<div dir="ltr"><div><div class="m_7147079340653411228m_7542272093827759310gmail_signature" data-smartmail="gmail_signature"><div dir="ltr"><div><div dir="ltr"><div>
<table class="m_7147079340653411228backgroundTable" bgcolor="#ffffff" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td align="left" valign="top">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="border-top:0px solid rgb(0,0,0);border-bottom:1px solid rgb(255,255,255);background-color:rgb(255,255,255);text-align:center" align="center"><span style="font-size:10px;color:rgb(96,96,96);line-height:200%;font-family:verdana;text-decoration:none">Email not displaying correctly? <a href="http://www.oplin.org/4cast/" style="font-size:10px;color:rgb(0,0,255);line-height:200%;font-family:verdana;text-decoration:none" target="_blank">View it in your browser.</a></span></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-top:0px solid rgb(51,51,51);border-bottom:0px solid rgb(255,255,255);background-color:rgb(255,255,255)">
<center><a><img id="m_7147079340653411228editableImg1" src="http://www.oplin.org/4cast/wp-content/themes/unlimited/assets/images/4cast_email_header.png" title="OPLIN" alt="OPLIN 4Cast" align="middle" border="0"></a></center>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<table style="width:763px;height:877px" bgcolor="#ffffff" cellpadding="20" cellspacing="0">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="font-size:12px;color:rgb(0,0,0);line-height:150%;font-family:'Gothic Sans',sans-serif" bgcolor="#ffffff" valign="top">
<p> <span style="font-size:20px;font-weight:bold;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:arial;line-height:110%">OPLIN 4cast #537: As VR stabilizes, options--and worries--expand</span><br>
<span style="font-size:11px;font-weight:normal;color:rgb(102,102,102);font-style:italic;font-family:arial">April 12th, 2017</span></p>
<p style="text-align:justify;font-size:16px;font-family:arial;line-height:110%"><img align="left" class="m_7147079340653411228alignleft m_7147079340653411228size-full m_7147079340653411228wp-image-6101" src="http://4cast.oplin.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/vr.jpg" alt="Man In Studio Wearing Virtual Reality Headset Playing Game" width="130" height="94" style="padding-right: 14px; padding-top: 4px; padding-bottom: 4px;" title=""> The virtual reality landscape is beginning to settle, transforming from an "emerging" technology into a "settled" one. Even if you or your library haven't experienced VR yet, various VR devices, games and applications have been on the mainstream consumer market for over a year. (It's harder to call a technology "emerging" when you can simply go to Best Buy and find <a href="http://www.bestbuy.com/site/searchpage.jsp?st=vr&_dyncharset=UTF-8&id=pcat17071&type=page&sc=Global&cp=1&nrp=&sp=&qp=&list=n&af=true&iht=y&usc=All+Categories&ks=960&keys=keys" target="_blank">multiple options</a>. ) Nonetheless, that doesn't mean that new things aren't happening in the virtual reality sphere. Quite the contrary; as VR itself becomes a more settled technology, new issues and options are beginning to appear. </p><div> </div>
<li style="text-align:justify;font-size:16px;font-family:arial;line-height:110%"><a href="http://mashable.com/2017/04/05/viveport-subscription-htc-vive-virtual-reality/#Ax92rT.wdOq0" target="_blank">Never leave virtual reality with HTC Vive's 'Netflix for VR' </a> [Mashable] "At roughly $84 per year, that puts <a href="http://mashable.com/category/htc-vive/" target="_blank">HTC Vive</a>'s subscription service on par with services like <a href="http://mashable.com/category/hulu/" target="_blank">Hulu</a> and Netflix, including features like a free initial trial month and the ability to cancel at any time. Given the relatively nascent commercial VR consumer base, a cancellation feature is vital to getting people to experiment with various VR experiences."</li>
<li style="text-align:justify;font-size:16px;font-family:arial;line-height:110%"><a>On the Vive’s first birthday, the VR conversation is getting calmer</a> [The Verge] "The current headsets are pretty good, but “they all have tragic flaws,” he says. Desktop VR is too complicated, and console VR monopolizes your living room, while mobile VR isn’t full-featured enough — and no midrange headset works with the iPhone, dramatically limiting its user base."</li>
<li style="text-align:justify;font-size:16px;font-family:arial;line-height:110%"><a href="http://www.polygon.com/features/2017/4/7/15205366/vr-danger-close" target="_blank">‘We’re running with scissors’: Why some experts worry about VR dangers</a> [Polygon] "Much has been said about the positives of technology that can reshape reality or even create a new one, but last month two respected academic researchers held a talk at South by Southwest in Austin to explore not just those positives, but also the potential negatives of reality technology."</li>
