Citing “years of investment in AI, AR, and VR,” Google is stepping into the augmented reality market once more with Android XR. It’s an operating system that Google says will power future headsets and glasses that “transform how you watch, work, and explore.”
The first version you’ll see is Project Moohan, a mixed-reality headset built by Samsung. It will be available for purchase next year, and not much more is known about it. Developers have access to the new XR version of Android now.
“We’ve been in this space since Google Glass, and we have not stopped,” said Juston Payne, director of product at Google for XR in Android XR’s launch video. Citing established projects like Google Lens, Live View for Maps, instant camera translation, and, of course, Google’s general-purpose Gemini AI, XR promises to offer such overlays in both dedicated headsets and casual glasses.
Android XR announcement video.
There are few additional details right now beyond a headset rendering, examples in Google’s video labeled as “visualization for concept purposes.” Google’s list of things that will likely be on board includes Gemini, Maps, Photos, Translate, Chrome, Circle to Search, and Messages. And existing Android apps, or at least those updated to do so, should make the jump, too.
Enlarge/ The same gorgeous vistas return in the Riven remake.
Samuel Axon
A remake of Riven: The Sequel to Myst launched this week, made by the original game’s developers. It strikes a fascinating balance between re-creation and reinvention, and based on a couple of hours of playing it, it’s a resounding success.
Myst was the classic most people remembered fondly from the early CD-ROM era, but for me, its sequel, Riven, was the highlight. After that, the sequels declined in quality. The sophomore effort was the apex.
It was certainly more ambitious than Myst. Instead of a handful of tightly packed theme park worlds, it offered a singular, cohesive one that felt lived in and steeped in history in a way that Myst couldn’t quite match.
A worthy presentation
That was thanks to outstanding art direction but also to its iconic musical score.
For the most part, the remake nails both of those things. While the original game resembled the first Myst in that you had to click to scroll between static images to explore the game’s world, the new one follows the 2020 Myst remake (and 2000’s oft-forgotten realMyst) in giving the player full movement, akin to contemporary first-person puzzle games like Portal, The Witness, or The Talos Principle. Since it’s easy to re-create a lot of the original camera angles this way, it might have been cool if there had been an option to control the game as you did originally, but I can see why that wasn’t a priority.
Enlarge/ The environments are just as atmospheric and detailed as they used to be.
Samuel Axon
It just so happens that today’s graphics hardware does an outstanding job of replicating previously static visuals in full 3D. (There’s even VR support, though I haven’t tried it yet.) And the music is just as good as it used to be.
There are only two downsides on the presentation front. First, I’ve heard that folks running on older machines may struggle to achieve satisfactory fidelity and performance. I played it on both an M1 Max MacBook Pro and a Windows 11 desktop with an AMD Ryzen 9 5900X and an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080. The MacBook Pro ran the game at maxed-out settings at the laptop’s native resolution at around 30 frames per second. The desktop did the same at 4K at 120 fps. But those are both high-end, recent-ish machines, so your mileage may vary.
Second, the full-motion video performances in the original game have been replaced with full 3D, video game-looking characters. It’s a necessary concession, but I feel some of the character was lost. They did a pretty good job matching the motions of the original videos, though.
The original’s FMV performances have been replaced by respectable but still video game-ish 3D models.
Enlarge/ A Vision Pro on display at an Apple Store in Tokyo.
Apple
Apple’s Vision Pro headset went on sale outside the United States for the first time today, in the first of two waves of expanded availability.
The $3,499 “spatial computing” device launched back in February in the US, but it hasn’t taken the tech world by storm. Part of that has been its regional launch, with some of the biggest markets still lacking access.
Apple announced that the product would be sold internationally during its keynote at the Worldwide Developers Conference earlier this month.
The first new markets to get Vision Pro shipments are China, Japan, and Singapore—those are the ones where it went on sale today.
A second wave will come on July 12, with the headset rolling out in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, and the United Kingdom.
When we first tested the Vision Pro in February, we wrote that it was a technically impressive device with a lot of untapped potential. It works very well as a personal entertainment device for frequent travelers, in particular. However, its applications for productivity and gaming still need to be expanded to justify the high price.
Of course, there have been conflicting rumors of late about just how expensive Apple plans to keep its mixed reality devices. One report claimed that the company put the brakes on a new version of the Vision Pro for now, opting instead to develop a cheaper alternative for a 2025 launch.
But another report in Bloomberg suggested that’s an overstatement. It simply noted that the Vision Pro 2 has been slightly delayed from its original target launch window and reported that the cheaper model will come first.
