By:
On:

Last week, I wrote about how I updated my avatar look and copied my shape across grids. I updated my skin, as well, to more closely resemble my actual face without being too creepy. Here is how I did it. Step One: Start with a good freebie skin If youRead More →

By:
On:

  Version 0.8.0.1 of OpenSim is out, and this is an official, recommended release and includes the attachment fix donated by Kitely last month. The fix solves the problem that some users experience when attachments get dis-attached during teleports. Previously, the fix was only available for people who compiled theirRead More →

By:
On:

While many companies still haven’t even heard of virtual reality, real estate developer Panoptic Group has already been putting virtual reality to work, using it to help sell new properties. The Chicago-based firm is known for its innovative projects and teamed up with Arch Virtual, a company that builds custom virtual reality simulations for realRead More →

By:
On:

The Virtual Reality Foundation will holds its first-ever virtual reality award show The Proto Awards in Los Angeles on September 19 — and the deadline for nominations is this coming Monday. The Foundation will give out awards in several virtual reality-related categories, including art direction and design, interactive and social experience, sound andRead More →

By:
On:

Virtual reality headsets such as the Oculus Rift and Project Morpheus haven’t hit the consumer market yet, but virtual reality is already making a difference in many industries. The medical profession, for one, has been one of the earliest adopters of virtual reality, virtual worlds and simulations. Here are fiveRead More →

By:
On:

The Developer Kit 2 version of the Oculus Rift began shipping last month, and some OpenSim users already got their hands on one. Now the CtrlAltStudio Viewer has some preliminary support for the DK2, developer David Rowe announced yesterday. “I know some people are very anxious to try their DK2sRead More →

By:
On:

ImmersiON-VRelia PRO Blue Sky ushers in new world of commercial virtual reality entertainment IRVINE, Calif. — ImmersiON-VRelia announced this week the launch of the immersive industry’s first-ever virtual reality commercial entertainment division. The new division will be dedicated to providing head mounted displays and content to amusement parks, visitor attractions, immersiveRead More →

By:
On:

Update 8/21: OSgrid Dan Banner posted an announcement saying, “OSgrid has suffered a critical failure in one of the primary drives in our RAID10 array. This is a matter of the gravest technical concern, and while we are working diligently with our datacenter services provider to resolve this issue without dataRead More →

By:
On:

Beijing-based Noitom Ltd. has launched a Kickstarter for its Perception Neuron motion capture product which offers the promise of interacting with virtual environments at a lower cost than available with other platforms. Perception Neuron costs $175 with delivery estimated in February of 2015. The closest other system on the market todayRead More →

By:
On:

I’ve read on Ener Hax’s blog that you can use Imprudence to copy shapes from Second Life. This month, I redid my skin — using my much-improved GIMP skills to combine an actual picture of myself with a Linda Kellie skin template. And then used that same photograph to tryRead More →

By:
On:

  As we’ve noted previously, the FCC opened a comment period, which ended on July 18, 2014. More than a million comments were received over a five-month period. In fact, comments that were sent by postal mail are still being added. Please note, however, that a second comment period is nowRead More →

By:
On:

OpenSim’s 40 largest grids gained over 3,000 new regions this month, many thanks to the new varregion functionality. Registered users and active users also increased this month, despite the summer season. The exact totals are 50,017 standard region equivalents on the top 40 grids, an increase of 3,110 regions; 363,884 registeredRead More →

By:
On:

Veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder often experience a cluster of symptoms, including flashbacks and nightmares, emotional numbness and hyperarousal, which results in sleeping difficulties, angry outbursts and feeling constantly jumpy. “A veteran might be mowing his lawn on a peaceful summer’s day and suddenly the smell of gasoline fromRead More →

By:
On:

A couple of days ago, I rounded up all the places where you can order a Google Cardboard kit. But you don’t have to settled for cardboard, if you have access to a 3D printer. Check out this guide for 3D printing your own Google Cardboard headset here. Several differentRead More →

By:
On:

Cyberlightning announces $4.2 million funding round, accelerating global growth of industrial internet of things platform Managing Director of Inventure Joins CyberLightning’s Board OULU, Finland – CyberLightning Ltd. today announced completion of a $4.2 million financing round, including commitments from Inventure, TEKES, the Finnish Funding Agency for Innovation, and EU sponsored funds.Read More →

By:
On:

