Why buy a drum set when you can use an HTC Vive and create your own perfect virtual setup?
Well, that’s exactly what YouTuber Emre Tanirgan did when he covered the theme song to Pokémon down to a T.
Tanirgan is currently developing a VR application that will allow users to create their own virtual drum set and play it on Vive. Named Paradiddle, it’s still in the very early stages. The video shows low-texture models in place of hi-hats, snares, and toms. Users can move around various pieces of the drum set using Vive’s motion controllers, and then play on them.
Digital Trends reached out to Tanirgan to get some insight on Paradiddle.
“My main two goals with it are creative expression in VR, coupled with the ability to get better at a real life skill through VR” said Tanirgan. Surprisingly, he was able to add dynamic sounds, meaning how hard he hits the snare or toms affects the sound. These variances in attack have not been added to the cymbals, however. “It will have more percussion instruments, and I have a system in place now that let’s me scale this up to more drums pretty easily” said Tanirgan. “It will also leverage more of the freedoms that VR gives you, such as being able to easily record and share play sessions.”
There are also some grandiose plans for Paradiddle. “What I want to focus on after some of these core features is to make it a social experience as well, so ideally you’d be able to jump into a drum circle with people all around the world if you wanted to” said Tanirgan.
This isn’t the first time someone has tried to make a virtual drum set. There are a few “air drum sticks” out on the market, but because those solutions only use accelerometers and not Vive’s motion detectors, accuracy can be questionable. Nintendo once infamously tried to implement the playing of virtual instruments with the Wii motion controls. That indecent, however, has put Nintendo forever in the E3 vault of embarrassments. Even now, GIFs of Ravi Drums bashing away and virtual cymbals still pops up on gaming message boards.
As for a release date, it’s “not set yet, but I’m thinking of releasing an early access version on Steam within the next month or two. It’ll be out on the Vive and Rift (with Touch), and I’ll think about PSVR once I get to that point” said Tanirgan. A price has not yet been set either, but Tanirgan plans to make the app “pretty cheap” so that anyone can jump in and start playing.
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.