Mixed News is relaunching! Here’s what to expect

For many years, Mixed News has been one of the few sites properly dedicated to virtual reality, augmented reality, mixed reality, and all the other vaguely defined future-computing stuff that tends to get renamed every few years when the last buzzword loses its shimmer.

Now it’s coming back.

Mixed News is relaunching, and we’re picking up where the original team left off: covering immersive technology seriously, but without pretending every new headset, pair of smart glasses, or AI-powered wearable is about to change the world by lunchtime. The XR space seems to be in quantum state of being declared either completely dead or the next greatest thing in computing. Neither is true though, which is part of what makes the whole thing so fascinating.

VR is still here, but progress is hampered by ever increasing costs of computing. AR is still scrabbling to find a practical use case. And smart glasses might finally be turning into something people would wear outside. Not to mention AI creeping into everything, sometimes usefully, and sometimes like a glitter bomb that explodes in your face and requires immediate medical attention.

I’m James Bruce, and I’ll be handling the hardware reviews side of Mixed News.

I’ve been a passionate fan of virtual reality for well over a decade, and was one of the original backers of the Oculus DK1, the headset that arguably kicked off the modern consumer VR era. But my interest in 3D and immersive technology stretches back much further than that. I grew up with an Amstrad CPC 464 (which still works, surprisingly), but came of age with NVIDIA’s 3D Vision stereoscopic gaming glasses, spending endless nights in Unreal Tournament.

Over the years, I’ve owned and tried pretty much every major headset. My house is full of immersive gaming technology, some of which is incredible, and some of which is deeply questionable. There’s nothing I love more than a few laps with my YAW2 motion sim rig in Gran Turismo, or a DigVR session with the RotoVR. I’ve got an omnidirectional treadmill somewhere too, though I’ll admit that gets a lot less use, mostly because “walking” on one is a massive faff with special shoes and endless safety straps.

I’ve done warehouse-scale mixed reality multiplayer laser tag with the Quest 3. I’ve done room-scale with the Vive Wireless Adapter, fallen flat on my face thanks to an imaginary wall and got the scars to prove it. I’ve bought the headsets, sworn at the USB trackers, fiddled with base stations, 3D printed all manner of adapters, and still come back for more.

So yes, I know VR. But more importantly, I still love it.

That matters for reviews, because immersive tech is not something you can judge from a spec sheet. Sure, resolution, brightness, and field of view matter — but none of those numbers tell you how much friction there is to get into a session, whether a headset is comfortable after an hour, or if the whole thing ends up in the cupboard of shame after the initial glow wears off. A good review should talk about the actual experience of owning and using the thing. Who is it for? What is it good at? What compromises has the manufacturer made? Is the setup a pain? Does it work well enough to become part of your routine?

That’s the sort of coverage I want to bring to Mixed News. Practical, experienced, and enthusiastic, but not gullible. I still think this technology can be magical, but the it’s not helped by YouTube influencers who whose every odd video is a disingenuous “THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING”. I’ve spent my working life being honest about products, regardless of whether bridges are burned in the process — but I’ll tell you that good companies don’t mind bad reviews.

But we also want Mixed News to capture more of the experience around immersive tech, because that’s where the fun is. It’s one thing to read about a headset; it’s another thing entirely to put someone in VR for the first time and watch them forget, just for a second, that none of it is real. It’s the moment they reach out to touch something that isn’t there. It’s that grin when sim racing rig convinces your body the corner has weight. So alongside the news and reviews, we want Mixed News to become genuinely useful for people who want to get more from this technology. How do you set up VR properly? How do you show it to friends, family, or a crowd without making everyone sick or letting someone punch a TV? Which accessories meaningfully add to the immersion without disproportionately adding to the faff-factor? And more importantly: can you make your sim rig into an X-Wing?

That’s the plan, anyway.

Mixed News is back, and we’re not here to pretend every headset is the future of computing. We’re here because this space is still interesting, still frustrating, and still capable of producing magical moments you can’t get anywhere else.

Most importantly, we’re here because Mixed News should be run by people who care about this stuff.

Welcome back.