Explained: How does VR actually work?

How does VR work? How does a virtual reality headset make you think that you're sitting in a spaceship in a distant galaxy when you are, in fact, actually about to bump into the kitchen counter? Well, with the army of VR devices expanding, we'll be explaining how they actually work.

While devices generally take the same form, how they project imaging in front of our eyes varies greatly. The likes of the HTC Vive and Oculus Rift provide PC-based operations, though major players such as Google and Samsung offer more affordable, smartphone-based headsets. Sony has also managed to crack the console scene with its Playstation VR.

Standalone VR is something you'll be hearing more of too - in 2018 Oculus will launch the Oculus Go, and Lenovo's standalone Daydream headset is also expected.

Once your headset and power source are secured, some kind of input is also required for you to connect - whether this is through head tracking, controllers, hand tracking, voice, on-device buttons or trackpads.

Total immersion is what everyone making a VR headset, game or app is aiming towards - making the virtual reality experience so real that we forget the computer, headgear and accessories and act exactly as we would in the real world. So how do we get there?

VR headsets like Oculus Rift and PlayStation VR are often referred to as HMDs, which simply means they are head mounted displays. Even with no audio or hand tracking, holding up Google Cardboard to place your smartphone's display in front of your face can be enough to get you half-immersed in a virtual world.

The goal here is to create what appears to be a life size, 3D virtual environment without the boundaries we usually associate with TV or computer screens. So whatever way you look, the screen mounted to your face follows you. This is unlike augmented reality, which overlays graphics onto your view of the real world.

Video is sent from the console or computer to the headset via a HDMI cable in the case of headsets such as HTC's Vive and the Rift. For Google's Daydream headset and the Samsung Gear VR, it's already on the smartphone slotted into the headset.

VR headsets use either two feeds sent to one display or two LCD displays, one per eye. There are also lenses which are placed between your eyes and the pixels, which is why the devices are often called goggles. In some instances, these can be adjusted to match the distance between your eyes, varying from person to person.

These lenses focus and reshape the picture for each eye and create a stereoscopic 3D image by angling the two 2D images to mimic how each of our two eyes views the world ever-so-slightly differently. Try closing one eye then the other to see individual objects dance about from side to side and you get the idea behind this.

One important way VR headsets can increase immersion is to increase the field of view i.e. how wide the picture is. A 360-degree display would be too expensive and unnecessary. Most high-end headsets make do with 100 or 110 degree field of view, which is wide enough to do the trick.

And for the resulting picture to be at all convincing, a minimum frame rate of around 60 frames per second is needed to avoid stuttering or users feeling sick. The current crop of VR headsets go way beyond this - Oculus is capable of 90fps, for instance, while Sony's PlayStation VR manages 120fps.

Also see PLAYSTATION VR CONTROLLER review

Foxnovo F08 Battery Charger

Why we like it: This reliable battery charger can charge up to 8 AA or AAA batteries, but also supports Li-ion, Ni-MH and Ni-CD batteries!

The Foxnovo brand enters our list with their versatile product. The Foxnovo Battery Charger shows us it’s a worthy contender in the battery charger world with its powerful features. The battery charger has the capability of charging 8 batteries of different sizes, types and capacities all at the same time! The best part is, each of the 8 battery slots can charge independently, meaning no more battery pair requirements. The LCD indicator lights on the battery charger show the charging process of each battery. Want to know another cool thing about this battery charger? The smart battery charger (like SUNJACK USB BATTERY CHARGER ) can automatically identify Li-ion, Ni-MH and Ni-CD rechargeable batteries.

That’s not even all! This battery charger can automatically detect the status of your batteries and select the appropriate voltage and charge mode. To prevent overcharging, this nifty battery charger automatically stops charging when complete. The product is also able to adopt negative voltage control technology to improve charge efficiency. Best of all, this battery charger features heat dispersion and reverse polarity protection.The battery charger comes with a US-plug adapter for indoor use and is versatile enough to be used as a USB charging port for smartphones. However, some flaws about this product include its slightly expensive price of $41 and that it has been said to feel a bit hot-to-the-touch. Nevertheless, if you’re looking for a versatile charger with smart capabilities, this could be for you!

Direct Drive 1042V001 ¾ HP Garage Door Opener Review

One of the most powerful garage door openers, Direct Drive 1042v001 has an industrial strength, high performance motor with ¾ horsepower. It is capable of lifting very heavy garage doors.

