Virginia Commonwealth University, or VCU for short, is the latest educational facility to install a Virtual Reality lab on their premises. This lab is known as the MHRG VR Lab (Modern Heuristics Research Group Virtual Reality Lab), and on Friday they opened their doors for the first tour of the lab by students and other university personnel. In addition to the expected implementations of VR and AR setups at the university, the new lab offered access to a device offering advanced 3-D touch and haptic feedback. Devices like this go far beyond the basic haptics offered by current VR gaming controllers, allowing users more complete
VR First Goes Independent, Futuremark Joins the Initiative
VR First launched in January 2016 as a initiative inside troubled Crytek GmbH, with the goal of establishing VR laboratories in universities around the world. Over the past 15 months, VR First helped build 26 labs in North America, Europe, Australia, and Asia. At this point in time, 14 more locations are in various stages of completion. More lab installations will surely follow as the VR First initiative received over 280 applications thus far, out of almost 600 universities that have applied for the program. The initiative is starting to gain traction in the industry, as legendary benchmark maker Futuremark revealed that it teamed forces with
VR First Expands: New VR labs Opened to Asia, Europe and North America
As a technology, Virtual Reality is gradually influencing the shape of the world. The evolution of education and removal of borders between physical and virtual environments represents a unique opportunity for education and industries alike. If that’s how it is, the next logical step is an industry initiative to channel that energy, providing a starting point in sense of equipment/tools and to some extend standardize and educate foundation for virtual reality development. During the VRLA expo in Los Angeles, VR First released the results of their survey which showed that for the academic year 2016/17, over 15,000 students applied for VR programs, but they were faced with the demoralizing
CryTek’s VR First Initiative Forms a Partnership with IEEE
Crytek’s VR First initiative officially launched during the 2016 Game Developers Conference, and this non-profit academic movement is starting to gather steam. After forming the partnerships with initial companies, VR First initiative is expanding with industrial associations such as the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). “Providing laboratories at Universities and Colleges where students can learn and create using state-of-the-art VR tools will be important to prepare the next generation of innovators who will make these technologies a part of our daily lives.” said Tom Coughlin, Director of the IEEE Region 6 and Chair of the IEEE Consumer Electronics Society Future Directions Committee. Earlier this year, Frankfurt
Samsung’s New Strategy: VR First
Over the past decade, we’ve heard ‘Mobile First’ mentioned by all major CEOs, with companies shifting their focus to ‘Mobile First’, a strategy where development of solutions for mobile devices takes precedence over everything else. Mobile First saw the rise of ‘client lite’ computing, but not in a way IBM and Oracle have hoped, with the major benefactor being Intel – its x86 servers powered almost every cat video you saw on your favorite social network. The dawn of mixed reality will require completely different focus. While delivering content on a small surface screen was nothing more than shifting the desktop and communication from the workplace, the advent
