Virtual Perceptions

The Immersive Wire

Weekly analysis of the immersive industry

By Tom Ffiske // 17 June 2020New to the newsletter? 

"I might replay Dwarf Fortress. And give up again."

Blending learning theory, gaming interaction design and technical excellence, Make Real Ltd creates immersive learning experiences based upon measured, validated outcomes. From Virtual Reality to web and mobile serious games, Make Real Ltd works with large global enterprise customers across a range of sectors, including AEC, automotive and finance.

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THE BIG STORY

se. Packed with games, all built on stacks of code and creativity, the stream showed many VR titles we can expect over the next year. Some looked neat; others dull and iterative. But all were flanked by smiling and happy devs eager to show their product in their strange and quirky ways - exactly the way I like it. The bounty of games caused me to reflect on the public's preferences for gaming titles, and what stood out for me. The YouTube chat was clear; a very vocal minority wanted Five Nights at Freddy's in VR, drowning genuine reactions from other watchers. While rude, it repeats the pattern that high-profile releases help to drive further interest or adoption. Games that felt flat, at least to me and the chat, were generic military shooters where players pop heads. Unless they have bright or diverse visuals, they felt like the vanilla ice cream of the gaming world. Then games with unique mechanics soared in interest. For example, Agence uses AI and player choice to shape the narrative.Preferences aside, 2020 is a good year for gaming. Like last year's event, Upload showcased an aspect I love about VR: the sheer creativity and love that goes into titles. 

OTHER STORIES

• REWIND has been appointed by HOO KOO E KOO to create a VR meditation game. My family asked if I was okay when I tried to pronounce the company name out loud. 

• Some NHS staff used virtual reality to help reduce anxiety and stress. The main results from the evaluation suggest that staff found using VR was an enjoyable experience, and they would recommend it to their colleagues to aid relaxation and for reducing stress. In particular, staff valued the meditative spaces and breathing exercises.

• Immerse announced that its Virtual Enterprise Platform (VEP) now integrates with the Oculus Quest and other standalone devices. 'The combination of our enterprise technology and cost effective, portable headsets such as the Quest will allow more businesses to provide VR training to their employees,' said Justin Parry, Founder and COO of Immerse.

• Sony confirmed that the PS5 supports PSVR. Cool. 

• SteamVR now supports OpenXR. Also cool. 

• Snap reached 170 million daily users (roughly the population of Bangladesh, or the number of spelling mistakes in my newsletters before my girlfriend kindly reads over it). The company is doing exceptionally well, and its fast rise in influence is startling to follow. But considering Facebook dominates Brazil and India via WhatsApp, I'm intrigued to see how Snap will grow further. 

• Miro Shot, a band, announced a virtual world tour. Beginning with the opening party at the CannesXR and Tribeca Immersive Film Festival on June 24, the band will perform concerts across four multimedium platforms in a Virtual Worlds Tour.

• Hate exersise? Same. But enjoy a workout in VR? A new study from my alumni school (I studied History, to the surprise of everyone) has found that it takes the 'work' out of the workout. The University of Exeter Business School and Brunel University London joined virtual workout games creators VirZOOM to see how VR dials up pleasure and helps people lose ‘exercise consciousness’. In a controlled experiment with 24 volunteers on exercise bikes, experiencing VR with music raised perceived enjoyment by 26.4%, compared with a control condition of no VR or music. And the VR combined with music raised enjoyment by 17.5% when compared to music on its own. The question remains if it's also fun when you're sweating profusely into the headset.

ANOTHER BIG STORY

The militarisation of commercial products is both exciting and nerve-wracking. Breaking Defence has a great read on how the 'Silicon Valley software strategy' helps the US Army. Did you know it's not called the HoloLens on the filed? It's renamed the Integrated Visual Augmentation System. Catchy name, if it's ever sold in a shop. But their innovation approach is striking. Microsoft engineers and army personnel are working together to build and develop the product, so it is fit for purpose when deployed. As the website noted: 'The tech giant’s engineers are in the field with soldiers, listening to their criticisms and suggestions, and sometimes rewriting software on the spot. “It’s cold, it’s raining, and you see these young people from Microsoft … they’re out there at 2:00 in the morning. They got their headphones on, they’re under their blankets with their hoodie, and they’re coding,” Potts said. “They’re having an absolute blast.”'The article notes that the integrated approach may be replicated with other tech in the future, and I have to wonder what else Microsoft will develop in the meantime. 'Has the Army finally found a better way to develop weapons?' the article asked. True or not, divided groups will react differently. 

PEOPLE MOVES

• Nelson Dellis joins Virtuleap as Chief Memory Officer to lead the US team. (No, it's not a job title from the book 1984). Nelson Dellis is the four-time USA memory champion, so Virtuleap has some crazy talent on their hands ahead of the launch of their VR Brain Training app. 

If your company has a significant hire or promotion, please let me know by replying to this email and I shall add them.

SAM WATTS - THE IMMERSIVE WIRE INTERVIEW

Sam Watts has been driving adoption of immersive technologies within enterprise and entertainment at Make Real for over 5 years, enabling businesses and customers to understand and validate use cases for implementation of Virtual and Augmented Reality devices and content. From EDF Energy to Vodafone, Oculus and Sony, Sam has seen over 75 immersive applications deployed at scale, in offices, studios, museums, arcades, homes and even fields in the glorious British countryside. Prior to joining Make Real, Sam managed and operated European and global Quality Assurance and Localisation teams for Zynga, NCsoft, Epic Group PLC and worked with online learning products for BBC, Channel 4, Sony PlayStation, HMRC, HSBC, British Airways, and many more.