Very busy day at work, but here I am during the evening writing this roundup of news for you! Before talking about the news, let me remind you that if you use this link to register to the NVIDIA GTC, you will have the chance to win an NVIDIA RTX 3080Ti graphics card, which will be assigned exclusively to one of my followers. You will find the instructions down below this newsletter… don’t miss this opportunity!
Top news of the week
PSVR 2 will launch in 2023
It is now official: Sony Interactive Entertainment has confirmed on Instagram that the PlayStation VR 2 headset is going to launch in “early 2023”. This was to be expected, considering the chip shortage and the adverse economic conditions, but it’s still a pity because this means that this headset will lose the opportunity to sell many units during the holidays of 2022.
I guess that Sony will focus on selling more PS5 units, which will be fundamental to pave the way to the release of PSVR 2, which will need a PS5 unit to work. But there is bad news also in this sense: exactly like Meta, also Sony had to take the decision to rise the price of PS5 “in selected markets” because of the current inflation rates. This is pretty disappointing.
Upload VR has reported that Capcom has revealed that the VR version of Resident Evil 8 will be playable at the Tokyo Game Show on PlayStation VR2. If this is confirmed, it means that in 2 weeks, there will be people that will actually try the new headset by Sony. Having this first feedback could be overly interesting, and I can’t wait to hear this.
Next year sounds already to be very interesting, with the expected release of PSVR 2 and maybe also of the Apple headset…
More info (PSVR launching in early 2023)
More info (Resident Evil 8 playable on PSVR2 at Tokyo Game Show)
More info (PS5 price to increase soon)
Other relevant news
Meta accounts are being rolled out
Finally, this week Meta is distributing the v43 update of Meta Quest which bring with it the much-awaited Meta accounts. People are now forced to create a Meta account to be able to keep using the Quest and in the process can also disconnect the Facebook account from it.
It is a bit nuisance to have to do again an account operation to be able to use your headset, but it’s a relief that finally you can use your headset without needing a connection to a social media, with all the associated risks, like for instance losing your games if you were banned from Facebook. Privacy-wise, I don’t think that much is going to change, though.
The operation to change the account for me was very straightforward and just took me a few minutes. I did it on PC and went very well, so kudos to Meta for that. I know about some people having problems doing the operation from inside the Quest, though, so not everyone had a super-smooth experience.
If you still don’t have the opportunity to create your Meta account, just wait a few days before the update arrives on your device.
More info (Meta accounts are being rolled out)
More info (Reddit thread with people having problems with Meta accounts)
More info (Robert Scoble’s thoughts on Apple’s strategy)
Quest Pro (Cambria) should launch in October
Mark Zuckerberg has been a guest in the very popular Joe Rogan Experience podcast, and there it has confirmed that the next Meta headset is going to launch in October. “For the next device that’s coming out in October, there are a few big features” he literally said, and this sentence doesn’t leave room for misinterpretations. He also let Joe Rogan try the new headset (Project Cambria) behind the scenes, and the presenter came out quite impressed by it.
I’m honestly not surprised by this announcement, considering that we were all expecting the announcement of this device at the upcoming Meta Connect, especially because we are all sure that Meta wants to launch its device before Apple. But it is still cool to have confirmation.
Gamescom had a decent VR presence this year
While the last virtual Gamescom was pretty disappointing for what concerns VR, this one had some VR stuff worth seeing.
First of all, it’s important to report that Pico had a huge booth there, which totally eclipsed the one held by Meta. This confirms once more how Pico wants to be a big competitor for Meta, and is doing a big effort to reach out to gamers and game developers. This is an important signal.
Then, we had some news about games. Owlchemy Labs teased its upcoming experience, which for the first time will be multiplayer (Owlchemy games are usually single-player), and will rely heavily on hand tracking (it is not even sure it will support other input means). We don’t have much info, apart from a simple teaser, but considering Owlchemy’s talent in making intriguing VR games, I’m curious to know more.
