Cat dating sim, Purrfect Date set to hit Steam and your cat loving hearts December 15th.

Drawing inspiration from the dating sim genre (Dream Daddy, Hatoful Boyfriend) and the overall unique world of indie games (Undertale, Pony Island), Purrfect Date is a cross between a visual novel, dating sim, and dark British comedy. You, a human, will get to date cats and uncover the secrets of the mysterious Cat Island.

The trailer says this is about love and not bestiality so I am pretty sure it is going to be a fun light-hearted ode to cat friendship. 

Throughout the game’s seven chapters, you’ll adopt the roles of multiple freshly employed research assistants on an island almost entirely populated by cats. Choose your own adventure as you romance talking cats, balance your stats and carry out your research into the dark and questionable history of the Island.

Developed by Bae Team, a duo of Oliver Hindle (aka YouTube’s Oliver Age 24) and Ruby-Mae Roberts, Purrfect Date’s origins are explained in the game’s new release date trailer.

Published by Bossa Studios (I Am Bread, Surgeon Simulator), Purrfect Date mixes dark British comedy influences with (decidedly furry) dating sim mechanics. Throughout the game, the player adopts the role of several freshly employed research assistants on an island almost entirely populated by cats, on a mission to uncover the location’s shady history.

Get ready for hijinks and hairballs by adding Purrfect Date to your Steam wishlist here. For more information, follow the game on YouTube, Twitter,  Facebook and Instagram.

Get ready for the spookiest Caturday yet with the new Mindshow Spooky Mansion Playset.

Just in time for the season the Mindshow team has released a spooky and cute Mansion Playset with new Halloween themed characters and props.

The new playset allows several ways to create some very scary yet cute scenes.

Oh my lord what is going on with this cat!? Get ready for the spookiest caturday yet!

Download the update and tweet your video to the Mindshow team with #MadeInMindshow!

Microsoft acquires AltspaceVR to bolster their VR positioning.

In July AltspaceVR announced that it was closing its doors, stating that a funding deal fell through at the last minute. The following month, the company would go on to release the following statement “We are now in discussions with third parties to develop a sustainable solution to continue development and growth for the future,” Well it looks like we may now have an idea of who one of those third parties were as Microsoft has acquired the popular Social VR platform.

Announced at Microsoft’s Mixed Reality event in San Francisco Tuesday, Microsoft’s mixed reality lead Alex Kipman, went on to call Altspace “a pioneer in social mixed reality. 

AltspaceVR CEO Eric Romo said Tuesday that the company will continue to embrace the many platforms Altspace currently caters to and it unclear how the AltspaceVR brand and apps will continue under the Microsoft umbrella. 

When AltspaceVR was announced as shutting down in July and official "closed" in August it was met with much sadness in the community.

Though the terms of the acquisition by Microsoft has not been fully revealed and it is unknown of the status of the many employees of AltspaceVR this is a good sign for them. This is also a sign Microsoft wants to take on Facebook in the Social VR plane.

Update: After posting the AltspaceVR team reached out with a quote from AltspaceVR CEO Eric Romo as well as some answers to pending questions about the acquisition.

Quote from Eric:

"When we announced our closing, a common sentiment was that we were pioneers, if not ahead of our time. People were sad that they wouldn't be able to see what we could have built together with our community. I'm grateful that we get a chance to follow through on the story we started five years ago and see how much farther we can take this technology."

What events lead up to Microsoft's acquisition of AltspaceVR?

AltspaceVR announced their closure back in August. Many members of the AltspaceVR team worked hard in the following days and weeks to make sure the technology lived on. They connected with Alex Kipman and found a natural overlap between his goals for mixed reality and their hopes for the future of AltspaceVR. 

Why did Microsoft acquire AltspaceVR?

Microsoft is excited to incorporate communications technology into our mixed reality ecosystem. Today’s social experiences can be one sided: text, photos, and videos are posted by a single person, to be consumed by others later. But AltspaceVR takes social networks, combines them with real-time experiences, and leverages immersive presence to transcend beyond sharing posts to sharing situations. Situations of people, places, and things have deeper meaning and in turn, are more memorable. We’re excited to see how far this technology can go. 

What about AltspaceVR the company?

