Extended Reality (XR) - Page 28

In August, Facebook announced that new Oculus accounts would soon require Facebook account integration. With Quest 2 launching this week, that change is now in effect. In a blog post today, the company confirmed that Quest 2 requires Facebook even for existing account holders.

Facebook's new Oculus account policy requires that new users use a Facebook account to create an Oculus account. The company previously said that existing Oculus account holders would be exempt from the change for two years, but we now know that only applies to legacy headsets.

Quest 2 activation requires linking your Oculus account to a Facebook account, but don't worry, that doesn't mean you can't use a gamer tag. Oculus accounts still use gamer tags, but they now need Facebook accounts for user identification. You can choose to leave your real name public, or you can hide your Facebook name on your Oculus profile.

HTC revealed yet another version of its Vive Pro VR headset. The new Vive Pro Secure has been modified to operate in secure locations that require Authority to Operate (ATO), which means government agencies can now deploy VR installations in classified sites.

HTC partnered with PNY Technologies to modify the Vive Pro to comply with ATO requirements, including restricting the radios, cameras, and wireless communication hardware. Vive Pro Secure doesn't have eye-tracking sensors either.

HTC designed the Vive Pro Secure to work in offline environments with no internet access. It operates on an Offline SteamVR Library that does not send or receive data through the internet, even if the computer has an internet connection.

Zappar today launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund its third-generation smartphone-based mixed reality headset. All-new ZapBox, as Zapper calls it, includes a headset and motion controllers for just $40.

Zappar has been around since 2011 and has previously shipped two smartphone-based AR products. In 2016, the company shipped the first ZapBox, a mixed reality product made of cardboard to keep it affordable. Zapper followed that up with a flat-pack version the years later. The third iteration of the ZapBox ditches the box altogether. As Zapper put it, they have "made the leap from 'cardware' to hardware."

All-new ZapBox is a relatively simple device. It consists of a rigid head strap with a mechanical adjustment system. Curiously, the headset doesn't include an enclosure. Instead, it offers a suspension system that holds your phone in front of your eyes. The unique design allows you to see your phone screen and the world around you without limiting your natural field of view. The package also includes a pair of 6-DoF motion controllers, each with a single trigger for input.

Virtuix, the leader in omnidirectional treadmills for VR entertainment, announced its return to the consumer market with the Omni One, a newly designed Omni for home use.

Virtuix has been around for many years, but it doesn't currently cater to the consumer VR market. The company manufactures the Omni Pro omnidirectional treadmills, which it sells to the VR arcade market. Next year, Virtuix will turn its eyes to the home entertainment market with the Omni One launch, a lighter, more compact omnidirectional treadmill, complete standalone VR headset in the box.

"Omni One is like nothing else out there - it's a breakthrough in omnidirectional treadmill technology," said Jan Goetgeluk, founder and CEO of Virtuix. "Compared to Omni Pro, Omni One no longer has a support ring. So, it gives users unrestricted freedom of movement, including crouching, squatting, backing up, and even jumping. You essentially become one with the machine."

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to fly in a wingsuit? Most people never get the chance to do that, even if they want to because of the danger and the training involved. But what if you could get the same experience without the inherent risk? At Jump, a new VR attraction opening in 2021, you can!

Jump is a location-based entertainment attraction created by James Jensen, one of the co-founders of The Void. The details about the experience are limited, but the company recently started dropping hints about its attraction, and it looks remarkably attractive. As far as we can tell, Jump is a VR base jumping simulator that makes you feel like you're soaring through the air.

The Jump experience includes an authentic wingsuit and a VR headset integrated into a helmet that resembles the type that a base jumper would wear. It's unclear how the simulation makes you feel like you're flying, but it could include a wind tunnel that skydivers often train in or involve an aerial harness. Jim Shumway, the head rigger for Cirque du Soleil, is part of Jump's team, so we're leaning towards the harness idea.

Big Box VR's highly anticipated Population: One VR battle royale game is just a few weeks away. The developer today revealed the game would launch on October 22.

Population: One is a first-person virtual reality battle royale game that is sure to attract Fortnite fans. Like Fortnite, Population: One allows you to collect materials to craft shelters, but you don't need to build your way to high perches in this game. Population: One gives you other means to reach high places.

Population: One is built around the Vertical Combat System (VCS), which encourages players to use height to their advantage. In Population: One, you can climb any vertical surface. Every player also gets a jetpack with a set of wings that allows you to fly from structure to structure.

Oculus is gearing up for the launch of Quest 2 next week and evidently, so are the developers who make Quest content. At least five titles have already received updates with enhancements for the new hardware.

The Quest 2 headset includes a much more powerful processor than its predecessor. Games that are well optimized for the old hardware should have extra headroom for graphics improvements such as higher resolution textures and real-time lighting effects.

