Lytro Releases First Footage Shot By VR Light Field Camera
Lytro publicly released its first footage from its light field camera, Immerge. Light field cameras capture images with a sensor similar to video or photography cameras, but can reconstruct the image captured in 3D through measuring light rays hitting the sensor. This reconstruction process allows for the adjustment of focus after the video or photo is taken.
Visby CEO Ryan Damm said the new videos released are a good sign of what is to come. Visby is developing holographic light field technology for VR/AR. Damm believes that “holographic light fields are the correct way to represent photographically-real content with positional tracking: it’s the missing codec for virtual and augmented reality.”
Damm said the Lytro footage looked promising as the first light field footage in VR. The light field 360 video allows for 6-degree of freedom, meaning users can move side-to-side and up-and-down to get different views of the video. This creates a better sense of presence that 360-degree video cannot provide.
“It gets us away from the ‘game engine’ look that a lot of 3D approaches are stuck in,” he said. “The 3D compositing is a really important feature for professional creators. It’s tough to tell how it’s going to look in a headset, but the early signs are really, really good.”
Hear more from Ryan Damm at VRS Conference on Nov. 1 and 2. Learn more about other companies speaking.
Best Buy Will Increase VR Demos for Holiday Season
Best Buy will be adding demos of Oculus Rift and PlayStation VR across stores. The company will add another 500 stores to its list of stores that have begun demoing the Rift headset in May. Best Buy will also add 200 demonstrations for PlayStation VR.
Attendee demoing a VR product at China Joy 2016.
The VR industry’s biggest issue is consumers’ lack of experience with products. In Greenlight Insights’ latest consumer report, 20 percent of about 1,300 consumers surveyed said they have had experience with a VR headset and about 48 percent of the consumers that did have a VR experience have tried it in a store. Of the consumers that did try a VR experience, 86 percent of them said they had a positive experience and only 3 percent had a negative experience.
Store demos provide a reach that the VR industry cannot reach through events, which makes it inherently important for hardware manufacturers and content creators to choose distribution partnerships that have a strong reach to consumers.
USens and Leap Motion Make Advancements in Their Hand-Tracking Technology
USens and Leap Motion announced separate product releases for their hand-tracking technology. USens announced the release of Fingo, a hand and position tracking device that uses IR. Leap Motion released the first iteration of its Interaction Engine, a physics engine to bridge hand motion physics between Unity and their hand-tracking hardware, Orion.
A user demonstrates Orion hand tracking from Leap Motion. (Gif by Leap Motion)
Although there are currently issues with hand-tracking technology, more natural controls in VR and AR experiences build upon the immersive experience. Hand-tracking may not be the be all, end all for natural control in immersive tech experience, but the investment in researching natural movement and control now will pay off exponentially for the future.
Learn more about emerging technologies and monetizing VR at VRS on Nov. 1 and 2. Sign up today.
