VR Unbound - PLDT supports VR Community

IMAGINE yourself as a Space Ninja getting back to Earth, or as an archer-defender perched in a tower, or a robotics engineer repairing a malfunctioning android. What about using real time information from the Diwata-1 satellite, or enjoying a virtual on-site tripping in your dream house?

Judges and winners of the first ever Philippine Mobile VR Jam during the VR Conference recently held at PLDT Innolab in Mandaluyong. (From left to right) VR PH Founder and tech-evangelist Cristopher David, PLDT VP for Mainstream Business Development and Research Joey Limjap, members of Team VROS Mark Joseph Basibas, Juan Paolo Espiritu and John Hay Supetran, Michael Gaerlan of Samsung and Lem Palad of Smart Communications Inc.

Imagination becomes limitless with these sample immersive mobile virtual reality works from young and brilliant minds who converged in the recently concluded three-day 1st Philippine Virtual Reality (VR) Conference at the PLDT Innolab in Mandaluyong City making the event an inspiring success.

The VR Conference, organized by Virtual Reality Philippines (VR Philippines) and sponsored by PLDT, is the biggest gathering of Virtual Reality developers, including VR start-ups, independent developers, programmers, 3D animation specialists and enthusiasts in the country.

The event is aimed to develop the country’s local virtual reality content and to help define the promising future of this game-changing technology.

The VR Philippines, a non-profit community for the advancement of Virtual Reality technology, brought together over 70 attendees and divided into 11 teams comprised of university students and freelance or professional app developers.

The teams created some of the most promising VR developments during the 48-hour hackathon kick-off (Samsung’s Gear VR-Philippine Mobile VR Jam) through their own VR game or app—ranging from a horror game to an educational and science reference—for the Samsung Gear VR using room-scale tracking and natural input technology of HTC Vive and StreamVR platform.

Subsequently the participants exhibited their creations, shared their experiences and competed for the special awards and overall championship in the culminating event which was the VR Conference.

“PLDT has always supported startups, we believe in encouraging creative ideas and creative entrepreneurs. Innovation has always been one of the driving forces for everything we do,” said Joey Limjap, PLDT VP for Mainstream Business Development and Research.

“The virtual reality community in our country is now gaining ground, and PLDT is here to show its all-out support. To say that VR in the Philippines is a promising innovation is an understatement. It is here, and it is now, and we (PLDT) clearly see that the youth is definitely not wasted on these young VR developers and enthusiasts,” Limjap added.

Limjap reiterated that PLDT Innolab’s support is one way to nurture the collaboration with promising VR app and game developers in the country.

During the conference, informative talks were held on several related topics such as the VR industry profile, ways on how to make VR social, the community’s best practices, and the potential of VR for the corporate world, institutions, cultural preservation and the academe.

To illustrate the scientific yet fun-filled event, Ace Lobos, the leader of a group of young artists and developers called Team Supremo, appeared more like an excited party guest—fist bumping and cracking jokes—than a grim and determined technician while doing the finishing touches to his team’s entry, a VR game called “The Leaning Tower of Piza."

“We aim to develop a game that would appeal to both gamers and developers, and to showcase our skills and creativity while learning and exploring the world of virtual reality,” Lobos said. Team Supremo’s work was awarded The Best Game in the competition.

Team VROS (Diwata VR) bagged the Overall Winner as it was awarded the Most Innovative Use of VR and Best Application titles.  The team is composed of Paolo Espiritu, John Hay Supetran and Mark Joseph Basibas who are now richer with Php50,000 worth of Samsung gift certificates plus Samsung Gear VRs and trophies.

The team’s entry is the Virtual Reality Simulator for the Diwata-1 microsatellite, an app for students who wish to learn how to program the satellite by interfacing with an Arduino or Raspberry Pi over Bluetooth which, in turn, simulates accurate rotation movements and sensor measurements in space as well as a breathtaking view of the Earth.

Diwata-1 is also known as PHL-Microsat-1, a Philippine microsatellite launched to the International Space Station (ISS) on March 23, 2016 and was deployed into orbit from the ISS on April 27, 2016.  It is the first Philippine microsatellite and the first satellite built and designed by Filipinos.

Espiritu, who was part of the group who helped build the microsatellite and spokesperson for Team VROS, said that “VR has a lot of potential for education, for learning, we can use it to teach physics, chemistry and other sciences. Not necessarily just for aerospace engineering.”

Team Arstar (Nayong Pilipino VR) went home with the Most Immersive Award and Best User Experience.  Team members also received trophies and Samsung Gear VRs.

VR Philippines founder Christopher David commended PLDT for the partnership initiative with the VR community.

“We are thankful for everything that PLDT has provided us—from housing our event in Innolab to providing data connectivity (which) truly helped in making this event a success,” David said.

Other sponsors of the successful event are SMART, Neun Farben, Chibot Media, VEER, Altitude Games and Vobling.

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6 Games You Shouldn't Miss Out on the Samsung Gear VR

If you haven't been chuggin' on the VR hypetrain, these Virtual Reality games should change your mind. Get immersed into the game with the Samsung Gear VR and these Top 6 VR Games

Manila, Philippines - Video games have a way of absorbing us to glorious digital worlds and enabling us to interact with technology in new ways. Today, with the improvement of virtual reality gaming has reached a whole new level of amazing.

