The XR Week Peek (2021.06.14): Facebook buys BigBox VR and plans to sell 18-20M Quests in 2022, and much more!

I’m very tired because yesterday I was ironing out bugs on HitMotion: Reloaded together with the game designer Max until 3.40 in the morning, but in the end, the first alpha demo is over and it will launch as promised on June, 16th! That day be sure to download it from SideQuest and please also make some noise on social media to support us indie VR developers! Thanks!
 
That said, let’s see what happened in AR and VR during this busy week…

Top news of the week

Facebook may plan to sell 18–20M Quests next year

This week we had another report from supply chain analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, that is said to very reliable in rumors about Apple (even if he only made wrong predictions about Apple Glasses, but this is none of my business). In his report, he states that Taiwanese lens manufacturer, Yujingguang is working on next-generation lenses, and these could be installed in the upcoming next-gen PSVR and next-gen Quest (Quest 3 or Quest 2 Pro, depending on Facebook’s strategy). According to the report, analyzing the orders made to the lens manufacturer, the two new headsets by Sony and Facebook should be released in 2022. And thanks to the new lenses, they should feature improved clarity and FOV.
 
Honestly speaking, these are things we already knew from other sources. But what surprised me is that the report also cites the possible sale numbers for Facebook’s headsets. The Quest 2 is expected to have 8–9M units sold in 2021 (and this is compatible with the estimated sales data we have now), while the new device should sell 18–20M units in 2022. If this proves to be true (remember, this is JUST A RUMOR), it would be huge because:

• 18–20M units in a year mean that the Quest platform enters the mainstream next year, beginning to battle with all the other famous consoles;
• To sell this much, the new headset can’t be targeted just at prosumers, but it should appeal to the average consumer. So it seems to be more a Quest 3 than a Quest 2 Pro. Or the other possibility is that Quest 2 Pro is very cheap as well, and is just a refresh of the Quest 2 (like a Quest 2 S). Or together with the Pro there will be a Quest Light, aimed at being supercheap (e.g. $199). I have no idea.

Remember to take all of this with a huge grain of salt: Facebook has stated that the Quest 2 is here to stay for a long time, and it would weird to kill it already with a Quest 3. But they also killed the Rift S the same year they launched it, so…
 
In the same report, Kuo also forecasts that Apple is going to launch its first headset in the second half of 2022. Since he continues changing the year of this prediction of his, please take this news with many kilos of grains of salt.

More info (Report by Kuo)
More info (Report about Apple Glasses)

Other relevant news

Facebook buys Population One’s developer BigBox VR

A piece of completely unexpected news was Facebook’s acquisition of BigBox VR, the development studio behind Population One, one of the most popular VR games of the moment.
 
There are no public details on the transaction, if not the usual joyful statements from both parties, and the reassurance that Population One will still be supported on all the platforms it now runs on. Of course, there is no mention of what will happen to future games and possible future platforms: Facebook is acquiring this studio to also have exclusive titles in the future, as all console makers have always done in the past. If a new standalone headset comes to the market, it for sure won’t be able to run hit games like Beat Saber, Population One, and Echo VR, resulting less appealing from day 1.
 
I compliment a lot with BigBox VR for this result, which is well deserved given the success of the game. Facebook has hired great talents, and also the possibility of creating a metaverse around the battle royale game Population One, in a similar way that Epic is doing with Fortnite.
 
I found the news a bit worrisome because Facebook currently owns the most used hardware, and is acquiring all the studios creating the best content for the headsets. Since no other company is doing similar operations, the result is that the monopoly of Facebook in the VR field is growing always more, because they are now controlling the hardware and the software of VR. They also have their operating system in the works. Do you remember that leaked email when Zuck told that he wanted to control all the technological stack Facebook works on and he wanted to acquire Unity? Well, this is unfolding in front of your eyes…
 
And just to be clear: of course, Facebook does its business. The problem is that there is no one else that is doing something similar and can create healthy competition in the VR space…

More info

Apple announces minor XR news at WWDC 2021

Like every year, this year at WWDC there have been no major XR-related announcements from Apple. No “One more thing” at all… I think we still have to wait some time.
 
There have been anyway some minor announcements, that show the commitment of Apple in building an ecosystem around the upcoming AR glasses:

• Apple has launched a system similar to Google Lens, able to recognize objects and people thanks to artificial intelligence. There is also the possibility of copying text that is inside images;
• New Apple Maps feature improved annotations, plus the possibility of seeing virtual directions in front of you in augmented reality;
• Arkit reaches version 5, adding landmark detections for some important places (Location Anchors), and improved face and motion tracking;
• AirPods are now able to filter the background noise and enhance the voice of who is speaking with you. This “beamforming” capability is the same that Facebook has highlighted when talking about its future AR glasses;
• Object Capture lets you scan objects in 3D very easily thanks to photogrammetry with Apple devices. This is fundamental for the 2D-to-3D transition that we will need for our mixed reality future.

