Extended Reality (XR) - Page 31

Augmented reality smart glasses aren't quite mainstream yet, but the companies that are building this market are finding new use cases for these devices all the time. Vuzix, one of the leading smart glass makers, recently showed the benefits of augmented reality for autocross drivers.

Augmented reality has a wide range of use cases, but I bet you never thought of wearing smart glasses while driving. Vuzix's Director of Product Design, Tyler Porter, likes to go to autocross events with his Camaro SS. He recently brought a set of Vuzix Blade smart glasses to an event, and the results were quite impressive.

Porter loaded his Vuzix Blade smart glasses with an Android app for Autocross drivers called Solostorm that tracks telemetric data such as acceleration, GPS data. It also allows you to compare the data from previous runs. With the software loaded into Porter's AR headset, he was able to see the information in real-time as a heads-up display.

We're just over two weeks away from Facebook Connect, where the company is expected to announce a successor, the Oculus Quest standalone VR system. Unfortunately for Facebook, Walmart may have spilled the beans on two primary details: The price and the storage capacity.

We don't yet know a lot about the upcoming Oculus headset. No details about the processor or the screen resolution have leaked that we know of, but if a listing that RoadtoVR caught on Walmart's website may reveal at least some of the specifications.

Walmart's listing has since been taking down, but there is an archive of what used to be there on web.archive.org which shows a 256GB version with a $399 price tag. Those details are incredible for two reasons: It's cheaper than the original Quest, and it includes double the capacity. The archive link doesn't show the other model, but RoadToVR claims that the original page also offered a $299 model with 64GB of storage.

HP may be preparing an as-yet-unannounced higher-end edition of the Reverb G2 VR headset. Aggiornamenti Lumia, an Italian tech news site specializing in Microsoft news, has uncovered details about a slightly different Reverb G2 headset, with what looks to be a face-tracking camera on the bottom.

Aggiornamenti Lumia didn't reveal many details about the headset, though they claim to know more than they've said. According to Aggiornamenti Lumia, the new headset is called the HP Reverb G2 Omnicept Edition, which is quite a curious name. Although they also found a trademark registration that seems to back up their story. At the very least, HP did register the wordmark Omnicept in recent months.

If this leak is real, the Reverb G2 Omnicept Edition includes at least two additional features that the standard Reverb G2 does not. The Omnicept Edition reportedly includes eye-tracking, which at this point isn't a revolutionary feature. What's more interesting is the camera system that appears to be attached to the headset's bottom, which is supposedly a face tracking system.

Pimax is currently working through its backlog of orders for its flagship VR headset, the Pimax 8K X. The company first took orders in late 2017 for this ultra-wide VR headset with dual 4K displays, and after making customers wait years, the company isn't taking any chances with poor quality control.

Pimax's latest community update explained that it is currently assembling and shipping between 50 and 70 8K X units every day, but those headsets are not going directly to customers. Instead, they are going to the Pimax headquarters in Shanghai for a second inspection before heading out to their final destinations. Pimax is a small company, and it has dealt with production issues in the past. Hopefully, these new precautions will help mitigate any future problems.

With the new procedure in place, the full process looks like this: After production, all headsets go through a quality inspection a performance test before leaving the factory. From there, they arrive at Pimax headquarters, where a Pimax employee will inspect the device for any problems that may slip through the first quality control check. Technicians will only sign off on hardware that meets Pimax's expectations.

Tilt 5 is making significant progress towards bringing its holographic tabletop gaming system to life. The company, which got its funding through a Kickstarting campaign last September, is a little bit behind schedule, but the project is well underway and nearing completion.

When Tilt 5 launched its crowdfunding campaign last year, no one could have predicted that the world would fall apart in the coming months. Still, Tilt 5 has done a remarkable job at keeping the ship's bow pointed in the right direction. In the most recent progress update, Tilt 5 indicated that it has begun shipping the beta kits that were meant to ship in July. The components for the backer unit are in production and soon heading to the manufacturer for final assembly.

