Virtual & Augmented Reality and 3D News - Page 6

The hype train for Apple's upcoming -- and hopefully game-changing -- AR glasses continues, with new rumors today teasing new renders of Apple's new AR glasses.

In the new renders by designer Ian Zelbo, Apple's mixed reality glasses give us our best look yet. They look premium AF, and have a very Apple AirPods Max headphones look and I'm digging that. Inside, Apple's new AR headset is expected to rock their in-house M-series processor -- which will be powerful enough for high-end gaming and media consumption.

Apple's new AR headset renders by Ian Zelbo were uploaded in the glorious 8K resolution, so we have a huge 7680 x 4320 in fresh new renders. If Apple's new AR headset ends up looking like this, and I really think it will, we're in for a helluva ride in 2022/2023+ with XR headsets (AR, VR, MR). We need a major force like Apple plinking into the market, especially if recent rumors that the Apple AR headset "could replace the iPhone in the next 10 years".

The human brain continues to keep the benchmark crown. Scientists have found that a colony of, 800,000 to one million, human brain cells stored in a petri dish can perform better at a simple video game than an AI counterpart can. These human brain cells that were cultured in a petri dish and assisted by microelectrodes have been able to to be "taught" how to play the video game, "Pong".

New Scientist has reported that researchers at Australian based Cortical Labs have been growing these "small puddles" of brain in petri dishes, and that they have now taught one such petri dish colony to play "Pong". It has been stated that typically it takes an AI around 90 minutes, but the "DishBrain" was able to be taught in an impressive five minutes. In the experiment, the colony sits on top of arrays of microelectrodes which provide stimulation by sending electrical signals to either the right or left array to indicate the location of the virtual ball.

The "DishBrain" responds by releasing impulses to move the paddle which allow the electrodes to analyze the activity and enable the simulation to respond. On the downside, the researchers have noted that a well written AI could still demolish the "DishBrain" colony, once properly trained. The researchers whom are cited by New Scientist, have referred that the colony is "living in the Matrix." This viewpoint is possible since that while the "DishBrain" plays the simplified, single-player version of 'Pong', the colony is actually tricked into believing they are the paddle that hits the ball in the game.

A new VR headset maker is making a big splash jumping into the market. A relatively unknown VR headset company called Arpara launched a Kickstarter today, and it was fully funded within 15 minutes. There seems to be a hunger for micro-OLED VR headsets.

There's a new VR headset maker in town, and it's not messing around. Arpara launched a Kickstarter campaign to help bring two new VR headsets to market: an all-in-one device and a tethered device. The unique part about these headsets is the screens that they use. Arpara equipped its hardware with 5K micro-OLED panels, allowing for a much smaller headset design.

The Arpara All-In-One and Arpara Tethered headsets offer similar specifications. Both devices feature the same screens and lenses, offering motion controller options. The Micro-OLED displays are just 1.03-inches each, which means they take up less space and weigh less than the displays you would typically find in a VR headset.

Meta released the Meta Avatars SDK 9.0 on December 10, and with the new release, all Unity developers can implement the new avatar system.

Meta's new Meta Avatars SDK fully overhauls the previous avatar system. This is the fourth iteration of the avatar system from Oculus/Meta. When the Rift first launched, avatars were monochrome silhouettes. When Oculus launched the Go, it added color to the avatar system. Then with the launch of the original Quest, we got slightly more realistic avatars that included mouth animations for better communication.

The new avatars have a more cartoony art style, but with support for body-tracking to bring more expression to your digital self. The Meta Avatar system uses a custom IK (inverse kinetics) algorithm to interpret hand and controller movement and a facial animation system driven by the sound of your voice. In addition to the cosmetic overhaul, the new Meta Avatar system gives you a persistent digital persona that represents you in all Meta content. The Meta Avatar system has been used for several months by select developers. PokerStars VR, GOLF+, Epic Roller Coasters, Synth Riders, and ForeVR Bowl have been part of a private beta since Aprilthat supported the new avatars. Now, any developer working with Unity can add support for Meta Avatars.

Keanu Reeves really, really doesn't want Facebook (or Meta now) to think it was the creator of the metaverse... The Matrix Resurrections star made some big comments about the metaverse, and Facebook (sorry, again... Meta) and their role in creating the future.