We suspect that many older titles will eventually get Quest 2 enhancements, but at least five games are ready to go ahead of launch day. Arizona Sunshine, Ironlights, Red Matter, Trover Saves the Universe, and Waltz of the Wizard already received updates for Quest 2.

NVIDIA this week revealed CloudXR, a cloud streaming service for AR and VR experiences powered by Amazon AWS and NVIDIA RTX technologies. CloudXR gives standalone AR and VR headsets the computational power of Amazon's cloud infrastructure.

NVIDIA's CloudXR platform is a content streaming solution for AR, VR, and MR systems. The platform runs off Amazon EC2 P3 and G4 instances powered by NVIDIA RTX V100 and T4 GPUs. With that kind of rendering power, developers can now create photorealistic immersive experiences and deliver them to any OpenVR-compatible XR device, including headsets like the Oculus Quest 2.

CloudXR gives developers more power to work with, which allows for more detailed and realistic virtual environments, but the solution also introduces cost savings for businesses.

Google's Daydream VR platform was a short-lived attempt at tackling the mobile VR market. Google launched the platform in late 2016 and stopped supporting it in late 2019. Google Daydream was already dead, but Android 11 eliminates it.

Hat tip to Android Police for spotting the change in the Android 11 release notes. The latest version of Google's mobile operating system doesn't offer any support for Google's past VR platform.

The lack of Daydream support in the latest Android release shouldn't be a big surprise. Google officially abandoned Daydream VR in October 2019, and the Pixel 4 smartphone lineup was not "Daydream certified." None of the 2019 Android smartphones are certified for Daydream. Though, you could still use an older phone to access the Daydream library.

Tobii released a pair of videos demonstrating the performance benefits of its eye-tracking technology paired with foveated rendering in the HP Reverb G2 Omnicept Edition. The results are quite impressive.

HP announced the Reverb G2 Omnicept Edition VR headset earlier this week. The upcoming device includes several biometric sensors, such as a heart rate monitor, a face camera, and eye-tracking cameras, which enable a variety of advanced features. In particular, the eye-tracking cameras, provided by Tobii, enable some impressive performance benefits.

For years, VR enthusiasts have been clamouring about the supposed benefits of foveated rendering. This rendering technique reduces the GPU load by lowering the graphics fidelity outside of your focus area while maintaining maximum rendering quality where you're actively looking.

Microsoft is getting closer to releasing the highly anticipated VR update for MS Flight Simulator. The VR update isn't ready for primetime yet, but Microsoft is putting out a call for beta testers to complete the bug testing phase.

Microsoft is accepting applications for access to the Flight Simulator VR closed beta. The company is looking for core fans who already own the game and already own a VR headset. Beta access will roll out in two phases, with the first group comprising Windows MR headset owners. Beta access for other headsets will roll out in phase two.

You will need to meet specific criteria to be considered for the beta. First and foremost, you must already own MS Flight Simulator and a VR headset. You must also be registered as a Flight Simulator Insider. Microsoft will also require you to submit your DxDiag log along with a signed copy of an NDA agreement that prevents you from disclosing your experience with the early access game.

Foxconn is reportedly developing AR smart glasses with micro-LED displays that offer a pixel density of 2000ppi. Such image clarity would be a major step forward for AR display technology, but don't get too excited yet. These won't hit the market for a few years yet.

According to Digitimes, Foxconn still has a lot of work to do. The company expects to wrap up the development of the micro-LED smart glasses in 2022. Foxconn will trial the hardware in several industries before putting the headset into full production.

The long development time is reportedly due to the optical technology needed for these smart glasses. Foxconn has access to Micro LED technology today, and building a VR headset with these displays would be trivial for a company like Foxconn. According to Digitimes' source, it "will take three years at least" to prepare the optical hardware for manufacturing.

Canon Japan is accepting applications for early access to an upcoming mixed reality device called the MREAL S1. This new device is a compact passthrough camera that allows you to see mixed reality content.

Canon has not released many details about the new MREAL headset, but the images tell us a little bit about the device. The MREAL S1 features two sets of stereoscopic cameras on the front. One pair for the passthrough image, the other pair is for depth tracking.

Canon said the MREAL S1 would be available in two form factors. You can attach it to a head strap for a full head-mounted display experience, or you can use it as a handheld viewer, which is more convenient for short demonstrations.

A research team comprised of members from Virginia Tech, University of Florida, and HaptX recently received a $1.5 million grant from the National Science Foundation's National Robotics Initiative to fund the development of a full-body haptic feedback suit for use in VR and robotics applications.

The project, dubbed ForceBot, will use HaptX's microfluid touch feedback system, which HaptX developed for its HaptX Gloves product. The microfluid touch technology enables HaptX to create highly detailed haptic simulations that simulate the shape, weight, and texture of virtual objects. ForceBot will use that technology to simulate both active and passive constraints on the wearer.

