Last week Iron Man VR developer Camouflaj told us that the upcoming PSVR exclusive featured around ‘8 – 10 hours’ of AAA VR gaming. Now the Iron Man VR trophy list gives us an idea of how that time is divided up.
The trophy list debuted on Exophase over the weekend. If you want to avoid spoilers then we wouldn’t recommend reading it, but the list and icons indicate that Iron Man VR is comprised of 12 missions and an opening prologue.
We got to see that prologue and the first mission in the demo that released on PSVR a few weeks back. Remember, though, that Camouflaj is kitting out the game with optional extras and challenges, taking part in which is likely to push the game to the developer’s estimations.
Other trophies confirm that the game will feature more Flight and Combat Challenges and that you’ll have star ratings at the end of each mission. You’ll also be rewarded for killing a certain number of enemies with specific weapons and completing the campaign of different difficulties. There’s also a trophy for catching a grape in your mouth which will probably be as hard as the basketball trophy in The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners.
Not long to go now; Iron Man VR debuts on PSVR on July 3rd. Publisher Sony has been releasing a bunch of developer diaries for the game in the run-up to launch and Camouflaj shared plenty of other details with us in our interview.
Will you be chasing every trinket on the Iron Man VR trophy list when the game launches on Friday? Let us know in the comments below!
Several industries are witnessing a dynamic shift to various online platforms lately, owing to the current lockdown scenario. Copious organizations, schools and other educational institutions find the need to connect remotely, be it for meetings, lectures or even brainstorming sessions. As a result, there are enormous demands for web conferencing services, cross-platform messaging, file-sharing etc.
A Digital Shift Becomes Indispensable
The future is an unpredictable chapter of time. Unforeseeable situations like mandatory work from home policies make telecommuting or remote working indispensable. Thus, the dependence on web-conferencing apps has sky-rocketed.
An eye-opening survey talks about a whopping 70% of organizations having shifted to online methods of recruitment, demanding the processes to be undertaken through a digital lens.
Video conferencing is a pivotal aspect of remote work. However, it poses quite a few challenges:
Throwing Light on the 4 Critical Shortcomings of Conventional Video Conferencing Applications
1. Efficient Collaboration Goes for a Toss
Video conferencing is rather static and prevents effective brainstorming, strategizing and collaboration. Mundane screen sharing sessions aren’t going to suffice your complicated project requirements.
This is due to the absence of vital elements like having tea breaks with co-workers, face-to-face mentorship sessions, quick all-team meets and live presentations. As a result, your team is deprived of the entire feel of being present in a healthy, active environment with proactive co-workers.
2. Boredom is Inevitable
Well, let’s face it: Web conferencing is very similar to watching a video, and boredom is bound to creep in. As a result, employees begin to swim in monotonicity, and the creative juices take a huge hit. Moreover, boredom is also a massive productivity killer.
3. Motivation Levels Take a Massive Hit
Standard conferencing solutions foster a non-engaging work atmosphere which generally results in motivation dips. Therefore, employees lack the drive to go above and beyond to add significant value to your organization.
4. The Dark Cloud of Loneliness
Perhaps the biggest con of video conferencing is a feeling of loneliness and being shut out. The social dimension is non-existent, and employees no longer have that unique connection with each other.
Think about it: how would your employees feel if they were to stare at a computer screen all day and indulge in no real instances of socializing?
Well, to maintain peak levels of productivity, there has got to be another more interactive and engaging solution to remote working.
4 Ways Immersive Telecommuting Truly Transforms Remote Working
The action-packed sci-fi novel Ready Player One featured a VR game setting and took the technology world by storm. Fast forward to the present, and here we are: witnessing Virtual Reality taking shape, and this is something beyond just emails, or excel sheets! It’s about creating a virtual space altogether, with customized features tailored to cater to individual requirements of specific industries.
In essence, the central idea is to eliminate feelings of detachedness and foster positive emotions by transforming the mundane remote work atmosphere into a social experience.
1. Powerful Virtual Capabilities Foster an Immersive Atmosphere
Topped with ultra-real avatars, immersive collaboration platforms impart a state-of-the-art immersive experience that makes employees feel they are “in” a conference room amidst “real” people.
The immersive near realistic environment essentially teleports you where you can present, chat, brainstorm and pitch great ideas. Participants feel immersed and witness an enthralling experience that fosters positive emotions like unity and peace.
For people who derive energy from everyday conversations and an interpersonal connect, an immersive remote work environment proves to be highly beneficial. It effectively mirrors an office setup, and thereby, corporates would witness an increase in productivity, creativity and inner peace.
2. Ideal Platform for Real-Time & Efficient Collaboration
Ideally, immersive telecommuting is easy to set up as your employees can use simple computers and laptops with standard configurations to enter a virtual space where other real people can join. Here, they can now present or demonstrate ideas, and collaborate effectively.
Also, there’s a wide variety of tools that add more versatility to collaboration, instead of only relying on typical slides and emails.
3. Vitalizes Productivity Levels
Socializing opportunities and enhanced collaboration lead to higher levels of productivity. As a result, despite mandatory remote working conditions, immersive telecommuting helps your employees maintain peak levels of performance and morale.
4. Streamlines Operational Efficiency Everywhere
An immersive end to end virtual solution eliminates unnecessary recurring email chains and incomplete knowledge transfer loops. An immersive remote working platform helps your organization streamline project planning, and expedite other work processes. The result is generating better returns out of your most precious resource – time.
Moreover, immersive telecommuting also reduces your carbon footprint, thereby making your enterprise eco-friendly.
