Tag Archives: VR

NVIDIA Captures Three Major Computex 2016 Awards

TAIPEI, May 31, 2016 — NVIDIA won big at the Computex 2016 Best Choice Awards, with the NVIDIA Tesla M40 GPU and NVIDIA Jetson TX1 module hauling in Gold Awards and the NVIDIA SHIELD Android TV clinching a Category Award.

Garnering these three prestigious awards extends the company’s winning streak — the longest of any international Computex exhibitor — to eight consecutive years. Taiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wen will hand out the awards.

Nearly 375 technology products from more than 140 vendors vied for the Best Choice Awards at Computex 2016, the largest technology tradeshow in Asia and second largest in the world. The Best Choice Awards, established in 2002, honour innovation, functionality and market potential.

The Gold Award-winning NVIDIA Tesla M40 GPU is the world’s fastest deep learning training accelerator. Purpose-built to dramatically reduce training time, the Tesla M40 can crank through deep learning models within hours versus days on CPU-based compute systems.

The NVIDIA Jetson TX1, the other Gold Award winner, is the world’s most advanced system for embedded visual computing. A supercomputer on a module that’s the size of a credit card, it offers embedded computing developers the highest performance, latest technology and the best development platform.

Winner of the Digital Entertainment & AR/VR Application Category Award, NVIDIA SHIELD transforms the living room entertainment experience with 4K streaming, advanced gaming and Android TV. It also comes with GeForce NOW, the only game-streaming service that delivers GeForce GTX gaming to the TV instantly.

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Alienware 13 OLED & More @ Computex 2016

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After Dell launched the world’s largest 2-in-1 laptop, the Dell Inspiron 17 7000, we had the opportunity to check out some of their latest Alienware products. Some of them, we have seen earlier. Some of them are brand new. We didn’t have much time, but we recorded three videos for you to check out.

Alienware 13 OLED

The Alienware 13 OLED is the world’s first gaming notebook to feature an OLED display panel. This not only gives you a much higher contrast ratio of 100,000:1, it also gives you a wider colour gamut – 104% of sRGB. But gamers will probably be more interested in its much faster response time of just 1-2 ms.

Despite its petite size, the Alienware 13 OLED is powered by the 6th Generation Intel Core i7 processor with an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960M graphics processor. The OLED display has a resolution of 2560 x 1440, lower than the non-OLED resolution of 3200 x 1800 in the previous Alienware 13.

Alienware X51 R3

This is the third revision of the Alienware X51. Reengineered with the 6th Generation Intel Core processors and a new selection of AMD and NVIDIA graphics cards, the Alienware X51 R3 comes with a liquid cooling option, and Oculus Rift-ready configurations.

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Alienware Area 51 R2 With HTC Vive

There is nothing new with the Alienware Area 51 at Computex 2016. In fact, this is the second revision from 2015, running on the 5th Generation Intel Core K processors. However, it was being used to power a HTC Vive headset, and since they opened it up for viewing, we thought – what the heck, let’s just record a video!

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NVIDIA Simultaneous Multi-Projection Explained

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On May 6, NVIDIA revealed the first gaming GPU based on their new Pascal architecture – the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080. The GeForce GTX 1080 not only boasts the latest Pascal architecture, it is also fabricated on the new 16 nm FinFET process technology and uses the new GDDR5X memory.

Although we were not in Austin, Texas for the official launch, NVIDIA invited us to an exclusive tech briefing in Bangkok on May 20th. While these hardware specifications are well-known by now, this was a technical briefing that would give us greater insights into the other new technologies that are being introduced with the GeForce GTX 1080.

NVIDIA brought in the big guns for the tech briefing and demonstration – Nick Stam (NVIDIA Senior Technical Marketing Director), Jeff Yen (NVIDIA Senior Technical Marketing Manager) and John Gillooly (NVIDIA Technical Marketing Manager). We will be posting a series of videos of their presentations, divided into topic-specific chunks. Today, we are going to look at the new NVIDIA Simultaneous Multi-Projection Technology works.

NVIDIA Simultaneous Multi-Projection Explained

In this 19 minute-long video, Nick and Jeff explains how the new NVIDIA Simultaneous Multi-Projection technology will make a huge difference for gamers with multi-monitor setups, or virtual reality headsets. Both multi-monitor and virtual reality gamers will enjoy a much wider, and more realistic field of view.

