Virtual & Augmented Reality and 3D - Page 17

When Apple finally took the wraps off of the Vision Pro headset during the WWDC 2023 event on June 5, it had much of what we'd been told to expect by all of the rumors and leaks leading up to it. One of those rumors was of course the infamous hip-mounted battery pack, with Apple seemingly keen to make sure that it didn't overload the wearer's head with too much weight. However, it seems that the company might be planning to get around that problem if a new patent is any indication.

That patent was spotted by the eagle eyes at Patently Apple and appears to make reference to placing the battery fo a headset into its band, rather than the main unit itself. The theory is that Apple would be able to get around the issue of front-loading the weight and making the headset uncomfortable by moving the battery's weight to the back of the head.

This approach also has an added benefit in that it would help to balance out the weight of the main headset component - all of the electronic magic that makes it work, the Wi-Fi and Bluetooth radios, and of course those two displays. The patent itself was filed in Europe and references using an attachable headset mount that could house a battery. The result would of course mean that the Vision Pro would no longer need that external hip-mounted battery that some are so worried about. While the battery will no doubt work as intended, the requirement for a cable running to the battery is a concern for people who want to have the absolute most free ofmovements while wearing the headset.

Apple's Vision Pro headset was announced during the WWDC event on June 5 and at the time the company said that we should expect it to be made available to buy in early 2024. We're still waiting for a more concrete timeframe with which to work and it hasn't been forthcoming. However, a new report appears to suggest that we shouldn't expect the headset to break cover until a little later in the year than some of us had hoped.

Apple's vague early 2024 window does leave plenty of wiggle room of course and it could realistically mean anything in the first six months of the year. Still, some would hope for a release in the first few weeks of 2024 but that now seems unlikely based on a report by the normally well-connected Mark Gurman.

Gurman was writing in the weekly Power On newsletter for Bloomberg when he poured cold water on any hopes for a Vision Pro release in January or February. According to him, we should look towards March instead.

Apple's first-generation Vision Pro was only announced a few months ago, and won't be hitting your eyeballs until 2024... meanwhile, we're hearing about the second-generation Vision Pro 2 headset.

MacRumors is reporting some design changes and hardware upgrades to Apple's next-gen Vision Pro 2, which is codenamed "Project Alaska" and device identifier N109, looks like the original Vision Pro. The same look and style is there, while the button placement is unchanged, the speaker placement is "expected to be different," according to MacRumors' sources.

What changes can we expect? The rear straps are simpler in design and appearance, with the new information suggesting the Apple Vision Pro 2 will have flat straps that we see in laptop bags and backpacks used as the rear straps on the new AR headset. Not only that, but there are references to a "non-descript audio accessory, possibly an external speaker".

Apple will have the high-end AR headset market all to itself in 2024 when it launches its new Vision Pro headset, but rumors that Samsung will enter the AR headset business with a new Galaxy AR design make sense, and we can't wait.

The unnamed Samsung AR headset is expected to hit users' heads in December 2024, but in very low numbers against even Apple's surely limited Vision Pro headsets in 2024. The codename of Samsung's new AR headset is "Infinite(muhan)" but it will most likely arrive in the retail form under the Galaxy branding umbrella.

Samsung has reportedly been testing AR headset prototypes with its in-house Exynos 2200 processor. Still, the design was totally generic and didn't hold a flame against the Apple Vision Pro headset. That version is gone, and a newer AR headset is being prototyped as we speak.

SteamVR 2.0 is a big overhaul to Valve's VR platform, bringing most of the current features of Steam and the Steam Deck to SteamVR. From integrated Steam Chat and Voice Chat to an improved store layout, the overhaul will allow Valve to "add new Steam features in the future much faster and more frequently."

SteamVR 2.0 started in beta on September 25, 2023, so it's only been a month of testing before hitting its full release. The updated interface and full integration of Steam's robust chat system with dual-cursor typing, new languages, emojis, and themes are very welcome. Like the recently updated desktop client, it's a cleaner UI that retains that classic Steam look and feel.

Even though VR gaming has taken a back-seat for most in the PC space, with the recent release of the Meta Quest 3 (fully supported on PC and in Steam), the overall state of PC VR is in a good place. However, one has to wonder - with an overhaul to SteamVR like this, is Valve planning to launch a follow-up to its critically acclaimed Valve Index VR headset from 2019?

