XR weekly round-up: Meta's secret XR plans, Google snaps up HTC Vive team and Oculus founder plans VR comeback
Meta plans Oakley smartglasses for 2025, Google takes over parts of HTC Vive, Palmer Luckey announces a VR comeback — the XR news of the week.
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 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
MIXED Column
Playstation VR 2 could have made Sony more money than the canceled live service games
Sony has discontinued several live service games while the PSVR 2 suffers from a lack of support. A stronger VR line-up could have helped the PSVR 2 gain a larger user base, believes our guest author Jamie Feltham. Nevertheless, there are positive signs for the PSVR 2, especially in the core gamer market.
MIXED Reviews
Meta Quest 3: How does Geforce Now perform on the VR headset?
Geforce Now is now available on Meta Quest 3 and other headsets. In our short review on the Quest 3, the streaming service impresses with good latency and image quality. The only downside: only the Xbox controller is supported.
Canon RF-S 7.8mm Review: 3D close-up lens for specialists
Canon has introduced a specialized RF-S 7.8mm lens for 3D close-up photography, which was developed exclusively for the Canon EOS R7. This lens can be used to create high-quality photos and videos at close range in 3D.
MIXED Reader Questions
Who will win the headset wars: Meta, Apple or Google?
MIXED reader Stefan Kron wanted to know which XR operating system will dominate the industry in the future. Here is our answer.
XR hardware: News on VR, AR and mixed reality headsets
CREAL: New AR light field display fits into a conventional headset
The start-up CREAL presents Clarity, a new prototype of its AR light field display that is compatible with prescription glasses. The display is designed to show AR content with correct depth and natural focus.
XR market and business news
Oculus founder to unveil new VR headset soon
Palmer Luckey has announced that he will be presenting something in a few weeks that will bring him back into the spotlight of the VR industry. It is likely to be a new VR headset from his defense company Anduril Industries.
Report: Meta plans Oakley smartglasses for 2025
According to a Bloomberg report, Meta is planning Oakley-branded smart glasses for 2025, HUD glasses codenamed Hypernova also for 2025 and a full-fledged AR headset for 2027. Meta is also working on a smartwatch and AirPods competitor.
Meta Quest remains the platform of choice for game developers
A GDC survey shows that Meta Quest is still the dominant VR development platform. 59% of VR/AR developers work for Meta Quest, while other platforms such as SteamVR, PSVR 2 and Apple Vision Pro are far behind.
Android XR: Google takes over parts of the HTC Vive team for $250 million
Google is intensifying its XR efforts and acquiring parts of the technical team developing HTC Vive products for $250 million. Google wants to use this to accelerate the development of the Android XR platform.
VR games and XR apps: all the latest news
No room for VR blockbusters: the Meta Quest charts are full of gorillas, cats and boxers
Free-to-play games and entertaining snacks continue to dominate the Meta Quest charts, while VR blockbusters continue to slide. I Am Security tops the sales charts, Gorilla Tag the revenue charts.
Indiana Jones gets unofficial VR mod, first gameplay video
VR modder Luke Ross is working on a VR mod for Indiana Jones and the Great Circle. A first gameplay video shows 40 minutes of the game in VR. Despite reduced graphics, the mod should look very good with an RTX 30 or 40 card.
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