Tomorrow (Friday the 18th), Road to VR is hosting a live roundtable discussion inside of virtual reality. Anyone is welcome to be part of the live virtual audience, whether you have access to VR hardware or not. We will be joined by guests from the VR world representing different topics of discussion.
Road to VR’s live roundtable discussion will be held on Friday, July 18th at 11:30am EST inside the Riftmax software. Find the time of the event in your timezone here. Instructions for joining the event can be found below.
Live Stream
If you can’t join the discussion through Riftmax, you are welcome to watch the live stream of the event on the Riftmax Hitbox channel. We also plan to make a recorded version available after the event.
Guest Lineup
Joining us is an exciting roster of VR industry insiders representing specific topics:
Mobile VR – Ed Mason, CEO at GameFace Labs
Ed Mason joins us to talk about mobile VR. GameFace Labs has been working on an all-in-one mobile VR headset. Instead of tethering to a PC or using a smartphone, GameFace is building all the necessary components into the headset. The unit is based on Android and the company plans to launch a developer kit by the end of the year. We recently got to check out the company’s latest ‘Mark 5’ prototype which features a whopping 2.5k display.
VR Input – Danny Woodall, Creative Director at Sixense
Danny Woodall joins us to talk about VR input. Sixense built the technology behind the Razer Hydra, currently one of the most widely used motion input controllers for VR gaming. The company ran a successful Kickstarter for a next-generation version of the Hydra, called STEM, and is due soon to send the first developer kits out to backers. As Creative Director at Sixense, Woodall has been working on readying STEM demos to give developers a headstart on understanding how to integrate the system with their games. We recently tested the latest STEM prototype and came away quite impressed.
VR Cinema – Phil Harper, Head of Digital at Atlantic Productions
Phil Harper joins us to talk about VR cinema. Atlantic Productions is an award winning content production company that has worked extensively in the nature documentary space. The company recently announced Alchemy VR, a new division of the company dedicated to virtual reality storytelling. Alchemy’s first project is a nature documentary featuring David Attenborough, a celebrated naturalists and narrator/host.
Casual VR Experiences – Aaron Lemke, Founder at Unello Design
Aaron Lemke joins us to talk about casual VR experiences. Lemke is a game designer and musician. Through his studio, Unello Design, he has been exploring the peaceful and meditative end of the VR spectrum. Lemke has produced multiple Oculus Rift demos with a slant toward calming experiences. His latest project is Eden River HD, which we recently previewed, due out on August 8th.
Aside from this excellent guest lineup, the entire Road to VR team will be gathered to host the discussion.
- Ben Lang, Founder & Executive Editor
- Paul James, Editor
- “Reverend” Kyle Riesenbeck, Contributor and host of the Rev VR Podcast
- Brian Hart, Silicon Valley Correspondent
- Jon Tustain, London Correspondent
- “Cymatic” Bruce Wooden, Contributor and VR evangelist
Learn more about the team at our About page.
How to Join the Road to VR Live Roundtable Discussion in Riftmax
The event will be held inside virtual reality in the Riftmax software. Riftmax supports the Oculus Rift, with or without the Razer Hydra. Users without access to an Oculus Rift and/or Hydra can join the roundtable discussion on a regular monitor with a keyboard and mouse. It is highly recommend that you install and familiarize yourself with Riftmax before the start of event.
Install Riftmax:
Download the latest version of Riftmax here for PC or Mac. PC users will need a utility like WinRAR to unzip the Riftmax download. PC users will need to download and install Quicktime. Please restart after installing Quicktime.
[Optional] Select Monitor Mode (for those without access to the Oculus Rift):
Once you launch Riftmax, accept the terms of use and you’ll be greeted with a menu. Use your mouse to select ‘Game Lobby’ then select ‘Display: Rift’ to toggle to Monitor mode if you don’t have access to the Oculus Rift.
Join the Lobby:
After launching Riftmax and accepting the terms of use, click ‘Game Lobby’ then ‘Join a Theater.’ Locate the ‘Road to VR Roundtable’ theater and click the join button on the right. If you aren’t seeing any lobbies listed, try quitting Riftmax and checking for a firewall approval dialogue box. You may need to accept this to be able to join the Road to VR Roundtable lobby. You can also stop by the Avatar button in the menu to make some modifications to your appearance.
Riftmax Controls:
Keyboard
- Toggle Chat – ~ (tilde)
- Push-to-talk – Left alt
- Sit (approach seat first) – Ctrl
- Reset forward direction – Backspace
Razer Hydra
Note: The Hydra isn’t working with Riftmax on Windows 8.
Note: Windows 7 Hydra users should start launch Riftmax with their controllers undocked otherwise they will not be recognized.
Note: Razer Hydra users will need to point their controllers at the Hydra base and pull the right and left trigger before activating hand tracking.
- Toggle Chat – Right-hand #2 button
- Push-to-talk – Right-hand #3 button
- Sit (approach seat first) – Right-hand bumper (above the trigger)
- Reset forward direction – Left-hand bumper (above the trigger)
- Activate/deactivate hand tracking – Start button on left and right controller (to ‘ratchet’ your hands into position, press the start button on each controller to freeze your virtual hands, then move your real hands to match the postion of your virtual hands, then unfreeze by pressing the start buttons again).
Troubleshooting:
- Close any programs like Teamviewer, VNC, programs that might be using your microphone, etc.
- Run program as ‘Administrator’
