TPCAST, the leader in wireless Virtual Reality (VR) and the first-to-market with a wireless VR solution for Head-Mounted Display (HMD), today announces the launch of its Business Edition (BE) Wireless VR Adapter for the North America market. The first version will be supporting the HTC Vive HMD and support for additional HMDs will be released during Q3 2018. The TPCAST BE Wireless Adapter simultaneously supports two to four users, while preserving the HTC Vive's high video quality and maintaining the latency under 2ms. The BE adapter is targeted to support multi-user VR activities across a variety of verticals including medical, automotive, real estate, training and other multi user VR applications. The product will be sold by TPCAST directly and will also be available through TPCAST's channel partners in Q2 2018.

The TPCAST Consumer Edition (CE) Wireless Adapter is the only PC VR Wireless Solution available in the market today and has been shipping in North America since November 2017. TPCAST technology is a breakthrough in the VR field, creating a wireless connection between the PC and the VR headset, providing VR users a unique, truly immersive experience. The TPCAST adapter attaches to the HTC Vive headset, replacing the need for the Vive's clunky umbilical cord. The TPCAST adapter has enhanced the VR user experience, providing consumers and enterprise users the freedom to walk, jump, and spin without worrying about the cable.

HTC Vive today announced that the HTC Vive Pro Head Mounted Display (HMD) will be available for $799 with global pre-orders starting now. The company also announced a $100 price reduction for the current Vive full kit, bringing it down to $499 across the globe. All Vive Pro HMDs purchased by June 3rd, which will begin shipping on April 5th, will come with a free six-month trial to Viveport Subscription, where consumers can choose up to 5 titles per month from the more than 400 titles available.

"With the Vive Pro we are delivering the best quality display and visual experience to the most discerning VR enthusiasts. Our goal has always been to offer the most premium VR platform available and to drive adoption for VR," said Daniel O'Brien, HTC Vive General Manager, US. "By lowering the price of the current Vive, we are making VR more accessible while expanding the potential market for developers. Whether you're a VR enthusiast or new to the platform, there's never been a better time to join the most complete VR platform available."

One thing that's missing in VR today (among all the other things that still require a couple or more generations to be fully developed) is actual physical interaction with the VR world. The world can be fully convincing from a graphical perspective - and that's hard enough to do already with VR's graphical processing requirements - but your mind being fooled solely by your visual senses can only go so far. Arguably, physical sensations as they relate to VR will be one of the next development steps towards a full-fledged, believable VR experience. HaptX has taken that challenge, and has developed their first generation VR glove to try and make that physical contact with VR worlds a reality.

In a LinkedIn blog post, Microsoft Technical Fellow Alex Kipman shared the company's vision for its Mixed Reality ecosystem for this 2018 year. The vision stands on a three-pronged stance: MR +AI, AR + VR, and Immersive Communication. The first is likely the more exciting of the bunch: marrying MR environments and apps with the power of the cloud to render extensive AI workloads. This starts with the inclusion of AI-processing capabilities intro the next version of Microsoft's HoloLens and its HPU (Holographic Processing Unit). With a strong internet connection, this local processing will be joined by Microsoft's cloud AI processing glut to marry the virtual and physical worlds in an increasingly inseparable mix, allowing for the virtual to perfectly overlap the physical.

The second stance on this Microsoft approach is the marriage of the AR + VR environments in a single product, which both allows for virtual overlays in the physical world, and a comprehensive solution for VR-specific workloads that the same AR headset can propel you to - essentially building a HoloLens + VR headset solution. Finally, Immersive Communication is one of the other applications where Microsoft sees extreme potential in this MR world we're about to enter: where the instant messaging and video chats of the world are superseded by an actual VR solution that places people next to their desired public, be it their loved ones or, frighteningly, their boss, from the comfort of their home or another location they see fit. A focus on actual presence can be brought equally to people separated by an inch or a thousand miles.

At HTC VIVE Spring Product Show event in Shenzhen, China, virtual reality (VR) technology company Visbit launched Visbit 8K VR Player, the industry's first foveated rendering-based 8K 360° 3D video player, on the Viveport content store of the Vive Focus, the ready-to-ship premium standalone VR headset made by Vive. With this launch, for the first time the pipeline to deliver high-end VR video experience is completed. VR users can now enjoy premium quality 8K 360° 3D VR videos without being tethered. This is an important user experience upgade for the VR industry.

