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iDIG 2016: Dublin International Game Music Festival 2016

Marty

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19th April 2016

iDIG 2016: Dublin International Game Music Festival 2016

Returning to the RDS for its second year is the Dublin International Game Music Festival (iDIG), running from April 29th to May 1st. We take a look at what to expect and give you the opportunity to save 20% on your tickets for this celebration of gaming and music.

About iDIG

iDIG enjoyed a successful launch in 2015 and returns this year bigger and better. The festival was created by both Eímear Noone and Craig Stuart Garfinkle, both award winning composers for their contributions to the huge multi-player game, World of WarCraft. While some may consider games to be, well just that, games, in truth the music held within can be powerful, emotional and rather thought provoking.

iDIG 2015

From the days of computer chip music through the introduction of instrumental pieces, music has played a pivotal role in creating an atmosphere for gamers. The power of music in gaming led Noone and Garfinkle to found this three day celebration for the most popular music in gaming history. 2015 saw legendary game music performer, with over sixty million YouTube views, Malukah partake in a rendition of Noone’s Malach from World of WarCraft.

Yes you are indeed watching musicians from around the world wide web combine forces with a live orchestra to create a spine tingling piece of music at iDIG 2015.

iDIG 2016

This concept returns for 2016, with the HALO theme song being the latest focus. So get set to experience a stunning rendition of this…

Over the course of the three day festival you will be treated to technology demonstrations from the people behind tracks featured in the trailers of Star Trek, Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings and Fallout: Brotherhood of Steel. There will also be displays from gaming related artists, Irish indie game developers, and the simply amazing Triforce Quartet, who we caught on the streets of Dublin last year while reviewing the HTC RE Camera.

To coincide with all of this, you will also be able to enjoy the Video Games Live music experience, Jack L, a preview of Eímear Noone’s 3D and VR conducting tutorials, the Demo Derby, The Cosball and the Celtic Link performed by DIT Ensemble.

It’s set to be an exciting three celebration of gaming and music, which we believe everyone will thoroughly enjoy. You can also save 20% on your tickets by signing up to the Goos3DLetter.

VR Games: Dead Secret review

Uncategorised

Marty

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17th April 2016

0

Dead Secret is an immersive horror app available on most virtual reality platforms. There are plenty of horror games emerging on various VR platforms, but this might just be the best of them all.

Who makes Dead Secret?

Dead Secret is the creation of Robot Invader, a Californian based games company. This is their first trip into the immersive world of virtual reality. In 2014 the Robot Invader team surveyed the gaming landscape and decided they needed to innovate and stay relevant. With a prototype of Dead Secret already completed in 2013, they made the bold decision to break the game down and build it back up again to accommodate virtual reality.

What is the plot?

You play the part of a young, female journalist who visits a farm believing that the recent death of the sole inhabitant was more suspicious than the initial diagnosis of hypothermia. The plucky journalist must roam around the house seeking clues and piecing together the true story.

What we look for in VR games

Immersion

Dead Secret absolutely nails this. Slipping in the role of the female journalist was a little unusual of course, but the game intelligently opens with you looking in a mirror. This tricks the mind and from that point on you are in a different world.

Graphics

While playing on smartphones is convenient, it does generally mean we have to settle a little bit when it comes to graphics. Dead Secret was testing using the Samsung Gear VR, which does give that little more umph to the experience. Owing to this, the graphics of Dead Secret are lush. Some areas might be a little blocky, but overall the graphics are great.There are several other elements of the graphics which are also noteworthy.

Reading text on screen while using a virtual reality headset can often be difficult, but not here. Text is large enough to see while remaining nice and crisp. Also the flat layout of descriptive text on items you interact with is easy to read too.

Audio

Robot Invader know that the audio of an immersive horror is perhaps the most influential part in the gamer experience. The music is likely yo have you on the edge of your seat for the majority of the game.

Gameplay

When testing the game, we were using a small controller but the Gear VR version of the game will work with the on-headset touch-pad. Largely, the gameplay is impressive. Throughout VR games, the most important thing is often to ensure a chunky control system doesn’t hinder the gamer.

