Hand-tracking on Quest rolled out as an experimental feature in late 2019, but Oculus is letting it gestate before it will accept third-party apps with hand-tracking. In the meantime, the company has published fresh developer documentation which establishes best practices for working within the limitations of Quest hand-tracking.
Until You Fall launched in Early Access on Steam and Oculus back in August 2019; the game impressed us with its excellent VR melee combat system. Despite consistently high reviews, the game hasn’t attracted a critical mass of players, pushing developer Schell Games to shift development focus toward support for new headsets. With most PC VR headsets already covered, the studio is likely considering Quest and PSVR.
Boneworks (2019), the VR shooter-adventure from Stress Level Zero, is now live on the Oculus Store for Rift, although arguably more fascinating is the studio’s intention to bring its physics-based system built for Boneworks to the modest Oculus Quest, which it recently reaffirmed, as well as PC VR headsets too.
VR streamers and those capturing VR gameplay footage with Oculus PC headsets know about OculusMirror.exe which lets you customize the VR view displayed on the monitor, including showing things like Oculus Dash and Oculus Home which don’t normally appear in the external window. While OculusMirror.exe is a powerful little tool, its command-line interface made it a hassle to use. The latest update to the Oculus desktop software finally adds a simple graphical interface, making the tool much easier to use.
Valve today confirmed that the Coronavirus outbreak has impacted production of the Index VR headset and other hardware. While the company tells us it still expects that new stock will be available ahead of the launch of Half-Life: Alyx on March 23rd, there will be “far fewer units” than the company had anticipated.
Facebook and Sony today announced they won’t be attending the annual GDC conference in San Francisco next month other Coronavirus concerns. GDC has historically been a key event for both Facebook/Oculus and Sony, with major announcements and previews of what would come from each company’s VR ventures throughout the rest of the year. Facebook, at least, says it will still share its planned announcements despite not attending the show.
No Man’s Sky (2016) has been on a roll lately with its continuous updates ever since its big ‘Beyond’ refresh in Summer 2019, which brought along with it VR support for PS4 and PC versions of the game. Now, developers Hello Games have released its ‘Living Ship’ update, which brings the first new starship since ‘Atlas Rises’, it’s 1.3 update released in 2017.
As if announcing three new Cosmos headsets wasn’t enough, HTC today also revealed Vive Proton. The company is calling this a “prototype” headset with two different flavors: a standalone VR headset and a ‘VR viewer’ which would be powered by a tethered device like a smartphone.
Buckle up, this one’s a doozy. HTC today introduced three new variants of its Vive Cosmos VR headset. Joining the original Cosmos is Cosmos Elite, Cosmos Play, and Cosmos XR. The four variants of the headset aim to cover a diverse set of customer interests.
SpringboardVR, the content distribution platform for VR arcades, has partnered with Cloudhead Games and eSports organizers The Virtual Athletics League (VAL) to bring a Pistol Whip (2019) tournament next month to more than 500 arcade locations as well as at-home players.
Thanks to its motion-tracked input, VR can be a surprisingly physical activity, and even a great workout if you’re playing the right games. This article explains why working out in VR is game-changing for those of us who have a hard time staying motivated with a typical gym routine. We’ll also highlight games and accessories which improve VR as a fitness activity.
LYNX is a startup building a standalone MR headset that’s primarily focused on passthrough AR scenarios for enterprise applications. The France-based company revealed its R-1 headset earlier this month and expects to deliver the first units this Summer for $1,500. We spoke to founder Stan Larroque to learn more about the company’s background, ambitions, and tech.
Sandbox VR, the location-based VR attraction, will be opening up to third-party developers soon, as the company will be releasing an SDK for its Sandbox ‘holodeck’ VR attraction platform.
After its launch in December, one common Boneworks gripe was the lack of any mid-level checkpoints, which meant players had to complete entire levels in a single play session otherwise they would lose their progress and be forced to restart the current level. A big update released today introduces a mid-level checkpoint system and brings new content, climbing improvements, and more.
Oculus brought controllerless hand-tracking to Oculus Quest as an experimental feature back in December, and while it’s useful for navigating around the headset’s menus when you don’t want to pick up the controllers, developers have begun prototyping more creative uses for the tech.
