XR weekly round-up: 4K headset presentation flops, Meta Quest 3S price leak, and HTC unveils new VR headset
Immersed fails to present the 4K Visor headset, the price of the Meta Quest 3S has been leaked, HTC presents the Vive Focus Vision and Apple launches visionOS 2 — the week's top XR news.
In our weekly "XR update" overview, you will always find the most important XR news from the past week with a brief summary. If you are interested in a particular topic, click on the link to the full article in the relevant paragraph. As usual, we provide you with background information and opinions in addition to the facts.
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Content
XR hardware: News on VR, AR and mixed reality headsets
Immersed Visor: What the first voices are saying after the botched presentation
At the Visor IRL event, Immersed showed a finished but only partially functioning version of the lightweight and slim 4K headset for the first time. Despite technical problems during the hands-on sessions, participants were impressed by the wearing comfort, display quality and form factor. Visor is due to be released in 2024 and is primarily positioned as a productivity device.
Meta Quest 3S: Online store leaks alleged price of the VR headset
A South Korean online retailer lists the Meta Quest 3S with 128 GB storage capacity for the equivalent of $299. The offer appeared on Arca.Live and is in line with previous price assumptions. The official launch of the Quest 3S is expected next week at Meta Connect 2024.
Meta Quest 3S: Commercial hints at competitive price
A US streaming service is already broadcasting advertisements for the Meta Quest 3S and reveals the US price of the as yet unannounced headset. According to this, the Quest 3S with 128 GB memory will be available for $299.99. This would make it the cheapest standalone VR headset currently on the market.
Snap unveils new Spectacles 5 AR headset and announces AI partnership with OpenAI
Snap presents the fifth generation of its Spectacles AR headset and the new Snap OS operating system, which focuses on natural interactions. The headset is initially aimed at developers and offers a field of view of 46 degrees. Snap is working with OpenAI to integrate powerful AI models into Lenses.
HTC presents new VR headset Vive Focus Vision and focuses on mixed reality
HTC Vive announces the Vive Focus Vision, an update of the Vive Focus 3 with full mixed reality. The self-sufficient VR headset is also intended to appeal to PC VR gamers, but relies on the outdated XR2 Gen 1 chip. Pre-orders are available from September 18 for 1,199 euros.
HTC Vive Focus Vision hands-on: why the XR headset is perfect for business customers
The HTC Vive Focus Vision is an excellent B2B headset. In our hands-on, the VR headset impresses with its robustness, ease of use and functions such as a hot-swappable battery and eye tracking. However, they are less suitable for XR enthusiasts due to their outdated lenses and chip.
Apple Vision Pro: Better hand tracking, new gestures and spatial photo conversion - this is what visionOS 2 offers
The first major update of the spatial operating system brings new functions for Apple's headset, including customizable Home Views and the conversion of old photos into Spatial Photos. Hand tracking, mouse and keyboard support and developer frameworks have also been improved.
Playstation VR 2: VR headset gets better on PC when you install this new update
Update 2.0.0 of the Playstation VR 2 app for PC brings improvements for use with AMD Radeon RX graphics cards, fixes display problems and optimizes performance and stability. There is also a new driver for the TP-Link UB500 Bluetooth adapter, which is intended to resolve compatibility issues.
XR market and business news
Meta will develop many more Ray-Ban smart glasses — partnership extended
EssilorLuxottica and Meta have signed a long-term agreement to develop smart eyewear products over the next ten years. The collaboration has already resulted in two generations of Ray-Ban Stories. Meta is also reportedly considering a stake in EssilorLuxottica.
Stumbling XR pioneer Holoride back on track: realignment and expansion into Asia planned
The recently faltering XR company Holoride is repositioning itself after successful restructuring and is founding a holding company in Singapore. In future, Holoride will also offer its technology as a license and is planning to expand into Asia. An expanded software suite is to be released at the beginning of 2025.
VR studio nDreams plans to lay off up to 17.5% of its workforce
Despite investments and the takeover by Aonic, the British VR studio nDreams has to cut jobs due to the "challenging VR games market". Up to 88 jobs at all levels of the company are at risk. nDreams is known for VR games such as Fracked and Phantom: Covert Ops.
New XR showcase launches shortly before Meta Connect 2024
The XR Indies & Friends Showcase will present new reveals and updates from independent VR and MR developers on September 25, 2024. The show will take place shortly before Meta Connect and will be produced by the same team as the VR Games Showcase in August.
VR games and XR apps: all the latest news
Thrill of the Fight 2 announced
Thrill of the Fight 2 launches in Early Access in November. For a long time, fans were told that the team was too busy working on another title. Now developer Ian Fitz is working together with Halfbrick Studios. The multiplayer mode and customizable avatars are among the most requested new features.
Exclusively for Meta Quest 3: Mixed reality game Starship Home will be released next week
The mixed reality game Starship Home takes you on an interstellar expedition where you collect and care for plants and make them your friends. The adventure will launch exclusively for Meta Quest 3 in September and is the first game from the new Creature label.
New VR MMORPG Freeland is now available free of charge for Meta Quest and PC VR
The new VR MMORPG Freeland for Meta Quest 3, Quest 2, Quest Pro and SteamVR has been launched. The free-to-play multiplayer adventure will initially be released in Early Access and aims to be one of the biggest VR open-world adventures. You explore a huge online galaxy with quests, dungeons and PvP battles.
Into The Radius is now finally available for Playstation VR 2
The atmospheric survival shooter Into The Radius is now available for Sony's VR headset and uses foveated rendering and haptic feedback. The game from CM Games and Fast Travel Games has become a huge success since its PC VR release in 2020.
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