Latest hardware in VR

• HTC Vive
• Oculus Rift
• Oculus Go
• Sony Playstation VR
• Samsung Gear VR
• Google Daydream View

Latest hardware in AR

• Google Glass
• Vuzix Blade Smart Glasses
• Everysight Raptor
• Solos AR
• Epson Moverio

• Sony SmartEyeGlass

Latest hardware in MR

• Samsung Odyssey+
• Lenovo Explorer
• Microsoft HoloLens
• Dell Visor

For VR, my preferred headset would be the HTC Vive.

The HTC Vive headset is extremely comfortable to wear and features soft, memory foam-esque material around the edges to avoid any kind of skin irritation when being worn. The material can be easily switched out thanks to the use of Velcro.

The HTC Vive features a beautiful high-resolution display (2160×1200) which when split across two eyes equates to two gorgeous 1080×1200 displays. The HTC Vive provides one of the best virtual viewing experiences out of all the headsets we’ve gone eyes-on with so far, with no real lens distortion or pixelation issues. The 90Hz refresh rate provides users with a beautifully smooth video feed, which helps to make the overall experience more immersive.

The VR headset itself features more than 70 sensors, which help the headset to track your head movement to 1/10 of a degree. This means that even the smallest head tilts are picked up by the headset and replicated in the virtual world with little to no lag.

Content is a vital part of the survival of any new technology, and the same rule applies to the HTC Vive. Steam is the go-to place for HTC Vive compatible content mainly due to the fact that Valve, the company that owns Steam partnered with HTC to create the Vive initially.

I like the fact that it is a headset that is created by HTC and Steam. With the support of Steam, it has an extensive library of games. This headset is also getting better in value as time goes by.

For MR, my preferred hardware would be the Samsung Odyssey+.

Although the HMD Odyssey is the most expensive Windows MR headset, it offers large dual AMOLED displays at 3.5 inches, and a high resolution of 1440×1600. At 110 degrees, the field of view is also wider than competitors, fixing a criticism of the HoloLens. Couple that with built-in AKG headphones for 360-degree sound and the HMD Odyssey quickly shapes up to be an intriguing prospect for digital explorers.

VR: Oculus Rift

The Oculus Rift is a head-mounted display, that can be synced with Oculus Touch controllers. I really like the Oculus because I’ve played with it before and enjoy a lot of the games available on it such as EchoCombat. Another nice part about Occulus Rift is that it is one of the flagship VR devices with 6 DOF and 110 degree field of view, but is cheaper than its main competitors the HTC Vive. Overall, the experience is quite seamless. The visuals are excellent, the controls feel very nice, and I really like the haptic feedback built into the system.

MR: Microsoft HoloLens 

The Microsoft HoloLens is a pair of MR glasses that contains a holographic computer built in, running the Windows Mixed Reality platform through Windows 10. There are a lot of nice features to this like voice and gesture control and there are a lo t of interesting opportunities for developers in creating software for this device, especially considering how new it is. Seems to have plenty of potential use cases. It also feels very nice, not too heavy and quite ergonomic in design with a comfortable head cushion. One drawback is that the device is quite expensive around $3000, as I suspect a large sum of money goes into R&D in addition to hardware manufacturing costs. Although as time goes by and the technology becomes more advanced, these costs can be minimized, I would wait to buy one!

The HTC Vive is a virtual reality headset developed by HTC and Valve Corporation. The headset uses “room scale” tracking technology, allowing the user to move in 3D space and use motion-tracked handheld controllers to interact with the environment. HTC Vive has the feature of 6 DOF and 110 degrees FOV, along with a head-mounted display device.

I like this device because I have some experiences playing with it in a game my friend developed. He created a Fruit Ninja game in 3D version and it was fantastic to cut the fruits floating around me instead of just on the screen. HTC Vive can easily connect to SteamVR where there are some delicate demos of VR program.

