Three people are recovering from symptoms commonly related to shock after demoing an app for the Oculus Rift at last weekend's Salt Lake Comic Con. The demo, entitled Falling Without A Parachute, is a simulation of falling from an airplane and landing on the ground without a parachute or any other kind of lifesaving device. The three people have yet to be identified, but two of them are said to be in fair condition with one still listed in serious condition at the University Of Utah Medical Center.
Falling Without A Parachute is similar to a rollercoaster app developed for the Oculus Rift called ParrotCoaster, which has evoked visceral responses when demoed at a convention in Mississippi and later when the demo was posted online for users to try at home. The developers of Falling Without A Parachute, Acrophobia Technologies, refused to release a video of the game in use for fear of a lawsuit from the three people currently in medical care. The leader of the Acrophobia Technologies, Scottie Ferguson, did release the following statement:
"Our application was designed to provide the user with the visual imagery of what it would be like to fall out of an airplane without a parachute. It was not our intention to get a physical reaction with our product, like the reactions we saw when we demoed out application at the Salt Lake City Comic Con. We deeply regret that we caused this reactions, and we have pulled our demo from any further public displays untill we can redesign it so that such a reaction does not happen again."
However, the demo for Falling Without A Parachute was available on the internet for a time, and copies of the demo are now available for download on several websites without the permission of Acrophobia Technologies. In fact, several reaction videos of people demoing Falling Without A Parachute have been posted to YouTube, one of which can be found here.
This morning, two European tech news sites, Eurogamer.net and Computerandvideogames.com, published stories detailing a virtual 3D headset that Sony is planning to release alongside their hotly anticipated Playstation 4. The CVG article states that the plan was to reveal this device at Gamescom, but plans fell through at the last minute. The Eurogamer article draws comparisons between the rumored device and a device that Sony has already put out, the HMZ-T2, as well as drawing comparisons to the Oculus Rift.
I didn't believe this story when I initially read it. In the months and years before the Playstation 4 and Xbox One were revealed, there were many different rumors going around about what those consoles were going to be, what accessories they were going to have, and what grand and spectacular things those devices were going to be able to do. Most of those rumors turned out to be false. Some of those rumors turned out to be laughably false. Since the articles referenced above referenced a virtual 3D headset, I thought this would turn out to be one of those rumors that would be laughably false. However, as I dug around, the story started to become more real to me.
Most of the rumors about the Playstation 4 and the Xbox One that turned out to be laughably false sites as sources posts on Reddit, Neogaff, or other sites where rumors spread like wildfire. People now believe that the laughably false rumors were either plants made by Microsoft or Sony to see where leaks were coming from, or an elaborate joke by some internet prankster. The stories posted this morning reference none of these sources. The CVG article sites several sources who wish to remain anonymous, as well as an interview they did with Sony Worldwide Studios boss Shuhei Yoshida. The Eurogamer article sites multiple sources, as well as detailing a demonstration involving Evolution Studios' upcoming title DriveClub, a studio which they note has been involved in 3D development before.
There's also the question of the headset. The Eurogamer article references a device called the HMZ-T2, the name of which brings up memories of the action-blockbuster Terminator 2. The thing is, the HMZ-T2 is real. Not only that, Engadget is reporting about a third iteration of this product, set to be unveiled at a Sony event to be held tomorrow. Leaks the day before a product unveiling are not uncommon, as it is significantly harder to keep news from coming out about a product that it was in the 80's and 90's.
So this may turn out to be real. Sony may be putting out a virtual 3D headset alongside their hotly anticipated Playstation 4... or they may be coming out with a new product that will not be successful. Remember, the HMZ-T2 has not been much of a success, and the new iteration of this product may not be so much a Playstation 4 accessory, but an accessory that can hook into most modern video playing devices, including the Playstation 4. If the rumors are true, we may see tomorrow what this product actually is. Is it the wave of the future that some think that it is, or is it the thing that will slowly collect dust on the shelf of that rich guy you know who blows all his money on the latest tech? Well will soon see.
Take your normal superhero origin story. Guy gets powers, guy realizes he has powers, guy goes out to save the world. Now factor this in: the guy has a score to settle.
Everybody wonders what it is that makes them who they are. The Hawk thought that question was securely answered. However a meeting with a boy in a hospital causes him to question everything. Why he is, who he is, what he is, and even if he is.
Eleven years after the events of Consequences Of Mayorust, The Hawk finds himself dealing with many of the same issues that many of us deal with: A less than satisfying job, co-workers of variant annoyance, and a romantic life is unhealthy at best. Thrust into all this is Madison Medina, a well meaning woman who's adversarial relationship with The Hawk morphs into a kind of friendship. Madison, in addition to learning more about herself and her abilities, help to reveal deeper problems inside the organization both she and The Hawk work for.
In every workplace there is a person. A person who doesn't talk to anyone, has walled themselves socially, and seems openly hostile to everyone. Every workplace has this person, even if you don't know of such a person, they're there. The Black Robin Christmas Carol is the story of one of these people. It delves into who this person is, why this person is, and how this person can change for the better.
There is a story. A story of pain, a story of loss, a story of unspeakable horrors, a story that has not been given it's proper attention. Some are ignoring this story. Some are unaware of this story. Some know of this story but are complicit in it's darkness. This is a story that must be told. Told so that the good can stop it and the bad can feel shame for it.
When I thought up thig blog, the name I first thought up was "Random Bullshit". Quickly I recognized that this name would put some people off. Then I thought of the name "Random Bull****". That seemed to be to much clutter. Then I was inspired with the name that dons this blog today.
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