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zwendt
Up and Coming
May 20, 2013

MN VR and HCI group 3/28 (and social 4/2)

I am starting a new workshop group for VR and HCI (Human-Computer Interaction) developers and tinkerers in Minnesota. All variety of VR, HCI and hardware hacking are fair game: Kinect, Leap, Intel depth cam, Sensus, touch interfaces, mocap, computer vision, wacky camera apps, AR, projection mapping, interactive art, etc. I'd also like to serve as a focal point for Oculus Rift owners in the short term.

I've also led IGDATC (International Game Developers Assoc. Twin Cities) for 6 years. If you'd like to learn about the Oculus Rift but are not currently/soon working with it, mark your calendar for the next IGDA Twin Cities meeting on 6/12. It will have a broad range of info based on my month with the Rift. The 5/29 VR and HCI group is more hands-on details.

Additional details and sign-up here:
http://igdatc.eventbrite.com/

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    zwendtAuthor
    Up and Coming
    June 25, 2013
    Smokey:
    Be sure to grab at least the "put me on the email list" ticket so you can get emails about future events. I'd like to hear sometime what works good for CAD stuff. I'm guessing the low-res will hobble this version.

    Felix:
    I'm not sure how to use the balance board, make a snowboarding or segway game quick :D
    I can see walking demos like Tuscany getting either better or worse depending on how touchy the "lean controls" are.
    ZeroWaitState
    Up and Coming
    July 2, 2013
    "geekmaster" wrote:
    Palmer said the emitters need to be about 5 feet apart or more, as I recall. Should not be a problem. I have four Hydras, if we need more... Only one Rift though. And still no transportable computer. My main rig is a "two man lift" according to the manual, and my back agrees.
    :o

    Two man lift ... that sound like my sort of system... care to share the specs on what your running ?
    "I love the French language. I have sampled every language, French is my favourite - fantastic language, especially to curse with. ..... It's like wiping your arse with silk, I love it." - The Merovingian
    zwendtAuthor
    Up and Coming
    July 12, 2013
    Event #3 is live. Paul is doing a deep dive on Hydra details and design, and hauling in his stereo 3D projector and 5 pairs of glasses.

    http://igdatc.eventbrite.com/
    zwendtAuthor
    Up and Coming
    August 16, 2013
    Sign-ups for #4 are live at the usual place. Details here:
    http://igdatc.eventbrite.com/

    This talk isn't directly applicable to VR unless you're considering making custom hardware or want to hear tips from a successful Kickstarter, etc. But, you can still stop by to meet some fellow Rift owners, and enthusiasts of weird I/O.
    zwendtAuthor
    Up and Coming
    October 17, 2013
    For Oct, we're hosting a group play of recent Rift demos. I was able to get much more space (classroom and auditorium reserved), so we can now fit many more demo stations.

    We would love to show off your own project, even if it's still a WIP.

    Format is also slightly tweaked based on lessons learned last time: We have some voulenteer Demo Minders to make sure Rift Bringers get to walk around and see everything. Less fiddling time by coordinating ahead, so each person has to only worry about 2-3 demos.

    If you're interested, details and sign-up in the normal spot:
    http://igdatc.eventbrite.com/

    PS I didn't post #5 here since it was very hardware-centric and didn't seem generally relevant to Rift ...unless you're building your own tracking hardware :)
    Manannan
    Participant
    October 28, 2013
    Wow didn't realize this was going on here in my homestate! How have these events been going lately?
    Do many other active developers show up to these things? I'd love to meet some other like-minded people and maybe even collaborate on a project!
    Anonymous
    October 29, 2013
    We had about 30 at this last meeting with half a dozen rifts and a 3d projection demo. Between the HCI meetings and the normal IGDA meetings the 2nd Wednesday of the month you can meet quite a few developers in the area.
    zwendtAuthor
    Up and Coming
    February 21, 2014
    Another meeting coming up. Focus will be the Oculus latency tester, and syncing everyone up after an unplanned group hiatus. Also, IEEE VR 2014 is in MN on 3/29!!! http://ieeevr.org/2014/

    Register for the Feb 2014 group here:
    http://www.eventbrite.com/e/mn-vr-and-hci-feb-2014-oculus-latency-tester-tickets-10669704373

    We'll cover it at the meeting. But if any non-locals are interested, the Global Game Jam had some Rift games, and some great custom controller projects. Here's my two favorite projects, and some search links:
    http://globalgamejam.org/2014/games/awkward-butt-touching
    http://globalgamejam.org/2014/games/monolith-0
    http://globalgamejam.org/2014/games?title=&country=All&city=&tools=All&diversifier=689&platforms=All
    http://globalgamejam.org/2014/games?title=oculus&country=All&city=&tools=All&diversifier=All&platforms=All
    CodaFrost
    Up and Coming
    February 22, 2014
    Nice! I'm stoked to finally be able to make it to one of these meetings, count me in! And perfect timing to discuss the latency tester as I'm running into some lag in a few of my demos..
    Perhaps I'll bring along my rig and demo my yet unseen (and recently unveiled) pet-project that I've been working on for a few months! It's about time I get some feedback I think.
    https://developer.oculusvr.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=29&t=6523

    Also, very excited about the IEEE conference here! It looks amazing! But, am I reading the $1000 General admission price-tag correctly?? Looks like there's less than a week to register too. Damn, I just might have to attend that..
    Visual, Inc CTO Dual Reality Games LLC Founder
    zwendtAuthor
    Up and Coming
    March 27, 2014
    We're bookending the IEEE VR conference here in town. Impulsonic is speaking this Friday at the Nerdery, and a social Wed night about a block from the conference hotel.

    All events open to the public as always.
    http://igdatc.eventbrite.com/
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