No major news, but many little steps towards the metaverse.

More info (Arkit 5)
More info (Object Capture)
More info (Apple Maps)

Ready Player Me avatars are now compatible with Somnium Space

Ready Player Me is an avateering system by Wolf 3D that lets you create your humanoid avatar easily starting from a selfie. They have just announced a new partnership with Somnium Space thanks to which you can use Ready Player Me avatars in the blockchain-powered social space, after having reached similar agreements with many other VR experiences like VRChat, MeetinVR, LIV, vSpatial.
 
Per se, the announcement is nothing mind-blowing, just an integration of avateering system, but what is interesting is the big network that Wolf3D is creating: if you create a Ready Player Me avatar you can use it in many social VR applications. This is an interesting step towards the digital identity of the VR users: if I can create an avatar of mine, a representation of myself, that is used everywhere in the metaverse, I can finally have a true virtual identity. If in every piece of software I’m a different person, this is frustrating. Virtual identity will be one of the main pillars of the metaverse and is nice seeing some solutions, like Ready Player Me, or Facebook Avatars, that are trying to address it.

More info

PhotonLens glasses launch tomorrow on Kickstarter

PhotonLens is launching its AR glasses on Kickstarter tomorrow June, 15th. I’ve found the news inside an article that was talking about fitness in augmented reality.
 
PhotonLens is going to sell in the West an interesting pair of AR glasses manufactured by Chinese company Shadow Creator. The form factor is similar to one of Nreal glasses, but PhotonLens adds two Nintendo Switch-like controllers and a computational unit with a tiny display that you can use together with your AR experiences.
 
The glasses feature a 52° field of view, 8GB RAM, 128GB of storage, a 3,000mAh battery, and Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 5. Photons also run on Qualcomm’s Snapdragon XR2 platform.
 
If you are interested in these Photon glasses, check out the Kickstarter campaign tomorrow!
 
(Thanks David @spatialpixels for the tip!)

More info (Article containing the news)
More info (Official Kickstarter page)

News worth a mention

Facebook may release its smartwatch in the summer of 2022… or maybe not

A report by The Verge claims that Facebook could launch a smartwatch during the summer of 2022. This smartwatch should feature cameras so that to be able to record videos and perform video calls and it should be able to work without a companion smartphone. The report claims that it could also become an input interface for future AR glasses.
 
This news would be big, but actually, Andrew Bosworth from Facebook has downplayed it, stating that Facebook is still experimenting different paths, and this seems to suggest that the report may be about a prototype in the work at Facebook’s R&D. Usually the rule is that if a company doesn’t deny a report, it is true. But in this case, Andrew has answered negatively to it, and this in my opinion means that is not that reliable.
 
(Thanks Mathew Olson for the tip via your great newsletter!)

More info (Rumor on Facebook’s smartwatch)
More info (Andrew Bosworth comments the news)

Cheap camera-based full-body-tracking is now in Beta

Some weeks ago I have told you about a full-body tracking system using only two off-the-shelf cameras that some Japanese people were building. It could be also used in VR, in programs like VRChat to have your full body in VR.
 
It seems that now the system is in a free public beta stage and everyone of us can try it!

More info

Oculus Quest increments its tracking area to 15m x 15m

Oculus has immediately answered to the big tracking area of the Pico Neo 3 by releasing an update that sets the maximum tracking area for the Guardian to 15m x 15m. This is a quite big area, and it means that the Quests have become even more suitable for LBEVR venues and training warehouses.
 
You may wonder why there is the need of having a big Guardian space if with the Guardian disabled you can track an infinite space. Well, the most important reason is that with the Guardian set the tracking is more stable, and you can set a mapping between real and virtual positions that doesn’t change over time. Without Guardian, the tracking drifts, and the virtual objects lose the correspondence with real physical positions over time. Trust me, I’m an engineer: in our upcoming Hitmotion game, for instance, thanks to Guardian you can set your play space once and have it the same every time you play the game in the same location. This is impossible without Guardian.

More info

Khronos Launches 3D Commerce Viewer Certification Program

Khronos Group has launched the 3D Commerce Viewer Certification Program, which is a certification that states that a particular 3D viewer is displaying 3D models in the right way, following some standards that guarantee visual quality and consistency with all other viewers.
 
