[LINK] Oculus Rift

Tue Jan 6 18:57:25 AEDT 2015

Chris writes,

> Try this link ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZ7TOfRmdak

Thanks for this Chris. This 3D technology is certainly exciting, with many possible applications. Zuckerburg thinks that in future, 3D virtual reality may become the standard platform for digital communications. Who knows, maybe he's right ..

Zuckerberg writes "Facebook can start focusing on what platforms will come next to enable even more useful, entertaining and personal experiences.

This is where Oculus comes in. They build virtual reality technology, like the Oculus Rift headset. When you put it on, you enter a completely immersive computer-generated environment, like a game or a movie scene or a place far away. The incredible thing about the technology is that you feel like you're actually present in another place with other people. 

People who try it say it's different from anything they've ever experienced in their lives..

The technology opens up the possibility of completely new kinds of experiences.

Immersive gaming will be the first, and Oculus already has big plans here that won't be changing and we hope to accelerate. The Rift is highly anticipated by the gaming community, and there's a lot of interest from developers in building for this platform. We're going to focus on helping Oculus build out their product and develop partnerships to support more games. Oculus will continue operating independently within Facebook to achieve this.

But this is just the start. After games, we're going to make Oculus a platform for many other experiences. Imagine enjoying a court side seat at a game, studying in a classroom of students and teachers all over the world or consulting with a doctor face-to-face -- just by putting on goggles in your home.

This is really a new communication platform. By feeling truly present, you can share unbounded spaces and experiences with the people in your life. Imagine sharing not just moments with your friends online, but entire experiences and adventures.

These are just some of the potential uses. By working with developers and partners across the industry, together we can build many more. One day, we believe this kind of immersive, augmented reality will become a part of daily life for billions of people.

Virtual reality was once the dream of science fiction. But the internet was also once a dream, and so were computers and smartphones. The future is coming and we have a chance to build it together. I can't wait to start working with the whole team at Oculus to bring this future to the world, and to unlock new worlds for all of us." (end quote) 