Applying Visbit's View-Optimized Viewing (VVOS) technology, Visbit 8K VR Player is capable of playing up to 8K stereoscopic 360° VR videos at both stream-to-play and download-to-play modes. It also features spatial audio support and video encryption to protect IPs. Starting today, Visbit's 8K VR Player is now one of the top featured apps in Viveport store, and available for free to download for a limited period. In the coming months, Visbit 8K VR Player will also gradually support other standalone and mobile VR headsets.

Dell today announced it will be the first authorized reseller of the Meta 2 Augmented Reality Development Kit, equipping commercial companies with the tools needed to more easily innovate and adopt new AR technology applications that can advance their business. In partnership with Meta, Dell aims to make AR more accessible for business deployment, particularly in healthcare, manufacturing and construction, by providing tools for creating immersive experiences unique to the needs of those industries.

Dell is the only technology provider with an end to end ecosystem to consume, create and power VR and AR. The new offering with Meta stems from Dell's VR/AR Technology Partner Program, which brings together other innovators in VR and AR to test and collaborate on the best technology solutions for varying applications and experiences. This program allows Dell to help current and potential customers to better navigate the new and rapidly evolving VR/AR ecosystem, by working with partners to verify and certify the best software and hardware solutions for VR and AR applications - bringing standardization where it is needed most.

Today, Intel began shipping two new Intel RealSense D400 Depth Cameras from the next-generation Intel RealSense D400 product family: the D415 and D435, adding 3D capabilities to any prototype development or end user-ready device or machine.

Ideal for makers and educators as well as hardware prototyping and software development, the new depth cameras come in a ready-to-use, USB-powered form factor that pair with a D400 depth module, a turnkey optical depth solution, and the new Intel RealSense vision processor D4 for processing complex depth data in real time. Supported by the Intel RealSense SDK 2.0 - available for the first time as a cross-platform, open source SDK - the cameras can also be used both indoors and outdoors and in any lighting environment.

If you quite enjoyed the original Blade Runner, even after 35 years of its release (like this editor) and enjoyed Blade Runner 2049 even more (also like this editor), then you're likely interested, at some level, in the upcoming VR adventure. Blade Runner: Revelations is a VR video game that's being developed by Seismic Games and Alcon Media Group, and has an expected release date of mid 2018.

The story is set right after the original Blade Runner, and its events lead up to the Blade Runner 2049 narrative. Gamers will take on the role of Harper - an experienced blade runner that aims to keep 2023 Los Angeles safe. Caught within a twisted replicant plot, players will be tasked with searching for evidence to piece together the truth in some events. Gameplay features include access to a flying spinner, unique weaponry and the Esper image reconstruction technology. And contrary to most VR games, Blade Runner: Revelations features a free-movement design, though it's not a full liberty one, much like the real world's.

TPCAST, the Wireless VR Solutions leader, announces its Next-Generation Wireless VR Technologies, TPCAST ​​2.0, which utilize the new generation ultra-low latency codec technology and an upgraded TPCAST ​​real-time data control protocol. These combined technologies pave the way to allow TPCAST to continue to deliver high video quality, low latency, and real-time data transmission. The introduction of these new technologies, supporting short, mid and long-range distances and covering multiple VR deployment ranges, strategically places TPCAST in the forefront of the future evolution of the Wireless VR Market.

The TPCAST 2.0 technology includes three main features. The first element is the ultra-low latency codec, capable of compressing VR content on a 50:1 ratio which significantly reduces the bandwidth required for video data transmission while bounding the latency to 1ms. This easy-to-use, stable, and ultra-low latency codec enables TPCAST's product family to deliver consistently high-quality real-time video transmission. The second feature of the TPCAST 2.0 technology is its scalability making it easy to adapt to any headset including 3k, 4k, and 8k video resolution HMDs in the market. The third feature is the capability to preserve the user experience compared to a wired connection. TPCAST's proprietary technology, and accumulated VR knowledge base, gained by its long-term leading position in the Wireless VR space, enables TPCAST's products to deliver a stable and commercial-grade VR experience.

3dRudder, an innovative technology company, leader in delivering solutions to virtual reality motion issues, announces today the 3dRudder Blackhawk, a new foot motion controller for PC Gaming and VR, to be honored with a 'CES Innovation Award' in the "Computer Accessories" product category and presented for the first time at CES 2018 in Las Vegas.

The 3dRudder Blackhawk represents the next evolution in the product line and offers a newly redesigned device providing added functionalities. It fully really takes the space limitations out of the room-scale VR experience. Users control their motion intuitively with their feet while sitting, leaving the hands free to grab hand controllers and maximize the immersion while playing games.

