Game Developer Conference (GDC) Archives - VR World

Augmented Reality (AR), Entertainment, Game Developer Conference (GDC), Gaming, Google, Mobile, News, Nvidia, VR World

Star Wars Ray-Tracing Demo and Google’s Maps API at GDC

In this Stories You Might’ve Missed segment, we’ll be covering the final week of March, from the 25th to 31st. Quite a few interesting stories broke in this time, so buckle up while we run you through them. (Also, Skyrim VR launched for PC yesterday if you’re interested in checking it out.) Unreal Engine shows off a stunning Star Wars real-time ray-tracing demo If the video above looks visually-pleasing, get this: it’s rendered in real-time. Visuals like this used to take hours, if not days, to render. So how is this possible? Through a technology called real-time ray-tracing. Nvidia is pushing real-time ray-tracing for its

Apple, Augmented Reality (AR), Breaking, Business, Entertainment, Facebook, Game Developer Conference (GDC), Google, Hardware, Microsoft, News, Samsung, startups, Virtual Reality (VR), Wearables, Wearables

Did Seebright Just Launch Google Cardboard for AR?

Augmented Reality, also called Mixed Reality (MR, MxR) is set to represent a very large part of our lives. Even today, if you own a car with a heads-up display (HUD), you are a user of Augmented Reality. Still, the development of AR applications is extremely difficult due to high barrier of entry. Unlike the VR, where you can purchase an Open Source VR Hacker 1.4 headset (OSVR) for just $299.99 – AR headsets can set you back for thousands of dollars. Case in point is Microsoft’s HoloLens, where a development kit will set you back for $3000. Osterhaut Design Group sells their R-7 glasses for $2799.99. Thus,

AMD, Augmented Reality (AR), Breaking, Game Developer Conference (GDC), Gaming, Graphics, Hardware, News, Virtual Reality (VR)

REVIEW: AMD Radeon Pro Duo Launch

After a 10 month journey, the Capsaicin board is (finally) among us. The birth of Radeon Pro Duo was a long one, and we detailed the journey from a product that was supposed to come to market as an R9 Fury X2 to one that AMD launched at the Capsaicin event on the first day of Game Developers Conference in San Francisco, CA. In a way, this is one of first product launches created by the Radeon Technologies Group. Following up on the excellent Wraith heatsink, Radeon Pro Duo shows AMD / RTG will leave no stone unturned to revamp their product line-up and offer more to their customers.

Breaking, Game Developer Conference (GDC), Graphics, News, Nvidia, startups, Virtual Reality (VR), Wearables

GameFace Labs VR: Works Standalone and on the PC

During the Game Developers Conference, we encountered a young hardware development team named GameFace Labs. This small but rising startup is working on creating an ultimate VR experience, enabling you to use the device while you’re moving, and once you’re home – you can connect it to the PC. Unlike any other product on the market, there is no ‘collision of worlds’. HTC Vive and Oculus Rift are experiences that require a PC and are intended for internal use, while mobile headsets like the Samsung’s GearVR work wherever you are. With this concept, GameFace Labs wants to cover both angles. The concept behind the retail device will be to offer ultimate mobile

Entertainment, Game Developer Conference (GDC), News, Virtual Reality (VR)

Dimensional Intersection Psychedelic VR Experience Coming Soon

Back on Game Developers Conference, we heard about a new, psychedelic VR experience coming soon from the Swedish studio DNV, and published by Nicalis, a publisher from southern California. Targeting the SteamVR (HTC Vive), Oculus Rift and PlayStation VR, Dimensional Intersection is best described as a ‘WinAMP visualization plug-in for your brain.‘ “Dimensional Intersection is a crazy experience that distills music into the purest form,” said Tyrone Rodriguez, Founder of Nicalis. “It’s being developed in a place very close to the origin of psytrance and that influence is evident in the game.” The interesting bit of this VR experience, was the QA process, which took place

AMD, Analysis, Breaking, Game Developer Conference (GDC), Graphics, Hardware, VR World

Radeon Pro Duo: How AMD’s Dual GPU went Professional

When AMD revealed the Radeon Pro Duo during the Capsaicin event, the actual product looked significantly different to the one AMD showed at last year’s E3 conference. In fact, it was a completely different product. Besides an occasional leak, destiny of AMD’s ‘Gemini’ board was unknown for the better part of 2015. In this article, we will reveal the full story of how Radeon Pro Duo came to be. The original plan to launch AMD’s “Radeon R9 Fury X2” for gamers changed with the announcement of Radeon Technologies Group (RTG), a new organisation inside AMD led by Raja Koduri, specifically designed to focus on AMD’s FirePro, Radeon and now also

AMD, Breaking, Business, Exclusive, Game Developer Conference (GDC), Gaming, Graphics, Hardware, News, Nvidia

