The XR Week Peek (2020.03.30): Half-Life: Alyx breaks every VR record, HP teases Reverb G2, and more!
The past week has been the week of Half-Life: Alyx, but something else has also happened in the XR world! If you were too focused on smashing headcrabs to read VR news, don’t worry, because the Ghost has got you covered!
PS Down in this post, I also describe a virtual festival initiative that we’ve built with VRrOOm and that starts today, so that to help you spend your time during this quarantine! You can find it in the “News from partners and friends” section! Join us on VRChat and have fun 🙂
Top news of the week
Half-Life: Alyx has launched, breaking every VR record
So, in the end, Half-Life: Alyx has launched on Steam. And it has been a huge success:
- The game has obtained fantastic reviews. The game is not perfect, not even creates a new genre in any way, but it has a so high quality that it is impossible not to give it a 10. It is one of the games with the highest review scores on Steam and Metacritic;
- Valve has already released two patches to fix some common complaints on the game;
- The game has had an impressive number of downloads (the estimated number is around 200–500,000), concurrent users (more than 40,000), and viewers on Twitch (300,000+). All the previous records concerning VR games have been destroyed completely. The high number of Twitch viewers show that many people were curious about the game, but didn’t have a VR headset to enjoy it. Notice that users’ numbers are high, but do not compete with the ones of most popular non-VR games;
- Users are having fun trying different things in the game, like having a math lesson using the markers in the first scene, dancing with headcrabs, playing songs with the piano, and putting on the head whatever object they can;
- There are already online the first cheat-codes;
- The game shows the functionalities of the new proprietary Source 2 game engine and Rubikon physics engine. You can already use Valve’s tools to create custom maps for the game. No complete SDK is in sight, tough. That’s a pity because the community could have created great things with it;
- The web is full of interesting interviews with Valve that detail many features of the game. One of the most detailed of them clarifies that Valve is not working on other VR games. Valve says that it was waiting to see the reception of Alyx before developing other games. I don’t believe them at all: Alyx required 4 years of development. Waiting until now would mean that next VR game by Valve would come out in 2024–2025… do you really think they don’t want to make the ecosystem to grow now? Also how the story ends makes us think of future Half-Life titles….
Here below I link you a ton of links regarding to Alyx… read only the ones you may be interested into… or all of them, as I did 🙂
More info (Review by me)
More info (Review by Road To VR)
More info (Review by UploadVR)
More info (First patch released)
More info (Some details on HLA’s game engine and physics engine)
More info (HLA is the best rated SteamVR game of all times)
More info (HLA breaking the record of concurrent users for a VR game)
More info (HLA had 300K viewers on Twitch)
More info (HLA probably already having 500K users)
More info (HLA probably having 200K users after the first day)
More info (Mega-interview of Valve with Upload VR)
More info (Valve explains the game design behind Jeff, the best enemy of the game)
More info (Valve explains why it didn’t give crowbar to users)
More info (Half-Life: Alyx ending explained)
More info (Tips and tricks to Play Half-Life: Alyx)
More info (Someone having a math lesson in Half-Life: Alyx)
More info (Someone dancing with a headcrab)
More info (Someone playing music on Half-Life: Alyx’s piano)
More info (Someone putting whatever object on his head in Alyx)
More info (New Valve logo is terrifying in VR)
More info (How to make custom maps for Alyx)
More info (Cheat codes for Half-Life: Alyx)
Other relevant news
HP announces the Reverb G2
The same day of the launch of Half-Life: Alyx, Hewlett-Packard has announced its new virtual reality headset, the Reverb G2, made in collaboration with Microsoft and Valve.
The news is not a big surprise: if you follow me since a while, you surely remember that I already teased you that weeks ago. What is surprising is that Valve is part of the partnership, and in what sense. Looking at the only picture shared by the company, it seems that the G2 features off-the-ear speakers like the ones of the Valve Index, so it seems reasonable that HP is using some of the expertise by Valve to design the audio and maybe also the optics of the headset. The motto of the new Reverb is “No compromises”, so it seems that HP wants this new device to be of amazing quality.
