The XR Week Peek (2023.03.07): Meta roadmap unveiled, Xiaomi shows its AR glasses, and more!
This week is going to be great because I’m going to attend the SXSW (I will write a dedicated post about it). Before traveling, I’m trying to finish a few tasks for my job and I was hoping that this week there wasn’t much to write in this roundup so that I could write this newsletter fast. But actually, lots of interesting things happened, so there’s a lot to write about! Well, good for you that are going to read this text 😉
Top news of the week
Meta’s XR roadmap unveiled
The Verge’s Alex Heath has been able to gather information about an internal meeting that happened at Meta, in which the management informed the employees about the roadmap of the upcoming XR devices.
According to this report, this is the plan that Meta has for the upcoming years in VR:
- Release Quest 3, focused on Mixed Reality, in 2023. It should cost more than Quest 2, but have double the power and half the size. It should launch with 41 new titles specifically made for it, so we can assume that finally, we will see some big new games from the studios that Meta acquired. Meta wants to make sure that this device excites the XR community
- Keep selling Quest 2 for a while even after the launch of Quest 3. Most probably the idea is to sell it at a lower cost so that it can attract more people to XR
- In 2024 release a new headset codenamed Ventura, which is cheaper than Quest 3. We can imagine it as a Quest 3 Lite and its purpose for Meta is “pack the biggest punch we can at the most attractive price point in the VR consumer market”
- Keep selling the Quest Pro for a while
- “In the future” (Later than 2025) offer a new Pro headset with very advanced features, including the famous realistic “Codec Avatars”
For what concerns AR:
- A new version of Ray-Ban Stories smartglasses should come out this year, offering better photo and video capabilities
- In 2025, the third version of Ray-Ban Stories should be released. They should offer a visual HUD in front of the eyes, plus a neural wristband to command them with slight movements of the hands. In an alternate version, Meta will offer a smartwatch with the neural detection incorporated, so if the user is used to having a smartwatch, doesn’t have to sacrifice it to wear the neural wristband
- Real AR glasses, with 3D objects in the scene, virtual avatars, and such, are now slated for 2027
I want to just say two things about this roadmap. The first is to take it with a huge grain of salt. Every time we had a leaked roadmap, many things of it didn’t become true. This is normal because in a fast-evolving field like VR, many things change and also roadmaps have to adapt to the changed conditions. So I would bet that there will be many changes to it in the next months.
The second is that looking at it we realize how the road to a fully mixed-reality future is very long. The first version of consumer AR glasses is slated for 2027, 4 years from now. And we are talking just about the first version, which most probably won’t become mainstream. So the estimates about XR taking around 10 years to become widespread start to make sense. It’s a long road to get there.
More info (The Verge’s full report about Meta’s roadmap)
More info (Meta will keep selling the Quest 2 after Quest 3’s release)
More info (Quest 3 is thinner and more powerful than Quest 2)
More info (A render of how the Quest 3 may be)
More info (Quest 3 lite to come in 2024)
More info (Quest 3 lite — Ventura — to come in 2024)
More info (Quest Pro 2 will have Codec Avatars)
More info (Meta’s AR roadmap)
Other relevant news
Some interesting news just came from the MWC
This year was a good year for immersive realities at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.
Qualcomm took the stage and announced the partnership with 7 major telcos to work together in developing and promoting future AR glasses and related development programs (like Snapdragon Spaces). It also announced that new devices based on Qualcomm chipsets are coming.
The most important example of these devices is the new Xiaomi Wireless AR Glass Discovery Edition. These are very lightweight glasses that use the same chipset as Meta Quest 2: the Snapdragon XR2. What is most impressive are the capabilities of the display and in particular the pixel density: 58 pixels per degree, which is close to retina vision (for reference, Meta Quest Pro has a PPD of 22, while Varjo XR-3 has 70). The 1200 nits of the display also make sure the visuals are very bright. Hands-tracking is also supported. From a first hands-on someone was able to have with the device, seems that the prototype is solid, but the battery life is a bit short (30 minutes).
