The XR Week Peek (2021.09.20): Quest 2 Pro leaks, Xiaomi smartglasses, Half Dive headset, and more!

This one is the last AR/VR news roundup for this summer! Here in Turin, the sun is shining, but the temperature is getting colder, and autumn is coming too fast. I think I’ll miss the joys of summer (and all the trophies that Italy has won), but at least I’ll be able to enjoy again some delicious hot chocolate 😉
 
Before leaving you to the news of the week, I’m happy to announce to you that I’ve been selected as a speaker for AWE US 2021! I’ll be there to talk about HitMotion: Reloaded and how to properly design a VR fitness game (using the precious lessons that our game designer Max Ariani has taught me). If COVID limitations won’t prevent me to enter the US (fingers crossed for it), it would be great to meet there! In the meanwhile, if you want, you can attend an Awe Nite event about gaming on 30th September I have been invited to speak at.

Top news of the week

References found in Quest 2 firmware hint to Quest Pro features

References found in the Oculus Quest 2 firmware by users Reggy04 and Basti564 highlight how the Quest 2 Pro should have:

• Eyes tracking
• Facial expressions tracking
• Eye relief knob
• Granular IPD adjustment
• External charging station

The Quest 2 Pro should so feature improved comfort, better FOV (eye relief knob is important to increase the FOV of the user in VR), and tracking of facial expressions. Eye and face tracking are two features loved by Zuck because they allow for a better presence in a social VR environment since they let your avatar have facial expressions that resemble the ones that you are doing in real life. And are also good for data harvesting cough cough cough. Eye-tracking could also be used for foveated rendering, letting the Quest 2 Pro having a sharper display. Notice anyway that references found in the firmware doesn’t equate to sure features, but they at least show that Oculus is working on these things.
 
In the meanwhile, Facebook is working on firmware updates for Quest 2, and under the hood, it is implementing Space Sense as an evolution of the Guardian that detects all people and other moving obstacles that enter your play area. It has not been released in the most recent Quest v33 update, which features only improvements to Link and Air Link, so I guess it’s coming in the future.
 
Most probably we’ll hear news about all of this in the next Facebook Connect, which is going to be held on October, 28th. You can already register on its dedicated website: I’m sure we’ll hear lots of interesting news during the keynote.

More info (Oculus Quest 2 Pro “leaked” features)
More info (Basti564 and its findings in the firmware)
More info (All that we know on Oculus Quest 2 Pro)
More info (Space Sense functionality)
More info (Basti564 and Space Sense not available in v33)
More info (Oculus Quest v33 update content)
More info (Registrations are open for Facebook Connect)

Other relevant news

Xiaomi has announced its smartglasses

Xiaomi, one of the biggest smartphone and wearables manufacturers in the world, has announced its smartglasses.
 
The company has not posted real photos or footage from the glasses, just a promo video with an accompanying blog post detailed some of their characteristics. It looked like a rushed move to answer to the launch of Ray-Ban Stories.
 
These smart glasses have a display that can show some basic notifications in monochrome green and can shoot photos and pictures. They can also provide you instructions from a navigator and translate the text that you are looking at. They have more features than Ray-Ban Stories, but, in my humble opinion, have a less sexy design.
 
Regarding the specifications, these are the ones shared by the company:

• Display: single microLED-based waveguide display, monochrome (green), up to 2M nits
• Processor: quad-core ARM
• Weight: 51g
• Camera: 5MP
• Audio: integrated speakers and microphone
• Connection: Bluetooth, Wi-Fi
• Interaction: Touch, voice
• Operating system: Android

We don’t know when these glasses will release and for what price, but the fact that such a big consumer-oriented giant has got interested in glasses is a positive sign that we are on the right (long) road towards the release and adoption of consumer-oriented AR glasses

More info (Xiaomi announces its smartglasses)
More info (The news as it has been reported by Road To VR)

Diver-X Half Dive is an interesting headset from Japan

It’s always cool to see the different approaches that companies are having towards VR. That’s why I’m loving a new headset I’ve read about yesterday: it is called Half Dive, and it comes from the Japanese company Diver-X (yes, I’ve never heard about it before, either).
 