On top of that, Simultaneous Multi-Projection can deliver up to 1.5X better pixel throughput, and 2X better geometry throughput for virtual reality displays! To find out how they do it, watch this video, or read the explainer below.

How Simultaneous Multi-Projection Delivers Better Performance

The new Simultaneous Multi-Projection architecture of the NVIDIA Pascal-based GPUs will be able to tackle two unique performance challenges that virtual reality creates – Lens Matched Shading and Single Pass Stereo.

Lens Matched Shading improves pixel shading performance by rendering closely to the warped dimensions of VR display output. This avoids rendering many pixels that would otherwise be discarded before the image is output to the VR headset.

Single Pass Stereo turbocharges geometry performance by drawing geometry only once, and then simultaneously projecting both right-eye and left-eye views of the geometry. This effectively halves the workload of traditional VR rendering, which requires the GPU to draw geometry twice — once for the left eye and once for the right eye.

Both techniques allow developers to increase performance and visual detail of their VR applications. Combined with the performance of GTX 1080 GPUs, Simultaneous Multi-Projection delivers a dramatic 2x VR performance improvement over the GeForce GTX TITAN X.

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NVIDIA Ansel In-Game Screenshot Technology Explained

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NVIDIA Ansel Explained

NVIDIA Ansel not just an in-game screenshot utility. It actually detaches you, the player, from the in-game limitations so you can capture your in-game shots in ways not possible before. You can also adjust the screenshots with a variety of post-process filters, or capture HDR images in super high resolution. You can even create 360-degree screenshots to display on your VR headset!

Here is a summary of NVIDIA Ansel’s key features :

Free Camera – Activating NVIDIA Ansel pauses the game and enables the Free Camera capability. This allows you to escape the first- or third-person perspective and compose your scene in any position, alignment or range, before taking unlimited high-resolution screenshots.

Super Resolution – Selecting the High Resolution option allows you to capture screenshots that are tens of thousands of pixels in size. This allows you to downsample the screenshot later, or zoom in to capture detail cannot be seen with the naked eye.

Post-Process Filters – NVIDIA Ansel comes with brightness, vignette, sketch, colour enhancer and special FX filters for added creativity. Users can even create and share their own special FX filters.

OpenEXR Capture – You can export Ansel screenshots in Industrial Light & Magic’s OpenEXR format so you can adjust the exposure, colour and levels in post-processing without creating artifacts.

360 Capture – This option allows you to create and share 360 degree screenshots for VR headsets.

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ASUS Beyond VR Ready Program Announced

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5th May 2016 — ASUS today announced ASUS Beyond VR Ready, a distinctive mark of compatibility and confidence for consumers keen to gear up for the virtual-reality (VR) gaming revolution. ASUS has worked closely with leading industry partners, to ensure a wide range of ASUS motherboards, graphics cards and systems work seamlessly with the new generation of fully-immersive VR headsets and accessories.

The testing and configuration program involved ASUS and partner engineers cooperating on the optimization of firmware and drivers for superior VR compatibility and performance — and the creation of the ASUS Beyond VR Ready logo indicates products tested to deliver a reliable and immersive VR experience.

The Beyond VR Ready badge will be applied to ASUS products already tested for compatibility with the Oculus Rift virtual-reality (VR) headset and will include other VR headsets like the HTC Vive once they arrive to market. The ASUS VR Ready website is live today, at www.asus.com/microsite/beyond-vr-ready and will be continually updated with the introduction of new products.

ASUS Beyond VR Ready

[adrotate banner=”4″]While it is easy for consumers to discover the minimum specifications necessary for building or buying a PC that could be capable of running the latest VR headsets and programs, confirming component compatibility and interoperability is a difficult job. ASUS Beyond VR starts with tested components or systems and the assurance that when everything is connected, powered on and the game or application is launched that a seamless, deep immersion into virtual reality is the consistent result.

With the Beyond VR Ready initiative, ASUS is publishing a list of components tested for compatibility with Oculus Rift and expanding to include VR products like the HTC Vive in the near future. The VR Ready model list will be updated regularly to account for the introduction of new ASUS products and VR gear and accessories from leading industry partners.