It was visible in Qualcomm’s presentation that also Oppo is going to launch an XR headset. This doesn’t surprise me because in China many people told me that they were waiting for Oppo to make a move with a VR headset. In the meanwhile, the Oppo AR glasses have been one of the most appreciated AR glasses at MWC, thanks to their very lightweight design.
HTC has made its moves at MWC, too. It has announced that the business edition of the Vive XR Elite is coming, and also the release of the business edition of Viveverse, which will offer enterprise immersive spaces for remote collaboration. HTC is one of the best companies when it comes to XR for enterprise and it’s good that it is expanding its offering in the field. It has also announced a new face gasket for the Vive XR Elite for mixed reality use: it doesn’t cover the eyes of the user from seeing the surroundings, so it can offer a more immersive AR experience.
There was also minor news to mention. For instance, ZTE Corporation has unveiled the 3D tablet Nubia Pad 3D (powered by Leia). It is a next-gen tablet device that utilizes artificial intelligence and lightfield technology to immerse the users in a variety of 3D experiences.
More info (Qualcomm’s announcements)
More info (Xiaomi AR glasses — Road To VR)
More info (Xiaomi AR glasses — Mixed News)
More info (New Oppo headset is coming)
More info (Oppo AR glasses at MWC)
More info (All HTC’s announcements from MWC)
More info (HTC’s new face gasked for XR Elite)
More info (ZTE Nubia Pad 3D)
Meta reduces the price of Quest 2 and Quest Pro
Meta has decided to cut down the price of Quest products:
- The 256GB version of Quest 2 will cost only $430 (the 128 GB one will still cost $400)
- The Quest Pro will cost only $1000 (a huge saving from its original $1500 price)
I think this is a move made to better compete with Pico 4 (with the reduction of the price of Quest 2) and HTC Vive XR Elite (with the reduction of the price of Quest Pro). In my opinion, it is also a signal of weakness: decreasing so much the price of the Quest Pro after just a few months from its release means that the device was not selling that well. And furthermore, this reduction is going to piss off lots of people (me included) that bought the headset just a few months ago.
Anyway, at the end of the day, this price reduction means that more people will afford to buy a headset, so it’s a net positive for the VR community and I’m happy about it.
Quest reported to have sold 20 M units
When I talked about the report by Alex Heath on Meta, I haven’t mentioned one very important thing that is written in that article: Meta has said in an internal presentation that the Quest line has sold around 20 M units up to now. Of course, the Quest 2 is by far the most sold headset and accounts for the majority of that number.
We can see that number in many ways. For instance, 20 M is not a bad result at all, and it is more or less the same amount of units sold by the latest Xbox. But on the other side, while the Xbox is considered mainstream hardware, the Quest is not, yet. The problem is that the sales have been 20 M across the years, while for instance, the whole Xbox ecosystem accounts for more than 100 M users. Furthermore, there is a problem with user retention and attach rate: people buy a Quest headset, but most of them don’t use it past the first 6 months. Meta has to improve a lot on this side if it wants to arrive at the 10 M active users number that Zuck indicated for an ecosystem that is healthy and can self-sustain itself.
More info (Quest has sold 20 M units)
More info (Opinion on VR not mainstream)
More info (My editorial on Quest 2 sales and the problem of retention)
More info (Editorial on The Verge about Quest being a gaming console)
Samsung trademarks “Galaxy Glasses”
We may have a name for the upcoming AR glasses by Samsung. It seems that the Korean company has just trademarked the names “Galaxy Glasses” and “Galaxy Ring”. The second term may refer to a ring controller that the user may employ to interact with his lightweight glasses instead of the bulky controllers typical of VR.
I’m pretty excited by these growing rumors about Samsung because Samsung has always proposed interesting XR devices. And you?
More info (Galaxy Glasses trademark)
More info (Galaxy Ring trademark)
News worth a mention
The Apple headset may not require an iPhone to function
According to the latest rumor about the upcoming Apple headset, the device won’t need an iPhone to work, but it can be used and configured independently. Well, considering its high cost, it seems very reasonable to me.
Meta releases deep dive on WebXR
WebXR is a very promising technology, but it has never really took off over the years. One of its problems is that developers lack the tools to easily develop with it. To try to solve this issue, Meta has released two interesting articles about two very well-made WebXR sample projects it made. And it also released the code as fully open source. This is amazing because these samples show that with the right team and the right tools it is possible to build pleasant experiences that run on the web.
