Research VR Podcast - The Science & Design of Virtual Reality

By Azad Balabanian & Petr Legkov

What's Research VR Podcast - The Science & Design of Virtual Reality about?

The Podcast behind the Science and Design of Virtual Reality and Spatial Computing.

By combining our background in Cognitive Science and VR Research, we break down important Neuroscience to extract Design principles.

Each week, we feature the companies, founders, and researchers that are shapers of this Immersive Tech Industry.

Join our Discord community for Episode discussions, guest suggestions, and listener-only meetups!: https://discord.gg/rrgnxEk

Download our free app to listen on your phone

Research VR Podcast - The Science & Design of Virtual Reality episodes:

04.01.2021
Final Episode: Underwater Panoramic Filmmaking w/ Casey Sapp (CEO of VRTUL)
In this final episode of Research VR, Casey Sapp, the CEO of VRTUL, an high-end underwater panoramic filming company, joins Azad to talk about the difficulties of creating VR experiences deep in the ocean.
08.18.2020
Active Depth Cameras w/ Jeff Powers (Cofounder Occipital, Arcturus Industries) - 101
Jeff Powers, Cofounder of Occipital and Arcturus Industries joins Azad to discuss active depth cameras, Apple's LiDAR, and his vision of the future of consumer volumetric reconstructions. Topics discussed: - The market for depth cameras in 2014 for consumers, developers. -...
03.26.2020
Episode 100! The original cast retrospective on 4 years of VR - 100
Petr Legkov, Krzysztof Izdebski, and Azad Balabanian, the three cofounders of the podcast come back together to discuss the last four years of VR, the podcast, and their lives. Topics discussed: - Why/how the podcast started - revisiting old arguments - retrospection on VR...
02.21.2020
Culture and Behavior in Social VR (Jessica Outlaw + Rebecca Hyman) - 99
Jessica Outlaw, a culture & behavior researcher and Rebecca Hyman, a mental health therapist to discuss human culture in-and-out of VR, VR marketing demographics, as well as representation in media. Topics discussed: - Building non-violent cultures in VR - VR's target demographics...
01.30.2020
Sketchfab's omnipresnce in the 3D world (Alban Denoyel, CEO of Sketchfab) - 98
Cofounder and CEO of Sketchfab, Alban Denoyel joins Azad to talk about all things 3D on the web. Topics discussed: - Why sketchfab was created - Why the large tech companies can't compete against Sketchfab's community - The importance of having downloading/remixing...
10.16.2019
AR Superpowers, VR in the 90's, & Data Privacy (Avi Bar-Zeev, ex-Apple/MS/Disney) - 97
Google Earth, Hololens, and Disney VR pioneer Avi Bar-Zeev joins Azad to share his perspective of the 3D/VR industry over the last few decades and make predictions of the near future.
09.11.2019
CTRL-kit's Intent-Based Finger Input (Jesslyn Tannady, Tech. Prod. Manager @ CTRL-labs) - 96
Jesslyn Tannady joins us to talk about CTRL-Labs's advancements in BCI's, finger tracking, and input methods for games and VR/AR. Topics discussed: - CTRL-Kit, finger tracking and intent tracking - Interesting use cases: - Controlling robots in an intuitive way with...
06.13.2019
Rec Room's Origins and its UGC Future (Shawn Whiting, Community Designer @ Against Gravity) - 95
Shawn Whiting, the Community Designer at Against Gravity joins Petr and Azad to discuss the origins and the future of one of the most popular games in VR: Rec Room.
05.16.2019
Building Leap Motion's "Project North Star" Kits (Noah Zerkin, PM at Noah Labs) - 094
Leap Motion's open source Project North Star has been fascinating VR/AR enthusiasts for the last year, but due to the scarcity of sourcing the components, finding a fully built kit is quite rare. Noah Zerkin, based out of Shenzhen, China...
04.03.2019
Livestreaming Mixed Reality with LIV (Dr Doom & Ruu, Cofounder & CTO) - 093
The CEO and CTO of LIV, Dr. Doom and Ruu join us to talk about the past, present, and future of green screen Mixed Reality and livestreaming VR games. Topics discussed: - Origins of green screen Mixed Reality - how did...
01.31.2019
Analyzing AR Trends in 2019 (Tom Emrich, Investor at Super Ventures) - 092