AltspaceVR will stay AltspaceVR. Microsoft is most interested in preserving the current community that uses AltspaceVR to connect and interact with new and old friends. These first few months will focus on fostering our community and making sure AltspaceVR remains a friendly, welcoming and vibrant place to hang out in virtual reality.  

What about AltspaceVR users?

It’s been a rollercoaster ride for AltspaceVR users and their team. The team will be spending a lot of the next few weeks talking to the AltspaceVR community and finding out how they can build an even better place to hang out in virtual reality. Their new partnership with Microsoft will be an adrenaline shot for AltspaceVR and they hope to bring new events, features and activities for their community to enjoy soon.

Will AltspaceVR stay cross-platform?

Yes. AltspaceVR will continue to work on PC and Mac in 2D mode, HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, Daydream by Google, and Samsung Gear VR. 

What does this mean for the AltspaceVR community? 

AltspaceVR will stay AltspaceVR. Microsoft is committed to being the best place in VR to hang out with a diverse community of people. 

Will AltspaceVR work on HoloLens?

The team is excited to see how AltspaceVR can be a part of Microsoft’s MR ecosystem but there aren’t plans to bring AltspaceVR to HoloLens now.  

CatsAndVR.com

Tonight TheWaveVR and Ash Koosha challenge the boundaries of music and take on tyranny with the power of VR.

London-based electronic musician Ash Koosha will perform in the US for the first time via virtual reality in TheWaveVR. Originally from Iran, Koosha is currently hindered by Trump’s travel ban, which targets people from majority-Muslim countries and bars them from entering the United States.  In Ash's 2016 Ted Talk from Oslo he challenged where is the boundary of what is just a sound, and what is actually music. Is there even such a boundary? Tonight TheWaveVR accepts that challange
 

Our real-time 3D visual controls. @AshKoosha will be controlling the entire environment, in addition to the music.

AKTUAL 8.16 7PM PT pic.twitter.com/l6uLe0Fre4

— THΞWAVΞVR (@TheWaveVR) August 15, 2017

Ash Koosha, who had been imprisoned and blacklisted by his home country for making rock music and films, lives in asylum in London, where he produces what RollingStone calls, “uncompromising, dizzying and dense” electronic music. RollingStone named him “An Artist You Need To Know,” last February, upon the release of last year's I AKA I on Ninja Tune.

Unfortunately, Ash had to cancel his supporting tour due to “extreme vetting” of his visa. Earlier this year, he had to cancel yet another tour due to Trump’s travel ban, and has yet to set foot in the US, where he seeks to promote his music.

In January, he issued a statement on the travel ban, writing, “All of my ambitions, contributions and efforts were reduced to bureaucratic paperwork that left me feeling betrayed and burdened because of my ‘place of birth’."

Ash's wave will bring his audio visual show, AKTUAL, to the US, where users will be transported inside his mind to watch him perform his music and conduct dynamic visual forms using TheWaveVR's revamped performance tools.
 

http://thewavevr.com/

2017 Disney Accelerator company The VOID to work with Lucasfilm’s Immersive Entertainment division to create Star Wars: Secrets of the Empire hyper-reality experience.

Lucasfilm, ILMxLAB and The VOID today announced the new Star Wars: Secrets of the Empire hyper-reality experience. This ground-breaking experience will open to the public at two new VOID Experience Centers at Downtown Disney at Disneyland Resort and Disney Springs at Walt Disney World Resort beginning this holiday season, giving Star Wars fans the opportunity to step beyond reality and into a galaxy far, far away.

“At The VOID, we combine the magic of illusions, advanced technology and virtual reality to create fully immersive social experiences that take guests to new worlds,” said Curtis Hickman, co-founder and chief creative officer at The VOID. “A truly transformative experience is so much more than what you see with your eyes; it's what you hear, feel, touch, and even smell. Through the power of The VOID, guests who step into Star Wars: Secrets of the Empire won’t just see this world, they’ll know that they are part of this amazing story.”

ILMxLAB, Lucasfilm’s Immersive Entertainment division, created this first of its kind experience, in collaboration with The VOID. Star Wars: Secrets of the Empire will plunge guests directly into the iconic Star Wars galaxy. Guests will move freely throughout the untethered, social, and multi-sensory experience as they interact and engage with friends, family and Star Wars characters.