Consumers interested in building or buying a VR-compatible PC should visit the Beyond VR Ready website. A selection of recommended components for casual to the ultimate VR experien ce is included. Beyond VR Ready website also includes a list of ASUS PCs that are ready-made for an immersive VR experience.

Starting now, VR-capable ASUS products will carry a Beyond VR Ready logo — an at-a-glance recommendation that the product is suitable for VR based systems.

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IKEA VR Experience For HTC Vive Launched

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April 5th 2016 – For the last couple of years IKEA has explored new technology as a way to improve the offer and empower customers. In this context, IKEA has tried different digital tools and identified virtual reality as one of the ways to move forward. The launch of IKEA VR Experience is one of the steps taken within this field. It is a virtual kitchen made to appear to the user in real world size.

“Virtual reality is developing fast and in five to ten years it will be an integrated part of people’s lives. We see that virtual reality will play a major role in the future of our customers, for instance it could be used to enable customers to try out a variety of home furnishing solutions before buying them,” says Jesper Brodin, managing director at IKEA of Sweden and Range & Supply Manager at IKEA Group.

One of the features of IKEA VR Experience is the possibility to change the color of cabinets and drawers with a click. Another feature is the ability to shrink yourself and move around the kitchen in the size of a 3.3 foot (100 cm) tall child. You can also enlarge yourself and experience it as 6.4 feet (195 cm) tall. These features will be useful from a safety perspective, since walking around the room in someone else’s shoes enables you to discover hidden dangers.

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“We also see IKEA VR Experience as an opportunity to co-create with people all around the world. We hope that users will contribute to our virtual reality development, by submitting ideas on how to use virtual reality and how to improve the virtual kitchen,” says Martin Enthed, IT Manager for IKEA Communications, the in-house communication agency at IKEA of Sweden.

The app has been made in collaboration with developers at the French company Allegorithmic, using Unreal Engine 4 from Epic Games, and has been developed for HTC Vive – a first of its kind, award winning, virtual reality system created by HTC and Valve.

IKEA VR Experience will be continuously updated until August when this particular pilot test ends.

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Journey To Mars 2030 VR Experience @ GTC 2016

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April 6, 2016—Bringing to life the first steps of visiting our neighbouring planet, Mars 2030, an interactive virtual reality experience, debuted today at the GPU Technology Conference. Created by NVIDIA and FUSION Media, Mars 2030 transports people in VR to the Red Planet, where they are immersed in the simulated life of one of the first arriving NASA astronauts. They can explore deep space, live in a realistic Martian habitat, drive across the planet’s surface and drill into the surface of its ancient lake beds.

Speaking at the GTC opening keynote, NVIDIA CEO and co-founder Jen-Hsun Huang introduced the experience to personal computing pioneer Steve “Woz” Wozniak over a video link powered by Cisco TelePresence. Wearing a VR headset, Woz, an advocate of Mars travel, said, “Oh my gosh, this is going to be incredible for whoever actually gets to travel to Mars!”

Mars 2030 was developed using scientifically accurate satellite imagery and data gathered in years of exploration missions. It boasts a level of graphics fidelity that is only possible with NVIDIA VRWorks technologies.

“One in a billion people alive today will get to visit Mars, so this is for the rest of us,” said Zvi Greenstein, general manager of the GeForce business unit at NVIDIA. “Mars 2030 is being created as a true to life experience, while aiming for the highest visual fidelity possible in VR today, something only NVIDIA technology can deliver.”

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NASA is providing technical expertise to FUSION through a Space Act Agreement to make the first Mars surface VR experience based on actual operational and hardware concepts that the Journey to the Red Planet: ‘Mars 2030’ VR Experience Debuts at GTC agency is currently studying. Mars 2030 incorporates VRWorks’ Multi-Res Shading, which renders each part of an image to best suit the pixel density required by a headset. It also includes VR SLI, which can assign multiple GPUs to a specific eye to accelerate stereo rendering.

“As a part of FUSION’s commitment to innovative storytelling, we are always looking for unique ways to take our audience to interesting places,” said Julian Reyes, lead VR producer at FUSION. “We are thrilled that NVIDIA’s latest technologies, combined with what NASA has planned for the next frontier of space exploration, will allow us to push visual boundaries, convincing users that they are 141 million miles away from home on the surface of Mars.” GTC attendees can experience the first mission in Mars 2030, an exploration of an enormous Martian lava tube, from April 4-7 in the San Jose Convention Center.

