The XR Week Peek (2024.12.02): Valve Roy Controllers 3D models’ leak, Black Friday VR deals, and more!
Happy Thanksgiving weekend to all my American friends! We don’t have Thanksgiving in Italy, but I know it’s a very important celebration in the US, Canada, and a few other countries, so I hope all of you who celebrated it had a great time with your family.
To all the others who did not participate in it, I just hope you did some great shopping during Black Friday! I bought a few things, the most relevant of them is a new phone because the current ones were all devastated and not suitable for work anymore. I understood it was time to buy one when a friend of mine in Helsinki saw my phone and asked if there was a place where to make a donation to make me buy a new one lol.
Before delving into the XR news of the week, I have one final announcement: I have a Bluesky account now! Follow me also on that platform, if you are there, too. I’ve noticed that on X it was getting harder and harder to get any engagement with real people, so I’m trying the Bluesky route… let’s see how it goes! Anyway for now I’m not going away from X, so you can still find me on both platforms.
Top news of the week
Roy Controllers 3D models found in SteamVR files
Dataminers have found in the code of SteamVR the 3D models of the Valve Roy controllers that have been leaked in the past weeks. This seems to confirm that Valve is in the late stages of the productization of these controllers, meaning that the launch of the Deckard headset may be pretty close. Considering that these 3D models are already available in SteamVR, we can speculate the launch of the full headset kit may happen in 2025.
The 3D models confirm what had already been revealed in the leaks: the controllers feature bumpers and a D-pad, as well as thumbsticks, buttons, index triggers, grip triggers, and system buttons. The two controllers together make the full controls of a gamepad, making it possible for users to play the whole library of Steam games on a big screen on the headset, using Roy controllers to control the game.
Datamining also unveiled that Valve is using the technology from Arcturus Technologies to perform the inside-out tracking. In a video from 2020, Arcturus technology already proved to be able to provide very reliable inside-out tracking and stereo-corrected passthrough. This makes also us very positive about the Deckard headset having a good mixed reality passthrough.
More info (Valve Roy controllers 3d models found inside SteamVR)
More info (Valve Roy controllers using the technology from Arcturus)
More info (Arcturus Technologies showcase from 2020)
Other relevant news
Discover Cyber Monday deals!
The VR discounts of the Black Friday/Cyber Monday weekend continue! Here below you can find many links to explore all of them, both for what concerns hardware and software. These are some highlights selected by me:
- PSVR 2 has a huge price slash to $350, in a bundle in which you also receive the great game Horizon Call Of The Mountain. It will be interesting to see how many headsets PlayStation will sell at this price, considering that the previous discount led to a big spike in sales
- Pico 4 Ultra comes with Pico Motion Trackers, three games, and one month of VRChat Plus all included in a big bundle
- Some stores are offering in the US the Quest 3S at $299.99 including a $75 gift card
- HTC is also offering discounts on its hardware: Vive Focus Vision comes with a free DisplayPort adapter and a bundle of 4–5 games; Vive XR Elite gets a -$100 discount, or -$150 if bought in a bundle with three Vive Ultimate Trackers; Vive Pro 2 comes with a -$400 discount for the full bundle or -$200 for just the headset
- On the Horizon (Quest) Store, you can use the code ‘BFCM24’ at checkout to get up to 40% off select games, and this code can be used multiple times.
More info (All the discount on VR games on Quest, Pico, SteamVR, and PlayStation stores)
More info (A trick to see all the discounts on the Horizon Store)
More info (All the VR headset deals for Black Friday)
More info (The best Black Friday deals for Meta Quest)
More info (The best Black Friday deals for PlayStation VR)
More info (The best Black Friday deals for HTC Vive)
More info (Black Friday deals by KIWI Design)
Apple may have been experimenting with XR since 2008
We all know that Apple has been working on the Apple Vision Pro for something like 7 years before releasing the actual product. This is a lot of time, but this behavior is perfectly aligned with Apple’s vision of never being the first, but always being the best, releasing a new product only when the times are ripe. But actually, things may have been cooking even for longer.
A journalist of Mac World resurfaced a patent filed by Apple from 2008 that already talked about a VR headset, and whose drafted shape in the image has some vague resemblance to the Vision Pro, too. This is how the journalist described the patent in his article from 16 years ago:
A recently uncovered patent, filed by Apple in February, reveals that they may be working on a wearable display that can simulate the experience of being in a virtual environment with the help of intelligent sensors. Apparently, these sensors will be able to detect movements of the head and even the eye, adapting the video accordingly to make the wearer feel like he’s actually in a real environment.