Last year, Oculus VR kickstarted a whole new era of virtual reality. It’s easy to take for granted, now that the movement is well underway, but it’s important to remember that none of this would be possible without the ingenuity, persistence and forward thinking vision put forth by Palmer LuckeyRead More →

By:
On:

Mal & Maria are joined by Zetamex CEO Timothy Rogers and developer Chris Strachan to talk about their price cuts and plans for hypergrid search, a hypergrid marketplace, and a hypergrid directory. Tara gets a week off but also in the studio are Petlove Petshop and Debs Regent. Plus —Read More →

By:
On:

Tangle Grid is rapidly becoming known as the Expo Grid for their high-profile, hypergrid-enabled events. Tangle Grid’s Fashion Expo, which ended on August 3, brought in 85 visitors — up 55 percent from June’s Steam Expo on the same grid. About half of the Fashion Expo visitors came via hypergrid,Read More →

By:
On:

Updated Jan. 2, 2016: This page is so out of date! Please go see our Virtual Headsets Buying Guide, which lists over 70 Google Cardboard-compatible headsets categorized by price, and our handy Mobile virtual reality headset comparison chart, which has all the key specs, prices, and buying links for all the headsetsRead More →

By:
On:

Las Vegas-based hosting company Zetamex — which recently tested out a $3 region offer — has decided to make the low prices permanent, and added some much-requested features. The company also raised prices slightly. Instead of $3 for a 15,000-prim region capable of holding up to 20 avatars, the newRead More →

By:
On:

Rhode Island Congressman Jim Langevin didn’t even have to get out of his iBOT wheelchair to board the new roller coaster at the Warwick Mall. With a pair of headphones and an Oculus Rift headset, a virtual reality program catapulted him through flames, into mid-air and upside down in aRead More →

By:
On:

  Kitely customers will now have an easier time trying out Kitely Market products. The “Try demo” link is now right there on the product listing page, said Kitely co-founder and VP R&D  Oren Hurvitz  in an announcement this week. Previously, customers had to add the product to their shopping cart,Read More →

By:
On:

The Virtual Worlds City grid is moving from OpenSim to Unity 3D. “Since our clients only will shop and explore there is no need for all the build tools that the OpenSim-based viewers have,” said Frank Corsi, co-founder and CTO of parent company 3D Virtual Web, Inc. I’ve compared Unity to OpenSim before,Read More →

By:
On:

Most people who run their own grids — and this includes the little Diva Distro I’ve got on my home computer — use one of the official, recommended distributions of OpenSim. This means the latest stable, recommended release from OpenSimulator.org, or the Diva Distro mini-grid, Sim-on-a-Stick, or New World Studio.Read More →

By:
On:

You can’t keep these guys down. AviWorlds is back in action, now in its seventh incarnation. The grid is pledging to make backups of everything, grid founder Alexandro Pomposelli  — also known as Alex Ferraris in-world — said in a Facebook post Saturday,  “so that all is well this time andRead More →

By:
On:

It was quite an honor to witness my uncle, David Brouchoud, exploring a virtual recreation of the USS Helena CA-75, a Navy heavy cruiser he served on more than 60 years ago. Using the Oculus Rift virtual reality headset, he was able to walk the decks of the ship again,Read More →

By:
On:

The Cyberinth Virtualizer, which launched its Kickstarter campaign a little more than a week ago, has reached its $250,000 goal with 26 days left in the campaign. The $700 device is designed to be used in combination with a virtual reality headset such as the Oculus Rift, and allows users to walk, run, crouch, jumpRead More →

By:
On:

Sept. 18 update: All prices will be going up on Nov. 1 but existing customers — and all those who order before Nov. 1 — will be grandfathered in. Read more here. Aug. 9 update: The prices were slightly raised, and more features added, with more starting regions, and choice of namesRead More →

By:
On:

Mal, Maria and Tara are joined by Petlove Petshop and Saffia Widdershins. to talk about August events on the hypergrid, about Second Life and PrimPerfect, and about the new $3 regions from Zetamex.Read More →

By:
On:

OpenSim users chose “better vehicles and physics” as a top priority more than any other feature in a Hypergrid Business survey this past week. You can see the raw results of the survey here. Overall, 43 respondents out of 143, or 31 percent, said that better vehicles and physics wereRead More →

By:
On:

Stay inside this month, in front of the air conditioner, and catch up on all the OpenSim events you’ve been missing. Nara’s Nook celebrates new releases The authors on the Nara’s Nook grid are celebrating new releases today, with a party on the Reader Cove region. Teleport to world.narasnook.com:8900:Greyville via theRead More →