TwoEyes Tech is a startup that has developed a binocular 360-degree field-of-view VR camera that captures images using two pairs of fisheye lenses arranged 65 millimeters apart, just like the eyes of a human, thus allowing for a more comfortable VR experience. TwoEyes Tech, a member company of the K-ICT Born2Global Centre, made sure that the VR images it produces mirrors human eyesight by taking the standard distance between human eyes into consideration when capturing the images. As a result, the images show a three-dimensional representation of the world as people see it. In only one filming session, the VR camera captures 360-degree 3D video that can be viewed on VR headsets, smartphones, computer monitors, and 3D TVs. The videos, in full HD, 3D, and red-cyan mode, can be converted from and into 180-degree and 360-degree content, meaning that a single recording can be converted into six different types of content.

Moreover, filming with the camera is quite easy. When held horizontally, the camera records in binocular mode; when held vertically, it records in monocular mode. The recordings it produces can be viewed immediately on a smartphone or uploaded to social media.

BARONKASE LIQUID is an all-metal Micro-ATX body that supports ATX motherboards with a solid metal handle at the top making it an ideal solution for a portable VR-ready PC. It features the Captain 120EX AIO liquid cooling system incorporating a specially designed flow indicator which makes the flow rate of the coolant clearly visible. It supports a full sized ATX mainboard, which is achieved by allowing the PSU to be mounted at the top of the case towards the front and bringing power to the PSU with an extension cable provided. Full length graphics cards can also be fitted by removing a name plate on the back panel. The integrated RGB lighting system allows simultaneous color changing of different parts of the system including flow indicator, water block, SSD shroud and LED strip. One illuminated 2.5" drive bay is vertically oriented so it can be clearly seen through the side window.

At a press conference held in their global headquarters in Beijing, Pico officially revealed the Pico Neo as the world's first mass-produced standalone VR device with six degrees of freedom (6DoF) for both head and controllers. In addition, the company also revealed its expanded B2B VR Enterprise Solutions Program and first details of the Pico Zense, an all-new sub-brand with its first set of Time of Flight (TOF) depth sensor solutions and camera modules.

PICO NEO: THE WORLD'S FIRST MASS-PRODUCED VR STANDALONE WITH 6DoF HEAD TRACKING AND 6DoF CONTROLLER TRACKING
The Pico Neo is Pico's latest generation of standalone VR headset. It features the Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 Mobile VR Platform, adopts all-in-one ID design, uses lighter and more breathable cloth material, and is equipped with 3K high definition display, high-speed 4GB RAM, 64GB UFS2.0 ROM, supporting 256 GB expanded storage.

Vancouver-based startup BioInteractive Technologies Inc. has developed TENZR: the only accurate, hands-free, camera-free, wrist-worn gesture recognition controller for VR AR. For the last three years the company has focused on developing an easy to use, comfortable, accurate, and reliable gesture recognition wearable that will help replace current mobile VR AR controllers. This innovative product will provide a more immersive experience to users by freeing the hand from holding bulky button-based controllers. TENZR's new design is aimed at developers and early adopters that are interested in building and interfacing with systems that have Bluetooth connectivity. Its new design is comfortable, easy to use, and has a similar form factor to Fitbit Charge.

Elliott Myers and the team behind the Roto VR chair are pleased to announce that developer kits of their ground-breaking interactive Roto VR Chair - Roto VR, are rolling off the production line and beginning to ship to development studios worldwide. Roto VR will begin shipping to consumers in February, 2018.

"The team have been working around the clock to get Roto VR final and shipment ready" commented Elliott Myers, CEO and creator of Roto VR "We've taken our time to ensure a top quality final product and I'm thrilled to confirm that units are beginning to ship, we will move to full production and all consumer orders will be fulfilled in early 2018. We're super hyped because we know Roto VR will usher in a new era of unparalleled 360 VR immersion - and it's affordable."

We're pleased to announce that Fallout 4, the legendary post-apocalyptic adventure from Bethesda Game Studios and winner of more than 200 'Best Of' awards, is available now worldwide in virtual reality on the HTC VIVE. Fallout 4 VR is a true, full-length open-world game, offering an unparalleled amount of VR content for players, including the complete core game with all-new combat, crafting, and building systems fully re-imagined for virtual reality.

