I’m a bit crunching these days trying to deliver a thing… I’ll probably talk about it with you in case things go as I hoped for. Cross your fingers for me! Anyway, notwithstanding my lack of sleep, I’m always committed to send you the most relevant XR news of the week… so keep reading to stay up to date with immersive realities!
(By the way… I’ll be at the Next Reality Festival in Hamburg in a couple of weeks… let me know if you’ll be there, too!)
Top news of the week
Samsung to launch Project Moohan tomorrow
We finally have a release date for Samsung’s upcoming mixed reality headset codenamed “Project Moohan”. And it is… tomorrow.
On Samsung’s website or YouTube channel, you will be able to follow the livestream of the launch of the device starting from 10PT ET of October, 21st 2025. It is a pretty weird timing for a tech event, considering that it is evening in the US and night in Europe, but things make much more sense if you consider that Samsung is based in Korea. Probably the rumor that this launch is a bit more focused on the Korean market is true.
During the livestream we should finally discover all the technical details of this headset and new details on Android XR. Then finally we’ll discover the price and the release date. This way I’ll be able to know how can I not afford buying it 😀 I’ll wake up at 4 am to watch this livestream and comment it with you on YouTube, so tune on my Twitter/X channel to follow my updates!
It’s exciting that Samsung and Google are back to XR. But at the same time, I would like to turn off any hype that you may have about this headset: it is going to be expensive, so it is going to be niche. It’s good news for the long term of XR, not much the short term. As a proof of it, I just verified that the people subscribed to the launch livestream on Youtube at less than 24 hours from the event are just… around 60. I hope the sales of the headset will be more than that…
More info (Samsung announces Moohan launch event — Road To VR)
More info (Samsung announces Moohan launch event — Upload VR)
Other relevant news
Apple launched its refresh of the Vision Pro
After many rumors, in the end it happened. Apple has launched its refresh of the Apple Vision Pro headset. This new version is identical to the previous one, but its substitutes the already powerful M2 chipset with an incredibly more powerful M5 one. Then it also changed the headstrap to the Dual Knit Band, which distributes better the weight over the head. The price is always $3500 and the headset starts shipping… tomorrow. I don’t think the release date comes in the same day as the Samsung headset by chance: Apple is a direct competitor with Samsung and wants to ruin its launch.
Together with the new headset, Apple is also launching new accessories: the Logitech Muse stylus, that is useful to naturally draw in mixed reality, priced at $130; and the PSVR 2 controllers, to be able to use the Vision Pro for gaming, priced at $250 (with the charger included in the box).
As I’ve said in my editorial, this launch is pretty underwhelming for us XR enthusiasts, but it is a smart move by Apple. With a very cheap budget, it can keep being invested in XR, while it waits to understand better what can be its future strategy. The Vision Pro has a very powerful M5 headset that no other standalone headset can rival for years, the new band improves the ergonomics issues of the headset, and PSVR 2 controllers are a fix of entertainment use cases. This new headset is generally better, and thanks to its incredible processor, it can enable some B2B use cases (e.g. in prototyping) that no other headset can. It is also a very good processor to run AI models. I’m very curious to see what people will create with it.
More info (Apple launches M5 Vision Pro — Road To VR)
More info (Apple launches M5 Vision Pro — Upload VR)
More info (Apple launches Logitech Stylus and PSVR 2 controllers — Road To VR)
More info (Apple launches Logitech Stylus — Upload VR)
More info (Apple launches PSVR 2 controllers for Vision Pro — Upload VR)
More info (My editorial about this launch and why it is good strategy)
Snap accelerates SnapOS development
With the launch of its first consumer-oriented Spectacles approaching (next year), Snap is accelerating the development of its SnapOS operating system and the ecosystem around it.
At Snap’s Lens Fest, the company announced a few interesting news, like:
- Commerce Kit, through which lens creators will be able to sell digital items to their users (i.e. in-app purchases). Finally, lens creators will be able to earn some money from their creations
- Ability for the developers to get access to raw sensor data (including camera access), provided that the user authorizes it
- A UI Kit to let developers create lenses with a UX similar to the one of the operating system
- A mobile SDK to let lenses communicate with a mobile phone app
- A easy way to place object via hit-testing
- A user-friendly way to start a multiplayer gaming session by just looking at another person in the eyes (literally, this is fun)
- Niantic’s Peridot has been updated and now can guide people wearing Spectacles around places
- The launch of Synth Riders, Star Wars, and Avatar: The Last Airbender minigames
- Lenses from Figma and Tripadvisor are “coming soon”.
These are lots of updates, which are actually quite disruptive: the possibility for lens creators to make money alone is a game-changer, in my opinion. It’s good to see Snap making so many improvements and I can’t wait for the launch of their first commercial glasses!
