Posts from Online Tech Tips for 05/11/2019

In this issue: 5 VR Applications that Aren’t Games - [View in browser]( Friday, May 10, 2019 5 VR Applications that Aren’t Games by Aseem Kishore | [Online Tech Tips]( Virtual reality is finally good. If you lived through the VR technology of the 90s, that’s something you may never have expected to hear. However, if you own any current generation VR gear, you’ll know that there’s plenty of AAA fun to be had in virtual spaces. VR gaming in particular has really taken off, which might lead to the impression that this is all that VR is good for. However there are some nifty applications out there that makes use of VR technology for something other than innovative gaming experiences. From actual useful utilities to educational experiences to art. There’s a VR app for just about everything. These five VR applications are perfect examples of how VR can be used for much more than video games. Virtual Desktop for Oculus Go The Oculus Go is a standalone, self-contained VR headset from Facebook-owned Oculus. Many applications that were originally designed for the tethered Oculus Rift have been ported in one form or another to the Go. One popular application is Virtual Desktop. Basically, it puts you into a virtual space and then replicates your desktop displays within that space. There’s a lot of reasons to do this. For one, it’s a great way to work in private without distraction or shoulder surfing. It also means you aren’t constrained by your physical monitors. Have as many as you want, in any arrangement and at any size. VR desktop software also lets you watch VR content like 360-degree YouTube videos natively. Bringing the software to an untethered VR headset really opens up possibilities. Use it with a Bluetooth mouse and keyboard and you can bring your desktop with you anywhere in your home, within reach of the WiFi. You can also the software over an internet connection from anywhere in the world, but obviously latency and bandwidth become factors to consider. Get it [here](. Google Earth VR Google has done a lot to digitize and map our planet. From satellite images in Google maps to Google Street View, you can see an amazing amount of the world from the comfort of your chair. The apex of all this geographic data capture is certainly Google Earth, which doesn’t get that much attention these days. So you might be surprised to hear that Google Earth has a full-on VR version, compatible with both the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive. Using advanced photogrammetry and 3D rendering tech, Google Earth VR lets you fly around the world, looking down into cities, soaring through canyons and experiencing the world as some sort of titanic god. The imagery on offer here is really an impressive achievement and it’s a fantastic educational tool, even if you don’t opt for the VR version. Get it [here](. vTime One of the best things about modern VR is something called “presence”. That’s the sensation you get when your brain thinks you really are wherever the VR world tells you. It means you perceive the virtual objects around you as really there, which includes virtual people. This means social VR apps have the potential to bring us a whole new social experience online. vTime is one of the most impressive examples of this VR app type. It’s a cross-platform application that lets people use VR and traditional 2D devices to hang out with each other seamlessly. They refer to it as a “cross-reality” platform, which essentially means people in the same virtual space will have different experiences. Those spaces are pretty nice too. From tropical islands to cosy fireplace lounges, vTime makes a space for you to be with other human beings. Albeit in the form of cartoony avatars. While the effect may not be all that impressive using something other than VR, the surprising feeling of presence with a headset when using social apps like these really make you feel like this is something special. Get it [here](. Henry While VR uses plenty of technologies that we already know, it’s actually a properly new medium. Which means people still have to figure out how to tell stories effectively using it. Unlike a film frame, you can’t take total control over what the viewer sees or pays attention to. So creators have to invent new ways to subtly and effectively give people the experience they intended when making their content. Henry, a VR animated short, is currently the best example of how to tell a story in VR. It’s a showcase title for the Oculus Rift, Oculus Go and Gear VR. Expertly rendered and designed, with Hollywood-levels of production quality, Henry shows what’s possible with VR and has yet to be topped. The story itself is pretty charming, but it’s just as important as a technical and artistic milestone and showcase. If you own the right VR gear and have never seen