Month: March 2017

VR and MR catch-up: March 2017

Posted on by Inara Pey
The Oculus CR-1 - US $100 drop in price, and US $100 reduction for Touch controllers
The Oculus CR-1 – US $100 drop in price, and US $100 reduction for Touch controllers

Here’s another rapid-fire update on the worlds of VR and MR as I’ve been able to track a few things.

Oculus Rift

Oculus VR has dropped the price of the Oculus Rift headset and the Oculus Touch controller by $100 each. At launch, the headset cost Us $599 and the controllers, released later and a crucial part of the system, were priced at US $199. The new pricing brings the price for both down to the US $598 mark – just US $100 more than the Playstation VR bundle, and makes the Rift headset much cheaper than its main rival – the HTC Vive.

“Cheaper” is of course a relative term. Despite work to allow the Rift operate with lower-specifications systems (see my last round-up), to get the fullest out of the system you still need a heft PC with a hefty price.

There is still no news on when the untethered version of the Rift, with the project name Santa Cruz, will be ready for consumers. The only major update is that when it does appear, it will be marketed via Oculus VR’s “lower end” mobile division.

Speaking at the announcement of the price drop, Oculus VR’s former CEO (now head of Desktop VR), Brendan Iribe, indicated that the company is focusing on the next generation of VR systems, which he defines as being “a very big leap from where we are today”. However, consumers are unlikely to see anything on this front for at least another two years.

On February 1st, the ZeniNax case against Facebook / Oculus drew to a close, with the plaintiff being awarded US $500 million in damages over alleged code theft. While Facebook is seeking to have the verdict set aside, on February 24th, ZeniMax filed an injunction seeking to block Oculus VR from using the disputed code in its products. The news came via several outlets at the time, including Ars Technica, which pointed out that the injunction probably won’t succeed, but that if it does, it could be massively disruptive to both Oculus and Samsung, as the code is also used in the Gear VR.

HTC Vive 2?

Rumours are circulating that HTC are working on the “Vive 2”, an improved version of their headset.  Details have been sketchy and a little confused; one early report from November 2016 suggested the “Vive 2” would be a wireless / WiFi system, but given this came out shortly before HTC and Vive X Accelerator company TPCAST announced a “tether-less” WiFi kit for the existing Vive, (see me last round-up, linked to above) that report many have been incorrect.

However, other sources have indicated that “Vive 2” is in development, but has not release date. It is also said to have the internal code-name of “Oasis”. Has someone at HTC been reading Ready Player One?

In the meantime, HTC aren’t cutting the Vive’s price – but they are offering a new finance plan to help purchase it. They’ve also announced two new accessories: a Deluxe Audio Strap and the Tracker. Both are priced at a “mere” US $99. The Deluxe Audio Strap is in fact a rigid, Oculus-style head mount for the headset, complete with headphones.

Vive's new rigid head mount for the display, complete with audio headphones. Your for US $99
Vive’s new rigid head mount for the display, complete with audio headphones. Yours for US $99

The Tracker, due to ship in Q2 2017, is essentially a sensor unit  which allows game and hardware developers to turn real-life props into virtual weapons / gaming pieces, from guns to swords, to bats and so on.  Once connected to a peripheral, it allows the Vive’s lighthouse sensors to detect and track it, enabling it to be visualised in-game.

Headset Sales

As has been widely reported, sales of VR headsets have been far slower than the early hype predicted. No surprises there in many respects. Currently, Sony’s Playstation VR system is the highest-selling – but that’s just about to hit the million units mark. Oculus Rift and Vive are some way behind, with 243,00 and 420,00 unit sales respectively at the end of 2016.

This plateauing of sales has led to some pundits almost writing-off VR. However, while it would seem likely VR will be a niche product when compared to the everyday potential of Augmented Reality / Mixed Reality (AR / MR), it’s worth remembering that consumer-centric VR is only at the first generation stage. It is hampered by cost and the need to be hooked into a high-specification PC. Over time, some of these aspects – especially cost – will come down, encouraging more widespread interest / adoption, especially in those markets outside of games where VR could have a real impact: education, training, simulation, design, architecture. So it is perhaps a little premature to be pointing at current sales figures and declaring VR a “fad” or similar.

