The top VR and AR experiences at SXSW, and why you should take notice.

Compared to last year at SXSW, there was a clear step up when it came to VR and AR. Experiences ranged from you and a friend being chased by a tyrannosaurus rex, to incredible ground breaking VR treatments for stroke patients. Actually the two are not completely disconnected, as many of the advances made by the better funded entertainment focused work will filter through into the medical domain.

Life of Us:

Well, Mr Milk has been out front for a while and with this 7 minute HTV Vive experience he remains there, by some distance. It is a 2 person experience, so it’s best to do it with a friend, it’s much more fun breathing fire on someone you know. The key takeaway for me was the social element of this, not only could you see the other person (or representation of), but you could also talk to them. Your voice is altered dependent on the character you were playing, the amoeba had me giggling like a schoolboy.

Show it to Me:

This is a music video played out against a virtual journey through a landscape which feels like it has mashed up Miami Vice with Tron. Clever integration of Tilt Brush keeps you engaged and the visuals are stylistically rich. 3 minutes of losing yourself in a song.

Reivent:

This was one of the most exciting and impactful experiences for me. When you can show the positive impact of VR it takes the conversation to a very different place. This integrates neural training with VR to help stroke patients recover and relearn how to use their muscles. I watched a demo where the patient was able to move a virtual arm through their neuromuscular signals. This is really going to change things, plus Sook-Lei Liew who is conducting the research couldn’t have been nicer or more enthusiastic.

Wonder Buffalo:

This is an attempt by the studios to create an additional layer of film content. Who wouldn’t want to take a segment of a film, like the bar scene in Star Wars, and dive into it in VR. This is what has been done with Wonder Buffalo, where they have taken a specific scene and used volumetric capture and some beautiful animation to bring it to life in VR. It’s looking way beyond the 360 film trailer.

CAM4VR:

A somewhat unsettling experience given that it is aimed at the adult entertainment market. In effect it is super charging webcams with 3D capture, you put on a HMD and there is a woman (fully clothed for this demo thankfully) who you can chat to. Clearly the use case beyond that moves in to a paid for service, and on speaking to the founder he described the platform as “Uber for the adult entertainment industry”. As ever, this is an industry which is quick to adopt new technology and monetise it, but it still needs to address some key moral issues regarding exploitation.

Retissa MR Glasses:

Basically this is Magic Leap without the secrecy, but also unfortunately without the wow factor. I put on their glasses and could see a video playing in the top right of my vision, which was being projected on to my retina (this was running off a laptop). I’m sure the technology is impressive but the experience wasn’t, plus I felt quite nauseous for a while after.

That’s is a very quick overview written as I was sitting in Austin airport waiting for my flight home.

Feel free to let me know you thoughts and, if you were at SXSW, any experiences you felt stood out.