In any case, availability will have to expand and the price will ultimately have to come down if augmented reality can become the major computing revolution that Apple CEO Tim Cook has predicted. This international rollout is the next step to test whether there’s a market for that.
Enlarge/ For just $199, you could be having as much fun as this paid model.
Meta has announced it’s permanently lowering the price of its aging Quest 2 headset to $199 for a 128GB base model, representing the company’s lowest price yet for a full-featured untethered VR headset.
And the Quest 2 is far from the company’s state-of-the-art headset at this point. Meta launched the surprisingly expensive Quest Pro in late 2022 before dropping that headset’s price from $1,499 to $999 less than five months later. And last year’s launch of the Quest 3 at a $499 starting price brought some significant improvements in resolution, processing power, thickness, and full-color passthrough images over the Quest 2.
But for how long?
Those looking to get the Quest 2 at its new bargain MSRP should keep in mind that Meta may not be planning to support the aging headset for the long haul. Meta is currently winding down support for the original Quest headset, which launched in 2019 and no longer has access to important online features, security updates, and even new apps. The Quest 2 is just 18 months younger than the original Quest, and the new price might represent an effort to clear out defunct stock in favor of newer, more powerful Quest options.
Enlarge/ The Quest 2 (left) has a 40 percent thicker profile than the pancake-optics on the Quest 3 (right).
The Quest 2’s new price is the first time Meta has offered a headset below the “$250 and 250 grams” target former Meta CTO John Carmack once envisioned for a “super cheap, super lightweight headset” that could bring in the mass market (the Quest 2 weighs in at 503 grams). The new price is also stunningly cheap when you consider that, just six or seven years ago, VR-curious consumers could easily end up paying $1,500 or more (in 2024 dollars) for a high-end tethered headset and the “VR-ready” computer needed to power it.
If you’ve waited this long to see what virtual reality gaming is all about, this price drop is the perfect opportunity to indulge your curiosity for a relative pittance. Heck, it might be worth it even if your headset ends up, like mine, a Beat Saber machine most of the time.
All the available Immersive Video launch content fit on a small strip in the TV app.
Samuel Axon
Initial videos were labeled as episodes in a series, but subsequent episodes haven’t come.
Tonight, Apple will debut some new Immersive Video content for the Vision Pro headset—the first sports content for the device. It doesn’t seem like much after two months of no new content, though.
Starting at 6 pm PT/9 pm ET, Vision Pro users will be able to watch a sports film captured for the platform’s Immersive Video format. The video will be a series of highlights from last year’s Major League Soccer (MLS) playoffs, and according to Six Colors, it will run just five minutes. It will be free for all Vision Pro users.
On February 2, Apple released what appeared to be the first episodes of three Immersive Video series: Adventure, Prehistoric Planet, and Wildlife. Each debuted alongside the Vision Pro’s launch with one episode labeled “Episode 1” of “Season 1.”
However, it’s been almost two months, and none of those series have received new episodes. The only other piece of Immersive Video content available is an Alicia Keyes performance video that also debuted on February 2. Most of these videos were only a few minutes long.
That means that this short soccer video depicting sports moments from 2023 will be the only new piece of Immersive Video content Apple has put out since the device launched at the beginning of February.
When I reviewed the Vision Pro as an entertainment device, I lauded its capabilities for viewing 2D films and videos, but I also talked a bit about its 3D video capabilities. I said the first pieces of original 3D content from Apple seemed promising and that I looked forward to future episodes. Given that they were labeled just like Apple TV+ series in the TV app, I assumed they would arrive at a weekly cadence. Further episodes haven’t come.
Notably, Apple didn’t include a first-party app for playing 3D videos downloaded from the web with the Vision Pro, though an independent developer filled that gap with an app called Reality Player. There are a few 3D video streaming or downloading services in the visionOS App Store, but the selection is very anemic compared to what you have access to with other headsets.
Apple hasn’t been calling the Vision Pro a VR headset, opting instead for the term “spatial computing”—and that’s understandable because it does a lot more than most VR headsets.
But if you’re looking for new examples of the sorts of passive viewing content you can enjoy on other headsets, the Vision Pro is still far behind the competition two months in.
The device can display a wealth of 2D video content, but this drives home the initial impression that the Vision Pro is meant for viewing flat, 2D content as windows in 3D space. The situation isn’t quite as dire with apps and games, with a handful of new spatial apps in those categories rolling out in recent weeks.