As the sole survivor of Vault 111, players enter a world destroyed by nuclear war and must rebuild the Wasteland and determine the fate of its residents. Within the massive world, players can interact with hundreds of locations, characters, and quests, all while collecting, upgrading, and building thousands of items in the most advanced crafting system ever. In addition, an all-new graphics and lighting engine brings the Wasteland to life like never before. From the blasted forests of the Commonwealth to the ruins of Boston, every location is packed with dynamic detail.

AMD today unveiled its big annual driver releases for its consumer-graphics Radeon line, and the professional-graphics Radeon Pro and FirePro lines. The BAR (big annual release) for the latter is titled AMD Radeon Pro Adrenalin Edition 17.12.1 WHQL, and introduces a slew of new features that add value to the company's FirePro and Radeon Pro graphics cards. Since its 2016 BAR (Radeon Pro Crimson ReLive), the company's regular driver updates for enterprises achieved a predictable cadence of the 2nd Wednesday of the 2nd month of each quarter, capped off with a big annual release in December, besides prioritized 24x7 support. This, AMD claims, has been well received by its customers.

With the Radeon Pro Adrenalin Edition, AMD is expanding its software in four key directions - Pro Render, Pro Settings, New Driver Options, and Virtualization. It also chronicles driver releases over 2017 have gradually increased performance levels by up to 16 percent compared to last year's big annual release. AMD expanded the feature-set of ProRender, its in-house and highly modular 3D rendering engine for CAD designers and 3D artists, including its support for Maxon Cinema 4D; interactive viewport de-noising for Blender; a new Game Engine Importer extension that can import geometry and materials in real-time from SolidWorks to Unreal Engine; accelerating VR ports of popular games and professional 3D scenes; and a set of additional features such as PBR Shader for Blender. The drivers also add macOS support for Maya and Blender, which will be implemented "soon," along with support for 2018 releases of 3DSMax and Maya.

HTC Corporation, a pioneer in innovative, smart mobile and virtual reality (VR) technologies, today announced that its highly-anticipated premium standalone VR headset for the China market, the VIVE FOCUS, will be available for pre-order at 12:00 a.m. on December 12th (Beijing time) in most of China's major online stores (i.e. Vive.com, JD.com, Tmall.com) and offline sales channels (i.e. Gome, Suning). Initial customer deliveries are expected in January 2018.

"Two years ago, we delivered the first room-scale PC VR solution to the world; today, we're extremely excited to be, once again, the first to bring 6DoF 'world-scale' VR experiences in the form of the VIVE Focus to the VR market," said Alvin Wang Graylin, China Regional President of VIVE, HTC. "The combination of advanced capabilities, usability and comfort in an affordable package is unmatched in the current market. This signals the beginning of VR's entry into the mass consumer space in 2018."

Shuttle Computer Group, Inc., one of the world's leading designers of small form computers, announces a new and powerful cube-sized computer, its SZ270R9, designed for advanced home and portable gaming, along with virtual reality applications. Unlike other PCs, once set, users can overclock with the Turbo button for the quickest, most realistic action. In spite of its small size, it has an impressive expansion capability and storage capacity. With lots of interior space, the SZ270R9 supports large-format dual-slot graphics cards; users can install up to four 2.5" or 3.5" hard drives and two m.2 bays. It also supports Intel's new Optane Memory to improve data processing and system speed.

"This is the ultimate gaming PC, power packed with an external design that looks like you're ready for battle," said Robert Garcia, channel manager, Shuttle Computer Group. "And when you press the overclock button, watch out! You'll be the winner for sure."

VR development specialists Perilous Orbit and Cherry Pop Games announced today that a huge new update for SportsBar VR is now available for download. SportsBar VR 2.0 offers cross-play support for Steam, Oculus Home, and Sony's PlayStationVR platforms, along with new features and gameplay modes. Pool, darts, air hockey and more are all part of the experience, along with some "less than standard" games, like epic trick shots, bottle throwing contests, and other sorts of unique VR-themed fun in an environment where nobody gets hurt and nobody has to clean up!

Sports Bar VR was the first VR title to reach Steam's Global Top 10, reach Sony's top ten PSVR sellers list, score an unprecedented 97% rating on Steam, and 2.0 is going to bring even more of what those fans loved! To celebrate the launch, Sports Bar VR 2.0 is on sale on for a limited time on PC platforms and is a free update to existing users on all platforms.

