The XR Week Peek (2020.10.26): DecaGear is an intriguing VR headset, HTC is working on a new device, and more!
Coronavirus is back in Italy and from yesterday we’re having new restrictions like a night curfew, some kind of shops closed, etc… I hope that you and the people you love are safe. These will be complicated weeks, and I hope that we’ll be able to go through them together.
Now let’s dig into the best XR news of the week… so we don’t always think about this damn virus!
Top news of the week
Deca announces the disruptive DecaGear VR headset
Singaporean startup Deca has just announced Decagear, a headset that has the potential of disrupting the PC VR market. Some of its features are:
- 2,160 × 2,160 resolution per eye
- 90Hz framerate
- 4-cameras inside-out tracking (like the Quest)
- Touch-like controllers with Knuckles-like finger-sensing
- Face tracking
- Hips tracking (for better orientation in games)
- Integration with SteamVR games
- Wireless add-on
All this marvel for the amazing price of $450 + eventually $50 for the wireless module. Preorders are open now with just a little deposit of $10, shipping in 2021. The shipping is free worldwide for whoever preorders.
I know that Christmas is near and I personally still believe in Santa Claus, but I think that this is a bit too good to be true. First of all, no one has ever heard about Deca before. The startup is pretty new, in fact, and its owner group is Megadodo, another unknown company that is working on an MMO game about which is difficult to find any information. The number of employees in Megadodo is pretty small (some people have tried researching through Linkedin and found a number below 20). All these data together make me a bit skeptical about the capabilities of this company: developing such kind of a high-quality headset requires a lot of expertise, while the company is very small and features no known expert in the field. Even just the execution of the shipping and the marketing of such a device worldwide requires more than 20 people probably, so I wonder how they are making this. The only explanation may be that they are outsourcing everything, from production to logistics, but this would be very weird, to say the least.
Small startups can’t compete with big companies, so usually, startups produce expensive headsets at a smaller scale to survive: see VRgineers or Varjo as an example. The price of $450 for such a great headset… better than the Reverb G2 but cheaper than it, is a bit suspicious for a new startup. And the price of the wireless add-on is even more suspicious: speaking with a hardware manufacturer, they told me that ONLY THE ANTENNAS of a Wi-Gig connection for VR streaming (like the one of the Vive Pro) costs around $100… so how can the whole wireless streaming device cost just $50?? And then the free shipping worldwide from Singapore is a bit too good to be true.
Various readers have reported me that Deca claims having collaborated with Valve. I’ve personally written to Valve and this has been the answer from its PR master Doug Lombardi:
While we did not work with DECA on the design, we did — as we always aim to — provide technical support on SteamVR integration, etc. We’re excited to try this headset when it becomes available.
Doug Lombardi, Valve
So at least the collaboration with Valve is true, but notice that it has not been on the headset, so they got no reference design from Valve, it has just been on the software integration. This means that the price can’t be so low for that, and also means that there’s no Valve’s endorsement on the quality of the device.
My impression is that in the best case, this Deca is the new Pimax, a company with great ambitions, a good spirit, but no idea on how to execute, and this will lead to delays, confusion in the logistics, higher prices than expected, etc… And this is just the best case.
My suggestion is to not preorder it and wait to see if this company can actually deliver. I hope they can ship such a headset for so little money. If it happens to be true, it can be amazing for the PC VR market. Good luck to Deca.
More info (DecaGear on Road To VR)
More info (A community member reporting the claim of the Valve collaboration)
More info (GamerToTheEnd being suspicious about this news)
More info (MegaDodo defending its reputation)
Other relevant news
A new FCC listing appears for an HTC Vive headset
While Oculus is getting all the glory for the Quest, its competitors are not sleeping. And in fact, a new request to FCC for a new device has arrived from HTC.
FCC certifications are requested before releasing an electronic device in the US (to certify that it is safe to be used), so this is a clear sign that HTC is going to release a new headset soon. Unluckily, since secrecy has been requested, we have no info about the device for which the certification has been requested.
But I can speculate. The HTC Vive Focus Plus was a very good standalone headset at launch, but now it has been superseded both by the Quest 1 and 2 and even by the Pico Neo 2 (standard or Eye). HTC must answer to this if it doesn’t want to lose completely the standalone market, so I bet that this device is a Vive Focus 2, powered by the XR2 chipset, maybe priced around $600. Since HTC has always made announcements during the CES, I think it will be announced in January. This speculation is also confirmed by a GeekBench entry that appeared some months ago about an XR2-powered Vive Focus.
I wish to see more competition on the standalone VR market, so I really hope that HTC can deliver something that at least for prosumers can compete with Quest, but without the annoying Facebook login.
