The XR Week Peek (2022.07.18): Magic Leap 2 price revealed, new rumors about Apple, and more!
Another week passed by, with lots of working stress and constant high temperature… but at least I had a fun time eating the biggest ice cream cone I’ve ever had! The inner child inside me is very happy about that.
Ok, enough talking about ice creams, let’s talk about XR!
Top news of the week
Magic Leap reveals prices and availability of ML 2
Finally, Magic Leap has revealed information about the price and availability of Magic Leap 2. The device is being officially made available on September, 30th, 2022, with three different available tiers:
- Magic Leap 2 Base, priced at $3300, with just one year of warranty
- Magic Leap 2 Developer Pro, priced at $4100, with one year of warranty and access to developer tools, sample products, enterprise-grade features, and “monthly early releases for development and test purposes”
- Magic Leap 2 Enterprise, priced at $5000, with two years of warranty and access to enterprise features and updates, including the possibility of being managed by MDM (Mobile Device Management) solutions
I think this is a very smart pricing strategy, because it more or less replicates the one of HoloLens 2, while undercutting it by $200 in its lowest tier. In my opinion, Magic Leap 2 is a superior device to HoloLens 2 (see my hands-on here), so I think that with these prices, it can have good success in the enterprise market, starting to gain shares with regard to Microsoft. Microsoft Mixed Reality department is currently in a confused moment and it is not clear when, how, and if will ever reply to this device.
Someone in the communities argued with me that HoloLens 2 has still some advantages over Magic Leap 2: it is well integrated with Azure, it is standalone so it doesn’t need a potentially dangerous cable connecting the headset to the computational unit, and it doesn’t need controllers (it uses hands tracking). These are all right considerations, but it is also true that Magic Leap has much better visuals. It will be interesting to see in the last months of this year what will be the features to which enterprises give the most value and which headset will they buy.
A final consideration on Magic Leap: many people commented on my Linkedin post about it saying something about the fact that with this price it can’t reach mainstream adoption: notwithstanding the fact that the CEO Peggy Johnson keeps repeating that this device is enterprise-only, many people still think about the old claim of the device for creators. Probably the communication machine of the company is not as strong as before, so the old message still hangs around.
Other relevant news
Apple to launch a second “more affordable” headset in 2025
Since the rumors about the upcoming Apple headset were not enough, the famous Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has thought well to release rumors about the next-generation headset. Yes, we don’t even have the real first one, and we are not even 100% sure it is going to launch, but analysts are already thinking about the second one. This is a total joke.
According to this SUPER-RELIABLE information, the second generation Apple headset will launch in 2025, and it will consist of two models: a high-end one and a “more affordable” one. The sales of the two headsets combined should reach 10 million units by 2026.
In the total nonsense of all of this, I still see one interesting info, that is the last one about the sales. According to analysts, the Apple headset could reach 10M sold units in 2026… this means that in 4 years from now, it expects to have the sales that Quest had in 2021–2022. If it is true, it confirms that Apple has no mainstream plans for this device, and it will bet on true AR glasses for the mainstream. This will probably be a device for prosumers or become something like a tablet. Anyway, we’ll see… these are all speculations.
Shopify’s internal prototype shows the power of diminished reality
Talking about real stuff doable with Apple devices, Shopify has just released a video about an internal prototype created using the latest iPhone with a LIDAR sensor. The demo is kinda mindblowing because it shows a real room, and then by pressing a button, you can see the same room, but without all its pieces of furniture. It basically makes all the furniture disappear, so that you can test how new items fit inside it. This is what we all dream of for future applications by IKEA and similar brands: you can remove for instance the sofa and substitute it with another one and see how it fits with the rest of the room. These are the things that the superpowers of diminished reality allow us to do.
From a technical standpoint, it is interesting how the app has been done: it exploits the new RoomPlan APIs by Apple to scan the room and get its geometry, then gets the textures separately and applies them to the model, caring of reconstructing the parts of the textures that are not visible because they are occluded by other objects in a similar way that Photoshop does. You can read all of it in the Twitter thread I’m linking here below.
The prototype is not available to the public, but I can’t wait for applications like this to become mainstream.
More info (Shopify’s room planning prototype)
More info (Twitter thread with technical details about the app)
Cambria is going to launch with controllers
Andrew “Boz” Bosworth, the new CTO of Meta, has debunked the rumor spread by Brad Lynch about Project Cambria launching without controllers. It will launch with VR controllers, and will be expensive because it contains a lot of new technology. He also added that “it is worth it”
Boz has also claimed to be happy about the upcoming Apple headset because this is going to help the overall adoption of VR. He also added “they gotta ship first”, though.
A final remark on full body suits: he said he is not interested because visual and auditory stimuli make up 80 percent of the human experience, “and that’s enough for Meta”. This is understandable from a business standpoint, but hearing a CTO, so the supreme tech guy of a company, the one who should be excited the most about technology, saying this is a bit sad. I would also argue how much his statistics are true: feeling touched is a kinda unique experience for me as a human, and I also love eating, and I do that at least 3 times a day… so I guess that life is not only about seeing and hearing.
News worth a mention
PUBG to host its first concert
After Fortnite started the trend of virtual concerts in virtual worlds, always more platforms started implementing them. The latest example of this is PUBG, which surprisingly is hosting a concert by the Korean band Blackpink. I’m very curious to discover how it will perform, because it doesn’t seem to me the right platform for such a performance, but maybe we will discover that whatever multiplayer world is a good fit for virtual concerts. What is sure, instead, is that virtual concerts are a trend to keep an eye on (and I say that also because I work with them).
Discover the Oppo smartglasses
The Verge journalist Adi Robertson has gone hands-on with the Oppo smartglasses. She found interesting the design with the detachable lens on top of very thin frames, but the overall look is still too dorky. It’s an article worth reading, which highlights the pros and cons of the device. My overall impression is that no one has still cracked down the right smartglasses formula.