“At ILMxLAB, we want people to step inside the worlds of our stories,” explained Vicki Dobbs Beck, executive in charge of the division. “Through our collaboration with The VOID, we can make this happen as guests become active participants in an unfolding Star Wars adventure. By combining Lucasfilm's storytelling expertise with cutting-edge imagery, and immersive sound from the team at Skywalker Sound, while invoking all the senses, we hope to truly transport all those who experience Star Wars: Secrets of the Empire to a galaxy far, far away.”

Star Wars: Secrets of the Empire marks an important milestone in the continued expansion of The VOID, which also joined the 2017 Disney Accelerator earlier this year.

About The VOID

The VOID is a destination that inspires the exploration of fully immersive worlds with friends and family, creating memorable experiences together. By combining physical sets with real-time interactive effects, The VOID allows you to step beyond reality, engaging all your senses, transporting you to new and unimaginable worlds. In July 2016, The VOID opened its first public experience at Madame Tussauds New York. In 2017, The VOID expanded with locations at The Rec Room in Toronto and the company’s headquarters in the greater Salt Lake City area with additional locations planned for the second half of the year. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit www.thevoid.com and join @VOIDVR on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.

About ILMxLAB

Founded in 2015, ILMxLAB, Lucasfilm’s Immersive Entertainment division, combines compelling storytelling, technological innovation and world-class production to create truly impactful, immersive entertainment experiences. ILMxLAB develops experiences for virtual reality, augmented/mixed reality, real-time cinema, theme park entertainment and narrative-based experiences for future platforms. For more information visit ilmxlab.com or follow @ILMxLAB on Twitter.

Today as we battle for the future of all of the Cait And Doggo memes, check out Cyber Animal, a game about feeding Cyber Animals to save the internet.

Today as we battle for the future of all of the Cat And Dog memes, check out Cyber Animal, a game about feeding Cyber Animals to save the internet. The game came from developer Moodie Younis's obsession with GIPHY. Younis describes GIPHY as a sort of vast catalog of mostly useless and terrible one hit wonder records. He used that inspiration to create a shooter where you are rocketed into cyberspace, and tasked with feeding the ravenous Cyber Animals of Cyberspace with little nuggets of love and whip cream.

Moodie's game encapsulates several elements of why our Internet freedom is important. Not only are Memes an integral part of the game but Moodie used several online Unity tutorials to become a first time VR game developer. He then decided to share his experience and new found knowledge base with the world using Medium.

 https://medium.com/@myounis/cyber-animal-vr-case-study-ada0c9d4b86b

Comcast, Verizon and AT&T want to end net neutrality so they can charge extra fees to control what we see & do online. On July 12, we take the first step to stop them. This is a battle for the Internet's future. A fight not only for the freedom of Cait and Doogo Memes but also a future of knowledge building and sharing. 

https://www.battleforthenet.com/

Moodie is an interior architect turned VR / AR designer and developer based in San Francisco.

http://moodieyounis.com/virtual-reality/

Decentraland looks to be the decentralized VR creators paradise built on the Blockchain we have all been dreaming of since last year.

Gamers spend upwards to 20 hours a week building, gathering, teaming up with other gamers, and fighting over digital good in virtual worlds owned by central organizations like Facebook and Blizzard. As VR grows we see value in Virtual worlds like AltspaceVR pop up but issues still exist like l the imitations of what 'rules' can be modified as well as issues of the ownership of content built by the users.

The lack of a true 'creators paradise' as well as the incentive to invest time and effort creating unique VR experiences has created some of the lack of content issues VR is currently facing. 

Decentraland is looking to tackle the creators paradise head on with its distributed platform for a shared virtual world in which participants can navigate, discover, and interact with other people and entities. Ownership of virtual land is blockchain-based and the land itself is a non-fungible, transferrable, scarce digital asset stored in an Ethereum smart contract that can be acquired by spending an ERC20 token called MANA.

View fullsize

To fund the continued development of the platform a token sale has been announced for August. https://blog.decentraland.org/the-decentraland-token-sale-terms-81861704c086

The platform could very well help to create those Ready Player One ecosystems that VCs are expecting today without understanding the massive leaps VR needs to make. It can also help make the Blockchain more appealing to content creators looking for a new avenues of monetization and discoverability. 

Also I am pretty sure there will be porn on there...and the Decentraland team is aware of how complicated this may be in a decentralized virtual platform as noted in their white paper. This is a discussion I see debated very much in the early stages of the platform.