Big companies file patents for many disparate reasons, one of them is just having a big portfolio of patents, so this is not at all proof that the company was working on the Vision Pro already 16 years ago. But for sure it demonstrates that Apple was already considering immersive reality even before the Oculus Rift, and some people were already doing some internal R&D about it. This is very interesting in my opinion.
VRChat introduces age verification
VRChat has partnered with an organization called Persona to externally verify the age of its users with a government ID as well as a phone or computer with a camera. Age verification won’t be mandatory for all users of the whole platform, but it will be requested to enter specific instances that were created with the ‘Age Verification’ option enabled. An optional badge indicating “Verified 18+” can also be added to the VRChat profile of people who have been verified as adults.
The feature will be rolled out gradually, starting from some specific groups, so that all the bugs can be solved when the feature is still used by a limited number of people. VRChat is also partnering with a few event organizers to run a trial for age-verified events.
I think this is a very important moment for social VR: it’s been ages that the community has been asking for the separation of people of different ages so that adults can enjoy meaningful conversations with other adults and children can scream and have more basic fun with other children. This also lets adults do some 18+ restricted stuff between them without risking traumatizing children randomly entering their instance. Introducing age verification allows for all of this to happen and I think that VRChat is doing a great thing in introducing it on its popular platform.
It has to be seen how many people will undergo age verification, though. When I was at VRROOM, I proposed at a certain point to introduce a similar mechanism of age identification via a selfie or ID card, but many people in the company opposed the idea, saying that they wouldn’t share their ID card with a company to verify their age unless they were forced to do that. I’m so curious to see how many people will verify their age on VRChat. In any case, I think that the choice of making age verification optional and necessary only for some specific worlds is smart, so that people who do not feel comfortable sharing their face or their documents with an external company can still use the product.
News worth a mention
Pimax launches Crystal Super and Prime subscription
Chinese manufacturer Pimax has officially opened the orders for the Pimax Crystal Super, a headset that on paper has a stellar resolution. These are its specifications:
- Interchangeable Optical System: Available
- Weight: approx. 815g (with headstrap)
- Resolution: 3840x3840x2
- PPD: 57
- Refresh Rate: 72Hz/90Hz
- FOV: 120° (Horizontal)
- Mode: PCVR
- Screen: QLED+MiniLED (Local Dimming)
- Eye-tracking: Available
- IPD Adjustment: Auto
- Foveated Rendering: Dynamic
The PPD of 57 makes it a headset with a close-to-retina definition, for a Virtual Reality that on paper is the most realistic possible. The Crystal Super has an interchangeable optical system, meaning that you can substitute the whole block of lenses+displays in a pretty easy way. Pimax is also selling two additional optical systems to put in the device: one features a slightly inferior PPD but in exchange for a 135° FOV; the other one uses micro OLED displays.
Pimax has a controversial track where on one side is bringing innovation and affordable prices in the PC VR market, while on the other side, its deliveries have always been troubled by delays and confusion. So it would be interesting to read some actual reviews of this device to have an informed opinion about its actual performance before judging it. For sure, on paper, it looks amazing… if you have an RTX 8090 on your computer 😛
The price of this beast is around $1700. You can pay $999 upfront and then 24 months at $32.99 USD/month for two years of Pimax Prime subscription. Pimax Prime is the license to use the Pimax software on PC: after 24 months the headset is fully yours and you do not need to pay any subscription anymore.
This Pimax Prime subscription is generating a lot of confusion and a bit of turmoil in the PC VR community because it is not clear why Pimax is introducing this software subscription to pay for the headset and it is also not clear what happens to the money you spent in this subscription if you return the headset.
More info (Pimax announcing Crystal Super headset)
More info (Pimax Crystal Super official page)
More info (Road To VR expressing concerns about Pimax Prime)
XREAL is launching new AR glasses
XREAL is teasing the launch of new glasses for December 4th at 10:00 AM EST. It is not clear what type of device it will be: it may be 3DOF AR glasses for media consumption or 6DOF glasses for augmented reality, but from the teaser, it seems the latter is more probable.
Virtual Reality for insects
This week, I’ve discovered that there are insects with a better VR rig than me. Researchers at Flinders University are studying the behavior of insects and to do that in a controlled environment, they have created a tiny CAVE virtual reality setup for the insects and showed them some virtual scenarios to see how they react. This new research methodology may open new avenues for better understanding the behavior of animals.