Continue reading “VR and MR catch-up: March 2017” →

Cica’s Under the Sea in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
Under the Sea
Cica Ghost: Under the Sea

Under the Sea, Cica Ghost’s latest region-wide installation in Second Life opened on Friday, March 3rd. It is in some ways a follow-on from her previous Frogs, in that it has a decidedly aquatic lean.

“There is a strange world under the sea,” Cica informs visitors, who arrive on a wooden platform, open on three sides and lacking a roof. A brief set of instructions are provided on how best to enjoy a visit (in short, enable Advanced Lighting Model and make sure Shadows: Sun/Moon + Projectors is active – Cica has taken care to minimise the performance hit with the latter as much as possible). Once done, follow the steps down beneath the waves, and discover that strange world.

Cica Ghost: Under the Sea
Cica Ghost: Under the Sea

Here can be found all manner of creatures, familiar and exotic. fronds of seaweed and forests of kelp undulate under the pressure of passing water; schools of fish hover at the edges of some of these copse-like knots of green, staring nervously outward. A great sea snail expands and contract, as if making its way across the sandy floor without moving. Other fish hover nervously at the empty eye sockets or under bleached ribs of even bigger creatures which have long since died, while splashes of vivid colour are offered by anemones, starfish and strange plants standing tall on cage-like roots.

Two great tanks sit on the sea floor, one with a glass panel through which you can walk. Inside are two denizens of the deep, each equipped with some rather vicious looking teeth, although both remain oblivious to visitors, content to share the tiled space with little sea horses – and you, if you opt to swim with them (touch the bed). In the tank next door, which has one end open and partially buried in the sea bed, an audience of fish floats, seemingly enraptured by the creature at the far end of the tank. Again, a bed is offered for visitors.

Cica Ghost: Under the Sea
Cica Ghost: Under the Sea

The scale here has to be seen to be appreciated. Everything is huge, with some of it a little threatening. The sabre-toothed fish, for example, may not seem interested in you, bit walk or swim close to one, and you start to wonder if it will suddenly dart forward and try to gobble you. Nor is this feeling of perhaps being a morsel in the food chain restricted to the fish; approach the great sea snail from the right direction, and you’ll feel like it is stretching its toothed maw up towards you in hope of a bite.

The entire region is fascinating to explore – swimming is by far the best way to enjoy it – and there are, as always, various points where visitors can become a part of the scene. The beds mentioned earlier offer swimming animations as well as sitting and sleeping poses, while mouse-over some of the shells and things scattered around, and hidden perches are revealed.

Cica Ghost: Under the Sea - Cica teases the giant sea snail
Cica Ghost: Under the Sea – Cica teases the giant sea snail

Under the Sea makes for a delightful visit, and will remain open through March 2017. Should you visit, do please consider a donation towards Cica’s work and don’t forget to visit her little store (LM at the landing point) should the mood take you.

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Filling the Cauldron in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey
Filling the Cauldron - click to visit the website
Filling the Cauldron – click to visit the website

On February 22nd, following a lead from Saffia Widershins, I wrote about the situation involving Second Life creator Elicio Ember and his family. In short, Elicio’s father has suffered a major stroke, and the family is struggling to meet medical costs associated with his treatment.

Since then various groups of people have been putting together ideas, and I’m pleased to announce that we now have THREE ways in which people can and will be able to help Elicio and his family.

Filling the Cauldron

Filling the Cauldron is a week-long in-world event to be hosted at Holly Kai Park on the beautiful Blake Sea.

When

Saturday, April 1st through Sunday April 9th, inclusive.

What

  • Live music and DJ performances at the park’s main events venue
  • An art display inspired by Elicio’s work
  • A silent auction
  • A special Design a Garden contest with a very special prize
  • A photo contest with special prizes
  • A market area
  • Cerridwen’s Corner – a mini-store of Elicio’s creations, allowing you to buy his items and visit his main store.

Website and Information

The Filling the Cauldron website, dedicated to the event, is now up and running – please bookmark it! There will also be further updates through this blog, Prim Perfect and other blogs – so keep your eyes out for news!

Help Wanted

Right now we’re looking for people to get involved, including:

  • Musicians, DJs and performers willing to give up one or two hours of their time to perform on stage and help raise money for Elicio. Please see the Filling the Cauldron Entertainment Applications page for more details
  • Artists wishing to participate in our Art Show
  • Artists and creators willing to donate to our Auction
  • Merchants wishing to be a part of our marketplace and gacha
  • Volunteers willing to help run the event during the week

PLUS we’re also seeking artists and designers to participate in our Design A Garden Contest.