We have no much info, and even asking some HP employees, I got not even a single detail on it. We can speculate that this will be an enterprise headset costing at least $600, evolving the Reverb fixing the problem with controllers and improving the audio. The old Reverb was already a great headset, with a 2K per eye resolution that was above all the other headsets on the market (with the exception of Pimax, of course). Valve could provide some audio-visual improvements, while Microsoft its WMR platform, with inside-out tracking of controllers. IMHO controllers will be the most important features to look at: if they will be like the ones of the previous Reverb, this headset will be flawed. If Microsoft will improve the WMR ecosystem with at least 4 tracking cameras, this can be an headset to look at with much attention.
GTC digital is online, NVIDIA shows cheap eye tracking
Because of the damn coronavirus, there has been no GTC. But NVIDIA has not given up, and has recorded the videos of all the expected speeches and put them online. Furthermore, some of the workshops will be held remotely in livestreaming at predefined times. There is a lot of material that you can look at, and if 3D graphics is your daily job, I advise you to give it a look.
One of the most interesting researches shared by NVIDIA these days shows that the Graphics Cards company has been able to create a prototype eye-tracker using only some LEDs inside the headset. The LEDs have the property that they can both emit and sense light, and so by turning them on and off, it is possible that they perceive the light variations around the eyes and so detect the eyes’ look-at direction. This is intriguing because a system made by only LEDs is very very cheap, and could help the widespread of eye tracking in XR headsets. The bad news is that it is only a prototype and it has not the same grade of accuracy of the current systems, like the ones developed by 7Invensun.
(thanks Alessio for the tip!)
More info (GTC going digital)
More info (NVIDIA develops cheap eye-tracking)
Apple ARKit 3.5 adds support for LiDAR features
It is no mystery that Apple is currently the best mobile augmented reality company, and the latest update to ARKit confirms this. ARKit 3.5 adds support for the astonishing features offered by the LiDAR sensor of the iPad Pro, paving the way for all future Apple devices that will be equipped with back depth sensors.
If you have a new iPad Pro, you can use the new ARKit library to scan completely your environment, with the system reconstructing the mesh of your surroundings and detecting some objects like chairs, tables, walls, windows and floor. Imagine mixing it with CoreML and obtain some magical applications.
Regarding pure AR, the system has now “Instant AR”, that is the ability to trigger immediately the augmented reality elements without having you to scan your floor looking for features, and much-improved body tracking.
Thanks to the control of software and hardware, Apple is far ahead of all the Android systems for what concerns AR, something that many experts (like Robert Scoble) already forecasted years ago. I really can’t wait to see the Apple AR glasses…
More info (ARKit 3.5 update)
More info (Impressive video of new AR features)
News worth a mention
iOS 14 build leaks Vive Focus-like controllers used for internal tests
Looking at the build of the upcoming iOS 14, it seems that Apple is experimenting with controllers similar to the one of the Vive Focus (the original one) while developing its AR/VR visor. I’ve looked at the photo, and the controller effectively looks like the one of the Vive Focus, but with a button less. It was already rumored that Apple was using HTC devices for internal tests, and given that the HTC Vive is the only headset compatible with Mac, we all wonder if there is some kind of collaboration going on between the two companies.
The leak also shows that Apple is developing a little AR bowling game that people could play while waiting at crosswalks while the traffic light is red. The game would already work in a street close to Apple’s HQ.
I’m really curious about what is happening at Cupertino…
Linden Labs sells Sansar
After many months of suffering, finally, Sansar has changed the owner. Since the project had never taken off, Linden Labs has decided to sell it and focus only on the profitable Second Life. The acquirer is the unknown startup Wookey Project, that will continue developing the platform to hold virtual events and performances.
Oculus Quest is available again in some countries
In some countries (not US), Oculus Quest and Rift S have got back in stock. If you’re interested in these devices, have a look at Amazon and Oculus websites.