Dead Secret requires quite a bit of input through the pad, but it is straight forward. Typically, your arm does get tired from your hand hovering over your temple. Fortunately, you will likely be taking regular breaks from the game to the fear that it induces. With many horror games depending on jump scares to get their point across, Robot Invader clearly wanted to chill you to the bone with a completely immersive and terrifying experience. We don’t want to spoil anything, so that’s all the detail you’re getting.

Value

At €9.99, Dead Secret does tip the scale to the pricier of games. Yet, it is perhaps the best value game in the marketplace. The game will pass plenty of hearth-stopping hours as you try to uncover the truth behind the mystery.

Dead Secret is available now in the Oculus Gear VR store and will soon be available for PlayStation VR and the Oculus Rift.

ARVR Innovate Conference set for Dublin

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Marty

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16th April 2016

0

Dublin will welcome its third Augmented and Virtual Reality conference on 28th April, in the shape of the ARVR Innovate Conference.

Following the success of the first two years and owing to the ever increasing popularity of virtual reality, Croke Park welcomes the third the ARVR Innovate Conference. The expo will be of interest for those involved in the practical and commercial application of both virtual reality and augmented reality.

The conference will see top speakers come together to discuss the future of the world’s fastest growing platform, including TED Talks speaker, Don Levy. Top innovators of the industry will also be exhibiting. We’ve picked out our top three items to make sure you don’t miss at the conference.

iTagged

iTagged is an augmented reality experience which uses your smartphone to place a secondary layer of data over the world that surrounds us. Users can then view the world through their phone with an overlay of rich data. iTagged provides an option which is both extremely practical and entertaining and is currently available for download for iOS devices.

Sentireal

We recently updated you with news that the world’s first virtual reality surgery was taking place in London. The practical applications of both virtual reality and augmented reality are clear for all to see, with the medical industry staying on the forefront of innovations. Dr. David Trainor, founded of Sentireal, will be speaking at the upcoming conference. Sentireal develop apps which provide personalised guides for training.

Brandwidth

Being charged with an aspect of promoting the latest Star Wars movies would be daunted for most, but Brandwidth took it in their stride. The companies Head of Innovation, Dean Johnson, will be on hand for the discussions that come with the Dublin ARVR Innovate Conference. Brandwidth are a truly cutting edge company utilising virtual reality in marketing terms and should be a real highlight of the conference.

You can find out more by visiting the AR VR Innovate website or viewing the video of last year’s event below. The conference is directed towards agencies interested in AR and VR, but speaks volumes about how these new platforms are the next big thing.

Human microchipping: Is RFID the future or a step too far?

Tech News

Dean

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13th April 2016

0

Human microchipping: Is RFID the future or a step too far?

“Do you mind if use your contactless?”

This question is asked daily, but makes no sense. Of course I do, or do you expect me to type in my pin number like an absolute peasant?

The evolution of payment methods

Paying for things for things has become so easy these days. It’s almost like you’re not spending money at all. No longer must we endure that awkward sixty second wait for the credit card machine to spit out a receipt. When you reach into your wallet, there is always that fear that after filling a trolley with groceries, you’ll have forgotten your card. There’s a solution for that.

Thanks to the revolutionary Apple Pay, Samsung pay and Google pay, we can now pay with our phones. Currently this is only available in limited locations, with European banks and payment solution providers such as Visa a little wary of such a new technology. It’s unlikely they will stay wary for long, meaning it is only a matter of time until payment cards face a genuine challenge from smartphones. Paying can be as quick as a penalty in rugby, tap and go.

Of course, it’s not unheard of that you forget both your wallet and phone. My own mother is notorious for leaving her phone at home, and her wallet could easily be in another bag. If you have a smart watch handy though, you’re in business. Once it has the required NFC technology, you can pay with your smart watch just like you would your phone.

RFID as payment method

Left your smart watch at home too? You’re having an awful day, but even for people like you, another solution is in sight. For nearly five years now, since being approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in America, people have been having chips, about the size of a grain of rice, inserted into their wrists. It’s a very simple procedure, requiring a small injection and a chip. The chip itself can last up to 10 years and withstand strenuous physical abuse. It can store information such as your name, date of birth, medical history, and of course, your bank details.

