‘Zenith: The Last City’ Review-in-progress – The Latest Shot at Making a VRMMO a Reality

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Image courtesy Ramen VR

The dream of the VRMMO has been captured in countless movies and shows, but to date the genre really hasn’t seen its breakout hit in the VR gaming space. Zenith: The Last City is the latest shot at making a great VRMMO a reality, but does it deliver?

‘Warhammer 40,000: Battle Sister’ Coming to SteamVR Headsets in March

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Image courtesy Pixel Toys

Warhammer 40,000: Battle Sister launched on Quest in late 2020, later coming to Rift with cross-buy in mid-2021. Now the epic action-shooter is slated to leave Meta platform exclusivity starting next month.

Evidence Mounts for Apple’s Support of WebXR in Latest iOS Beta

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Based on an image courtesy Apple

As the most valuable tech company in the world, decisions that Apple makes tend to reverberate throughout the industry. Recent evidence strongly points to Apple planning to support WebXR on Safari and possibly its forthcoming XR headset, which would widen consensus on the standard.

Meta Visually Unifies Avatars Across Quest, Facebook & Instagram in Metaverse Push

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Image courtesy Meta

Meta released its new Quest avatar system last year, bringing a big upgrade over the previous in terms of expressiveness and customizability. Now the company announced it’s standardizing those across all Meta platforms—Facebook, Messenger, and Instagram—essentially letting users build and use the same 3D avatar for VR and social media.

HalfDive VR Headset Kickstarter Cancelled Due to Niche Appeal, Manufacturing Issues

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HalfDive prototype | Image courtesy Diver-X

Japanese startup Diver-X launched a Kickstarter for a unique VR headset called HalfDive that was designed to be used while laying down, drawing some pretty clear inspiration from hit anime Sword Art Online. Although the unique project managed to secure enough cash to be considered fully funded, the team has decided to cancel the Kickstarter, citing scaling issues which ultimately stem from its niche appeal.

Diver-X announced that it’s pulling the plug on HalfDive, announcing that all backers would not be charged for funds collected.

The company mentions three major concerns, which essentially boil down to its niche appeal, inability to reduce costs by producing major components in-house, and resultant cash flow issues due to scalability issues. You can read the full text in the company’s blog post.

“We were faced with the brutal reality that no matter how optimized and multifunctional our device may be for use in sleeping-posture, it is only a replacement of existing VR devices and not yet an interface that brings innovative experiences,” Diver-X says.

Despite the setback, the company maintains it’s still dedicated to developing “full dive” tech which emphasizes in-bed VR immersion. The original article announcing the campaign’s start follows below:

HalfDive has just surpassed its funding goal, amassing around $178,000 from 177 backers. All available funding tiers are still available at the time of this writing, with the most popular tier, the early bird Basic Model, having nearly sold out at $1050.

Diver-X hasn’t published stretch goals yet, however we’ll be following the project as it finishes out the remained of its 40 days until the campaign comes to an end on January 30th, 2022. The original article detailing the Kickstarter follows below:

Original Article (December 16th, 2021): HalfDive isn’t a brain-computer interface like SAO’s NerveGearhowever it does promise to let users play SteamVR games like VRChat and experience some pretty interesting object interaction via its tethered force feedback solution too.

The Kickstarter launched today, and is asking for ¥20,000,000 or around $176,000 USD. At the time of this writing, the project has already garnered over $70,000, putting it around one-third of the way there.

Diver-X is offering two distinctive models through the Kickstarter, what it calls a ‘HalfDive Minimum Model’ (starting at $750) and ‘HalfDive Basic Model’ (starting at $1,050).

The minimum model includes the headset and base, a pair of HalfDive controllers, and a proprietary head tracker. The basic model includes that, plus the force feedback module and a pair of wind feedback modules (re: fans) for both greater immersion and cooling.

Image courtesy Diver-X

The company previously said it would be providing a more expensive version with variable focus lenses, however the creators say the variant is too difficult to mass produce. There won’t be a stretch goal for vari-focal lenses either, something Diver-X says they’ve decided as to better focus on development and production.

Controllers haven’t been revealed yet either. The creators are ostensibly still working on its promised foot-worn ankle controllers and the Vive Index-style hand controllers, which it teased in previous marketing material. Its force feedback cuffs appear to provide a place to attach Vive Trackers at least. The company says its working to integrate support for Tundra Trackers as well.

As for functionality: unlike standard VR headsets, which require you to strap them to your head for optimal fit and image clarity, HalfDive is more of a passive experience that seems to cradle your head rather than tightly affix it in place. Diver-X CEO Yamato Sakoda adjusts himself into a prone position and slips on two hand-worn cuffs that are tethered with retractable wires to force feedback modules in the base of the unit.

Diver-X says its design primarily allows users to operate in VR without any pressure on the head, and as a result covers 99% of all human head sizes.

As you’d imagine, a user laying on the ground has a different expected range of motion is than someone using a VR headset in either sitting or standing positions. The headset’s range of motion was previously described by Diver-X as 4.5 degrees of freedom (DOF), further calling it “virtual 6DOF”. We can see what that means functionally in the video of the 3D printed third prototype below as he adjusts the visor down into the optimal viewing position and angles it left and right, also called ‘yaw’.

What the gif doesn’t show is it can also apparently pitch up and down (relative to the user’s point of view) to a lesser degree. Still, that action looks pretty stiff, and even with the promise of a smoother injection molded body, looking around will decidedly require more effort than with a standard VR headset in either seated or standing position.

