Mint Virtual Reality

The virtual reality (VR) short animated film titled Age of Sail is making its debut at the Venice International Film Festival this week and to mark the event a new trailer has been released. The ambitious short film project is a part of the Google Spotlight Stories, who are bringing it to the event, and is directed by Academy Award winner John Kahrs.

Age of Sail tells the story of William Avery (voiced by Ian McShane), an old sailor adrift and alone in the North Atlantic in the 1900’s. When Avery reluctantly rescues a teenage girl (Cathy Ang) who has mysteriously fallen overboard, Avery finds redemption and hope in his darkest hours. The film will offer a completely immersive experience with full 360-degree filed of view along with having a running time of around 10-12 minutes in length.

The most recently project to come out of the Google Spotlight Stories unit, the film is the most ambitious to date with a great level of detail to be found throughout the film. Speaking at a panel at the Annecy International Animated Film Festival, Kahrs explained: “I wanted this piece to operate in a less stylized universe, because the audience should believe the world is real – to feel the peril and the exhilaration of being in a storm, to be vulnerable.”

With a unique art style and the immersive power of VR, Age of Sail is set to give viewers a front-row sit on an emotional and interesting tale that will see a lost sailor make a return all thanks to a teenage girl. Those are the Venice International Film Festival will be able to catch the film during the event with there be no word on a release outside of the event just yet.

The Venice International Film Festival is currently running until September 8th and is one of the three largest international film festivals around, next to the Cannes International Film Festival and the Berlin International Film Festival.

You can see the trailer for Age of Sail for yourself below and for all the latest on the film and Google Spotlight Stories in the future, keep reading VRFocus.

Do you want a cockpit-style VR gaming chair that looks like something a Star Trek captain would sit in? If so, this new 3 Degree of Freedom Motion Simulator Kickstarter may be for you.

The post This cockpit-style simulator will make your VR experiences more immersive appeared first on Digital Trends.

FTL follow-up Into the Breach is an elegant, puzzle-like tactical duel between giant mechs and city-wrecking kaiju, and is easily one of the most interesting strategy games we’ve ever played.

The post ‘Into the Breach’ Review appeared first on Digital Trends.

MSI introduced the P65 notebook during the IFA 2018 convention. Targeting content creators and professionals, it will arrive in two flavors: A White Limited Edition model and a Silver Edition version.

The post MSI targets pros with a thin and light laptop packed with GeForce Max-Q graphics appeared first on Digital Trends.

Back in March of this year, KAT VR revealed the KAT Walk Mini which was a smaller omni-directional treadmill designed for use with virtual reality (VR) titles. Built off the success of their last product the KAT Walk, which had a successful Kickstarter back in 2015, the company was looking to have the same results with this new, smaller product. Now, the company is setting their sights on conquering new markets and has published a blog post that details a number of plans and exciting partnership offers.

Since the company started in 2013 the team has grown into a 100 strong sparing no effort on their goal to revolutionize the industry and bring new technology to the market. With the release of the KAT Walk Mini, the company is hoping to become a technological leader and one of the world’s largest VR treadmills suppliers. The KAT Walk Mini has proving to be a successful product even before launch as the company secured funding through business partners, leading to the Kickstarter being scrapped in favor of pre-orders.

Thanks to offering a new smaller, lightweight design that offers an immersive 6 degree-of-freedom (6DoF) movement system, players using the KAT Walk Mini will have a ground breaking experience. The company have also been hard at work on the ensuring the KAT Walk Mini is fully compatibility with as many different titles as possible including some of Steam’s biggest VR titles like Fallout 4 VR, Doom VFR and The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim VR.

Until the end of October, KAT VR are also offering potential partners from all over the world the chance to gain exclusive distributorship terms. No matter the size or placement of the partner, all importers and dealers will be backed by KAT VR’s dealer-support policy which can include benefits such as diverse pricing and shipment privileges, multiple giveaways, online and live promotion opportunities, K-coins awards, exhibitor benefits and many others yet to be revealed.

For those who would like to learn more about setting up a partnership with the company make sure to visit the KAT VR website to learn more and to contact the Promotion & Sales Department at global@katvr.com. Be quick though as the partnership offer is set to expire on October 31st, 2018.

VRFocus will be sure to bring you all the latest on the KAT Walk Mini in the future so make sure to stay tuned for more.

Following the recent announcement back at Gamescom 2018 that pre-orders for the upcoming HTC Vive Wireless Adapter would soon be going live, the company has now released a new video showcasing their presents at the event. HTC were keen to leverage the power of their new Vive Wireless Adapter with the many virtual reality (VR) partners at the show and the video reveals a great number were using the technology to offer greater freedom and immersion.

Shen Ye, Product Manager, Vive Europe talks about the product in the video saying: “Powered by Intel WiGig technology, it brings the freedom of untethered, high-end PC VR to both Vive and Vive Pro owners.” He continues: “We are demoing across the show with lots of VR partners showing lots of new VR content including Beat Saber behind me, multiplayer Arizona Sunshine demonstrating a prime example of wireless location-based VR. We also have a bunch of other partners here at gamescom including HoloGate, Konami, HangyGames and many more so great content on both Vive and Vive Pro.”

Not only does the video show the HTC Vive Wireless Adapter in action on a number of different VR experiences but the video also reveals that the company won an award for it. They were awarded the Gamescom 2018 award for Best Hardware for the HTC Vive Wireless Adapter, making it the best hardware product on display at the event this year.

“Pretty much since the day the Vive launched, we’re been talking about the next step which we thought was to remove the wire, and I’m so happy that we are here at gamescom to announce that the product is finally available.” Explains Lee Machen, CM, Gaming & VR Sales, Intel who is also featured within the video.

Pre-orders for the HTC Vive Wireless Adapter are set to go live on September 5th, 2018, with a release date of the 24th September. The unit will cost £299 (GBP) and be available for customers in the UK from Overclockers, Scan and Vive.com. As an added extra to celebrate the launch all Vive Wireless Adapter purchases will include a two-month trial to Viveport Subscription.

You can see the new video showcasing the product at Gamescom 2018 below and for more on the HTC Vive Wireless Adapter in the future, keep reading VRFocus.