Virtual & Augmented Reality News - Page 4

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 and may have eye-tracking sensors inside.

The details about the Reverb G2 Omnicept are non-existent, and we can't be sure it even exists yet as there seems to be no other trace of it mentioned anywhere. However, the images that Aggiornamenti Lumia unearthed are quite interesting. If we had to guess, we'd say the Omnicept is destined for HP's enterprise customers, not gamers.

HP previously announced the Reverb G2, which is expected to ship later this year.

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.

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.

Tilt 5 didn't say when it expects to ship the kits to its backers, but final assembly and testing will begin as soon as the company receives the revised optic assemblies.

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.

To get access to Facebook Horizon, you will need an Oculus Rift or Oculus Quest headset. The Horizon beta is also available only to the U.S. and Canada, which further expansion planned for a future date. To sign up for the Horizon invite-only beta, head on over the Horizon home page.

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.

The timing of Ultraleap's announcement is curious considering the rumours swirling about a new Oculus Quest headset. Facebook is currently gearing up for the Facebook Connect event (formerly Oculus Connect) on September 16, so we may see the first Ultraleap enabled headset very soon.

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.

Photo credit: BadVR

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.