Microsoft HoloLens, known under development as Project Baraboo, is a pair of mixed reality smartglasses developed and manufactured by Microsoft. HoloLens was one of the first computers running the Windows Mixed Reality platform under the Windows 10 operating system. The HoloLens can trace its lineage to Kinect, an add-on for Microsoft’s Xbox gaming console that was introduced in 2010.

I am working in HCI lab this semester and my professor has ordered a smart glass for us. Though I do not know if it is Hololens, yet I still find this kind of smart glass helpful in the upcoming future. People need hands-free devices to help them with their life and it is cool to handle the information in an MR world. Also this glass has an advantage that it can be easily programmed by developers and create something brand new.

Google Cardboard (VR)

The Google Cardboard is a VR head mount set that was first developed and released by Google in June 2014. Being named after the cardboard material the device was mainly made from, the Google Cardboard was a simple and cheap device made to be used with smartphones. Users can choose to either buy a pre-manufactured one from Google or build their own viewer using their own components and instructions freely available from Google’s website.

Pros:

• Extremely cheap in comparison to the other VR headsets like the Oculus Rift or HTC Vive
• Customizable by users or developers due to blueprints and specifications being publicly available
• Enables VR programs to be run and used by phones which is not quite possible with the aforementioned devices
• Easy and simple interaction design – a single button to interact with VR apps, removing the need to master the usage of other clunky controllers

Cons:

• Restricted compatibility with larger devices (like laptops, smart tablets or personal computers) – which by extension, limiting its programs’ potential performance (laptops can accommodate much higher hardware specifications than that of a smart phone)
• Limited interactivity – users can only interact with VR apps through a single button and will be unable to simulate actions (like hand pressure or movement) that is only possible through a more sophisticated controller.
• Lack of integrated audio playback – users must use their own audio devices or use their smartphone speakers
• Extremely uncomfortable to use if you wear spectacles without customization

Microsoft HoloLens (MR)

The Microsoft Hololens is a pair of MR smart-glasses developed and released by Microsoft in March 2016. It is one of the first few devices that runs Windows Mixed Reality Platform under the Windows 10 OS. The Microsoft Hololens can be seen as a “computer in your glasses” – akin to that those cool tech glasses you seen in films like James Bond and Kingsman series alike. It supports a plethora of existing programs and applications, from conventional Windows 10 programs to that of 3D holographic applications.

Pros:

• The portability and wearability of a powerful computer in a form of a pair of glasses is indeed a compelling point to buy this product
• Holographic interaction – imagine being able to use your computer like how Tony Stark does in Iron Man will be extremely awesome!
• Supports both conventional 2D programs and 3D holographic apps is a plus point

Cons:

• Short battery life (especially due to its high performance demands)
• Hefty price tag of $3000 (USD) – almost equivalent to that of a high-end computer or laptop
• Still quite uncomfortable to use this device with large glasses and headgear

Note: All of this products are from CES 2019 ( https://www.ces.tech/About-CES.aspx ) and has not been out in the market as of this posting.

Oculus Quest (Prefered VR)

The Oculus Quest is a new product from Oculus, presented during the CES 2019. The Oculus Quest is an all-in-one gaming system built for Virtual Reality (VR) games. It eliminates the need to be tethered to a PC just to play VR games. Before the Oculus Quest is able to track your movements without the external cameras, you will need to use the Oculus mobile app to set it up.

However, the Oculus Quest lacks the power of the current PC-powered headsets like the original Oculus Rift and the HTC Vive. The next thing of worry is the battery life of the Oculus Quest, currently there is not any information about how long the Oculus Quest can last. The final worry about the Oculus Quest is about the balance of the head set, as it might be even heavier than Oculus Rift as all the components are stored there.

Overall I pick Oculus Quest as my prefered device for VR in CES as it will be the first consumer grade portable VR system that does not require to tether to any other devices or use a smart phone as its screen.

