VR - page 2

Advanced wireless earphones, 8K VR and more [Crowdfund Roundup]

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Freecube Crowdfund Roundup
The modular command center.
Photo: Freecube

Crowdfund Roundup bugBuild your ultimate command center and have easy access to power outlets, USB ports, Bluetooth audio, and more at any time with Freecube.

It’s just one of the awesome ideas in this week’s Crowdfund Roundup. We also have smart bike lights that’ll keep you safe on the road, advanced wireless earphones, an ultra-immersive virtual reality headset, and more!

Titanium pens, aquarium robots and more [Crowdfund Roundup]

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The Model A
The ultimate universal VR headset.
Photo: The Model A

Crowdfund Roundup bugThe Model A is the first universal virtual reality headset for your smartphone that you won’t want to ditch within hours of buying it. It’s designed to be lightweight and comfortable to wear, and has a high-fidelity audio system built right in.

It’s just one of the awesome ideas in this week’s Crowdfund Roundup. We also have the world’s best pen machined out of titanium, a gadget that keeps all your devices secure online, the ultimate camping companion, and more!

Apple stakes a claim over smart headsets

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VR headset
Is Apple about to dive deeper into AR?
Photo: Rob LeFebvre/Cult of Mac

Apple has updated its iCloud trademark to cover “smartglasses” and headsets.

The company has been on a mission to add new devices to many of its filings in recent months, but its latest update is particularly interesting following the introduction of ARKit at WWDC.

Tim Cook calls self-driving cars ‘mother of all AI problems’

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And here it is in all its glory.
Cook confirms that Apple is interested in autonomous systems for cars.
Photo: Motor1

Tim Cook has shared some details on Apple’s electric car plans, describing self-driving cars as “the mother of all AI projects.”

“We’re focusing on autonomous systems,” Cook said in an interview with Bloomberg Television, which was conducted on June 5, but only published online today. “It’s a core technology that we view as very important … It’s probably one of the most difficult A.I. projects actually to work on.”

Is Apple back to its best following WWDC 2017? [Friday Night Fights]

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Are you pleased with what you saw at WWDC 2017?
Are you pleased with what you saw at WWDC 2017?
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

This year’s WWDC keynote was an early Christmas for Apple fans. It delivered the big updates to iOS, macOS, and watchOS we were eagerly anticipating; a 10.5-inch iPad Pro; updated Macs with Intel Kaby Lake processors, plus nice surprises like the iMac Pro and HomePod.

Friday Night Fights bugBut is this Apple back at its best, or do we need more out of Cupertino? Are fancy software updates enough to breathe new life into boring hardware? Is Apple’s new push into virtual reality and machine learning too little, too late?

Join us in this week’s Friday Night Fight as we battle it out over a bumper WWDC!

‘iPhone Edition’ may get Apple Watch-like steel band

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iPhone 8 concept
Same size as the iPhone 7, but with a bigger screen.
Photo: Martin Hajek

The iPhone 8 may take some design cues from the Apple Watch, if the latest rumor out of Asia turns out to be true.

Apple will supposedly use an improved version of the Apple Watch’s stainless steel as the frame for the new iPhone 8. Glass in the front and the back will sandwich the stainless steel plate on the iPhone 8 but, according to the report, it won’t have a curved screen.

Facebook hires former iMac lead designer to work on VR

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VR may be happening soon, and Apple might want to jump in.
Can Oculus borrow some of Apple's magic?
Photo: Sergey Galyonkin/Wikipedia CC

Facebook has reportedly hired a 15-year Apple veteran to head up its Oculus VR division’s hardware team.

Michael Hillman worked on multiple major projects at Apple, including as lead designer with the iMac team. At Facebook he’s being charged with helping to take the company’s virtual reality mainstream.

PowerVR graphics upgrade allows for 4K iPhone displays

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iphone-new
It also paves the way for iPhone VR.
Photo: Apple

Imagination Technologies, the company behind the PowerVR graphics technology used in iPhone and iPad, has unleashed its powerful new Furion architecture.