Construction of the mold for mass production is said to take place in February 2022, with completion estimated for May. Shipping is said to arrive sometime in Summer 2022; Kickstarter funding tiers are marked as releasing in August 2022.

It’s an innovative design for sure, however HalfDive is probably not for everyone. Playing VR games whilst laying down—but positioned in the VR world as if you’re standing up—may cause discomfort in some users depending on the amount of movement required in the game. Vection, or the motion that’s implied by movement in your visual field, can lead to discomfort if artificial motion and your body’s expectation of that motion don’t match up well enough.

That’s essentially why room-scale games without any type of artificial locomotion are usually the most comfortable to play, while games that toss around your point-of-view with topsy-turvy game geometry, or include heavy expectation of frenetic movement, are often the least comfortable among the bunch.

Granted, HalfDive looks pretty ideal for watching Netflix in the void theater, and maybe even hanging out in VRChat for a chill virtual face-to-face that doesn’t require too much virtual locomotion. We’re looking forward to seeing more as the headset exits its third prototype phase and heads closer to mass production in early Summer 2022. Again, you can check out the Kickstarter here.

Specs

  • Display – 2,880 × 1,600 LCD at 90Hz (1,440 × 1,600 per eye)
  • Optics – 10-element aspheric lens array
  • FOV – estimated 134°
  • Adjustable IPD – 58-84 mm range
  • I/O – Located in headset base: DisplayPort 1.2 / USB3.0 / 3.5mm audio jack / 12V power source / I2C (module connection),
  • Tracking – HalfDive tracker, Vive tracker supported (Tundra Tracker support coming soon),
  • Audio – built-in 4-spear array, microphone
  • Supported OS – Windows 10 (Linux support coming soon)
  • Minimum PC specs – Dual Core CPU with hyper-threading, 8GB RAM, Nvidia GeForce GTX970 / AMD RX 480

Arcade Flight Sim ‘Ultrawings 2’ to Release on Quest February 3rd, Promising 40-60 Hours of Gameplay

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Image courtesy Bit Planet Games

Ultrawings is an arcade VR flight sim that’s been on the market since 2017 and has become something of a classic in its own right. Developer Bit Planet Games just announced that the long-awaited sequel, Ultrawings 2, is landing on Quest 2 February 3rd.

VR’s Most Popular Game is Mixing Up Its Formula with New Blocks & Mechanics

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Image courtesy Beat Games, Meta

Beat Saber is getting a good slice of new mechanics soon that aim to change up the game’s feel by introducing some long-awaited block styles that may just make you a more stylish player.

‘Wanderer’ Review – A Time Traveling Delight That’s Just Shy of Greatness

Image courtesy Oddboy, M-Theory

Wanderer is a VR adventure game that puts you in the shoes of a hapless time traveler who finds himself trapped in an alternate history—one that starts (and possibly ends) in worldwide disaster. Wanderer excels with its smorgasbord of interesting puzzles that do very little hand-holding. Its fun and well-designed set pieces play as an immersive backdrop to an engrossing story, all of which hopefully distract you from its particularly clunky level of object interaction.

Tons of New Magic Leap 2 Details Shed Light on Dynamic Dimming & More

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Image courtesy Alessio Grancini

Although it’s expected to launch this year, there’s still no firm release date on Magic Leap 2. However, the company has begun sharing details on the headset which suggests the launch is approaching.

‘Township Tale’ Studio Raises $12.4 Million to Expand Studio & Development

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Image courtesy Alta

Australia-based Studio Alta, the developer behind A Township Tale, today announced it has raised a $12.4 million seed investment to expand its studio and accelerate development of the game.

‘The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners’ Sequel Coming in ‘Chapter 2: Retribution’ This Year

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Image courtesy Skydance Interactive

Skydance Interactive announced The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners (2020), the zombie-filled survival horror game for all major VR headsets, is slated to continue in the newly unveiled standalone game: ‘Chapter 2: Retribution’.

‘The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners’ Surpasses $60M in Revenue Since Launch

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Image courtesy Skydance Interactive

Don’t ever say there isn’t money in VR game development. Skydance Interactive today announced that its hit zombie-slaying adventure The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners (2020) has now passed the $60 million revenue mark across all supported platforms.

13 Major New Features Added to Quest Since Launch

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Quest [left] and Quest 2 [right] | Photo by Road to VR

Since its launch in 2019 Oculus Quest has represented a major shift in Facebook’s VR strategy by moving away from the PC. Quest 2, which launched in October 2020, has become the most popular VR headset on the market. Sensing traction, the company has been aggressively updating the headsets with new features, making them better they were at their launch. Here’s a look at the biggest updates so far.

Aero Likely the First in a Series of Enthusiast Headsets from Varjo

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Image courtesy Varjo

Varjo’s Aero headset is the first from the company that’s meant to appeal to individual customers rather than large organizations… and it probably won’t be the last.

HoloLens Optics Chief Joins Google Amid Reported Push for Upcoming Google AR Headset

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Image courtesy North, Google

Bernard Kress, principal optical architect on Microsoft’s HoloLens team, has left the company to take on the role of Director of XR Engineering at the recently formed Google Labs. A report by The Verge maintains Google is also now gearing up to produce an AR headset that could directly compete with similar offerings from the likes of Apple and Meta.

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