This headset promises the following specifications:

• Degrees of Freedom: 4.5dof
• Optical system: Original optical system using 10 lenses. Varifocal feature supported.
• Field of view: 134 degrees
• Resolution: 1600 x 1440 pixels per eye (3200×1440 pixels combined)
• Refresh rate: >=90hz
• Dial styled IPD adjustment: 58–82mm
• Audio: Immersive sound system using 4 speakers
• Controller: Two hand/foot controllers
• Tracking: Lighthouse supported / Avatar movement emulation system using foot controller
• Camera: Keyboard overlay system
• Interface: DisplayPort 1.2 / USB3.0 / 3.5mm audio jack / 12V power source / I2C (module connection)
• Platform: All SteamVR application supported
• SDK: Unity (features dedicated to VRChat) / Unreal Engine
• Price for KickStarter: Basic model: around 700USD, Full set: around 1100USD, Varifocal lens supported version: 3900USD

Yes, you’ve read everything well. It has 4.5DOF. It is because you play with it by lying in the bed (yes, really!) and just rotating your head. But you have hands and feet controllers to move in the virtual world, so according to the manufacturers, you have 1.5DOF more (whatever it means).
 
The headset also features a varifocal display, maybe the first of its kind, but you pay it a lot since the model supporting it is worth $3900 (yikes!). It has feet controllers, haptic feedback for hands, vibrational feedback for the hand, and other cool features that are missing in the most common headsets. Kudos to Diver-X for this very original approach.
 
The Kickstarter campaign of this device is starting in November, in case you are interested.
 
Half Dive is so crazy that I already love it. And after I have seen the picture of a user playing with it lying in the bed, I’ve already decided that I want it… I just want to lie in a bed, put on a VR headset, and forget about people and life in general 😀

More info (Diver-X Half Dive official page)
More info (User playing with Half Dive in the bed)
More Info (Explanation of 4.5DOF)

Apple VR headset may feature a 3000PPI microOLED display

This week we had a new rumor about the XR headset Apple is working on. Wow. I really couldn’t wait for it.
 
According to Korean publication The Elec, Apple has requested a sample of a display component for OLED displays that can arrive up to 3000PPI. We don’t know if they are just testing the waters for new display types or if they want to actually use them in XR devices, but this sample request has been enough for journalists to report this useless rumor. I love this.
 
TechRadar reports that now also Facebook may be interested in new generation OLEDs for its future VR headsets. This can be interesting, because OLED headsets have better visual quality, and I really hope that all manufacturers will switch back to OLED in the future, so at least I can see blacks again.

More info (Apple being interested in high-density OLED displays)
More info (Apple and Facebook being interested in OLED displays for the future)

Apple Event was not about AR, like, at all

I’ve watched the whole Apple Event hoping for an improbable “one more thing” but expecting some interesting news about AR (like a new LIDAR sensor for the iPhone 13 Pro). Actually, there was no news about XR at all, and AR was visible only for 20 seconds in the whole 80 minutes of the event. This was quite disappointing, it means that XR is not among the present priorities of the company.
 
But Tim Cook wore glasses the whole time, and he keeps saying that he thinks that AR is the future, so I think we have just to wait. One more event, to get to one more thing. Or maybe two events, or three, or four…

More info (My roundup of XR news at Apple Event)
More info (5 years of Tim Cook saying that he is a strong believer in AR)

News worth a mention

Facebook and Luxottica have started shipping their Ray-Ban Stories glasses

Facebook and Luxottica have started shipping the Ray-Ban Stories glasses, and some of the first people to receive them have been journalists and influencers.
 
For instance, as Mathew Olson reports on The Information, Instagram influencer Majimbo has received one device and made some posts and stories for its 2.4M followers. Facebook wants to position this device as something cool, so it has handed the glasses to influencers and fashionistas, and not to just nerds and techies (shame on this :P).
 