NReal Light (Prefered MR)

From right to left: Toast, Light, Oreo

The Nreal Light is a lightweight mixed reality (MR) glasses that allow for inside-out tracking. You can add a controller(Oreo) that has a pressure and touch sensitive touchpad and has 3 degrees of freedom (DoF) tracking. The glasses(Light) is tethered to a Nreal proprietary external Android-powered computing pack (Toast). The hardware platform of the toast is Qualcomm Snapdragon 845, and its software development kit (SDK) is available on Unity and Unreal. The Light has 6 DoF tracking, plane detection, object recognition and Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM). It has a FOV of 53 degrees and it is better than the average for MR.

I picked the Nreal Light as the prefered MR device as it looks like a normal sunglasses in a glance and it is light-weight which makes it really portable. (A total weight of 170g + 85g + 23g = 278g)

List of interesting devices

NORDICTRACK VR BIKE

Cybershoes

Digilens Crystal

VR: Oculus Rift

The Oculus Rift was first released in March 2016 as one of the first consumer VR headsets in the market (if you discount Nintendo’s Virtual Boy), and it is still going strong as one of the best PC-tethered VR headset on the market. The headset displays a 1080×1200 resolution for each eye with a 110 degree FOV at 90Hz refresh rate. The pricing has been slashed several times from $599, down to $399, and more recently $349, making this headset a lot easier on the pockets for consumers.

Pros:

• Significantly cheaper than HTC Vive at $349 USD
• Touch controllers better mimic hand presence
• Lighter and easier to deal with
• Built-in audio

Cons:

• Poor tracking with 2 sensors for a full room experience
• Requires 3 USB 3.0 ports can flood USB bandwidth

MR: Magic Leap

The Magic Leap glasses allows you to experience an enhanced world with digital objects while interacting with the real world objects. The pricing is steep at at $2295 with the justification that the glasses has the capability to replace many devices like your smart phone and computers. You may be wondering how a silly looking pair of glasses can actually contain enough computing power to replace modern devices but it actually connects to a wearable computer called the Lightpack. This device opens up a lot of possibilities in the mixed reality field, and I am interested to see what they can bring to the table in the future.

Pros:

• Glasses allow for tracking without setting up base stations and calibration unlike traditional VR headsets
• Novel mixed reality experience
• You get to look like Dr. Octopus
  

Cons:

• Get ready to lose $2295 USD
• Does not play well with glasses
• You get to look like Dr. Octopus
  

Harvest Moon: Friends of Mineral Town is the first of the Harvest Moon series to be launched in the Game Boy Advance and is a remake of Harvest Moon: Back to Nature. In this game, the player is a farmer whose goal is to restore a farm left behind by an old man, whom he made friends with while on a family trip when he was young. By planting crops and raising livestock, he makes profits and expands the farm. The player also goes around Mineral Town, where his farm is based on, and befriends the villagers living there, eventually marrying one of the six bachelorettes living there and settle down with a child.

Gameplay video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gv_PP6KQpMk&t=7s

Lens #7: The Lens of the Elemental Tetrad
Mechanics:
The player earns profits by raising crops and livestock, in turn using the profits to buy more livestock and more seeds to grow. The player can gather produce or crops and gift them to his neighbours, including the bachelorettes to foster better relationships.

Story:
The storyline of this game is branching, where the player can choose to restore the farm any way he likes. Out of six bachelorettes, the player can choose any of them to woo, which eventually leads to the end game of marriage.

Aesthetics:
The game is made with a simple design, where the player can easily discern the objects around him. By having a simple design, it emphasises the rural setting that Mineral Town is based in.
The theme music changes with each location and season, which brings out the corresponding mood that the setting should have. For example, in the spring, the music is more cheerful, signifying the start of crops growing season whereas summer had a more upbeat music, to signify the abundance of crops growing in the season as well the festivals held that season.

Technology:
The game is launched in the Game Boy Advance platform, which has a higher screen resolution and longer battery life than its predecessor, the Game Boy colour. As opposed to video gaming consoles such as the Playstation, the Game Boy Advance is easily carried around, providing the option of gaming on the go, when the game was launched.