It is a good choice for you irrespective of the fact whatever type of garage door you own. Its super-performance is even more reliable with the lifetime warranty support of the product. It has really a very long battery support to assist you during the long power outages…

Let’s discuss this product and its features in detail.

Direct Drive 1042V001 ¾ HP garage door opener is a superb product with several benefits for its users. Let’s have a look at its a few chief benefits for users:
A Good Buy Deal

Purchasing Direct Drive 1042V001 ¾ HP garage door opener is surely a good buy deal because it comes with the lifetime warranty. Furthermore, it is also a good buy deal because it can handle all types of garage doors because of its ¾ horsepower industrial strength motor.

If you change your house or garage door, even then it will serve you as it can be dismantled and reinstall to the new garage door easily. Above all, it is not very expensive.
Protection against Accidental Damage

No matter whether you are concerned about the accidental door closure or the potential damage if something is in the way of the door when you command the system to shut the door, you should not worry.

Direct Drive 1042V001 uses sensors that emit invisible light beams across the door opening to detect if any obstacle is in the way of the door. If any obstacle is found there, the door shall automatically reverse back and will not shut down.
Protection against Theft with Smart Rolling Code Technology

The rolling code technology of Direct Drive 1042V001 ¾ HP garage door opener ensures its code must not be hacked by the break-inners. Each time the door is opened or shut, a different code is used.

So that, if anyone gets the code, he must not be able to use it later to get an unauthorized access to the garage door and the things you have stored in your garage.

Direct Drive 1042V001 ¾ HP garage door opener ( like MIGHTY MULE FM200 ) has several amazing features. Not only it meets the purpose for which one buys it, but its features also go beyond the expectations of the users.

For instance, it is noise-free. Its battery backup support thirty thousand hours of power outages. Its remote and touch pad control system allows you to operate the garage door far away from the door itself…

These are just a few basic features of this high performance product. It has many other striking features as well, which are mentioned below:
Unlike other types of screw drive, chain drive and belt drive garage door openers, it has only one moving part.
Its remote control system allows you to connect other devices to operate the door using Homelink connectivity.
It uses a very secure rolling code technology for opening and shutting the door.
It uses a high performance industrial strength traveling motor technology that causes no noise and vibration virtually.
Using sensor and laser beams to ensure protection against accidental door closure.
Very powerful motor that can lift even two very heavy metal and wooden garage doors simultaneously.
Smooth and reliable performance evidenced by 100000 cycle time test by an independent testing institute.

Energy-efficient cleaning robot

State-of-the-art solar cells (for example: GOAL ZERO NOMAD 20 ) are efficient -- but are even more so when they are kept clean. A cleaning robot developed by Norwegian researchers enables solar panels to deliver at full capacity.

At a solar energy farm just outside Budapest in Hungary, a cleaning robot is industriously getting on with today's task. Hundreds of square metres of solar panels are waiting to be cleaned -- as quickly and effectively as possible. And without the use of chemicals or any unwanted discharges to the natural environment. The robot is the result of a joint project between Norwegian researchers and the Hungarian company ProDSP Technology.

"It's a well known fact that solar panels work more efficiently when they're clean," says SINTEF researcher and Project Manager Martin Bellmann who, in his day-to-day work, develops what is known as sustainable energy technology. "But what's new here is that we've developed a robot to do the job. This means that the solar cells are cleaned both quickly and efficiently with as little as possible wear and tear or environmental impact," he says.

There's dirt and there's dirt

Cleaning solar cells using a robot may sound like a straightforward job -- but there's dirt and there's dirt. And when a solar farm covering several square kilometres is being cleaned, no chemicals can be used, and there must be no damage to the natural environment. So how do we get to grips with a challenge like this?

Solar cell researcher Birgit Ryningen is examining a set of glass plates in SINTEF's Daylight Laboratory. They are all contaminated to order, but in different degrees.

The reason is that the dirt in question has been precisely applied. These plates will now be studied in detail by researchers in order to provide answers about how much the contamination occludes sunlight. This is the final phase of the project.

There really are all kinds of dirt. "The degree to which dust particles and contamination affects solar cells is very location-dependent," explains Ryningen.

At the start of the project she carried out a literature study to find out how such dirt affected its surroundings, only to find out that existing research focusing on air pollution and dust particles had for the most part been directed on the human body. However, she did find examples of research into the ways in which sand storms impact on solar cells installed in the Middle East. In other words, more research was needed in order to provide scientists with more details about this subject.