At the same time, I’ve started reading the first reviews about Ray-Ban Stories: The Verge has reviewed them, defining the most comfortable and stylish smart glasses on the market. Thanks to this review I also discovered that to use them you need a Facebook account, but I can’t say I was surprised to read this.
 
Facebook has also just started having the first little troubles about them: the Italian Privacy Authority (“Garante della privacy”) has asked the company further explanations about the glasses, to verify that it complies with Italian and European privacy laws, especially for what concerns the children.

More info (Majimbo uses Ray-Ban Stories glasses)
More info (Ray-Ban Stories review on The Verge)
More info (Italian Privacy Authority asks clarifications to Facebook)

Facebook Workrooms will integrate Zoom calls

At Zoomtopia event, Zoom has announced lots of new features for Zoom, including a whiteboard that all Zoom users can work on together. The company has also announced a partnership with Facebook so that it will be possible to participate in Zoom calls from within Facebook Horizon, and Horizon users will also be able to work on the same whiteboard as all the other participants to the call.
 
I already hate calls, then I imagine the moment when a part of the speakers will have a working webcam, others will have a still image, and others a cringy cartoon avatar speaking for them… and I really crave becoming a farmer to avoid all these weird moments.

More info

Kim Nevelsteen talks about the metaverse

Every week I share with you the very rare articles that say something interesting about the metaverse, and this week I want to propose two posts by the smart PhD Kim Nevelsteen that talk about the definitions of “the metaverse” according to science and what XR experts think about it. There is also a good example of a part of the day of a person in the metaverse.
 
(Thanks to Will Burns for the tip)

More info (Definition of the metaverse)
More info (Use of XR in the metaverse)

Some XR experiences have won Emmy Awards

At the Emmy Awards, XR has shined. Three XR experiences have been awarded a price:

• Emmy for Outstanding Interactive Media for a Daytime Program has gone to Baba Yaga by Baobab Studios;
• The Emmy for Outstanding Innovation in Interactive Programming (Juried) has been given to the AR experience ‘For All Mankind: Time Capsule’
• The Emmy for Outstanding Interactive Program has been awarded to Space Explorers: The ISS Experience by Felix&Paul studios.

It’s great to see the value of AR and VR experiences recognized in such an important award!

More info (Baba Yaga)
More info (Space Explorers and For All Mankind)

Alter Ego is going to bring digital avatars to TV

The most viral XR video of the week has been the trailer of Alter Ego, a contest between singers on TV where the singers are represented by digital avatars on the stage. A mix of real and digital elements (that is a taste of our mixed reality future) that is going to be aired on mainstream media like television.

More info

VR adoption is on the rise, but interest towards VR is not

Market analysis firm ARtillery Intelligence has conducted a survey about VR in the US. The results are intriguing: while VR adoption is on the rise (“23 percent of households own or have access to a VR headset, up from 19 percent in 2020”), people that are interested in getting a VR headset are lowering (“Non-VR users report relatively low interest in VR ownership — 20 percent, down from 29 percent in [2020]”).
 
That is, VR keeps having the same issues as always: until people try it, they don’t understand how cool and powerful it is.

More info

Facebook returns Quill to its creator

VR animation tool Quill has proved to be an interesting tool for creators these years. Facebook bought it from its creator, but now that it is slowly abandoning the PC VR sector, it has removed the program from the store and returned it to Mr. Quillez, the original developer. This move resembles the one that Google had with TiltBrush: instead of killing the program, it is returning it back to the community, and this is for sure a good decision.

More info

Watch a Quest 2 getting watercooled

The famous Youtuber Thrillseeker had the crazy idea of adding a water-cooling system to its Oculus Quest 2 and it has actually made it become reality! The resulting device is bulky, looks like something from the Predator Movie, and has no kind of advantage over the standard Quest 2… but hey, it is a pretty cool and crazy experiment, so you have to watch it!

More info

Exploit these discounts on VR games

Half-Life: Alyx is discounted until today at -40% and you can buy it for 30€.
 