The production for Tilt 5 is slightly behind schedule because the small group of beta testers uncovered an assembly problem that needed to be addressed. The Tilt 5 headsets feature two tiny projectors, which comprise 35 components, including lenses and mechanical parts, which must be glued to hold together. In some of the beta test units, the glue that holds the projector assembly failed. Tilt 5 said the problem is already being addressed, and the company is thankful that the beta testers discovered the problem before full-scale production began.

Facebook is gearing up for the first all-digital Facebook Connect (formerly Oculus Connect) conference on September 16, but it seems the company can't wait until mid-September to let people know what it has been up to for recently.

Today, Facebook Reality Labs revealed that it would soon be doing an invite-only early access beta test for its much-teased Facebook Horizons virtual social platform.

We first saw Facebook Horizon at OC6 last September. Since then, Facebook has been quietly testing the upcoming VR social platform with a select group and collecting names of people who wish to participate. Soon, Facebook will start pulling names out of its hat to join an invite-only beta of Horizon to iron out the wrinkles before releasing it to the masses.

Ultraleap today announced that it partnered with Qualcomm to make hand tracking a staple feature of the Snapdragon XR2 5G Reference design headset. The multi-year deal all but guarantees that future standalone VR and AR headsets will support intuitive hand tracked interactions.

Ultraleap's fifth-generation hand-tracking technology, dubbed Gemini, will come pre-integrated in Qualcomm's XR2 5G reference platform. Qualcomm's reference design is available to hardware manufacturers to help design standalone XR (VR and AR) devices, like Oculus's Quest headset.

"Qualcomm Technologies recognizes the importance of high-precision hand tracking in order to revolutionize interaction in XR. The compatibility of our technology with the Snapdragon XR2 5G Platform will make the process of designing hand tracking within a very wide variety of products as simple as pick and place," said Steve Cliffe, CEO of Ultraleap. "Qualcomm Technologies is in the position to bring transformation to XR by making state-of-the-art technologies - including 5G and spatial computing - available to a broad market. We are proud to be at the forefront of this fast-growing ecosystem alongside them."

Oculus VR is now part of the new Facebook Reality Labs division, company CEO Mark Zuckerberg today announced.

Facebook is about to be integrated into all Oculus headsets on a base level, but this new cross-ecosystem focus goes a lot deeper. The entire Oculus business is now part of the new Facebook Reality Labs division, which includes VR products, AR initiatives including hardware and software, and deep research into future technologies like neural interfaces.

"Today we're unifying all our teams working on these areas -- our Oculus products, augmented reality efforts, home devices, and long term research initiatives, including areas like neural interfaces -- into a group called Facebook Reality Labs. This better reflects the full scope of what we're hoping to build: giving people the power to feel connected anytime, anywhere,"Zuckerberg said.

When Oculus was bought by Facebook, many worried the social media platform would be forced onto HMD owners. Now it's finally happening.

Today Oculus managed to agitate most of its playerbase by confirming that Facebook accounts will be required to log in to use the HMDs. Oculus is merging its internal Oculus accounts with Facebook. All new Oculus owners will have to sign in with their Facebook accounts to set the hardware up, but existing owners won't be forced to use Facebook to sign in...yet.

Oculus says that current VR headset owners have 2 years before their Oculus accounts are no longer supported. On January 1, 2023, all Oculus account sign-ins will be discontinued and users will have to sign in with their Facebook accounts. Current owners have the option to merge their Oculus and Facebook accounts together to avoid any issues later down the road.

Oculus' new virtual reality headset is entering mass production, and Facebook plans to ship 50% more HMDs this fiscal year, sources tell Nikkei Asian Review.

Oculus is making big moves to further dominate the still-fledgling virtual reality market. Facebook is currently raising its production orders for new VR tech, and plans to make as many as 2 million headsets. A new HMD is set to enter manufacturing in late July, a source told the website. Oculus has yet to reveal official details of the headset, but it's fair to assume it should deliver inside-out tracking and may be a more powerful version of an all-in-one/PC-powered hybrid similar to the new Oculus Quest.

