With the VR market expected to grow more than 33 percent between 2018 and 2024, according to Research and Markets, the technology has proliferated across many industries. In the construction biz, for example, China’s State Grid utility recently completed a pilot program in Shanghai using wearable tech with the goal of providing real-time, remote assistance safely to maintenance workers – no hands required. The wearable, RealWear HMT-1, has a high-resolution video camera that the worker operates by voice. Its noise-cancelling capabilities allow it to be used at loud sites. Being able to use hands-free technology has become imperative for State…
Author: Matt Harding
Equipped with state-of-the-art HTC Vive headsets and controls, a new virtual reality arcade has sprung to life in Londonderry, N.H. Action VR, started by wife-husband duo Jennifer and Joe Dunne, offers 13 VR gaming stations in a 4,000-sq.-ft. space spread across two floors, according to the New Hampshire Union Leader. The company says it has a library of more than 100 games and access to 300 through Springboard VR. While already operating, Action VR will hold a “grand opening” on March 9. More information about the business is available at www.actionvrgaming.com.
Last Thursday at Duffy’s Restaurant in Stuart, Fla., three patriarchs of the amusement game business got together to break bread and chew the nostalgic rag (though, the only one with food in front of him is the guy on the left…hmm!). Trade vets will surely remember that guy… former Benchmark Games’ chief Al Kress (left) dining with Atlas Distributing’s Jerry Marcus (center) and Rowe International’s former sales top Jerry Gordon (right). The common denominator between these dudes (who sport at least 150 years of combined trade experience) is, in fact, Rowe. Kress distributed the line when he ran a dealership…
In its ongoing efforts to encourage membership in the association by FEC owners and operators, AAMA held FEC Connect – Dallas, an information and networking event, on Tuesday, Feb. 26, at Pinstack in Las Colinas, Texas. (Pinstack, readers may remember, was the winner of AAMA’s 2017 FEC of the Year Award.) The Dallas-area event comes on the heels of last month’s successful “FEC Connect – Boston,” which was held Jan. 16 at member George Smith’s Bonkers FEC in Peabody, Mass. (a northern suburb). AAMA Exec VP Pete Gustafson said, “Both events were attended by a mix of current AAMA member…
Emporium, a small arcade bar chain with three Chicago locations and one in San Francisco, is adding another across the bay in Oakland that shares a building with the historic Fox Theater. The new location is smaller than other Emporium’s, according to San Francisco Eater, but still has 5,000 sq. ft. with about 30 arcade and tabletop games, pinball machines, air hockey and Skee-Ball lanes. It will also have an extensive selection of beer, wine and cocktails, as well as a full kitchen. Emporium Oakland celebrated with a “first look party” on Feb. 27 and will have regular hours soon.…
ATV Slam will make its U.S. debut at the Amusement Expo March 27-28 at the Las Vegas Convention Center and manufacturer Sega is “set to impress” with a full range of its video games. The newest offering is the ATV racing game featuring a life-size realistic quad bike with lit wheels, a chrome engine and all sorts of effects (air cannons for wind, among them). House of the Dead: Scarlet Dawn, Transformers: Shadows Rising, Target Bravo: Operation Ghost, Daytona Championship USA and Storm Racer will all be featured at the trade show. Sega will be located at Booth #201 at the Expo,…
The Original Dinerant, a hip restaurant in downtown Portland, Ore., that serves up dishes like chicken and waffle sliders and donut burgers, recently added a retro arcade bar to its offerings. According to Portland Eater, the recently-opened Dinercade is located on the diner’s upper mezzanine level overlooking SW 6th Avenue and SW Oak Street, and features a selection of new and vintage arcade games and pinball machines. A video-game-inspired drink menu – with the Princess Peach and the Hadouken among the cocktails – is also available. They serve snacks like caramel corn and in-house trail mix, but patrons will be…
Writer and Pac-Man cabinet owner Cat Despira recently posted a blog called Pac-Man: The Untold Story of How We Really Played the Game in which she examines all-too-common wear on the machines and a bit of arcade history. “As you’re playing, you’re jamming that joystick left and right, up and down, movements that shift your right shoulder forward and back, rocking your body side to side,” Despira wrote. “When the going gets tough, and the ghosts start closing in, all of this rocking motion compels you to lean into the game and, whether you realize you’re doing it or not, you’re going to…
The long-awaited HoloLens 2, Microsoft’s latest augmented reality headset, was revealed for the first time recently at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. It’s a lighter, more capable and less expensive version of the original HoloLens that was released three years ago, according to Fortune. Priced at $3,500 – down from $5,000 for the original model – the HoloLens 2 is mostly aimed at corporate users and developers. At the conference, Microsoft promised that its hardware would work with the software of other companies and that other developers could create their own app stores for the HoloLens – a contrast…
Just released for free on Oculus Go, Oculus Rift and the Samsung Gear VR, Marshall from Detroit is a short virtual reality film with the rapper Eminem (real name Marshall Mathers) offering a tour of his hometown. Directed by Caleb Slain, the 21-minute short features Em traveling around Detroit and discussing his career and connection to the city with radio DJ Sway Calloway, according to Rolling Stone. The interactive teaser trailer shows the historic Fox Theatre, Comerica Park and views from atop the art deco Guarding Building with voiceover from the interview (and also inside the car with the subjects of the…