AMD VR Ready Premium Program Collides with Nvidia VR Ready

It looks like we are heading for a return to brick and mortar stores. After years of online shopping, Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality demand to be experienced in the real world, and that’s where the battle will be lead. Who will buy what computer will strongly depend on level of fidelity and immersion. This is inevitably leading to a situation where AMD / RTG will square off versus an old ‘nemesis’, Nvidia. Strong competition between these two vendors led to better performance, better experience and most importantly, price wars. Back on E3 of 2015, AMD announced the R9 Fury X at $650 price point. AMD’s “Launch

AMD, Breaking, Game Developer Conference (GDC), Gaming, Hardware, Intel, News, VR World

Intel’s Skull Canyon Micro Gaming PC Supports AMD XConnect

Intel hosted its GDC media conference at The Box meeting venue in San Francisco, and the company demonstrated its commitment to the gaming community. Intel sees gaming market as a leading entertainment revenue driver by 2019-2021 (in alignment with predictions by Jon Peddie Research, Gartner, Gaming Business Review, DBI Intelligence etc.), and is making steps to make gaming pervasive entertainment experience. The company reorganized its desktop division last year and instituted new executive team that focuses on improving the gaming experience. One of results of those moves were focusing on human resources and bringing talented engineers back from mobile and other business divisions. We discussed this newly found focus with key

Breaking, Game Developer Conference (GDC), Hardware, News, Virtual Reality (VR)

Oculus Rift Retail Box is Bigger than we Expected

When Oculus announced the final specification and launch details of Rift VR headset on CES 2016, the company also announced they will be returning to the carrying case in which Oculus shipped the first Development Kit (DK1). At the Game Developers Conference 2016, we visited the Oculus booth and saw the retail packaging live. First and foremost, materials are of premium quality, and you feel you’re getting your 600 USD worth. But no, you’re not getting the DK1’s protective box. The box is actually bigger than the first or second developer kit (DK1, DK2 or Crescent Bay). The reason for that is simple – previous prototypes did not feature the

Breaking, Game Developer Conference (GDC), Gaming, Graphics, Hardware, News, Nvidia, press releases, Virtual Reality (VR), VR World

10 Ways NVIDIA is Making VR a Reality

We received a news release from NVIDIA which explains the company efforts on driving the Virtual Reality. On Game Developers Conference, NVIDIA unleased VRWorks – its Software Development Kit (SDK) for developing VR experiences on GeForce and Tegra hardware. In a way, the battle will heat up between different software development packages, especially between AMD’s LiquidVR, a continuation of Mantle API development, and NVIDIA’s GameWorks / VRWorks. VRWorks is a successor to GameWorks VR, which the company debuted last year – and presents a shift in thinking from gaming titles only into wholesome experiences (VR gaming, VR education, VR experiences, VR videos). We are providing you with

Breaking, Business, Game Developer Conference (GDC), Gaming, News, Software Programs, Virtual Reality (VR), VR World

CryTek’s New Business Model: VR First, Pay What You Want

A trip that every entrepreneur takes is a risky one. Some 15 years ago, a small company from Germany came up with a 3D engine that drove incredible experiences in the form of Far Cry franchise. 12 years later, CryTek has evolved from being a game developer into an engine company with the latest CryEngine release presents the next step in evolution. First and foremost, CRYENGINE V is now free. The company is adopting the “Pay What You Want” model, and shifting from today’s business model into a model that will see the company grow beyond being a game engine technology company. The new strategy started with collaboration with Amazon on

Breaking, Business, Game Developer Conference (GDC), Hardware, News, startups, Virtual Reality (VR), VR World

VR Hardware Startup Virtuix Offered $32 million in Public Series A Funding

If you are a hardware startup, your life is very difficult. First, getting funding from traditional sources (Venture Capital, banks) is borderline impossible, as there’s always ‘an app for this and that’ that promises the world. Yet, we’ve seen sizable ‘wins’ with hardware startups which took the public route and seek out funding on crowdfunding websites such as Indiegogo or Kickstarter. Perhaps the best known publicly funded startup is Oculus, who gathered $2.44 million on Kickstarter. As we all know by now, the company was acquired by Facebook in a $2 billion, all-cash transaction. But, Oculus is far from being the only one. Several years ago, we attended

Companies, Game Developer Conference (GDC), Hardware, Sony, Videos, VR World

PlayStation VR: Launching In October for $399

The annual Game Developers Conference is in full swing and we’re part of it. Today, Sony announced that PlayStation VR is launching in October. We’ve been eagerly expecting the first VR solutions for the console world, and this Japanese company is certainly making a big splash with their solution. Combine the wide array of gaming titles with excellent VR solutions and you’ve got a great winter coming up. As we said earlier, PlayStation VR headset will launch in October this year and it will come with a suggested retail price of USD $399 / CAD $549. This is one of the most affordable VR kits out there, an almost

Breaking, Game Developer Conference (GDC), Graphics, News, Reviews, Software Programs, Virtual Reality (VR)