Most apps behave just like iPad apps, with 2D viewports at the content; you can position those viewports wherever you want in the room around you. Most video content is also 2D.
There are situations where that’s neat to have, but it’s surprising Apple hasn’t invested more in actual 3D content yet. In terms of new stuff, this short soccer video debuting tonight is all we have right now.
Enlarge/ These mounted displays near the entrance let visitors touch, but not use, a Vision Pro.
Kyle Orland
For decades now, potential Apple customers have been able to wander in to any Apple Store and get some instant eyes-on and hands-on experience with most of the company’s products. The Apple Vision Pro is an exception to this simple process; the “mixed-reality curious” need to book ahead for a guided, half-hour Vision Pro experience led by an Apple Store employee.
As a long-time veteran of both trade show and retail virtual-reality demos, I was interested to see how Apple would sell the concept of “spatial computing” to members of the public, many of whom have minimal experience with existing VR systems. And as someone who’s been following news and hands-on reports of the Vision Pro’s unique features for months now, I was eager to get a brief glimpse into what all the fuss was about without plunking down at least $3,499 for a unit of my own.
After going through the guided Vision Pro demo at a nearby Apple Store this week, I came away with mixed feelings about how Apple is positioning its new computer interface to the public. While the short demo contained some definite “oh, wow” moments, the device didn’t come with a cohesive story pitching it as Apple’s next big general-use computing platform.
Setup snafus
After arriving a few minutes early for my morning appointment in a sparsely attended Apple Store, I was told to wait by a display of Vision Pro units set on a table near the front. These headsets were secured tightly to their stands, meaning I couldn’t try a unit on or even hold it in my hands while I waited. But I could fondle the Vision Pro’s various buttons and straps while getting a closer look at the hardware (and at a few promotional videos running on nearby iPads).
Two Vision Pro headsets let you see it from multiple angles at once.
Kyle Orland
Nearby iPads let you scroll through videos and information about the Vision Pro.
Kyle Orland
The outward-facing display is very subtle in person.
Kyle Orland
Without an appointment you can feel the headstrap with your hands but not with your skull.
Kyle Orland
To Apple’s credit, it did not even try to hide the external battery in these store displays.
Kyle Orland
After a few minutes, an Apple Store employee, who we’ll call Craig, walked over and said with genuine enthusiasm that he was “super excited” to show off the Vision Pro. He guided me to another table, where I sat in a low-backed swivel chair across from another customer who looked a little zoned out as he ran through his own Vision Pro demo.
Craig told me that the Vision Pro was the first time Apple Store employees like him had gotten early hands-on access to a new Apple device well before the public, in order to facilitate the training needed to guide these in-store demos. He said that interest had been steady for the first few days of demos and that, after some initial problems, the store now mostly managed to stay on schedule.
Unfortunately, some of those demo kinks were still present. First, Craig had trouble tracking down the dedicated iPhone used to scan my face and determine the precise Vision Pro light seal fit for my head. After consulting with a fellow employee, they decided to have me download the Apple Store app and use a QR code to reach the face-scanning tool on my own iPhone. (I was a bit surprised this fit scanning hadn’t been offered as part of the process when I signed up for my appointment days earlier.)
It took three full attempts, scanning my face from four angles, before the app managed to spit out the code that Craig needed to send my fit information to the back room. Craig told me that the store had 38 different light seals and 900 corrective lens options sitting back there, ready to be swapped in to ensure maximum comfort for each specific demo.
Sorry, I think I ordered the edamame…
Kyle Orland
Shhh… the Vision Pro is napping.
After a short wait, another employee brought my demo unit out on a round wooden platter that made me feel like I was at a Japanese restaurant. The platter was artistically arranged, from the Solo Knit Band and fuzzy front cover to the gently coiled cord leading to the battery pack sitting in the center. (I never even touched or really noticed the battery pack for the rest of the demo.)
At this point, Craig told me that he would be able to see everything I saw in the Vision Pro, which would stream directly to his iPad. Unfortunately, getting that wireless connection to work took a good five minutes of tapping and tinkering, including removing the Vision Pro’s external battery cord several times.
Once everything was set, Craig gave me a brief primer on the glances and thumb/forefinger taps I would use to select, move, and zoom in on things in the VisionOS interface. “You’re gonna pretend like you’re pulling on a piece of string and then releasing,” he said by way of analogy. “The faster you go, the faster it will scroll, so be mindful of that. Nice and gentle, nice and easy, and things will go smoothly for you.”
Fifteen minutes after my appointed start time, I was finally ready to don the Vision Pro.
