The past week was the week of the Meta Connect, with all its amazing announcements that made all of us excited. It was also the week when I returned to Italy, and eating my mother’s pasta again made me excited, too. Next year, I should eat my mother’s pasta while watching the Meta Connect to have double excitement!
Let’s dig into the most important pieces of news of the week… which are not much, apart from Meta Connect, actually…
Top news of the week
Meta launched Quest 3S and announced Orion at Connect
Meta Connect has been the event of the week. I’ve already dedicated two detailed articles to it, so I won’t use many words to talk about it for the third time here… also because I guess you already know what happened there. Anyway, to summarize it shortly, these have been the main announcements there:
- Meta launched Quest 3S, starting at $299. It mixes the mixed reality and computational power of Quest 3 with the optics of Quest 2. It comes bundled with Batman: Arkham Shadow We hope it sells well this Christmas
- Quest 2 and Quest Pro have been discontinued
- LLAMA 3.2 has been announced. It is a multimodal LLM, able also to work with audio and video
- Ray-Ban Meta will have more AI capabilities: they can do live translations, read text, decode QR codes, and remind you of things (e.g. you can ask them to remind you where you parked your car), all while speaking naturally with them. Smartglasses are becoming an always-available assistant
- Meta is reworking the UI of Quest to make it sleeker. But also more integrated with Horizon Worlds, a thing no one asked for
- Meta is releasing a new version of its avatars
- Meta announced Hyperscape, a service through which you can scan an environment with your phone, upload it to Meta cloud, and then invite your friends to enter. It uses cloud streaming
- Passthrough APIs will finally let developers access the camera feed from Quest cameras
- Meta announced Orion, its prototype of AR glasses. They won’t be on sale because they are too expensive (more than $10K), but they are a glimpse of how AR will be in the next years: lightweight, wireless, and with good visuals. They use a neural wristband as input mechanism. A few selected people tried them and came out excited about them. Meta promised to put on sale glasses similar to that at an acceptable price before 2030.
The news about Orion spread like wildfire and created hype in the tech communities. It was a very good move by Zuck and hopefully will benefit the whole ecosystem.
More info (My selection of the best 5 news from Meta Connect)
More info (My detailed analysis of the news from Connect)
More info (Upload VR’s roundup of all the XR news from Meta Connect)
More info (Meta’s roundup of all the news from Connect)
More info (TESTED’s hands-on with Orion)
More info (Alex Coulombe’s hands-on with Orion and AMA with the Reddit community)
More info (Very hard-tech deep dive on Orion)
More info (Alex Heath’s interview with Mark Zuckerberg)
Other relevant news
Apple may be working on a refresh of the Vision Pro
According to the analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, Apple may be working on a refresh of the Vision Pro featuring an M5 chipset. Apple claims the M4 has a 50% more powerful CPU and 4 times more powerful GPU than the M2 chipset mounted on the Vision Pro, so an M5 chipset may give the new Vision Pro unprecedented performances for a standalone MR headset. This headset should go into production in the second half of 2025, so realistically be available in 2026.
The question for me is who cares: the Vision Pro is a very expensive device and people can’t afford it, period. Giving it an M5 chipset won’t change its destiny, also because Mr Kuo says that the new device will have a similar price. I think Apple had better focus on a cheaper Vision headset, because that one may give real benefits to the Apple MR ecosystem. Maybe it could make sense to launch the Vision and the Vision Pro S headsets together: the cheap alternative could serve normal people while the refreshed high-end version could be useful for enterprises.
Immersed Visor works, but it is in early stages
Immersed, the company behind the Visor headset, has shared some videos about its headset working after the PR disaster of last week. In the videos, it is possible to see that the passthrough is great, but also that features like positional tracking and hand tracking are pretty wonky. The Youtuber Tyriell Wood has been able to have a short demo of the headset during Meta Connect and he summarized his impressions saying that the headset exists, works, and is very promising, but it is also still a prototype and needs a lot of polish.
