Welcome to another amazing roundup of AR/VR news of the week! This week has definitely been more interesting than the previous one. And I’ve also got a little key giveaway! There are a lot of good reasons to keep reading…
(By the way, if you lost my interview with the team behind Animal Company, you are still in time to read/watch it: inside you can find many insights on how to make a successful XR game and also the teasing of an upcoming new mode of the game!)
Top news of the week
Pico is working on a new mixed reality headset
According to a report from The Information, Bytedance, hence Pico, is working on a new headset. After the plans for a Pico 5 have been scrapped, the Chinese company is working on a different type of device. The headset the company is working on is codenamed “Swan” and it is a lightweight mixed reality device connected to a computational puck. The headset is allegedly incredibly light (around 100 grams) and relies on hand and eye input. For it, Bytedance is working on “specialized chips” similar to the R1 Chip used for Apple Vision Pro.
If this description reminds you of something, it is because you have probably heard a similar rumor related to Meta. Zuck’s company is allegedly working on a lightweight mixed reality headset connected to an external computational unit that is codenamed Puffin/Loma/Phoenix. Pico is usually very attentive to what Meta is building and tries to release competitor devices: this move seems not to be an exception to this behaviour.
A small and lightweight headset may help in making mixed reality more mainstream. I’m still not convinced of the tethered puck strategy, though. I always find it to be a bit of a nuisance every time I test the Vision Pro. Anyway, let’s see the effect these devices will have when they hit the market…
More info (Bytedance is working on a new mixed reality headset — Road To VR)
More info (Bytedance is working on a new mixed reality headset — Upload VR)
Other relevant news
Meta unveils wide-FOV headset prototypes
Every year, Meta releases amazing XR-related research ahead of SIGGRAPH, which is one of the most important tech conferences of the year.
This year, one of the works that it is being exhibited there is about standalone wide-FOV headsets. Meta has carried out research to create a VR and an MR headset, both with 180° of horizontal FOV. The VR device uses “high-curvature reflective polarizers” to achieve a wide field of view in a compact form factor. I don’t know what it means, but it sounds cool. The MR version has some front cameras that, in total, provide an image of 80MP at 60Hz, so that you can have a passthrough whose FOV is the same as the headset. Thanks to this, you can see much more of the world around you, with added context for mixed reality applications.
This is amazing work, but like all the research projects, we have no idea if and when they will see the light inside commercial products.
HTC Vive is teasing a new product
On its social media channels, HTC Vive is teasing a new upcoming product. For now, the only information we have is the caption “Ready for what’s next? First landing: 25.033° N, 121.564° E”. I’ll spare you the Google Maps search and tell you that the coordinates correspond to the Taipei 101, the most iconic skyscraper in Taipei. Taipei is where HTC is headquartered, in case you didn’t know.
I guess we have to wait for other tweets to have further info on this product, which may be a new headset, or a new software platform, or an accessory. I just hope it is something good.
News worth a mention
Brazen Blaze is the latest game to go free-to-play
3v3 VR multiplayer brawler Brazen Blaze is now free to play on the Horizon Store and Steam. It is not the first game going for this route, especially after Meta started pushing for it: another example of a similar decision has been Mannequin.
Personally, I’m not convinced of this choice: it is true that VR is being invaded by kids, and it is true that kids want free-to-play games because they do not have deep pockets to buy premium games. But on the other side, the VR market is too small to sustain many free-to-play games that survive thanks to In App Purchases. Especially because going F2P means that you increase your player base a lot, hence your multiplayer costs, without being sure of an increase in revenues. So, in my opinion, a few of them will become successful hits (e.g. Gorilla Tag, Animal Company), while others will not be able to sustain their business and die. Since all these F2P games are beneficial to increase the usage times and the retention of Quest headsets, I truly hope that Meta is funding them to allow them to survive.
Alex And The Jets adds a VR mode
Mixed reality game Alex And The Jets has just added a VR mode, so that you can play the game inside a virtual room instead of doing that in your physical room.
One of the main reasons for this addition is that the majority of the VR market is currently comprised of Quest 2 headsets, where mixed reality is pretty bad. So if developers of Mixed Reality games want to increase their revenues, they have to find a way to make this audience happy, and one of the ways is to offer a VR mode.
I see this as a huge problem: Meta pushed a lot for mixed reality applications, but the sad reality is that the current market for VR applications is much bigger than the one for MR applications because the sales numbers of Quest 3/3S have not been that amazing. I think this is going to slow down the rise of mixed reality: if something is hardly profitable, it is going to receive less interest from developers.
Coray Air2 are the first commercial glasses using Silicon Carbide
Coray, the brand under Chengdu Guangyu Gaowei Technology, launched its next-generation flagship product: the Coray Air2. It weighs just 49 grams, provides 90% high light transmittance, and offers a peak brightness of 6,000 nits.