By:
On:

Virtual reality is making a big comeback, and virtual worlds are being rebranded as virtual reality right and left. There’s nothing particularly wrong with that — immersive virtual worlds are a natural fit for virtual reality. But virtual reality is more than just virtual worlds with extra immersion. “Immersion squared” orRead More →

By:
On:

The easy-to-use Sim-on-a-Stick distribution of OpenSim has been updated to the latest version, supporting Bullet physics, variable-sized regions, profiles and other improvements. Sim-on-a-Stick is a packaged version of the Diva Distro. If you’re upgrading from a previous version, there are some settings changes you may need to make. Read all aboutRead More →

By:
On:

If you are a grid owner or event organizer looking for more hypergrid visitors, you can submit your calendar for inclusion in the Hyperica website. Just email me the iCal link or your Google calendar link, at maria@hypergridbusiness.com. For recurring events or major events, you can also include a linkRead More →

By:
On:

A new social virtual world is coming, and it’s called CEEK. Not much information is available yet, other than this press release. Here’s what we know so far: EON Reality, best known for the EON Icube and similar holodeck-style systems, is providing the technical infrastructure, and Next Galaxy Corp., which makes consumer-orientedRead More →

By:
On:

Press release: TRINITYVR ADDS 360 DEGREE OPTICAL TRACKING TECHNOLOGY TO TRINITY MAGNUM, ITS VIRTUAL REALITY AND PC SHOOTING MOTION CONTROLLER Company Also Announces Additional Games and Compatible Technology for Trinity Magnum, Including Arcade-Style Racing and Dinosaur Hunting Games NEW YORK – TrinityVR, a start-up company focused on building a scalableRead More →

By:
On:

Have you ever teleported from one grid to another and had your attachments disappear? That problem has now been fixed, thanks to code donations from the on-demand Kitely grid. Grids running the latest, cutting-edge OpenSim code should already have this fix, said Oren Hurvitz, Kitely’s co-founder and VP of research andRead More →

By:
On:

Las Vegas-based Zetamex, one of OpenSim’s leading hosting companies, is experimenting with a $3 region offer for 15,000-prim regions on OSgrid and Metropolis. “This is an experimental service, meaning we are changing and it may not last all depending on how you our customers and future customers take to theseRead More →

By:
On:

Update: The survey is now closed, but you can see all the raw results here.   The explosion of new virtual reality developments, the announcement that Linden Lab is working on a new version of Second Life, and a steady stream of updates from High Fidelity have combined to createRead More →

By:
On:

  According to a report today in TechRadar, Microsoft has just accepted FOVE into its Microsoft Ventures program. FOVE Inc. is a company that makes the world’s first virtual reality headset with eye-tracking. The eye-tracking feature seems to take this headset a bit farther along than where the Oculus Rift isRead More →

By:
On:

OSgrid, the oldest virtual world running on the OpenSimulator software, is turning seven years old and birthday celebrations begin 10 a.m. Pacific time on Saturday morning with DJs and live performances. These include DJ Foxx Bode at 10 a.m., Bolt Dominica at 11, Joaquin Gustav at noon, and Sonya Jevette atRead More →

By:
On:

Riftmax Theater 4D, a virtual environment with a theater and meeting space, has been released for the Oculus Rift and is now available for free as a download from Oculus Share or from the project website. It was also the location of last week’s Road to VR Roundtable Discussion and is where the talkRead More →

By:
On:

Everybody talks about the fact that we need better search functionality in OpenSim, but there are few solutions out there. Why today’s automated searches don’t work Keyword search is what Metaverse Ink does, created by hypergrid inventor Crista Lopes, also known as Diva Canto in-world. Searching for “shoes,” for exampleRead More →

By:
On:

Two more Comic-Con virtual reality experiences have been announced — “The Wall” from the Game of Thrones is back, and the Pacific Rim will be in VR for the first time. This is in addition to the previously-announced virtual experiences for the X-Men, Sleep Hollow, and the tornado movie “IntoRead More →

By:
On:

Facebook will be “investing aggressively” in virtual reality, company executives said on an earnings call yesterday. The company closed on a $2 billion acquisition of virtual reality headset maker Oculus VR earlier this week. “We’re not getting into more specifics on the exact headcounts,” said Facebook CFO Dave Wehner. “But weRead More →