It’s refreshing to hear that Visor is not only vaporware. Now let’s see when it will go to market.
More info (Immersed’s video of the passthrough of Visor)
More info (Immersed’s video of the tracking of Visor)
More info (Tyriell Wood commenting on the Visor headset)
News worth a mention
Nintendo’s new mysterious device may be something about XR
Nintendo submitted a new device to the FCC the past weekend, but no one knows what it is about. The CLO-001 model number makes us think about a new product line (it’s n.001) and the fact that it is described as a “wireless device” and not as a “console” opens up a lot of opportunities. There are a lot of possibilities the community is thinking about and some of them also regard XR. The Verge for instance talks about “something to support AR features by detecting real-world objects”.
We have no idea. Let’s wait and hope for something about AR…
The Logitech pen for Quest is now available
The Logitech MX Ink tracked stylus for Quest headsets, which lets you draw in mid-air in XR, is now available for purchase. It is priced at $130, or $170 with the MX Inkwell dock. The MX Mat, which is used to let you draw in 2D on a surface, is available separately for $50. There are more than 10 apps that are already compatible with it, like Figmin XR and Osso VR.
More info (Logitech MX Ink now available)
More info (My hands-on with the device)
The end of HoloLens 2
Microsoft has officially announced the end-of-life of the Microsoft HoloLens 2: the company is now selling the last stock and will slowly discontinue the headset. Since there is no HoloLens 3 in the works, this marks the end of this product that pioneered mixed reality glasses. Farewell, HoloLens.
Someone wants to make a product with GVS
A group of people under the name of Orbit has managed to create a working prototype of a product that can reduce motion sickness thanks to the use of Galvanic Vestibular Stimulation. Basically, some electrical impulses are sent to your vestibular system to trick it into believing that you are actually moving as you are seeing in VR: this reduces the sensory mismatch that leads to motion sickness.
It’s an impressive result, but remember that going from a prototype to a product is a long road, so it’s not sure that this product will ever come out. But I hope so.
(Thanks Rob Cole for the tip)
More info (Video of the system working)
More info (Waitlist for the product)
The privacy dangers of face cameras
A group of researchers made a test using standard glasses with a micro front camera that sent images to an AI engine that recognized people and found information on them on the web. They used then this info to trick people into believing they knew each other. It’s an interesting project and it shows some of the dangers that may happen when we all will have glasses on our faces.
Fanatical has a new VR bundle
Fanatical is offering a new VR bundle called “Build Your Own Infinity VR” bundle and it features great games like I Expect You To Die 3, Into The Radius, and Hellsweeper.
Some important news about content
- Much awaited game Metro Awakening is coming to all major VR headsets on November, 7th. Both Upload VR and Road To VR tried a preview of the game and appreciated its graphics and interactions
- Batman: Arkham Shadow, the upcoming Quest 3 exclusive from Camouflaj, is officially coming to Quest 3 and Quest 3S on October 22nd. Until April, it is bundled with all the purchases of Quest 3 devices
- Owlchemy Labs has launched its new social co-op game called Dimensional Double Shift. Of course, it is completely based on hand tracking… and on the classical Owlchemy humor
- Sony Pictures Virtual Reality and XR Games announced Starship Troopers: Continuum, an online multiplayer shooter that brings you into the world of the popular movie. It arrives on October 17th on Quest and October 31st on PSVR 2
- Much-anticipated VR adventure Skydance’s BEHEMOTH has been delayed to December 5th
More info (Metro Awakening — Release Date)
More info (Metro Awakening — Preview on Road To VR)
More info (Metro Awakening — Preview on Upload VR)
More info (Batman: Arkham Shadow)
More info (Dimensional Double Shift)
More info (Starship Troopers Continuum)
More info (Behemoth)
Some other news about content
- Moss 1 and 2 are getting a visual overhaul and a 25% discount on the occasion of the Quest 3S launch