Fast Travel Games was at Gamescom, too, and there it presented two new games:
- a new VR co-op action title called EVERSLAUGHT Invasion which is slated to arrive on Meta Quest 2 in early 2023
- a multiplayer VR sword fighting game called Broken Edge, which will launch in November for Quest 2 and SteamVR.
It’s good to see that VR is back on the menu at Gamescom!
More info (Pico’s big presence at Gamescom)
More info (Owlchemy Labs’s new game)
More info (Fast Travel Games’s Everslaught Invasion)
More info (Fast Travel Games’s Broken Edge)
News worth a mention
Steamdeck interface to be used for VR
It’s a lot that we don’t have a big update to SteamVR, but now this is going to change. Valve has indicated that VR headsets using Steam will “soon” have Steam Deck’s user interface. This is great for two reasons: at first, because finally Steam VR interface will have a usability refresh. And then because this seems to hint that there will be a VR version of Steamdeck…
John Carmack will speak in VR at Meta Connect
John Carmack has released quite interesting info on Twitter this week. First of all, his startup about AGI (Artificial General Intelligence) has raised $20M to carry on its research. Given the talent of Carmack, I would have bet on him, too, if I had the money. AGI is now his main work field, but he is still devoting 20% of his time (a day every week) to Meta. This may not seem a lot, but remember that he’s John Carmack, so 20% of his time is like 100% of the time of a team of 25 developers!
Carmack will still hold his unscripted talk at Meta Connect this year. When I asked him if the event will be in VR, he answered that his speech will be in VR. This is pretty cool!
More info (Carmack working 20% of his time at Meta)
More info (Carmack will speak in VR at Meta Connect)
Nreal launches in China and partners with Gentle Monster
Chinese AR company Nreal has finally launched its products in its mother country. Both Nreal Light, renamed Nreal X for China, and Nreal Air have been announced, priced at 4299 yuan and 2299 yuan, respectively. Nreal has also announced an adapter to connect the glasses to iOS devices, and it is priced at 799 yuan. China is a big market, and Nreal knows it pretty well, so it will be interesting to see the sales volumes that the company will be able to obtain there.
At the same time, Nreal has also partnered with Korean fashion brand Gentle Monster, which is investing $15M in the glasses manufacturer. The two companies will collaborate to bring augmented reality to the fashion industry, and I’m dreaming of Gentle Monster designing beautiful AR glasses that people will want to wear in the streets. Let’s hope this happens.
More info (Nreal launching its glasses in China)
More info (Nreal partnering with Gentle Monster)
Shadow Creator teases upcoming headset
Talking about believable Chinese Manufacturers, Shadow Creator has just teased its upcoming mixed reality device featuring pancake optics. From the teaser video, it looks like a Cambria competitor, but we don’t have any info on it, yet.
Some news on the metaverse
These are some articles I have found about the metaverse that are worth reading:
- Someone wrote on Medium a long article about how we are risking that the metaverse will have the same problems as the current internet;
- Tidio has published a very long market research about the metaverse: from it, results that more than 70% of users are afraid of its negative consequences. It also explores the interest of the market in various applications of the metaverse, like working, traveling, and dating;
- There has been a bit of a mess happening with virtual artist Fn Meka. It seems that virtual artists may be a good thing, but also give music labels the perfect artist that always work, always obey, and never complain, also without being liable for what it does, because it doesn’t exist. This is a danger to take in mind for the future, because it may actually harm real physical singers.
More info (The metaverse as evolution of the internet)
More info (Market research on the metaverse)
More info (FN Meka and the virtual artists)
NVIDIA RTX40 series leaked
A leak has unveiled that NVIDIA RTX40 graphics cards are being manufactured. One of the graphics card is listed in the leaked documents with AD102 GPU and with 24GB VRAM. It would also feature four display connectors (3x DP & 1x HDMI). I can’t wait for this to be released… so that I can pretend I’ll have the money to buy it!
