The 1st official virtual reality meetup in Long Beach was hosted at California State University Long Beach on November 4th, 2014 which brought together people from all over the West Coast. LBVR’s foundation is one built on the cross-section of nearby virtual reality communities and glimpses into where the local VR revolution is headed. VR Finds Long Beach Currently, virtual reality has been a widespread, global movement with roots firmly planted in California. Meetups like SVVR, VRLA, and OCVR have sprung up as the demand for virtual reality has grown. It all surfaced in San Francisco which sparked the fire of VR interest down towards the environments surrounding Los Angeles and Orange County. Then, other smaller demonstrations of developer content started to arise. Soon gaming conferences, software-based technology events, and maker movement get-togethers began to embed bits and pieces of emerging virtual reality innovations. As the wildfire of VR engulfed the nearby surroundings, individuals from the local communities saw the need for a specific Long Beach collection of virtual reality enthusiasts; and so, the LBVR meetup was born! See also: Virtual Reality Invades IndieCade 2014 The night started with LBVR's organizer, Christopher Cain, giving a quick introduction with an explanation to why it was important to create this meetup. He said right off the bat that LBVR was produced to fill “the void in between LA and Orange County.” This was done in part because sometimes it is a little bit difficult to travel to Los Angeles or OC for smaller VR events due to travel times and conflicting schedules. Thus, a collaborative community within Long Beach was required. What makes Long Beach great for VR is the strong connections to engineering and art schools based there. As Christopher Cain stated early on, the art school on the campus practically “runs this place.” In addition, the university has an influential film department along with an electronic arts department as well. This means that there are tons of creative individuals here who are looking for an emerging industry to get their hands on. To get things going, a video by Nick Venden was played at the beginning of the meetup setting an artistic mood. It showed what Nick envisions the future of virtual reality will look like if people don’t watch the revolution carefully. It silently depicts a journey into what seems to be a prison with a person huddled in a decrepit, locked room with wired sensors strapped to his arms as he feverously twitches in the corner. It is reminiscent of photos and illustrations (like this one) showing similar interactions with virtual reality headsets that have surfaced in the past. On a lighter note, Ryan Pulliam, CMO of Specular Theory, took to the podium to speak about the wonderful projects that their company is working on. Their CEO and founder Morris May has 25+ years of hollywood visual effects experience and has been awarded two Academy Awards in his career so far (one for Happy Feet, and one for Spiderman 2). Pulliam and May met surfing one day. Later, May invited her to try out this crazy new device known as the Oculus Rift. Shortly after, Pulliam quit her job and decided to hop on the wild ride that is virtual reality. During her presentation, Pulliam mentions that working in the VR space can sometimes feel like “developing iPhone apps before the iPhone was released.” No one really knows what the market will turn into. Yet, the movement progresses despite a lack of consumer products (for now). It’s still a risky move at this point, but developers like those at Specular Theory push on knowing that there is an amazing chance to achieve something great in the near future. [caption id="attachment_17355" align="alignright" width="325"] Screenshot of the Venice Beach experience by Specular Theory[/caption] The demo that Pulliam was showing off that day was a 3D stereoscopic video cut from a fun romp through Venice Beach. The footage was captured with a custom, homemade camera rig that Morris May hacked together. Details of the rig are mostly under wraps, but I have seen it in action (recently at the STEAM Carnival). The setup is something that almost anyone can make; given the right resources. The rig is portable enough to be transported anywhere, including putting it on a moving bike (which can be seen in the demo). The Venice Beach experience by Specular Theory starts out by showing people swinging from rings as they laugh joyfully during a sunny day. The trip continues as a couple of snake wranglers appear with large boa constrictors wrapped around their arms. The creatures are so close that is feels like they've slithered their way right into the VR headset. Potential upcoming film demos by Specular Theory may include a journey through a ‘Carnival of the Future’ where jugglers, musicians, and tesla coil