Tom Emrich, Investor from Super Ventures joins Az to talk about the prevailing trends of AR in 2019. Topics discussed: - Focals by North Smartglasses - XR vs. Spatial Computing - cultural implications of all-day AR glasses - AR Cloud is to AR...
01.25.2019
Measuring your mind with Biofeedback in VR (Sarah Hill, CEO and Dr. Jeff Tarrant, CSO of StoryUp XR) - 091
StoryUp XR CEO and Chief Storyteller Sarah Hill and Chief Science Officer Dr Jeff Tarrant join us to talk about Healium, an immersive biofeedback system to regulate anxiety. Topics discussed: - VR+EEG's - Measuring states of consciousness - stress management in the workplace Sponsored...
01.18.2019
Building the XTAL headset (Marek Polčák, CEO of VRgineers) - 090
CEO of vrgineers, Marek Polčák joins Petr to discuss their latest VR HMD, the XTAL high resolution, enterprise targeted headset. Topics discussed: - creating custom lenses for ideal optics - limits of display port for high resolution and high refresh rate...
01.09.2019
VR as In-Flight Entertainment (David Dicko, CEO of Skylights) - 089
David Dicko, Co-Founder and CEO of Skylights joins us to talk about VR as an in-flight entertainment (IFE) option for premium international flights. We talk about the current solutions to IFE, the hardware challenges, as well as the business of...
11.21.2018
The Past, Present, and the Future of VR (Ben Lang, Executive Editor of Road to VR) - 088
Ben Lang, Co-Founder and executive editor of Road to VR joins us to talk about the early days of the VR industry, the founding of his publication, the what's right around the corner in the industry. Topics discussed: - Oculus Quest's...
11.08.2018
Designing for mobile AR with Torch 3D (Paul Reynolds, CEO) - 087
Paul Reynolds, CEO and Co-Founder of Torch 3D, joins us to talk about their design tool called Torch, built to bridge the knowledge gap for designers with web/mobile backgrounds, and letting them dive into the world of Spatial Computing Topics discussed:...
10.31.2018
HaptX's High-Fidelity VR Haptic Feedback Gloves for Enterprise (Jake Rubin, CEO) - 086
Jake Rubin, the CEO and cofounder of HaptX joins us to talk about the benefits and challenges of Haptic Feedback in VR. Topics discussed: - What are the different modalities of touch? - What are the different ways of visual stimulus can trick...
10.24.2018
The Problem with Magic Leap One's Display, Explained - 085
Az and Petr go deep into discussing the Magic Leap One's display technology, what we were expecting, what was being worked on, and what was finally delivered. Topics discussed: - What is vergence, accomodation, lightfield displays? - How does Magic Leap's...
10.11.2018
Training Firefighters in VR using Photogrammetry (Alex Harvey from Rivr) - 084
Firefighter training in VR using Photogrammetry with Alex Harvey, Creative Director of Rivr. Topics: - Cheaper, repeatable, and more robust training scanrios for firefighting in VR - Animating scanned Firefighters using Mocap - AR headsets for live firefighting situations
10.03.2018
Prototyping AR Interactions in VR with ModBox VR (Lee Vermeulen) - 083
Lee Vermeulen, creator of ModBox VR joins Petr and Az to talk about prototyping AR using VR today. Topics discussed: - What does VR/AR enable in an IOT equipped house? ie, controlling lights from within VR. - Mixed Reality Meshing using...
09.19.2018
Oculus Medium 2.0 with Jessica Zeta and David Farrell - 082
Jessica Zeta and David Farrell from Oculus Medium join us to talk about their latest Medium 2.0 update. Topics discussed: - Creating a multi-hour comfortable creative tool - fitting into professional pipelines and workflows - How the new Move Tool works
09.14.2018
Volumetric Video, Depth Cams, and Filmmaking using Depthkit, with Alexander Porter - 081
Alexander Porter joins us to talk about DepthKit, a Volumetric Video Capture tools and Scatter, the company he cofounded. Topics discussed: - Starting from building an open sourced volumetric video creation tool - Creating mobile Volcap tools for non engineers with small...
09.04.2018
The State of the VR Industry with Tipatat Chennavasin, GP at The VR Fund - 80