Expected to be commercially available in the fall, Mars 2030 is optimised for NVIDIA GeForce and Quadro GPUs to give the environment an unparalleled level of authenticity.

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NVIDIA Iray VR Introduces Interactive Photorealism

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by Phil Miller

NVIDIA CEO Jen-Hsun Huang on Tuesday showed how our Iray technology can create interactive virtual worlds with unparalleled fidelity.

Imagine being able to see any combination of options for a car interior you’re thinking of buying — in photorealistic detail — and from any angle. Or being able to experience the feeling of a new building’s interior — from any corner of a room — before it’s built.

Iray VR capabilities will allow us to create environments that let users strap on a headset and peer around photorealistic virtual environments. With Iray VR, you’ll be able to look around the inside of a virtual car, a modern loft, or the interior of our still unfinished Silicon Valley campus with uncanny accuracy.

“It’s utterly beautiful,” said Huang during a keynote address at our GPU Technology Conference in San Jose, Calif., as he showed attendees still-to-be constructed interiors of the campus. “Iray VR is going to be unbelievable for people designing cars, for people architecting buildings and many other areas.”

Yet despite their realism, none of these environments exist outside of our computer models.

It’s the next step with our Iray technology, which taps into the power of our GPUs to let users quickly generate immersive experiences of their designs with amazing accuracy.

Iray Brings Reality to Virtual Reality

[adrotate banner=”4″]Iray lets users refine their designs faster thanks to its host of rendering capabilities, such as interactive ray tracing, the ability to accurately represent materials, and scaling from desktop to datacenter. These capabilities have made Iray an indispensable tool for designers and will become essential for realistic virtual experiences.

In particular, Iray has proven itself to architects and lighting designers, who are using its capabilities to model how light interacts with their designs at any time of day, and any day of the year.

Attendees at our GTC conference, taking place now at the San Jose Convention Center, can experience the full Iray VR experience in our booth in the VR Village. Look for more details on the availability of Iray VR capabilities later this spring.

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AMD Radeon Pro Duo with LiquidVR Launched

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SAN FRANCISCO, California — March 14, 2016 — AMD today introduced the world’s most powerful platform for virtual reality (VR), capable of both creating and consuming VR content. AMD’s Radeon Pro Duo with its LiquidVR SDK is a platform aimed at most aspects of VR content creation: from entertainment to education, journalism, medicine and cinema.

With an astonishing 16 teraflops of compute performance, AMD offers a complete solution aimed at all aspects of the VR developer lifestyle: developing content more rapidly for tomorrow’s killer VR experiences while at work, and playing the latest DirectX 12 experiences at maximum fidelity while off work.

AMD continues to solve major problems developers face by reducing latency and accelerating the VR pipeline through close collaboration with the content development community and with AMD LiquidVR technology. AMD’s next step in advancing VR is with the new AMD Radeon Pro Duo, an incredibly advanced and powerful dual-GPU board that delivers the horsepower needed by VR designers, content creators, and for VR content consumers.

“More powerful computing platforms are rapidly leading to greater immersive experiences, said Raja Koduri, Senior Vice President and Chief Architect, Radeon Technologies Group, AMD. “This is most evident with VR which demands ever higher compute performance with rock solid consistency. Our new AMD Radeon Pro Duo with our LiquidVR SDK is the world’s fastest platform for both content creation and consumption1, enabling a world class graphics and VR experience.”

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AMD Radeon Pro Duo is the initial product of the AMD VR Ready Creator line. The AMD Radeon Pro Duo with the LiquidVR SDK is also the platform of choice for Crytek’s VR First initiative for nurturing new talent in the field of virtual reality development by powering virtual reality labs in colleges and universities worldwide.

“As a state of the art platform, the AMD Radeon Pro Duo with the LiquidVR SDK is the perfect choice as the graphics standard for Crytek’s VR First initiative,” said Cevat Yerli, CEO, Crytek. “As a graphics card that bridges the needs of both VR content creators and content consumers, it’s extremely fitting hardware to supply to the brightest up-and-coming developers, who will surely shape the future of virtual reality and immersive computing.”