Currently, 3D artists create 3D elements, and when they are visualized in different applications, they may have a slightly different appearance (e.g. slightly different colors). Of course, this is not desirable, so Khronos is standardizing how software should render 3D objects so that the same element can be viewed in the same way across all software. I find this incredibly important nowadays with the rise of try-before-you-buy solutions, where you see 3D elements in front of you in augmented reality.

More info

Museum of Other Realities is free to get for the XR3 festival

Museum Of Other Realities is now free to get until June, 21st. If you add it to your Steam library, it will be free forever. This comes together with clear steering on the business strategy of the application, which now plans to earn money by selling you DLCs to let you participate in important events.
 
The latest one is the XR3, which lets you enjoy inside MOR three important XR festivals: New Images, Cannes, and Tribeca. If you are into XR storytelling, you should visit it, because I’m reading very positive reviews about this innovative XR festival.

More info (MOR is free to get)
More info (Upload’s review of XR3 festival)

Tilt Brush and Virtual Desktop keeps thriving

When Google abandoned TiltBrush, I was afraid the project would have died, but actually, the community has taken the source codes and created many new versions of it. One that has just been released is OpenBrush, an improved version of TiltBrush that aims at becoming its substitute. I know there is a big community supporting it and I want to wish this project the best!
 
Another project hard to die is Virtual Desktop. After the release of Air Link, VD seemed destined to die soon, but Guy Godin is fighting fiercely to keep it relevant. He has just released a feature called SSW (Synchronous SpaceWarp) that improves the performances of streaming from non-powerful computers, in a way that is even better than Facebook’s native ASW. I think that in the end, the free Air Link will prevail, but we must all pay huge respects for the work that Guy Godin is doing against the Facebook giant. Go Virtual Desktop!

More info (OpenBrush)
More info (Virtual Desktop)

Upload VR Showcase has brought many news about VR games

The Upload VR Showcase has been the usual big show with many pieces of news about upcoming virtual reality games. I am astonished by how many announcements have been done in just one hour!
 
Some of my favorite ones are about Sam & Max (the creator Steve Purcell will voice one character of the game!), In Da Hoop (the hands-free basketball game has been released on Quest), Fracked (we have a new cool gameplay video), and Pistol Whip (there is a new way of applying modifiers to your gameplay). But there have been so many… discover them here below!

More info (Roundup of all the announcements)
More info (Sam & Max)
More info (In Da Hoop)
More info (Fracked)
More info (Pistol Whip)

Steam Next Fest is starting on June, 16th

Steam Next Fest will let you play for free demos of upcoming games (VR and not). These are the already announced VR games, with many more to come:

• Into the Darkness VR — Cosmos Games
• Sam & Max: This Time It’s Virtual! — Happy Giant
• Against — Joy Way
• Outlier — Joy Way
• Undead Citadel — Dark Curry S.L.

Stay tuned from 16th to 22nd of June to try these amazing titles!

More info (Steam Next Fest’s official post)
More info (Steam Next Fest on Road To VR)

Some news on content

• Road To VR has made a list of the best-rated apps on App Lab
• ‘Überläufer’ is a Wolfenstein-inspired Roguelike Coming to PC VR This Fall
• Road To VR has reviewed A Rogue Escape and found it a nice puzzle game (but forget Mech fighting in this one)
• N1NE: The Splintered Mind is a game with amazing Blade Runner vibes
• A Township Tale is coming to Oculus Quest
• My friend Simon at Anjin Games has developed a working Linux computer inside the Oculus Quest. It’s the nerdiest VR thing you will see today.
• Two Redditors have created their first game called ARK-ADE, and it looks pretty cool

More info (Top App Lab applications)
More info (Uberlaufer)
More info (A Rogue Escape)
More info (N1NE: The Splintered Mind)
More info (A Township Tale)
More info (Linux computer inside Quest)
More info (ARK-ADE)

News from partners (and friends)

Support “How is the Water”, a VR experience where you become a dolphin or a shark, and explore the ocean as a local. It is accessible on mobile devices, PC, and virtual reality headsets. It has been made to raise awareness towards marine conservation efforts.
 
It is in its latest days of Kickstarter campaign, and you can support it now!
Learn more (Support it on Kickstarter)

My friends at Intravides are launching their crowdfunding campaign for their company that creates AR solution for surgery. If you are interested, you can invest in it.
Learn more

Some XR fun

When I say Beat Saber, I mean Beat Saber
Funny link

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(Header image by Antonio De Rosa)