Virtual & Augmented Reality and 3D News - Page 1

The Apple Vision Pro went on sale in February and now the man who led the marketing for the spatial computer, Frank Casanova, has reportedly left the company. Casanova had worked at Apple for 36 years across a number of different roles including leading the expansion of the iPhone to new carriers.

Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reports that Casanova left the company last week to retire. He was named Apple's first head of marketing for augmented reality in 2019 before taking the lead on the headset, Gurman says. His role involved attending the release of Apple's new spatial computer at the Grove shopping mall in Los Angeles alongside Apple's services head Eddy Cue. Dan Riccio, currently the executive who oversees Apple Vision Pro development, is also nearing retirement.

The Apple Vision Pro was heavily rumored for years before it was finally announced in June of last year and then we had to wait until February for it to finally go on sale. However, the Apple Vision Pro is only currently available to buy in the United States although a global launch is expected to happen before the end of the year. Apple hasn't yet confirmed which countries will receive the Apple Vision Pro this year, however, nor has it offered any hard release timeframes, either.

If you're an Apple Vision Pro owner you can expect to be able to download the visionOS 1.2 software update in the near future, with Apple currently testing the third beta release with developers. Those who are registered developers can now download and install the software on their Apple Vision Pro via the usual Settings and app, although they will of course need to be signed into the relevant Apple ID account in order to be given the option to do so.

This release is expected to be made available to the public within weeks and comes just a week after the arrival of the second beta. It isn't yet clear just how many more betas we can expect to be released, but it normally doesn't reach too high of a number.

The Apple Vision Pro's visionOS 1.2 software update isn't expected to bring with it too many changes, and there are no big new features anticipated either. However, there are some tweaks to the Personas, EyeSight, and other features built into this current beta and it's possible that more tweaks could be made before the update rolls out to the public.

Xbox has been toying around with the idea of entering the VR gaming space for years. When it was on the cusp of launching the Xbox One X console (codenamed Project Scorpio), the head of Xbox, Phil Spencer, touted it as powerful enough to handle VR gaming. At the time, Sony had the PlayStation VR, a niche but successful add-on for the PlayStation 4.

Fast forward to 2024, and Xbox is more than a console platform, with cloud gaming, PC Game Pass, and the new owners of Activision Blizzard and all of its PC and mobile properties. Although Sony released a PlayStation VR2 refresh for the PlayStation 5 console, it has failed to meet sales expectations or reach the heights of the original.

In many ways, outside of PC and the success of the Meta Quest 2 and the SteamVR platform, virtual reality is not on the minds of all gamers. So, with news that Xbox is finally getting in on VR gaming, how it is doing so is not what you'd expect. Instead of a dedicated headset for console and PC, Xbox is partnering with Meta to launch "a limited-edition Meta Quest, inspired by Xbox."

It might be all too easy to think that the only VR headset that matters is somewhere in the Meta Quest lineup while the Apple Vision Pro is a different beast entirely. But Meta is looking to change things by expanding the world of virtual reality headsets to include those from other manufacturers - and it wants its Meta Horizon OS to be the software that powers it all.

In a press release detailing the move, Meta said that the Meta Horizon OS is what currently powers the Meta Quest headsets and that it combines the core technologies powering current mixed reality experiences. Now, it wants other companies to produce headsets that can run the same software.

As part of that new generation of hardware Meta sees the rising popularity of gaming, entertainment, and fitness experiences as a key factor in bringing other companies to the market. Some companies are already working on new devices that are powered by Meta Horizon OS, Meta says, with ASUS ROG at the top of the list. It's developing an all-new performance gaming headset, Meta says, adding that Lenovo is also going to develop mixed reality devices for production, learning, and entertainment.

When Apple launched the Apple Vision Pro to the public in February it was the hottest thing in town, and it remained that way for a few weeks. But as is so often the case with these launches, once the dust settled, interest was already starting to wane. Now, a new report claims that demand for the high-end spatial computer has been so low that Apple has had to take drastic action.

That action, according to the normally well-connected analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, comes in the form of cutting its 2024 shipments to somewhere between 400,000 and 450,000 units which is considerably down on the market consensus of anything up to 800,000 units - and potentially even more.

