My blog is now 9 years old and I really hope something special happens to me in this 10th year of my career. For now, I can’t wait to publish the interview I have had with Kyle Riesenbeck, but who knows if other surprises are going to happen. Anyway, let’s focus on the XR news of the week, with quite a good number of interesting things happening while I’m back in China for a few weeks.
Top news of the week
Meta’s prototype headsets show how bright the future of VR will be
The most interesting articles I’ve read this week are the hands-on report written by Upload’s David Heaney on the two prototype headsets that Meta has showcased at SIGGRAPH. David is a very seasoned journalist and, like me, he doesn’t get excited too easily. So if he wrote two articles saying he is excited about both the “Boba 3” and “Tiramisu” headsets shown by Meta, it means that there is something really valuable there.
Let’s start talking about Boba 3, the wide-FOV prototype headset. The headset has an impressive field of view of 180° horizontal by 120° vertical, which covers 90° of the typical human field of view. Even if the FOV is so big, the pixel density is still good, 30PPD, which is even superior to the one of Quest 3, thanks to the use of 4K LCDs. There are also almost no visual distortions. And the wide FOV is reached by keeping a quite good form factor: Boba 3 is not as big as a Pimax Crystal Super headset, but looks like a normal headset for the present times. All of this together makes the experience of trying it impressive: thanks to the wide FOV and good resolution, Boba 3 makes you really feel like being there. Immersion is over the roof. Of course, it is not perfect: it is a tethered PC headset that requires a powerful machine to run, it is expensive to manufacture by itself, and its eye box is not big, but still, it’s an amazing headset. And it doesn’t use any particular weird technology: if Meta were into premium PCVR headsets, it could actually sell it today. Boba 3 shows that today we could already have on the market ultra-immersive VR.
Tiramisu instead is about increased contrast (3x the Quest 3), brightness (1400 nits), and resolution (90 PPD). This comes at the cost of a very small field of view (around 33° x 33°). According to Mr. Heaney, the result is a headset that shows a very small window to a stunning VR world: the images you see are vibrant, bright, and with such a high PPD that your eyes can’t tell anymore that you are looking at a screen, and everything feels real. Thanks to the high brightness, you can also feel a better sense of depth, and when you see a light in your VR world, it truly feels like a bright object, for added immersion. Tiramisu is not as ready as Boba 3 as a product, though: it is too bulky and the FOV is too limited to make the headset usable. That’s why Meta is working on a second version, called Tiramisu 2, which should sacrifice something of the resolution and brightness in exchange for a wider FOV. Tiramisu shows us that today in the lab, we can already reach a level where VR is indistinguishable from reality, and we just need to wait a few years for this to become possible in a (premium) commercial product.
These two prototypes should make us very positive about the future of VR. The path to realistic VR is there; we just need to wait for it to happen.
More info (Hands-on Boba 3)
More info (Hands-on Tiramisu)
Other relevant news
The VR Games Showcase brought some interesting news about XR games
The VR Games Showcase was the usual nice event where a lot of news about VR games was announced, no news was mindblowing, but still, it was a nice occasion to celebrate VR gaming.
There have been many pieces of news, and you can find a link below with a summary of all of them. I’ve hand-picked six of them for you:
- MOBA-like real-time battler Glassbreakers: Champions of Moss returns to Quest and Steam later this year. It’s interesting to notice that while the game was originally free-to-play, Polyarc stated that this business model was “difficult to sustain” for it. This is a shower of reality in a moment where Meta is pushing developers to go free-to-play for their games
- Lushfoil Photography Sim is a recent entry in the niche genre of photography simulators. And now this chill experience is getting a VR mode, where you use your hands to take photos of environments you are immersed in
- VR flight combat sim “Aces of Thunder” is getting a solo campaign besides its standard multiplayer mode. Its release is now stated as “imminent”
- “TRACKED: Shoot to Survive” is a new title announced by the studio behind “Green Hell VR”. It will be a survival game that, according to the studio, will be “one of the most intense VR experiences in the action-adventure genre”
- Reach by nDreams is one of the most awaited games of the year. And the studio just showcased more about combat and locomotion in a new gameplay video
- Street Gods by Soul Assembly promises a myth-inspired VR action roguelite this winter on Quest 3 and 3S.
More info (Summary of all the news of the VR Games Showcase)
More info (Full video of the VR Games Showcase)
More info (Glassbreakers: Champions Of Moss)
More info (LushFoil Photography)
More info (Aces Of Thunder)
More info (TRACKED: Shoot To Survive)
More info (Reach)
More info (Street Gods VR)
Meta Celeste glasses may cost less than $1000
At the upcoming Meta Connect, Meta is going to launch its new smartglasses paired with a neural bracelet. These glasses could be called Meta Celeste, and according to previous rumors, they should have cost between $1000 and $1500.
