The XR Week Peek (2021.08.09): New specs revealed for PSVR 2, Valve may be working on a standalone headset, and more!

I’m overly happy to announce to you that today we of New Technology Walkers have launched our VR fitness game HitMotion: Reloaded on Oculus App Lab! Many people requested it, and it has finally been approved by Facebook. Even if you already have the game, please get it again from App Lab, so that you will receive our upcoming updates (that will be super cool!) easily.
 
Get HitMotion: Reloaded from App Lab now following this link https://www.oculus.com/experiences/quest/4461611240539140/ and please leave a good review for us, it can help us a lot 🙂
 
And now, after this surprise, let’s head to the best AR/VR news of the week…

Top news of the week

Sony aims at hybrid games for the PSVR 2

Sony Interactive Entertainment has had a virtual summit with developers about its plans for the PSVR 2 because it is looking for content for its upcoming headset. Of course, some of these developers have leaked info to the press, and so now we have some more info about the VR headset and its related content.
 
Talking about the hardware, we have confirmation about the 2K x 2K per eye resolution and the eye-tracking used for foveated rendering. It has been now been leaked that the FOV is 110° (not bad, but also nothing mindblowing) and that the system should feature “flexible scale rendering” (FSR), which changes how the foveated rendering is “aggressive” depending on the current workload of the device (something the Oculus Quest already does).
 
Regarding the controllers, we know that they are similar to the Oculus Touch but with force-feedback triggers and more nuanced haptic sensations. The report also talks about capacitive sensors that can detect how distant is a finger from the handle of the controller, which is so able to give full fingers tracking like the Index Controllers.
 
This is the recap of the features we already know:

• 4.1MP (2,000 × 2,040) per-eye resolution OLED
• HDR support
• 110° FOV
• Fresnel lenses
• IPD adjustment dial
• Eye-tracking capable of foveated rendering, with FSR
• USB-C tether to PS5
• Inside-out tracking
• Head-mounted haptics
• Touch-like controllers with fingers tracking and haptic feedback
• Holiday 2022 release date

Internally the device is referred to as NGVR (Next-Gen VR), but honestly, I still believe it will be called PSVR 2.
 
Regarding the software it is looking for, it seems that Sony is very interested in AAA games with added VR support. On one side this is amazing because this means that on PSVR 2 we’ll have AAA VR games, that will be able to truly push the boundaries of what is possible in VR. On the other side, this means that there will be less attention towards big games that are designed from the ground up for VR, and we all know how this is important for a VR game to feel truly great (think about Alyx, for instance).
 
Anyway, I’m truly curious about the PSVR 2 ecosystem and the fact that the Digital Foundry team said that there are some “unrevealed specs” that make it even more interesting make me very excited about it. I can’t wait to discover more in the next months.

More info (Report on PSVR 2 on Road To VR)
More info (Report on PSVR 2 on Upload VR)
More info (Digital Foundry on unrevealed PSVR 2 specs)
More info (Everything we know on PSVR 2)

Other relevant news

Valve SteamDeck may lead to a standalone headset

The launch of the Valve SteamDeck made us all wonder if it may mean that Valve will launch its own standalone VR headset in the future. Well, the answer seems to be affirmative.
 
Valve’s Greg Coomer answered to a related version by The Verge‘s Sean Hollister with this sentence: “We’re not ready to say anything about [a standalone VR headset], but [Steam Deck’s hardware] would run well in that environment, with the TDP necessary… it’s very relevant to us and our future plans”.
 
TDP stands for Thermal Design Power and describes how much heat a processing system generates under load and how much power it consumes. This is relevant both for a mobile console like SteamDeck and a mobile headset like a standalone Index.
 
The sentences “We’re not ready to say anything about [a standalone VR headset]” and “ it’s very relevant to us and our future plans” clearly hint at the fact that Valve is indeed working on a standalone VR device. Together with various patents that we have seen filed in the last months, we can be absolutely sure that Valve is at least experimenting with a standalone HMD. Whether it will be launched is unclear, but for sure internally they are working on it and the future plan is to launch it.
 
It is also to understand how it can work: Valve has built all its hardware and software around its Steam platform, so it is unlikely that they will go for a completely different Android ecosystem. A Steam-compatible device, maybe running over Windows 10 seems a more possible choice. Anyway, these are just speculations of mine. The only thing we are sure of today is that Valve wants to pursue the standalone road, and this is a piece of good news because we need competitors for the Oculus Quest.