A scripted experience
After putting the headset on, my first impression was how heavy and pinchy the Vision Pro was on the bridge of my nose. Thankfully, Craig quickly explained how to tighten the fit with a dial behind my right ear, which helped immediately and immensely. After that, it only took a minute or two to run through some quick calibration of the impressively snappy eye and hand tracking. (“Keep your head nice and still as you do this,” Craig warned me during the process.)
Enlarge/ Imagine this but with an Apple Store in the background.
Kyle Orland
As we dove into the demo proper, it quickly became clear that Craig was reading from a prepared script on his iPhone. This was a bit disappointing, as the genuine enthusiasm he had shown in our earlier, informal chat gave way to a dry monotone when delivering obvious marketing lines. “With Apple Vision Pro, you can experience your entire photo library in a brand new way,” he droned. “Right here, we have some beautiful shots, right from iPhone.”
Craig soldiered through the script as I glanced at a few prepared photos and panoramas. “Here we have a beautiful panorama, but we’re going to experience it in a whole new way… as if you were in the exact spot in which it was taken,” Craig said. Then we switched to some spatial photos and videos of a happy family celebrating a birthday and blowing bubbles in the backyard. The actors in the video felt a little stilted, but the sense of three-dimensional “presence” in the high-fidelity video was impressive.
After that, Craig informed me that “with spatial computing, your apps can exist anywhere in your space.” He asked me to turn the digital crown to replace my view of the store around me with a virtual environment of mountains bathed in cool blue twilight. Craig’s script seemed tuned for newcomers who might be freaked out by not seeing the “real world” anymore. “Remember, you’re always in control,” Craig assured me. “You can change it at any time.”
From inside the environment, Craig’s disembodied voice guided me as I opened a few flat app windows, placing them around my space and resizing them as I liked. Rather than letting these sell themselves, though, Craig pointed out how webpages are “super beautiful [and] easy to navigate” on Vision Pro. “As you can also see… text is super sharp, super easy to read. The pictures on the website look stunning.” Craig also really wanted me to know that “over one million iPhone/iPad apps” will work like this on the Vision Pro on day one.
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Are you a big fan of K-POP groups? Here is something you would never want to miss out on to make your fantasy come true. VENTA X, an 8K 3D Virtual Reality (VR) K-POP content app, released a VR concert ‘Girls In Wonderland’ featuring OH MY GIRL and Lee Chaeyeon. You can watch the concert yourself through the VENTA X app on Meta Quest or PICO.
This incredibly immersive show invites K-POP fans to the most dramatic experience since it gives them the unique opportunity to fully enjoy the artists’ performances from a distance where they can even make eye contact. On top of that, the narrative that connects the two artists’ hit songs and the use of mesmerizing CG provide viewers with an engaging experience.
Before releasing the VR content on the app, VENTA VR showcased the full version of the concert in various CGV movie theaters around Korea for K-POP fans who do not own VR devices. VR screenings took place in Goyang Baekseok, Hongdae, and Yeongdeungpo CGV theaters from November 3rd to 5th, followed by screenings in Busan Seomyeon Sangsang Madang and Gangnam CGV theaters from November 11th to 12th.
Fans experiencing the VR concert for the first time had significant reactions, saying, “It seemed like the singers were right under my nose,” “Though I’m new to this kind of VR performance, I liked that there was no motion sickness,” and “It’s even better than sitting in the first row of an in-person concert.” The show consistently received favorable feedback, and some viewers were so impressed with their experience that they rewatched it several times.
VENTA VR, a Korean immersive production company, launched the VENTA X app on Meta Quest in January. The app holds the most K-POP VR content and provides user-friendly services by interacting with fans who are unfamiliar with VR. Users can also enjoy VR experiences on various in-person sites, including festivals, pop-up stores, and birthday cafes. With “The Oulim in London” held at Saatchi Gallery in October and “CONTENT TOKYO” scheduled for next month, fans from around the world are not exempt from participation.
Regarding VENTA X’s move to broaden VR opportunities for diverse K-POP fans, VENTA VR’s CEO, WooYeol Jeon, stated, “Now is the time to expand ideal VR experiences with high-quality VR content. VENTA X will pave the way for the popularization of VR by creating a culture of enjoying K-POP through VR.”
‘Girls In Wonderland’ VR concert was released on VENTA X on November 15th, 2023, at 5: 00 PM KST. The concert is available for $20.99 after downloading the VENTA X app from Meta Quest’s App Lab and the PICO Store.