VR Investor and developer Tipatat Chennavasin joins us to talk about how far we've come over the past 2.5 years of consumer VR. Topics discussed: - Jumping from development to venture capital - Which businesses _need_ VC investment, and which don't -...
08.29.2018
Math, Chemistry, and Drug Designs using VR w/ Nanome Inc. - 079
Nanome CEO joins Az and Petr to talk about Chemistry and Math education and drug designs in VR. Topics discussed: - 3d Math visualizations in VR - 3d Chemistry education in VR - Protein designs on the blockchain recorded: July 2018
08.17.2018
Knuckles 2.0, StarVR One, and best VR films at SIGGRAPH 2018 - 078
Wrap-up for all the new hardware and films shown at SIGGRAPH. Topics discussed: - Valve's Knuckles 2.0 controllers impressions - Star VR One Impressions - Extra wide FOV - MPC's Virtual Production System for VFX Films - Best VR Films: Arden's Wake...
08.08.2018
Intimate Emotions and Anonymous Networks in "Where Thoughts Go" w/ Lucas Rizzotto - 077
Lucas Rizzotto joins us to talk about "Where Thoughts Go: Prologue" as an anonymous way of sharing and listening to people's intimate thoughts and emotions in VR. Topics discussed: - BoostVC and why living with other founders is helpful for young...
07.25.2018
Shared Technology between VR and Drones, Phones, IoT with Anshel Sag - 076
Analyst Anshel Sag joins Az to talk about the derivative nature of tech industries, what technologies VR/AR share with other sub-industries, and what innovations will prove to be important moving forward. Topics Discussed: - VR being derivative of Phones, Drones -...
07.18.2018
History Preservation vs Documentation using Photogrammetry with Deb Mayers - 075
Deb Mayers, a Researcher and Graduate student of Ancient Cultures and Computer Science joins us to talk about History, technology, and VR. Topics Discussed: - Documentation vs Preservation of History - Technology's role in the interpretation of History - Cultures as dynamic entities...
07.13.2018
Designing Impossible Musical Instruments in VR w/ Zach Kinstner - 074
Designer/Developer Zach Kinstner joins the podcast to talk about designing his VR music creation tool, Exa: Infinite Instrument. Topics: - designing Hover UI for hands with Leap Motion - building better musical instruments in VR - buttons that can be pushed from behind...
07.04.2018
Facing Unconscious Biases with Debias VR, with guest Clorama Dorvilias - 073
Clorama Dorvilias, CEO and Cofounder of Debias joins the podcast to talk about her unconscious bias educational tool for teachers. Topics discussed: - Implicit Association Test - Biases in Education - Research around lowering Implicit Bias Scores recorded: May 2018
06.27.2018
Is OTOY's RNDR the only Blockchain technology that makes sense? - 072
OTOY's Head of Blockchain Kalin Stoyanchev joins the podcast to talk about how they plan to crowdsource people's dormant GPU's, and use them to complete rendering jobs (in exchange for some crypto). Is this the only VR + Crypto idea that...
06.20.2018
Creating a fun, social Art gallery in VR w/ Colin Northway and Robin Stethem
Colin Northway and Robin Stethem talk about their unreleased VR Art Gallery called the Museum of Other Realities. Topics discussed: - removing "elitism” from Art & museums - Art pieces turning into hangout spots - Architecture generated out of noise - Digital...
06.12.2018
Neuroscience, Perception and AR Research in Meta w/ Stefano Baldassi
Stefano Baldassi, the Senior Dir. of Analytics & Neuroscience at Meta joins Az and Petr to talk about how his background in Perception, sports, and Neuroscience research guides his department's decisions in building an optimal fitting and functioning Augmented Reality...
06.06.2018
Why Beat Saber FEELS so GOOD w/ Jan “Split” Ilavsky
Unless you've been living under a rock, you've probably heard of Beat Saber launching on Steam and Oculus Home. Lead developer Jan “Split” Ilavsky joins Az and Petr to discuss theories as to WHY Beat Saber feels so good, and...
05.29.2018
3D Scanning, Photogrammetry, and AR Emojis w/ 3D Scan Expert