AMD Radeon Pro Duo with VR Availability

The AMD Radeon Pro Duo is planned for availability in early Q2 2016 at an anticipated SEP of US$ 1,499.

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AMD Takes 83% Share Of Global VR System Market

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SAN FRANCISCO, California — March 14, 2016 — AMD announced today at the 2016 Game Developer Conference that the company will underscore its dominance of the global VR system market. It revealed new advances in hardware and software to further the reach of VR, and unveiled its new GPU certified program that simplifies adoption of VR technology for consumers and content creators.

“AMD continues to be a driving force in virtual reality,” said Raja Koduri, Senior Vice President and Chief Architect, Radeon Technologies Group, AMD. “We’re bringing the technology to more people around the world through our efforts to expand the VR ecosystem with VR i-Cafés in China, new Oculus Rift and HTC Vive headsets, and a wide variety of content partners in gaming, entertainment, education, science, medicine, journalism and several other exciting fields.”

AMD is also making VR more easily accessible to consumers and content creators with its GPU certified program featuring the new “Radeon VR Ready Premium” and “Radeon VR Ready Creator” tiers. Its forthcoming Polaris GPUs and award-winning AMD LiquidVR technology will simultaneously advance groundbreaking VR-optimized graphics.

Expanding the VR ecosystem

Leading market share – AMD is powering the overwhelming majority of home entertainment VR systems around the world, with an estimated 83 percent market share.1 This share is driven in part by AMD technology powering VR-capable game consoles installed in millions of homes globally.
Powering the premium VR headsets of 2016 – AMD is partnering with the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive Pre headset manufacturers to ensure the Radeon ecosystem is ready to take advantage of their hugely anticipated launches this year.
Collaborating to develop new form factors – AMD is working with Sulon Technologies Inc. on the Sulon Q headset, the world’s first and only all-in-one, tether-free, “wear and play” headset for virtual reality, augmented reality, and spatial computing. Powered by Radeon graphics and leveraging AMD’s LiquidVR technology for smooth and responsive AR and VR experiences, the Sulon Q headset allows users to effortlessly enhance the real world through augmented reality applications, and seamlessly transitions from the real world to virtual worlds.
Powering premium VR experiences beyond gaming – AMD is collaborating with leading organizations to illustrate the power of VR outside of gaming, working with companies in healthcare, entertainment, education, media, training and simulation, among others. AMD is already seeing fruits of the efforts in projects including General Electric’s “The Neuro VR Experience” experience simulating brain activity, The Smithsonian Museum’s “First: The Story of Orville and Wilbur” experience, and incredible storytelling in VR through a recently announced collaboration with the Associated Press.

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Advancing technology to power premium VR experiences

Showcasing next-generation VR-optimized GPU hardware – AMD today demonstrated for the first time ever the company’s forthcoming Polaris 10 GPU running Valve’s Aperture Science Robot Repair demo powered by the HTC Vive Pre. The sample GPU features the recently announced Polaris GPU architecture designed for 14nm FinFET, optimized for DirectX 12 and VR, and boasts significant architectural improvements over previous AMD architectures including HDR monitor support, industry-leading performance-per-watt 2, and AMD’s 4th generation Graphics Core Next (GCN) architecture.
Growing adoption of GPUOpen’s LiquidVR technology – AMD LiquidVR technology helps address obstacles in content, comfort and compatibility that together take the industry a step closer to true, life-like presence in VR games, applications and experiences. Today AMD LiquidVR technology is being used across the VR software stack by headset manufacturers, including Oculus, HTC, game engine developers and content creators.

Simplifying VR adoption for consumers and content creators

AMD will today announce its new GPU certified program for VR, allowing OEMs, system builders, and AIB partners to instantly communicate to consumers which certified Radeon products can be used to deliver exceptional VR experiences with the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive headsets.

“Radeon VR Ready Premium” solutions for exceptional VR experiences –Certified Radeon R9 290-class graphics cards and higher, and systems built using those cards, are now eligible for the “Radeon VR Ready Premium” seal.

