VR is always more fun with friends. And now our favorite VR creator tool will soon be getting the update we’ve all been waiting for.
In a Friday announcement, Google showcased their latest plans to introduce multiplayer functionality into the popular app, along with a slew of other features that the Tilt Brush team is hoping to roll out soon.
Just last month, Tilt Brush was updated with audio-reactive brushes that let sketches sway and bounce with whatever music you were listening to. What started as an internal experiment, became a full-blown feature and took the entire experience to another level. Now the team is showing off more early experiments that will likely become features, including multiplayer mode, custom avatars, a portal brush, posable manikins, and animated scenes.
Here are the experiments that Tilt Brush is teasing us with:
Multiplayer mode
This is one we’ve been waiting awhile for now and can’t wait to Tilt Brush with friends. The concept of being able to share your ideas, draw, and create with others in the same place in real time will make this one of the most collaborative and entertaining VR apps available for the HTC Vive. “It’s amazing how collaborating in the same space makes the virtual feel real,” said Tilt Brush creative director Drew Skillman in a blog post.
Custom avatars
Once you start introducing friends into a multiplayer space and begin painting together, you’re going to want a better way to express your individual style. This update would allow you to customize your virtual headset with the brushes you’re already going to be using in Tilt Brush.
Portal Brush
This is an interesting experiment, which Tilt Brush is showing off as a brush that lets you paint to peer outside of VR. Sometimes you might want to get your bearings without taking the headset off or maybe check the time on your watch. Portal brush will use the HTC Vive’s front-facing camera to give you a magic window when you need it. Although it only refreshes at 30fps, it’s a playful way to stay connected to the real world.
Posable manikin
Tilt Brush already lets you import 3D objects into your virtual space, but not yet ones you can move. So to explore this, Tilt Brush created an experiment that used a virtual “wooden manikin” with articulated joints to let you draw on it and pose it in real time. This could add a new dimension and movement to your work.
Zoetrope
Over the Summer, Google VR teased new ways to create 3D animation in VR with Daydream, bringing to life objects that would otherwise be static. This experiment shows how the Tilt Brush team is hoping to bring animation into the mix as well, letting you create simple animated scenes using a rotating wheel, similar to how a 3D zoetrope works.
