May the Force be with you! Today is an exciting day for the XR community because it’s the day when the first Steam Hardware piece is being launched. It’s good to have such excitement because it’s not a positive period overall for immersive technology, with negative news coming every week. And this week, unfortunately, has not been an exception. Keep reading to discover what I’m talking about.
Top news of the week
Valve released the Steam Controller
Finally, one of the three pieces of hardware announced by Valve has been launched. It is the Steam Controller, the least desired of the three, but still a pretty cool device. Which has been launched on a cool day: May 4th, Star Wars day.
The Steam Controller packs some very interesting features, the most relevant of which, for us XR enthusiasts, is the fact that it has an IR LED so that it can be tracked by the Steam Frame. The device has already been praised by many people, but it is also a bit expensive, being priced at $99.
Valve launched only the Controller because it is the only device that does not require RAM, so it is not affected by the current shortage of memory chips. People at Valve are pretty disappointed they can’t launch the Steam Frame and the Steam Machine, too, but they acknowledge that the situation is complicated and needs to be handled properly. The rumor in town is that the other two gadgets will still be released pretty soon, but the company is taking a bit more time to monitor the situation and decide their price.
Anyway, the launch of the Steam Controller has been a big success, as expected, and it quickly went out of stock. I can’t wait for the Steam Frame to replicate a similar success…
More info (Valve announcing the Steam Controller price and release date)
More info (Road To VR reporting the launch of the Steam Controller)
More info (Steam Controller can be tracked by Steam Frame)
More info (Valve having issues with RAM shortage)
More info (Valve being disappointed about the current situation)
More info (Steam Controller went out of stock)
Other relevant news
A leak shows the upcoming Samsung glasses
We have some images of the upcoming Samsung smartglasses. These images are renders of testing units; a real picture is not provided to avoid revealing the source of the leak (testing units have unique codes that would reveal the owner).
The images show a design similar to that of many other glasses out there, with a camera, a privacy LED, and integrated speakers. They don’t seem very fashionable, with the overall design feeling a bit anonymous. I wonder if it is because they are testing units, or if this is actually the final shape of the device. If it is the latter, I think it would have quite a hard time competing with the Ray-Ban glasses.
The leaking magazine, Android Headlines, has also reported the supposed specs of the device:
- Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon AR1
- Battery: 155mAh
- Camera: 12MP Sony IMX681
- Connectivity: WiFi, Bluetooth 5.3
- Weight: ~50g
- Audio: Directional speakers; bone-conduction tech in patents
- Lenses: Photochromic transition lenses
- Platform: Android XR with Gemini AI
These specs are also similar to those of many other smartglasses out there. The only differentiating factor is the support for Android XR with Gemini AI, which we have seen being quite powerful in the early hands-on with Google prototype glasses.
I’m quite happy that Google and Samsung are going to launch smartglasses. But if this is what we should expect,I think it’s a bit too “average” to compete with the current market leader (i.e., Meta).
More info (Leak of Samsung Glasses on Android Headlines)
More info (Article on Road To VR about the leak)
Maybe Apple has abandoned the Vision Pro, maybe not
The big drama of the week has been about the Apple Vision Pro and Apple’s support for it.
It all started with MacRumors reporting that the Vision Pro has been a huge flop, with even the M5 unit having underwhelming sales, and so Apple is abandoning it. A similar rumor has been reiterated by Mark Gurman, who claimed that the Vision Pro team has been disbanded, with the software people going to the Siri team and the hardware people going to work on smartglasses.
The reaction of the XR community has been pretty fierce, with many people claiming that this is simply not possible, also because Apple is still publicly hiring people for the Vision Pro team. I mean, it is clear to everyone that the Vision Pro has been pretty disappointing, but it seems Apple is still investing in it, with updates, and no news about discontinuation. Gurman replied to these claims, saying that he’s sure about his reporting, and that while Vision Pro is dead, VisionOS is still alive because it will be the operating system of glasses.
Honestly, I don’t know where the truth is; it is very hard to have insights into a secretive company like Apple. Usually, both Gurman and MacRumors have good reports on what is happening in Cupertino, so my best guess is that there has at least been some disinvestment in the Vision Pro line, with the company relocating some people to places where they can have a bigger impact. I personally don’t think Apple totally gave up on the Vision Pro; I think it is just leaving it there without putting too much effort into it until it makes sense to release a second version. Now the biggest focus is on smartglasses.
