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There’s a lot going on over at Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) currently, with the company currently shaking up its promotional events by hosting State of Play broadcasts and not appearing at events like the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3). Today, even more is going on with the announcement that SIE Worldwide Studios Chairman Shawn Layden is departing.

It is with great emotion that we announce that Worldwide Studios Chairman Shawn Layden will be departing SIE. His visionary leadership will be greatly missed. We wish him success in future endeavors and are deeply grateful for his years of service. Thanks for everything, Shawn!

— PlayStation (@PlayStation) September 30, 2019

A Tweet from the official PlayStation account stated: “It is with great emotion that we announce that Worldwide Studios Chairman Shawn Layden will be departing SIE. His visionary leadership will be greatly missed. We wish him success in future endeavours and are deeply grateful for his years of service. Thanks for everything, Shawn!”

The official SIE website also noted that Laden: “Resigned as executive personnel (as of the end of September 2019).” He hasn’t given any details as to the reason for the departure and as yet, there’s been no mention of his replacement.

Layden has worked at Sony across various departments since 1987, becoming VP of Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE) in 1999 and then in 2007 President of Sony Computer Entertainment Japan (SCEJ). He was then COO, CEO, and President of PlayStation before his final role as SIE Worldwide Studios Chairman. It’s in this latter role he is most famous for, often taking to the stage for events like E3 to announce the latest PlayStation titles.

He’s leaving just as PlayStation 4’s lifecycle begins to draw to a close as PlayStation 5 is expected to be officially revealed in 2020 – but no new PlayStation VR just yet. When it comes to VR SIE isn’t following its rivals like Oculus and HTC with lots of new and improved headsets – or standalone ones – but it has previously hinted at what could feature in a new model, like better resolution and wireless connectivity.

It’s not just Shawn Layden leaving Sony. Sony Interactive Entertainment Japan Asia (SIEJA) president and SIE corporate director Atsushi Morita is retiring, reports Gematsu. Kazuhiko Taekda will serve as the new corporate director while the role of SIEJA president is still to be announced.

VRFocus will continue its coverage of SIE as further announcements are made, reporting back with the latest updates.

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Spaceteam VR developer Cooperative Innovations last week revealed its latest licensable development tool, VoluMetrics.

The simplest way to think of VoluMetrics is a heat mapping tool. The toolkit is able to track where VR and AR headset users are looking in any given experience. It then displays that data to developers. Unlike traditional heat mapping, which will read the user’s gaze on a 2D plane, VoluMetrics provides 3D, positional information.

Imagine you’re looking at a corner, for example. Traditional 2D heat mapping wouldn’t make the distinction in distance. VoluMetrics would more accurately capture what the user was perceiving.

There’s also support for eye-tracking data in relevant headsets like Vive Pro Eye and Magic Leap.

Crucially, this will give developers important insight into behaviour inside their immersive applications. When giving players the freedom afforded by VR and AR headsets, it’s important to make sure their attention is being directed to the right place. Heat mapping lets you see areas of virtual environments are too hidden and being missed etc.

VoluMetrics is currently available as an Unreal Engine 4 plugin. Cooperative Innovations says additional support will follow later down the line.

It’s the developer’s second piece of VR-enhanced development offerings. Back in February, we reported on Ikabod, a means of delivering accurately tracked virtual avatars. The studio says more tools are on the way, too.

As for its gaming efforts, the developer is still working on its virtual adaptation of Spaceteam. That should be arriving in the near future. We’re also looking forward to an update on its multiplayer dungeon crawler, Raiders of Erda. We don’t know when that will be releasing, though.

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Funomena’s visually arresting VR debut, Luna, is finally making its way to Oculus Quest.

The narrative-driven experience was confirmed for launch on the platform at Oculus Connect 6 last week. Though Luna didn’t feature in the new Quest sizzle reel shown on stage, it did show up in the logo thumbnails on stage after.

Luna is a peaceful bit of VR storytelling. In it, users follow a bird traveling to several idyllic locations.  The app has some light interactivity to it, allowing you to decorate scenes and interact with creatures. That said, it’s the gorgeous animated visuals that truly stand out, making Luna a sight to behold in VR. It’s definitely the type of experience that a VR user of any age could enjoy.

The initial version of the experience was wordless, but Funomena has since updated it with a ‘storybook’ mode. This adds in narration to the piece, helping to give its collection of scenes a little more context.

No word on exactly when the experience will launch on the standalone headset for now, sadly. It will be one of the few story-driven experiences on the device, which largely focuses on gaming content.

We reviewed the initial version of the experience earlier this year. “It’s never anything less than exquisitely beautiful, which goes some way to redeeming the lacking pacing,” we said. “It’s worth bathing in its glorious rays while it lasts, but there’s better gold to mine from VR storytelling.”

Funomena also brought a spin-off to the experience to Magic Leap. Right now the studio is working on a non-VR title for PC and PS4 named Wattam. Fingers crossed its planning to dive back into headsets following its release.

The post Visually Stunning VR Narrative Luna Is Coming To Quest appeared first on UploadVR.

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Doctor Who has a knack for reinvention or, more fittingly, regeneration.

I don’t just mean in the Doctor’s many changing faces but the way those changes come to shape its tone and feel. And then, on a more molecular level, its ability to shift from bombastic, silly sci-fi epics one week to legitimately terrifying ghost stories the next. At the heart of the show’s decades-spanning run, though, is one unifying link; it’s all a bit naff.