Some articles on the metaverse
Some interesting stuff about the M-word:
- I’ve found two articles shared via WeChat that talk about the attitude that China has towards the metaverse and the plans that the most important Chinese cities have to grow in metaverse-related topics. In China, the M-word is becoming a hot topic, too… but we have to see what will be the practical results of these investments
- Animoca Brands, the HongKong-based company that owns the Web3 platform The Sandbox, has just got other 75M of investments to grow its business
- XR influencer Cathy Hackl has written the list of the best books about the metaverse to read during the summer
- I’ve read an interesting article about how web3 platforms are not really succeeding because they are too focused on money and they are just attracting speculators and not real users.
More info (Article about the metaverse in China)
More info (Article about Chinese cities’ attitude towards the metaverse)
More info (Animoca Brands getting 75M)
More info (Metaverse books reading list)
More info (Web3 platforms issues)
Nano-tech wants to be the Nanite of Unity
Unreal Engine 5 has brought two interesting features with its release: Lumen and Nanite. Nanite lets you add whatever model with whatever complexity to your scene, and then it works on all the platforms, adapting its complexity to the computational power of the destination device. This feature is not available on Unity, but there is a dev that is trying to build a plugin with similar functionalities: dubbed “Nano-tech”, this plugin aims at letting you use the models you want in your project, even in VR ones. If you want, you can support the project on IndieGoGo.
More info (Nano Tech on IndieGoGo)
More info (Nano Tech with VR)
Documentary “We Met In Virtual Reality” to release on HBO
The documentary “We Met In Virtual Reality” narrates the stories of some VRChat users that met in VR and keep living their relations inside it. The film premiered at Sundance and it promises to talk about “the growing power and intimacy of several relationships formed in the virtual world, many of which began during the COVID-19 lockdown while so many in the physical world were facing intense isolation”. The big news is that it is coming on July 27th on HBO and will also be available to stream on HBO Max. This is cool because it will help spread the word about VR and virtual worlds.
Valve to host the first Steam VR Fest
This week, Valve will host on Steam the first “VR Fest”, which will highlight discounts and demos for VR games. There have already been various Steam Fests on the platform, but it is the first time there is one all dedicated to VR. Of course, this is good news for all the VR gaming ecosystem.
Some news on content
- Zulubo Productions claims that Vertigo 2 is now playable from the beginning to the end and a closed beta of it will start soon
- Red Matter 2 is coming to Quest and Steam VR on August, 18th. I can’t wait to play this one
- All On Board! promises to make you play any card game in VR, with also the possibility of creating card games for the other users to play. It is now on Kickstarter
- Beat Saber published an update with 80 songs that can be played with just one hand. Big kudos for the added accessibility provided by this update
- Survios and 20th Century Games are partnering to develop an Aliens franchise game for VR, PC, and console
- Ready At Dawn is working on new cool VR projects, but it is not going to port Echo Combat or Lone Echo 2 to Quest
- Puzzling Places to release a DLC that adds more storytelling to some levels
- Open Brush adds passthrough AR for Quest in Beta
- Kayak VR, with its beautiful graphics and innovative interaction mode, is now available
- The Twilight Zone VR is finally available for Quest
- Synth Riders has just made its 4th year anniversary! Big congratulations to them!
- Upload has gone hands-on with the Far Cry location-based-VR experience and found it nice, but a bit too short
- The Atlas Mystery looks like a cool VR puzzle game.
More info (Vertigo 2)
More info (Red Matter 2)
More info (All On Board!)
More info (Beat Saber)
More info (Aliens experience)
More info (Ready At Dawn)
More info (Puzzling Places)
More info (Open Brush)
More info (Kayak VR)
More info (The Twilight Zone VR)
More info (Synth Riders VR)
More info (Far Cry VR)
More info (Atlas Mystery VR)
Other news
Resolution Games has reported record earnings for 2021
Here you can find a list of the top VR startups in 2022 and which ones have the potential of becoming unicorns
News from partners (and friends)
Read this Intelligence Report about Wearables
My friend Catherine D. Henry has prepared a detailed report about wearables and the metaverse. It is aimed at business people that want to enter this world and want to understand it better, getting information about the current status of the market and its future trends.
Discover UnitedVR
Chris Koomen, the XR professional that is building VR solutions at KLM, has started its consultancy studio called UnitedVR. If you need professional consulting about virtual reality, get in touch with him! I totally endorse him both on the professional and the personal side.
See Unity running on Quest
Anjin Games is keeping doing its crazy work with its Linux emulator running on Quest. Simon, the head of the studio, has managed to make the emulated PC even run Unity, and create a Unity Cube app on it. This is mind-blowing! I’ve tried the emulator myself, and while still a work-in-progress, it’s crazy how you can run a mini PC on your headset.
Some XR fun
Half Life 3 confirmed! Sort of
The perfect VRChat experience
I have finally found the right PC to enter the potatoverse!
The jokes about the new Meta account for Quest have not ended, yet
Actually it is “In 5 to 10 years”…
A fantastic new Apple rumor this week!
A very subtle nerd joke about all the mess made by the Unity CEO this week
(Thanks Mati for the tip!)
Donate for good
Like last week, also this week in this final paragraph I won’t ask you to donate for my blog, but to the poor people that are facing the consequences of the war. Please donate to the Red Cross to handle the current humanitarian situation in Ukraine. I will leave you the link to do that below.
Let me take a moment before to thank anyway all my Patreon donors for the support they give to me:
- Alex Gonzalez VR
- DeoVR
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- Eduardo Siman
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And now here you are the link to donate:
Support The Red Cross in Ukraine
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