News
Multi-User Accounts and App Sharing Coming Soon | Oculus
Coming early February the Oculus Quest will finally support two important features that some may argue should have been available at launch: multiple profiles under one user account and app sharing by users on a shared device. For anyone with multiple family members on one account, or just trying to share VR with someone this will improve how we can promote the virtual spaces we have come to enjoy. And to play Beat Saber with the people in the room instead of needing to take turns.
The Future of Virtual Reality in Product Design
Very fine article examining the impact that Virtual Reality is already having on product design, and how the focus is now shifting onto how VR will be used as a tool in a designer's creative process and not just the end product. Decreasing the time it takes to get from doodle to design comes from better tools, and as a fan of tool making this article speaks to us in a pretty primal level.
Experiences
Building Toys with AR Technology | LEGO® Hidden Side | Official LEGO® Shop US
Despite Lego already being an over 8 billion dollar brand their constant innovation and embracing their community of creators are part of the reasons so many people love them. So there really was no need for them to release an Augmented Reality game and experience based on their Hidden Side brick set. Also no need for it to support multiple simultaneous players sharing the same experience. And yet they have and it is just a fantastically fun way to have even more fun with Legos.
Bigscreen
Movie theater audiences are still uneasy about attending screenings, but for those of us with VR headsets it is still possible to have a shared movie watching experience using BigscreenVR. They emulate the theater seating and offer screening times to give you a movie theater feel. This includes a lobby where you can just meet and hang out if you like.
Bigscreen has also expanded into being a hub for live TV, concerts, conferences, as well as allowing users to stream their Windows PC into VR, all while still supporting a shared environment for friends, coworkers, and broader audiences. Not many others are as established in both providing content and a consistently stable place to interact with others.
Immersed VR
Immersed VR is probably the closest thing to working in a coffee shop with your team than any other experience on the market. They provide a shared workspace to invite your coworkers, as well as a host of collaboration tools. To top it all off, you also have the ability to spawn multiple virtual monitors. Using more than one monitor is an established productivity boost, but being able to have up to 12 displays is more than most of us can fit into our real life workspaces.
AltspaceVR | Be there, together.
AltspaceVR is like a convention center with thousands of interesting booths, panels, parties all happening simultaneously. It is a multi-user environment so anyone in the same space can interact online in Virtual Reality. Check out their featured upcoming events or visit a featured virtual world, or host your own event or build your own world to bring people together around a topic or theme that you're passionate about.
CollabHub
CollabHub is a Virtual Reality breakout room where people come together to share ideas in an open environment with plenty of space to post anything. It doesn't try to solve every business problem with collaboration but that's a good thing. Their focus on emulating a pitch room in a really nice office or bungalow is perfect to remove the distractions of having too many things happening at one. Bring together up to 12 people and get productive while still remaining socially distant.
Wave
Wave concerts are immersive and rich performances from some of the top entertainers around. If you're missing enjoying a concert or performance from within a crowd then Wave may be the Virtual Reality experience for you. Past performances from The Weeknd, John Legend, and Lindsey Stirling set the expectations of what to expect but we're looking forward to what they will think of next.
Business
Microsoft Teams in VR - moot
Moot is bringing Virtual Reality to users integrated with the Microsoft Teams collaboration platform. This is a pretty intriguing approach to VR, especially if you consider that most enterprise organizations have very hard vetting processes for any platform used within an organization. But if Moot is able to play its position well they may be the first VR company approved for general use for all teams.
We haven't had the opportunity to setup a demo with Moot before this newsletter needed to go live but we'll be sure to update you all with our impressions in the future.
Hubs - Private social VR in your web browser
Mozilla Hubs is a completely open and free social space for any activity you want to invite a private group to experience together on any device or headset. When you create a new room you're taken into a random environment, but from there you and anyone invited into the space can populate it with videos, images, and other media to share. Due to it needing to run well in a web browser the environments and models do tend to be fairly simple, but the share space is still fun and useful in the right company.
Enterprise Immersive Learning Solution | Home | Uptale
There are plenty of articles around talking about how Virtual Reality is being used in industry, but Uptale is one of the first I've seen that makes it easy for any organization to incorporate VR into their training, onboarding, or continuous education in a company. They have also integrated Machine Learning, automated language translation, and easy storyboarding into the platform to make generating training materials a job that doesn't require coding. Check out their success stories for inspiration and see how others have already improved how they educate their teams.
One More Thing
Upcoming Waves - Wave
Coming up on February 5th at 6pm PST will be a Wave concert from the very cool Australian electronic dance music Alison Wonderland. View the concert's trailer here. Tickets are currently available and we can't wait to hear her latest tracks.
Commentary
This week we wanted to focus on experiences and tools that can bring us together, as co-workers, friends, and family. With in-person events still not encouraged we all aren't as limited as we may think for ways to utilize Virtual Reality in order to connect with others. Not every service requires a headset, and some can be experienced within a web browser while still connecting you to other users in the same shared space.
Thank you to everyone who's subscribed and continued to read and support us. if you're enjoying this newsletter please consider sharing it with others. We've continued to grow with each issue released and that is partly due to all of you. As always, if you want to recommend anything to us tweet your links. Our directory of companies, experiences, gear, and more is growing so visit our directory to find resources that also may not be getting major press.
Other Realities