Epic Games revealed some VR-focused projects are included in the latest round of recipients for its MegaGrants program.
The program provides financial assistance to a wide range of software projects with the company behind Unreal Engine and Fortnite confirming today that, so far, it pledged more than $42 million to more than 600 recipients.
The latest round includes support for medical training simulations from ORamaVR, DeepMotion VR avatar tracking, Faraday’s Magnets by ScienceVR, and a photogrammetry project called Zen Universe by ZenArt VR.
Here are descriptions and trailers for some of the VR projects as provided by Epic:
ORamaVR by ORamaVR SA
Combining principles in neuroscience, spatial computing, and artificial intelligence, ORamaVR hopes to rapidly accelerate human learning in healthcare through an array of immersive VR medical training simulations.
DeepMotion VR Avatar Tracking by DeepMotion Inc.
DeepMotion’s VR Avatar Tracking solution brings to life realistic full-body motion and interaction with as little as 2 or 3 trackers. Motion Brain, which uses the latest in AI and physics simulation, we are able to generate a full-body avatar that moves with you and interacts naturally with its virtual environment, providing a rich sense of physical presence and embodiment. VR Avatar Tracking simulates full-body motion using inverse dynamics and obeys biomechanical joint limits, instead of a simple approximation provided by inverse kinematics. VR Avatar Tracking runs on Windows and Mobile platforms, with your choice of VR hardware. With DeepMotion’s motion intelligence solutions your characters will move as real as they look in Unreal Engine 4.
Faraday’s Magnets by ScienceVR
ScienceVR asks, what if we could see the “invisible forces” around magnets? This experience empowers VR learners to see the “math” around magnets. Users can take their time to try repeatedly to build up their understanding and interact with virtual scientists.
Zen Universe by ZenArt VR
Bulgarian-based ZenART uses Unreal Engine and advanced photogrammetry techniques to capture natural and historic landmarks, turning them into explorable interactive VR experiences featuring narrative, puzzle-solving, and minigames with awe-inspiring visual quality. The first two Zen Universe locations, Tales of the Rocks and Olympus: Home of the Gods are available now in Steam Early Access.
