Oculus Rift Brings Virtual Reality to Chuck E Cheese

Huge Thanks to Geek House Backers

So… last week, John P. mentioned that we need a new name for the Plaque Wall. You know… the wall of YOUR names that’s going into the Geek House to showcase your support to help us pay for the massive costs of the building. A building that’ll be TOTALLY worth it when all is said and done. We still have some BIG surprises for you guys! Charles Phillips suggested the Geek Wall of Fame, which I totally dig. It could also be the Geek House Wall of Fame. What do you think? Let us know! For now…

Thanks to Mikko Paakkola and a HUGE thanks to Bjorn Holmgren for going all out with the XLarge plaque – they’ve tagged the Geek Wall of Fame with their names and messages! We appreciate it guys! If you’d like YOUR name up there, just head on over to geekbeat.tv/store to choose the size you want!

Capture Everything Around You with 360cam

“Shut up & take my money!” That’s what a lot of geeks are saying when they see the the world’s first 360 degree HD camera Kickstarter campaign. The 360cam has already blown well past its initial goal of $150,000 so they’re headed for production. Now, there are cameras out there that MOVE around to capture 360 degree video and stick it together, but this one actually has three 185 degree fish eye lenses that are synced to simultaneously capture and stitch images into a view of everything around the egg-shaped camera. You’ve also got a gyroscope for stabilization, a GPS antenna for geo-tagging, Wi-Fi for streaming…yep, you can stream live video!, and three microphones for surround sound. And most exciting, the file format is a normal MP4 file rather than some proprietary format. When last we checked there were still open slots on Kickstarter for first production models of the 360 cam at around $300 and up for delivery in November, but you have to sign up by June 4th.

Parrot Bebop Puts You in the Drone with Oculus Rift

What could be cooler than that? Take a look at Parrot’s new Bebop Drone: This quadcopter is equipped with a 14 megapixel fisheye lens that captures a 180 degree view in 1080p high definition video and is outfitted with a 3 axes accelerometer, gyroscope and magnetometer for image stabilization. It’s also a flying Wi-Fi hotspot – to ensure control from your handheld device. If you buy the optional Skycontroller you can pilot the thing from two kilometers away AND plug in an Oculus Rift Virtual Reality headset to pilot it like you were in the cockpit. No price yet, but Parrot says to expect retail delivery in the 4th quarter of this year.

Chuck E Cheese Meets Virtual Reality

Speaking of Oculus Rift, Chuck E Cheese is planning to use their headsets to test Virtual Reality games at a few select locations. Players will try to snag simulated Chuck E Cheese tickets blown around a booth by a fan. Once out of the booth you’ll be able to redeem the virtual tickets for real ones— and get back to playing Whack a Mole or my favorite, SkiBall (while waiting for your pizza).

Pink Floyd and Coldplay Rock the Skies

If you follow the astronauts aboard the International Space Station– or are a Pink Floyd fan – you’ll want to check out the 20th anniversary video of their instrumental “Marooned” – it features ISS time-lapse photography.

There’s also Coldplay’s “Sky Full of Stars” video which features video of the Aurora Borealis captured over four hours from Sweden by astrophotographer Goran Strand. Very cool stuff!