The XR Week Peek (2022.12.19): Carmack leaves Meta, HTC teases its headset, and more!
These days I’m crunching like hell, so this edition of the newsletter will be with very minimal commentaries. Next week, things should be better… in the meanwhile, send me hugs 🙂
(And btw if the header image made you curious… this is a fully modular SteamVR controller built by Rob Cole: https://skarredghost.com/2022/12/16/project-modular-open-vr-controllers-2/)
Top news of the week
John Carmack leaves Meta
John Carmack has completely left Meta. He did that by writing a message in which he criticized the inefficiency of the company and his inability to make the company change its course by preventing bad decisions. This is a huge loss for the whole VR ecosystem.
(And btw John, if you are reading this newsletter… thanks a lot for all the huge work you did in this field, and thanks for your honesty in all this time!)
More info (News on Upload)
More info (News on Engadget)
Other relevant news
HTC to reveal its headset at CES
After many weeks of teasing, HTC is finally ready to unveil its new headset at CES. The company is ready to return back to the consumer space and will try to battle the Quest with another headset featuring a lightweight design and RGB passthrough. It’s interesting that the device will feature a depth sensor (for better room mapping), and a display with a good dynamic range. But it’s already said the price will be higher than the one of the Quest. I expect the usual HTC headset, with technical innovations, but a price that doesn’t make it compelling for users.
More info (HTC’s new headset — Road To VR)
More info (HTC’s new headset — Upload VR)
HoloLens may not be completely dead
This year we had many rumors hinting at the fact that the HoloLens project may have been terminated. Actually, this week, Microsoft’s new mixed reality VP Scott Evans said that Microsoft is carrying on many innovations in various technological fields, and it is expecting the right time to release an update of the HoloLens. He’s clearly hinting at the fact that there may be a HoloLens 3.
Resolution Games had its company event
Resolution Games just had its own event during which it announced many pieces of news about its games. Demeo is going to receive a new campaign, a PvP mode, but also a price raise to $40 to reflect the new value of the game. Blaston is becoming free to play. The company also unveiled Spatial Ops, a local multiplayer mixed reality shooter, that according to the first reviewers, is very fun to play.
More info (Blaston becoming free to play)
More info (Demeo new campaign)
More info (Demeo VR price increase)
More info (Demeo PvP mode)
More info (Spatial Ops)
News worth a mention
A rumor arises about the Quest 3
Some people found a patent about what could be the design of the upcoming Quest 3 (you can see the possible design above). Personally, I find it too horrible to be a true Meta product but never say never.
More info (Meta Quest 3 / 1)
More info (Meta Quest 3 / 2)
Two Quest features make us dream about the metaverse
Recently Quest products had two interesting updates:
- Meta Quest Pro is getting shared spatial anchors, meaning that it is possible to have full colocation between people in the same room
- Quest runtime is going to add a feature to let users use portals to go from one application to another one. You know, traveling between different applications is one of the features of that thing that begins with M…
More info (Space colocation)
More info (Traveling between apps)
Steam now support VR tags
After last week’s drama, finally Steam added two new tags for its games: “VR only” and “VR supported”, so that users know if a game requires VR the moment they buy it.
Google may be working on a bracelet and a ring for its glasses
According to some rumors, Google is experimenting with the user interface for its future AR glasses and it is currently studying two solutions: a bracelet, and a ring controller.
Avatar representation is very important for the outcome of a VR experience
Two interesting studies about VR caught my attention this week. The first one shows that the embodiment of a strong character like a God enhances the feeling of invulnerability, so can make us feel also more confident in ourselves. The second one analyzed the effect of avatars and environments in group interactions. The result of this study is that bigger environments (or outdoor environments) in VR foster better sensations in the users. And that if people have a representative avatar, they feel more embodied, but if everyone has the same avatar, people feel freer, because they can do whatever they want without the fear of being identified.
More info (God embodiement)
More info (Avatar and environment)
Pico games sale
Pico is hosting a big sale of VR games on its stores that will run until the 1st of January! If you have a Pico headset, this is the right time to buy a game.
Some news on content
- Beat Saber releases Rock Mixtape
- Synth Riders releases Bruno Mars DLC
- Resident Evil Village will be a free DLC for PSVR 2
- Blinnk and the Vacuum of Space is a game studied to be played by an autistic audience
- Upload has reviewed the new Sandbox mode of Population One
- The Falconeer has released for PCVR
- Vermillion released a multiplayer update to let you paint together with other people
- Upload has reviewed Dyschronia Episode 2
- Slimeball! is one of the first games embodying face tracking on Quest Pro
More info (Beat Saber)
More info (Bruno Mars)
More info (Resident Evil Village)
More info (Blinnk Vacuum)
More info (Population One Sandbox)
More info (The Falconeer)
More info (Vermillion)
More info (Dyschronia)
More info (Slimeball!)
Other news
Viture One glasses are one of best inventions of 2022 according to TIME
Gartner’s strategic predictions include the metaverse
The FDA lists all the companies using XR in healthcare
Google Trends shows interest for “Metaverse” has plummeted
Oppo shows Oppo Air Glass 2 concept
Leaks unveil that bHaptics is going to announce 3 haptic accessories at CES
Wetac is a haptic skin currently under research
A study shows that in VR we are also using “expectations” to understand the size of a virtual element
SHARP is going to present AR/VR related electronics at CES
An interesting article details the virtual B.I.G. concert inside Meta Horizon
News from partners (and friends)
Participate in SlashData Survey
Copy-paste:
AR/VR creators, this survey is for you. Which tools and platforms are you using to build mind-bending creations? Take the survey to help the global community learn more about the skills and technologies necessary to succeed in 2023.
The survey takes about 15 minutes and covers VR, AR, and mixed reality sectors. It’s available in English, Chinese (Simplified), Spanish, Vietnamese, and Russian. Just pick a language you’re most comfortable with.
In return for your effort, you will enter prize draws for a chance to win a Meta Quest 2, Gift cards and Crypto to use towards your AR/VR project, swag, and more. If you have a few extra minutes, promote the survey for a chance to win up to $1,000 USD in cash.
The survey welcomes creators of all profiles: no-code, developers, students, hobbyists, and professionals. Take the survey before it closes, on February 3rd.
Some XR fun
This is going to hurt
Funny link
True story
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
- Richard Penny
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- Immersive.international
- 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 Rob Cole)
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