The move comes shortly after Facebook discontinued its mobile-powered Oculus Go headset to focus exclusively on the hybrid Quest and PC-powered Rift.

Magic Leap has been jumping through virtual sharks for years now with its mixed reality business, with its current CEO and co-founder Rony Abovitz being replaced by Peggy Johnson.

Johnson is a former Microsoft executive, and will now serve as Magic Leap's new CEO starting August 1. In her previous role at Microsoft, Johnson was the executive vice president of business development, as well as handling the venture capital fund M12.

Abovitz announced back in May that he was stepping down as CEO of Magic Leap, which prompted Johnson to reach out to him. Before she was at at Microsoft, Johnson was running the internet services division of Qualcomm.

The mid-tier Oculus Go headset is being phased out and discontinued, and the Rift and Quest are taking over.

Oculus recently confirmed its Go all-in-one VR headset is going the way of the dodo and soon will be extinct. The reality is the Oculus Go is obsolete, complete with middling specs and limited 3-degrees-of-freedom tracking.

"You've told us loud and clear that 6DOF feels like the future of VR. That's why we're going all-in, and we won't be shipping any more 3DOF VR products. We'll end sales of Oculus Go headsets this year as we double down on improving our offerings for Quest and Rift," the company said in the announcement post.

Magic Leap dropped half of its staff after it charted a "new course" in restructuring itself, surviving the COVID-19 pandemic and its many effects on the world. This is also not the first time Magic Leap has been in trouble.

In an official statement at the time, CEO Rony Abovitz said the restructuring would also see an increased focus on enterprise. This was barely a month ago, and now Rony Abovitz has stepped down as CEO of Magic Leap. It seems Rony Abovitz has removed himself from Magic Leap's reality.

Anyone that has been following Magic Leap's super mysterious journey as an augmented reality startup, as it has raised billions of dollars from some of the largest companies and investors in the world -- without a consumer product. The company pivoted towards enterprise, and that's not working either -- but maybe with a new injection of funding, things will change.

HP's new Reverb G2 is a next-gen iteration of its previous Reverb VR HMD, and sports features like dual 2160x2160 lenses and four built-in cameras.

Today HP announced the Reverb G2, a new PC-powered virtual reality headset that packs serious power in a lightweight design. The HMD was built in tandem with Microsoft for the Windows Mixed Reality platform, but Valve also helped design the lenses and ensured Steam VR operability.

The Reverb G2 starts at $599 and is a wired headset, so it's not standalone and requires a PC to operate. On paper the Reverb G2 is similar to the original Reverb VR headset. The G2 sports include dual 2160x2160 LCD panels to deliver 4320x2160p resolution for gaming, four built-in cameras with 6DoF inside-out tracking with an "infinite" tracking area, and a lightweight 1.1lbs HMD frame with adjustable velcro straps and face cushions. The HMD runs at 90Hz refresh rates and has a 114-degree field-of-view, just like the original headset.

Iron Man VR is shaping up to be a blast for PlayStation VR owners, with the PS VR exclusive now available to download in demo form from the PlayStation Store right now. First, check out the Iron Man VR gameplay video that was just released:

The video is very detailed on how the game works, how you fly and use your blasters, and how the developers created the game to not just let you fly around in some form of glorified tech demo -- but actually act like a hero. In this particular part of Iron Man VR dubbed the 'Out of the Blue' Stark Jet mission, your mission is to save Pepper Potts from a plane flying through the clouds.

Instead of just blasting bad guys out of the sky, you will fly up to the plane and have to repair panels, pull debris out of the way, and more. It is much more immersive than a traditional superhero game and that is all thanks to VR. The developers have done a great job there, and even the graphics don't look too bad for a game running on a PlayStation 4.