More info (Meta releasing deep dive articles on WebXR)
More info (Deep dive on Project Flowerbed)
More info (Deep dive on Project Par-adowski)
The status of PCVR from a dev’s perspective
A developer wrote a little rant on Reddit about the problems of developing for PCVR: there are too many pieces of hardware to be compatible with, the community always has high expectations, and the market is not as big as we all would like to. The whole thread (including the answers) is worth a read to understand better the problems of PCVR.
Japanese companies create the “Japan Metaverse Economic Zone”
Around 10 major Japanese companies (including Mitsubishi and Fujitsu) partnered to create the “Japan Metaverse Economic Zone”, an infrastructure for the open metaverse. The idea is to lay down the foundations of an open and interoperable Japanese metaverse that may make the whole Japanese metaverse ecosystem grow. A very interesting initiative.
Fanatical is offering a VR bundle
Fanatical is currently offering a VR bundle in which you can pick games at a discounted price. The available titles are very famous VR games of the past like Fallout 4 VR and Arizona Sunshine and some new games like Cave Digger 2 and Unplugged. If you want to buy some VR games…
Population: One is becoming a free game
With a surprise announcement, BigBox VR has announced that the popular battle royale shooter Population: One is becoming free to play in March 2023 on the Quest platforms. Most probably this means that the game is so successful that it can have a sustainable economy of in-app purchases. And this news will for sure attract more and more players to it, growing even more its business. It’s great news… I’m just worried because the last game for which I was excited about its becoming profitable only via in-app-purchases was Echo VR and we all know how it ended…
Some news on content
- We finally know how the game Humanity is going to be. It will be something similar to Lemmings, but with you moving a huge crowd of humans. The game will be released in May for PC VR and PSVR 2, but a free demo is already available now
- Divine Duel, an upcoming free-to-play fighting game that pits you against celestial foes in 1v1 combat, has been released on Quest and Steam
- Sony premiered the trailer of the game Foglands, which will be a VR Dungeon Crawler Shooter
- Indie game VRNoid, which reminds a bit the old-school breakout games (but in first person), has been released for Quest
- The Last Worker, an adventure with a strong component of storytelling, is arriving on all the major headsets on March, 30th
- Upload has reviewed Resident Evil 8 and praised its visual quality and the scary vibes
- Upload tried a preview of the VR game about Peaky Blinders
- Upload has reviewed Per Aspera, a narrative-driven terraforming sim available now for Quest 2 and Quest Pro
- The indie game ARK&ADE is now out! It is a first-person shooter with 80s vibes
- SeeSignal on Meta Quest 2 lets you see the strength of your WiFi signal in the various parts of your room in a very intuitive way.
More info (Humanity)
More info (Divine Duel)
More info (The Foglands)
More info (VRnoid)
More info (The Last Worker)
More info (Resident Evil 8)
More info (Peaky Blinders)
More info (Per Aspera)
More info (ARK&ADE)
More info (SeeSignal)
Other news
The Echo Community showed a flying message attached to an airplane around Meta HQ to try to convince Meta to save the game
The University of Hong Kong has developed a synthetic skin that can sense and also provide haptic feedback
The users of the “metaverse” are actually growing month after month
Data mining reveals that Meta is experimenting with a subscription service for Meta Store dubbed “Project Apollo”
News from partners (and friends)
Join the DeoVR team!
If you are looking for a job in VR, you may be interested to know that DeoVR is hiring for different positions!
DeoVR has been one of the first VR software I reviewed and the company is also one of my Patrons: it’s a product with which I have a bond and I’m happy to talk with you about their job positions.
Learn more
Some XR fun
How we indie game devs do marketing
Funny link
I remembered the Quest Pro to be a bit different, actually…
Funny link
A wild Quest 2 appears on a WWE ring! :O
Funny link
VR development: expectations vs reality
Funny link
The VR community this week
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:
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And now here you are the link to donate:
Support The Red Cross in Ukraine
(Header image by Brad Lynch)
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