Example User feedback on the ongoing discussion of Adult Content on the platform.

For many Blockchain and VR are sexy silicon valley buzzwords, for many more they are potentially the backbone of a new ecosystem of trade, information, financial and societal growth just like the Internet was promised to be. Also much like the internet it may still be a new platform for adult content and cat videos. I personally am trying to be the cat king of Decentraland. 

Word.

By the way they are working with Aragon very closely. Pretty sure Aragon will be the reason Ether will be wayyyyy super valuable in the future. You prob should know what they do. https://aragon.one/

Also is you want more tech news from a cat perspective check out my new site ARKittens.com

Oculus partners with the California State Library to continue their goal of making VR accessible

“Without libraries what have we? We have no past and no future.” —Ray Bradbury

Access to information and knowledge opens the doors to new possibilities and let us experience worlds that would otherwise be beyond reach. Through a new partnership with the California State Library, Oculus is giving access to VR to people that may never have the chance. This pilot program will place 100 Rifts and Oculus Ready PCs in 90 libraries throughout the state.

“It’s pretty cool to imagine how many people will try VR for the very first time—and have that ‘wow’ moment—in their local libraries,” says Oculus Education Program Manager Cindy Ball. “We hope early access will cause many people to feel excited and empowered to move beyond just experiencing VR and open their minds to the possibility of one day joining the industry.”

The 90 participating locations span nearly half of the state’s 184 library jurisdictions—with the possibility for future expansion.

“If this pilot is successful, that shows that library patrons and librarians value the availability of VR equipment in libraries,” Ball said. “Next steps would include the California State Library expanding the program by allocating or raising additional funding to scale the presence of VR.”

The applications available for discover and explore include Google Earth, Apollo 11, Titans of Space 2.0, Everest, Ocean Rift, The Body VR, Guided Meditation VR and Star Chart. This program also gives some additional life to the excellent work of the now defunct Oculus Story Studio. Dear Angelica, Lost and Henry will also be available.

http://www.catsandvr.com/blog/

Women In Tech Spotlight: Emily Olman (Hopscotch Interactive and VR/AR Association)

Emily Olman is the founder of Hopscotch Interactive, a marketing and media services company for promoting extraordinary spaces. They create custom marketing solutions with Matterport 3D Photography, 360°, and VR. Hopscotch Interactive was recently nominated as Matterport Service Partner of the Year from over 1000 MSP's for the inaugural "Matty Awards". To see a list of all of the nominees, winners, and some stunning examples of 3D photography visit the Matty Awards homepage here.

Emily is also the San Francisco Chapter Co-President of the VR/AR Association (VRARA), the global association for the Virtual Reality & Augmented Reality industry with local chapters in major cities, connecting leading solution providers with brands and customers. VRARA works with each member company to promote their solutions and services and puts on high-level VR/AR events in the San Francisco Bay Area. 

You can join Hopscotch Interactive and the VR/AR Association SF Chapter on Wednesday, June 14 (6pm-10pm) at The Flight Deck in Oakland for an exciting program on Lightfield Technology & Volumetric VR featuring speakers from: Lytro, Visby, and Lightfield Labs and Hopscotch Interactive. The fun continues with demos, giveaways, VIP networking, and Exit Reality in action with their mobile VR truck!

And, 360° Filmmaker Kevin Kunze of Kunze Productions will be giving away 100 cardboard viewers to lucky attendees. Use code SPEAKER5 for $5 off tickets. Reserve your VIP ticket here. 

http://www.catsandvr.com/blog/

Beast In Show @ AWE 2017 is Beast Pets! Check out this interview with the Mother Of Dragons Vivian Tan.

Beast is a VR platform that brings digital pets to virtual "life" through artificial intelligence and personalities. It is also the winner of the very first CatsAndVR Best Of Cute award which goes to the cutest thing I saw at a particular conference.  Seriously Beast Pets are basically smart pets for VR. The dragons are basically flying puppy-kittens that actually interact like I would expect out of Cat Dragons. I spent a little bit rubbing their lil dragon tummies, playing laser with them, and just overall going into cute overload.

