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Forget 3D Glasses I Want Virtual Reality Gaming

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When I was a kid I imagined that the games of the future would include virtual reality and while gaming technology has come along way, theres still plenty of room for innovation.Red Or Blue Pill

While many great game titles have been released over the years, gaming technology has remained pretty much the same. Consoles will continually upgrade their graphics capabilities, tweak their shape, size, and the way we control our games, but I want to be able to jump into my games and truly become a part of that world in every way possible. The idea kind of reminds me of the movie The Matrix, eventually you should be able to be that connected to an experience.

Fortunately, there are many smart people who are interested in making virtual reality happen, including some at Sony Entertainment and Valve. Chet Faliszek of Valve has mentioned that they are actively working on a virtual reality project and Microsoft has filed VR based patents. So, it would seem that companies are taking virtual reality seriously, and it’s about time.

What makes this so interesting is that VR technology really is still in it’s infancy, nothing has been perfected and no one is sure who is going to have that breakthrough moment and create something amazing. Most people involved with VR are fiddling around with all kinds of ideas as they mash up screens,mirrors, circuit boards, cables and software to create a truly unique experience.

With VR you also have to consider how that type of gameplay differs from sitting at your computer or on the couch playing with a normal, hand held controller.  Virtual reality will require you to move around much like Kinect for Xbox 360. Chances are you won’t always want to burn 500 calories chasing and killing zombies but I guess it would be nice to at least have that option.  Now what would really be amazing is if you could control your character just by thinking.

Many of the technologies needed to make all of this happen already exist, it’s just a mater of of making them all work together. As for now, we can all remain hopeful as we watch and wait to see who comes out with the best VR solution.

CA Governor Signs Self-Driving Cars Bill

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California Gov. Jerry Brown recently signed a Self-Driving car bill at Google’s headquarters. The bill is designed to help lay out safety guidelines for self-driving cars.Robot Driving Car

Google co-founder Sergey Brin talked about how autonomous cars will make our roads much safer and will allow others who would not normally be able to drive, to have a personal, safe, and reliable mode of transportation.

It all sounds like science fiction but autonomous cars already exist and the technology is getting better. We already have cars that park themselves, so why not keep going and take the technology further?  My current question is, would you ride in a car that you’re not controlling? I don’t know exactly how I feel about this but if it had been through extensive testing and had a override switch, then I guess I’m game. A few questions come to mind when I think about self-driving cars. I would imagine that if you take human error out of the equation you can increase travel speeds. Why not have speed limits of around 200mph?

Being able to have cars navigate themselves though dense fog,heavy rain or even driving at night would be a huge benefit for anyone. Perhaps we can wipe drunk driving out of the picture for good as your car can take you home safe and sound.

My major concern here with anything that becomes computerized and automatic is can it be hacked? Actually, we should be asking how will it be hacked because this technology will be vulnerable just like anything else we create and something like this could be dangerous in the wrong hands. There would have to be some digital connection to your drivers license that identifies a driver or passenger, kind of like in the movie The Fith Element, and there would have to be some way to detect whether or not drivers are using a “modded” vehicle that may allow them to exceed regulated speeds or drive irradically.

Another major concern of note here is liability. These self-driving cars will inevitability mess up at one point and damage other cars, property or people, and who will be responsible? How do you determine who was at fault? Computer “A” hit Computer “B”? Send the bill to the auto manufacturer? These are all questions we will have to answer when we move into a world with self-driving cars.

The bottom line seems to be that the potential safety advantages of having a self-driving car are what will push this technology forward. With law enforcement cracking down on texting and making phone calls while driving, this seems like an obvious direction to head. We really have nowhere to go but up here, traveling by car is a dangerous task. Perhaps we will be looking back many years from now and talking about  how crazy it was that people used to drive themselves around and how inefficient and scary that must have been.

Ready or Not Windows 8 is On it’s Way

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Well, it’s been really fun talking about how different Windows 8 is and how crazy it all seems but we are slowly approaching the release date for the new OS and some feel it just isn’t ready.

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I would argue that any OS is never really ready when it first releases. There are so many things that will likely only be discovered when the masses begin to upgrade  and tear apart the shiny new OS. This process of fix-on-the-fly  is nothing new for Microsoft and I’m sure we won’t be happy with the new OS until the first service pack releases or maybe even the second for that matter.

What is truly important here is that Windows users really try to look at Windows 8 as something entirely new and try not to compare it to Windows 7. The world is changing and Microsoft is adapting with it, and this is a great thing. Many of us hate change and for this reason alone we tend to look at Windows 8 and feel like we will never upgrade. However, as we march forward and watch Microsoft make one of the biggest changes to it’s operating system since the ‘Start’ button, I wonder what I plan to do personally.

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Do I jump in? Do I wait a few months ? What computers do I upgrade first and do I upgrade all of them or just one? These are the questions that I’m trying to answer, even as I write this I’m trying to figure out what I will do.I have been experimenting with the developer preview and the release preview and I still feel very uncomfortable using Windows 8 with a mouse and keyboard. I don’t know why I can’t seem to shake this feeling. This OS is designed to work with touch and it feels like the laptop and desktop experience is an afterthought.

