Extended Reality (XR) - Page 44

As expected, Oculus today announced the price and shipping date of its motion controllers for the Oculus Rift. Oculus Touch will be available on December 6th and will cost $199, with pre-orders starting on October 10th.

With the Oculus Rift priced at $599 and the Oculus Touch $199, the combined price of the Oculus experience comes to $798, a dollar less than the HTC Vive. PlayStation launches its VR device next week, which will be cheaper - $400, but the Move controllers and camera aren't included in the price. That brings the price of PSVR somewhere closer to $500.

The Oculus Touch comes with two sensors, and a third one will also be available for $79, which puts the price of the total package at $877 to deliver a roomscale VR experience. That means for Oculus to be comparable with HTC Vive in terms of capability it will cost you $77 more than HTC Vive.

Oculus kicks off its annual Oculus Connect developer conference tomorrow, but Facebook boss Mark Zuckerberg has come out teasing that the VR company will have "something new" to show off.

Zuckerberg posted a picture of himself using the Oculus Rift and the still unreleased Oculus Touch controllers, where he said: "Getting ready to demo something new we've been building in virtual reality. Tune in tomorrow at 10am pacific time to hear about the future of VR at Oculus Connect".

I've personally heard that Oculus Connect 3 will be of interest to watch from industry sources of my own, so I'll be tuning into the event to see what Oculus has tucked up its sleeve.

Sony is set to launch its new PlayStation VR headset in just 10 days time, while its faster and more capable PS4 Pro goes on sale in around a month from now. Before that, we're finding more details out on the upcoming PSVR headset, and it kinda sucks.

The upcoming PS4 Pro will be capable of HDR, which is a big deal for Sony's refreshed console, but if you've got your PSVR headset plugged into your console, you'll need to unplug it for your HDR-capable TV to work. This is because the PSVR headset hooks up to the PS4 through an external box called the Processor Unit, which acts as an HDMI splitter. This allows the PS4 to output images to a second screen, like your TV - and it also handles the audio processing for 3D sound.

This means the PSVR headset is hooked up to the PS4 through USB, connecting to the Processor Unit with a hybrid HDMI and auxiliary cable, and then that box connects to the PS4 and TV with separate HDMI cables. Blurgh. The big issue here is that Sony has confirmed the Processor Box's passthrough functionality does not support HDR, at all. If you want to play HDR content from your new PS4 Pro console, you'll need to unplug the Processor Unit, and thus your PSVR headset, completely.

Resident Evil VII isn't actually fully exclusive on Sony's PlayStation VR: Capcom's deal with Sony is timed exclusive, so the horror game could come to other VR headsets in the future. But there's one catch: we'll have to wait a full year.

Capcom's new Resident Evil VII is touted as the first "full VR experience" on Sony's new PlayStation VR, meaning you'll be able to play the entire base game in VR. Normally VR games are "smaller, passive experiences" that focus on quality versus game time, and PSVR's games are no exception (Batman Arkham VR only lasts 2.5 hours on PSVR) . So a full-scaled VR game is a great selling point for the PSVR, regardless how sick it'll make you.

But it looks like Resident Evil VII's exclusivity lease is up in 2018, and it could jump to other VR headsets like the Oculus Rift and Vive at that time. The key word here is could, and it all depends on whether Capcom thinks there's a market for it or not.

We've heard from Raja Koduri, the boss of Radeon Technologies Group tease 16K per eye in VR headsets, but now Samsung is getting close to making it a reality with teasing 10K mobile displays.

Samsung President & Chief Strategy Officer, Young Sohn, talked about smartphone-focused VR headsets and standalone VR solutions. Samsung's decision to market, and ship a dedicated all-in-one VR headset would require a VR market that changes in the next few months, and throughout 2017. Sohn said: "Is [virtual reality] hype or mainstream? I don't have a good answer for you today".

