The company has a network of 20,000 brick-and-mortar virtual reality stores

Baofeng sells 1 million VR headsets this quarter

BY MARIA KOROLOV · APRIL 1, 2016

Beijing-based Baofeng Technology Co. Ltd. has sold more than one million of its mobile-based virtual reality headsets since the beginning of this year, the company told the official China Daily newspaper.

That compares to reported sales of half a million headsets last year, making Baofeng the industry leader.

White the company is primarily known for its streaming video service, it also makes some of the best headsets on the market.

The Baofeng Mojing 3, for example, was my preferred headset at the start of this year.

The company also makes a couple of cardboard headsets, a first-generation low-cost plastic set, a foldable set, and a fourth generation viewer, and says it’s working on a fifth generation headset now.

The company has a network of 20,000 brick-and-mortar virtual reality stores, and is planning to sell 10 million headsets by the end of 2016.

Baofeng is also investing in virtual reality films and virtual reality games development, which will continue to drive demand.

Quality improving quickly

Early Chinese-made headsets had narrow fields of view, suitable for watching movies on private theater screens. These were particularly appropriate for users with small, low-resolution smartphones. However, as customers upgraded their phones, and a flood of virtual reality applications started to hit the app stores, customers began demanding wider fields of view, better immersion, and a lighter-weight, easier-to-use headset.

Since there are now more than 100 manufacturers in China making virtual reality headsets, competition was fast and fierce, and the headsets have been evolving rapidly.

Other high-quality Chinese headset manufacturers include BoboVR, which just released a fourth-generation headset with a near-record-high 120-degree field of view and integrated headphones.

BoboVR Z4 offers a 120-degree field of view, integrated head phones.

FiiT VR‘s latest headset, which starts at $25, is currently my all-around favorite.

None of these headsets match the performance and features of Samsung Gear VR — but that is changing, as well.

The Pico 1 headset, which came out of a successful crowdfunding campaign last year, includes a Gear VR-style trackpad built right into the set. It just became available for order on GeekBuying for $82.

Chinese market often undercounted

In January, Google announced that 5 million Google Cardboard-compatible headsets have shipped, but it’s looking at if that does not include the Chinese-made headsets.

According to industry consultancy iResearch Consulting Group, China’s virtual reality market saw revenues of1.5 billion yuan — or US$231 million — in 2015.

Even at a high-end per-unit price of 150 yuan, 1.5 billion in sales translates to 10 million units.

That makes sense when, last summer, the online sites Alibaba and Taobao were already reported to be selling 300,000 units a month from over 100 different manufacturers, and this didn’t include bricks-and-mortar sales.

According to iResearch, China’s virtual reality market revenues are expected to top 5.6 billion yuan this year, or about US $864 million, and reach 55 billion yuan — or US $8.5 billion — by 2020.

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Goldman Sachs Virtual Reality Report - Click To Review

Oculus Rift, HTV Vive And PSVR: Which VR Headset Should You Buy?

We stand at the very precipice of a new era of VR. The Oculus Rift launches on Monday, with the HTC Vive not too far behind and Playstation VR for PS4 waiting in the wings. It’s an exciting moment, but even if you’ve already decided you’re ready to make the plunge into a series of strange, infinite realities, you’ve still got a choice ahead of you. Which of the three major competitors do you want to go with? All three have their advantages, all three have their weaknesses. All three are, at the end of the day, more similar than not, but it’s still a big decision. Here are some pointers to help you along:

Oculus Rift: The first question you have to ask yourself about the Oculus Rift is: do I have a PC that meets these minimum requirements?  If the answer is no, be prepared to shell out a good deal of extra cash to buy a PC that can handle the thing, or to buy one of the Oculus Ready bundles out there that come with the headset and a PC — the cheapest available is ASUS’s $949 option. With that out of the way, the Oculus comes with several big advantages. It’s been the most talked about headset, it’s coming to market first, and it’s likely going to have a large install base than the more expensive HTC Vive. Combine that with flexibility and openness that comes with the Windows platform, and you’re bound to have the widest array of software and games of any of these three headsets. That’s a big deal, especially because nobody knows where the next great VR application is going to come from.

It’s missing a great control solution right now, however. Vive has its wands and PSVR has move, but the Oculus touch controllers don’t have a release date yet, and so you’ll more likely than not be playing the Xbox One gamepad. It limits the sort of immersion you can get, even if this is a problem that will be fixed eventually.