The peculiarity of these glasses is that they feature an etched silicon carbide waveguide combined with full-color Micro LED technology. Silicon Carbide is a special material that allows Meta Orion to have 70 70-degree field of view. It is also a material for which the US is restricting the export to China, so I find it pretty ironic that it is a Chinese company launching the first glasses employing it.
The Coray Air2 is priced at CNY 4,999 (circa $700) during the launch. Since the details are scarce and I’ve read no hands-on reviews on them, I would be cautious about buying this device.
Hands-on with the Oakley Meta smartglasses
A journalist from ZD Net published a hands-on article on the new Oakley Meta HSTN smartglasses. She claims they feel better than the Ray-Ban Meta on many sides, including comfort and photo/video quality.
BigScreen releases a special headset edition with VRChat
Bigscreen unveiled a new “VRChat Edition” of its lightweight Beyond 2e PC VR headset. The headset is the same as the Beyond 2e (the eye-tracking version), but it has a purple color and costs $50 more. Purchasing it, you also get some exclusive VRChat digital items. It’s clearly a product for VRChat fans.
A plugin allows you to use Gaussian Splats inside VRChat
You may have heard somewhere that VRChat now supports Gaussian Splats. This is actually not completely true: VRChat does not natively support Gaussian splats, but a recent open-source tool developed by the community allows you to import Gaussian Splats in your VRChat worlds. As it has already happened in the past (e.g. with UdonSharp), the community of VRChat produces amazing tools for creators, and then eventually the company absorbs them.
The Meta Runtime Optimizer is a useful tool for VR developers
Meta has just released a new experimental tool for VR developers: the Meta Runtime Optimizer. This tool, which you can easily import into your Unity project, “helps developers identify and resolve performance bottlenecks in Meta Quest applications”. These bottlenecks may concern code or graphics. And the good news is that it is compatible with all OpenXR apps, so you can also use it for non-Meta applications!
Venice Immersive announced the selected titles
The official selection for the Venice Immersive festival has been laid out. It will present 69 projects from 27 countries, trying to represent all the forms of XR expressions. Feel free to use the links below to discover all the selected artworks.
More info (Venice Immersive selection — Upload VR)
More info (Venice Immersive selection — Variety)
More info (Venice Immersive selection — Official Website)
Learn more about the use of XR in the military sector
A few weeks ago, in one of my roundups, I talked about how I’m seeing increasing attention from VR companies towards the military sector. This week, FOV Ventures has written on its blog an interesting post detailing exactly this trend. I’ve found it to be an interesting read.
Enjoy PlayStation Summer Sale
PlayStation’s annual summer sale kicked off, and you can find many interesting discounts on VR titles until July 29th. Some examples? Metro Awakening, Red Matter 2, Ancient Dungeon VR, Until You Fall, The Last Clockwinder, and many others!
Some news about content
- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’ upcoming VR game shared new concept art in a recent developer diary
- Hidden Memories Of The Gardens Between, an expansion of the cozy game Hidden Memories, is set to launch on the Horizon Store for Quest 2 and above, and Steam for PC VR headsets on August 7th
- Frost Survival VR is a survival sandbox game that pits you against an unforgiving icy landscape. It will arrive on August 14 for Quest and Steam
- The Pirate: Republic of Nassau, an open-world pirate game from the Warplanes team, is out now on Quest in early access
- Besiege VR, the upcoming war machine construction sandbox, reaches Quest on July 31 for $20
- Bow Course, a game mixing golfing with archery, is now in early access on Quest and Steam
- Horror in the Library is adapting the board game into a VR escape room on Quest
- VR FPS Forefront reaches early access this fall, and Triangle Factory (the studio behind Breachers) revealed some pre-alpha gameplay
- The Warp: Cephisso is a narrative-driven sci-fi horror game heading to Steam in Q4 2025, and a PC VR demo is now live
- Ascent Quest is a high-fantasy VR adventure game targeting an early access launch next year, and a full launch in 2027
- Elsewhere Electric is an asymmetric puzzle game for VR
- Wist lets you record and relive immersive memories on Quest. It is getting interest on Reddit
- Squish Squash is the first Mixed Reality ASMR app. It works by making you relax by playing with a slime. It is expected to launch in late summer.