More info (SnapOS improvements)
More info (Niantic Peridot’s improvements)
More info (Games coming to SnapOS)
Anduril starts revealing its headset
Anduril, the defense company founded by Palmer Luckey after he departed Meta, has started revealing its EagleEye headset. Actually, it’s more like a line of headsets, since it is a modular design that can take different shapes. In the pictures on Upload VR, you can find for instance a version with see-through AR glasses and another one that fully covers the head and lets the user see just using mixed reality passthrough.
The company also released some mockup videos to show how it expects the experience of the soldiers to be. Users can see a minimap of the field, and the position of all their peers and of their targets. The videos also show the integration with Anduril’s Lattice network, that can integrate all data from different sources (soldiers in the field, drones, cameras, etcc…): thanks to this, the soldier can see in AR also information about objects that he can’t directly see.
In addition to its partnership with Meta on core XR and AI technology, Anduril says it’s also partnering with Qualcomm for chips, as well as Oakley and Gentex for rugged eyewear and ballistic protection expertise.
More info (New info about Anduril’s headsets — Upload VR)
More info (New info about Anduril’s headsets — Road To VR)
News worth a mention
Shiftall announces MeganeX “8K” Mark II headset
Japanese company Shiftall (remember to read the F before the T) has announced the release of a new version of its MeganeX 8K lightweight headset, called MeganeX 8K Mark II. The new version adds a few notable changes, which mostly aim to improve comfort, durability, and system internals, answering to the most important complaints that the community reported about this device. This new headset is slated to ship in December for $1,900.
More info (Shiftall MeganeX 8K Mark II — Road To VR)
More info (Shiftall MeganeX 8K Mark II — Upload VR)
Inmo shows “liquid adjustable lenses”
Chinese glasses manufacturer Inmo just showed something pretty cool: “liquid adjustable lenses” for its devices. In a video by VRAR World, it is possible to see some sort of prescription lenses made in some jelly material that you just put on top of the lenses of the glasses to adapt them to your prescription. They look innovative and very easy to use, but I can’t speak about their quality for long-term daily use (e.g. how easily they break, if they apply well visual correction, etc…)
A primer on Gaussian Splats
Everyone in our space is talking about Gaussian Splats. In case you have not understood yet what they are and at this point you are too afraid to ask (as the meme says), you can read this great primer just released on Packet39. It will explain to you what splats are and how you can do your own first capture.
The drama between BigScreen and Pimax
One of the dramas of the week has been the debate on Reddit between BigScreen and Pimax (and their related fan clubs). The reason for that? Pimax claiming to be the “official peripheral partner” for Microsoft Flight Simulator, that BigScreen says is misleading. Grab some popcorn and read.
More info (BigScreen being critical about Pimax)
More info (A redditor defending Pimax and attacking BigScreen)
Some VR games are getting ready for Halloween
Halloween is a great celebration in some countries, and for this reason, some VR games are organizing some special events, or are offering special missions and perks inside them. Check them out in the links here below!
More info (Ghosts Of Tabor — Halloween)
More info (Trombone Champ Unflattened — Halloween)
More info (Phasmaphobia — Halloween)
More info (Smash Drums — Halloween)
Glassbreakers may open up the door to UE games on Vision Pro
Glassbreakers: Champions of Moss is bringing the action-strategy multiplayer game to the most important headsets on November 13 for $19.99. But what is more relevant to me is that it is the first VR game developed in Unreal Engine to launch on Apple Vision Pro. And the studio plans to release a fork of the Unreal Engine with “all the enhancements and work that went into integrating the engine with visionOS,” so that other studios can use this code and launch their games on Vision Pro, too. Good guy Polyarc.
Some news about content
- Little Critters is a light-hearted mixed reality action-strategy game launching in November on Quest 3 and 3S
- Assetto Corsa Rally, a new high-fidelity rally sim spin-off of the popular racing game, is launching in early access next month, with PC VR support coming post-launch
- Forefront, the 32-player Battlefield-style VR FPS developed by Triangle Factory, is launching in Early Access on the major VR platforms on November, 6. A full release will follow in 2026
- Me, You and Kaiju is a 4v1 asymmetric party game where four flatscreen players fight a kaiju controlled through VR on Steam. It is out now for around €15 in Early Access
- Asymmetric co-op platformer VR Giants, where a small character controlled by a flatscreen player collaborates with a giant moved by a VR player, is out in Steam early access and is heading to Meta Quest headsets later this year
- “Spatial Camera: Capture in Immersive 3D” lets you capture immersive photos and videos using your Quest
More info (Little Critters)
More info (Assetto Corsa Rally)
More info (Forefront)
More info (Me, You and Kaiju)
More info (VR Giants)
More info (Spatial Camera: Capture in Immersive 3D)
Reach may be a serious contender for the game of the year. Or maybe not. The community is very divided in its opinions about this game. The previews by Road To VR and Upload VR about it were both very enthusiastic, and they both praised the VR-native design of the game. But now that the game has been released, Upload VR confirmed a very high mark, while Road To VR only gave it a 7/10 score. According to the latter, while the movement parts of the game are cool, the choice of a two-handed weapon ruins the fun of the game, because it doesn’t let you move and shoot, and doesn’t also let you properly use the shield (you would need a third hand to use it!). Magazines apart, also the various people are divided about it: I’ve heard people super-enthusiastic about it (e.g. at Connect), while others were not that impressed. Some people are experiencing bugs. And the Steam community is infuriated because the game has been made with the Oculus OpenXR plugin, so it only works with Quest Link and Air Link and not over Virtual Desktop. In general, it looks like a good game, but nDreams has to work over it post launch to make it great truly.