Varjo ("shadow" in Finnish, pronounced "Var-yo") Technologies today brought unprecedented levels of Virtual Reality and Mixed Reality (VR/XR) realism a step closer for professional markets through its new development partner program. The company's first public technology demonstration occurred at one of the world's leading startup events - Slush. Global brands including 20th Century Fox, Airbus, Audi, BMW, Technicolor and Volkswagen will now be collaborating with Varjo to optimize the company's human-eye resolution VR/XR Bionic Display for their respective business sectors. The company's recent $8.2m Series A round, led by EQT Ventures (with new, additional funding of $6.7m from Tekes, the Finnish funding agency for innovation) has enabled Varjo to begin the early access program for its partners as well as ramp up R&D capabilities.

Varjo will start shipping Alpha Prototypes to its first technology partners before the end of the year. Beta Prototypes will begin shipping to existing and new partners in the design, engineering, simulation and entertainment sectors during Q1 2018, allowing the next wave of VR/XR innovators to join the 'Resolution Revolution'. The partners will provide feedback on product experience, features and usability, and combine their industry insights and expertise with Varjo's product development.

So much of the discussion around autonomous driving has naturally focused on the car as a mode of transportation, but as driverless cars become a reality, we must start thinking of the automobile as a new type of consumer space. In fact, we have barely scratched the surface in thinking about the way cars will be designed, the interaction among passengers, and how passengers will spend time while they are riding and not driving. In this respect, autonomous driving is today's biggest game changer, offering a new platform for innovation from in-cabin design and entertainment to life-saving safety systems.

Advancing what's possible in autonomous driving, today at the Los Angeles Auto Show, Intel announced a collaboration with entertainment company Warner Bros.* to develop in-cabin, immersive experiences in autonomous vehicle (AV) settings. Called the AV Entertainment Experience, we are creating a first-of-its-kind proof-of-concept car to demonstrate what entertainment in the vehicle could look like in the future. As a member of the Intel 100-car test fleet, the vehicle will showcase the potential for entertainment in an autonomous driving world.

At last, the long wait is over. The best Virtual Reality game of Gamescom 2017, according to Elite Gamer, is now available on Steam. Elevator… to the Moon! takes players on a wild ride in a dilapidated lunar elevator. Players are tasked to fix their odd space vehicle while off-kilter and loudmouthed president of the world, Doug-Slater Roccmeier yells at them for not following every instruction to the point. Take the trip to its end, where dark and horrible mysteries on the moon are just waiting to be uncovered. Elevator… to the Moon! is no one trick pony. After you've finished the storyline, there is a perplexing alternate ending to experience, many achievements to unlock and fun little secrets to be discovered. As you can see, there is enough action going on to satisfy your lust for entertainment for quite a while.

Tripwire Interactive, developers of the award-winning Red Orchestra and Killing Floor franchises, announced today that Killing Floor: Incursion is now available for HTC VIVE and is available for purchase on Steam for $39.99 USD. In addition to today's launch on Steam, a new downloadable content update is now available to current owners of Killing Floor: Incursion on Oculus Rift. The update highlights include a new Hardcore difficulty setting, Katana weapon, leaderboards, achievements, and the exciting new "Holdout" game mode, which finds players defending a random location in one of the game's maps against increasingly deadly hordes of Zeds in a frenetic, arcade-like action experience.

In Killing Floor: Incursion, players must take on the role of an elite Horzine Security Forces soldier as they team up with allies to fend off the horrific Zed hordes using an array of weapons including guns, blades and more. Players will be able to freely explore as they move throughout the environment, scavenging for weapons and ammo while searching for the best locations to fight the monster onslaught. Battle in diverse environments from creepy farmhouses to high-tech facilities through Horzine Security Forces missions and unlock the secrets of the Zeds' origins.

The Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA) today announced a major update to its Display Identification Data (DisplayID) standard. The new version 2.0 of this universal display standard simplifies connecting and configuring modern display products, including PC monitors, consumer TVs and embedded displays (e.g., display panels within laptop and all-in-one systems). The result is a best-in-class plug-and-play experience. Advanced capabilities supported include 4K-and-higher resolutions, high dynamic range (HDR), augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR), and refresh rates of 120 Hz and above.

The DisplayID standard was originally launched in 2009 to enable the widely adopted Extended Display Identification Data (EDID) standard to keep up with newer-generation display technologies. However, with the EDID standard nearing the end of its effectiveness, a standard with new standalone structures, unencumbered by legacy architecture, is needed to properly and efficiently communicate modern display capabilities, thus ensuring an optimal user experience for future display technologies.