AUO to Showcase 1,688 PPI Display with HDR for VR Headsets
Taiwan-based display and electronics maker AUO plans to showcase a range of new displays this week, including a 2.9-inch 3.5K × 3.5K display with HDR capabilities for VR headsets.
Steam Survey: HTC & Windows VR See Gains as Oculus Awaits New Headsets
As the VR market is poised for a handful of new headsets launching in the coming weeks, the latest Steam Survey unsurprisingly shows Vive and Windows VR making some gains after Oculus discontinued the Rift ahead of the launch of the Rift S.
Somnium Space Raises $1M to Expand Social VR Platform
Somnium Space, the studio behind the titular social VR platform, announced they’ve successfully completed a $1 million seed round, something the company says will help them “further strengthen its development of a huge-scale Persistent, Open and Social Virtual Reality world.”
‘Echo Combat’ Gets New Payload Map ‘Surge’, Boasts 15% Longer Track
Echo Games have released an update to Echo Combat (2018), the studio’s zero-g, team shooter for Oculus Rift, that brings a new payload map to the game. Dubbed ‘Surge’, the map is said to include a payload track that’s 15% longer than Fission’s.
‘Beat Saber’ Has Been PSVR’s Top Download for 6 Months Running
Sony today released the monthly download rankings for PSVR. Coming as no surprise to anyone, the hit block-slashing rhythm game Beat Saber (2018) has again placed at the number one spot this past month, putting it now six months in a row as the top downloaded game on the platform.
Facebook Shuffles Top Oculus Executives
It looks like Facebook is shaking up Oculus and reassigning some of its top executives to new positions within the parent company, notably affecting head of content Jason Rubin and Oculus leader Hugo Barra.
VR Melee Action Game ‘Swords of Gargantua’ Heads into Open Beta Next Week
HTC Invests in 17 AR/VR Startups in Latest Vive X Accelerator Program
HTC is now on its fourth batch in its $100 million accelerator program, which offers education, investment and mentorship to startups doing unique and and interesting things around VR and AR.
‘Star Wars Vader Immortal’ Review on Quest – Come for the Story, Stay for the Lightsabers
Though Oculus Quest still doesn’t launch until the 21st, Oculus has seen fit to give us full access to one of its biggest launch titles: Star Wars Vader Immortal – Episode 1. This “narrative virtual reality adventure” does a good job of immersing you in the Star Wars universe, but it feels all too brief. Thankfully there’s a surprisingly fun ‘Lightsaber Dojo’ that offers hours of engaging challenge.
Daydream & VR Nowhere to be Seen at Google I/O
If you’ve felt that Google has been quiet about their Daydream VR initiative for a worrying amount of time, you aren’t alone. Their annual developer conference, Google I/O, this week is the latest opportunity for the company update the world on their VR ecosystem, but there’s little more than silence.
Sony Announces 2 New PSVR Bundles Coming This Month
If you were wondering what Sony’s next big hardware bundles were going to be, wonder no more. Sony today announced two PSVR bundles, one of which features the cinematic shooter Blood & Truth and beloved golfing franchise game Everybody’s Golf VR, and another packing in Justin Roiland’s comedic platformer Trover Saves the Universe and the cult classic-turned VR horror game Five Night at Freddy’s VR: Help Wanted.
‘High Fidelity’ Refocuses on Enterprise Market, Lays off 25% of Staff
High Fidelity, the VR platform from Second Life creator Philip Rosedale, announced that the company has laid off 25 percent of its staff in a new shift that will put a much heavier emphasis on enterprise usecases.
Location-based VR Attraction ‘Hologate’ Celebrates 2 Million Player Milestone
Hologate, a Munich-based startup, today announced that their eponymous world-wide VR attraction has taken in two million visitors since it was first launched in 2017.
This is What ‘Virtual Desktop’ Looks Like on Oculus Quest
Virtual Desktop has been a fixture in VR since the early days of the Oculus developer kits, first releasing as a tech demo back in 2014. The single-user app, which lets you stream your desktop monitor in VR, is now making its next big leap to Oculus Quest.
HP Reverb Review – An Impressive Headset Stuck with Windows VR Controllers
Reverb is HP’s second VR headset, and this time around the company is aiming mainly at the enterprise market, but not shying away from selling individual units at a consumer price point. As the highest resolution headset presently available at that consumer price point, it has a unique selling point among all others, though the usual compromises of Windows Mixed Reality still apply.
