JCU, NTU and NUS become the latest partners in OSVR’s Academia Program to contribute to research portal aimed at aiding in industry development
Organizers of Open Source Virtual Reality (OSVR), a platform designed to set an open standard for virtual reality devices, today announced the launch of a research portal on the OSVR Website. Led by OSVR’s academic partners, the research can be accessed by developers, enthusiasts and anyone with an interest in virtual reality.
Among the academia partners blazing the way forward are Singapore institutions, James Cook University, National University of Singapore’s Keio-NUS CUTE (Connective Ubiquitous Technology for Embodiments) Centre and Nanyang Technological University’s Multi-Platform Game Innovation Centre (MAGIC).
As part of the OSVR Academia Program, the three universities will be provided with hardware development kits (HDKs) and related support for use in their research labs.
“Creating an open platform to exchange knowledge and learnings of both commercial and academic partners will drive the entire industry forward with an open knowledge base through which the exchange of crucial learnings can be done,” says Christopher Mitchell, senior product marketing manager at Razer. “We are still in somewhat unchartered territory with virtual reality, and it is through collaboration that we can solve problems and push the envelope of virtual reality technology to make it a mass market success.”
The resources available at the portal’s launch will cover the following categories with more anticipated:
- Virtual Reality -General VR design principles and technology
- Augmented Reality – Effective real world application of AR
- Game Design – Observations and insights into effective game design for VR/AR
- Peripheral Optimization –Guidelines and best practices when designing interaction and interfaces around industry peripherals
- Algorithms – Optimizing the design and logic of VR/AR software technology.
- VR in Education –Enhancing education with virtual reality
CONTRIBUTE RESEARCH
Anybody interested in contributing can submit his or her whitepaper for publishing on the VR research portal. If selected, you will have the opportunity to tap on the entire OSVR base of 155 partners covering aspects of the industry ranging from VR peripherals, content production, simulation engines, consultation, technology providing and academia to further your research.
To explore all currently available whitepapers or submit research, interested parties may visit: www.osvr.com/research
NEW ACADEMIA PARTNERS:
The 13 latest additions to the overall count of 49 academia supporters:
Arizona Laboratory for Immersive Visualization Environments, University of Arizona, has a 4-sided CAVE which utilizes the Unity game engine as their main display software in the immersive environment. They are exploring OSVR as a means to provide single users a way to collaborate and share the immersive CAVE experience from remote locations using their own head mounted displays.
COSMIAC (The Configurable Space Microsystems Innovations and Applications Center promotes STEM education (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) and uses OSVR for educational purposes as it spans multiple engineering disciplines for both software and hardware modification.
JCU Singapore (registered as James Cook Australia Institute of Higher Learning in Singapore) is fully owned by James Cook University Australia and is ranked in the top 4% of universities in the world. JCU Singapore is also the host of the first permanent museum entirely dedicated to the history of video and computer games in South East Asia.
Keio-NUS CUTE (Connective Ubiquitous Technology for Embodiments) center is a joint collaboration between National University of Singapore (NUS) and Keio University, Japan. It is partially funded by a grant from the National Research Foundation (NRF) administrated through the Media Development Authority (MDA) of Singapore. Operations of the Center commenced on 1 April 2009. The main objective of setting up the center is to collaborate on fundamental research in the general area of Interactive Digital Media targeted at addressing the future of interactive, social and communication media. They use OSVR in their medical training and simulations and in their scientific studies on the role of physical movement and learning.
Multi-Platform Game Innovation Centre (MAGIC) in Nanyang Technological University (NTU) aims to champion games technology and related research to translate scientific ideas into technological products and services for the Studios of the Future in the media and entertainment industry.
Poznań Supercomputing and Networking Center focuses on providing computing power, networking services, research and development facilities for next generation computer networks, modern applications, portals, parallel and distributed computing as well as network and system security, integration and implementation of scientific research results via developing services for public administration, healthcare, education and other social areas.
SRH University Heidelberg is one of the oldest and largest private campus universities in Germany. For four decades, the SRH University Heidelberg has been among the most renowned German universities, with a close network of businesses and institutes of higher education worldwide. By establishing a unique study course focusing on virtual worlds and end-user application of “Virtual Realities” already in 2010, the SRH University Heidelberg anticipated current trends ahead of time.
Stefan cel Mare, University of Suceava develops new technologies that can be used worldwide by other universities or companies. They see the potential in virtual reality and like that OSVR is a big community and are pleased to be a part of it.
The Virtual Reality Laboratory of SeAMK – Seinäjoki University of Applied Sciences – is a laboratory of the School of Technology, reserved for the research, project works and final theses of engineering students of Automation, Information Technology, Construction and Mechanical Engineering. The VR lab is equipped with state of the art technology in Virtual Reality. The aim of adaptation of OSVR is to enhance and broaden the technology research field of the lab. Future OSVR projects will be mainly targeted in architecture, construction, robotics, factory automation, 3D design and 3D gaming technologies
University of Bologna, Italy facilitated the development of GLOVR a hand interface specifically designed for VR applications. The idea behind it is to free players from the constraints imposed by traditional controllers. GLOVR features a dynamic gesture detection unit and a natural language interface to allow the user to communicate with an AI system. OSVR provides expanded compatibility allowing GLOVR to be tested with a wide range of software and accompanying peripherals.
University of Georgia is the oldest state-chartered university in the United States, and recently launch the youngest College of Engineering in the United States.
University of Kentucky is a land-grant institution with over 20,000 resident and commuter students on our main campus. The Department of Electrical Engineering has over 200 undergraduate and graduate students.
Virtual Neuroscience lab in the University of Tartu, Estonia aims to combine computational neuroscience and experimental psychology with virtual reality to enhance experiences. OSVR helps to contribute to their research by being open source allowing them to share their work.
ABOUT OSVR:
OSVR is a software platform designed to set an open standard for virtual reality input devices, games and output to provide the best possible VR game experience. Supported by industry leaders, the OSVR framework unites developers and gamers alike under a single platform. Plug in. Play Everything.