I’m pretty patient when it comes to OS software, I have tried just about every semi-popular OS out there from obscure linux based OS’s to OSX and back to mobile OS’s. Generally I give an operating system a fair shake up until it’s first major patch. Once we reach the first major patch, if I still feel it’s not working for me, I will usually move on to something else.

When we look at Windows 8 we can’t forget that it’s not just about how we feel about the new OS, it’s also about the faith that hardware manufactures put into the new OS. After all, the hardware is useless with out a good operating system to make it work. Let’s not forget that Microsoft is also going to be releasing it’s own tablet with Windows 8 on it, which will have Microsoft competing directly with those same hardware manufactures that Microsoft want’s Windows 8 to run on.

What about developers? what will they do with existing titles? How will they fit-in with the new OS? Is this change something that developers want to engage in? Some developers feel threatened by Windows 8 and feel that they will be forced to operate within a “box”.  Take the keyboard and mouse out of the equation and now you either are forced to work with touch or an Xbox controller.  Something doesn’t feel right here and I can quickly begin to understand why.

Now, take all of this crazy change and bundle it up in a nice, shiny, new Microsoft store that you build right across the street from the Apple store and you’ve got a front row seat to historic change in the world of technology.

To sum things up, I say if you support Microsoft then use Windows 8 and provide all the feedback you can to help Microsoft build the software you want to use. This is the only way they can get a real feel for what consumers want and need from their software. In the meantime I remain optimistic about Windows 8 and hope to see it succeed.

 

Nvidia GeForce Grid

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When we think of gaming today we think about our computers, tablets, phones, handhelds, and consoles. We are always looking for more processing power, better graphics capabilities, and more RAM. Wouldn’t it be nice if the platform didn’t really matter anymore? What about looking at it from a developers point of view? Imagine creating a game that just works everywhere on everything. This type of technology is going to go mainstream and it’s going to revolutionize the way we use hardware.Nvidia Logo

I would go as far as to predict that the next generation of consoles that are released may very well be the last that actually do all of the data processing inside the hardware itself. I believe that cloud based gaming will become the standard and I think it will be amazing.

As someone who has worked with developing games, I understand wanting to make sure that anyone who experiences your game should experience it in the best way possible. You don’t want gamers to experience a lower quality version of your game just because of their hardware limitations.

Imagine how much easier it will be for game developers to send out patches and update their software, you can be sure that everyone is up-to-date with the latest bug fixes and features. Will patch day become a thing of the past?  Secondary servers could be loaded up with the new version of the game and then swapped with the live version instantaneously.

Cloud based gaming is not without it’s flaws. Latency, which most online gamers are quite aware of and monitor regularly, has been a huge issue when trying to deliver an epic experience in real-time across the inter webs. Nvidia has come up with a solution to this problem and they are calling this new technology GeForce Grid. Geforce Grid is basically a supercomputer that you can tap into from your home. It’s almost like having Nvidia as your next door neighbor and whenever they come out with something better they just come into your house and upgrade your hardware first thing in the morning.

Now, I am not entirely sure how this will be marketed, I am thinking you might be able purchase server time and be able to play any title that is registered with your account. There will need to be some type of equipment for when you wanted to play on your television but most likely you will only need something for your controller to connect to. Most of the gaming hardware we will use will basically be a shell with a screen, talk about light weight.

This new technology is exciting to say the least and will be interesting to watch evolve. This will undoubtably reach far beyond the gaming space and reach into every aspect of our digital world.

If you would like to learn more about GeForce Grid, head to Nvidia’s official website here.

 

Internet Explorer Security Issue To Be Addressed

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If you use Internet Explorer then you may want to be extra careful when surfing the web, as a hole in the browsers security has been exploited. This security hole allows an attacker to gain access to your system simply by visiting a malicious website.

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This exploit has gone unnoticed for the last few releases of Internet Explorer and has primarily been used to infect machines with “Poison Ivy”, a back-door Trojan. Many computers have already been infected with the Trojan, so it’s important that you keep up on your definition updates and scans for your preferred anti-malware, anti-virus software.

This only goes to show that even if you think you’re fully protected from malicious software, you’re still at risk if you don’t use your best judgement when visiting unknown websites. Stick to sites you know have a good track record. You can use tools like Site Advisor to check url’s before you visit them, this site is ran by McAfee and does not require you to download anything, you simply type in the url you wish to check and search. It will let you know if the site has been flagged for malicious activity and it will also show you a list of files and other sites the website links to and whether or not they could pose a risk to your computer. However, some sites that are new and haven’t been scanned by McAfee will show up as untested, these sites should probably be avoided until you know for sure that they are safe to visit.

No matter what operating system you use, you should always have you computer check for updates automatically. You can even manually check from time to time and make sure the latest updates are installed. Microsoft releases updates constantly and the majority of what your downloading is to protect you from malicious code. This doesn’t just apply to OS software either, make sure your anti-virus software is also up-to-date with the latest definitions.

Microsoft is aware of this vulnerability and has listed it as critical, the company has recently posted a security bulletin on the matter here. An official fix is slated to be released on Friday and should allow IE users to browse securely again.