Of course there are very practical uses for such technology. Epicentre, a Swedish hi-tech office block, offers employees the option of being chipped, allowing them access to rooms, printers and to pay for items in the canteen with a wave of the wrist. Some couldn’t wait to be chipped, while others said there would be no chance they would take part.

In 2007, NBC predicted that by 2017, Americans will begin being micro-chipped. The chip could contain medical data, personal information and location data.

Could such chips ultimately give authorities the power to track people down and possibly neutralise them too? Such technology could provide un-paralleled convenience, but also herald be the end of privacy as we know it.

I can already see myself holding my wrist out in front of a scanner as a Siri-esque voice greets me with “Good morning Dean, here’s today’s agenda”. It’s important we break this down further. How secure or safe can this be?

How secure is RFID

The chips in questions here are Radio Frequency Identification (RFID). RFID readers have a surprisingly long range within which they can retreive data, measuring between 10 to 40 feet. Someone could get your contact, medical, personal and financial information without even knowing what you look like, and without you even knowing they were trying. However, there are also RFID chips which are limited to a six inch limit. And if the information were to be stolen, it is stored in a secure online database, but of course where there is a will, there is a way. How secure can these databases be? Should they be government owned and given the Edward Snowden leaks, would anyone trust them?

Then there are the physical risks, such as the unknown long term effects of a foreign object in your body. Fans of Dan Brown’s Angel and Demons will be familiar with the removal of an eyeball to gain access to a biometric scanner. What would stop someone, desperate to access a building, cutting off an arm? Might be better to simply hand over a key, no pun intended.

Tell us what you think.

Has technology gone too far, or is it simply following the route that we find most convenient and progressive. Let us know below.

Is #RFID human tagging the future or a step too far? – https://t.co/RIaIR0RrAv

— Goos3D (@Goos3D_IE) April 13, 2016

HTC 10: What you need to know

Marty

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12th April 2016

0

Handset launches are coming thick and fast and the latest is a familiar phone with a different name; the HTC 10.

Yes HTC fans, the One is no more. HTC have instead opted for simplifying their flagship handset to HTC 10. Here is what this year’s flagship brings to the table.

HTC 10 design

Unibody. It’s as standard as a camera these days. Oh and chamfered. Chamfered is essential. The HTC 10 ticks both boxes with a gorgeous design, blending together glass and metal seamlessly. The manufacturer has finally included a fingerprint sensor on a flagship handset (as we don’t consider the A9 to be flagship).

For HTC, this design is evolutionary, especially as they move away from the widely popular front-facing speakers. The design might also confirm that all handsets are working towards similar designs as the difference between the HTC 10, Samsung Galaxy S7 and iPhone 6s are few and far between.

HTC 10 display

Anything you can do I can do better, is what HTC sing when standing beside Samsung. The HTC 10 boasts a 5.2-inch screen, a whole 0.1 bigger than their competitor’s flagship. Even if you visit the HTC site, you won’t find much space dedicated to display as a feature, but they do claim it to be as vivid as the AMOLED screens seen in Samsung handsets.

HTC 10 camera

A rear facing 12MP camera aligns the HTC 10 to many of it’s competitors, also going after low-light quality similar to the Samsung Galaxy S7. In a growing trend, it’s not really about the amount of pixels but the size of them. HTC describe the camera as being 12 Ultrapixels due to the 1.55um size, allowing more light in. Echoing efforts in the much loved HTC One M7.

As we are an ever increasingly narcissistic society, HTC have also packed the front of the phone with a 5MP camera.

HTC 10 audio

Having owned a HTC One M7 and One M8, I personally loved front facing speakers. They make watching on the go and listening to media around the home so much better. Alas, they are no more, but all is not lost.

The HTC 10 has one treble speaker in the ear piece while the bass is pumped out through a speaker in the base of the handset.

HTC claim to have engineered the handset for audiophiles with certified Hi-Res audio. Whether or not you will noticed the level of improvements or not remains to be seen, but in terms of audio, few will come close to the HTC 10 for quality.

