Sports Illustrated promises to capture “the first complete ascent of Everest in VR” as part of its upcoming virtual reality miniseries Capturing Everest, giving VR enthusiasts an opportunity to experience the treacherous climb from a first-person perspective.
Filmed entirely with 360-degree video, Capturing Everest documents a recent two-month ascent undertaken by a team of four expert mountain climbers. The production will premiere in early 2017.
Virtual reality applications have long attempted to simulate the experience of mountain climbing, and many Oculus Rift and HTC Vive VR games feature first-person climbing as a primary gameplay mechanic. While applications like Everest VR simulate the trek using constructed 3D environments, however, Sports Illustrated’s documentary will feature live video throughout, upping the realism significantly.
“Summiting Everest has captivated the imagination like few other athletic feats,” said Sports Illustrated’s editorial director Chris Stone. “Capturing an ascent in VR makes the unattainable seem attainable while at the same time reinforcing the mythology of Everest. This production is both extraordinarily real and unreal all at once. We are thrilled to bring the viewer along for the odyssey.”
Sports Illustrated notes that the production is the first of its kind to cover a complete Mount Everest ascent from start to finish. Capturing Everest is the latest documentary to debut as part of Sports Illustrated’s recently launched Life VR platform, and footage will also be available for viewing at the publication’s website.
“Attacking the world’s highest summit seemed like the perfect place to go with our new VR initiative,” Life VR managing editor Mia Tramz explains, “and by partnering with Endemol Shine and adding in the world-class storytellers from Sports Illustrated, I think we have something truly special and unique to offer our audience. We can’t wait to bring viewers along for this once-in-a-lifetime journey. This is exactly the type of experience Life VR was created for.”
The absolutely absurd idea of putting a touchscreen display on a mouse isn't exactly new. Turtle Beach already did it with its Command Series MC7, which features a 2.25-inch control screen. But apparently, even that wasn't ridiculous enough for Arctic Fox Technologies. Its new Super Mouse looks like someone took the chunky old Atari ST mouse, slapped a touchscreen and scroll wheel on it, and called it an upgrade.
The result is a rather unusual-looking mouse that is now on Kickstarter, starting at $199. And as ridiculous as it looks, some of its features are genuinely intriguing.
Apple is less than a day away from launching its highly anticipated OLED MacBook Pro with a touch-sensitive screen. But it appears that the upgrade is going to cost a pretty penny. According to a report by Bloomberg, Apple is reportedly eyeing a starting price of $2,899 for the 14-inch MacBook Pro, while the 16-inch version could start at $3,399 in the US.
"At $2,899, the 14-inch model would mark the highest starting price for a new MacBook Pro model, surpassing the $2,799 Apple charged for a 17-inch version introduced in 2006," says the report. The report claims that Apple is targeting a minimum price hike of $400 for its upcoming redesigned 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models.
I've spent a good amount of time digging into the spec sheet of the new M6 MacBook Pro (14-inch), and for all intents and purposes, this is a classic Apple "chip and connectivity" refresh. It's not a full redesign. The chassis, Liquid Retina XDR panel, speakers, ports, and battery, all of them carry over unchanged.
However, the M6 brings more cores, stronger on-device AI, higher memory bandwidth on the larger configs, and modern wireless. Here’s the practical rundown of what actually improved, and whether those gains are worth your money.