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Google Launches Earth VR For Free On HTC Vive (roadtovr.com)
An anonymous reader writes: Google today revealed Earth VR, a virtual-reality version of the company's famous Google Earth program that's built for the HTC Vive. The application packs the rich Google Earth dataset -- which includes high resolution satellite imagery, elevation data, and detailed 3D modeled cities and landscapes -- into a single model of the planet which users can view all the way from space down to the ground, walking among cities like a giant. The company tells Road to VR that "Earth VR is a product, not a demo," and that it's designed to benefit from improvements in the Earth dataset over time automatically, and it will see regular updates post launch. You can download Google Earth VR for the HTC Vive via Steam.
Pretty freakin' awesome.
Flying over places like Manhaattan, the Fukushima power plant, Gibraltar, et cetera.
Looking up places you lived when you were a kid.
Humming the theme music to the first Superman movie... ...or maybe that was just me.
Pretty freaking awesome.
Flying over places like Manhaattan, the Fukushima power plant, Gibraltar, et cetera.
Looking up places you lived when you were a kid.
Humming the theme music to the first Superman movie... ...or maybe that was just me.
The reason Google Earth sucks on my phone is because I can't toss in my LANDSAT 8 and BLM overlays live from the respective servers. Can you use these on your HTC Vive version, or are we still talking PC Master race, here?
Still waiting on Serviscope_minor to wake up to fucking reality and realize that Jessica Price isn't going to fuck him.
...of course if you can really stride like a giant through real cities it clearly needs a Godzilla mode add-on where you get to defend the city by fighting off some equally implausible giant monster.
I don't want to oversell Google Earth on Vive, but I honestly choked up a little. It's an amazing experience, and when you look at it, your mind is just flooded with the thought of "holy hell, this is going to be amazing in a few years." The automatic tree detection is mostly working, the feature extractors are better, and when I went to Zion Canyon, I was able to generate a screencap that is STUNNINGLY close to one that I took last year. It's just hard to explain.
He didn't manage to finish his VR swordfighting program, but somebody created Earth for him. Now all it needs is live data feeds of human movements from the CIA to be complete.
How much does it usually cost?
Here, of all places. That tells me VR is failing to get traction. What's missing?
Normally locked to the HTC Vive (has an explicit check for the make/model of your headset). But Shockfire's wedge dll spoofs the headset ID strings and makes it work perfectly on the Oculus Rift (and it really is gorgeous).
Best used with motion controllers too - I use an old Hydra (works great), but pre-release Oculus Touch controllers, Playstation Move wands, even a Leap Motion will get you there. Keyboard controls are available too, in a pinch.
Why would anyone engrave "Elbereth"?
Just spent my entire evening playing with it. It is actually kind of surreal. You feel like you are flying around in a corrupted version of your memories when you enable the "human scale" mode. It might actually be kind of dream-like in that sense. Very cool.
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(n/t)
VR is, like gaming, solitary in nature. The only reason I use Google Maps is to discuss details about locations with others in the room with me. Or maybe prep a printout for later reference. VR would be useless for both those.
I do want to have a reason for VR but I can't see one. It's a burden to wear and adjust. Waving hands in the air is awkward at best, and bound to be tiring. Even for gaming it'll be too tiring for anything more than a short stint at a time. In other words, gimmicky. I'll probably buy a set once it's ready on Linux though.
I once saw a molecule mapping tool using a 3D display, with glasses, very effectively. It provided equal viewing of the one display for all in the room. This is a rare speciality application with the bare minimum for the needed enhancement.
Touch-screens are limiting enough but VR will be another round of the infamous 3D movie theatres, me thinks. Actually even VR has come and gone in the past as well.
AR has to compete with the smartphone and even wearing a plain set of sunglasses can get people agitated so a set of recording goggles ain't going to be very socially accepted either.
You can download Google Earth VR for the HTC Vive via Steam.?
no thanks
Complain to Slashdot, not me