HTC Vive: Same question as the Oculus Rift, only different specs. The HTC Vive is the most expensive option of all three of these, because of the headset, the PC, and the fact that you’ll need a decent amount of space dedicated to it. The Vive is the only system to use full body tracking, which, combined with Valve’s excellent wand controllers, creates the most complete immersion of any of these three options. The Vive is the high end option of these three, with all of the attendant concerns that come along with that. If you want to pay the money, you can get the best feeling VR headset available.

Vive is bound to have a smaller install base than the Oculus Rift, which more likely than not will mean fewer, less varied games. That might not be a problem — you only need a couple great ones, after all — but the Rift is still probably going to win in terms of sheer variety. The Vive also has some of the best multiplayer experiences I’ve played in VR yet. So if money is no object and you want to set up the ultimate VR game room, the Vive is your best bet.

image credit: Sony

Playstation VR: You ask yourself a slightly different question here: do I have a PS4? Statistically speaking, your answer is more likely to be yes. And even if you don’t, you can pick one up for $350. PSVR is by far the most approachable of these three options, and it’s more than good enough to provide that “wow” moment when you first put on the headset. If you’re interested in VR but wary about diving into the sometimes strange and finicky world of PC gaming, the PSVR makes an excellent option. It may be cheaper, but it’s no slouch, either. I’ve had some of my best VR experiences in PSVR, which makes that lower price point all the more appealing.

PSVR is the only headset that’s not on Windows, and so the closed nature of PSN is going to mean you’ll have a harder time finding strange, esoteric experiences, if that sort of thing is your jam (also porn). But PSVR comes with all of Sony’s experience in the gaming business, not to mention a suite of impressive first party studios to boot. So there’s bound to be some good software out there. PSVR will also be last to market (no official release date), so if your eyeballs are itching to get inside a headset, you’ll want to go with one of the other options.

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Meta order 2 Development Kit for 949 dollars now

We had already reported some time ago about the Meta 2 AR headset. At a TED Talk in Vancouver , the new headset of Meta was presented before the cameras. The opinions on the headset itself fluctuated since the hand tracking could not perceive more subtle movements. Since TED Talk a countdown ran on the home down by pointing out that with the expiration of the countdown, the revolution begins. Now the countdown has just expired and a lot of information has been released about the device and even a blast: One can from now the Meta order 2 Development Kit for 949 dollars! Supplies are limited and will be delivered in the third quarter 2016th

Specifications of Meta 2 Development Kit

Meta 2 in use || Source: Meta

The Meta 2 Development Kit provides a FOV of 90 degrees and a display with a resolution of 2560 x 1440 pixels. The remaining environment remains absolutely transparent despite the display. The Meta 2 Development Kit is also good with glasses (corrective lenses) can be used. This is followed fail currently many virtual reality headsets.Thanks to "The Path of Least Resistance Neural ™" to be completely natural and intuitive handling of the meta 2 headset. The AR headset is also designed to control with his own hands. The sensors for the positional tracking make it possible that you look, grab and move objects can be used as if they were real. The Meta 2 headset is designed such that you can wear it for hours according to developers.

Currently allows Windows applications to run with the headset. A Mac support is planned, but not yet integrated. The appropriate SDK for Unity (including SLAM) is already ready. Here are the technical data in a quick list:

• 90 degree field of view (FOV)
• 2560 x 1440 display resolution
• Made for extreme comfort and everything is transparent below the eyebrows
• Works with glasses
• 720p Front-Facing Camera
• Sensors for hand tracking and Positional Tracking

• 4 speakers
• Brightness and volume control
• 2.7 meter cable for video, data, and power (HDMI version 1.4b or DisplayPort)
• Support for Windows applications, inklsuive:
  • Microsoft Office
  • Adobe Creative Suite
  • Spotify
• Meta operating environment
• Meta 2 needed to run a Windows 8 or Windows 10 computer

Of course a nice Launch Video of Meta. Here, the fascination of the headset is easy to transport.

Meta 2 Glasses on the stand from Oculus Rift DK1

Getting opinions speak of some problems, which is why it is also clear touted at the Augmented Reality glasses as Dev Kit. The on-screen animations jump slightly back and forth, this is the inside-out positional head tracking. Also hand tracking works only with very slow movements. Note you also that the AR glasses of Meta must be connected to a powerful PC with a cable.

Nevertheless, a comparison with the DK1 the Oculus Rift is not entirely misplaced. The former developer kit also had some problems, but made impressively and convincingly clear how virtual reality can look in the future. Ambitious developers can now start with the kit AR experiences to develop. Without compelling content loses any technical marvel of charm. The path for Augmented Reality seems paved and you can say that AR is now where VR in 2013 was.

http://www.vrnerds.de/meta-2-development-kit-fuer-949-us-dollar-jetzt-bestellen/

HoloLens Is Now Available For Preorder

1 March, 2016, USA: Microsoft who recently gave NASA HoloLens devices to send it to the international Space Station, is now started its preorder booking for the selected developers. As per the plan of the company, developers, who first enrolled themselves to develop holographic app for HoloLens will be receiving invitations to preorder the device. However, company has mentioned that only selected set of developers will get this opportunity to latch on to.

