XR weekly round-up: Quest 3S leaks, HTC teases mixed reality headset & Meta AI comes to Quest
Emmy nomination for a VR game, new headsets from HTC and Meta's AI assistant comes to the Quest — the week's top XR news stories.
In our weekly XR Update, you can always find the most important XR news of the last five days with a short summary. If you are interested in a particular topic, click on the link to the full article in the relevant section. As usual, we provide you with background information and opinions in addition to the facts.
Have fun browsing!
Content
XR hardware: News on VR, AR and Mixed Reality headsets
Specifications of the Meta Quest 3S leaked
According to VR enthusiast Luna, the Meta Quest 3S will be equipped with the Snapdragon XR2 Gen 2 chipset, an LCD display with 1832×1920 pixels per eye and 90/120 Hz frame rate. The device could offer similar software features to the Quest 3, but with Fresnel lenses and at a significantly lower price.
PlayStation VR 2 PC adapter about to be released
The PC app for PlayStation VR 2 is now listed on Steam and will be released on August 7, 2024. The adapter costs 60 euros and turns PSVR 2 into a SteamVR-compatible PC VR headset. Some features such as HDR, haptic feedback and eye tracking will not be available on PC.
HTC teases new mixed reality headset
HTC hints at a new headset in a video, which could be the Vive Focus 4 according to a leak. The device is said to have two RGB cameras, a depth sensor for mixed reality and integrated eye tracking, but apparently uses the same chipset as the Vive XR Elite.
Meta launches AI assistant for Quest
Meta is introducing its AI assistant Meta AI as an experimental feature for Meta Quest, but initially only in the USA and Canada. With "Meta AI with Vision", Quest 3 users can recognize objects in their environment and ask questions about them.
More lifelike Meta avatars in development
Meta is working on improved avatars, which may be unveiled at Meta Connect 2024. VR enthusiast Luna discovered tests of more lifelike avatars in Horizon Worlds. Meta's photorealistic codec avatars could also be implemented in Quest headsets in the next few years.
XR market and business news
Magic Leap in crisis again
According to a report, Magic Leap has laid off dozens of employees and is realigning itself. The company is apparently withdrawing from selling AR headsets to business customers and instead wants to license its technology, which raises questions about the future of AR headsets.
Meta considers investment in smart glasses partner
Meta is reportedly considering a 5 percent stake in eyewear manufacturer EssilorLuxottica, the partner for the Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses. Google is also said to be interested in working with the company to integrate Gemini AI into smart glasses.
New Meta Quest smartphone app
Meta renames the Meta Quest smartphone app "Meta Horizon" and gives it a new design. The app now places more emphasis on social aspects and avatar design, but makes access to important functions more cumbersome.
VR games and XR apps: All the latest news
Emmy nomination for VR game The Pirate Queen
The Pirate Queen has been nominated for an Emmy in the "Outstanding Emerging Media Program" category. The atmospheric and educational VR game tells the story of a powerful 19th century female pirate and offers a mixture of narrative passages, puzzles and skill challenges.
Contractors Showdown starts in Season 1
The VR shooter Contractors Showdown has started its first season and brings new features such as vehicles, a respawn mode, new weapons, a dynamic weather system and in-game missions.
VR multiplayer Stabby released for Meta Quest
The VR multiplayer game Stabby has been released for Meta Quest and allows up to six players to compete against each other in intense stealth matches. The game offers three multiplayer modes, five single-player challenges and physics-based game mechanics.
Into the Radius 2 available in Early Access
The VR survival shooter Into the Radius 2 has been released in Early Access on Steam. The game offers realistic weapons, a sophisticated loot system and the opportunity to explore dangerous locations full of anomalies. A two-player co-op mode is new.
Chernobyl Again: VR adventure with digitized original locations
Chernobyl Again is a VR adventure game in which you travel through time to prevent the Chernobyl nuclear disaster. The game features photogrammetric duplicates of key locations from the disaster and will be released soon for Meta Quest and PC VR.
Note: Links to online stores in articles can be so-called affiliate links. If you buy through this link, MIXED receives a commission from the provider. For you the price does not change.
