Oculus: Leading the VR Gold Rush

There’s virtual gold in them there hills and it’s time to think seriously about where you stand. Are you in or out?

The road to VR nirvana is paved with poor quality content, low res visuals and people claiming they’re the world’s greatest storytellers because they’ve ‘been at this for years’. Well, I’ve got news for you, the future for VR and AR belongs to those with both technical know-how AND creative vision.

If you’re thinking about “seeing how it goes” or if “this VR thing will take off”, think again. We have been gifted an invaluable assessment period in the development of VR and for the past 18 months, this exciting new platform has been in a very public beta.

Designers, developers and ‘tech explorers’ have had access to a number of head mounted displays (HMDs), including the original Oculus Rift (funded by a $2,437,430 Kickstarter campaign) and subsequent DK2 (118,930 global shipments), the Samsung/Oculus Gear VR and numerous Google Cardboard budget headsets for a while.

A few visionaries are starting to put their money in the right places. Recent funding rounds have hit the headlines for JauntVR, NextVR, Reload Studios and self-funded ‘The Void’, a VR theme park. The most notable move came last year when Facebook bought Oculus, the company credited with starting the current resurrection of the Virtual Reality market. 

The Oculus PR machine has been busy again today, revealing the final consumer-friendly Rift headset, input controllers and some of the launch titles. I tested the latest developer edition, Crescent Bay, at CES in January and that was a big step forward. Oculus have upped the game yet again with the consumer Rift but it’s not available to test until next week. More to follow…

It’s a stunning piece of kit with accurate head-tracking, a wireless X-Box controller, freestanding desktop motion sensor, built-in 3D stereo headphones and it’s light, very light compared to rivals. 

Oculus Founder Palmer Luckey also previewed ‘Oculus Touch, a pair of hand controllers used for more accurate input for digital interaction. They won’t be available when the main headset launches in Q1 2016, but should follow before 2017. Rift Pre-orders begin later this year.

But that’s not all as you’ll still need a PC to run the VR content. Officially, the Rift isn’t for Mac at launch but there have been VR titles in development for Mac since the original DK1 headset arrived in 2013 so they’ll still work, just not through the official Oculus store.

Next week, I’m at E3 (Electronic Entertainment Expo) where the tone will be set with a heavy focus on Virtual Reality as Oculus, Sony, HTC, Samsung, Sulon and Microsoft will all push VR headsets to the frontline in preparation for a very busy 12 months for consumer releases.

It’s these next 12 months that are so important for creative thought, innovative development and targeted investment. If you really want to make an impact, start planning, designing and building now. If you want an unprecedented investment opportunity in a guaranteed platform before it hits the market, it’s time to make your move.

There will always be room for software production houses but in these early days of VR, the spoils will go to those willing and able to push boundaries and do so with quality in mind. I can’t stress strongly enough how exciting this new dawn of VR is.

2015 Shorty Awards: A Year of Living Dangerously

It’s been a whole year since my last Shorty Awards campaign. Here I am again, but everything has changed! The Apps category is no more so I’m championing an entirely new category… #Innovation.

Last year I reached the final and headed to New York only to miss out on the night. You think the Oscars are competitive, the Shorties are even more cutthroat!

This time, I’d love your votes in a category that will only exist if we work together. There isn’t currently an Innovation category but if I receive enough votes, it’s possible the Real-Time Academy will make it official.

There's no 'I' in Shorty Awards but it is all about the individual. Having said that, the cutting-edge innovation only happens thanks to the brilliant Brandwidth team.

Here’s the link to take you directly to the voting screen, just double check the drop-down box shows ‘Other’ and the text contains the hashtag #Innovation (plus your reason for voting for me of course). We can do this! 

Add your vote! < THIS IS THE REALLY IMPORTANT LINK TO VOTE

If you need more convincing, here’s the campaign video featuring Brandwidth’s Star Wars Scene Maker app for Lucasfilm, the incredible Maleficent multi-touch book for Disney, the Bernhoft Islander HD music app, my TEDx Athens 4D app experience and my Oculus Rift Light Saber battle with Apptain America at Silicon Beach.

Oh, and Olivia and Hattie in their own virtual worlds…

To add even more depth, here’s the summary of my Shorty Awards Interview and my thoughts following defeat in New York last year.

Thanks!

It’s Hip to be Square, but spectacular to be rectangular [updated]

As camera technology changes and social channels multiply, we find ourselves with increasing opportunities to share a visual record of our lives with the wider world. The one constant is the subject matter and how we think about its creative execution. Or is it?

I rarely feel the need to update my blog entries or online articles as they stand as reflections of the moment and passing observations. Occasionally, a product or service upgrade prompts a change of information or time spent with the same requires some additional thought based on a long term review.

I originally wrote the article below as a non-Instagram user, which with hindsight seems a little unfair and ill-informed. All my original opinions still stand regarding composition and over-filtering of images but I'm now sleeping with the enemy… and it's not as bad as it sounds.

The main reason I chose to make the jump was the ability to share. I wanted to broadcast my photography, travels and life experiences through yet another social channel – square or not. I managed to upload 2 years worth of carefully selected 'square-friendly' photos and I'm now up to date.