“VR-optimized systems like the HP ENVY Phoenix is specifically configured with the quality, performance and computing power to enable amazing virtual experiences,” said Kevin Frost, vice president and general manager, consumer personal systems, HP Inc. “HP is working with AMD to deliver the VR-ready HP ENVY Phoenix tower for a seamless out-of-the-box experience. With the Radeon VR Ready Premium program, it will help customers to take the guess work out of selecting the right VR capable graphics.”

“Radeon VR Ready Creator” solutions for VR professionals, experience designers, and developers –The “Radeon™ VR Ready Creator” seal signifies unprecedented performance and industry-leading innovation that empowers VR content creators and experience designers with incredibly powerful and capable development tools. Featuring an upcoming graphics card with AMD’s LiquidVR SDK (software developer kit), the “Radeon VR Ready Creator” designation signifies the ultimate performance for both content creation and consumption for VR professionals.

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AMD Dedicated VR Labs in Universities

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SAN FRANCISCO, California — March 14, 2016 — AMD today announced it is helping colleges and universities create dedicated VR labs as Crytek’s exclusive technology partner in their VR First initiative. The VR First initiative provides colleges and universities a ready-made VR solution for developers, students and researchers.

AMD will equip the labs with its new Radeon Pro Duo graphics cards featuring LiquidVR SDK, the world’s fastest and most powerful VR creator platform , capable of both creating and consuming VR content. AMD will provide its LiquidVR Software Developer Kit (SDK) as part of the GPUOpen initiative.

Virtual reality has the potential to revolutionize how people experience the digital world with implications for gaming, entertainment, education, medicine, journalism and numerous other fields. The ultimate goal is to equip a new generation of developers who will create amazing and compelling experiences for users worldwide. AMD and Crytek share a commitment to seeding grassroots VR development.

“We’re on the cusp of an immersive computing era enabled by GPUs and game engines” said Raja Koduri, Senior Vice President and Chief Architect, Radeon Technologies Group, AMD. “We need a new generation of developers whose educational foundation includes mastery of game engines and GPU programming. We’re dedicated to nurturing that future, and see the collaboration with Crytek and the VR First initiative as a key step in realizing the goal of expanding immersive experiences outlined in our VR Ready Programs.”

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The new labs will be equipped with AMD Radeon Pro Duo graphics cards with LiquidVR SDK, the world’s fastest VR content creator platform bridging content creation and consumption and offering an astonishing 16 teraflops of compute power. Designed to be compatible with multiple head mounted displays, including the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive, AMD Radeon Pro Duo cards will encourage grassroots VR development around the world. The initial VR First Lab at Bahçeşehir University in Istanbul is already up and running in January of this year.

“VR First labs will become key incubators for nurturing new talent in VR development and creating a global community well-prepared to innovate in this exciting and emerging field,” said Cevat Yerli, CEO, Crytek. “VR experiences, harnessing the power of the CRYENGINE and developed using world-class Radeon hardware and software, will have the potential to fundamentally transform how we interact with technology.”

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HTC Vive Consumer Edition VR Headset Unveiled

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Barcelona, Mobile World Congress, February 21, 2016 – HTC, in partnership with Valve, today unveiled the consumer edition of its Vive virtual reality system. Continuing to build upon the Vive’s exhaustive list of features, this complete Vive system, powered by SteamVR, introduces yet another new technological innovation – Vive Phone Services – once again setting a new standard in virtual reality.

Enabling you to stay connected to the real world, without exiting the virtual world, Vive Phone Services demonstrates the ability to combine both realities without losing touch of either. By allowing you to receive and respond to both incoming and missed calls, get text messages and send quick replies and check upcoming calendar invites directly through the headset, it creates a hybrid reality opening up a whole new world of possibilities for both consumers and businesses.

Taking Vive one step further, with refreshed branding and an updated headstrap, the HTC Vive Consumer Edition builds upon the innovative features that were introduced into the Vive Pre. These include updated wireless controllers with haptic feedback and dual stage triggers, a front facing camera that blends physical elements into the virtual world, a redesigned headstrap that offers greater stability and balance and an improved visual system with brighter displays to give a deeper sense of immersion.

Priced at US$799, for a limited time the consumer edition will also ship with two fully-fledged VR experiences to get you started in the VR world:

[adrotate banner=”4″]Job Simulator: The 2050 Archives, by Owlchemy Labs: In a firmly tongue-in-cheek world where robots have replaced all human jobs, step into the ‘Job Simulator’ to learn what it was like ‘to job’.
Fantastic Contraption, by Northway Games in collaboration with Radial Games: Imagine walking around a grassy island floating in the sky, building a machine the size of a horse with your own hands, and then watching it roll out into the world.