Sohn talked about the battery efficiency, latency needs and display technology areas of where Samsung needs to improve, for future VR products. He said that next-gen VR headsets need pixel densities that are "at least two times" that of the current-gen displays on the market. Sohn said that VR would be a massive driving force for the company to "move faster" in making next-gen displays, but he added that making a 10K mobile display would require a hefty investment of $5-$10 billion.

Huawei has been flirting with virtual reality for quite some time, which isn't surprising since their goal is to be the 2nd biggest phone manufacturer in the world (they are 3rd at the moment) and they need to keep up with the competition. Samsung has its Gear VR, everyone's expecting Apple's step in the VR or AR direction, especially after announcing the iPhone 7 Plus with a dual camera, and even smaller companies like Alcatel are offering VR devices with their phones.

Last year I was at Huawei's headquarters in China where I talked to Kevin Ho, ‎President of Huawei's Handset Business Unit, and speaking about Huawei's future plans he did mention virtual reality as one of many possible goals in the company's future. He said that Huawei's long-term plan is to invest in smart homes, artificial intelligence, wearables, virtual reality and even self-driving cars.

Not even a year later, in April this year, Huawei announced their VR device simply named - Huawei VR. The Chinese giant launched it while unveiling P9 and P9 Plus smartphones in Shanghai. The device should go on sale later this year, presumably only in China cause there was no mention of Huawei VR on P9's global launch in London.

A name you might not know is Mark Bolas, but Microsoft has scooped him up and dropped him into the position of Partner Director of Program Management within Microsoft Research.

Bolas used to run the Mixed Reality Lab inside of USC's Institute for Creative Technologies, where he hired Oculus founder Palmer Luckey years before he took to Kickstarter with the Oculus Rift. Todd Richmond, Director Mixed Reality Lab/Studio and Advanced Prototypes at ICT said in an email to Upload VR: "While I don't speak for all of USC, I can say without hesitation that Mark is a brilliant researcher and was a valued colleague and dear friend. I'd welcome him back to ICT in a heartbeat".

Microsoft hasn't said what Bolas will be doing exactly, but Upload VR does provide some mouthwatering data points on Bolas:

VR gaming PCs are going to come in all shapes and sizes eventually, but a Munich-based company is already stepping up, showing off a VR suitcase which packs an HTC Vive headset, and a gaming PC to run it.

The suitcase has everything you'll need for an unpack-and-deploy VR gaming experience, including a gaming laptop and batteries, getting the VR set up in less than five minutes. The Innoactive VR suircase packs a VR-ready notebook powered by NVIDIA's new GeForce GTX 1060, a carbon fiber docking station with an integrated pre-wired Vive link box, rechargeable battery and power adapters, the HTC Vive headset, controllers, and carbon fiber monopods for the base stations with integrated rechargeable battery packs for up to 8 hours of wireless operation.

As you can see, Innoactive has thought of everything. The VR-ready gaming PC is MSI's GT72R, powered by an Intel Core i7 processor, 16GB of RAM, 256GB SSD, 1TB HDD, and the GeForce GTX 1060. It's not cheap, with each VR suitcase costing around $9400, plus applicable taxes and shipping.

Just as I've predicted, Oculus have seemingly priced their Touch controller at over $200 - with leaks coming from UK game retailer GAME. The store has the unreleased Touch controllers for the Rift priced at £189.99, requiring a £50 deposit.

£189.99 converts to $246, so we should expect around $249 for the Oculus Touch controllers in the US, and around $4199 in Australia. GAME have teased a "winter release" for Touch, something they were told by an in-store Oculus representative. With that out of the way, let's discuss why this pricing is utterly ridiculous, and dangerous for Oculus.

HTC has priced its much better, room scale VR capable Vive headset at $799 - which includes the Vive headset itself, and the two sensors and controllers. It's a complete package, instead of shipping the Oculus Rift in an Early Access-style way, throwing the Touch controllers out into the market nearly a year after the Rift CV1 was released, and now with a purported price of $250? Come on, Oculus.

We're beginning to hear more and more on the successor to the HTC Vive, with Valve now recommending a new chip for future SteamVR-based headsets and accessories. The new chip will deliver improved performance and huge power consumption reductions compared to the first-gen solution, and it should also be cheaper, too.