At WCVRI, China shows its strategic interest for VR
With a lot of sadness, I’m here watching the photos and the videos of WCVRI, the big Chinese conference about VR that is held every year in Nanchang. My sadness is because I’m not there: last year I had a lot of fun, I’ve showcased with Max our game HitMotion: Reloaded, and I have eaten many 包子. This year, I’m just watching the conference from home 🙁
The conference has been interesting, and it has been the usual mix of technology and politics. Representatives of the JianXi province and also the vice prime minister Liu He have visited the venue, and the Chinese Government has confirmed its strong interest in VR, that is seen as a strategic technology. In its upcoming 5-year development plan, there should be measures to favor the growth and the spread of Immersive Realities. And while China always moves chaotically, I think that the push of the government is helping its VR companies. In fact, in the standalone VR market, if we exclude Oculus, all the other most known companies are Chinese or with a strong presence in China (HTC, Pico, Lenovo, Skyworth, DPVR, Huawei… not to mention that the Go was made together with Xiaomi… and that the North Star is coming to life in Shenzhen too). So this is a market we should all keep an eye on.
From this exhibition, we had some cool news as well.
Huawei has upgraded its sleek VR glasses and now they support 6DOF movement and 6DOF controllers that are very similar to the Oculus Touch. The controllers also snap together and become a stand for the headset. If you remember my review of the 3DOF version, these glasses have a very sleek form factor and an amazing resolution, but we have to evaluate if the tether to the phone may be a nuisance to its users. I tried asking Huawei for more info about its launch, but a contact of mine didn’t reveal to me the price, only that the initial launch will happen only in the Chinese market.
But Huawei is not only in the VR market: it is also releasing a new version of its AR smartglasses called Huawei EyeWear 2, made in collaboration with the fashion brand Gentle Monster. They are very fashionable and their battery lasts 5 hours, but the problem is that they offer only audio AR, so they are like AirPods with extra steps 😀
Shadow Creator together with PhotonLens has teased its HongHu glasses, which are very lightweight (like Nreal) and connected with a tether to a mini device that looks like a Nintendo Switch. This minicomputer has a bright display, two detachable 6dof controllers and it is powered by an impressive Snapdragon XR2 chipset, making it the first XR2 AR device. It is very interesting, and it is being released by a known brand like Shadow Creator. But we have no info on the price or release date, and we have also no reviews about it. As soon as I’ll know something about it from my Chinese friends, I’ll let you know.
More info (China’s push for VR)
More info (Huawei 6DOF VR glasses)
More info (Huawei smartglasses)
More info (Shadow Creator’s new glasses)
More info (Full article on HongHu glasses, in Chinese)
More info (Official page of HongHu glasses)
The anger for the Facebook Login policy is not stopping
Maybe Facebook thought that after the launch of the Quest 2, the backlash of the community for the mandatory Facebook login could have stopped easily. But it is not happening, and my Twitter and Reddit timeline is still full of posts of people angry with the social media company.
On Twitter, YUR’s Cix Liv is very active in spreading the news about Facebook’s unfair behavior. YUR has been at first supported, and then crushed by Facebook that has published its own competitor called Oculus Move on the Quest store, leaving YUR out of the market.
Cix has spread the news about the fact that:
- If you delete your Facebook account, you also automatically delete your Oculus data, games, and all the rest. So once you enter VR, you are de-facto forced to not opt-out from Facebook;
- Using multiple Oculus Quest with your same Facebook account is allowed, but if you use them at the same time (a sign that someone else is using your Facebook account), your account gets banned. This means that if you invite a friend of yours at home and you lend him a headset to play a multiplayer game, you get banned. This is enforced just so Facebook knows that the data it harvests from your headset is purely from you, but it is an overly stupid decision. UPDATE: Oculus has clarified that this is not actually the case. Look at this reddit post (Thanks Paul Shay for the tip!)
Some people on Reddit have already signed online petitions, and others are preparing lawsuits against Oculus because it is like Facebook is selling us headsets on which it retains full control. This is nonsense: if I buy a headset, I should be its owner, not follow a shitload of rules that a social media network has decided.
Notwithstanding all this hate, the Oculus Quest 2 is selling very well. According to Facebook, its launch has gone better than the launch of Quest 1, and it is selling “beyond expectations”. This “beyond expectations” thing has been said for the Go, Quest 1, and now Quest 2, so I think that unless Facebook has very bad analysts, it is a marketing stunt. But for sure it is selling very well. And if sales numbers are so good, either lawyers stop it, or we’ll have to swallow the mandatory login forever.