But it’s not just about gaming. In addition to these launch titles, HTC is working with developers to foster the creation of content that spans multiple sectors including entertainment, retail, education, design, healthcare and automotive.

“From the beginning, Vive has been at the forefront of virtual reality, with HTC pioneering several ground breaking technologies,” comments Cher Wang, chairwoman and CEO, HTC. “Since announcing Vive this time last year, we have worked tirelessly with Valve to deliver the best VR experience on the market, winning multiple awards and receiving critical acclaim from media, consumers and the industry. With the Vive consumer edition we are now able to realize our ultimate vision; bringing Vive into homes around the globe so that people can experience immersive virtual reality in a away that fires the imagination and truly changes the world.”

Vive Consumer Edition Pricing and Availability

The HTC Vive Consumer Edition will be available to pre-order from 29th February, with pre-order fulfilment and full commercial availability starting in early April.

Priced at US$799, the Vive Consumer Edition is the first complete VR solution, including two wireless VR controllers, room scale movement sensors, and an HMD featuring a built in camera and phone, plus the two VR titles. The integration of SteamVR into the bundle ensures that all Vive equipment is kept up-to-date with the latest features.

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NVIDIA GeForce GTX VR Ready Programme Announced

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Jan. 5, 2015—NVIDIA (NASDAQ: NVDA) today unveiled the GeForce GTX VR Ready programme to help gamers navigate their way to great virtual reality experiences.

The company has partnered with PC and notebook makers and add-in card providers to deliver “GeForce® GTX® VR Ready” systems and graphics cards that deliver an immersive VR gaming experience. The programme minimises confusion regarding which equipment is necessary to play the range of VR games and applications increasingly coming to market.

Delivering a great VR experience demands seven times the graphics processing power of traditional 3D games and applications – driving framerates above 90 frames per second (fps) for two simultaneous images (one for each eye).

“For customers, navigating an emerging technology like VR can be daunting,” said Jason Paul, general manager of emerging technologies at NVIDIA. “We’re working with trusted partners worldwide to simplify the buying process with a GeForce GTX VR Ready badge that will let customers quickly identify PCs or add-in cards that are capable of handling the demands of VR.”

NVIDIA® GPUs are at the heart of the VR ecosystem and are powered by the award-winning NVIDIA Maxwell™ graphics architecture, which was created with VR in mind. In addition to powering fast framerates, it includes unique VR features, such as support for NVIDIA Multi-Res Shading, which boosts performance by up to 50 percent while maintaining image quality and reducing latency.

NVIDIA provides the fastest performance and lowest latency for VR experiences through a combination of its Maxwell-class GTX GPUs, NVIDIA Game Ready Drivers and its software tools for developers, NVIDIA GameWorks™ VR and NVIDIA DesignWorks™ VR.

VR Ready Support From PC Builders

The world’s leading PC vendors are participating in the GeForce GTX VR Ready programme.

“As trailblazers in gaming and graphics, Alienware and NVIDIA are committed to providing great turnkey VR experiences. The programme will guide customers to the products that will delight them. Maxwell-based GPUs are a great match for VR experiences, and cards like the GeForce GTX 970 help Alienware PCs set the industry standard.” — Frank Azor, general manager, Alienware

“NVIDIA’s GeForce GTX VR Ready programme makes VR easy and enjoyable. NVIDIA is helping to lead the industry forward. Its Maxwell-powered graphics cards provide the horsepower and low latency needed for VR. And its GameWorks VR platform provides developers the necessary tools to create the next bestselling VR game of the future.” — Wallace Santos, CEO and founder, MAINGEAR

“VR has traditionally been reserved for desktops, but NVIDIA has given notebooks such as the MSI GT72 Dominator and GT80 Titan with GeForce GTX 980 the necessary punch to bring virtual experiences to life while on the go. NVIDIA’s GeForce GTX VR Ready badge makes identifying VR capable machines easy and guarantees a fantastic and immersive gaming experience.” — Andy Tung, president of MSI Pan America, MSI

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