Henry, that’s something you need to rectify right away. Get it [here](. Tilt Brush VR has been promoted mainly as a way to consume things that other people have created. Whether it’s a VR video, game or other interactive piece of software. Google looked at it from another perspective and instead created a tool that allows you to use the unique attributes of VR to make content instead. Tilt Brush is available for the Vive, Oculus and Windows Mixed Reality headsets. It’s a painting tool that works in three dimensions. Or perhaps it’s a VR 3D modelling tool that works with brushes. Really, you’ll have to re-evaluate how you think about things for it to really make sense. Even if you don’t want to make your own creations, you can explore the works of others in VR, as they are meant to be seen. It’s a whole new way to approach art, and it is glorious. Get it [here](. VR – More Than Meets the Eye As with any new medium, creators and developers are still exploring what’s possible. It took decades from TV’s mainstream adoption to the pinnacle of modern day television. Proper, practical VR has only been around since around 2016, so seeing such a diversity of apps already bodes well. So if you’re a little burnt out on VR games, there’s no reason for that headset to gather dust. There’s plenty more to do! You may also like these other posts from OTT: [How to Schedule Emails to Be Sent Later]( [Change Your Mindset and Your Output with These Five Productivity Apps]( [The Best Open Source Software You Should Be Using]( [How to Configure Do Not Disturb Settings on Android]( [5 iOS Games Worth Buying an MFi Controller For]( Check out more posts from our publishing family: Help Desk Geek Posts [Flash Going in 2020 – Here’s How To Download Flash Games to Play Forever]( May 10, 2019 by Ollie Green In this article, we take a look at how you can download Flash games to play offline so that you can still play them after the takedown of Adobe Flash Player in 2020. We’ll offer a step by step guide to help you download and play these games once downloaded. The entire process is very […] [READ MORE]( [How to Convert an ODT File to Word the Easy Way]( May 9, 2019 by Christopher Jan Benitez OpenOffice is a free open-source software suite that includes Writer, an alternative to Microsoft Word. While Writer works incredibly well, it saves files in OpenDocument Text (.ODT) format. It shouldn’t be a problem except when you need to open files in Microsoft Word. If you have Word 2010 or newer, an .ODT file will open […] [READ MORE]( The Backroom Tech Posts [Best Practices for Signing a Windows PowerShell Script]( May 7, 2019 by Christopher Jan Benitez There are a lot of benefits of using Windows PowerShell over the more popular Command Prompt. But using PowerShell without digitally signing scripts can leave you vulnerable to attacks. This post will explain the importance of PowerShell script signatures and mention some best practices so your scripts remain secure. What is Windows PowerShell? Windows PowerShell […] [READ MORE]( [How to Use the Microsoft Anti-Malware Script Interface]( Apr 22, 2019 by Dan Franciscus Hackers are increasing the malware attacks executed in memory. One of the main execution methodologies for in memory attacks is to execute a script directly without ever writing to disk.  Traditional anti-virus works by comparing signatures to files on disk. But what do we do when the executing code never touches the disk? Or worse, […] [READ MORE]( Switching To Mac Posts [How To Encrypt a Folder On MacOS Using Disk Utility]( May 8, 2019 by Mark O'Neill On Windows, you have Bitlocker. Cross-platform, you also have VeraCrypt (successor to TrueCrypt). But if you want to encrypt a folder on the fly in MacOS, then the quickest and easiest way is to use Disk Utility. Disk Utility is a function built into the MacOS operating system and can do things such as wiping […] [READ MORE]( [How To Backup Your iOS Device Using iTunes]( Apr 12, 2019 by Mark O'Neill As every iOS device owner knows, you can quickly and easily back it up on iCloud by using the device’s settings. But another way to back it up is to make an encrypted backup to your computer using iTunes. It’s another insurance policy in case a backup fails, then you have another one in your […] [READ MORE]( ABOUT ONLINE TECH TIPS Welcome to Online Tech Tips – A blog that provide readers with daily computer tutorials, technology news, software reviews, and personal computing tips. My name is Aseem Kishore and I am a full-time professional blogger. I graduated from Emory University with a degree in Computer Science and Mathematics. Copyright © 2019 Online-Tech-Tips.com, LLC, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you joined our newsletter on our website, www.Online-Tech-Tips.com. You'll get an email whenever we post a new article! [Update Preferences]( | [Unsubscribe](