Virtual Reality

“All you need is love.” The famous lyrics were Cosmo Scharf’s last words explaining to Medium why he gave up a grant from the prestigious Thiel Fellowship. Why did he do it? Scharf saw technology as a means to spread goodness and love, and Peter Thiel’s political views opposed that aim. Scharf paid back what was left of his $100,000 grant, and donated the rest to climate change-related charities. Bold move.   Love isn’t a concept often paired with technology, so hearing it from one of virtual reality’s elite seems a little…odd. Love? Doesn't he just key in code all...

Back in the old days, before credit cards had chips, weirdo kids like me could sit and stare at shiny holographic eagles printed on the front of these cards. They were mesmerizing for the same reasons holographic 3 ring binders would mesmerize friends at school. These unusual, eye-catching illusions make flat surfaces appear textured, contoured, not flat. It is achieved by creating depth—the third dimension of 3D. Though its novelty might suggest otherwise, 3D isn’t some new technology. As far back as the 1920s, motion pictures have been shown in stereoscopic 3D. Source: widescreen movies People wore glasses that worked...

2017 marks the first year in Oscar's history where a 360° VR film has been nominated for an award. I'll repeat that in case you didn't hear. For the first time in history, a virtual reality motion picture got nominated for an Oscar! After years of sci-fi concept films like in RoboCop and Demolition Man, movies are finally immersing viewers into digitized 3D universes. Viewers are no longer merely observers, but can now take part by participating in a film's setting and scenery.  The first movie I ever watched that tried to show consciousness from a first-person point of view...