But a new rumor by the usual Mark Gurman says that Meta is probably going to launch the device at a lower price to facilitate its adoption. The rumored price is now $800, with various style and lens options, such as prescription lenses, that will “quickly push up the cost” for many people.
A base price of $800 would actually be quite good for a prosumer-oriented device. $1500 would have meant that this is a device for just a few people, but a price less than $1000 is less intimidating and can lead to a bigger adoption among the XR enthusiasts. At the end of the day, Meta has been selling all its latest XR devices at cost or under cost, so this strategy is not surprising anyone, I guess.
HTC launched its smartglasses
HTC has entered its smartglasses, too. The once-leader in the VR field has announced Vive Eagle, a device meant to compete with Ray-Ban Meta.
The glasses are quite stylish and weigh just 1g more than Ray-Ban Meta. They feature a 12MP ultra-wide camera, microphones, and integrated speakers. HTC promises up to 36 hours of standby time and 4.5 hours of continuous music playback. The use cases are the usual ones: listening to music, taking phone calls, taking pictures, and videos. The glasses can also connect to AI for real-time translations in 13 languages. Voice commands also let you do things like record reminders, take notes, and get restaurant recommendations.
Vive Eagle is only available for now on the Taiwan island, for a price equivalent to $520. I’m really confused about how HTC Eagle plans to be a serious competitor to Ray-Ban Meta if they have similar features and double the price, but I hope they have some aces up their sleeves.
Vivo to demo its MR headset soon
Vivo, one of the leading smartphone manufacturers, announced some months ago it was working on a mixed reality headset called Vivo Vision. This device looks very similar to the Apple Vision Pro, with just some minor differences. Now the company announced that while this product won’t be launching this year, it will be possible starting this Thursday to book demos of it in Vivo stores in China. The headset used for the demos has been named “Vivo Vision Mixed Reality Headset Discovery Edition”, a name that is very short and easy to remember. I think they could have added even a few more words to it.
It’s good news that Vivo, which is a very important tech brand, is still going on with its MR plans, and it is also great that it is offering in-store demos, because they will increase the awareness towards MR, at least in China. Since I’m here in the Red Country, I hope I’ll be able to get a taste of it before I’m back in Italy.
News worth a mention
References to an M5-powered Vision Pro found in Apple code
In the last months, the rumors about an upcoming refreshed Apple Vision Pro have been intensifying. This week, we had a new chapter of the saga, with MacRumors saying they found references to an M5 Vision Pro in some code “accidentally shared by Apple”. This seems to confirm the rumors about the fact that a refreshed Vision Pro with an M5 chipset is coming in the next months.
A bug that gave root access to Quest 3 has been fixed
The community tried to root the Meta Quest since its release, but it has always had a hard time with that. Lately, it seems an exploit has allowed people to have temporary root access on Quest 3, but Meta immediately spotted the problem and fixed it. Still, it’s great news that root access could happen…
Samsung is working on a Ray-Ban Meta competitor
We all know that Samsung is working with Google to build smartglasses, and in particular glasses with a display like the ones that Google showcased at I/O. But new rumors say that Samsung is also working on audio-only smartglasses, like Ray-Ban Meta. We don’t have further details about them, though.
PSVR 2 eye tracking can now be used on PC
PSVR2Toolkit, an open-source modded version of the PSVR 2 PC driver, now includes support for eye tracking, adaptive triggers for the Sense controllers, and 10-bit color depth. This makes PSVR2 the cheapest headset you can use to experiment with eye tracking.
Meta is experimenting with a new Quest UX
It seems that Meta is updating the UI of the Quest and the Quest mobile companion app to improve their usability and solve all the problems the community has been talking about. For now, the updates are in the beta versions, let’s see if they will actually be shipped in the official release channel.