rockstars frolic and dazzle the crowd. A Halloween Haunted House experience has also been recorded which might make its way out into the world soon. Continued on Page 2 After Ryan's talk, demonstrations of all the virtual reality demos in the room where tried out as members from the virtual reality company known as Otherworld Interactive spoke about what they have developed. The team consists of three people: Michael Murdock (Creative Director), Robyn Gray (Chief Designer), and Andy Goldstein (Executive Producer). Michael Murdock opened by describing the overview of the company and what properties of virtual reality are already here that enable people to tell different types of immersive stories. Otherworld Interactive history started at the beginning of the summer of 2014 right after the team finished up an interactive media course at USC. This is the same college that Oculus’s founder Palmer Luckey spun out of. Michael and the rest of the Otherworld Interactive team saw virtual reality as an emerging technology and wanted to be a part of it. They then founded their company and started making content for VR. The backgrounds of each of the members shows that Otherworld Interactive has a strong grasp on where VR has been, where it is now, and where it is going. Michael Murdock for instance has been involved in visual effects, animation, and motion graphics for film and television before coming to the VR space. While working at Microsoft Research, Michael dabbled in augmented reality and projection mapping technology. From there, he joined Oculus in early 2014 as an Interactive Designer and Contractor while finishing up his Masters in Fine Arts. His user interface designs and work made its way into the Samsung Gear VR headset, rumoured to make it's way to market in December this year. Andy Goldstein has worked on various Perceptual Computing platforms (including one at Intel), and Robyn Gray was a research assistant at the MxR Lab at USC. Each individual understands the potential that is virtual reality, and together they are a force to be reckoned within the VR creative space. One of their experiences, Café Âme, is set in Paris, France sometime in the 1950s at a coffee shop. Rain outside trickles down as the neon glow of business signs across the street reflect their light into the puddles below. The inside of the shop is quiet and looking at the table shows a freshly brewed cup of coffee sitting on a rounded table. There are notes scribbled across loose leaves of paper. A pen lays dormant waiting to be picked up and used. The focus of the Café Âme project was to experiment with what it means to be comfortable in VR. Crisp, detailed ambience and viewer embodiment helped draw a spectacular scene where one can wiggle around in. Other examples by Otherworld Interactive include an interactive music visualization called the “Garden” and an exploration of the International Space Station during a demonstration known as “Space Walk.” They also got a horror simulation for mobile phones called “Sisters” which allows people to peer into an ominous room where terror unfolds from every angle. People in the audience at the Long Beach VR meetup consisted of members of the virtual reality community from all over. Ivan Blaustein, a co-founder of OCVR, flew down from Seattle for GDC Next and stopped by to check things out. Michel Haddad, another co-founder of OCVR, was there. In addition, OCVR members Aaron Gutierrez (who looks to have helped set up LBVR), David Green, and Andy Johnson showed up too. All of them have been actively participating in hackathons in Orange County and are now helping to spread the movement to other cities. Jessica Ward, who is one of the co-founders of the very popular meetup known as VRLA, was in attendance as well. She brought with her a friend named Julian Volyn. Volyn is Chief of Product at a company called Trinity VR. They make the Trinity Magnum, a controller that uses optical tracking, built for use with VR games and experiences. See also: Trinity Magnum Interview and Hands-on Overall, the 1st Long Beach meetup was a success. It brought together active community members from all over the west coast and established itself in the Southern California VR movement. With access to demos provided by nearby developers, Long Beach residents can experience virtual reality demonstrations on their doorstep. Upcoming meetups for LBVR are rumoured to include talks by Nonny de la Peña who is working on a couple of immersive journalism projects that bring people into re-created real life experiences. People from Wemo Lab have also been reached out to as well; so keep an eye out for what LBVR does next! To learn more about Long Beach VR’s events, check out their meetup page online. You can also follow them on Twitter @VRLongBeach to get an inside look into what (and who) they are involved with.