The chip in question is the TS3633 integrated circuit from Triad Semiconductor, a US-based company that specializes in custom analog and mixed signal integrated circuits. Valve worked with Triad on the architecture of the chip itself, with Road to VR reporting that the chip "sits next to the photodiode as an interpreter of the raw signals from the Lighthouse basestations".

The original HTC Vive uses a discrete circuit sensor that has 41 individual components, while the new TS3633 has only 9 components, resulting in a simplified manufacturing process. Triad's VP of Marketing & Sales, Reid Wender, explained that the new chip is cost-optimized for high volume manufacturing. For the full system consisting of the VR headset and controllers, there are around 80 sensors, with the chip reducing component placements by 2560 over the 41 component per-sensor design of the current Vive.

Alienware is invested in the future of VR, with the company recently launching their new Alienware 15 and 17 laptops, with the option of AMD's Radeon RX 480 graphics card.

Well, Global Marketing Director Joe Olmsted thinks the portable nature of gaming notebooks will be a huge beacon of hope for VR, which he thinks will become the new Nintendo Wii, where people will bring their consoles with them to parties, and more.

Olmsted said: "I don't know if you remember but ten years ago it was hard to get a Wii, and yet everyone wanted one, everyone wanted to play it, everyone wanted to do tennis and bowling. So we had one, we just lugged it around in a bag and went from place to place to place, you know, be wherever our buddies were at on a Friday night. With VR, I can see that happening; I certainly do it myself".

Raw Data is one of the best VR games so far, with developer Survios making over $1 million in sales during the first day of its release, making Raw Data the first consumer VR game to reach $1 million sales in a month.

Survios has said that at least 20% of all HTC Vive owners have purchased the game, a number that includes myself and many of my HTC Vive owning friends, with Raw Data costing $40 on the Steam store. Raw Data became the first-ever VR game to reach the #1 spot on Steam, a massive achievement for Survios.

Nathan Burba, CEO of Survios, told Fast Company: "We saw a need in the market for a AAA title. It's more expensive than anything for the Vive, and more people wanted that... By putting more money in [and] having a higher price point, we're signaling to users that this is a AAA title". Burba is right in that people who can afford the $799 price for the HTC Vive, and a PC good enough to run it at high detail, will buy AAA games like Raw Data and expect next level gaming.

Logitech has announced that it has acquired Saitek for $13 million, taking the company away from competing peripheral maker MadCatz.

Logitech G gaming brand boss Ujesh Desai said that the acquisition of Saitek allows the company to build peripherals that Saitek are known for, including joysticks and customized wheels for racing games and sims. But it was the tease of VR peripherals that is the bigger news in a way here.

Desai said that Logitech G could jump into the VR market with input devices, and with Saitek concentrating more on game-specific peripherals like Star Citizen with themed controllers, Logitech G now owns Saitek and could do this in a much bigger way in the VR market. Saitek will also enjoy the success Logitech has built over the years, solidifying itself with more support and money to continue development on even better products under Logitech G.

IMAX Entertainment boss Greg Foster has revealed some details on the next leap in storytelling, with the company teasing they are working on IMAX VR theaters.

Foster teased details on the future of IMAX:

SlashFilm reports that the first six of these new IMAX VR theaters will open later this year, with some big movies opening in IMAX that could be used in the new IMAX VR experiences, these include:

MSI has been teasing its VR backpack for a while now, showing off the awesome concept at Computex in June. The company has now revealed the final product, known as the VR One.

MSI's interesting VR One is a backpack gaming PC that weighs just under 8 pounds (3.6 kg) with batteries installed, and is powered by an overclocked CPU and NVIDIA's new GeForce GTX 10 series graphics card. MSI adds that the VR One features an HDMI port, mini DisplayPort, Thunderbolt 3/USB Type-C and 4 x USB 3.0 ports.