Nick Lievendag from 3D Scan Expert joins Az and Petr to talk about all things Photogrammetry, 3D Scanning, and the future of 3D reality capture.
05.23.2018
VR Superpowers with IBM's Aldis Sipolins - 67
Aldis Sipolins, Head of Virtual Reality & Game Design at IBM joins Az and Petr to talk about Neuroscience, Brain training games, biofeedback, the potential of eye tracking and BCI's.
05.15.2018
Full Body Haptic VR w/ Teslasuit - 66
Teslasuit CEO Dimitri Mikhalchuk joins Petr to talk about the science behind how their Full Body Haptic VR suit works. Thank you Philip Wogart from the VRARA Hamburg Chapter for making this episode happen!
05.08.2018
Interaction Design Sprints Wrap-up w/ Leap Motion - 65
Designers Martin Schubert and Barrett Fox join the Podcast to talk about their biweekly Design Sprints at Leap Motion, working on one of the most important aspects of VR and AR. Apologies in advance for the non-ideal audio quality for this...
05.01.2018
Animating in VR w/ AnimVR - 64
Creating beautiful, human-like animations in 2D apps has always had a STEEP learning curve. Today, we talk to NVRMIND's cofounders Milan and Dario about AnimVR: a tool to create animations completely with your hands.
04.25.2018
Patreon Update + Future plans
Patreon: ResearchVR Podcast + Everyday a Scan](https://www.patreon.com/wizardofaz)
04.23.2018
Interactive Filmmaking in Augmented Reality, with Asad J Malik - 63
Filmmaker Asad J Malik, Founder of 1RIC join Az and Petr to talk about his latest film, Terminal 3, debuting at the 2018 Tribeca Film Festival. He goes into depth talking about "Context being key" for AR storytelling, VR films...
04.16.2018
Super High-Res Varjo Headset Impressions (GDC + IEEE VR Wrap up) - 062
Az and Petr discuss the new VR and AR hardware they saw at GDC and IEEE VR, including Varjo, Magic Leap, ODG AR glasses, Beat Saber, and Electronauts!
03.14.2018
Can VR be used to train to shoot? With guest Ian Hamilton - 061
UploadVR Editor Ian Hamilton joins Az and Petr to talk about early VR stories, shares his impressions of the all-in-one headsets like Oculus Santa Cruz, and discusses the new Magic Leap investment and the potential issues they're facing. Our main...
02.27.2018
3D Audio explained w/ Sally Kellaway and Kaushik Sunder - 060
Az talks to the expert Audio Engineers and Researchers Sally Kellaway and Kaushik Sunder on what the benefits of 3D audio are, where they make the most impact in VR/AR, and what improvements need to be made in the industry...
02.14.2018
Why Women DON'T like Social VR w/ Jessica Outlaw - 059
Behavioral Scientist Jessica Outlaw is an outspoken Social Scientist in the field of VR User Experience Design. She recently published an Inductive Qualitative study with Beth Duckles, PhD about the experiences of "Millennial, tech-savvy women" in Social VR applications (Altspace,...
02.06.2018
Vive Pro & Meta 2 Impressions + News - 058
HOT NEWS OFF THE PRESS. EXTRA EXTRA Az talks about his impressions of the Vive Pro, looking at high resolution photogrammetry with supersampling. Petr shares his thoughts on the Meta 2 devkit as an enterprise developer, and the need to have...
01.31.2018
057 - How to be a VR/AR developer w/ FusedVR
Az is joined by Vasanth Mohan and Hassan Karaouni, founders of the popular educational Youtube channel, FusedVR. We discuss the Logitech VR keyboard, OpenXR initiatives, problems with WebVR, as well as learning how to be a VR developer! Recorded: Nov,...
01.23.2018
056 - Breaking ALL the VR rules w/ Survios (Sprint Vector)
Az and Petr are joined by Amy Lynn and Andrew Abedian from Survios to talk about their upcoming new game: Sprint Vector, a game ALL about running in VR. a Movement and locomotion have always been a big topic of debate...
01.03.2018
Short update about 2018 plans!
DISCORD CHANNEL: https://discord.gg/keQgUq Short update from Petr and Az talking about 2018 plans
12.16.2017
055 - Simulating Touch in VR w/ Contact CI
Az is joined this week with cofounders Craig Douglass and Tom Buchanan to talk about the challenges behind simulating the high amount of degrees of freedom of hands, simulating the sense of touch, and creating finger push-back haptics. Contact...