So if you are interested in any of the above, please follow the links and sign-up. And if you’d like to attend, make sure you bookmark / follow Filling The Cauldron to keep up-to-date with all that is going on.

Bloggers, we’ll have information on blogging the event available for you very soon! Watch the Filling the Cauldron blog for details!

GoFundMe Campaign

Available now is a special GoFundMe campaign organised by Vecchio Barbosa (Felix Büchler in RL), which is raising money to help Elicio and his family through physical world donations.

The campaign has Elicio’s full support  and endorsement, as he is unable to run a campaign himself from Mexico.

If you would like to donate to help Elicio RIGHT NOW, please visit the GoFundMe page. You can also reach it via a link on the Filling The Cauldron website.

Ember’s Cauldron Shopping Event

Ember’s Cauldron is a shopping event which will run for a month between March 16th through April 16th. Organised by Lerochelle Destiny, it is a store-based event in which people visiting participating stores can purchase special items in the knowledge that 100% of proceeds from the sale are going to Elicio and his family.

We will be supporting Ember’s Cauldron via the Filling the Cauldron website, where you will soon be able to see a list of all participating stores complete with SLurls.

If you are a creator / store owner and would like to participate in Ember’s Cauldron, please visit their sign-up page. Please note than all enquiries on Ember’s Cauldron should be directed to Lerochelle Destiny.

 

Holly Kai Park: website makeover

Posted on by Inara Pey

Blogging here has been a little slow this past week as I’ve been working on a few projects, some of which will be appearing in these pages real soon™, while one is now available to see.

The Holly Kai Park website has been given a makeover with what we hope is a new, clean design with a splash page, tidier menu system and a lot of updated information following the recent changes to the park itself.

The new Holly Kai Park splash screen - click to visit the site
The new Holly Kai Park splash screen – click to visit the site

There’s still some tweaks to be done with the website, but with all that is going on, we wanted to get the new design rolled out – just don’t be surprised if there are some further small changes.

Because there is so much going on, our regular Art at the Park events had been put on hold for a time. However, these will be resuming in the near future, as will the Stories at the Park series which accompany them.

In the meantime, and as a reminder, the main SLurls for the park are listed below, and Caitinara Bar is open to all for our DJ sessions every Wednesday and Friday from 16:00 SLT through 18:00 SLT.

Holly Kai Park SLurls

Holly Kai Estate is rated Moderate.

VWBPE 2017: social programme

Posted on by Inara Pey
Image courtesy of VWBPE
Image courtesy of VWBPE

The 2017  Virtual Worlds Best Practice in Education (VWBPE) conference will be taking place between Wednesday, March 29th and Saturday April 1st, 2017 inclusive. A grass-roots community event focusing on education in immersive virtual environments, VWBPE attracts 2200-3500 educational professionals from around the world each year.

On February 27th, the VWBPE team issued information of the event’s social programme. The announcement reads in part:

This year the VWBPE social activities offer creative, fun events that take advantage of what is not possible in real life but is easy in a virtual world. For example, you will have a chance to swim as a mermaid or merman, fly off a mountain top on a hang glider, visit the Octopus’s Garden Palladium under the sea, jump on the Legacy Party Barge and tour the conference venue from a different perspective. You will not want to miss our opening and closing Lightning Productions Legacy tribute concert performances of the music of Bob Dylan with The Band, and the Beatles.

Activities will start with the Grand Opening ceremony, featuring the classical piano of Ari (arisia.vita). Throughout the four days of the conference there will be opportunities to appreciate some of SL’s best performers, including the The ChangHigh Sisters Fireshow Circus and the renowned Ballet Pixelle.