Kuo points out that Apple cut the orders even before launching the Apple Vision Pro in new markets. Right now it's only available in the United States and it's thought that demand has fallen so sharply in the United States that Apple is taking a more conservative view of the demand it can expect when the headset finally starts to ship to other countries.

The Apple Vision Pro captured the internet briefly when it finally became available to the public, but then it seemingly quietened down in the consumer market as many users found the headset lacked critical features.

However, that doesn't mean it isn't being used in the business, or commercial space, which is exactly what a surgeon from Brazil has done. According to reports, doctor Bruno Gobbato used a Vision Pro headset during a shoulder arthroscopy surgery, which the surgeon said aided him in his process throughout the operation.

The above video shows the surgeon using the Vision Pro to display a live camera feed of the camera that has been inserted into the shoulder joint. The heads-up display of the Vision Pro also provided the surgeon with X-rays, notes, and additional information that originally wasn't readily available by simply looking up to a region of space in the operating room.

the Apple Vision Pro has been on sale for almost three months now and while it's fair to say that the excitement has definitely started to die down somewhat, there's no denying that it is still the hottest piece of tech around right now. It launched with a ton of apps in the visionOS App Store in February but the number of actual Apple Vison Pro apps was surprisingly small - many were just iPad apps enabled to run on the headset. But more apps are coming all the time and now Microsoft has announced that it's brought one of its best to the spatial computer as well.

Microsoft OneNote is the go-to note-taking app for a ton of people, especially those who find themselves living in the Microsoft ecosystem. Its availability on the Apple Vision Pro was perhaps to be expected, but it's always surprising when Microsoft launches something on an Apple platform, whether it should be, or not. And from what we're reading in the announcement blog post, there's plenty to like about this release.

Microsoft says that Apple Vision Pro owners can make use of the OnteNote app's infinite canvas in a spatial computing environment alongside other apps like Word and Excel via multitasking. The company says that the OneNote app now means that people can stay productive no matter where they are, and there are tons of features already available with more on the way.

Premium and high-end Virtual Reality headset maker Pimax was one of the first companies to deliver a 4K VR headset, and later this year, it's set to launch one of the most impressive PCVR headsets to date.

With a per-eye resolution of 3840 x 3840 (which is more than 4K!) and a wide 150-degree field of view with a whopping 29.5 million pixels across its QLED displays, the Pimax Crystal Super is shaping up to be a beast of a VR headset. It has been designed primarily for PCVR, and its pixel counts are higher than those of the Apple Vision Pro (23 million) and the Meta Quest 3 (9.1 million). It's considerably lighter than the existing Pimax Crystal headset without standalone VR hardware.

Pimax announced the new flagship during its recent Frontiers 2024 event, where it also announced the more affordable Pimax Crystal Light, which removes the XR2 chip to present the popular Pimax Crystal headset in lightweight standalone PCVR form.

The Apple Vision Pro has only been on sale since February this year, which means that it's now only a couple of months old. But that hasn't stopped Apple from forging ahead with new software updates and the company has today released another update to the public in the form of visionOS 1.1.2.

This visionOS 1.1.2 update arrives just a month after Apple released the visionOS 1.1 software to the public, although this release isn't one that appears to bring with it any big new features. Instead, Apple's release notes simply say that the update brings with it bug fixes and that it is recommended for all Apple Vision Pro owners.

This update comes as Apple continues to test the visionOS 1.2 software with developers. They can install the update if they are signed into their Apple ID although the headset will need to be restarted and taken off in order for the update to be completed. The headset will also display the current progress on the external EyeSight display so users will know when it's finished.

The Apple Vision Pro is the hottest ticket in town right now, but it isn't the only headset that people are talking about. The Meta Quest Pro is a solid mixed reality headset while the Meta Quest 3 is more about that VR experience. All three are impressive in their own rights, and it's always interesting to know what they look like on the inside. What makes them tick. And now we know after Lumafield put all three headsets through a CT scanner to get a non-intrusive look at their innards.

The video that you can see below shows off all of the headsets in their various glories and most attention will no doubt be on the Apple Vision Pro. The headset is a minimalist design on the outside, but things definitely get serious on the inside.

The Apple Vision Pro makes the most of its internal space by using a flexible PCB ribbon and moving all of the various electronics around so that they are positioned at various angles so every last inch of space is used to its fullest. Notably, the Meta headsets chose to stack the elements instead, an approach that is more akin to phones, tablets, and laptops.