(Thanks to @ryyotai for having shared with me one of the links below)
More info (UploadVR’s review)
More info (Road To VR’s review)
More info (People debating on Reddit whether the game is good or bad)
More info (Reach users on Steam were not many)
More info (Reach not supporting Virtual Desktop)
More info (A mixed review about Reach by a well-known VR YouTuber)
Some reviews about content
- Vex Mage is an old-school, fast-paced shooter where you should never stop running. It’s a run-and-gun experience that feels good in VR. With a few fixes, it would even be better
- Dread Meridian’s demo ends after 45 minutes, and you can see the foundations for an awfully good body horror adventure: an unsettling mood, desperate combat encounters, and the occasional jump scare while solving puzzles. There are anyways many things to improve before an official launch
- Project Freefall could be VR’s next go-to party game. It’s easy to understand, and it brings a lot of fun to the people playing it. It mixes the fun of falling down in VR with a sort of battle royale gameplay. I’m very intrigued by this
More info (Vex Mage)
More info (Dread Meridian)
More info (Project Freefall)
Other news
The official Windows 11 Remote Desktop of Horizon OS now has aspect ratio options for the virtual monitors
There could be a public demo of the game LOW-FI by the end of this year
(Thanks Rob Cole for the tip)
REK, one of the coolest startups in town, is hiring!
CNET’s Scott Stein published his hands-on impressions on the Meta Ray-Ban Display
Old memories: unboxing the devkit of the OG Vive
News from partners (and friends)
Wisp World is here
If you have Snap Spectacles, you can now try Wisp World by Liquid City. This is how the company describes it: “Wisps are AI characters that see what you see, listen to you, make decisions, and respond to your environment. They’re powered by Parabrain, our in-house agent engine that combines LLMs, memory, and perception to create characters that feel present and alive.”
It has been co-designed by the genius Keiichi Matsuda, so I’m sure it’s going to be great.
Learn more
Discover TiME HACK
If you are into hackathons, you should check out TiME HACK:
From January 23–25, the TiME Lab at Fraunhofer HHI in Berlin will transform into an immersive playground. Over 48 hours, 30 participants from around the world will prototype bold new multiplayer experiences that reimagine play in shared realities.
Organized by Silicon Allee at Fraunhofer HHI, TiME HACK is not your average hackathon. Teams will have exclusive access to the TiME Lab — a world-class simulation space equipped with 180° panoramic projection, 14K resolution, spatial audio, and real-time interaction.
Registrations are open until November, 30th.
Learn more and apply
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.
Visit the product website
Some XR fun
I am right, too
Funny link
People that studied computer science engineering will understand
Funny link
I wonder what will come next
Funny link
Android XR has already +100% growth
Funny link
I think it may be photoshopped
Funny link
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
- Francesco Strada
- Sikaar Keita
- Ramin Assadollahi
- Juan Sotelo
- Andrew Sheldon
- Chris Madsen
- Horacio Torrendell
- Andrew Deutsch
- Fabien Benetou
- Tatiana Kartashova
- Marco “BeyondTheCastle” Arena
- Eloi Gerard
- Adam Boyd
- Jeremy Dalton
- Joel Ward
- Alex P
- Lynn Eades
- Donald P
- Casie Lane
- Catherine Henry
- Qcreator
- Ristband (Anne McKinnon & Roman Rappak)
- Stephen Robnett
- KaihatsuJai
- Christopher Boyd
- Don Williams
- Giuseppe Pippi
- Mark Frederiksen
- Ken Lin
- Sebastien Poivre
- Sb
- Boule Petanque
- Pieter Siekerman
- Enrico Poli
- Vooiage Technologies
- Caroline
- Liam James O’Malley
- Hillary Charnas
- Wil Stevens
- 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 image by Apple)
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