From shoddy BBC-budgeted CGI and egg-shaped aliens to startlingly contrived last-minute plot developments and technobabble; as good as Who gets it never escapes that endearing core. People love it because it isn’t Star Wars or Lord of the Rings; it’s the school adaptations of them your kids put on for the Christmas play. With the most warming of intentions, then, I say Edge of Time has that hokey heart intact.

That’s not to say this is low-rate. Far from it, in fact; Maze Theory’s upcoming VR adventure has dense forests to explore, intuitive (if pedestrian) puzzles to solve and a healthy helping of fan service. Stepping out of the Tardis, turning around and witnessing its physics-defying dimensions for yourself is a genuinely jaw-dropping moment. Quite rightly, though, there’s an embedded strain of second-rate Britishism about it.

It’s in the way Jodie Whittaker’s voice cheerfully pops up as you stalk the halls of a spaceship or, yes, the custard cream biscuit that ejects out of the Tardis console when you approach it. It’s the very DNA of Who; employing chalky British quirk to distract from whatever might be lacking elsewhere. In this case, it’s what gives the game’s surprisingly creepier moments a needed touch of safety. In the first level I see, red-eyed aliens scurry and scratch their way over fallen logs and around cliff corners, always just out of reach. They glare from afar in unnerving silence.

It would be enough to get me to take off the headset were I not aware of my context. The stifled screams and thudding heart rates employed in your standard VR horror game are swapped out for sound bites about how pesky these devilish creatures can be, and what a nuisance their haunting presence is. You quickly learn to shoulder that chipper camaraderie and push on through for yourself.

And then, seemingly out of nowhere, there’s the spectacle. At one point I’m hurried down a corridor as a vacuum threatens to suck me out into space. At times, I stop to stare out at the infinite abyss. Paired with routinely grabbing my Sonic Screwdriver, I truly feel rooted right in the center of this sprawling universe.

There is a fear, though, that this is all a little too much of a sightseeing tour. There are buttons to push and Sonic Screwdivers to buzz, but much of Edge of Time’s interaction isn’t uniquely Whovian. In one challenge I’m rearranging wires to correspond to drawings in a wall. It’s fast, flexible and refreshingly doable, but it could have been lifted straight out of practically any other VR puzzler.

The same is true of a later brain teaser involving rotating lasers. You have to pull levers to line everything up properly. Again, it’s a perfectly palatable affair, it’s just been done elsewhere. In a universe as infinitely impossible as this, I’d hope for a bit more spark. Narratively, it seems all there; it’s the gameplay that still has to prove itself.

But I’m optimistic there’s some of that too. Edge of Time’s trailers have run the gamut of Who villains, including Daleks and those most memorable of foes, the Weeping Angels. I don’t need to tell you how much potential their ‘move when unseen’ hook has, no matter how terrifying it may be. There’s an original story and new monsters, but much of Edge of Time’s promise lies in delivering on fans’ biggest dreams. Edge of Time might live or die depending on what lengths it goes to to do that.

I’d expect, then, for this to shine in places and maybe lack in a few others (which, incidentally, also describes pretty much every season of the show). For Who fans, though, Edge of Time represents the first real chance to step into a world they’ve loved for nearly 60 years. If even just looking at the Tardis as intended for the first time brings a smile to your face, the rest of it might all be worth it.

Doctor Who: The Edge of Time is coming soon to PC VR, PSVR and Oculus Quest.

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There’s nothing like a good virtual reality (VR) scare to make the hairs stand up on the back of your neck and get the heart pumping. Especially in October for Halloween season. Popping up on Steam, Wolf & Wood is soon to release The Exorcist: Legion VR Deluxe Edition, a remastered version of its horror series.

Listed for release this month, The Exorcist: Legion VR Deluxe Edition will be the full five episodes with enhanced graphics and animations says the developer. Additionally, the new edition with feature improved movement controls, Valve Index controller support and Oculus Rift S optimisations.

Details regarding price and launch date have yet to be revealed, however, purchasing the current complete series costs £18.95 GBP on Steam, so expect it to be a similar price. Wolf & Wood hasn’t confirmed if any of these enhancements will come to the PlayStation VR version, or as an update for those that have already bought the title.

The Exorcist: Legion VR features 5 scary chapters: First Rites, Idle Hands, Skin Deep, Samaritan and The Tomb. Every chapter is around 30 minutes in length, each having its own unique story which is then part of a large narrative. You play a Boston homicide detective tasked with investigating a series of ritualistic murders, including a priest at a local church. They have all the makings of a serial killer but it soon becomes apparent that the cause is far more demonic.

“Its the presentation where The Exorcist: Legion VR shines. It is not long or complex, but it has bags of atmosphere and says what it needs to say with panache,” VRFocus said in its four-star PlayStation VR review. “The sense of presence is used effectively to give you a properly immersive horror experience.”

For those after something a little less scary and more destructive then Wolf & Wood has just released Hotel R’n’R on Steam Early Access. Taking place in various hotel rooms, you’re a musician who has made a deal with the devil for fame and fortune. To repay the demon all you need to do is cause a lot of damage.

VRFocus will continue its coverage of Wolf & Wood, reporting back with the latest updates.

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On this episode of Digital Trends Live, hosts Greg Nibler and Luke Larsen dig into the biggest trending stories in tech, including a review of the HP Spectre x360, YouTube's arrival on Fire devices, Microsoft’s Surface event, and more.

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