At the same time, Humble Bundle has launched the Fall VR Emporium bundle, with some interesting VR games (like Paper Beast and A Fisherman’s Tale) at only 13€. Cool, isn’t it?

More info (Half-Life: Alyx)
More info (Humble Bundle)

Space Pirate Trainer DX has been released and reviewed

Space Pirate Trainer DX lets you play 1-vs-1 multiplayer shooter in a big 10m x 10m area. It is a very original game, the first to offer this kind of feature. This week I’ve seen the first reviews about this game from Youtubers and journalists, and all people agree that it is a very solid and fun game. The fact that there is a level editor also increments the replayability, even if the game looks a bit always the same. Kudos to the developers for this title!

More info (Space Pirate Trainer DX review on Road To VR)
More info (Interview to Space Pirate Trainer DX developers)

Beat Saber announces cross-platform support and a new DLC

Beat Games has announced cross-platform play between users on Quest and PC, with cross-platform with PSVR being in the developers’ dream at the moment.
 
The game studio has also announced a new DLC featuring the songs of the very popular singer Billie Eilish.

More info (Beat Saber’s cross-platform play)
More info (Beat Saber’s Billie Eilish DLC)

Niantic shuts down Catan World Explorers

Niantic has just announced that it will wind down Catan World Explorers, the geolocalized AR game inspired by the board game Catan. It seems that Niantic can’t make a new hit that is successful like Pokemon Go in any possible way.

More info

Some news on content

• Lavrynthos is a VR experience presented in Venice that has a very original way of exploiting the space around you
• Star Wars: Tales From The Galaxy Edge — Last Call has been released. It is deeper and longer than the first episode and makes the saga more complete
• Microsoft Flight Simulator is (finally) going to add VR controllers support soon
• Squingle is a very original (and trippy) puzzle game for App Lab, also featuring a free demo
• The VR mod for Half-Life 2 is coming to life again, also thanks to the help of legendary modder Dr.Beef
• Shock Troops, a shooter with retro-vibes, is going to release in 2022
• Luke Ross, the author of the mods for Grand Theft Auto V and Red Dead Redemption 2, has just released a Mafia VR mod
• Gunman Contracts Mod transforms Half-Life: Alyx in a gangster shooting game
• Realistic painting application Painting VR has released a big update in preparation for its Kickstarter campaign
• Synth Riders has launched a new Muse DLC Pack, with one of the songs including a beautiful visual experience
• Neverboard is a collection of fun board games to play with your friends on the Oculus Quest

More info (Lavrynthos)
More info (Star Wars: Tales From The Galaxy Edge — Last Call / Release)
More info (Star Wars: Tales From The Galaxy Edge — Last Call / Review)
More info (Star Wars: Tales From The Galaxy Edge — Last Call / Full Saga Review)
More info (Microsoft Flight Simulator)
More info (Squingle)
More info (Half Life 2 VR Mod)
More info (Shock Troops)
More info (Mafia VR Mod)
More info (Gunman Contracts — Mod for Half-Life: Alyx)
More info (Painting VR)
More info (Synth Riders — Muse DLC)
More info (Neverboard)

News from partners (and friends)

VR AR Association is developing a company-specific African ecosystem report. If you are a company/startup/lab leveraging XR in Africa, kindly fill the form linked below or reach out to VRARA Nigeria to get featured.
Fill the form Contact VRARA Nigeria

Some XR fun

The only thing that has not fun while playing VR is my hair
Funny link

A very funny song about VRChat and its weirdness… sung inside VRChat
Funny link

Gaming requires sacrifices…
Funny link

Give me summertime happiness!

To not make me spend these last days of summer with summertime sadness (like Lana Del Rey), donate to my Patreon account! This lets me continue my job as a blogger so that I can keep informing all of you of the XR communities with detailed articles and roundups!
 
Today’s article has been possible thanks to the very kind support of these people and companies:

• DeoVR
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• Jean-Marc Duyckaerts
• Reynaldo T Zabala
• Ilias Kapouranis
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• Adam Boyd
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(Header image by Diver-X)