Google’s new virtual-reality platform, Daydream, will include VR-ready phones and a headset and controller set to come out in the fall. CNET sat down with Google VR chief Clay Bavor to talk about the company’s roadmap for the new technology.
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US Navy paying D-Wave to train them on QC.
A division of the U.S. Navy intends to pay Canadian company D-Wave $11 million to learn how to use its quantum computing infrastructure, according to a federal filing posted online on Monday.
The unit seeking this training is the Navy’s Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center Pacific, known as SPAWAR or SSC-PAC for short, which is headquartered in San Diego and has previously researched amphibious throwable robots, unmanned aerial vehicles, virtual reality, and many other technologies. The filing does not actually cover the cost of quantum computing hardware. But NASA has been allowing SPAWAR scientists to learn how to use the D-Wave machine that it operates with Google at the NASA Ames Research Center, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported last month.
Quantum computers employ quantum bits, or qubits, each of which can be zero or one or both, unlike the regular bits in classical computers. The superposition of qubits lets machines perform great numbers of computations at once, making a quantum computer highly desirable for certain types of processes. Google recently found that quantum annealing with D-Wave hardware is 100 times faster than simulated annealing on a classic computer chip.
When I look at technology and other things; my brain just dissolves all boundaries/ scope of the technology was originally defined for. For me, this is and has always been in my own DNA since I was a toddler. When I first looked at VR/ AR, my future state vision just exploded immediately where and how this technology could be used, how it could transform industries and daily lives, and other future technologies. So, I am glad to see folks apply AR and VR in so many ways that will prove valuable to users, companies, and consumers.
NVIDIA is working with various companies in different sectors such as automotive, manufacturing, and medical to bring AR benefits in their business. It is working with Audi, General Motors (GM), and Ford (F) to create a VR application where the consumer can design a car by changing its wheels, paint, or seat leather. NVIDIA is also working with European (IEV) furniture manufacturer IKEA to build a virtual reality application that allows the user to design their own rooms and homes.
Virtual Reality is finally happening after years of existing only in science fiction or as underwhelming prototypes. While Oculus Rift is certainly a big deal due to the financial support from Facebook, there are other compelling options on the market. One particularly impressive bit of hardware is the HTC Vive, which features a variety of great games and immersive motion controls.
The below video showcases several of the most exciting games on the HTC Vive, which headset purchasers will be ready to play as long as they have a gaming PC that meets the minimum requirements to be VR ready.
“A question of particular philosophical urgency today is this: are virtual realities currently being designed in 3d game studios going to be more or less of a retreat from reality than the consensual fictions of the past, such as 2d games, novels, sporting events and religious mythologies?”
https://youtube.com/watch?v=mZau6PiLoJc
The Guinness Book of World records, a record of the extraordinary (and often insane) stunts people will pull for notoriety, and now the book has its first virtual reality entry. Watch as Derek Westerman swaps reality for Tilt Brush inside the HTC Vive and stays there for 25 hours straight.
It’s a desire within most of us, to do something extraordinary in life. Most of us are content to achieve this by parent children, going bungee jumping or backpacking around Europe. But there are a group of people for whom only documented proof of their unique abilities or achievements is enough – they’re the record breakers, as documented since 1955 by the world famous Guinness World Records.
Derek Westerman from Super Deluxe, a YouTube collective dedicated to making “Funny and smart videos from funny and smart weirdos who are probably a lot like you”, now joins that dubious collective. As of April 7th, he holds the Guinness World Record for the longest continuous virtual reality session, and he did it all whilst immersed ‘in’ a single application over a 25 hour period.
Walk around a virtual apartment or an art gallery with the Gear VR.
Demo by Interactive Lab.
