HTC has been widely out of stock of the 2016-era Vive basically since the entrance of Vive Cosmos last month, the $700 successor to its consumer-focused PC VR product segment. If you still have your heart set on getting a whole Vive system though, replete with SteamVR 1.0 basestations and Vive wand controllers, HTC is now ready to sell you a reconditioned system for $400.
A team of researchers from Cambridge, Berkeley, MIT, and others has developed a novel method for boosting perceived contrast in VR headsets. The method exploits human stereo vision by intentionally mismatching elements of the view seen by each eye; the brain resolves the conflict in a way that boosts perceived contrast, the researchers say.
An update released today for SteamVR brings major improvements to one of the most frustrating parts of the platform: audio not always going to your headset on the first try.
Oculus founder Palmer Luckey left Facebook in 2017 to found his own defense technology company, Anduril Industries. It’s mostly been in the business of creating AI software, autonomous drones, and threat detection systems, however a Business Insider interview reveals that Anduril is heading back into familiar territory by working on AR/VR software created specifically to aid warfighters on the battlefield.
Apple is developing an AR headset; so much is clear from its many AR-specific job listings and even its latest version of iOS, which includes a stereoscopic renderer. The questions of what, how, and when are all patently up in the air though, making any shred of evidence—or in this case, rumor—something to highlight.
Harmonix, the veteran music game studio behind the Guitar Hero series, released their latest VR game Audica on PC VR in Early Access back in March. PSVR users have been patient, but now the unique shooter-meets-rhythm game is available today on PSVR.
While Oculus doesn’t offer much publicly in the way of understanding how well individual apps are performing across its VR storefronts, it’s possible to glean some insight by looking at apps relative to each other. Here’s a snapshot of the top 20 Oculus Rift games and apps.
Hot on the heels of Avengers: Damage Control, the next experience heading to VR attraction The VOID is Jumanji: Reverse the Curse, made in collaboration with the Sony Pictures Virtual Reality group. The title will come to select VOID locations starting on November 27th.
Facebook held its Q3 2019 earnings call late last week, and Oculus again found itself in the center stage as one of the company’s most visible of projects. Company founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg acknowledged that although their plans for VR & AR is “taking a bit longer” than they thought to manifest as mainstream products, he’s still optimistic in its future.
Wolfdog Interactive, a Netherlands-based studio known for its work on VR titles Skyworld and VR Dungeon Knight, launched a Kickstarter in September to help fund its next VR game, a stealth-action title called Panther VR. It wasn’t clear if the crowdfunding campaign would be able to inch past the finish line in its last week, but it looks like those fears were for naught.
Oculus Quest’s content library eclipsed 100 games and apps back at the end of August and continues to grow at a solid clip. Here’s 25 titles coming in 2019 and 2020 that we’ve got our eyes on.
Magic Leap has released a new set of development components in a ‘Magic Leap Toolkit’ (MLTK) which includes a slew of pre-built tools which aim to make it easier for creators to bring their AR vision to life without needing to re-think the basics.
Oculus Rift S, the company’s mid-generation hardware update to the Rift platform, only just launched a few months ago, but it’s already getting its first discount this upcoming Black Friday.
Synth Riders, the VR rhythm game that went into Early Access last summer, is now available on Oculus Quest in addition to being officially out of EA on PC VR.
Social and Multiplayer VR can be incredibly compelling, but the process of actually ‘finding’ your friends in VR is still a clunky and often frustrating process. Oculus is developing a new set of social and multiplayer tools which stand to make it much easier to directly connect with friends by treating games and apps more like actual places.
