Virtual & Augmented Reality and 3D News - Page 1

The metaverse is still a strange concept to wrap your head around, but in terms of working in an office, devices like the Meta Quest 2 and Meta's application suite point to a potential scenario where meetings and even design sessions can happen in a virtual space.

A new report by Slate featuring first-hand accounts from people working at tech-consulting firm Accenture outlines some of the issues and frustrations born from working virtual and in the metaverse.

Apple has been working on a mixed-reality VR/AR headset for many years, and reports are emerging that it will finally be released sometime in 2023. The word is that it will support both VR and AR and be able to toggle between the two modes, the former being a sort of extended display for Mac - and even a virtual big-screen cinema that will pair with Apple TV+.

The headset will be a familiar experience for those in the Apple ecosystem, with a UI and presentation described as "IOS-like," with a home screen and app icons similar to what's found on an iPhone and iPad.

Like looking at a dream of playing 16-bit SNES games back in the 1990s come true, Super Nintendo World is officially opening its doors and warp pipes at Universal Studios Hollywood on February 17.

And the main attraction will be Mario Kart: Bowser's Challenge, a recreation of the classic Mario Kart using physical vehicles and augmented reality (AR) helmets that riders will put on. The track will feature several moving pieces but adding AR will push the immersion to the next level.

The Oculus Quest launched in May 2019 alongside the Oculus Rift S and was a game-changer for consumer-grade VR. An all-in-one headset that didn't require a PC, with inside-out tracking and some great software support.

When it launched, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said, "This is it. This is the all-in-one VR experience that we have been waiting for. It's wireless, it's got hand presence, six degrees of freedom, and it runs Rift-quality experiences."

Apple is reportedly set to unveil its first mixed reality headset, the Reality Pro, in the coming months ahead of its annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC).

Concept renders

The device is expected to be a high-end, premium device with a price tag of up to $3,000, making it more than twice the price of Meta's competing Quest Pro mixed reality headset, which when combined with the available software, was ill-received by users. Apple's headset will feature a hybrid of augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) technology, giving it its 'mixed reality' label, and is said to be using a new operating called xrOS.

Reports indicate that third-party developers are already building apps for the device, which may be released later this year alongside new iPhones and other refreshed Apple devices. The Reality Pro will be a standalone device, with its own dedicated operating capable of overlaying digital imagery on users' views and handle immersive VR experiences that will range from games to productivity, communication, and much more.

Thanks to chip shrinkage, more affordable processing power, and panels improving year-on-year, wearable display technology has seen continued advances. That said, getting all of that tech into something the size of everyday glasses isn't easy. And even in 2023, augmented reality (AR) smart glasses still carry the air of oversized joke glasses. This is where TCL's new RayNeo X2 comes in.

Smart glasses that might be a tad chunky but they're relatively small and stylish, with some impressive tech under the hood. We're talking full-color binocular Micro-LED optical waveguide displays that feature a high-contrast ratio (CR) of 100,000:1 with a peak brightness of up to 1,000 nits. These are high-end TV numbers, and with the glasses themselves actually looking like something you'd wear out and about they might just live up to the promise of Google Glasses from all those years ago.

Apple was expected to unveil its game-changing AR/MR (augmented reality/mixed reality) headset at its own big media reveal event in January, but one of the biggest analysts in the business has said that the Apple MR headset has now been delayed.

Analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has tweeted out some new details on Apple's new MR headset, saying that it has been delayed until the second half of 2023... according to unknown "software-related issues". Ming-Chi Kuo tweeted that their latest survey indicates the mass shipment schedule of Apple's new MR headset may be delayed through to the second half of 2023 "because of software-related issues". The previous shipping estimate was aiming for Q2 2023.

The tweets continued, with Kuo explaining that the mass shipment of components is still penciled in for 1H 2023 or Q2 2023, but due to the postponed mass shipment schedule of the end product, Apple's new MR headset shipment forecast for 2023 should be less than 500,000 units... down from the market consensus of 800,000 to 1.2 million units throughout 2023.

Sony has revealed the final details of its PlayStation VR2 headset, including price, launch date, and available games.

The new PlayStation VR2 headset will cost more than an actual PS5, Sony has announced. The PSVR2 headset will retail for $549.99 / €599.99 / £529.99 / ¥74,980, roughly $50 more than the disc-based PS5 model in North America. For comparison's sake, the original PSVR launched at $399, the same price of a retail PS4 model. The price reflects the headset's significant upgrades, chief of which is removing the snake's mess of cords from the original PSVR--this upgraded model uses a single USB-C cord to connect directly to the PlayStation 5.

The PSVR2 will release on February 23, 2023 but pre-orders will begin later this month on PlayStation's direct storefront. Users can now register for a chance to be invited to pre-order the headset.

German automaker BMW plans to take its Le Mans Daytona h (LMDh) car, the BMW M Hybrid V8, to the iRacing driving simulation platform. Race fans will have the chance to get behind the wheel - only digitally, of course - and see what they can do on the same Le Mans tracks the drivers use.

BMW and iRacing have a relationship that has developed over a few years, as the German automaker must trust its technology partner. The company is currently sharing technical car details, such as CAD data and simulator/racetrack results, with iRacing. This additional information should allow for a significantly more realistic virtual driving experience for motorsports fans.

Both companies have teamed up to take cars like the M8 GTE, M4 GT4, and M4 GT3 from the real-world into the virtual world. Direct support from automakers helps create an even more realistic experience with the immersion of cars identical to the ones we watch race around the track on TV.

The founder of Oculus, which was bought by Facebook several years ago, has voiced his thoughts on what Mark Zuckerberg has created with his virtual reality technology.

Palmer Luckey

Palmer Luckey, the founder of Oculus, which was acquired by Facebook back in 2014 for $2 billion, spoke at The Wall Street Journal conference Tech Live where he discussed his thoughts on what Zuckerberg is creating at Meta, formerly Facebook, specifically Meta's core virtual reality product Horizon Worlds. Luckey said, "I don't think it's a good product", and further explained that it's currently "not good" or "fun". Adding, "most people on the team would agree it's not a good product".

Despite Luckey's criticisms of Meta's metaverse project in its current form, the Oculus founder does want to see Zuckerberg succeed and believes he is in the best position out of anyone in the world to create a viable metaverse that attracts millions of users. Luckey explains that Zuckerberg is the "number one virtual reality fan in the world" and that he is and will "put the money in to do it. They're in the best position of anyone to win in the long run."