Two interesting experiments from Shopify and Unity
I guess that one day I should add a “cool XR things to see” to this newsletter. If I did, I would for sure add to it these two cool experiments I found this week:
- Shopify has made an internal prototype with a virtual try-on of pieces of furniture with “inverse AR”. The standard virtual try-ons show in AR a new piece of furniture inside your home. With this “inverse AR” try-on, instead, you first scan your room, and then in the shop you frame the piece of furniture with your smartphone, and the system adds the virtual version of your room around the real piece of furniture in AR! The concept is pretty cool and you have to give it a look;
- Greg Madison from Unity has made a cool experiment with Shape XR. In it, you have your Quest 2 in passthrough mode through which you can see your surroundings. In XR, you have a virtual tablet, and moving the tablet around you see through it a virtual colored version of the environment you are in, made in CGI. Very smooth.
More info (Shopify’s experiment)
More info (Greg Madison’s experiment)
A redditor tried the Nofio wireless adapter for Valve Index
A redditor has managed to try the Nofio wireless adapter for Valve Index, or at least, its current prototype. The good news is that the product exists and it works. The bad news is that it is currently a prototype, so it is very buggy.
Some news on content
- NERF Ultimate Championship has been released on Quest 2. It is a good shooter, but first reviews say that it lacks a bit of depth
- The popular card game Catan is going to release for the AR headset Tilt Five
- We have new details about the upcoming Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners — Chapter 2: there will be more weapons (including a chainsaw!), game modes, and enemies
- Transformers: Beyond Reality is releasing on PSVR on September 1st
More info (Nerf Ultimate Championship released)
More info (Nerf Ultimate Championship review)
More info (Catan on Tilt Five)
More info (TWD: Saint and Sinners 2)
More info (Transformers: Beyond Reality)
Other news
Upload VR went hands-on the Starburst high-HDR prototype
New shoes promising wireless full body tracking are coming to Kickstarter. I’m not convinced by their claimed precision, though
Back in the day, Sega had an internal VR headset prototype called Virtua Visor
New research confirms that women suffer virtual sickness more than men
Apple announces a new event, where most likely will release the iPhone 14. We’ll be disappointed again for the lack of a XR headset
Hyperjump proposes a new way of walking in VR without having sickness. It consists in letting you lean in the direction you want to walk to
Vuzix announces Blade 2 smartglasses for enterprise
News from partners (and friends)
Join me at AWE Europe!
I will be one of the speakers at AWE Europe, which will be held in Lisbon (Portugal) on October 20–21. I will release more details about my participation in the upcoming weeks. In the meantime, if you want to meet me there, you can buy a discounted ticket using the code SPKR22D when you check out!
Try to win an NVIDIA RTX Graphics Card!
Thanks to a (paid) collaboration I’m having with NVIDIA, I can offer the possibility of winning an RTX 3080Ti graphics card to one of my followers! To win, you have to perform the following procedure:
Step-1: Register for NVIDIA GTC using this link: https://www.nvidia.com/gtc/?ncid=ref-crea-201724. To qualify, you must be resident in the EMEA region (Europe, Middle East, or Africa).
Step-2: Wait for the GTC to start and join the Keynote livestream.
Step-3: Attend GTC sessions. NOTE: Prizes will be awarded only to those who register for GTC using the link above and attend at least one session.
Step-4: Wait and hope to win a graphics card!
Don’t miss this opportunity! Participate and try to win. The possibilities are quite high, considering that I don’t have millions of followers…
Register and participate to the raffle
Some XR fun
Swimming pools in the metaverse
Funny link
Some fun memes about the metaverse taken from Micaela Mantegna’s article linked above.
Funny link / 1
Funny link / 2
The community has not stopped making memes about Zuck’s cringe selfie…
(Thanks Isabel De Peuter-Rutten for having shared the first link with me!)
Funny link / 1
Funny link / 2
Funny link / 3
This happens when you try to jump a fence in VR!
Funny link
The metaverse is a trillion dollar opportunity!
Funny link
I am confused.
Funny link
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
- GenVR
- Eduardo Siman
- Jonn Fredericks
- Jean-Marc Duyckaerts
- Reynaldo T Zabala
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- Nikk Mitchell and the great FXG team
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And now here you are the link to donate:
Support The Red Cross in Ukraine
(Header image by Sony Interactive Entertainment)