Oculus Makes Improvements to Iteration Time for Unity Quest Developers
Oculus has introduced three changes to significantly speed up the iteration process for developers building Quest applications with Unity.
‘Phantom: Covert Ops’ Taps ‘Metal Gear Solid’ Snake Voice Actor for Main Antagonist
Oculus exclusive Phantom: Covert Ops is on track for its June 25th release date on Rift and Quest, and today developer nDreams has announced that David Hayter, the English voice of Solid Snake from the Metal Gear Solid franchise will voice the game’s lead villain, Nikolai Zhurov.
HTC Unveils ‘Vive Sync’ Social VR Platform for Companies Looking to Go Virtual
In the time of social distancing and the new work-at-home culture, video conferencing has undoubtedly become king. Companies looking to get a little more out of meetings though, namely the ability to virtually chat face-to-face with colleagues, might be surprised to learn that HTC is now opening up its own productivity-focused social VR platform.
This Fan Brought ‘Quake’ to VR, Including 6DOF Controls & Melee
Quake (1996) from id Software defined the real-time 3D shooter genre, and now you can dive back into the ’90s head-first with this fan-built Quake VR mod.
Mojo Vision Raises an Additional $51M to Fund Smart Contact Lens Development
Mojo Vision announced it has raised more than $51 million in a Series B-1 investment round, something the company says will be used for further development on Mojo Lens, its smart contact lens.
‘Arizona Sunshine’ for Quest Gets Final DLC Drop with ‘The Damned DLC’
Vertigo Games has now released its final paid DLC for its co-op zombie shooter Arizona Sunshine (2017) on Oculus Quest.
VRMMO ‘OrbusVR’ Launches Paid DLC Questline with First Mini Story Pack
OrbusVR, the virtual reality MMORPG, is getting plenty of new content this year, as the studio not only released a continuation of the game’s ‘Explorer’s League’ questline early this year, but also the first of a series of paid DLC ‘Mini Story Packs’ that promise to bring 10 -15 hours of additional content to the game. Now the first of those paid Mini Story Packs is here.
Facebook’s Non-advertising Revenue ‘primarily driven by Oculus,’ up 80% to $297M
In Facebook’s Q1 2020 earnings call today, the company overviewed its latest financial situation and noted that Oculus products were a major contributor to $297 million in non-advertising revenue.
Wireality is an Experimental Haptic Feedback Device Using Shoulder-mounted Strings
Carnegie Mellon University researchers published a paper recently that proposes a novel VR haptic feedback device, which unlike strictly hand-worn haptic devices, lets you feel objects in VR with a measure of ‘positional’ resistance.
John Legend, Tinashe to Play Live Shows in Social VR Platform ‘Wave’
Wave isn’t your garden variety social VR platform. With an emphasis on virtual raves, replete with immersive visualizations and regular live performances, it’s become the de facto concert platform for VR users. Now Wave says it’s bringing more artists this summer via its One Wave concert series, which will include artists such as John Legend, Tinashe, Jauz, Galantis, and more.
Hand-tracking Text Input System From Facebook Researchers Throws Out the Keyboard (sort of)
A prototype from Facebook Reality Labs researchers demonstrates a novel method for text input with controllerless hand-tracking. The system treats the hands and fingers as a sort of predictive keyboard which uses pinching gestures to select groups of letters.
Why You Shouldn’t Play ‘Half-Life: Alyx’ Without a VR Headset
Half-Life: Alyx (2020), Valve’s made-for-VR entry into the fabled Half-Life series, launched late last month on SteamVR-compatible headsets to near-universal praise. If you don’t own a VR headset but still want to play though, I’d caution you against playing it for the first time with the new, unofficial PC monitor mod. Get a VR headset and don’t spoil it for yourself.
‘Alien: Isolation’ on Sale for $2 for a Limited Time, One of VR’s First Great Games
Alien: Isolation (2014) was one of the first truly good games to get support for PC VR headsets. If you’re wondering why everyone is still crazy about years later, it’ll only take you $2 to find out.
‘Bigscreen’ Brings On-Demand Movies in New ‘Movies & Events’ Update
Bigscreen, the social VR viewing platform, introduced paid movies late last year so you could buy a ticket to join people in watching a number of 2D and 3D films at set times, working more or less like a physical movie theater. Although you’ll still be able to do that through special, one-time events, Bigscreen is adding on-demand movie viewing to the list today, letting you watch its catalog of films whenever you want.