More info (Cix Liv on Facebook’s unfair competition practices)
More info (Policy on multiple headsets)
More info (Deleting your Facebook account deletes your Oculus games)
More info (Someone preparing a lawsuit against Facebook)
More info (Someone signing a petition against Facebook)
More info (Facebook Quest 2 selling beyond expectations)
HTC launches Vive XR Suite
While HTC is struggling on the hardware side, I think that it is moving very well to create a good software ecosystem, at least in China. Viveport is improving a lot, and now HTC is also launching the Vive XR Suite, which will be distributed thanks to the support of a strong network of partners like HP, NVIDIA, Baidu (the Chinese Google), and Accenture.
Vive XR Suite is HTC’s full enterprise suite for remote collaboration. It unites the power of white-labeled versions of ENGAGE, VRChat, Museum Of Other Realities, Virbela, and of the own Vive Sync to offer a complete suite of tools that lets companies organize VR gatherings of every kind, from concerts to work meetings, not to mention workshops. The XR Suite will work on all devices… not only the VR ones but also PCs, Mac, and smartphones (iOS and Android), meaning that everyone will be able to have a meeting from everywhere.
The price of the XR Suite is 30$/month or 250$/year per seat.
During the event, it has also been cool seeing HTC’s vision for the office of the future (a concept video that looks like a better version of the actual prototype I have built in Unity some months ago) and it has been interesting hearing Qualcomm announcing new XR2-powered standalone headsets coming in 2021 (hoping that there will be a Quest competitor among them…).
More info (My summary of the event)
More info (HTC’s 2-minutes video of the event)
More info (HTC’s vision of the office of the future)
More info (Actual prototype of the office of the future)
More info (Qualcomm teasing new XR2 standalone headsets)
News worth a mention
Tips & Tricks for the Quest 2!
New tips and tricks for Quest 2 are being published for Quest 2:
- Quest 2 doesn’t work well outdoor, even in conditions when the tracking of the Quest 1 worked. The problem is not the headset, but the controllers, that maybe to spare battery are emitting very low IR light, that can’t be detected very well outside, where the Sun emits too many IR rays;
- A Redditor has published a super cool guide on how to obtain the most from your router to have very low latency on Virtual Desktop. I strongly suggest you to read it;
- Another Redditor published a guide on how to configure well Virtual Desktop;
- There is the possibility of upscaling the resolution of your Quest 2 so that to have amazing visuals in the device;
- It is now possible to set the bitrate for your Oculus Link: by increasing it, you remove all the compression artifacts;
- FrankenQuest is still the most comfortable mod for your Oculus Quest 2.
David Heaney has also published a very interesting article on how the Quest 2 is more powerful than a Quest 1 and how it compares to a VR-ready PC. Basically, the Quest 2 CPU is just 50% more powerful than the Quest 1, but it is the GPU that is double more powerful. The Quest 2 can’t compete with a VR-ready PC, though: its GPU is more than 6 times less powerful than a GTX1060, that is now a graphics card that is 4 years old. So forget about the marketing stunts saying that the Quest 2 can now render PC-like VR graphics.
More info (Oculus Quest 2 outside performances)
More info (Quest 2 performing worse than Quest 1 outdoor)
More info (How to get the best from your router for wi-fi rendering)
More info (Guide for Quest 2 settings)
More info (How to upscale the resolution of your Quest 2)
More info (How to increase the bitrate of your Oculus Link)
More info (FrankenQuest 2)
More info (Oculus Quest 2 benchmarks)
Sony will give PS4 camera adapters for PS5 for free
The PS Camera of the PlayStation 4 is fundamental to let you play with your PSVR headset. PSVR is compatible with PS5, but the bad news is that PS4 Camera doesn’t work with PS5, so users were puzzled about how to use the old headset with the new console.
Sony has answered this question in the weekend. In Japan, new PSVR bundles will include an adapter in the box, while in the West the adapter won’t be included, but it will be given for free to existing PSVR users. The modality to ask for the adapters is not clear yet, though.
More info (PSVR bundles in Japan)
More info (PS Camera adapter will be given for free)
Facebook and Microsoft publish two interesting research projects for VR
This week, Facebook and Microsoft have released two interesting works from their R&D department.
Facebook has showcased how thanks to the use of hand-tracking gloves, it has been able to let people touch-type in VR. People could see a virtual keyboard, while in the real world there was just a hard surface like a table. Using machine learning and some ideas “stolen” from speech recognition algorithms, the system was able to transform the movement of the fingers in actual keystrokes, and it worked almost as if there was a physical keyboard. This is a cool idea, but considering that it requires gloves (for now) and that it requires the user to know how to touch-type (a not so frequent skill), I don’t know if it will ever find a practical application.
