Virtual reality allows us to tour the site of the world’s deadliest nuclear disaster, not wait in line at the Louvre, and visit the beach all in the comfort (and safety) of your own home. The post How Virtual Reality Is Radically Changing The Travel Industry appeared first on Futurism. This post first appeared on Futurism.

One month ago, I tested a virtual reality headset called the HTC Vive Pre. The Pre was a development kit created by gaming behemoth Valve and smartphone maker HTC, and it was one of the most exciting new pieces of hardware I’ve had the pleasure of writing about — a device that offered full-body, room-scale VR. The headset above is not the Vive Pre. It’s the final consumer edition Vive that’s coming out today, although it looks almost identical — the branding is new, and the small focus rod  ...

Jaunt, a startup that makes applications and hardware for virtual reality, has hired a fleet of sales executives to cajole more media companies and advertisers into building content for VR. That fleet includes Julie Uhrman, the former founder and CEO of the Android game console company Ouya, who joins as Head of Platform Business Development. Beth Greve, the Chief Revenue Officer for YouTube network AwesomenessTV, is coming on as a “senior consultant” focused on the revenue strategy. Two  ...

Kevin Spacey is a great actor and theater director, but I’m a bigger fan of Kevin Spacey the breathless tech evangelist. When Spacey likes a trend, he invests his time, money, and celebrity. Streaming services are the future? Spacey becomes the star of the first breakout streaming TV series. Video games are the future? Spacey stars as the villain in the most popular franchise of this generation. Virtual reality is the future? Spacey becomes an advisor at a VR startup. Tech evangelist  ...

Oculus VR will make good on a promise that’s been years in the making: starting next week, the first consumer versions of the company’s Rift virtual reality headset will begin arriving at preorder customers’ doors. CEO Brendan Iribe today tweeted out a photo of a boxed Rift bundle to commemorate the event, saying deliveries begin on Monday, March 28th. For the VR enthusiasts and gamers that have been following Oculus since its Kickstarter went live in August 2012, this is  ...