It’s the first major upgrade since the introduction of Rogue, the architecture currently used in iPhone 7, and it’s capable of powering 4K smartphone and tablet displays with four times the resolution of 1080p.

Oculus has no plans to bring VR to the Mac anytime soon

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Alex Heath gets down in the Oculus booth. Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac
You still can't use the Oculus Rift on Mac.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

Mac users hoping to jump into the world of virtual reality will have to wait even longer than expected.

Oculus co-founder Nate Mitchell revealed in a recent interview that the company currently has no plans to bring Rift support to the Mac. Even though Mitchell himself is a MacBook Pro user, he says Apple’s machines don’t have the resources to deliver a premium experience

Sennheiser’s new earbuds let you record 3D audio on your iPhone

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These headphones record audio in 3D.
These headphones record audio in 3D.
Photo: Sennheiser

CES2017 At a time when most headphone manufacturers are embracing the wireless earbuds, Sennheiser has decided to unveil one of the smartest pairs of wired earbuds ever created.

Yes, you can listen to your tunes on the new AMBEO Smart Surround earphones and the music will sound great. But what sets the new buds apart from every other pair debuting at CES is these ones come with the ability to record 3D audio using only your iPhone.

Twitter hires ex-Apple designer to lead VR team

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Twitter has changed its mind on deleting inactive user accounts (for now)
Twitter is crushing dreams in 2020.
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

Unlike its rivals at Facebok, Twitter has shown little interest in virtual reality, but it appears that the company is finally ready to make a play and an ex-Apple designer is leading the charge.

Twitter has hired Alessandro Sabatelli as its first Director of VR and AR where he has been charged to “empower us all in the spatial computing revolution.”

Beastly all-in-one proves the iMac could be great for gaming

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gallery-5
The Aura is spectacular inside and out.
Photo: Digital Storm

Apple doesn’t have gamers in mind when choosing components for its latest Macs, but PC maker Digital Storm has proven that it’s possible to build a beastly gaming rig into the iMac’s gorgeous all-in-one form factor.

Check out the company’s stunning new Aura PC, which puts NVIDIA’s latest GTX 1080 graphics card behind a 34-inch curved display.

MSI’s backpack PC makes high-end VR portable

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Oculus-portable
Oculus in the park? Not quite.
Photo: Oculus/Cult of Mac

Thanks to headsets like Google Cardboard and Gear VR, the virtual reality experience is already pretty portable. But on a smartphone, you’re only getting a watered-down version.

That’s why MSI decided it would be a good idea to build a PC into a backpack, allowing you to enjoy high-end VR on the go.

Indian actor teases ‘Apple VR’ after meeting Tim Cook

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Virtual reality was one of the first iPhone accessories Apple considered. Photo: USPTO/Apple
Is Apple finally getting eady to make this a reality?
Photo: Apple

Is Apple finally going to dip its toe into the fast-growing world of virtual reality?

Everyone’s been waiting for the Cupertino company to make its move as devices like the Samsung Gear VR become increasingly popular, and according to Indian actor Emraan Hashmi — who met with Tim Cook this week — “Apple VR” is on its way!

Speck’s clever folding headset brings VR to iPhone

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Speck Pocket-VR
Pocket-VR makes taking your headset anywhere easier than ever!
Photo: Speck

It’s not easy to find a good VR headset for iPhone that’s easy to carry around. Google Cardboard will probably get crushed in your bag, and more robust models made out of plastic are just too bulky. But Speck has an awesome solution.

It’s called Pocket-VR, and it’s an iPhone-compatible virtual reality headset that folds up so small, you can easily fit it into your pants.

These goggles could change your mind about cheap VR [Reviews]

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Mac users are missing out on VR.
Take your first step into VR with these inexpensive goggles.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Apple hasn’t shown much enthusiasm for diving into virtual reality in the past, but all signs are pointing to a renewed interest. With Tim Cook mentioning VR in the latest Apple earnings call, I got to thinking more about it — as I’ve never personally given it a go.