The simple aesthetics of the games emphasises the setting of the story in rural Mineral Town, as well as ties in with the simple mechanics, where the player has the clear cut goal of making profit and fostering friendships with the villagers. The Game Boy Advance had also been essential in bringing out the aesthetics of the game, as well as provide the player with playing on the go experience.

Lens #17: The Lens of Pleasure
One of the game’s main mechanic is giving gifts to the villagers. Upon receiving the gifts, the villagers will express delight and the bachelorette that the player is currently wooing would give appropriate reactions, both of which would give the player a sense of pleasure, knowing that he made a person happy.

The game also provides player the pleasure of pride in an accomplishment. The player grows crops in the games, gathering a sense of achievement whenever the crops are fully grown. Furthermore, in taking good care of his livestock, the player can then take part in festivals with the respective livestock, winning if the bonds with the livestock is strong enough. The sense of accomplishment in the victory and as well as seeing the grown crops can also give the player a sense of pleasure.

Lens #46: The Lens of Economy
The game is built on the profits that the player earns. The player can earn money through several ways, but the main source of income will come from selling grown crops and products from livestock. The amount of profit from crops usually depends on how long the crop takes to grow and also the price of the seeds itself, whereas the profit from the produce of the animals depends on the grade of the produce, which increases with the affection level of the livestock towards the player. Both of this means that the amount of profit a player can earn is proportional to the work put in by the player.

Using the profit earned, the player can choose to expand the farm further, buy better tools, or livestock. The player must spend wisely among his budget, such as buying the correct expansions and leaving enough money to buy livestock and seeds.

Other than gold, the currency earned by selling produce, crops and other stuff the player picks up, there is also another currency, medals, which the player earns by betting in horse races. Medals work in a separate system from gold, which allows the players to buy items than gold otherwise could not have bought.

Lens #69: The Lens of the Weirdest Thing
The game has a few weird elements, which provides amusement to the player.

One example would be Kappa, a mysterious green creature, that lives in the lake near the player’s farm. Kappa only accepts a gift, which is cucumbers that the player can grow. However, being antisocial, Kappa will ignore the player’s gift at first until the player throws in cucumber to him for 10 consecutive days, which prompts his appearance and his gift of a special power berry to the player.

Another example would be the Harvest Goddess, who lives in the Hot Springs. The Harvest Goddess, as implied by her name, is a god, who the player can throw offerings to. However, the interesting element is that the Harvest Goddess is a secret Bachelorette for the player, and probably has the highest requirements for marriage among the bachelorettes in the game.

Lens #71: The Lens of Freedom
An interesting element of the game is that the player has complete freedom over what to do in the game.

Since there are many options on expanding the farm, the player can choose to focus on any area of the farm to expand on first, for example, he can focus on just growing crops or expanding more on livestock to care for. The player also has the freedom over choosing the livestock to rear.

Another option that the player has clear freedom on is the befriending of the villagers and the wooing of the villagers. The player can choose on which villagers to befriend or even not to befriend any at all. Also, the player can choose one between the six bachelorettes to woo or even woo all six at the same time.

World Of Warcraft

Website: https://worldofwarcraft.com/en-gb/

Gameplay Demo:

World Of Warcraft is a MMORPG released by Blizzard Entertainment in 2004. It is the fourth game released set in the Warcraft fantasy universe. It takes places within the Warcraft world of Azeroth, approximately four years after the events at the conclusion of Blizzard’s previous Warcraft release, Warcraftt III: The Frozen Throne. Since then, six expansions to the game have been released, with the seventh expansion announced on November 3, 2017. With a peak of 12 million subscriptions in October 2010, World of Warcraft remains the world’s most-subscribed MMORPG.

As with other MMORPGs, players control a character avatar within a game world in a third person view, exploring the landscape, fighting various monsters, completing quests, and interacting with non-player characters (NPCs) or other players. In keeping with the storyline of the previous Warcraft games, players must choose between the two opposing factions of the Alliance or the Horde. The players then select the character’s race out of the 11 races, followed by the class for the character out of the 12 classes. Most classes are limited to particular races.