Basemark Launches New VR Benchmark VRScore

At the CryTek event today at GDC 2016, Basemark unveiled VRScore, a VR benchmark. This is a first ultra-demanding, high-resolution, high-texture benchmark coming from the team that worked together on numerous iterations of Futuremark’s 3DMark. They spun of from Futuremark, developing ‘Basemark’ benchmark for mobile devices, and now are entering the dynamic VR scene. “From the first moment sitting down with the Crytek team through the development of VRScore, we’ve been thoroughly impressed with their talent and hard working,” said Tero Sarkkinen, founder of Basemark, “Today, we together put the fruits of this collaboration for the first time for the general public to see and I am

AMD, Breaking, Game Developer Conference (GDC), Graphics, Hardware, News, Virtual Reality (VR), VR World

AMD Unveils Radeon Pro, Graphics for VR

The wait is over. Nine months after AMD introduced Fiji GPU architecture featuring revolutionary High Bandwidth Memory (HBM) standard, the company launched Radeon Pro Duo, “world’s most powerful platform for Virtual Reality (VR), capable of both creating and consuming VR content.” AMD originally showed the board on the same day it launched the Fiji architecture, on E3 2015 – but the company took its time to make the product ‘as perfect as possible’. Getting two GPUs to work in perfect sync is a daunting task, as each GPU serves one eye – delivering almost 210 million pixels each second. Few weeks ago, AMD teased us with initial results from the SteamVR benchmark, where

Breaking, Game Developer Conference (GDC), Graphics, Hardware, Nvidia, Software Programs

NVIDIA Updates GameWorks SDK for GDC 2016

For the first day of Game Developers Conference, NVIDIA launched the latest Software Development Kit (SDK) – GameWorks suite, version 3.1. This updated SDK includes three new rendering techniques for lighting and shadow along with a pair of new extensions for the NVIDIA PhysX library. The company also released the source code for Volumetric Lighting and its FaceWorks demo on GitHub. Volumetric Lighting is actually one of the three new rendering technologies provided in the updated SDK. This feature was first introduced in Fallout 4, and is a technique that simulates the behavior of light as it’s “scattered” through the air and atmosphere. NVIDIA is also introducing Hybrid Frustum

AMD, Augmented Reality (AR), Breaking, Game Developer Conference (GDC), News, Virtual Reality (VR)

AMD Powers Sulon Q, Microsoft HoloLens Competitor

The holy grail for the VR and AR experience will be creating a headset which will have sufficient computational power to deliver seamless VR experience, yet be in a compact form and untethered from computers or smartphones we are forced to use today. First development product which offers such capabilities is Microsoft HoloLens, which recently started accepting pre-orders for Development Kits. At $3000, Hololens is a steep buy-in to Microsoft’s vision of holographic computing. Enter Sulon, a startup from Toronto located not far from AMD’s Canadian HQ (formerly known as ATI Technologies). On the 30th Game Developer’s Conference in San Francisco, Sulon unveiled the Q, world’s first high-performing, stand-alone, all-in-one, thether free, ‘wear

3D, AMD, Breaking, Game Developer Conference (GDC), Graphics, Hardware, News

AMD Unveils XConnect Graphics for Laptops

Need for powerful graphics in notebooks is reaching the tipping point, as Virtual Reality and especially Augmented Reality require even more compute power than a hihg-resolution display. Eight years ago, AMD tried to answer the demands of that era by launching the XGP – eXternal Graphics Platform. This short-lived standard was only supported by Fujitsu Siemens AG, and other vendors sadly chickened out. Fast forward to Autumn 2015, with AMD launching R9 Nano. This small card only draws 175 Watts and yet, it achieves about 85% of performance offered by the top-of-the-line R9 Fury X. We mentioned that this card would be an ideal pairing in high-end

Game Developer Conference (GDC), Gaming, News, Promoted, Virtual Reality (VR)

The Three Games I Want to Play in VR This Year

Virtual Reality (VR) has undergone an amazing evolution in the last two decades. Can anyone recall the bulky headsets I’ve seen in the 1990s, which offered a less than ideal experience. I’ve tried Fortix VFX-1, which was a capable device, released well ahead of its time, which could have started a VR revolution back then – but failed to become a mainstream technology. But today VR is living its renaissance, with headsets like Oculus Rift and its likes, and can bring on a new revolution. Especially in gaming. The problem with the headset above was the fact that it asked a very steep price, but those were

Amazon, Breaking, Cloud Computing, Game Developer Conference (GDC), Gaming, News, VR World

Amazon Enters Game Engine Industry with a Bang

In a move that might push gaming industry to new boundaries, Amazon just launched free game engine. A game engine that will enable game developers to create a AAA gaming experience through a Internet browser such as Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox etc. The story of Lumberyard started when Gunfire Games showcased their skill to a number of Amazon executives. They used CryTek’s game engine to create a workable prototype of a multiplayer shooter in mere three months, using limited resources. This got Amazon interested and the company created Lumberyard business division (to work alongside Amazon Games), teaming up with CryTek on creating a game engine which would integrate all the services that Amazon