The photos and videos featured on my other social channels are merely the tip of the creative iceberg. I don't post direct if they won't preview inline so all the rest now lurk on my @activrightbrain Instagram feed.

Here's the original article...

I’m going to be controversial here... I don’t like Instagram. I’m not rebelling against filtered photos or tenuous titling, rather it saddens me that in the quest for the square crop, we’re losing the art of composition.

What do I mean by this? Well, Instagram’s square format is perfect for an avatar but when Twitter’s preview image and both Twitter and Facebook’s header are landscape and Nelson’s Column, the Empire State Building and the Eiffel Tower all deserve a format to match their stature, square doesn’t quite cut it.

If you want an image with four sides of equal length, it should be because you chose that crop, not because it was the only option available. My header image (above) certainly wouldn't have worked on Instagram!

With a full landscape format, we understand the distance jumped and tell a story beyond the captured moment.

The smartphone and tablet revolution has given us more than digital independence or the office in our pocket, it has equipped us with a still and video camera so we’re always ready to capture the moment. Here’s the thing, the screen is a rectangle with a ratio of 4:3 to 16:9 and beyond. It seems a shame not to use the digital real estate.

A square crop would have forced us too far from the boy on the train or removed the focus of his attention – the castle.

A square format works for video platforms such as Vine (and Instagram) as you can pan horizontally and vertically to capture the full height of a subject or the panoramic vision.

However, in a rectangular viewfinder it’s still the general rule that portrait is better for... portraits and landscape is better for... landscapes. If you really want to be a rebel (or just add impact), try it the other way around.

The landscape format illustrates the sheer scale of the beach without overpowering the surfers with too much sand and sky.

I can’t deny I have an interesting life and I love having the ability to capture every relevant second on my own terms. To prove the point, I recently sold all my DSLR kit as this represented hardware dictating the terms. There were fewer and fewer opportunities for me to carry all the equipment with me yet my phone travels everywhere I go, especially with a waterproof case. The phone won, the DSLR lost.

Some images just deserve a portrait format. Without it, they're topped and tailed or given too much either side.

The upside of Instagram’s popularity is the fact that many more people are taking and sharing great photos, I just wish we weren’t settling for a single format when we’ve had centuries of painting, drawing and photography to show us that life’s more fun when you’re not trying to be square.

The future may not be pretty, but the tech’s pretty awesome

The news that Facebook snapped up the VR startup Oculus Rift this week brought the tech into the limelight and kicked off a heated debate over the social giant’s plans.

Thanks to the media frenzy, a brand everyone had heard of brought one very few knew existed into mainstream conversation. I didn’t need to Google ‘Oculus’ or ‘Rift’, I had one on my desk.

When I say Oculus Rift isn’t new to me, I’m not being dismissive. Far from it – it’s my job to know about this stuff, assess the relevance of future platforms and create stunning content for it.

Rift has been on our radar (and our heads) at Brandwidth since its original Kickstarter campaign and we’ve had plenty of time to consider incredible possibilities for the future. The concept and rudimentary equipment has been around for decades but the whole platform fell out of favour until recently when Oculus reignited the flame of innovation in this area, along with Sony’s intention to compete with their Project Morpheus.

Virtual Reality (VR) is back, helped in no small measure by Google’s own efforts to tempt consumers to strap technology to their faces and massive advancements in CGI and screen resolution.

OK, it’s not back just yet but the technology is. Oculus Rift content and the delivery platform it requires haven’t launched yet but 2014 is the year it finally hits homes as well as developers’ desks.

So what is it? Well, it’s a black box with a screen over each eye to simulate an immersive 3D environment and motion sensors to track head movements. It’s this experience of looking around the digital landscape that truly transports you to another world. Add a set of stereo headphones and the effect is complete... or is it?

The moment you dip into this virtual world, you’ll be hooked. From rollercoaster rides to epic space battles to eerie haunted houses, the virtual feels real. But what’s missing? You are.

The next big steps will come from the ability to place yourself within these incredible environments. Using Leap gestural units, MYO armbands or bluetooth-connected smartphones, you’ll be able to see your virtual body parts in front of you. At Brandwidth we’re already using iPhones as light sabres – who wouldn’t want to get their hands on one of those inside Rift?

Surely there isn’t another step? Actually, there is. We now have the opportunity to add other people to your virtual world to share the ultimate storytelling experience, explore epic worlds like Disney’s Infinity, or meet in virtual shopping malls, showrooms or conference facilities. Social plug-ins are an obvious move.

Yes, I can see why Mark Zuckerburg wanted to add Oculus Rift to his growing portfolio. but also, if you’ve got the billions to invest and you love technology, why wouldn’t you?

There’s a business case here but there’s also a chance for Facebook to add scale and creative potential through investment dollars that may never have been achieved had they not come on board. The development units (even the new MkII) aren’t yet truly mobile. Freedom from cables and a computer will really move the game on, but we may need to wait for the second generation consumer model for this.

Instantly visit the four corners of the earth, relive history as you walk in the footsteps of astronauts, Presidents or dinosaurs or allow surgeons to operate from within a body. That’s progress.

No, the future’s not all white and shiny if many will sit in a darkened room in their underwear with a pizza on their laps, immersing themselves in virtual worlds... but the technology is undeniably awe inspiring.