"ForceBot will advance knowledge at the convergence of virtual reality, robotic control, sensory feedback, ergonomics, and human factor fields," said Dr. Alexander Leonessa, Principal Investigator, Virginia Tech. "We're excited to create a system that increases immersion for VR users in applications requiring intensive body motions like sports and industrial skills training, gaming, emergency response, and many others."

DeadEyeVR'S "Ultimate Boxing Gloves" might be the perfect accessory for VR boxing fans. These gloves work with Oculus Touch controllers to deepen the immersion in your favourite boxing games.

DeadEyeVR said it created the Ultimate Boxing Gloves because they weren't satisfied with the standard VR boxing experience. These gloves are supposed to enhance the simulation to make it feel more realistic.

The gloves' creator wanted them to be as realistic as possible, so they used authentic boxing gloves as the foundation. To hold the Oculus Touch controller, DeadEyeVR created a cup that straps to the palm of the gloves, which holds the controller in place while you're gaming. The gloves are thumbless so that you can use the buttons on the controllers.

Gravity Lab appears to be the first Quest game to get a Quest 2-specific update. The game developer pushed a graphics update for the game over the weekend, and the difference is impressive.

Gravity Lab is a 6DoF physics-based puzzle game for virtual reality. The title has been available for some time on PC VR, and it recently debuted on the Oculus Quest platform. In porting the game to Quest, the developer had to reduce the graphics fidelity of the game. Things like multiple light sources and reflective surfaces had to be removed to meet the performance needs.

Quest 2 is much more potent than the original Quest, allowing developers to push their titles even further than before. Mark Schramm, the creator of Gravity Lab, is lucky enough to have a Quest 2 ahead of launch, allowing him to prepare an update for his game before the hardware ships to consumer next month.

HP today revealed the Reverb G2 Omnicept Edition, a virtual reality headset for businesses that captures biometric data for various uses. The Omnicept headset can track your pupil movement, mouth movement, and your heart rate.

The HP Reverb G2 Omnicept Edition is based on the upcoming Reverb G2 VR headset and shares most of the core features, including the display resolution, speakers, and general form factor. The Omnicept Edition has a few upgrades that the basic model doesn't offer, including a wipeable PU leather cushion and a ratcheting adjustment system for the head strap.

The Omnicept Edtion includes eye-tracking sensors from Tobii, which enable gaze-based interactions. The headset is also compatible with NVIDIA's foveated rendering technology, improving rendering performance while enhancing localized image fidelity with supersampling.

Pimax recently revealed that it's building a virtual environment called Pimax VR Experience that would allow you to control headset settings and launch VR content without taking the headset off. The software just entered public beta, and if you have a Pimax 5K or 8K headset, you can try it today.

The Pimax VR Experience is a virtual environment that allows you to control the PiTool headset driver settings and launch content from any VR platform from within VR. The software is reminiscent of the SteamVR when you disable the SteamVR home environment.

Pimax VR Experience gives you instant access to many of the headset's settings, such as FOV adjustment, refresh rate, resolution supersampling, and display brightness. It also gives you access to your entire VR content library. Pimax VR Experience taps into SteamVR, Oculus, VivePort and ReVive libraries to bring all your content into one easy-to-access location.

The latest version of Microsoft's Insider Preview for HoloLens enables a feature that makes sharing HoloLens 2 much simpler. The headset can now calibrate your eye position automatically and in the background.

HoloLens 2 produces impressive holographic images that allow you to compute in 3D space, but the magic only works when you calibrate the headset for your specific eye position. The existing method for calibration requires going through a manual process that takes many steps and a few minutes. It's not exactly easy to share the headset with other users.

The latest Insider Preview for HoloLens adds a new feature for HoloLens 2 called Auto Eye Position (AEP), which eliminates the friction that comes with sharing a HoloLens 2 headset. With AEP enabled, users no longer go through a manual calibration process. When you put the headset on and begin to use it, AEP works in the background to automatically align the holographic output with your eye position.

Pimax VR this week released more details about its long-awaited Sword motion controllers, including pictures of the most recent pre-production sample. The company said that it is entering the "final development stage," and the team is working 7-days a week to complete the project.

The wait for the Pimax Sword controllers has been long. Pimax promised these controllers to Kickstarter backers three years ago, but the company put their development on the back burner while it focused on building its ultrawide VR headset lineup.

In the latest update about the Sword controllers, Pimax sheds light on a few of the controllers' technical details. Each Pimax Sword controller will include a status indicator light strip along the front edge. The Sword controllers have a sensor halo that resembles a fencing sword's hilt, hence the name for the controllers. Pimax said the controllers offer full 360-degree tracking coverage with no dead coverage angles thanks to 26 embedded tracking sensors.