Being immersed in a 3-D world that tracks your head movements is becoming a mainstream reality. At the moment, VR is heading full-steam toward gamers in particular — the user is immersed in a virtual world where they can look around without the 16:9 constrictions of a standard TV or monitor.

So in this video I’m looking at a $30 VR headset and seeing how well it works. Or, if it just sucks. Check out the video after the break.

AR and VR-mixing headset is too awesome to exist

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If this thing gets past the concept stage, we'll be super excited.
If this thing gets past the concept stage, we'll be super excited.
Photo: AOL

We’d play this game in a heartbeat, especially if it can bust video games into our living rooms in such a realistic way.

Putting on a typical virtual reality (VR) headset like an Oculus Rift can be disorienting at first, as VR tends to shut you out of the real world and into a, well, virtual one. Augmented reality, like you might find with Google Glass, for example, tends to place the digital world into the real one.

This Sulon Q looks like a VR rig, but lets you see the real world through it, with some digital overlay to make the fantasy of a video game look like it’s in the same place as you are.

In the video below, you’ll see a demo of a Jack and the Beanstalk game which starts out in the Sulon offices, but then things get fantastic fast as the giant beanstalk finds its way upward to the sky.

Check it out and thrill along with us.

Why won’t Apple build a game-worthy Mac? [Friday Night Fights]

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fnf
Tell us, Apple!
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Mac users needn’t bother pre-ordering an Oculus Rift headset because they can’t use it. According to Oculus founder Palmer Luckey, that’s because none of the machines Apple offers are powerful enough to meet its recommended specifications.

Friday-Night-Fights-bug-2They’re not powerful enough to play the latest games at high-settings, either. Even if you spend thousands on a high-end Mac Pro, you’re going to be disappointed with its gaming prowess — especially if you want to drink in some of those sweet, sweet 4K graphics.

So, is it about time Apple built a Mac that’s good for gaming?

Join us in this week’s Friday Night Fight between Cult of Android and Cult of Mac as we battle it out over this and more!

Coca-Cola boxes can now transform into iPhone VR viewer

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Why buy an Oculus Rift when you can get VR with Coke?
Why buy an Oculus Rift when you can get VR with Coke?
Photo: The Coca-Cola Co.

Recycling is great. Reusing is even better, which is why Coca-Cola’s new packaging that can double as a VR viewer for iPhone one of the coolest and greenest innovations we’ve seen so far this year. 

The new packaging prototype transforms a traditional 12-pack box made from recycled cardboard into a Google Cardboard-esque VR viewer. Coca-Cola doesn’t have immediate plans to release the new packaging, but it probably wouldn’t take much convincing if the right promotional partner came along.   

Three different versions of the VR packaging have already been conceived. Watch demos of all three below:

Watching VR games get built in VR will blow your mind

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Unreal Engine 4 lets you build in VR.
Unreal Engine 4 lets you build in VR.
Photo: Unreal EngineYouTube

Virtual Reality isn’t just going to change how we consume content. It’s going totally change how we make content for the digital world too.

Developers at Epic Games have already created a way to build VR games using the Unreal Editor in VR mode, and it’s unlike any software development tool you’ve ever seen. Rather than clicking around on a 2D screen, designers Tim Sweeney and Mike Fricker show how game makers can walk around inside levels to manipulate objects and get everything just right.

Take a look:

Apple is spending lots of time at Stanford’s VR lab

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VR may be happening soon, and Apple might want to jump in.
VR may be happening soon, and Apple might want to jump in.
Photo: Sergey Galyonkin/Wikipedia CC

Apple may not have shown much interest in diving into virtual reality over the past few years, but the director of Stanford’s Virtual Human Interaction Lab says the company has shown some intense interest in the space recently.

Speaking at a technology conference this week, Jeremy Bailenson revealed that Apple employees have become regulars in his lab recently — and they won’t say why.