Virtual Reality Was A Disappointment At This Year's CES

The words of the day at CES were "incremental improvement."

Photo by Josh Miller/CNET

CNET: Virtually boring: VR really disappoints at CES this year

Virtual reality promises to be a mega-trend that upends how we use computers and just plain get along. So why's it such a snooze at the world's biggest tech expo?

Call it a virtual disappointment. Or virtually unsurprising. I'll just say I was virtually underwhelmed.

Whatever pun you choose, the virtual reality industry has some explaining to do after this year's Consumer Electronics Show, during which the biggest product announcements can largely be categorized as "more of the same."

Consider computer maker Lenovo, which showed off a VR headset whose primary selling point is that it's cheaper than competitors like the $599 Oculus Rift from Facebook or the $799 HTC Vive -- though Lenovo isn't discussing prices yet and the prototype on display doesn't actually work.

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CSN Editor: When you consider all the hype for the past year in regards to VR .... satisfying everyone's expectations was a tall order.

Google Forms A Virtual Reality Division

USA Today: Google forms virtual reality division as Facebook rivalry heats up

SAN FRANCISCO — Google has formed a division to focus on virtual reality, a move that comes in the face of growing competition from Facebook and its subsidiary Oculus.

Google CEO Sundar Pichai has appointed one of his deputies, Clay Bavor, to run the division. Google declined further comment.

The development was first reported by technology news outlet Re/code.

Bavor, vice president for product management, ran Google apps such as Gmail and Drive. Responsibility for apps will now fall to Diane Greene, the enterprise software veteran and Google board member who now runs Google's cloud computing business.

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CSN Editor: Google is a little late in the game .... but they have the resources to catch up quick.

VR Porn Is The Next Big Thing In Adult entertainment

Mashable: VR porn is here and it's scary how realistic it is

I've tried a lot of different virtual reality experiences. Some good, some extraordinarily amazing, and some terrible. But mostly good.

I've never, however, tried VR porn. So when Naughty America, one of the U.S.'s largest pornography production companies, invited me to try out VR porn for myself at CES, I wasn't sure what to expect.

Would I merely be a spectator in a room watching people get freaky? Or would I actually be having VR sex?

I got my answer as soon as I slipped on a Samsung Gear VR headset and hit play on a VR porn video.

As the Naughty America title screen faded away, I found myself transported into a bedroom. Kneeling before me was a female porn star who was seductively talking dirty to me. I looked down and saw some guy's muscular body. Well, that's not mine, I thought to myself. I was confused. Whose body was this? Then I realized, I was now this guy.

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CSN Editor: Here is an easy prediction .... the porn industry is probably going to make a lot of money from this, and the manufacturers of these headsets even more..

Facebook's Oculus Rift Due To Be Launched Later This Year

The first commercial headset of Facebook's Oculus Rift is due to go on sale within weeks and will cost more than £300. An earlier iteration given to developers is pictured above

Daily Mail: Virtual reality is the future of TV: Facebook's Oculus Rift headset could give sport fans 360-degree views of games

* Oculus Rift is due to be launched later this year and will cost around £300
* The first content is likely to be for the computer games industry
* But virtual reality could find major new markets in television and sport

Imagine sitting in the cockpit of a star ship in the midst of an intergalactic dogfight or sharing the fun in the stands of the World Cup final.

Virtual reality headsets that put the wearer in the middle of the action - with a 360-degree view - are set to be the breakthrough gadgets of 2016.

At the heart of this revolution is a battle between the world's biggest and richest tech giants, notably Facebook, Microsoft, Sony, Samsung and HTC.

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CSN Editor: When virtual reality reaches its "hoped-for" potential .... this will be the hottest item that every consumer will need to have. Unfortunately .... we are still far away from that.

Virtual Reality Makes Real-World Cash, Boosts Self-Esteem

From ABC News:

FarmVille, Wee World, Second Life Attract Millions of Users, But at What Cost to Society?

Last year, a man who goes by the moniker "Sal9000" married the love of his life in a ceremony that was streamed live online. The 27-year-old lives in Tokyo. His bride "Nene" lives inside a Nintendo DS handheld video game.

Sal9000 paid real money to marry a virtual woman, and he is not alone. Well, technically he's not.

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The US Virtual Economy Is Set To Make Billions

Photo: Ten of the top 15 apps on Facebook are social games.

From BBC:

Virtual goods such as weapons or digital bottles of champagne traded in the US could be worth up to $5bn in the next five years, experts predict.

In Asia, sales are already around the $5bn mark and rapidly growing.

For many, virtual goods are one of the hottest trends in technology and are fuelling huge growth in the social gaming sector.

"This is just an exploding part of the gaming business right now, said venture capitalist Jeremy Liew.

"It is the most exciting area in gaming," he said.

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Veterans Return To Iraq – Virtually

From The Independent:

Computer simulations could help soldiers with post traumatic stress disorder.

The haunting sound of an Islamic call to prayer echoes around you as you walk through the Iraqi town, litter blowing across the street and market traders standing next to their stalls. Glance down and your rifle comes into view, look to the right and you spot the Black Hawk helicopter.

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Innovation: Physics Brings Realism To Virtual Reality

From New Scientist:

Innovation is our regular column that highlights the latest emerging technological ideas and where they may lead.

Computer games have come a long way from the pixelated graphics of the 1980s to the more polished characters of today. But the inexorable creep of Moore's Law has now taken us to the brink of further giant changes.

The latest multi-core processors and some smart software allow techniques used by physicists and engineers to simulate the real world in extreme detail to be used to create virtual worlds governed by real physics, rather than the simplified versions used today.

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Revealed: The Headset That Will Mimic All Five Senses And Make The Virtual World As Convincing As Real Life

The virtual reality helmet titillates all five body senses while viewers sit at home on their sofas

From The Daily Mail:

A virtual reality helmet that recreates the sights, smells, sounds and even tastes of far-flung holiday destinations has been devised by British scientists.

Armchair travellers wearing the device will be able to hear the roar of lions on safari, smell the flowers of an Alpine meadow or feel the heat of the Caribbean sun on their face - all from the comfort of their sitting room.

The device will also allow people to greet friends and family on the other side of the world as if they were in same room, and to immerse themselves in fantasy worlds.

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