WarpAR is a free iOS app from developer Matt Bierner which lets you use Photoshop-like liquify tools to dynamically modify the world through AR. More than just a cool tech demo, it also helps us imagine what the future might be like when our physical reality becomes increasingly subject to digital whims.
Like a majority of in-person events, Gamescom was cancelled last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, or rather held entirely online—however you want to slice it. Now event organizers say it will be held as a “hybrid event” this August, offering up its massive halls to press, industry and even private visitors.
Despite being among the early supporters of the OpenXR consortium—the industry group building the open standard for XR devices—Sony so far seems to have avoided making a specific commitment to implement OpenXR on PSVR or its next-gen headset.
A newly published patent granted to Valve envisions new Index headsets that could be wireless or standalone, and include new head-mounts for improved ergonomics.
At the all-digital version of SXSW 2021 today, Facebook’s Mark Rabkin, VP of Oculus, showed off an upcoming new version of its avatar system on Quest.
Beat Saber, the block-slashing rhythm game, is getting its fourth original sound track (OST) installation today, coming to all supported platforms for free.
Pimax’s top of the line offering, the “8K” X headset, originally shipped with a max refresh rate of 75Hz for its native resolution mode. Today the company is releasing a beta update which pushes that up to 90Hz. The company says it worked with NVIDIA to overcome prior “bandwidth limitations” to enable the higher refresh rate on most GeForce RTX 30-series GPUs.
Facebook today revealed some of its latest research and vision for a wrist-worn input device that the company expects to form the basis of AR and VR interactions and haptics in the future. The device, still in a research prototype phase, senses electrical signals in the user’s arm to detect intentional inputs. In addition to functioning as a simple ‘button’ input, the company says the device can even enable accurate, keyboard-less typing, and more.
In preparation for the reveal of its next VR headset, Sony today gave a first look at its next-gen VR controller for use with PS5, something that appears very similar to Oculus’ Touch controller.
Speaking on a panel at the online GDC Showcase today, Facebook’s VP of Play, Jason Rubin, and Facebook Reality Labs’ VP of Content, Mike Verdu, furthered the company’s bullish outlook on Quest. The duo claimed that the platform is very near to being a sustainable developer ecosystem, and that the data shows a clear trajectory in which VR will eventually reach ‘AAA’ scale.
Realities.io, the team behind the photogrammetry-based VR experience Realities (2016), announced that its 3D jigsaw game Puzzling Places will arrive on PSVR sometime later this year.
Zenith: The Last City is an upcoming anime-inspired VRMMORPG from indie studio Ramen VR. It’s still in closed alpha, but Zenith’s first long-format gameplay video reveals that it’s shaping up nicely.
A message uncovered by IGN Italy when plugging in a pair of wireless headphones into an Xbox Series X/S caused a stir in the VR community, as it seemingly alluded to some level of VR support baked into Xbox consoles. Microsoft says however that the error message was inaccurate, and that VR for Xbox is still not a happening.
Last week HTC announced a new accessory, the Vive Facial Tracker. Though the device is designed to mount to the Vive Pro, it turns out it’s technically compatible with other PC VR headsets, provided you can find a way to mount it in the right spot.
