Unreal Engine 4 recreations are nothing new, however the Star Wars Mos Eisley spaceport project—which comes courtesy of a group of Obsidian developers—is pretty impressive. Headed by Jason Lewis, a total of 17 devs of varying rank are using the project to learn more about the engine, but of course being self-confessed “super Star Wars nerds” makes the undertaking that bit easier. Speaking to 80.lv, Lewis says he first started out with the desire to craft a three dimensional Millennium Falcon, however things quickly spiralled as the project grew in scope.

Researchers and autistic artists are exploring immersive visuals to study and simulate autism traits

At this early stage, virtual reality is basically a cool new high-tech toy. But researchers are discovering it can confer real-world benefits, including reducing pain and boosting creativity. A new study examines a particularly promising use for the immersive technology: increasing empathy. It finds that, compared to traditional approaches, using VR to experience the precarious life of a homeless person creates more, and longer-lasting, understanding and compassion for that often-ignored population.

If you walk in on someone exercising with with a VR headset on on, they might look pretty ridiculous. Perhaps you’d silently judge them for what might seem like random, awkward movements. If this describes you, a study published in Psychology of Sport and Exercise may make you regret that snap judgment: The findings suggest that VR can actually play a powerful role in exercise performance, helping people push through physical discomfort.

We’re excited to usher in the next era of VR gaming with the introduction of Oculus Quest, our first all-in-one VR gaming system. Oculus Quest will launch in Spring 2019 for $399 USD. Offering six degrees of freedom and Touch controllers, Oculus Quest makes it easy to jump right into the action—with no PC, no wires, and no external sensors. We have over 50 titles lined up for launch, with even more in the works including some of your favorite Rift games like Robo Recall, The Climb, and Moss.

Sony CEO Kenichiro Yoshida is confident that issues with current VR headsets will be improved upon in the future. Speaking to The Independent at the IFA technology conference in Berlin last week, Yoshida outlined many of the common problems with early VR headsets like the company’s own PlayStation VR (PSVR), noting that the tech was “still evolving” at the moment.

About 65% of patients with schizophrenia experience verbal auditory hallucinations, which are characterized by harsh voices that emanate from body-less “others.” Usually, these “others” fit a common profile – they're domineering, derogatory and unremittingly hostile, making an already-burdensome condition even more painful for those who suffer from it.

We humans are deeply social creatures. We live our lives in the company of others: we work together, eat together, play together, and sleep together. Yet, for some of us, interacting with other people can really be “hell.” The prospect of talking with a stranger, ordering food in a restaurant, or speaking up in a work meeting, can, for some people, be an incredibly daunting and fear-provoking experience. This is very much the case for sufferers of “social anxiety disorder.”

Fay Nugent developed a fear of heights in her 30s. "It began after I went on a girls' weekend away," she says. "We had gone on an adventure activity called a tree-top walk. "I managed to climb up to do it - but then when it came to stepping out on to the high ropes, I just couldn't do it. "I felt physically ill and panicked, even though I knew I was perfectly safe."

Bethesda's Todd Howard recently took to the Gamelab event in Barcelona, Spain to chat with Game Awards founder Geoff Keighley, as well as an interview with GamesBeat about a variety of different topics. During the chats, he had some interesting things to share, namely about Fallout 76, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, and various other tidbits. But perhaps one of the most important kernels of information he shared were his thoughts on VR and how it's still going to come into its own.

Researchers at the University of Maryland have found that people remember information better if it is presented in VR vs. on a two-dimensional personal computer. This means VR education could be an improvement on tablet or device-based learning.

The media industry has long waited for virtual reality to live up to its potential. PwC projects it may finally be happening.

If you've ever wondered what it's like to stand on an alien planet, NASA has you covered.

How connected are your body and your consciousness? When Michiteru Kitazaki, a professor of engineering at Toyohashi University of Technology in Japan, recently posed this question in an email, he evoked an idea from Japanese culture known as tamashii, or the soul without a body.

Eating disorders can be some of the most difficult mental conditions to treat. Unlike other anxiety or compulsion disorders, the main trigger for an eating disorder—food—is unavoidable. But a new paper suggests that visual exposure in virtual reality (VR) might help patients battle their eating disorder in a physician-controlled environment, complemented with traditional cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT).

A new educational VR app teaches kids in Australia all about recycling, teleporting them to a special facility in Hume with interactive games.

Oculus today at F8 overviewed some of the latest VR technology that they’d been working on internally. Among the projects mentioned is the ‘Half Dome’ prototype, a Rift-like headset with a 140 degree field of view, varifocal displays, and what appears to be eye-tracking.

The Smithsonian teams with Intel to virtualize Burning Man art.

A number of standalone VR headsets will be hitting the market in 2018, but so far none of them offer positional (AKA 6DOF) controller input, one of the defining features of high-end tethered headsets. But we could see that change in the near future, thanks to research from Google which details a system for low-cost...

The Synthetic Training Environment allows soldiers to get to grips with potential war zones.