<li style="text-align:justify;font-size:16px;font-family:arial;line-height:110%"><a href="http://money.cnn.com/2017/03/07/technology/lowes-virtual-reality/index.html" target="_blank">Lowe's turns to virtual reality for home improvement</a> [CNN] "In a trial run, Lowe's found that customers had a 36% better recall of how to complete the project when compared with people who watched a YouTube how-to video."</li>
<div style="text-align:left"> </div>
<p style="text-align:left;font-size:20px;font-family:arial;line-height:110%"><small><strong><em>Articles from <a href="http://ohioweblibrary.org" target="_blank">Ohio Web Library</a>:</em></strong></small><br>
</p>
<div style="text-align:justify;font-size:16px;font-family:arial;line-height:110%">
<ul> <li><a href="http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=cmh&AN=201703100800PR.NEWS.USPR.FL33427" target="_blank">Honda Brings VR Experience to Twin Cities Auto Show</a> (PR, N. (2017, March 10). Honda Brings VR Experience to Twin Cities Auto Show. <i>PR Newswire US</i>.)</li> <li><a href="http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bwh&AN=bizwire.c73631448&site=ehost-live" target="_blank">Virtual Reality in Healthcare Market Report (2017-2023) - Applications Extend to Psychiatric, Training, Medical Practice & Other Branches of Medicine - Research and Markets</a> Source: EBSCOhost (Research and, M. (0002, September). Virtual Reality in Healthcare Market Report (2017-2023) - Applications Extend to Psychiatric, Training, Medical Practice & Other Branches of Medicine - Research and Markets. Business Wire (English).)</li> <li><a href="http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=cmh&AN=bizwire.c75465734" target="_blank">VR Gaming Market - Global Drivers and Forecasts by Technavio</a> (echnavio, R. (3). VR Gaming Market - Global Drivers and Forecasts by Technavio. <i>Business Wire (English)</i>.)</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div style="text-align:left"> </div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top" width="760"><span style="font-size:10px;color:rgb(96,96,96);line-height:100%;font-family:verdana"> <hr>
<div style="text-align:justify">The <strong><em>OPLIN 4cast</em></strong> is a weekly compilation of recent headlines, topics, and trends that could impact public libraries. You can subscribe to it in a variety of ways, such as: <br>
</div>
<div style="text-align:left"> </div>
<ul>
<li style="text-align:justify"><strong>RSS feed.</strong> You can receive the OPLIN 4cast via RSS feed by subscribing to the following URL: <a href="http://www.oplin.org/4cast/index.php/?feed=rss2" target="_blank">http://www.oplin.org/4cast/<wbr>index.php/?feed=rss2</a>.</li>
<li style="text-align:justify"><strong>Live Bookmark.</strong> If you're using the Firefox web browser, you can go to the 4cast website (<a href="http://www.oplin.org/4cast/" target="_blank">http://www.oplin.org/4cast/</a>) and click on the orange "radio wave" icon on the right side of the address bar. In Internet Explorer 7, click on the same icon to view or subscribe to the 4cast RSS feed.</li>
<li style="text-align:justify"><strong>E-mail.</strong> You can have the OPLIN 4cast delivered via e-mail (a'la OPLINlist and OPLINtech) by subscribing to the 4cast mailing list at <a href="http://lists.oplin.org/mailman/listinfo/OPLIN4cast" target="_blank">http://lists.oplin.org/<wbr>mailman/listinfo/OPLIN4cast</a>.</li>
</ul> </span> </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align:center;font-family:'Century Gothic',sans-serif;border-top:0px solid rgb(255,255,255);background-color:#2c4587;color:#fff" valign="top" width="760">© 2016 Ohio Public Library Information Network<br> <a href="http://www.slideshare.net/oplin" title="Find us on Slideshare" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.oplin.org/4cast/wp-content/themes/unlimited/assets/images/slideshare3.png" alt="Find us on Slideshare"></a> <a href="http://www.facebook.com/oplin.org" title="Find us on Facebook" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.oplin.org/4cast/wp-content/themes/unlimited/assets/images/facebook_0.png" alt="Find us on Facebook"></a> <a href="https://plus.google.com/107751358238995507967" title="Find us on Google+" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.oplin.org/4cast/wp-content/themes/unlimited/assets/images/google+.png" alt="Find us on Google+"></a> <a href="http://www.twitter.com/oplin" title="Find us on Twitter" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.oplin.org/4cast/wp-content/themes/unlimited/assets/images/twitter_0.png" alt="Find us on Twitter"></a> </td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
</div></div></div></div></div></div>
</div>