There are 2 x 90mm fans and 9 heat pipes that will keep the backpack cool, with just 41dB of noise. VR One also includes dual hot-swappable batteries that will provide just over an hour of intense VR gaming. MSI hasn't provided too much more information on VR One, so we don't know what price we're looking at for the gaming backpack PC, but it's reportedly already in mass production, with units available next month.

If you've seen a movie in the 70mm format at IMAX, with movies like Interstellar looking absolutely incredible, then you'll be excited to hear that IMAX is preparing some of its theaters for virtual reality.

IMAX will be using Acer's new StarVR headset in their LA-based IMAX VR Center, with the first shipment of Acer's new StarVR headsets to be rolled out in a larger phase as more stock is released to the company. Acer will his mass production of StarVR headsets in 2017, with IMAX receiving the first batch in the coming weeks.

StarVR features a resolution of 5120x1440, or 2560x1440 per eye and mixed with the huge 210-degree field of view, we are talking about a Oculus Rift and HTC Vive killer here. The Rift and Vive run a native resolution of 2160x1200 (1080x1200 per eye), and a massive increase over the 110-degree FOV, with StarVR rocking a 210-degree field of view.

When the world of VR was first being teased, I knew it would be like opening up Pandora's Box, but I didn't think we'd see VR girlfriend services this quickly... did you?

AliceX is a new service that wants to offer people companionshipo through the form of their "virtual girlfriend experience", with real models and actors standing in for your "girlfriend", either on your PC or smartphone. Engadget explains that AliceX is a "mixture of customized porn and cam sites, except it seems as though it'd be a whole lot more intimate than simply watching from afar as you would with regular pay-to-view porn operations. Of course, the women are available for straight up companionship as well most likely, even if the official implication of the VR service is for fulfilling sexual fantasies".

The screenshots that the AliceX PR team sent out show low-quality 3D backgrounds, but the mix of real-time, accessible porn and the Matrix-like world of having a girlfriend, there will be some seriously interesting stories from this service.

IFA - At IFA 2016 Qualcomm made two major announcements around their wearables efforts.

The first announcement was a partnership with Fossil where the company will be powering two of Fossil's latest smartwatches. The two watches, the Q Marshall and Q Wander are both updated versions of Fossil's original smartwatch design with more refined technology. That technology includes an upgrade to Qualcomm's Snapdragon Wear 2100 processor which has increased power efficiency and reduced size.

In addition to the two beautiful watches from renowned watch maker Fossil, Qualcomm also announced their VR820 reference design for VR headsets. The VR820 itself is a VR headset, but is intended to be a reference design for OEMs like LG, Samsung and Sony to build upon. Ultimately Qualcomm's goal is to sell more Snapdragon 820 SoCs and the more mobile manufacturers use the VR820 they more the Snapdragon 820 sells.

With the world not that interested in the advancement in the hardware and physical side of the new iPhone, after rumors and reports that it won't be all that different from the current iPhone 6S, there isn't much to drive the hype of the new iPhone to a new level... until now.

Today, Apple was awarded with a patent for what will eventually be a wireless VR headset for the iPhone, with a patent for a "Head-Mounted Display Apparatus For Retaining A Portable Electronic Device With Display". You can read up on Apple's patent on the United States Patent and Trademark Office website.

If there's one thing that will boost your sales on an expensive product, it's monthly payments that make it more affordable for those who don't want to spend a large sum of money at once. UK retailer Game is offering the HTC Vive on monthly payments, requiring a 10% deposit and two years of some pretty affordable payments.

Once the 10% deposit of £75.90 ($100 USD or $131 AUD) is paid, there are 24 monthly payments of £32.79 ($43 USD or $57 AUD) - with a 14.9% fixed interest rate per annum. Not a bad deal, but it gets better when you consider Game is letting you trade in old games and consoles to pay off the HTC Vive faster. Monthly payments would make HTC Vive sales increase considerably, especially for those who have the money to spend on a fast enough PC to play it - now you can just pay a small amount per month and enjoy the best VR experience available, for now at least.