What's Research VR Podcast - The Science & Design of Virtual Reality about?

Download our free app to listen on your phone

Research VR Podcast - The Science & Design of Virtual Reality episodes:

Final Episode: Underwater Panoramic Filmmaking w/ Casey Sapp (CEO of VRTUL)

Active Depth Cameras w/ Jeff Powers (Cofounder Occipital, Arcturus Industries) - 101

Episode 100! The original cast retrospective on 4 years of VR - 100

Culture and Behavior in Social VR (Jessica Outlaw + Rebecca Hyman) - 99

Sketchfab's omnipresnce in the 3D world (Alban Denoyel, CEO of Sketchfab) - 98

AR Superpowers, VR in the 90's, & Data Privacy (Avi Bar-Zeev, ex-Apple/MS/Disney) - 97

CTRL-kit's Intent-Based Finger Input (Jesslyn Tannady, Tech. Prod. Manager @ CTRL-labs) - 96

Rec Room's Origins and its UGC Future (Shawn Whiting, Community Designer @ Against Gravity) - 95

Building Leap Motion's "Project North Star" Kits (Noah Zerkin, PM at Noah Labs) - 094

Livestreaming Mixed Reality with LIV (Dr Doom & Ruu, Cofounder & CTO) - 093

Analyzing AR Trends in 2019 (Tom Emrich, Investor at Super Ventures) - 092

Measuring your mind with Biofeedback in VR (Sarah Hill, CEO and Dr. Jeff Tarrant, CSO of StoryUp XR) - 091

Building the XTAL headset (Marek Polčák, CEO of VRgineers) - 090

VR as In-Flight Entertainment (David Dicko, CEO of Skylights) - 089

The Past, Present, and the Future of VR (Ben Lang, Executive Editor of Road to VR) - 088

Designing for mobile AR with Torch 3D (Paul Reynolds, CEO) - 087

HaptX's High-Fidelity VR Haptic Feedback Gloves for Enterprise (Jake Rubin, CEO) - 086

The Problem with Magic Leap One's Display, Explained - 085

Training Firefighters in VR using Photogrammetry (Alex Harvey from Rivr) - 084

Prototyping AR Interactions in VR with ModBox VR (Lee Vermeulen) - 083

Oculus Medium 2.0 with Jessica Zeta and David Farrell - 082

Volumetric Video, Depth Cams, and Filmmaking using Depthkit, with Alexander Porter - 081

The State of the VR Industry with Tipatat Chennavasin, GP at The VR Fund - 80

Math, Chemistry, and Drug Designs using VR w/ Nanome Inc. - 079

Knuckles 2.0, StarVR One, and best VR films at SIGGRAPH 2018 - 078

Intimate Emotions and Anonymous Networks in "Where Thoughts Go" w/ Lucas Rizzotto - 077

Shared Technology between VR and Drones, Phones, IoT with Anshel Sag - 076

History Preservation vs Documentation using Photogrammetry with Deb Mayers - 075

Designing Impossible Musical Instruments in VR w/ Zach Kinstner - 074

Facing Unconscious Biases with Debias VR, with guest Clorama Dorvilias - 073

Is OTOY's RNDR the only Blockchain technology that makes sense? - 072

Creating a fun, social Art gallery in VR w/ Colin Northway and Robin Stethem

Neuroscience, Perception and AR Research in Meta w/ Stefano Baldassi

Why Beat Saber FEELS so GOOD w/ Jan “Split” Ilavsky

3D Scanning, Photogrammetry, and AR Emojis w/ 3D Scan Expert

VR Superpowers with IBM's Aldis Sipolins - 67

Full Body Haptic VR w/ Teslasuit - 66

Interaction Design Sprints Wrap-up w/ Leap Motion - 65

Animating in VR w/ AnimVR - 64

Patreon Update + Future plans

Interactive Filmmaking in Augmented Reality, with Asad J Malik - 63

Super High-Res Varjo Headset Impressions (GDC + IEEE VR Wrap up) - 062

Can VR be used to train to shoot? With guest Ian Hamilton - 061

3D Audio explained w/ Sally Kellaway and Kaushik Sunder - 060

Why Women DON'T like Social VR w/ Jessica Outlaw - 059

Vive Pro & Meta 2 Impressions + News - 058

057 - How to be a VR/AR developer w/ FusedVR

056 - Breaking ALL the VR rules w/ Survios (Sprint Vector)

Short update about 2018 plans!

055 - Simulating Touch in VR w/ Contact CI