HTC 10 battery

Now this is where HTC claim to have knocked the ball out of the park. Usually the words ‘two days battery life’ are muttered under breath just prior to a conversation being swiftly moved on. Pride of place on the HTC site right now are those words, and while there is an asterix, it looks like they are some what confident of these applying to most users.

Fast charging is also included, allowing the device to reach a 50% charge within 30 minutes when using the fast charger.

HTC 10 Ireland pricing

At €749 direct from HTC as a SIM free handset, the latest flagship borrows the price tag from its competitors. You won’t be picking this up on any contract in Ireland for free, with the lowest upfront likely to be €49 on Vodafone Red Extra Super. On the average tariffs such as Vodafone Red and Three Unlimited Flex Max, you are likely to pay around €120.

The verdict

All in all, the HTC 10 looks like a substantial change from the One M9. This was badly needed as the similarity between the One M8 and M9 was a major bone of contention for many.

The HTC 10 packs in everything that you would expect from a flagship phone, and perhaps only suffers from a general difficulty that the smartphone market is currently experience. It’s hard to wow people, myself included, but when you consider what is packed into the gorgeous looking phone, you have to admit it’s pretty awesome.

App of the Week: Upflix – What is on Netflix

Marty

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12th April 2016

0

App of the Week: Upflix – What is on Netflix

Have you ever sat down and wondered “what is on Netflix today?”. Upflix is the must have app which helps you answer this question.

Isn’t it great getting these little tips? Get more to your inbox with the Goos3DLetter

Sure enough, if you are browsing Netflix on your laptop and certain devices, there is a really slick search function that will show you the latest additions to Ireland’s favourite streaming app. However, if you stream to many devices, such as the Xbox One, there are no options to show you recent additions. Enter UpFlix.

UpFlix is such a simple but brilliant concept. It basically updates you when Netflix updates. The app also shows you the latest updates. Why Netflix doesn’t do this themselves is beyond us. Better still, UpFlix shows you a chronological history of movies and shows being added to the service, and you can go back through them at your leisure.

You can filter by genre but also see IMDb and Rotten Tomatoes ratings to see if it’s worth losing an hour and a half of your life to a movie. If it’s your mobile device you play on or stream from, at the tap of a button, UpFlix seamlessly loads up the movie in the Netflix app, ready for your viewing pleasure.

UpFlix is free with ads, or you can pay to rid yourself of this mild inconvenience. Most importantly it’s also otimised towards the Irish market. You can download the ap now for Android and iOS for free.

VRinOR: First live VR streamed operation

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Marty

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12th April 2016

0

VRinOR: First live VR streamed operation

The beauty of virtual reality is its ability to present you with scenarios you once only imagined possible. Of course technically you are still imagining, but never-the-less, VR is about to make the next step with VRinOR.

When Mark Zuckerberg announced his belief that VR would be the next platform, this is exactly what he meant. A surgery team at the Royal London Hospital are preparing to partake in the world’s first virtual reality surgery. Teaming up with Medical Realities, the team will complete a surgery on a 70 year old man suffering from colon cancer. You can watch through an app called VRinOR.

What is VRinOR

VRinOR is, as you may expect, Virtual Reality in the Operation Room. For many such an event appeals due to the morbid curiosity, while for others it’s an impressive technical feat. In truth, the best part of the event is trainee surgeons being immersed in an experience not possible in the past.

Dr Shafi Ahmed, the doctor carrying our the surgery believes the event will provide an “unparalleled learning opportunity”, while the gentleman going under the knife outlined his excitement to be involved in the experiment.

You can view the surgery live on Thursday 14th April from 1pm on iOS, Android or by searching for VRinOR in the Oculus Store.

VR Games: Jump JR review

Uncategorised

Marty

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12th April 2016

0

The ultimate goal of VR games is to immerse you in a world other than that which you are in. The team over at Endeavor One have created an experience that is likely to make you feel a touch of vertigo.

Jump JR is the Gear VR version of Jump. The premise of the game is pretty simple. You control the main character in their attempts to jump across a city to the highest point. The game takes some liberties with physics to give you a super human jumping ability, but isn’t that really the whole point of VR games?