I could go further into this cute thing and say Chief Beast Of Beast Inc is cute as a button but I'm not. I'm going to say she is the mother of Dragons and beasting her way with a product that has the potential to not only be a cute VR experience but also have the ability to touch the lives of those who have disabilities. I believe this company is doing a good job of separating it self from the multitudes of VR gaming startups in the ecosystem.

For one Beast Inc is part of the current Boost VR class and is using that to establish connections and be everywhere.  Beast Inc recently had the chance to showcase their product and brand in partnership with SVVR at Maker Faire and was so very well received they won a blue ribbon. 

I ran into the team at AWE2017 and all I really had to say was AWE! I totally loved the product and suggest CatsAndVR readers be part of the beta. We even secured our readers access to the private beta. Just send an email to Team@BeastPets.com and mention CatsAndVR.com sent ya. 

To be completely transparent I was a tad bit jealousy that Vivan beat me to the VR Pet market but I am ok with it because that market I care about looks to be in the hands of a very sharp individual who cares about the product, the ecosystem, and the true value of pet friendship to others. She has partnered with BoostVC, SVVR, and has assembled a team that also cares about her vision including Kate Hughes who is known for her Holo-Dog project for Hololens. 

All in all I believe in this product and I am V glad there are others out there that believe in the Beast Inc vision. 

Edit: Can't end this with out giving a shout out to Beast Co-Founder Mat Tyndall. Thanks for the demo!

Meta: Making Augmented Reality Fashionable.

At AWE 2017 Meta announced its Meta Workspace, a spatial AR operating environment designed for creativity and collaboration.

The original Meta AR headset was a great proof of concept with a great 40° field of view much like Microsofts Hololens is today. That was three years ago. The feedback the Meta team received from this was that it was good for R&D, good for innovation, good as a glimpse into the future of computing, but not good enough to replace the screens that characterize our lives in technology. 

The teams answer was to tap in some of the most innovative AR minds globally to develop an optical engine that can create a 90° field of view. The Meta team also tapped into the Google Project Tango framework to acquire the expertise of Alan Betran in developing a sensor array capable of dexterous hand interaction.  With over 600 patent claims for the technology, the Meta team now offers us a truer vision of their future of reality. 

I spoke with Meta's evangelist extraordinaire Ryan Pamplin about what its like to be part of an award winning AR company making the term Augmented Reality fashionable. 

Ryan Pamplin: It is an honor, really and truly, the team loves this. The team sleeps, eats, and breathes Meta. Not for the sake of AR, not for the sake of technology but for the sake of a more natural computing experience.  

Check out my interview with Ryan above. 

What is the Meta vision for the future of computing? To shift the paradigm of computing from a small scale flat experience to a visceral reality of interaction and point of view.

The Meta team has stepped their game up with their new operating system which overlays the physical world with your computer's desktop, eliminating the need for a monitor. Meta won an Auggie award for Best In Show at AWE 2017.  

Meta is the precursor to a future that will use VR, AR, voice control, a digital canvas and haptic technology (recreating the sense of touch) all working together to let people create in more natural ways.

Ryan Pamplin had some advice for me to work on AR cats.....well maybe if I had a Meta Cat shirt I might be incentivized. 

www.catsandvr.com/blog/

Sony and Grammy Award winning Selfie fanatics The Chainsmokers colab for FREE Playstation VR interactive musical experience.

Grammy winning dance music duo, The Chainsmokers have a free Playstation VR app out now. A collaboration between Sony and The Chainsmokers, the free Paris.VR Virtual Reality Music experience is currently only available in North America and getting some good reviews on Reddit with user feedback being one Reddit user saying, “Whether you’re a fan of EDM or not, I highly recommend checking this thing out!”
 

You can Influence new remixes of the hit song ‘Paris’ based on the choices you make throughout the experience. Structures and objects activate new audio elements simply by looking around. Choose a new path each time you enter the experience, and let the music engulf you as you lean into the experience, or simply lean back and enjoy the ‘Paris’ daydream.

The Chainsmokers came to my attention with their tonuge in check video for their song "Selfie" and have come quite a way to now be considered established creative talents. I look forward to checking out Paris VR.

CatsAndVR.com

The Awesome VR Content Creation Platform MINDSHOW gets a HUGE Update!

As the Mindshow team heads into their upcoming open beta they have released a HUGE update for early adopters. 

First up the team has introduced starter scenes to provide a little creative inspiration!