Microsoft has showcased a new haptic device, that is made by a ball that moves towards your hand when you grab a virtual object and that goes away when your hand is free in the game. The overall sensation seems cool, but the device seems so rough and its use case so specific, that it seems it can’t turn into a product soon.
More info (Facebook’s typing research — Road To VR)
More info (Facebook’s typing research — Upload VR)
More info (Microsoft’s haptic research)
Clipdrop lets you copy from real life and paste into Photoshop
Do you remember that viral video where someone using a smartphone was able to take a picture of an object and then paste it into Photoshop by just framing the PC with Photoshop with the phone? Well, that demo has turned into a paid application called Clipdrop. And it has now a free demo, so you can try it now!
Stanford and Samsung create a super-high-resolution display
A joint work of the University of Stanford together with Samsung Research has let a team working on optics and another one working on solar panels collaborate to create a new kind of OLED displays featuring 10,000 pixels per inch. This is an astonishing pixel density and if such a display were used in VR, it would lead to the disappearance of the screen door effect while keeping the bright colors typical of OLED screens.
J Balvin will perform on Fortnite for Halloween
The trend of virtual concerts is not stopping. On Halloween, the popular DJ J Balvin will perform in Fortnite for all its fans a new concert that will surely be supercool.
Marina Abramovich’s first MR art piece has been sold for a lot of money
Marina Abramovich is one of the best contemporary artists and for sure she is always innovating her art. Some years ago, she performed in The Life, a Mixed Reality art piece inside the Magic Leap One. This artwork has just been auctioned on Christie’s, and notwithstanding the MR critics haven’t been amazing, it has been sold for £287,500!
The value was so high because it has been depicted as “The first auctioned MR art piece”. A bit overvalued to me, but still good news for MR art.
More info (Marina Abramovich’s work with XR)
More info (Christie’s auction for The Life)
“Simple WebXR” aims at bringing WebXR to Unity
On GitHub has appeared a new project called “Simple WebXR” aimed at letting you develop WebXR experiences inside Unity. With it, you can develop also Web AR experiences using a popular framework like MRTK, and also experiences that support hands tracking. It looks very interesting, and as a Unity developer, I want to experiment with it.
Maybe there is hope for broken Rift CV1 cables
When Oculus discontinued the Rift CV1, it immediately retired also its related accessories and spare parts. This meant that all the people having issues with the cable of the CV1 had to throw away the headset because they couldn’t repair it. Now it seems that someone has found a way to fix this issue using the spare parts of the old TPCAST devices.
Some info on content
- “Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge VR” is coming to Oculus Quest on November, 19th 2020. Part 2 is coming in 2021;
- Survios has published a mega update to “The Walking Dead: Onslaught” to fix all the errors that made the game mediocre;
- FeetSaber lets you play Beat Saber with your feet (and it is cool);
- Synth Riders increases and improves for the Quest 2, plus announces a new bundle;
- Google and Netflix partner for an AR Series called Phoria;
- Upload has reviewed Mario Kart AR and it is a very good AR game;
- CloudHead Games is working on a new XR remote collaboration solution and the teaser is intriguing.
More info (Star Wars)
More info (The Walking Dead)
More info (FeetSaber)
More info (Synth Riders)
More info (Phoria)
More info (Mario Kart AR)
More info (CloudHead Games)
News from partners (and friends)
My friend Nicolas Esposito of Enter Reality has released Project Rigel, his solution to provide full-body tracking and motion capture for Unreal Engine. It is very complete, since it includes full body tracking (with Vive Trackers), hands and face tracking! Since IKinema has been acquired by Apple, this indie project could be a nice substitute for all developers that want an affordable full-body motion capture solution.
Come and watch my talk on “The Five Senses of XR” at the Dimensions XR 2020 event! VR professional Mohammed Sangaré has created an amazing online event about AR and VR with top-notch speakers like Tom Furness. Register and come see me on Friday, September 30th at 11am GMT.
My friend and VR creative Stephen Black has just had a fantastic talk about the Cinema of XR at the View Conference in Turin! Enjoy its lessons and its AR filters following the links here below.
Bubiko’s Facebook AR Filter
Stephen’s speech at View Conference
Stephen’s speaking for View Conference
Some XR fun
This Beat Saber X Super Mario video is crazy and funny
Some people say that VR is dead for the wrong reasons
/r/Oculus lately
Should I open an OnlyFans page?
If I don’t get enough money from Patreon to keep my blog alive, probably I should open an OnlyFans page and see if I can earn more from VR perverts 😀
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(Header image by Megadodo Simulation Games)
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