Screenshots:

The lens of Elemental Tetrad

MECHANISM

As the characters become more developed, they gain various talents and skills, requiring the palyer to further define the abilities of that charater. Characters can choose two primary professions that can focus on producing items, such tailoring blacksmithing or leatherworking, or on gathering from resouce nodes, such as skinning and mining. Characters can learn all four secondary skills: archeology, cooking, fishing and first aid, which helps to promote players to explore the massive world.

Much of World of Warcraft play involves the completion of quests. These quests are usually available from NPCs, and usually reward players with some combination of experience points, intems and in-game currency. Quests allow characters to gain access to new skills and abilities, as well as the ability to explore new areas. While a character can be played on its own, players can group with others to tackle more challenging content. Most end-game challenges are designed in a way that they can only be overcome while in a group. In this way, character classes are used in speficifc roles while in a group.

World of Warcraft also contains a variety of mechanisms for player versus player (PvP) play. Depending on the mode of the realm, PvP combat between members of opposing factions is possible at almost any time or location in the game world – the only exception being the starting zones.There are special areas of the world where free-for-all combat is permitted. Battlegrounds, for exmaple, are similar to dungeons: aonly a set number of the battleground can be made to accomodate additional players. Each battleground has a set objective, such as capturing the flag or defeating an opposing general, that must be ompleted to win the battleground.

STORY

World of Warcraft is set in the same universe as the Warcraft series of real-time strategy games and has a similar art direction. World of Warcraft contains elements from fantasy, steampunk, and science fiction: such as gryphons, dragons, and elves; steam-powered automata; zombies, werewolves, and other horror monsters; as well as time travel, spaceships, and alien worlds. It is through quests that much of the game’s story is told, both trhough the quest’s text and through scripted NPC actions.

AESTHETICS

World of Warcraft takes place in a 3D representation of the Warcraft universe that players can interact with through their characters. The 3D graphics in World of Warcraft use elements of the proprietary graphics engine originally used in Warcraft III, which is more than 10 years old at the time of writing this article. While updates and expansions along the years have improved the graphics uof the game, like replacing the old models with HD models, the cartoon-art style remains roughly the same. Critics described the environment as “a careful blend of cartoon, fantasy art, and realism”.

The game was designed to be an open environment where players are allowed to do what they please. Players could run from one end of the continent to the other without having to pause at a “loading screen” while part of the game is retrieved from storage. The environment was described as breathtaking. Quests are optional and were esigned to help guide players, allow character development, and to spread characters across different zones to avoid what developers called player collision. The world in the game is massive and very vell designed. The game interface allows players to customize appearance and controls, and to install add-ons and other modifications.

The game’s audio was well received, particularly the background music. By assigning music to different areas of the game world, reviewers felt that the fantasy style added to the player’s immersion, and that the replay value was increased. The sounds and voices used by characters and NPCs, as well as the overall sound effects, were felt to add a “personality” to the game.

TECHNOLOGY

World of Warcraft runs natively on both Macintosh and Windows platforms. Boxed copies of the game use a hybrid CD to install the game, eliminating the need for separate Mac and Windows retail products. The game allows all users to play together, regardless of their operating system.

The lens of of Problem Solving and Cooperation

At the start, new players usually spend a lot of time playing alone or questing in small groups of fewer than five players. Sooner or later as the players progress through the game, they will run small instances with groups of five (Dungeons). Upon reaching the maximum level, many choices are open and the world of PvP can be explored. The culmination of the PvE endgame is the 25 player raids. Raid groups are a way to have parties of more than 5 and up to 40 people. Almost all raid events and bosses require the raid members have particular levels of gear and skill, expressed as DPS, damage mitigation and healing ability. In addition, a majority of such bosses also require the group to use particular, sometimes unique tactics in order to defeat them.