Throwing light on how an immersive platform is a game-changer for the entire remote working industry, here’s David Whelan, Founder, Immersive VR Education:
“The world has changed much faster than anyone has expected over the past 6 months. Companies, Schools, Colleges and Enterprises around the world have all been shut down and now have to find new ways to communicate and collaborate remotely. Many are now finding the limits of what video-based communications can offer and are seeking better alternatives. The ENGAGE platform brings remote communications and collaboration to the next level and we are delighted to be working with Dr. Sana and her team at TelecommuteX to deliver this service to customers in the middle east.”
Additionally, David also highlighted the impact that immersive telecommuting would have on organizations from a social interaction perspective:
“Using Immersive technologies is a game-changer for connecting people just as the telephone was over a hundred years ago. The telephone allowed you to talk to somebody on the other side of the world. VR/AR allows you to be with somebody from the other side of the world without the need to step outside your door. My development team has been under lockdown for the past 3 months and we hold all our daily standups and meetings inside ENGAGE virtually and it makes a world of difference for productivity replacing the need for endless video calls and emails. It is much easier to simply meet virtually, draw on a virtual whiteboard and present your ideas in a virtual meeting room. Using immersive technologies will become second nature soon as people will be less inclined to travel so readily for business meetings as they get used to working from home in these challenging times.”
To summarize, immersive telecommuting makes remote collaborations and virtual meetings avenues of socializing amidst productivity. Consequently, it’s the perfect alternative to conventional video conferencing applications.
Therefore, an immersive virtual space is the futuristic core of the ideal remote working platform; such as TelecommuteX (created in collaboration between Munfarid and Engage) – seamlessly infusing the concept of immersive telecommuting into your business ecosystem.
Pondering on how immersive telecommuting will streamline the average remote worker’s routine, here’s Evan Kristel, renowned technology influencer and Chief Digital Evangelist at eViRa Health:
“Prolonged sessions of remote working definitely takes a toll on employees’ mental health. Immersive telecommuting introduces the much needed social sphere that fills up possible voids of loneliness and apathy in the lives of your workforce. As a result, the average remote worker’s day is much brighter and “normal” with an ample amount of socializing opportunities.”
Evan also had an interesting take on the rapidly evolving technological era we are witnessing:
“It’s amazing how technologies have drastically evolved to help us thrive and not just survive in challenging times. Revolutionary technologies plant seeds of hope and positivity for the future of humankind. It’s our duty to embrace these technologies and ensure their widespread adoption & usage.”
Virtual Conferences are Steadily Gaining Traction
As concern over COVID-19 sets in, in addition to telecommuting, virtual conferences have also gained momentum. Known to strengthen professional relationships in both academia and business, conferences have always proved to be a platform for the exchange of ideas, nurturing upcoming entrepreneurs, thereby working towards the greater good. One such example is the IEEE Conference on Virtual Reality and 3D User Interfaces (IEEE VR) that announced an all-virtual venue change.
The Ultimate Solution is Virtual Immersive Collaboration
Striking a healthy balance between the positives of both work from home and working on-site, virtual immersive collaboration proves to be the future of connectivity. Sectors like Logistics, Information and Communication Technology, Education, Food supply and a lot more are adopting immersive telecommuting.
Skonec Entertainment’s Mortal Blitz series lives on; Mortal Blitz: Combat Arena is coming to PSVR soon.
The latest game in the shooter franchise was announced last week during the Bitsummit Gaiden stream. Sony’s Shuhei Yoshida introduced the title, as you can see in the (Japanese) video below. Mortal Blitz: Combat Arena is an online shooter in which up to four players teleport around nodes on a map, trying to shoot each other in the face.
Each point on a map is guarded with shields that will degrade as other players shoot at them. You’ll have to balance getting a great vantage point with maintaining cover. There are, apparently “hundreds” of customization options for weapons and items, ranging from machine guns to rocket launchers and stat-boosters. There will also be a single-player component with missions, but it’s not clear how this will look right now. The game supports both the DualShock 4 and the rifle-shaped Aim controller.
Mortal Blitz: Combat Arena will be free-to-play, with an opening beta launching in August. A full release is planned for September. Keep in mind these dates are only confirmed for Japan right now; it’s not clear if the game will be releasing in the US and Europe, too.
We were first introduced to Mortal Blitz all the way back in 2017 with a ho-hum single-player shooter campaign similar to the Time Crisis series. There have also been two iterations for VR arcades in the east that never made their way over here.
Will you be checking out Mortal Blitz: Combat Arena if and when it releases in these parts? Let us know in the comments below!
Kat Walk C, the latest attempt at bringing a VR treadmill to the living room, is off to a great start with its Kickstarter crowd-funding campaign.
The device launched its campaign last week with a $100,000 funding goal. At the time of writing, the campaign has reached $1.2 million in funding with over a month to go before it closes out on July 31st. The Early Bird special deals that offered the treadmill from anywhere between $699 to $899 have all been claimed, with the price now starting at $999. The company behind the device plans to release more discounted tiers, though.
Kat Walk C is similar to other VR treadmills. The kit is a large peripheral that has users standing in a dish, wearing a special pair of shoes, strapping into a harness and then physically walking in VR games and experiences. The idea is to immerse you even further in a VR experience and combat the ongoing issue of locomotion in VR. The device supports PC VR and PSVR headsets and, according to Kat VR, can be used in any game with a free locomotion setting.
There are other VR treadmill options out there, though they’ve largely failed in their mission to bring the concept to people’s homes. Virtuix was there early with its Omni treadmill, for example, but recently refocused its efforts on VR arcades. Kat VR itself offers a number of other treadmills and solutions for enterprise customers.
Currently, the Kat Walk C is expected to be delivered to Kickstarter backers in October of this year. Would you be interested in having a VR treadmill in your home? Let us know in the comments below!