The full conference schedule is available here. The social events line-up is as follows (all times SLT and correct at the time of writing):

Wednesday, March 29th
11:00
 Exhibit Grand Opening Ribbon Cutting Ceremony with pPiano music provided by Ari (arisia.vita) – Exhibits open!
15:00
 The Freewheelin’ Electric Tambourine Man Parade from the lighthouse across a bridge to the social sim. “Be sure to check your swag bag for your tie dye t-shirt!”
15:30
 Lightning Production’s Bob Dylan and The Band Tribute Concert at the Social Building
Thursday, March 30th
05:00
 “Good Morning, VWBPE!” – an exploration of the social sim.
12:00 Noon
 Machinima with Gridjumper (tanya.smedley) at the fish pond. A chance to learn more about the art of making movies in virtual and digital game environments.
16:00
 VWBPE Legacy Party Barge Excursion – relax and tour the whole VWBPE Conference by water.
Friday, March 31st
06:00
 “Good Morning, VWBPE!” – another chance to explore the social sim.
12:00
 Lunchtime Concert with Telima (Diamond Spiritor) in the Social Building.
14:00
 Under The Sea – graba snorkel, become one of the merfolk for an underwater event (free outfits provided).
18:00
 Ballet Pixelle Second Performance of Phylogeny.
Saturday, April 1st
07:00 “Good Morning, VWBPE!” – a final chance to play on the social sim and swim like a mermaid.
13:00 The ChangHigh Sisters Fireshow Circus
17:00
 KJJeff Kohn Pre-Closing Concert in the Main Auditorium.
18:00
 VWBPE Legacy 2017 Closing Ceremony.
19:00
 The Beatles Tribute Concert in The Octopus’s Garden Palladium – complete with a Yellow Submarine!
20:00
 Dance The Night Away with DJ Coz OKelly

Volunteers Still Sought

The VWBPE organisers are still looking for volunteers in the following roles: hosts, technical support and stream team. Please visit the VWBPE Volunteers page for more information and to apply.

Additional Links

A Long Journey in Second Life

Posted on by Inara Pey

Long Journey, Nightshark; Inara Pey, February 2017, on FlickrLong Journey – click any image for full size

Update: Long Journey has relocated, and I have a new blog post about it.

Creativity in Second Life doesn’t always require an entire region – Full or Homestead – in order to be realised. This is something I’ve said in the past, and will doubtless say again in the future. All it needs is sufficient room in which the imagination can breathe; and if you want proof of this, then I can recommend you take a trip over to Long Journey.

Covering a little under 7,000 square metres, Long Journey is an absolute delight. Designed by Yang (Sun2idea), it packs a lot into the space without ever feeling crowded or losing its sense of rural-edged peace.  Visitors arrive at a little coffee-house and bar; to the rear is a cosy walled terrace with tables tucked between tall wine racks and the bar; to the front sits a paved street, the nearby end of which slips into a tunnel.

Long Journey, Nightshark; Inara Pey, February 2017, on FlickrLong Journey

Along this street, bathed in the soft glow of a setting sun, lit by tiny LEDs strung along the curbstones and clusters of street lights, are a number of eateries with a decidedly oriental flavour to them. Vending machines line the wall of the building across the street from the coffee-house,  while alongside it sits another cosy little café. Close by, a converted tram offers teas and cakes to patrons who can sit at tables occupying a tidy square of grass, one of several outdoor eating areas.

Just beyond the tram, the street ends, and a wooden board walk takes over, running alongside a small body of water. To one side of it is an old warehouse, one of its walls long since collapsed, exposing its metal frame. It is now home to a curious and eclectic mix of things. On the opposite side of the board walk, most of the water is taken up by an old house boat, its square prow abutting the whitewashed building forming the southern boundary to the street.

Long Journey, Nightshark; Inara Pey, February 2017, on FlickrLong Journey

Nor is this all. At the point where the street gives way board walk, a tiled path points the way to one side. It runs between tram café and water to a little platform, where a steam train is just pulling in, its carriages slowly emerging from another tunnel. Alongside the track, the sheer wall of an old factory rises like a great brick cliff. Roofless, its windowless flank rich in graffiti and drawings, it invites exploration.

But to describe everything to be found here – the little house, what lies inside the old factory or the warehouse with its broken wall, the field of sunflowers marching into the scene and more – is really a waste. This is a place which really does deserve to be seen  – to be savoured – to really be appreciated.

Long Journey, Nightshark; Inara Pey, February 2017, on FlickrLong Journey

The level of detail packed into it is exquisite, from the richness of the trees, shrubs and plants, to the little vignettes such as the lilies and rowing boats, to the cats which sit in indifference to the world or watch from roof or corner, all the way to the many little touches which bring this scene to life in so many ways.

If you are looks for a photo location with a personality of its own, or a place where you can while away the time with a friend or loved one – then take a Long Journey, I promise you will not be disappointed. Our thanks to Shakespeare (once again! 🙂 ).

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