Virtual & Augmented Reality News - Page 1

Oculus has begun informing developers that it would be rolling out two of the Quest's most highly requested features in February. Soon you'll be able to have multiple users on your Quest 2 and share games between accounts.

Oculus announced on its developer blog that multi-user accounts and app sharing would begin to roll out to Quest 2 owners as early as next month. The initial rollout will come through as an experimental feature update for Quest 2 that owners would need to opt-in for. The update will be available for all Quest owners in a future update.

The developer blog post reveals several details about multi-user accounts, including what developers should expect from the new update. The blog explains that the headset's primary user would have to authorize additional accounts for the headset, and they could invite up to three other users to use the headset. Those users would need to log in with their own Facebook accounts.

Facebook is currently facing considerable backlash over the decision to merge Oculus and Facebook accounts. The company has been met with criticism from past Oculus users, would-be Oculus users, and critics alike. It's even dealing with a lawsuit from the German government over the move. And yet, the company has remained steadfast in its decision and has yet to waver.

Facebook has recently dealt with a mass exodus of Whatsapp users after a change to its privacy policy. Given the backlash, one Twitter user called Diggie sent John Carmack a question regarding a possible shift in user account policies. Also noting that unlike Whatsapp users who can go to Signal or Telegram, VR fans don't have an alternative to flock to.

Carmack took the time to respond to Diggie directly, but the answer will surely disappoint many. He reiterated that Facebook login is here to stay, adding that it could take a decade to gain public trust about security.

Panasonic today revealed an updated version of its VR Glasses prototype. The VR Glasses are a compact tethered VR device for use with your smartphone or PC.

Panasonic first showed off its VR Glasses design last year at CES 2020, and this year the headset is back at the show but with a few updates compared to the old one. First and foremost, the newest version includes a pair of 2.6K micro-OLED panels for Kopin, which now offer HDR color support. The VR Glasses also include built-in earbuds, so you don't need to fiddle with an extra pair of headphones.

The Panasonic VR Glasses are so named for their unique industrial design. Unlike other VR headsets, the VR glasses don't have one large compartment for the screen, optics, and electronics. The VR Glasses have two small capsules that house the components for each eye separately. The optics include IPD adjustment, which is the distance between your pupils. It also supports diopter adjustment, which means you can move the lenses towards or away from your eyes.

Patents for new Samsung headsets have surfaced in Europe. The patent documents include illustrations and renderings of two headsets, including one that looks like bug-eyes. They also include renderings for custom motion controllers.

Samsung has had its toes in the VR space since the very beginning of the consumer VR market, but it tends to have one toe in the water at a time. In the early days of this industry, Samsung partnered with Oculus to launch the GearVR smartphone-based VR headsets. The company later partnered with Microsoft to launch a Windows Mixed Reality headset called the Odyssey, and subsequently the Odyssey+.

The Odyssey+ WMR headset has been on the market for a couple of years now, and it's about due for a replacement. These new designs may point to Samsung doubling down on its VR offering soon.

Lenovo has a big announcement in the XR space this week at CES. The company revealed a lightweight, compact pair of Smartglasses for the business market.

The ThinkReality A3 glasses are the successor to Lenovo's ThinkReality A6 headset. The smart glasses are a much more compact design than the outgoing headset. The A3 resembles a typical pair of glasses, but they come equipped with technology to help make your workday more productive.

The Qualcomm Snapdragon XR1 mobile SoC powers the ThinkReality A3 glasses. The glasses include an 8MP 1080p camera for VPV video capture, and dual 1080p displays for viewing content. The A3 smartglasses also have dual fish-eye lenses used for spatial tracking.

Nightdive Studios is currently remastering System Shock 2, and the developer just revealed that it's building VR support into the remake of the game. The current state of the game's development is unclear, but the company shared a brief clip of a the game running with motion control support.

System Shock 2 was one of the scariest games that I remember playing when I was a kid, and I was very excited to hear the game would be re-released. Now that it's getting VR support, I'm a little bit nervous even to play it. Fighting off mutants with a pipe wrench was scary enough with a mouse a keyboard. A fully immersive version will be pretty intense.

There's no word on when the game will be available to play in VR, but we'll be sure to let you know as soon as we know.

John Carmack revealed on Twitter that Oculus is planning to do monthly software updates for the Quest platform. The company is looking for feedback from users to help Oculus prioritize update rollouts.

In a Tweet poster this morning, Carmack revealed that Oculus is "making it a priority in the near year to engage a lot more with the Quest User Voice." If you own an Oculus Quest or Quest 2 headset, Oculus wants to hear your thoughts about the platform and what you would like to see improved or changed.

The company plans to use the feedback to roll out regular updates for Quest headsets, which would include future software features. This is your chance to suggest a new Quest feature.

Hitman 3 is just around the corner, and with it, you'll be able to experience the immersive world of the Hitman in first-person virtual reality. Not only the third game, but the whole trilogy is playable in VR.

IO Interactive is gearing up for the launch of Hitman 3 on January 20; the company dropped a trailer to build hype for the game. We've already seen the game in action at 4K, with its beautiful graphics upgrades, but shiny graphics only take you so far. The PSVR experience looks like the ultimate upgrade for the Hitman series.

In the trailer, IO Interactive said that "You've never experienced [Hitman] like this. It's personal. Tactile. Real." Hitman 3 supports VR throughout the entire open sandbox game, and the title includes remastered versions of Hitman and Hitman 2, which you can also play in full on PSVR.

VRFocus reports that Nolo is preparing an ODM (original design manufacturer) standalone VR headset for companies interested in getting into the VR device market without the upfront R&D costs.

Nolo has been around in the VR space for several years now, and the company has carved out a nice niche within the market. Nolo builds an aftermarket tracking solution that can convert any VR headset into a 6DoF system with motion controllers.

Nolo's SodarTraq tracking system uses ultrasonic technology for its positional tracking, which usually requires a tracking ball that attaches to the headset. Nolo's ODM headset will include this tracking system embedded into the device. The headset also includes dual front-facing cameras, which support SLAM (simultaneous localization and mapping) positional tracking for headset positioning.

DrBeef, the indie developer behind the Quake, Doom, Half-Life and Wolfenstein VR mods, is at it again, and this time, it's Doom 3 getting the VR treatment. Doom3Quest is almost ready and should be out in the next few days.

DrBeef and his [Team Beef] partners have been dropping teaser videos over the last few days showing Doom 3 in action on the Oculus Quest. The team is preparing to release the Doom3Quest mod on the SideQuest marketplace in the coming days. This one definitely looks like a title to check out.

On January 1st, Team Beef release a teaser clip of the iconic mirror scene early in the game, demonstrating the motion controller tracking in action. On the 3rd, the development team released a clip showing off the lighting effects in action. The IDtech 4 game engine that powers Doom 3 is nearly a decade and a half old, but it still produces terrific visuals. DrBeef is pretty confident that it will impress, stating that "Doom3Quest will be one of the best looking experiences on the Quest platform for sure."