In any case, like many reports happening about XR devices and companies in these months, this is not a piece of news that is helping our ecosystem. This report will only reinforce the narrative that “VR is dead”.
More info (MacRumors reporting the end of the Vision Pro)
More info (Mark Gurman confirming the end of the Vision Pro team)
More info (Apple is still hiring on the Vision Pro team)
More info (Mark Gurman confirming his reports)
More info (Artur Sychov talking about this situation)
More info (A blog post with a balanced view on the topic)
Survios laid off the majority of its team
The saddest news of the week has been about Survious laying off the majority of its development team. There has not been any official communication about this, and the news came out from the many people being fired who talked about the layoffs on LinkedIn. Since there is no official news, it is not clear how wide these layoffs have been, but according to some rumors, the studio may have even been shut down.
Survios has always been one of the most famous VR game studios. At a certain point, it grew so much that it also opened a publishing branch. Its shutdown is terrible news for the whole ecosystem. And it is also sad news for all the gamers who were waiting for the second episode of Alien Rogue Incursion.
More info (Survios laid off the majority of its team — Game Developer)
More info (Survios laid off the majority of its team — Upload VR)
We may know more about Spectacles at AWE US
One of the most awaited devices of the year is, for sure, the upcoming Spectacles glasses, the first consumer-oriented AR glasses coming to the market. And one possible reveal date for them is June 16th, when Evan Spiegel, the CEO of Snap, will take the stage at AWE US for the daily keynote. Its speech will also be broadcast live on the Snap website, and this makes me think that it won’t be just a typical AWE keynote, but it may be the reveal of the Spectacle glasses, and who knows, maybe also the official launch.
I guess we’ll discover all of this at the time of the keynote, which is scheduled for Tuesday, June 16, from 9:30–10:00 a.m. PT. Fingers crossed that it will be a great one!
News worth a mention
VITURE Beast is now available at Amazon & Best Buy
VITURE announced the launch of VITURE Beast, its third-gen flagship XR glasses that release today, priced at $549, and available on Amazon, Best Buy, and VITURE’s official website.
The Beast are glasses for media consumption: they offer up a 3DOF-tracked virtual screen estimated to be 174 inches when viewed at 4 meters, a very good 57 degrees FOV, and 1250 nits of brightness. They also support an RGB camera to take pictures, which could be used in the future for 6DOF tracking. It can connect via USB-C to PCs, phones, and portable game consoles. They seem pretty interesting if you’re looking for glasses that act as screen extensions.
Apple Glasses may support hand gestures, or maybe not
MacRumors published a report claiming that the upcoming Apple glasses could feature hand gesture controls. But Mark Gurman does not agree, and says this is not going to happen. On this, I’m more on Mark Gurman’s side: unless they have a pretty special chipset, I doubt smartglasses can run a hand tracking module locally on the glasses. But who knows, maybe Apple can surprise me…
The UploadVR Showcase is back!
The Summer Showcase of UploadVR is coming again in 2026. The popular online magazine just announced that on June 12th at 10 am PT, it will be possible to follow its Showcase on UploadVR and IGN YouTube channels. As usual, it will be a moment where many updates of upcoming VR games will be announced. Hopefully, we’ll get to know about some good games that are in the works!
If you are a game studio working on something cool, get in touch with the Upload team and try to be featured there!
Pixi wants to bring phone AR back
In Janko Roettgers’s newsletter, I’ve read about Pixi, a company that is proposing something like greeting cards in AR for mobile phones. I’m not a big fan of phone-based AR, and greeting cards in AR are not a new concept at all. But I’ve found it interesting to read about some interaction schemes this app is offering, and I think they are pretty cool. Let me share two segments of the story:
The cat comedian, for instance, delivers one dad joke after another until the app detects the viewer cracking a smile via the phone’s front-facing camera. After that, the character thanks the viewer for their attention like a comedian ending their show and delivers a personalized greeting message.
