they are now operating at 90 frames/sec and with a FOV comparable to the Vive. Participants are equipped with backpacks so there are no annoying cables to deal with. Evidently, compared to some other immersive experiences, the extra weight on a participant’s back is worth the extra frame rate and expanded field of view. It also seems as if The Void’s tracking problems have been solved with the new tracking system by OptiTrack. OptiTrack claims their cameras are 40{76c5cb8798b4dc9652375d1c19c86d53c1d1411f4e030dd406aa284e63c21817} less expensive than competitor’s. I am not sure this is so remarkable. 40{76c5cb8798b4dc9652375d1c19c86d53c1d1411f4e030dd406aa284e63c21817} from $.5 million is still close to $.25 million which is still quite a chunk of change. iMyth will need to find other ways around this entry barrier. Tracking balls are also hidden from the experience. This is actually a good idea since tracking balls tend to stick out and be one more item to potentially break. This is achieved with imbedded led lights and silver metallic paint which is the same stuff used to paint the Nike logo on the sides of your shoes.

    The tracking and the overall experience appear to be stable. There still seems to be some dynamic problems in tight situations where participant bump into each other. Evidently the avatars don’t really match the person they are modelling. This is attributed to only the participant’s head and gun being tracked. With that said, participants were feeling disappointed they could not see their hands. Once again this is because the participants hands are not being tracked.

    The price of the experience is $25 for a less than 15 minute experience. Some may question this price and make it hard to justify a trip to Linden Utah. However, if one is passing through with a little time on their hands then the experience is definitely worth it.

    Once again The Void is back on top of the Pioneer Train of Immersive experience. They are definitely discovering many of the bumps and pitfalls of this immerging new media. For us little guys let’s hope they do not run out of money so they can keep hitting these snags and coming up with solutions. Good Luck!