Starters help you create shows very quickly because they come with half the story - it's up to you to complete the scene by adding your own personality!

Currently their are three starter scenes: Mile High Hug, Made Up News, and Bad Doctor. You can look forward to seeing even more starters as they head towards Open Beta! 

Here is the CatsAndVR take on the Bad Doctor starter scene

The Dev team has also added in some great camera improvements with a fixed camera, a stedicam, and also doubling the size of video exports to 1080!

BUT WAIT THERES MORE!

New Characters and scenes make the platform well worth going back to if you have not touched it in a while.

Now you get to play as: Doctor Cleo, Scientist Franklin. Reporter Carlita, Lenny the Pilot. and Surgeon Clark. 

Operating Room:
Perform surgery on a piñata and other life saving scenarios!

Mindshow Nuze TV Studio:
Shoot your own news segment in VR!

Mindshow is quickly becoming the darling of the LA VR scene and a must play expereience. 

Cosmo and the Mindshow team are hard at work heading into the open beta, if you are currently in the Alpha I suggest you jump back in ASAP. If you have not tried Mindshow yet go learn more about this amazing VR experience and all the new updates here.  https://medium.com/@Mindshow/4-26-update-31e1516bad2e

Events like VRLA Spring Expo are helping to shape the universe of VR for the dreamers of the future.

“If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe.” -Carl Sagan

In a world where both tech industry insiders and consumers seem to flip flop on VR as both the next big thing and just a fad, VRLA is a place that solidifies what VR is to me.  VR is growth, VR is creative freedom, VR is the future. One can simply look at the growth of VRLA and see that the team behind this event will not just leave this new industry to chance but rather push it forward to the promises of the Sci-Fi novels that shaped our visions.

Look at the growth of #vrla2017 @vrlosangeles That small #redbox was the first. #vr #growth. pic.twitter.com/Imz5b13uu4

— CatsAndVR (@CatsAndVR) April 15, 2017

I started CatsAndVR.com last year in order to throw myself full force into the VR ecosystem. During the VRLA Summer Expo last year I was actually able to use my VR experience to get a job in VR. For me the VRLA events are a bit different than VR events in the Bay Area as there is a more dream like quality in presentation and outlook. For me VRLA is a refresher to remind me why exactly I want to be involved in this industry.

For me one of the best thing about VRLA events are the people and I recenlty got to chat with one of my favorite in the industry, Jonathan Krusell. Last year Jonathan helped me skip the line to check out Mindshow and this year I returned the favor and made sure I checked out some great stuff on Daydream from L.A. Devs.

"Whats amazing about VRLA and VR in L.A. is that there are so many amazing developers here in town. There are so many folks coming from different mediums converging in VR bringing their strengths and experiences."- Jonathan Krusell, Google Daydream

Cofounder of VRLA Cosmo Scharf killed it with his opening VRLA remarks showcasing an almost Steve Jobs level of charm in telling the tale of why VR is important to him. 

Wow @cosmoscharf dropping knowledge #VRLA2017 Dystopia @vrlosangeles #world view shift. #TaxMarch #vr pic.twitter.com/QvSzosF5x1

— CatsAndVR (@CatsAndVR) April 15, 2017

The VRLA Saturday keynote by Justin Roiland of Squanchtendo and Rick And Morty fame was also riveting and added to the unique charm of the VRLA events not found elsewhere. 

VRLA showcases that the future of VR is bright and its events like these as well as groups such as VRLA and Upload provide the pickaxes and shovels for the true seekers of VR Gold.

The Future Of VR is bright!

Of course I can't do VRLA post without a dash of Mindshow. Check a little Mindshow sketch I did at VRLA

CatsAndVR.com/blog

VR creation application Mindshow gets date for open beta, a new website, and a new trailer at VRLA.

The Mindshow team announced today at VRLA that the Mindshow Open Beta will be available for the HTC Vive Q3 2017. The team celebrated with a brand spanking new website and official Mindshow trailer.  http://mindshow.com/

Mindshow lets you make animated movies in VR with your body and voice! Become 3D cartoon characters and act out all the parts. Create with your friends by passing scenes back and forth, then share your shows in VR and on social media. 