Now that the Samsung Gear VR is out on shelves, gaming has never been as thrilling and exciting as before. At only P4,990, gamers can now try their hand at first person shooter games and become their favorite RPG character.

In case you’re wondering, the device comes equipped with all the bells and whistles to provide a truly immersive virtual reality (VR) gaming experience.

Now the question is, how do you make the most out of it?

In case you haven’t noticed, the options for games abound on the Samsung Gear VR. And to ensure that you don’t miss out on the best ones, we’ve rounded up the top games you should download—

Top 6 VR Games to Download and enjoy on the Samsung Gear VR:

                    

Smash Hit VR (Free)

This arcade game transitions from the smartphone and onto the VR platform with ease. It’s the kind of game that you can easily play for days on end. The goal is simple—hit the target.  But instead of thumbing through your screen, you now have to shift your head and tilt it side to side to hit your targets.

Temple Run (Free)

One of the most popular games to ever come on Android, Temple Run is making its way to the VR platform. Run as fast as you can from the artic demon monsters and collect treasures throughout your path. The nerve-wracking game gives you an immersive, first person view of the snowy trails you need to cross as you are being chased through icy terrain and rickety bridges.

Dead Secret (Paid)

Ever wonder what it’s like to actually live through the games that you play? Particularly the more thrilling ones? Dead Secret lets you play detective in this mystery thriller where you investigate a suspicious death. You’ll certainly feel the thrill as you walk through the entire game complete with sound effects that could easily creep out even the most intrepid investigators.

Oculus Arcade (Free)

Here’s a very cool throwback that you can play on VR. Remember Pac-Man? Sonic? Galaga? These are just some of the classic games that you can now play on Samsung Gear VR’s virtual world.

Land’s End (Paid) 

For more relaxing recreational options, Land’s End offers a fairly slow puzzle game that uses the device’s head tracking as controls. Each level on the game takes you to splendid environments. The surroundings are serene and beautiful sights to behold, so sit back and relax—it’ll take a while before you decide to slip off the Gear VR and give up on the puzzles presented.

Gunjack  (Paid)

Gunjack sets the bar for VR shooter games and for the entire genre on mobile. In the game, you take the role of a gun turret operator based on a mining ship in deep space. Your goal is to keep the vessel safe by keeping pirates seeking to plunder your precious cargo at bay.

With VR on the rise, it’s about time you choose a device that will allow you to get the best gaming experience the platform has to offer.

Which from these 6 VR Games would you like to try first on the Samsung Gear VR?

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2016 Emergence of Virtual Reality and What’s Barriers to Grow

VR or Virtual Reality, is now becoming mainstream, as technology even allows regular consumers to take 360 videos by using portable cameras to record astonishing moment, weather it's in the mountains, terrains and even under-water life.


Chris Milk, an accomplished visual artist and founder of virtual reality companies Vrse and Vrse.works, shares his views on the emergence of virtual reality.

The main hurdles that we spend a lot of time thinking about are inspiring mass adoption, creating great content, and continuing the discovery of what VR is capable of.

Widening the consumer base is a top priority. VR can (and will) be a revolutionary platform for gaming and entertainment, but we’ve been seeing firsthand just how far the medium can reach. We now have the power to traverse great distances in no time at all and walk a mile in another man’s shoes. VR has the power to transform how people feel about one another. How can VR continue to reshape journalism and news? How can VR affect education and learning? Every new revolutionary technology, be it the cell phone or the laptop, is pushed to the limits by humanity. How do we use this thing in a way where our lives are greatly improved? VR is no different. 2016 will see the continued push to explore how VR can transform existing modes of communication, bring people closer together, and make our lives more streamlined.

Samsung VR Glass

Next, creating great content. I think we’re entering a period of rapid experimentation and exploration. I think over the course of the next year we’ll see a lot more narrative exploration in VR. Storytellers are already retraining their brains to think in 360º, and so many great VR experiences already exist. I believe that great storytellers can tell a great story using anything. As more and more companies and studios invest in VR, we’re going to see some really great narrative experiments. We’re still at the infancy of this new art form. It took cinema decades to invent the close-up. Even longer to invent the match-cut. So on and so forth. As technology grows more widespread and the creation of VR experiences becomes democratized, we’re going to hear from new voices.

The simplest way we arrive at compelling content in VR is to imagine what would be compelling to experience in real life. In a lot of ways, VR is the closest we’ve come to inventing a teleportation device. You can take anyone from anywhere and transport them into moments, experiences, and stories. VR can eliminate the proximity between people, places, and things in a way that I haven’t seen done before. It’s helpful to think about what kinds of characters you want your audience to interact with, and how you’ll want the audience to remember them. That’s really what the storytelling goal should be: to create memories. Once you’ve got that in mind, you can reverse engineer everything else. We’re going to start seeing stories that take us to faraway and impossible locations, and stories that blur the lines between our world and the virtual one.

Chris Milk is an accomplished visual artist, having created music videos for Kanye West, Arcade Fire, Beck, Jack White, U2, Johnny Cash, Gnarls Barkley, and many more. Known for weaving artistic and technological innovations in pursuit of the new aesthetic, Milk’s acclaimed interactive projects include Wilderness Downtown (with Arcade Fire), The Johnny Cash Project, and The Treachery of Sanctuary. His interactive installation artworks have been showcased at the MoMA, the Tate Modern, and museums the world over. Chris’ most recent contribution to the art and tech frontier is as founder and CEO of the virtual reality companies Vrse and Vrse.works

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