Oculus has been working on the Oculus Quest 2 for a while, and the project is reportedly code-named Del Mar. A new report has surfaced the claims the Oculus Quest 2 is still in the works, but it may not arrive this year as expected. According to the new report, the Facebook-owned company has delayed the Oculus Quest 2 until 2021 or later.

The report comes from industry experts cited by Bloomberg claiming that the Oculus Quest 2 was originally set to launch at the Oculus Connect conference expected late in September or early in October. The sources claim that shipping delays and logistical issues are likely to prevent that launch until 2021.

For now, all we have to go on are rumors of what the Del Mar VR headset will bring to market. Compared to the original Oculus Quest, the Del Mar device will reportedly bring more RAM, longer battery life, a faster processor, and ergonomic changes. Those ergonomic changes are expected to make the headset more comfortable to wear and include smaller size and reduced weight.

HP just confirmed its new higher-end PC-powered VR headset is in the works, but exact specs remain unknown.

With Half-Life: Alyx's release today, all eyes are on VR right now. It's the perfect opportunity to stealthily tease a new next-gen VR headset, and that's exactly what HP has done. The company is teasing a new next-gen VR headset that delivers 'no compromises' PC-driven virtual reality gaming. HP is making the headset in tandem with Valve and Microsoft to ensure optimum compatibility with Steam VR and Windows, bringing to mind a new level of the somewhat-abandaoned Windows Mixed Reality platform.

"The next generation HP Virtual Reality HMD-developed in collaboration with Valve and Microsoft-delivers an immersive, comfortable and compatible VR experience. It's the new standard in VR," reads the Steam page.

HTC has just announced that it is including a free copy of Valve's upcoming Half-Life: Alyx with each of its new flagship Vive Cosmos Elite VR headsets.

The new announcement is pretty hot, and totally out of the blue -- a free copy of what should be the flagship VR game to lead them all, now free with the newly-released Vive Cosmos Elite headset. Half-Life: Alyx itself launches on the PC exclusively on Steam and exclusively in VR on March 23.

If you need a Buyers Guide on the PC hardware and VR headsets recommended by TweakTown, then check out that article right here. For now, you'll need to splash down $899 for the HTC Vive Cosmos Elite VR headset to get that free copy of Half-Life: Alyx, which just sweetens that deal a little bit more against the flagship Valve Index headset.

Half-Life: Alyx is right around the corner with Valve releasing the VR-focused game set in the Half-Life universe, with its release on March 23 -- and its hype is driving Valve to sell out of its Valve Index VR headsets almost instantly. Valve also sold 103,000 of its flagship Valve Index VR headsets after it revealed Half-Life: Alyx.

Valve opened up a new wave of Index headsets on March 9, and within 30 minutes they were sold out. There were some customers who were locked out of their Index sales with issues on Valve's own website -- where they refreshed and lost their headset. I can't imagine the pain to their soul, as it would've crushed me, too.

The new wave of Valve Index headsets will be sent out in the next 8-10 weeks, while Index controllers will ship in 3-5 weeks. If you were looking at spoiling yourself and buying a Valve Index for Half-Life: Alyx on March 23, you'd be waiting until at least sometime in May before you're playing it on your Valve Index if you ordered your new VR headset today.

The most enthusiast VR headset on the market would have to be the Valve Index, created perfectly for Valve's own Half-Life: Alyx which is about to drop on March 23 -- but buying a Valve Index right now is near impossible.

Well, a Valve spokesperson has talked with Engadget to confirm that Valve will have more of its Index VR headsets on March 9 at 1PM eastern. The company expects "high demand" will see the Valve Index sold out virtually instantly, so if you miss this sale you could be waiting another couple of months before you get your hands (and eyes) into a Valve Index headset.

Half-Life: Alyx drops on March 23 so this is a just-in-time restocking of the Valve Index, which should be one of the best VR gaming experiences money can buy -- that is, if your money is quick enough to buy the Valve Index once it restocks on March 9.