A virtual lollipop
You know that I’m a big fan of experiments with all five senses of VR, so I could not avoid mentioning a new research project to create a virtual lollipop. Some researchers from the University of Hong Kong have created this lollipop that contains hydrogels with inside flavor chemicals and through iontophoresis, these gel particles can be released from the lollipop so that licking it, you can feel different tastes. The flavors this lollipop can emulate are currently sugar, salt, citric acid, cherry, passion fruit, green tea, milk, durian, and grapefruit. Only God knows why among all the wonderful tastes nature has brought to this world, they chose the super smelly durian…
Tom Emrich’s new book is out
Tom Emrich, one of the most esteemed professionals in the AR scene, has just launched his latest book: “The Next Dimension: How to Use Augmented Reality for Business Growth in the Era of Spatial Computing”.
This is how the author describes his book:
Featuring insights from innovative brands across various verticals, including automotive, fashion, and entertainment, and packed with data points that prove AR’s value across the marketing funnel, The Next Dimension is both a guide and a celebration of the people and ideas shaping the future of AR.
I am a big fan of Tom’s yearly predictions on augmented reality (and I was also a fan of his monthly AR roundups when he was used to writing them), so I’m sure this book will be full of practical insights. If you are an entrepreneur who is considering adopting AR in your own vertical, I would suggest you have a look at this book.
A new mod lets you play Halo in VR
The full Halo: Combat Evolved campaign is now playable via PC VR, thanks to a mod downloadable on GitHub. This VR mod lets you experience the entire campaign with full 6DOF motion controls, a two-handed aiming mode for weapons, rebindable controllers, and more. It seems the experience is pretty good because I’ve seen a few enthusiastic posts on Reddit about people being happy about playing it.
More info (VR mod for Halo: Combat Evolved)
More info (An enthusiastic Reddit post about this VR mod)
Some news about content
- Home Sports, the upcoming mixed reality multi-sports game reminiscent of Wii Sports from Resolution Games, is arriving on the Meta Horizon Store on December, 11th for $20
- The official Premier League Player game, powered by Rezzil, launches on December 3 on the Meta Quest platform
- Trivia Crack World puts your knowledge to the test with a VR multiplayer game, and it’s out on Quest, priced at $10
- Spatial Web Shooter is an experience for Vision Pro that makes you launch webs from your wrists as if you were Spider-Man. It makes smart use of Mixed Reality and can gift you some moments of fun (thanks Ivan Aguilar for the tip)
- Upload VR has published its usual XR News Round-Up post with a collection of minor XR news.
More info (Home Sports — Road To VR)
More info (Home Sports — Upload VR)
More info (Premier League Player)
More info (Trivia Crack World)
More info (Spatial Web Shooter)
More info (XR News Round-Up)
Some reviews about content
- Trombone Champ: Unflattened is a very fun game, that has been able to brilliantly bring to VR the mechanics of the original flatscreen version
Other news
Miroslav Kotalík showcased Zero V2, the second iteration of his open AR glasses
ANNAPRO A2 strap can considerably increase the comfort of the Apple Vision Pro
According to the latest stats, the PCVR market is still stagnant, or very slowly growing
News from partners (and friends)
GroKit Core is a low-code development platform
GroKit Core is a library by 3lbXR that lets you develop your XR application in Unity pretty quickly. It is not a no-code solution, but a low-code one, meaning that it offers a lot of functionalities itself, and you have just to code some very high-level stuff to have your game ready. The Grokit Core library will do all the heavy lifting to make things like interactions, physics, and multiplayer work properly, so you don’t have to waste a lot of time to code these low-level behaviours.
Learn more (Grokit Core — Official Website)
Learn more (Grokit Core — Tutorials)
Some XR fun
SUPER BLACK FRIDAY DEAL! Buy immediately the Quest at this insane price!
Funny link
They are the same headset
Funny link
It’s been a while since the last time I published a compilation of fails in XR, so… have fun!
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
- Ilias Kapouranis
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- Immersive.international
- Nikk Mitchell and the great FXG team
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- Matt Cool
- Simplex
- Gregory F Gorsuch
- Paul Shay
- Matias Nassi
And now here you are the link to donate:
Support The Red Cross in Ukraine
(Header image by Upload VR)
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