More info

Google Tensor chip is made for AI and AR

Google has teased its Pixel 6 phones and at the same time, it has also unveiled its first custom-made SoC, called Tensor.
 
Tensor is a chip made to provide more power for AI and ML-related tasks. This piece of hardware will so be important to improve the capabilities of recognizing objects or texts in a photo or of performing speech recognition without having to rely on an internet connection to perform these computations on the cloud. It will be so overly important for Google Lens, for instance.
 
But Google’s Rick Osterloh, interviewed by Business Insider, highlighted how it can also be relevant for augmented reality in the future. “AR incorporates a lot of machine learning techniques to be able to understand what’s happening, […]” “[this chip is the] perfect foundation for making big improvements in AR”. The main focus seems so to be AI, but there is still big attention towards AR at Mountain View.
 
Asked about smartglasses, Osterloh, left the door open, but underlined that now the focus is still the smartphone “Without a doubt, sometime in the future, there will be the ability to have those experiences on different devices too,” he said. “But for now I think your phone is the most relevant place where you’ll see a lot of them show up.”
 
I always say that: don’t forget about Google. Google has been the first company creating awareness for AR with Google Glass (in a wrong way, I know); it has acquired North; it has Google Maps through which it can build the AR Cloud; it has ARCore; it was one of the biggest investors in Magic Leap; it is working on a secret project regarding audio in AR. There are many reasons why you should still consider Google in the AR race. Yes, they may not be in the lead, but I think their position is better than it seems.

More info (Interview on Business Insider)
More info (The most relevant info from the interview)

Is Oculus Quest killing PCVR?

The big debate of the last days has been about PCVR vs standalone VR, and basically if PCVR is dead or not. It all started with VR entrepreneur Cix Liv declaring PCVR dead in a tweet and all the community reacting in a way or another to that message. Let me give my 2 cents on the question.
 
First of all, y’all one year late :D. Exactly one year ago, I wrote a post highlighting how the Quest may kill PCVR, and it already sparked some debate.
 
That said, I think that PCVR is not dead at all, but it is for sure in a period of crisis, and the next 12–24 months will be important to understand its destiny: it may die, it may evolve, it may grow. The crisis is given by the fact that almost all developers are earning much more on Quest than on PCVR systems, because the Quest market is much bigger, and also there is more engagement and retention.
 
This means that always more developers are now publishing with a Quest-first mindset, and SteamVR support is always coming later. This also means that the PCVR version of the games most of the time is never as polished and detailed as if the game had been made with PC as the first target. After the release of Lone Echo 2, there won’t be other big games on sight built from the ground up specifically for PCVR. This means that spending thousands of dollars on a premium PC and a premium headset risks lacking sense for the users since with $299 you could have a similar experience of the most famous games.
 
This is the big issue of PCVR: there are some great past games (e.g. Alyx, Lone Echo, Asgard’s Wrath) for which it is worth having a PC rig, but for all the most awaited games (e.g. Resident Evil 4), a standalone is enough. Since content is king, the risk is that always more people will go for the standalone road. If this famine will continue, PCVR will surely be reduced to a little niche.
 
Someone reports that there are some success stories for SteamVR developers too, and I agree, but if these people released on Quest, they would make much more money: remember what has happened when Onward dev released on Quest and reached easily $10M in revenues. He preferred seeing the PC version ruined because he saw all the potential earnings from Quest. All developers have a 2:1 to 10:1 ratio of earnings on Quest vs earnings on PC. This is why developers now target only the Quest.
 
Someone says that it is the same of PC vs mobile gaming, but I think it’s different, because a PC developer is different from a mobile developer, but at the moment, the VR developer targets all platforms. The same goes for the hardware: when buying a VR headset, people have to choose if going the PC road or the standalone road, while no one would ever choose between buying a smartphone and a PC.
 
But there are some other factors to consider. For instance, PC users can still get AAA PC games with added VR support: think about Skyrim VR, or Star Wars Squadrons, for instance. So there could still be some cool content worth trying, that standalone platform can’t run because of its limited processing power.
 
Then the PC VR ecosystem is still actually growing: the launch of Half-Life: Alyx and the related increasing awareness towards VR have made the numbers of Steam keep growing, with a curve that seems like a slow exponential one. The launch of the Quest 2 has also incremented the number of VR headsets used on Steam because it can be used for PCVR as well.
 
