Back in 2016, Oculus released Quill, a VR
painting app that’s roughly equivalent to
Google’s Tiltbrush, letting users create
‘immersive artworks’ using an array of
different tools that can then be explored
in VR. In other words, it lets you create
paintings through which you can walk.
There’s a good chance you haven’t heard
of Quill, which is probably why Oculus has
now released Quill Theatre, a free program
for the Oculus Quest that lets you viewexisting Quill artworks, and also gives Quill
artists a proper way to show off their works.
Quill Theatre’s selection of available
artworks is curated, but there are some
truly impressive works among them. One
that particularly stands out is The Remedy
(pictured), a ten-minute fantasy animation
that’s essentially a moving comic book in
which you can walk around. Quill Theatre is
integrated into the TV app on Oculus Quest,
although Quill itself is still a Rift-only program.Nvidia’s GeForce RTX cards are known mainly
for their ray-tracing capabilities, but the latest
driver update means owners of RTX GPUs
can now also see benefits in VR. Nvidia has
added a new variable-rate super-sampling
(VRSS) feature into its latest update, designed
to increase the visual fidelity of PC VR games
while maintaining playable frame rates.VRSS uses a specific approach known as
‘foveted super-sampling’, where it focuses
sampling on the image towards the centre,
while maintaining the periphery of the image
at the standard shading rate. In other words,
you’ll get the best image quality in the place
where your eyes normally focus on the image,
making for much faster performance than
super-sampling the whole image.
The benefits for VR are
obvious, since it sharpens the
area viewed through the lenses
in VR goggles. The tech is also
designed to dynamically scale
according to available GPU
power, increasing the sampling
rate to up to 8x on powerful
GPUs, or disabling itself if the
GPU begins to struggle.OVERALL SCORE
45 %
VERDICT
Despite a decent script
and Jodie Whitaker’s
voice talent, the Edge of
Time is undone by ropey
visuals and a lack of
meaningful interactions.DOCTOR WHO
+^ Excellent acting
+^ Funny scriptDOCTOR NO-^ Looks rough in places
-^ No real mechanical core
-^ Fudges the TARDIS
introduction
NVIDIA ADDS VR
SUPERSAMPLING
NEWS
a Dalek casing and fighting your way to the
objective. The game never focuses on one idea
long enough to get the most out of it, making it
feel more like a prototype than an actual game.
The only consistent tool you’re given is the
Sonic Screwdriver, which you use for opening
doors and little else.
There are other issues too. Visually, the
game veers between passable and downright
ropey. Also, moving around before the game
is ready will cause the screen to cut to black,
before the game respawns you back to where
you need to be. The story might be enough to
keep a Doctor Who fan interested, but as an
interactive VR experience, The Edge of Time
is best left alone.IMMERSIVE
ARTWORK
NEWS
Backin2016,OculusreleasedQuill,a VR
painting app that’s roughly equivalent to
Google’s Tiltbrush, letting users create
‘immersive artworks’ using an array of
different tools that can then be explored
in VR. In other words, it lets you create
paintings through which you can walk.
There’s a good chance you haven’t heard
of Quill, which is probably why Oculus has
nowreleasedQuillTheatre,a freeprogram
fortheOculusQuestthatletsyouviewexistingQuill artworks, and also gives Quill
artists a proper way to show off their works.
Quill Theatre’s selection of available
artworks is curated, but there are some
truly impressive works among them. One
that particularly stands out is The Remedy
(pictured), a ten-minute fantasy animation
that’s essentially a moving comic book in
which you can walk around. Quill Theatre is
integratedintotheTVapponOculusQuest,
althoughQuillitselfis stilla Rift-onlyprogram.Nvidia’sGeForceRTXcardsareknownmainly
fortheirray-tracingcapabilities,butthelatest
driverupdatemeansownersofRTXGPUs
cannowalsoseebenefitsinVR.Nvidiahas
addeda newvariable-ratesuper-sampling
(VRSS)featureintoitslatestupdate,designed
toincreasethevisualfidelityofPCVRgames
while maintaining playable frame rates.VRSSusesa specificapproachknownas
‘fovetedsuper-sampling’,whereit focuses
samplingontheimagetowardsthecentre,
whilemaintainingtheperipheryoftheimage
atthestandardshadingrate.Inotherwords,
you’llgetthebestimagequalityintheplace
whereyoureyesnormallyfocusontheimage,
making for much faster performance than
super-sampling the whole image.
The benefits for VR are
obvious, since it sharpens the
area viewed through the lenses
in VR goggles. The tech is also
designed to dynamically scale
according to available GPU
power, increasing the sampling
rate to up to 8x on powerful
GPUs, or disabling itself if the
GPU begins to struggle.OVERALLSCORE
45 %
VERDICT
Despite a decent script
and Jodie Whitaker’s
voice talent, the Edge of
Time is undone by ropey
visuals and a lack of
meaningful interactions.
DOCTORWHO
+^ Excellent acting
+^ Funny script
DOCTORNO-^ Looks rough in places
-^ No real mechanical core
-^ Fudges the TARDIS
introduction
NVIDIA ADDS VR
SUPERSAMPLING
NEWS
a Dalek casing and fighting your way to the
objective. The game never focuses on one idea
long enough to get the most out of it, making it
feel more like a prototype than an actual game.
The only consistent tool you’re given is the
Sonic Screwdriver, which you use for opening
doors and little else.
There are other issues too. Visually, the
game veers between passable and downright
ropey. Also, moving around before the game
is ready will cause the screen to cut to black,
before the game respawns you back to where
you need to be. The story might be enough to
keep a Doctor Who fan interested, but as an
interactive VR experience, The Edge of Time
is best left alone.
IMMERSIVE
ARTWORK
NEWS