"We've seen that some dust particles absorb light while others reflect it," says Ryningen. "And small particles reflect more light than larger ones, whereas some scale contamination is biological and acts as a kind of 'sun factor'," she says. And some scale coatings are thicker than others.

However, what they all have in common is that they must be removed in order for the solar cells to function optimally according to specifications. For this reason, the researchers have developed a cleaning approach that is both fast and sensitive, as well as being environmentally-friendly. And which can deal with all the different types of contamination we encounter.

Cleaning is part of normal operations

The Norwegian company Scatec Solar constructs, owns, operates and maintains solar energy farms in many countries, including the Czech Republic, South Africa, Rwanda, Honduras and Jordan. Last year, the company's sites generated as much as 791 GWh. This is equivalent to the consumption of 200,000 average EU households.

Project Manager Caroline Sissener at Scatec Solar describes the Norwegian researchers' solution as interesting, especially for solar energy farms located in the Middle East.

"Cleaning is part of standard operational procedures at our solar energy farms, where equipment is cleaned at least once or twice a year on order to avoid soiling. This involves the removal of everything from sand to bird droppings ," she says. "But cleaning frequency is location-dependent. If a farm is located in a desert environment, the panels will require more frequent cleaning because the solar cells become covered with soil and sand," says Sissener.



She goes on to say that Scatec
solar often employs manual cleaning methods because these are effective and inexpensive, but that the company also uses automated systems.



"Cleaning robots may offer a relevant and attractive solution for solar energy parks located in areas where frequent cleaning is required," says Sissener.

She also informs us that manual methods are important to Scatec in some situations because they provide local jobs. The method chosen is assessed on a case-by-case basis, and environmental factors such as water shortages and neighbouring agricultural activity are also taken into account.

Robot arm and micro-showers

The robot cleaner currently in SINTEF's laboratory has undergone a range of tests. Researchers have experimented with a variety of micro cleaning pads, chemicals and air pressure application approaches -- all tested, of course, on different types of soiling.

"It is vitally important that we don't discharge chemical pollutants into the environment," explains Ryningen. "So we've rejected the use of traditional cleaning agents and have ended up using unbelievably small micro-droplets of water that are "sprayed" onto the glass, almost as a vapour. Then the robot uses a micro cleaning pad that effectively removes the contaminant particles.

Because solar cells can be exposed to wear and tear, researchers have also been working hard to develop methods of controlling the pressure exerted by the robot's cleaning arm.

"It is vital that the robot doesn't scratch the sensitive glass surface. Even small scratches can reduce the efficiency of the solar cells," explains Ryningen, adding that "in theory, this should work on windows as well, which will open up a broader market for us!," she says.

What It Takes to Run a Personal Training Business

Personal trainers work with clients who need instruction and coaching in the areas of exercise physiology, kinesiology, injury prevention, recovery and rehabilitation, nutrition, supplementation, fitness assessment, exercise programming, sports conditioning, flexibility techniques and more. Personal trainers train both one-on-one and in group instruction.

5 Favors to Call in When Launching a Business

Starting a new business, particularly in the early stages, is a big commitment. In making the leap into entrepreneurship, would-be entrepreneurs would do well to leverage their network of people -- their family, friends and business associates -- as a critical resource. Here are five favors that all new entrepreneurs should call in during the early stages of their startup journey.

1. Try out my prototype.

Starting lean is the reality for most entrepreneurs. Making a large investment in a fully developed product or service offering may not be possible, let alone a good strategy. Eric Reis, in his book The Lean Startup, popularized the concept of the minimum viable product -- the most basic useable prototype. Friends and family can be a great resource, willing to review or try out an early prototype and provide critical feedback to the design process.

Gathering as much information as you can early on can reduce the amount of uncertainty around a potential business. It clarifies the extent customers would be interested in what you want you have in mind. It will also indicate how much design work would be necessary to get your product or service to a level of interest sufficient to consider launching a business.

8 Reasons Your Business Loan Was Rejected

Securing a business loan or financing for your small business can be incredibly frustrating, especially for first-time business owners who don’t know the ropes.

In fact, in its Spring 2015 small business survey, Nav discovered that despite having more business financing options available, such as online lenders, it’s still an uphill battle for small business owners to access capital. If that wasn’t bad enough, the increasing amount of financing options currently available may actually be making things worse for small business owners. The survey found that of those who were denied financing, 45 percent had been turned down more than once, and 23 percent didn’t even know why their applications were denied.

To clear thing-up, here are eight common reasons why your business loan was rejected, and how to make sure that won’t happen again.