And don’t forget the power of PSVR 2: Sony is aiming at titles that showcase high-quality graphics, and if PSVR 2 will prove to be successful, developers creating titles to earn money on the profitable Sony platform, can then port their games easily to PC with the same quality. This could give new fresh content to the PCVR ecosystem.
 
In the end, I wouldn’t say that PCVR is dead, it is still growing, but I would say that it is in a critical moment. The ecosystem is endangered by the Quest, and it must evolve somehow and must find new content if it still wants to be relevant. It is impossible that PCVR dies, but it may become a very little niche, or it may evolve in a system completely dedicated to prosumers and companies. It will all depend on what is the hardware and the software that will be available for it in the upcoming 12–24 months, in my opinion. It may still thrive in the same way that PC gaming is still an enormous market even if it is smaller than mobile gaming and console gaming, but it needs quality content to go on, and I hope that this is what is going to happen.

More info (My editorial from one year ago)
More info (Cix Liv starts the debate on Twitter)
More info (Debate answer pro Quest)
More info (Debate answer pro PC)
More info (Editorial on Upload VR on the matter)

Ariana Grande has performed on Fortnite

Epic Games has organized another amazing virtual concert inside his social battle royale game Fortnite, this time featuring the popular pop singer Ariana Grande.
 
This concert has been another fantastic performance, with stunning visuals and different environments for every song of hers. This time the experience also featured various interactions: for instance, before the concert, the players had to shoot some big enemies and during the concert, there were some mini-activities, like when the users had to follow the giant avatar of Ariana by navigating through various portals. Having worked on various VR events myself, I can tell you this is a smart idea to keep the viewers engaged.
 
Epic keeps marketing this as an experience that shows the metaverse it is building: I think that it is partially right, in the sense that this shows one of the many potentialities of the metaverse, but the metaverse is actually much more. Epic also talks about building a “blue ocean” market, in the sense that it is creating a completely new market, that is currently without boundaries, where it hopes to be a leader. For sure it is establishing a dominant position, and the trial against Apple is also a way to challenge Cupertino on the dominance of the future technological platforms.

More info (Full gameplay of Ariana Grande’s concert)
More info (The Guardian talks about the concert and the future metaverse)
More info (Blue Ocean strategy)

News worth a mention

Facebook showcases reverse passthrough prototype

At SIGGRAPH, Facebook Reality Labs has showcased a special prototype of a VR headset with two external displays on the front faceplate that showcase a reconstruction of the eyes of the user. These displays are lightfield ones so they can show you the images of the eyes at the correct depth where they are located on the head of the user. The virtual eyes move according to the movements detected by eye-tracking sensors in the HMD. Facebook calls this system “reverse passthrough”, because it is like passthrough AR, but from the outside world to the VR user.
 
The purpose of this prototype is to let external people see the eyes of VR users that are around them, so VR players look less isolated from them. The idea is nice, but the result still feels very uncanny notwithstanding the big effort the team has made. In the current stage, the hardware to realize this feature is also too expensive. I don’t know if something like this will be ever be implemented in a VR headset.
 
But it is just a research project, and we should all just appreciate the creativity of the researchers and the talent they have employed to create something this cool.

More info

Leia launches 3D tablet Lumepad

Leia, a startup focused on creating lightfield displays, has just announced Lumepad, the first tablet with a 3D display: you can look at it without glasses and see high-quality 3D content with a realistic sense of depth. If you remember the Nintendo 3DS, it is something similar, just implemented in a better way and with a new 3D technology.
 
It is very cool, but as CNET’s Scott Stein highlights, it looks like a solution looking for a problem, since there are not many true 3D pieces of content to look at, and 3D cinema has gone since a while. Let’s see if it will be able to find its niche.

More info (Lumepad tablet)
More info (CNET’s hands on Lumepad tablet)

Let nDreams’s story inspire you

Upload VR has written a very interesting article about the history of nDreams, one of the VR game studios of the moment. I loved it because it goes through all the failures of nDreams, all its experiments until they finally reached success with Phantom: Covert Ops and Fracked. I think this story can inspire many indie VR developers out there. Remember that there is no overnight success, and you have always to fight to be successful.