https://www.facebook.com/zuck/posts/10101319050523971

> 
> On 6 January 2015 at 13:30, DALGLIESH, Andrew Andrew.DALGLIESH at dete.qld.gov.au> wrote:
>
>   True – but then selfies are created by a deliberate act of taking out a phone/camera and snapping - which I think is often the point where the urge, to prove they were there by sticking their mug in the shot, takes over.
>  
> Wearable tech though, could be on and recording for longer periods reducing the “look at moi” self-awareness factor. But still deliberate enough so the footage is targeted. I’m thinking somewhere between a dashcam and a selfie stick. 
>  
> A potential business model for virtual tourism could be subsidising backpackers’ travel in return for them to move around an area taking good quality footage. Could be an improvement on street corner collecting and fruit picking for 60c/hr?
>  
> A
>  
> From: ozteachers at googlegroups.com [mailto:ozteachers at googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of ken price
> Sent: Tuesday, 6 January 2015 10:28 AM
> To: ozteachers at googlegroups.com
>
> Subject: Re: [Oz-teachers] Oculus Rift
>
>
> That could be fantastic. Extreme tourism might also provide some ideas, eg virtual skydiving or underwater exploration. Or even simulations based on real data collected by nanocameras, eg a trip through the vascular or digestive system. 
>   
>  In relation to the crowdsourcing of video from Glass users, will the typical Google Glass user be the sort of person who spends a lot of their time looking at themselves in mirrors, shop windows etc?  That might spoil the virtual tour, in the same way that the selfie has destroyed tourist photos. For example, are future generations doomed to think that the Eiffel Tower looked like this in 2013?
>   http://foureyes.timesnewtess.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/IMG_1087.jpg. 
> 
>  (thx Tess :-) )
>   
>  kp
> 
>   
>  On Tuesday, January 6, 2015, DALGLIESH, Andrew Andrew.DALGLIESH at dete.qld.gov.au> wrote:
>
>   How about an ocular version of Google Maps street view for virtual tourism? But instead of images being taken by self-driving cars (expensive and slow to update, plus too many blind spots) the images could be fed in from Google Glass users.
>  
> A
>  
>  
> From:  ozteachers at googlegroups.com [mailto:ozteachers at googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of ken price
> Sent: Tuesday, 6 January 2015 7:30 AM
> To:  ozteachers at googlegroups.com
> Cc:  link at anu.edu.au
> Subject: Re: [Oz-teachers] Oculus Rift
>  
> A couple of our schools have the pre-Facebook Ocular Rift and they are stunning, though going beyond the pre-built applications is a challenge.
>   
>  I bought a Google Cardboard for $7 from the Philippines (an unofficial copy of the Unofficial Cardboard template) and with a bit of extra "librarian tape" reinforcing and better locating of the lenses (glue) it works amazingly well. The magnetic switch thing is not great, but who cares.
> 
>   
>  Lots of potential, but there is also the obvious market failure of 3D TV to keep in mind.  Oculus and Cardboard need a killer application that isn't purely entertainment, and I'm guessing it won't be in school education but perhaps in some area of medicine, architecture or trade training. There is potential for huge impact with kids with special needs, and in the longer term for videoconferencing and telepresence. An Oculus telepresence phone for example...
> 
>   
>  Ken
> 
> On Monday, January 5, 2015, Stephen Loosley stephenloosley at zoho.com> wrote:
>
> http://www.hyperorg.com/blogger
> 
> Oculus Rift
> 
> I just received Google’s Oculus Rift emulator. Given that it’s made of cardboard, it’s all kinds of awesome.
> 
> https://www.oculus.com
> https://www.google.com/get/cardboard
> 
> Google Cardboard is a poke in Facebook’s eyes. Facebook bought Oculus Rift, the virtual reality headset, for $2Billion. Oculus hasn’t yet shipped a product, but its prototypes are mind-melting. My wife and I tried one last year at an Israeli educational tech lab, and we literally had to have people’s hands on our shoulders so we wouldn’t get so disoriented that we’d swoon. The Lab had us on a virtual roller coaster, with the ability to turn our heads to look around. It didn’t matter that it was an early, low-resolution prototype. Swoon.
> 
> Oculus is rumored to be priced at around $350 when it ships, and they will sell tons at that price. Basically, anyone who tries one will be a customer or will wish s/he had the money to be a customer.
> 
> Will it be confined to game players? Not a chance on earth.
> 
> https://www.facebook.com/zuck/posts/10101319050523971
> 
> So, in the midst of all this justifiable hype about the Oculus Rift, Google announced Cardboard: detailed plans for how to cut out and assemble a holder for your mobile phone that positions it in front of your eyes. The Cardboard software divides the screen in two and creates a parallaxed view so you think you’re seeing in 3D. It uses your mobile phone’s kinetic senses to track the movement of your head as you purview your synthetic domain.
> 
> I took a look at the plans for building the holder and gave up. For $15 I instead ordered one from Unofficial Cardboard.
> 
> https://www.unofficialcardboard.com
> 
> When it arrived this morning, I took it out of its shipping container (made out of cardboard, of course), slipped in my HTC mobile phone, clicked on the Google Cardboard software, chose a demo, and was literally — in the virtual sense — flying over the earth in any direction I looked, watching a cartoon set in a forest that I was in, or choosing YouTube music videos by turning to look at them on a wall.
> 
> Obviously I’m sold on the concept.
> 
> But I’m also sold on the pure cheekiness of Google’s replicating the core functionality of the Oculus Rift by using existing technology, including one made of cardboard.
> 
> --
> 
> Cheers,
> Stephen
> 
> -- 
> Dr Ken Price MACS CP ACCE Professional Associate.
> President, TASITE http://www.tasite.tas.edu.au
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