I tried Mindshow for the first time at VRLA Summer Expo and it was my favorite demo, I would eventually join the closed beta community and these are my thoughts. Mindshow is a product built from a passion for VR. Not just because VR is cool but because we were promised the future when we were kids and still seeking it. 

Mindshow is Walt Disney. Mindshow is Jim Henson. Mindshow is Steve Jobs. Mindshow is the spark in humanity that made them create characters out of the stars. Mindshow are the muppet babies playing make believe come to life. 

CatsAndVR.com

VR Superdad uses his powers to make his daughter smile and his cat annoyed.

VR Superdad Toby Newman used his VR super powers to put a smile on his daughters face. His latest experiment using a Ricoh Theta and an HTC Vive gives his child an idea of what the world looks like from the point of view of the family cat. A harness, a 360° camera, and a VR headset lets my daughter take a ride around our house on our cat. The cat has a harness that holds a 360° camera. The camera is fed the feed from the saddle-camera to a VR headset. Toby's  daughter uses her Lion King plushy to get an immersive cat experience.

This VR Superdad has also used his powers to shrink his daughter down and put her into her dollhouse. Check out the video below as well as 360 photos of the dollhouse.

Toby is using his powers for good and I hope he and his family have a great life in Virtual Reality and Reality Reality. He is also an inspiration for me to use my Ricoh Theta more. 

CatsAndVR.com

Bobby Throne Saves The World may be the next killer disruptive VR app, eSport, and social networking platform people in highly populated tech sectors of America are looking for.

"Games are about learning, you learn muscle memory, history, communication, stories, and so much more. If games are about learning then I’m here to teach. So what better place to share my ministry with than at the wonderful PAX East show where everyone is learning. I look forward to introducing myself to all these new minds and see them transform right before my eyes… forever."- Bobby Throne

I first took notice of Bobby Throne Ministries when my former roommate at the House Of Dtoid SF and my favorite MTV reality show personality Jonathan Holmes did a post about it on Destructioid. My first thoughts were wow this guy is still writing, my second was hey my name is Bobby too, I should write about this upcoming VR expereience.

Bobby Throne Ministries is a show (Twitch Stream?) that will be part of the vision of SnowRunner Productions new game Bobby Throne Saves The World. You keep contact with the audience and perform a sermon for a crowd. You can even unlock sermons!? The killer VR app we are looking for? The next eSport?

William Brierly of SnowRunner Productions describes the gameplay mechanics as very similar to Rock Band VR and other stuff he has never seen before.

The game is inspired by Will's fascination with Televangalists and also his time as a proffesional magician. 

Will and his brother have been working on this game ever since their big time indie hit Soda Drinker Pro recived critical and financial success. https://www.destructoid.com/review-soda-drinker-pro-358097.phtml

It does look like the SnowRunner Productions team has invested a lot of the money they received from the success of Soda Drinker Pro into Bobby Throne. They had a huge gaming booth at PAX East where they gave out coins. As you may have heard precious metal prices have gone up since the election of President Bannondorf. As you know silver bullets have great power against dark forces. 

Though they are indie darlings the SnowRunner Productions team has taken a page out of the books of major brands like Wal-Mart and Circuit City and used their new found gaming wealth to hire social media influences and strategic brand managers to brand their manage.

Boy ~ "Are you gay?" @BobbyThrone ~ "That doesn't even matter."

True story.https://t.co/qMz0GCZCq0

— Jonathan Holmes (@TronKnotts) March 15, 2017

The true goal of Bobby Throne Saves The World is to teach us to see the multiple realities around us and see how someone can influence us with words and shinny things.

VR.............?

CatsAndVR.com/blog

Morph 3D and VRChat at GDC!

At GDC17 I got a chance to check out Morph3D's Ready Room platform and see first hand how well their avatar creation system and platform works with one of my favorite social VR platforms, VRChat. 

VRChat will use Morph 3D’s Ready Room platform to allow its users to easily create unique and personalized avatars for their virtual identities. VRChat joins the fast-growing group of networks employing Morph 3D’s platform to enable users to maintain their identities in a persistent way across multiple VR environments.

“We are big fans of what VRChat is doing to revolutionize social VR, and are thrilled to help their users express themselves,” said James Thornton, CEO of Morph 3D. “At the heart of social VR is the ability for us to communicate and enjoy shared virtual experiences with people all over the world. The starting point of this experience is being able to create a virtual identity that best reflects who you are, just as you do in your day-to-day life.”