Some news about non-gaming content
- BeamXR is a tool that lets content creators easily stream their VR view to Twitch and YouTube. It’s currently available in Early Access for Quest headsets
- Adobe launched Substance 3D Reviewer on Quest’s Horizon Store, a free, streamlined app for collaboratively reviewing 3D models in VR or on the web
- Xtadium is now also available in the UK, but its program is very different than the one in the US
- MasterpieceX WorldEngen lets creators use AI to quickly prototype 3D worlds. I think it can be a valuable tool to let 3D artists prototype and get approval before actually starting the production
More info (BeamXR — Trailer)
More info (BeamXR — Upload article)
More info (Substance 3D Reviewer)
More info (Xtadium)
More info (MasterpieceX WorldEngen)
Some news about gaming content
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Empire City released a pre-alpha look at traversal and parkour gameplay on Quest 3
- Flat2VR Spark is a new initiative designed to empower modders to create fully licensed VR adaptations of existing flatscreen titles. It’s a way for Flat2VR to get back to its roots
- Echo Wars — Road Rage mixes VR driving with arcade shooting. It is coming on August 21 on Quest and Steam Early Access
- 3-vs-3 cat-themed soccer game Clawball, from Pixel Ripped’s studio, received its full release on Quest
- Penguin Festival, a cozy VR game about party planning, will no longer be released on the Meta Horizon Store, because the studio disagrees with the new policies of Meta to allow certain kinds of “controversial content” in its AI
- The Exorcist: Legion VR SIN, a multiplayer sequel to the early episodic VR horror hit, is “on hold indefinitely.” The reason is that currently on the Horizon Store is hard to earn much money by releasing premium content
- Upload released its usual XR News Round-Up article, featuring some minor XR news
More info (TMNT: Empire City)
More info (Flat2VR Spark)
More info (Echo Wars — Road Rage)
More info (Clawball)
More info (Penguin Festival)
More info (The Exorcist: Legion VR SIN)
More info (XR News Round-Up)
Some reviews about content
- According to both Road To VR and Upload VR, Stellar Café is a very original VR game that lets you engage in fun and original conversations with robots. The robots are powered by artificial intelligence, so the conversations always appear fresh, while always maintaining their tongue-in-cheek tone. It shows a great use of AI in a VR game, probably something others will copy in the future.
More info (Stellar Café — Road To VR)
More info (Stellar Café — Upload VR)
Other news
McDonald’s just got an official Horizon Worlds experience
Pico 4 Ultra now supports travel mode and improved full body tracking
Vuzix aannounced the Vuzix LX1, a ruggedized, hands-free smart glasses device designed for warehouse operations
News from partners (and friends)
Learn WebSpatial and win some prizes
Pico has recently launched WebSpatial, a technology that lets developers very easily transform web apps and websites into XR-enabled experiences that are compatible with many headsets, starting with Apple Vision Pro. To entice web developers to start using it, Pico just launched the “Web to Spatial Program”, an initiative to help people turn AI-built web apps into spatial experiences and build momentum as a developer influencer. The program teaches you how to use WebSpatial and, at the same time, offers some bounties that can let you earn some real cash. It seems like a great deal, so check it out!
Learn more
Discover FM DUO camera!
Meet the FM DUO, a VR camera that is capable of filming up to 12K @30fps, and 8K @60fps. With built-in RTMP live streaming and 5G connectivity, the FM·DUO will immerse your viewers in real time! The FM·DUO features 2 full-frame CMOS sensors, with 6000 x 6000 pixels each. This allows for high-resolution zooming capabilities. Not only can you narrow in on one subject, but you can also focus on singular details of the subject’s facial expressions, clothing textures, and a multitude of other small details, enabling a much more immersive experience of VR video.
Some XR fun
Things are going great lately with the Quest updates
The AI hype cycle
Donate for good
Like last week, also this week in this final paragraph I won’t ask you to donate to my blog, but to the poor people who are facing the consequences of the war. Please donate to the Red Cross to handle the current humanitarian situation in Ukraine. I will leave you the link to do that below.
Let me take a moment before to thank anyway all my Patreon donors for the support they give to me:
- Alex Gonzalez VR
- DeoVR
- GenVR
- Eduardo Siman
- Jonn Fredericks
- Jean-Marc Duyckaerts
- Reynaldo T Zabala
- Richard Penny
- Terry xR. Schussler
- Ilias Kapouranis
- Paolo Leoncini
- Immersive.international
- Nikk Mitchell and the great FXG team
- Jake Rubin
- Alexis Huille
- Raghu Bathina
- Chris Koomen
- Cognitive3D
- Wisear (Yacine Achiakh)
- Masterpiece X
- Dimo Pepelyashev
- Carol Dalrymple
- Keith Bradner
- Jennifer Granger
- Jason Moore
- Steve Biggs
- Julio Cesar Bolivar
- Jan Schroeder
- Kai Curtis
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- Andrew Deutsch
- Fabien Benetou
- Tatiana Kartashova
- Marco “BeyondTheCastle” Arena
- Eloi Gerard
- Adam Boyd
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- Alex P
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- Qcreator
- Ristband (Anne McKinnon & Roman Rappak)
- Stephen Robnett
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- Christopher Boyd
- Anonymous Supporter
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- Mark Frederiksen
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- Sb
- Boule Petanque
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- Enrico Poli
- Vooiage Technologies
- Caroline
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- Francesco Salizzoni
- Alan Smithson
- Steve R
- Brentwahn
- Michael Gaebler
- Tiago Silva
- Matt Cool
- Mark G
- Simplex
- Gregory F Gorsuch
- Paul Shay
- Matias Nassi
And now here you are the link to donate:
Support The Red Cross in Ukraine
(Header headsets by Meta)
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