More info (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles)
More info (Hidden Memories Of The Garden Between)
More info (Frost Survival VR)
More info (The Pirate: Republic of Nassau)
More info (Besiege VR)
More info (Bow Course)
More info (Horror In The Library)
More info (Forefront)
More info (The Warp: Cephisso)
More info (Ascent Quest)
More info (Elsewhere Electric)
More info (Wist)
More info (Squish Squash)
Some reviews about content
- The successful game Clone Drone In The Hyperdome is launching a big Skyscrapper update, which basically adds a roguelike gaming mode after you finish the main campaign. It seems to be challenging and fun
- Both Upload and Road To VR went hands-on with World War Z VR, but did not come out very enthusiastic about it. The game has some clear problems, like your AI companions that are incredibly dumb, or the zombies that are not very threatening unless they are in a huge wave
- Jungle Man is a cute mixed reality game that tries to transform your room into a jungle where a little Tarzan operates
- Table Troopers feels like a modern VR adaptation of the past huge hit game Worms. It offers various game modes, and it is fun to play with friends.
More info (Clone Drone In The Hyperdome)
More info (World War Z — Road To VR)
More info (World War Z — Upload VR)
More info (Jungle Man)
More info (Table Troopers)
Other news
It seems that Meta is now interested in expanding into the Medical sector
The Kickstarter campaign for the FreeAim VR shoes has reached its goal
Varjo is soon interrupting the support for Aero and XR-3 headsets
An editorial on The Newyorker debates whether we should use AI to solve our loneliness
News from partners (and friends)
Squishies giveaway!
I have for you a free key to play Squishies on Quest! What is Squishies? Let me copy-paste a description for you:
From the creative minds of Brainseed Factory and Perp Games, Squishies, the pro-pudgy puzzle platformer, officially launched on Meta Quest today! Originally available on PSVR and PCVR, the game has been fully rebuilt for Quest with mixed-reality gameplay, enhanced visuals, refined controls, and a fully unlocked level editor for creating and sharing community-made puzzles.
Players use unique air-powered motion controls to roll a cast of rotund alien creatures through 100+ maze-like levels. As they explore five colorful worlds, they’ll dodge hazards, collect crystals, and outsmart local flora and fauna along the way.
The free key is K3YWC-FPTXH-CEXEC-J6QMG-RFG99. First come, first served! And if the key is already taken, consider buying the game to support the developers.
Check the game on the Horizon Store
Check the game on the Official website
Enjoy some free XR courses
All the XR and C# courses on LearnXR made by the legend Dilmer Valecillos are now completely free. If you are new to XR development, this is a great occasion to learn without spending any money!
Big kudos to Dilmer for having taken this decision for the good of the community.
Learn more
Discover FM DUO camera!
Meet the FM DUO, a VR camera that is capable of filming up to 12K @30fps, and 8K @60fps. With built-in RTMP live streaming and 5G connectivity, the FM·DUO will immerse your viewers in real time! The FM·DUO features 2 full-frame CMOS sensors, with 6000 x 6000 pixels each. This allows for high-resolution zooming capabilities. Not only can you narrow in on one subject, but you can also focus on singular details of the subject’s facial expressions, clothing textures, and a multitude of other small details, enabling a much more immersive experience of VR video.
Visit Product Website
Some XR fun
Not very useful
Funny link
Probably a fan of Indiana Jones
Funny link
Ehm…
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
- Paolo Leoncini
- Immersive.international
- Nikk Mitchell and the great FXG team
- Jake Rubin
- Alexis Huille
- Raghu Bathina
- Chris Koomen
- Cognitive3D
- Wisear (Yacine Achiakh)
- Masterpiece X
- Dimo Pepelyashev
- Carol Dalrymple
- Keith Bradner
- Jennifer Granger
- Jason Moore
- Steve Biggs
- Julio Cesar Bolivar
- Jan Schroeder
- Kai Curtis
- Francesco Strada
- Sikaar Keita
- Ramin Assadollahi
- Juan Sotelo
- Andrew Sheldon
- Chris Madsen
- Horacio Torrendell
- Andrew Deutsch
- Fabien Benetou
- Tatiana Kartashova
- Marco “BeyondTheCastle” Arena
- Eloi Gerard
- Adam Boyd
- Jeremy Dalton
- Joel Ward
- Alex P
- Lynn Eades
- Donald P
- Casie Lane
- Catherine Henry
- Qcreator
- Ristband (Anne McKinnon & Roman Rappak)
- Stephen Robnett
- KaihatsuJai
- Christopher Boyd
- Anonymous Supporter
- Giuseppe Pippi
- Mark Frederiksen
- Ken Lin
- Sb
- Boule Petanque
- Pieter Siekerman
- Enrico Poli
- Vooiage Technologies
- Caroline
- Liam James O’Malley
- Hillary Charnas
- Wil Stevens
- Francesco Salizzoni
- Alan Smithson
- Steve R
- Brentwahn
- Michael Gaebler
- Tiago Silva
- Matt Cool
- Mark G
- 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 HTC Vive)
Disclaimer: this blog contains advertisement and affiliate links to sustain itself. If you click on an affiliate link, I’ll be very happy because I’ll earn a small commission on your purchase. You can find my boring full disclosure here.
Related