As per the company’s plan, it will be releasing the device on 30 March in Canada and USA at a cost of US $3000. However, the company has confirmed that its preorder facility is only available for the selected developers. These developers also need to have Windows 10 PC, Visual Studio 2015 and be running Unity 5.4 to get started.

This gadget enables the users to mix the virtual world with the real one. HoloLens embraces virtual reality and augmented reality to create a new mixed reality. Virtual reality immerses user in a simulated world and augmented reality overlays digital information on top of user’s real world. By understanding user’s environment, mixed reality enables holograms to look and sound like they’re part of user’s world.

http://techstory.in/hololens-available-for-preorder-1032016/

These Two School Districts Are Teaching Through Virtual Reality

Nearpod launches first-ever virtual reality-based curriculum for K-12 schools.

Back in the day, textbooks were the only teaching tools available to transport students to solar system or foreign lands. Computers and tablets opened more opportunities for educators, and even video games such as MinecraftEduhave been implemented into schools. Now virtual reality is allowing kids to experience planets and historical places like never before.

Students in the San Francisco Unified School District and Polk County Public Schools in Florida are the first to use Nearpod VR virtual reality lesson plans. Using branded Google Cardboards, teachers can send classes on over 25 virtual field trip lessons that will offer first-person tours of the ancient pyramids of Egypt, the caves on Easter Island, the marine biomes of the Great Barrier Reef, Mars, patriotic landmarks across the U.S., and the tallest buildings in the world in Dubai.

Nearpod partnered with 360 Cities for the interactive panoramic images and added that virtual reality content into its existing lesson plan marketplace for K-12 to create the virtual field trip lessons. The virtual reality component of these lessons make up 20-50% of the content and consist of a mix of interactive assessments.

“In addition, teachers can create their own VR lessons by searching for thousands of interactive panoramic images within the Nearpod content tool,” Nearpod co-founder and CEO Guido Kovalskys says. “The possibilities are endless.”

While prices for schools and districts start at $1,000 and go up from there depending on the number of licenses purchased, a select number of schools will receive the content for free.

For more on using technology in elementary education, watch:

Through the support of the Knight Foundation, Marc Benioff, and Krillion Ventures, Nearpod has raised $100,000 in grants to provide public schools access to these VR-based lesson plans, branded Nearpod VR cardboards, and one-on-one teacher support. The company will award grants to 30 to 40 additional schools this year. The San Francisco and Polk County districts are the first recipients of these grants.

Timothy Fung, instructional technology resource at Gordon J. Lau Elementary in San Francisco, says Nearpod VR facilitates collaboration among teacher and students, giving real-time feedback with slides and instant surveys before students do game-play activities.

“Its powerful tool set is usable to instruct across many curricular areas from math to science, from learning a foreign language to health and physical education, similar to MinecraftEdu,” Lau says.

Brandon Farwell, partner at Rothenberg Ventures, which invested in Nearpod, believes virtual reality is a platform that influences numerous verticals broadly across enterprise and consumer.

“360-degree immersive VR, especially in a classroom setting, will revolutionize education methodology,” Farwell says. “Students can affordably be transported to a novel 360-degree medium, whether it’s touring the Smithsonian or learning about the hard sciences like astronomy or anatomy. By using an affordable headset, like the ones Nearpod is providing classrooms, and a smartphone, teachers enable students to unlock their imaginations and enjoy learning.”

With Google  GOOGL -0.62%  offering affordable Cardboards and Samsung  SSNLF -2.44%  currentlygiving away Gear VR mobile devices, there are already millions of mobile virtual reality devices out there. Piper Jaffray forecasts sales of 5 million Gear VR devices this year alone. Google announced a global install base of 5 million Cardboards.

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Over time, more students will have a low-priced mobile virtual reality device at home.

Kovalskys says data from teachers is showing that the “bring your own VR device” movement is gaining traction.

“When you combine that with efforts like ours to make it simple to find and deploy high-quality VR pedagogical content, we’ll see VR a much more commonplace tool in teachers’ toolkits across the nation,” Kovalskys says.

http://fortune.com/2016/02/25/school-districts-teaching-through-virtual-reality/

Virtual Reality-Based Curriculum for K-12 Schools