HoloSwitch lets you use your phone while you are in VR
Do you want to use your phone while you are playing SteamVR games? Are you afraid of missing the messages of your girlfriend/boyfriend during a long session of Alyx? HoloSwitch is there to help you, showing you a widget in VR with which you can interact with your phone from within virtual reality.
Oculus rolls out runtime v15 for Quest
Oculus is rolling out its runtime v15 for Oculus Quest, introducing important updates like a new Home UI and a shortcut to activate/deactivate the passthrough by just pressing twice the menu button on your controllers. Very handy. The update also fixes many bugs with Oculus Link.
Check in this guide of mine how you can update your Quest.
Oculus Quest PIN security is a joke
Oculus Quest features a security PIN to avoid unauthorized people to buy apps without your consent. It seems that the feature is secure as a condom with a hole, since whatever number you write, it gets accepted as the correct PIN.
This is a major bug, that cast some shadows on the security of the whole device.
Aardvark lets you have AR widgets in VR
Valve’s developer Joe Ludwig has just released on GitHub Aardvark, an opensource system that lets you develop HTML widgets that shows themselves in AR on top of VR applications. I think it is a very powerful system, especially because all the widgets can be developed using web developing programming languages.
Do you want to have a VR dinner?
In this post, you can find lots of examples of restaurants and installations that let you have special dinners that mix food with AR and VR. They are very expensive (some cost even $2000!), but also very intriguing.
Manus Polygon gives you full body tracking in VR
Manus, the company behind one of the enterprise VR gloves on the market, has just developed a system to give you reliable full body tracking by just employing 4–5 Vive Trackers. We have not many details, but it looks like a system for enterprise customers as well.
Some info about content
My thoughts and prayers for whatever studio has made game announcements this week, during the hype for Alyx. Anyway:
- Virus Popper is a cute game that teaches you how to wash your hands and stay safe during this coronavirus pandemic in a funny way;
- Paper Beasts launches on PSVR and gets reviewed by Upload VR;
- Down The Rabbit Hole launches and gets reviewed by Upload VR.
- 1-vs-1 fighting game Ironlights launches April, 9th for 20$;
- Google Tilt Brush has launched on PSVR;
- Resolution Games launches Glimt, a new game for the Magic Leap 1;
More info (Virus Popper)
More info (Paper Beast launch date)
More info (Paper Beast review)
More info (Down the Rabbit Hole review)
More info (Ironlights)
More info (Tilt Brush on PSVR)
More info (Glimt)
News from partners (and friends)
Community member Bob Fine is organizing a free webinar to let everyone discover virtual reality tools to hold meetings and remote collaboration in this period of coronavirus, when there is a lot of need of this kind of information. This is a very nascent space, and the platforms out there all have pros and cons, and headset compatible caveats, so he wants to educate as large an audience as possible, about as many options as possible, as quickly as possible.
The event is to take place on Thursday, April 2nd, starting at 11:00am EST.
I am very happy to announce that today, VRrOOm together with MID Studio, Stereopsia and us of New Technology Walkers is going to launch the “Break Down These Walls” festival, an initiative to let people meet in VR, watch high-quality 360 videos from the most important artistic festivals, have fun with parties, or just chill down and relax. Some days, you’ll also be able to meet the creator of the movie showcased there and discuss with him/her about storytelling in VR.
This virtual festival has been thought to let people have some fun while in lockdown for the coronavirus. The system is based on VRChat and we have to thank a lot VRChat Inc for the support they’re giving us to put it online.
We’ve worked hard in the past weeks for this moment (I got a bit mad for the development hurdles), and we hope that you will enjoy all your time there. You can look for the world “VRrOOm art, films and fest” from tomorrow Monday, 30th afternoon on VRChat and enjoy this intriguing virtual festival! See you there!
Some XR fun
This is how 10 days of quarantine look like in VR
Pandemic life
A great experience to show you how to apply social distancing
Best VR dad ever gives some VR fun to his daughter.
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