When asked about the metaverse by The Verge in their interview with The Matrix Resurrections stars Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss, Keanu said: "can we just not have metaverse be invented by Facebook".

He was asked by The Verge "you're not a fan?" to which Keanu replied: "No, but just the concept of metaverse is like way older than that. It's like a way older, and so for that moment to get to... I'm just like, 'Come on, man'".

Keanu Reeves is a major character in Cyberpunk 2077, which is all about the future: technology, implants, future vehicles and cars, VR, AR, and everything in between.

But does Keanu Reeves have a VR headset? Yep. Does he use it? Nope. In a recent interview between The Matrix Resurrections stars Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss, Reeves talked about VR headsets, VR for the world, and even VR porn. The part you need to watch begins at around 16:04 into the video.

The Verge asked if Keanu had a VR headset, to which Reeves said: "I do, and I don't. I know that any VR technology that I'm using is 5 years old and lame. I'm sorry, never used to be lame, it's probably now modernly lame, but there's so much kinda data collection tools that are in these experiences to help make the product better".

Keanu Reeves is famously in Cyberpunk 2077 and was asked during his recent sit down with The Verge if he played video games, to which he said no... he does own a VR headset, but doesn't use it, but is very interested in the world of VR porn.

The discussion got there as he was asked about the fact that online, gamers wanted to be able to have sex with Keanu Reeves' character in Cyberpunk 2077, but developer CD PROJEKT RED couldn't do that because it would be breaching Reeves' contract. You can watch the VR porn part of the video at the 16:50 mark.

But Keanu's thoughts on it were: "Oh my God, it's always nice when it's nice. Think of how much money is in porn, right? So you could not even have to be there, and people could have digital sex with your digital avatar. What's that, what's it called right now (probably referring to OnlyFans)? For a members-only you could do a whole thing".

Innersloth, the team behind the insanely popular Among Us, made a surprise announcement at the Game Awards. With the help of Robot Teddy and Schell Games, Among Us is being rebuilt into a virtual reality multiplayer experience.

"We are grateful to the community who continues to share our game with friends and family and support us," said Victoria Tran, Community Director at Innersloth. "Schell Games has a legacy of creating award-winning virtual reality titles, and we couldn't be more excited to create a brand new Among Us experience for our existing fans and new players. We can't wait for players to become crewmates in a first-person environment."

"This new 3D experience will place you and our suspicious spacebeans in the heart of the Skeld, with all of the core mechanics of teamwork and betrayal you know and love. The VR edition will continue to support the multiplayer experience too, of course! Now you can really have an emergency meeting together."

The latest release of the Oculus SDK includes experimental access to a new feature called Spatial Anchors, which allows the Quest to use points of reference in your room that persist between sessions. The new SDK also includes the Voice SDK API.

Earlier this week, Meta released the Oculus SDK 35.0, and with it comes two new features for developers to experiment with. The Voice SDK API allows developers to add voice controls to their games and apps. The Voice SDK includes support for automatic speech recognition, has 50 built-in intents, entities, and traits, and comes with a Unity plugin to facilitate integration.

The new Oculus SDK also includes an experimental version of the Spatial Anchors feature, which allows the Quest 2 to retain tracking orientation between sessions. With Spatial Anchoring enabled, the Quest 2 can identify environmental features as persistent marker points to maintain the tracking orientation even after rebooting the headset.

More than a year ago, a company called MegaDodo revealed an ambitious VR headset project called DecaGearthat would include multiple biometric sensors to make virtual reality experiences even more immersive. After several months of silent delays, the company recently revealed that it's making a pivot because of economic factors. A former employee of the company has suggested that things could be worse than MegaDodo's leadership is letting on.

In mid-November, MegaDodo's founder, Or Kurtzman, announced that his company would shift from becoming a hardware maker to a designer that licenses hardware. Development of the DecaGear headset continues, but the company is no longer planning to manufacture it themselves. Instead, MegaDodo would work with other companies who wish to license their technology. The company said it would fulfill existing pre-orders, but it won't launch the headset as initially planned.

On Wednesday, someone claiming to be a former employee at MegaDodo posted a damning message on a Discord server, subsequently shared on Twitter. The supposed employee said that multiple people have left the company due to internal changes and "exaggerated marketing." They went on to say that you should consider requesting a refund if you placed an order.