The Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas was buzzing with announcements and demonstrations that suggest virtual reality technology is nearing maturity and mass market adoption.
Oculus Rift, which pioneered the virtual reality headset before being acquired by Facebook, demonstrated its latest update to its headset, which was named Crescent Bay. This development was met with excitement by Mark Bugeja, a resident academic at the Department of Computing and Information Systems, Saint Martin’s Institute of Higher Education. Bugeja has been developing virtual reality since the department purchased the very first prototype of the Rift three years ago. Oculus has partnered with Samsung to develop Gear VR, which works with the Samsung Galaxy Note 4.
On Wednesday, June 24, Bugeja will be holding a workshop, From Oculus to Cardboard: What Future for Virtual Reality?, which will give hands on experience to the attendees on the concepts of virtual reality and how this may be experienced cheaply through the Google Cardboard. The latter uses an Android or iOS based smartphone integrated with the Cardboard. All attendees to this workshop will be using the Cardboard which they can then take home with the compliments of Google.
The Oculus Rift has triggered the imagination of global consumer electronics companies to be at the forefront of this exciting immersive experience
“The Oculus Rift has triggered the imagination of global consumer electronics companies to be at the forefront of this exciting immersive experience through digital real or fictitious worlds,” said Bugeja. “The recent collaboration announced between Facebook Oculus Rift Headset and Microsoft’s Xbox One means that game development studios will be scrambling to develop content.
“At Saint Martin’s Institute, we have a number of students who are developing their creative computing dissertations based upon the Oculus Rift. In the virtual reality community, the institute is already treated as a pioneer with a major project to be launched soon in Malta,” added Bugeja.
American artist Mac Cauley has created a virtual reality experience of Vincent van Gogh’s masterpiece The Night Cafe, transforming the 2D painting into a 3D virtual experience. Through immersive virtual reality, serious game development will not only be the plaything of the future, but will enable users to experience all sorts of fine art, anatomy, outer space and new era postcards in a totally different way, simply through the use of a smartphone.
Virtual reality headsets will continue to develop with the new Oculus prototype offering an audio surround system and movement detection to further enhance the exploration feel of the gamer.
The workshop will not only focus on what virtual reality really is, but also how it can be implemented and used. Available seats are limited to 40 attendees over two one-hour sessions. To attend, register your interest by sending an e-mail at infodesk@stmartins.edu or calling on 2123 5451 during office hours.