In his video series introducing aspiring developers to the basics of game development, Super Smash Bros creator Masahiro Sakurai recommends viewers give VR a try to understand what it does uniquely well.
Masahiro Sakurai has had an illustrious career in game development. Though best known as the creator and director of the Super Smash Bros series, the first game in the series was actually his fourth game. He first got his start back in 1992 with another franchise you’ve probably heard of… Kirby.
With 30 years of experience under his belt, Sakurai recently started up his own YouTube channel to share his game design philosophy with the world. The series, straightforwardly called Masahiro Sakurai on Creating Games, covers everything from game pitching to game design to managing a dev team—all in bite-sized videos that are short, sweet, and geared toward aspiring developers.
Sakurai briefly touched on VR in one of his recent videos that focused on choosing the right field-of-view for a given game. Speaking of both VR’s strengths and weaknesses, he ultimately encourages his viewers to give VR racing games a try to understand what a VR headset brings to the table in terms of field-of-view and immersive first-person perspective.
In racing games, a cockpit viewpoint would probably feel the most realistic. And yet, I feel like most developers tend to go for something different [like a third-person point of view]. [First-person] can make the game hard to play, since the screen space available for actual gameplay ends up severely decreased [because of the limited view out the car’s windshield].
You could try playing VR instead, but the lower resolution will make distant objects too blurry to really see. That’s a problem when the player is using it to see more. And when driving in real life, you can glance sideways like this… but the only way to do that in VR is to turn your entire head.
Still, I recommend you overlook these downsides and give VR racing a try, even just once. Motion sickness is always a possibility, but for games that separate your viewpoint and direction of travel, VR is truly the perfect fit. Back to the topic at hand…
Despite clearly appreciating the unique experience that a VR headset can bring to a game, Sakurai hasn’t created any VR content himself. According to NintendoLife, back in 2015 Oculus offered to contract Sakurai to create a VR game, but ultimately he declined, citing the medium’s small audience size.
While the VR audience is still far from the size of mainstream gaming at large, it has no doubt increased significantly since 2015; I wonder what if Sakurai would make of the VR landscape today.
Meet Liteboxer, the celebrity-backed at-home fitness company that’s about to claim its stake in the Metaverse with their new VR launch happening on January 5th, 2022. Brought to market in 2020, Liteboxer combines patented hardware, hit music, game dynamics, and expert training to create the world’s most immersive workouts. Liteboxer is designed to make high-intensity workouts as fun as playing a video game while building cardio, strength, and mental acuity.
Liteboxer will be an exhibitor at CES 2022 from January 5th-8th, 2022 (booth: #54111, Sports Technology), located in Tech West at the Venetian Expo, Halls A-C. The brand will be displaying all its current models, including the Floor Stand, Wall Mount, and the brand-new VR offering, each available for demo. Also, we invite you to talk to founders Todd Dagres and Jeff Morin, as they will be on-site to discuss Liteboxer and new developments in the future of tech and wellness.
Liteboxer combines patented hardware, game dynamics, hit music, and expert training to create the most immersive workouts to date. Liteboxer’s maiden VR fitness experience will be available on Meta Quest 2, featuring real in-app expert trainers with new workouts daily. Liteboxer VR will also offer motivation-based competition and an extensive music library in partnership with Universal Music Group, bringing music that ranges from Lady Gaga to YG into the virtual ring.
VR workouts connect people in a way that’s deeper than a 2D screen. You can work out anywhere in the world, with some of the best trainers in the world, without leaving your living room. No additional hardware is required, just a VR headset and your will to win.Liteboxer VR is built to be fitness-first and champion a sports-at-home experience, unlike other VR fitness offerings. You will see a Virtual Liteboxer in front of you- you will see the shield and runway lights and be immersed in the Liteboxer VR world. Liteboxer VR uses hand tracking so that you can exercise with or without controllers. Liteboxer is launching the next generation of VR fitness today, equipping its users to enjoy an intense workout experience with sleeker hardware. Simply download the app from the Quest Store to access Liteboxer’s ever-growing workout platform.
Liteboxer VR will be available for purchase by consumers in the Quest Store beginning on March 3rd, 2022, enabling users to step into the ring for a full sensory fitness experience that evokes an emotional response formerly unique to sports. Regularly priced at $18.99/month (7-day free trial) for first-time Liteboxers, Liteboxer VR will be free for those who already own Liteboxer’s innovative Floor Stand or Wall Mount models and subscribe to Liteboxer’s membership program.
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