The future is upon us already, as an individual has walked into a coffee shop and ordered a beverage with a mixed reality headset on.

With the release of the Meta Quest 3, there are many videos circulating online of people performing seemingly everyday tasks, such as cooking while wearing the Meta Quest 3. These individuals are taking advantage of the headset's passthrough capabilities, which is the ability to see a real-time projection of the real-world within the virtual world, giving the illusion of the virtual world overlayed on the real-world.

Now, an individual has taken the mixed reality headset into public by walking into a cafe and ordering a coffee while wearing the headset. That individual was X user @CixLiv, and they recorded the cashier's response, writing in a post on X, "Ok, don't be mad. But someone had to do it". The cashier didn't appear to be too phased by the fact the customer was wearing a bulky headset while ordering a coffee, but according to a follow-up response by @CixLiv, "she absolutely hated me".

Apple announced the Vision Pro headset during the June 5 WWDC event but it won't go on sale until early in 2024. When it does, it'll cost a huge $3500 which is going to price a whole lot of people out of it. However, Apple is already rumored to be working on producing something a little cheaper in the future. Details are hard to come by right now, but a new report might have some insight into how Apple intends to cut some of the price moving forward.

That report comes via Bloomberg's Mark Gurman and the Power On newsletter, with the claim being that Apple will aim for a lower price point that could actually be half that of the initial Vision Pro model. Gurman says that internal Apple discussions have aimed at a $1,500 or $2,500 price point.

To get there, Apple is reportedly ready to remove the EyeSight feature, an external display that shows a representation of the user's eyes on the outside of the headset. It's also thought that Apple might want to cut costs by removing some of the external cameras and sensors that will ship on next year's first version.

The Meta Quest 3 has just launched, and early word on the latest generation of the popular VR headset has been positive. The Verge review is positive, with the key takeaway being that it's "better than its predecessors in almost every way." Tom's Guide shares similar sentiments in its review, praising the "improved graphics and superior performance [compared to] the Meta Quest 2."

Per the specs and hardware, which adds mixed reality features via color cameras that sound very promising, the Meta Quest 3 not only improves the display and touch controllers but delivers double the performance of the Quest 2. However, like the Quest 2, the new Meta Quest 3 can be hooked to a PC to take advantage of superior discrete hardware and play VR games like Half-Life: Alyx.

Most achieve this via a single long Meta Quest Link cable that offers play-and-charge functionality over USB-C. Thanks to the Meta Quest range being an affordable VR option with simple-to-set-up inside-out tracking and motion controls, it's no wonder the headset is currently the most popular VR PC gaming solution on Steam (as seen in the latest Steam Hardware Survey results). But what about wireless VR, wire-free PC VR gaming with the Meta Quest 3? It's possible thanks to devices like D-Link's DWA-F18 VR Air Bridge.

The Apple Vision Pro headset is going on sale in early 2024, we're told. And when it does, it'll ship with a pair of displays that feature a variable refresh rate with a maximum of 100Hz. Although it probably won't spend much of its time at that rate.

That's according to a new report by MacRumors based on a tweet by a social media user going by the name of @M1Astra. They say, based on code that they've found in the latest visionOS beta, that the Vision Pro headset will feature two displays that can dynamically adjust their refresh rates based on their surroundings. In specific cases, they will increase it to 100Hz, but the majority of the time will be spent at 90Hz.

The code found in visionOS displays a string of text that suggests the headset will adjust the refresh rate to 100Hz in order to compensate for the 50Hz flicker caused by artificial lighting. The code also suggests that the headset will be limited to 90Hz when used in Travel mode, a feature that will be enabled whenever the headset is used on an airplane.

Apple's Vision Pro headset was first announced during an event in June 2023 and it will finally go on sale in early 2024, the company claims. It'll cost a whopping $3500, but that isn't the only awkward thing - if you wear prescription glasses, you'll need to order extra Zeiss lenses for use with the headset.

That means that there is no room for people to wear their existing glasses when they put the headset on their faces. Apple wanted to make the headset as small as possible which meant not leaving space for anything between the face and the headset's displays. But a new report claims that Apple is already working on fixing the problem, although it isn't perfect. In the future, people might be able to order a Vision Pro headset with their prescription built in.

That's according to the latest Power On, a weekly newsletter from Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. According to him, Apple's desire to slim the device down meant leaving no space for glasses. And the future fix could see Apple offering built-in lenses. However, there are problems with such an approach.