More info

Quest 2 enables multitasking

The latest Quest 2 runtime enables multitasking of 2D apps, and this can be very useful to open multiple windows together when you have to be productive or you want to have fun. Since it is possible to sideload Android 2D apps on Quest, this means that you can use this feature for instance to open Netflix and watch a series while you browse the web on another window, or to open a text editor and the browser together to write an essay. When Oculus will launch full integration with Android apps, this will be massive.

More info

App Lab DB now supports game bundles

App Lab DB is a directory that lists indie games published on App Lab. It has just released a new feature that integrates its system with the purchase of game bundles, starting from the ones proposed by VR Collection. This is a very good idea to help indie developers to earn extra money even if they are not published on the official Quest store.

More info

Sam and Max is coming to Steam in early September

The popular VR game Sam & Max: This Time It’s Virtual is going to launch on Steam in Early September. A free demo of the game will be available this week for every one of you to try!

More info (Steam VR launch)
More info (My review of the game)

Some news on content

• Ven VR Adventure is releasing on Oculus Quest on August, 12th
• Rec Room, the VR unicorn, is launching an Android flat-screen client to increase its user base even more
• Population One is going to start “Kingdom Age”, an event inspired by the Middle Ages
• The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners Aftershocks update arrives on September 23
• Free ‘Pistol Whip: Smoke & Thunder’ Expansion Launches August 12th, with five new levels and songs tied together by an underlying narrative theme. The overall price of the game will rise by $5
• Stride has been reviewed by Upload VR and Road To VR with a decent score, but I was expecting something more. It seems that the game lacks the main gaming mode that makes it compelling
• Upload has reviewed Disc Ninja, a game that mixes frisbee and golf
• The developer of the viral Richie’s Plank Experience is working on a much bigger title with a 2023 release date.

More info (Ven VR)
More info (Rec Room)
More info (Population One)
More info (Walking Dead)
More info (Pistol Whip)
More info (Stride)
More info (Disc Ninja)
More info (Richie’s Plank dev)

News from partners (and friends)

One of the most beloved Youtubers of our community, GamerTag VR, is looking for our help. He’s having issues with the stress caused by having a Youtube channel whose success is decided by the merciless Youtube algorithm, so he is now opening a new channel dedicated to VR games streaming. Subscribe to this new fresh channel to support him!
Learn more (Video in which GamerTag explains his problems)
Learn more (GamerTag’s new channel)

VR To Tablet is a Unity plugin that lets you build your VR Android games in a way so that they can be enjoyed also by people that have a standard tablet. I think it may be useful for some contexts, so if you are a developer, give it a look!
Learn more

Some XR fun

The community has answered to the reverse passthrough prototype with very funny reaction images and GIFs!
Funny link (Reaction image / 1)
Funny link (Reaction image / 2)
Funny link (Reaction image / 3)
Funny link (Reaction image / 4)
Funny link (Reaction image / 5)
Funny link (Reaction image / 6)

VR can be useful even in the most unthinkable moments…
Funny link

Buy this headset while there is this incredible special offer!
Funny link

Inside VR vs outside VR
Funny link

Do you want to read these roundups every week?

Consider making a donation on Patreon to this magazine to make sure that I keep writing these roundups of best AR and VR news for you and the whole XR community!
 
These are the people and companies that made today’s article possible:

• DeoVR
• Raghu Bathina
• Jonn Fredericks
• Jean-Marc Duyckaerts
• Reynaldo T Zabala
• Ilias Kapouranis
• Michael Bruce
• Paolo Leoncini
• Immersive.international
• Bob Fine
• Nikk Mitchell and the great FXG team
• Jake Rubin
• Alexis Huille
• Jennifer Granger
• Jason Moore
• Steve Biggs
• Niels Bogerd
• Julio Cesar Bolivar
• Jan Schroeder
• Kai Curtis
• Francesco Strada
• Sikaar Keita
• Ramin Assadollahi
• Jeff Dawson
• Juan Sotelo
• Andrew Sheldon
• Chris Madsen
• Tracey Wong
• Matthew Allen Fisher
• Horacio Torrendell
• Andrew Deutsch
• Fabien Benetou
• Tatiana Kartashova
• Marco “BeyondTheCastle” Arena
• Eloi Gerard
• Adam Boyd
• Jeremy Dalton
• Siciliana Trevino
• Alex P
• Sb
• Vooiage Technologies
• Caroline
• Liam James O’Malley
• Paul Reynolds
• Hillary Charnas
• Wil Stevens
• Matias Nassi

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(Header image by Sony Interactive Entertainment)