[…]
“Let’s say that I have a friend [who is] a lawyer. She got promoted, and I want to say congratulations. I send her a [Pixi with a] golden retriever, which appears on the office floor. It looks at her, then starts sniffing. It walks over to a filing cabinet, and is very focused on a drawer in that filing cabinet. She thinks: Dog, that’s just old tax returns. The dog will not relent. It looks, sniffs, looks winsome. She opens the drawer. Inside, we’ve hidden a huge virtual dog biscuit [with the message]: ‘Congratulations, see you Friday.’”
I think this is a very clever use of AR and environment understanding. Let’s see if this app will be able to deliver on its promises. For now, you can read more about it in the Lowpass newsletter.
Another Pimax drama
Every month, we need to have some drama involving Pimax. This time, it happened that the company just casually announced in a random YouTube video that all new orders of the Dream Air won’t include the promised 3D strap or the new controllers, but will resort to a strap and some controllers that seem taken from the Quest 1. Not the best decision for a company that is charging $2K for a headset, and in fact, the community got pretty pissed off about it. It’s time for Jaap to try to solve the situation again…
Some news about content
- Five Nights At Freddy’s: Secret Of The Mimic is now finally available on PSVR 2
- Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 is now finally available on PSVR 2
- Hybrid horror game Paranormal Activity: The Lost Soul will be removed from all of its platforms soon, as the developer’s license with Paramount has concluded
- A Prodigy Music Pack has landed on Beat Saber
- Comical birdwatching game Birdseed VR is now fully available on Quest 3
- Spatial Mailbox is an upcoming Quest app that lets you send spatial fun MR messages to your friends! (Thanks Stefan Kohler for the tip!)
More info (Five Nights At Freddy’s)
More info (Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024)
More info (Paranormal Activity: The Lost Soul)
More info (Beat Saber)
More info (Birdseed VR)
More info (Spatial Mailbox)
Some reviews about content
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Empire City turned out to be a genuinely great VR beat ’em up, not just something that fans may enjoy playing. It also recreated very well the vibes of the Ninja Turtles
- Space Explorers: The Infinite is a good experience that puts people on board the ISS and makes them discover how is life in space
- Pluto lets you watch 2D content inside some nicely created VR environments, but it’s not exactly clear what the connection is between the two things
- Kamitsubaki City Under Construction is a great narrative adventure in VR, especially if you’re a fan of anime
- EXD — Extra Dimensional has great graphics, but it’s a bit shallow in terms of combat and puzzles
- Age Of Dinosaurs is a very enjoyable educational experience to have in Sandbox VR venues
- Dimensional Double Shift Sporelando DLC puts teamwork really at the center of the game, and so it results in many fun social dynamics
More info (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Empire City — Road To VR)
More info (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Empire City — Upload VR)
More info (Space Explorers: The Infinite)
More info (Pluto TV)
More info (Kamitsubaki City)
More info (EXD)
More info (Age Of Dinosaurs)
More info (Dimensional Double Shift)
Other news
A guest sost on Road To VR talks about how the “punchable” interfaces in Beat The Beats have been made
Meta to cut other 8000 job positions
Scientists create VR experience that perfectly simulates touching a cat as if it’s real
Thomas Van Bouwel showcased a very fun prototype of a game where you just fall down through your floor
I learned that some people in China transforms the squeaking kids in VR games into virtual muted pigs. Well, as long as it works…
Philippe Lewicki showed on LinkedIn how to have smartglasses that just use local AIs, so that they don’t leak your data to big corporations
News from partners (and friends)
Attend the VR AR Expo China!
In mid-May, I will be in Shanghai to attend VR AR Expo China, one of the most interesting Chinese events entirely dedicated to AR/VR. I will be a speaker and also a media partner. I’m going there because it’s a great opportunity to meet XR-focused companies in China, and also try new hardware. I hope we’ll meet there!
Learn more (Official website of the event)
Sponsored Area
Promote your company here!
This sponsored section of the newsletter is free again, after a long collaboration with the amazing people at FXG! So if you want to promote yourself, your company, your product, or whatever you want, just reach out to me and let’s see how I can help you get visibility in front of the XR community!
Contact me
Some XR fun
Let’s admit it: we have all used VR “for games”…
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
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And now here you are the link to donate:
Support The Red Cross in Ukraine
(Header image by Valve)