Previously, creating a personalized avatar wasn’t an option for those without advanced 3D skills. As social VR continues to evolve, Morph 3D expects that users will want to represent themselves with more personalized avatars and will need easily accessible tools and content to do so. Morph 3D’s Ready Room integration with VRChat lowers the barrier of entry for their users to create and manage their virtual identity.

“As one of the leading platforms in social VR, we are very selective in identifying partners that align with our vision,” said Graham Gaylor, Founder and CEO of VRChat. “Our avatar system is state of the art, featuring dynamic lip sync, eyes that track, hand gestures, full-body IK and speech that uses spatial audio. Morph 3D was a natural fit from the beginning because they take full advantage of these systems. We love that their tools and content offer our users an unmatched level of avatar personalization.”

CatsAndVR.com

CCP Games, makers of EVE: Valkyrie announce new projectile based VR sport Sparc coming to Vive, Rift, and PSVR.

 CCP Games today announced Sparc, a unique virtual sport only possible in virtual reality. In Sparc, players connect online to compete with each other in fast and fun full-body VR gameplay.

Currently in development for Oculus Rift, HTC Vive and PlayStation VR, Sparc will be the first wholly original IP to be shipped by CCP outside of the EVE universe when it releases in 2017.

Sparc's skill-based, full-body gameplay makes for a fast-paced and fun physical sport. Players use their motion controllers to throw projectiles at their opponents from a distance, and in turn defend themselves by dodging, blocking, or deflecting the incoming attacks. Players can join one-on-one matches with friends online or find opponents via matchmaking.

Sparc enables players to connect and compete in an online community. Players can watch matches in-person and queue for the next match in VR through Courtside, a freeform social area for spectating in VR or on screen. Sparc includes multiple two-player game modes as well as single-player challenges and training modes, plus a range of customization and personalization options for competitors.

"After our early experiments with standing VR gameplay, we were excited by the idea of building an original sport designed for the current generation of VR hardware. We've designed Sparc so that players can express and improve their skill through their physical actions." said Morgan Godat, Executive Producer at CCP Atlanta. "Ultimately, we want players to think of Sparc as a virtual court in their living room where they can meet and compete with other players from around the world."

"At CCP games, our goal is to harness our passion for virtual reality as a new medium and create the killer apps for the first generation of VR technology," said Hilmar Veigar Pétursson, CEO of CCP Games. "We set out to achieve that in mobile VR with Gunjack and in seated VR with EVE: Valkyrie, both released in the first year of VR becoming publicly available. With Sparc, we want to capitalize on the unique strengths of standing VR and deliver a game with all the depth and excitement to keep players returning long into the future."

Today's announcement is only the beginning for Sparc and CCP Games plans to reveal further information about Sparc's gameplay and feature-set ahead of release later this year.

For more details about the game, please visit www.playSparc.com . You can also find Sparc on Facebook via facebook.com/PlaySparc , or follow the game on Twitter via @PlaySparc .

CatsAndVR.com

Happy Caturday from CatsAndVR.com & LootCrate! An Ode to LootCrate.

This months LootCrate may be my cats favorite as they love their new Batman feeding bowl and they have been snuggling with the Power Rangers shirt that came with it. 

As a long time fan of LootCrates I have to tell you after a tough week at work, a tough week of figuring out the future, and a tough week of listening to how America is going through a insane time politically it is pretty rad to chill with the cats and do a theraputic unboxing video. 

The thing about LootCrate is that it was created with the community in mind and continues to be a very community driven product. To be a bit hokey, LootCrates remind me of a simpler time when the dreams and aspirations of life seemed possible.

And to tell you using unboxing videos in an almost zen way has actually helped me to continue to see those dreams and aspirations as still being possible. When I lost my job a few months back I made an unboxing video to keep my self up. Keeping that positive attitude actually helped me get a job in VR. catsandvr.com/blog/catsandvrsuperbowl

LootCrates actually helps me connect with my current co-workers as I am able to give them gifts.....well only when I don't really want the stuff. I will say I recently gave away my cherished RoboCop LootCrate shirt to one of my good friends...and I love that shirt.

So thanks LootCrate for supporting CatsAndVR.com and all CatsAndVR.com fans go  and check out LootCrate.com