Also since there are so many races and classes in the World of Warcraft, every class is able to play a specific role in order to take down the bosses in a big raid. It also involves teamwork as players need to work together efficiently and it requires some amount of practice to defeat them. Raiding guilds often use additional measures to enhance their success, notably by Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) software, and particular add-ons that provide timing, threat and other services not available in the base World of Warcraft client.

The lens of endogenous value

This is used in the game by rewarding the players Achievement Points when they complete different types of achievements, like completing end-game raids, slaying the rare world bosses or collecting rare items. Although the achievement points itself are not used in anyway, useful items like rare and strong gears are often rewarded as part of the journey of completing the achievement. Titles are also given to players where they can display it next to their in game name when they complete a list of specific achievements, like Arena Master is given to a player when he completes a list of 8 achievements in the Arena (a 2v2 PvP battle). This allows players to distinguish themselves from the norm and feel sense of achievement, which will in turn keep the players coming back to play.

Assassin’s Creed Origins is an action-adventure video game developed by Ubisoft Montreal and published by Ubisoft. It is the tenth major instalment in the Assassin’s Creed series and the successor to 2015’s Assassin’s Creed Syndicate. It was released worldwide for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One on October 27, 2017.

The game is set in Egypt during the near end of the Ptolemaic period (49-47 BC) which is the oldest history in the series and recounts the secret fictional history of real-world events. The story explores the origins of the conflict between the Assassin Brotherhood, who fight to ensure the survival of freedom, and the Order of the Ancients, also known as the Templar Order, who desire peace through the forced imposition of order.

Website: https://assassinscreed.ubisoft.com/game/en-us/home/index.aspx

 #2: The Lens of Essential Experience

the new combat system in Assassin’s Creed Origins creates a lot of new ways to deal with enemies, but basically, it is an action-adventure stealth game. Thus, the essential experience of the game is being stealthy and several features in the game support players pursuing that way.

For example, there are abilities that give players bonuses for stealth kills, ones that let them see the path an enemy will walk on, and ones that let them control arrows in the air for more precise headshots. Also, the player can scout an area in advance and highlight enemies by controlling a Bonelli’s eagle named Senu.

#6: The Lens of Curiosity

Assassin’s Creed Origins‘ map is so large it takes almost three hours to traverse it at a walking pace, and the game is full of hidden places to discover. Moreover, since the view that the game shows us is so realistic, it encourages players to go to some places and see for themselves. Also, the more the player roam freely on Egypt, the more question marks which represent that there are somethings worth doing at those locations appear on the map. They are like chocolates in a box, and the player has to go there to know the flavour of them.

#9: The Lens of The Elemental Tetrad

1. AESTHETICS
   The Egypt that has been crafted is surely one of the most beautiful game worlds ever created. Every aspect of the environment has been crafted with such painstaking attention to detail. Every part of the world players explore would have their full attention. When I played this game, every town I encountered, every swamp I passed through, every pyramid I conquered, everything felt so perfectly placed and authentic.
2. TECHNOLOGY
   Assassin’s Creed Origins is playable on Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. The game was developed using the AnvilNext 2.0 Game Engine which is capable of generating structures in a flexible and automatic manner while following specific design rules and templates. However, There was quite a number of bugs at launch enough to hamper the player’s gaming experience.
3. MECHANICS
   The most outstanding feature in mechanics is the revised combat mechanics. Previous titles in the Assassin’s Creed series used a “paired animation system” which was a series of predetermined animations based on player inputs and scripted AI movements. Now Origins uses a “hit-box system”. When the player wields a weapon, they will strike at whatever is in range. Thus, the player should learn the attributes of individual weapons.
4. STORY
   
   The player takes on the role of a Medjay named Bayek and his wife Aya. They work to protect the people of the Ptolemaic Kingdom during a time of widespread upheaval. Bayek’s role as a Medjay brings him and Aya into contact with the secretive forces manipulating historic events and into becoming the first Assassins. Origins tries to start a new journey in its long and storied history, but the story isn’t well distributed.