- Someone made a Flappy Bird experience on Vision Pro and called it Flappy Experience
- Prison Boss: Prohibition promises a humorous bootlegging adventure in co-op. It is expected to come next spring for all major headsets
- A world representing The Office’s Dunder Mifflin is coming to Meta Horizon Worlds next month
- Mythic Realms, an upcoming roguelite RPG that makes a smart mix of virtual reality and mixed reality, is coming this Winter on Quest
- One True Path, the new game from the team behind A Fisherman’s Tale, received a new gameplay trailer, and Part 1 is now available for free in early access
- Harpagun is a new shooter/smasher VR action game set to launch in Q1 2025 for all major headsets
- The Midnight Walk is a dark fantasy adventure using clay-sculpted models, and it’s coming to PC VR and PlayStation VR2 next year. I’m actually pretty intrigued by it: it has very original visuals
- Walkabout Mini Golf: Pocket Edition for iPhone is launching on October 10th at $4.99 with downloadable courses priced at $1.99 each
- Sports brand ASICS has unveiled DISC, a new e-sport VR game that brings frisbee-style action to Quest. It has been developed with the studio “m ssing p eces”. The trailer looks cool but it is more a concept than actual gameplay
- Hitman: World of Assassination is bringing the entire trilogy to PlayStation VR2 this December. Let’s see if this Hitman VR game will be good, at last
- Upload VR has published its usual ICYMI post with many minor pieces of VR news
More info (Moss)
More info (Flappy Experience)
More info (Prison Boss: Prohibition)
More info (The Office)
More info (Mythic Realms)
More info (One True Path)
More info (Harpagun)
More info (The Midnight Walk)
More info (Walkabout: Minigolf)
More info (DISC)
More info (Hitman: World Of Assassination)
More info (ICYMI)
Some reviews about content
- Starship Home, the most promising game in mixed reality, has been reviewed both by Upload VR and Road To VR. Road To VR found it amazing and gave it a 9/10, while Upload found it mediocre and repetitive, awarding it only a 3/5. I’m very puzzled, I guess I have to try the game to make an impression myself
- Upload VR tried Hide The Corpse and found it original, fun, and very VR-centric
- Metal Hellsinger seems to be a bit flawed on Quest and it works much better on PC. The game needs improvements, but the soundtrack is still amazing
- Escaping Wonderland is more than a puzzle adventure: it is a beautiful emotional experience in VR
More info (Starship Home — Road To VR)
More info (Starship Home — Upload VR)
More info (Hide The Corpse)
More info (Metal: Hellsinger)
More info (Escaping Wonderland)
Other news
Christian Steiner went hands-on with Vive Focus Vision and reviewed it
Wikitude is no more. Qualcomm shut it down to focus on Snapdragon Spaces
News from partners (and friends)
Distance Technologies got a €10M investment
Distance Technology, the glass-free AR startup founded by two of the co-founders of Varjo, just got €10M investment from Google Ventures. Big kudos to the team and good luck for the future!
Learn more (Investment news)
Learn more (My hands-on with a Distance prototype)
DoublePoint launches WowMouse Presenter
DoublePoint has just launched WowMouse Presenter, an app that turns your Wear OS smartwatch into a gesture-controlled remote for PowerPoint and Google Slides presentations.
Learn more (WowMouse Presenter)
Learn more (My hands-on with WowMouse)
Sponsored Area
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Senior Unity Developer
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Senior Fullstack Developer
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Read Graphic Designer Job Description
Read Unity Developer Job Description
Read Full Stack Developer Job Description
Some XR fun
A quick summary of Meta Connect
Funny link
The usual drama in tech journalism
Funny link
This is the future
Funny link
Donate for good
Like last week, also this week in this final paragraph I won’t ask you to donate to my blog, but to the poor people who 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
- Terry xR. Schussler
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- Immersive.international
- Nikk Mitchell and the great FXG team
- Jake Rubin
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And now here you are the link to donate:
Support The Red Cross in Ukraine
(Header Image by Meta)