Today’s Immersive VR Buzz: Lego’s newest playsets are haunted by AR

This was a very interesting BUZZ that I found today and wanted to share with you.

Originally posted on: https://www.engadget.com

As much as we like to shake our metaphorical canes at kids and lament how they’re all about Minecraft and Fortnite these days, the truth is that they’re still really big into physical play too. Kids enjoy personal developments, whether that’s learning a new Language, Arabic for example or using their phones/ computers to re-create a city on Minecraft.

Children still love Lego, both the plastic bricks and the worlds they can create with them. However, the company is now going to try to unite all these different aspects — building, video gaming and storytelling — with its new AR-based line, Lego Hidden Side.

Kids can construct sets and bring them to life using their phones, with a continuing narrative to keep them coming back for more.

Hidden Side isn’t Lego’s first foray into augmented reality. In the past it’s experimented with letting you use AR to preview toys in the store, and last year the Lego Playgrounds app used ARKit2 to add animation and other flourishes to existing sets. Hidden is the first line designed around the tech, with a storyline that’s only fully accessed through the app.

Lego Hidden revolves around two students, Parker and Jack, who end up investigating the supernatural in their small town of Newbury. The initial building sets include locations that would be instantly familiar to any kid with a penchant for urban fantasy: a high school and a graveyard.

Once assembled, each kit has secrets that can be unveiled by pulling and pushing different parts, like the school will sprout evil eyes and claws when you turn the clock attached to the front of the building.

But the real surprises come when kids point a phone camera at it and look through the app. Then the set will be infested with ghosts that they need to investigate and zap and then send data about them back to their professor, J.B.

What’s especially cool, though, is that the kids aren’t done with the physical set just yet. Their investigation requires them to open doors, turn knobs and even open up graves. Just tapping on a screen isn’t going to cut it.

The actions can all be done one-handed for those playing solo, but children playing together might choose to delegate each task instead.

The app recognizes each set by its general shape; while it doesn’t have to match exactly, the app looks for a unique profile so it knows what activities it needs to load.

This means that kids can’t go rearranging things willy-nilly like they would with other Lego sets, building the model on the box and then deconstructing it and creating something entirely new.

In order to keep playing, they need to leave the sets in their standard configuration. This obviously seems limiting: In fact, a constant criticism of Lego’s licensed sets is that they limit kids’ imaginations by discouraging them from making free-form constructions, so this would be the pinnacle of that.

What is 360 VR Video?

360 video is a video that is recorded in all directions at the same time with multiple cameras. The videos are stitched together either internally in the camera or externally using special software.

It then forms one spherical video that is controlled by the viewer, enabling them to look up, down, right or left at their discretion.

Is 360 Video Virtual Reality?

I want you to be the judge.

Recommended MicroSD Card for use with the Fusion 360 camera 

How are you watching your 360 VR Video?

Are you watching on your PC?

Is it Facebook? YouTube? Veer.TV ?

Or better still, are you using your Samsung Galaxy Smartphone with your Samsung Gear VR Headset?

Or are you using another smartphone with a Google Cardboard? Google Daydream?

Leave a comment below. Let us know what you like or don’t like. If you have seen a 360 VR video that you think is awesome, tell us, and we will feature it.

What type of VR Headset do you own? Or do you watch with your computer? Smartphone?

Do you have a VR camera? Ricoh Theta S? Ion360?  Samsung 360 gear? Insta360?

And if you are looking for 360 Video Production Services, contact Al Caudullo exploretv@gmail.com

With 37 years of Media experience, we can Deliver More for You in 360 Video. Click here to see what our customers say about our work

Utilizing state of the art technology, Al Caudullo, and his team has been delivering award-winning compelling productions spanning the globe. Exotic destinations blended with unique cultural experiences give viewers an experience like no other.

From vibrant American cities like San Francisco and Las Vegas to the isolated mountains of Mongolia. From ancient civilizations of Cambodia and Myanmar to the lush resorts of Southeast Asia and beyond. All from the comfort of your living room.