Zero-G Sports Game ‘Echo Arena’ is Coming to Oculus Quest
Ready at Dawn’s Echo Games today announced at UploadVR’s E3 VR showcase that Echo Arena (2017), the zero-G sports game exclusive to Rift, is coming to Oculus Quest.
‘Beat Saber’ Gets Imagine Dragons DLC Music Pack, New 360 Game Mode Coming Soon
Beat Games today announced that Beat Saber (2018) just dropped a ten-song DLC music pack featuring the music of Grammy Award-winning rock band Imagine Dragons. The studio is also showing off a new ‘360’ level mode at E3 this week, which promises to change up the game by throwing blocks at you from different directions.
Next-gen Xbox Revealed with No VR in Sight, Sony Forges Ahead with PSVR on PS5
With the curious case of Microsoft initially announcing VR support for Xbox One X and then later pulling the plug before launch, it wasn’t clear if the company would use its next console as its opportunity to finally jump into VR. Today at E3 2019, Microsoft revealed its next-gen Xbox ‘Project Scarlett’ but had nothing to say about VR on the console. Meanwhile, Sony has already confirmed support for PSVR on PS5, and hinted at plans for a next-gen headset.
Preview: Valve Index is the DSLR to the Oculus Rift S Point-and-shoot
While we offered our initial hands-on impressions with the Valve’s new Index headset last month, we’ve now had many more hours inside the headset, and an opportunity to put it side by side with others. Here’s a deeper look at Index ahead of a full review still to come.
Analysis: Monthly-connected VR Headsets on Steam Pass 1 Million Milestone
Valve’s monthly Steam Survey has long offered useful insight into the share of VR headsets in use on Steam. But the figures provided are relative to the non-static Steam population, which obfuscates the actual adoption trend of VR headsets on the platform. To demystify the data, Road to VR has developed a proprietary model which derives actual headset counts by correcting for Steam’s changing population. The latest data shows that monthly-connected VR headsets on Steam have surpassed 1 million for the first time.
‘Primitive’ Visualizes Complex Code for Collaborative Analysis in VR
Primitive represents one of the most interesting use-cases I’ve seen for VR so far—it creates 3D visualizations of source code that can be collaboratively explored and analyzed in VR. It’s creators believe that bringing a spatial understanding to otherwise flat code enhances the development process of complex code created by distributed development teams.
Apple Offers Impressive Web-based AR Previews of New Mac Pro
Apple is taking advantage of a recent iOS feature called AR Quick Look to allow potential customers to see the company’s new Mac Pro and Pro Display XDR at scale in augmented reality right from Apple.com on an iPhone. The ease of use, rendering, and tracking quality make it surprisingly compelling.
Rift S is the Lowest Rated Oculus Headset on Amazon, Quest Vaults Ahead
Though Oculus touts the Rift S as its “most advanced, PC-powered gaming headset,” the headset is notably trailing other Oculus headsets (including the original Rift) in customer ratings on Amazon. Meanwhile, Quest has taken the lead as the most favorably rated Oculus headset, ranking as high (or higher) than major game consoles.
Apple Announces ARKit 3 with Body Tracking & Human Occlusion
At the company’s annual WWDC developer conference today, Apple revealed ARKit 3, its latest set of developer tools for creating AR applications on iOS. ARKit 3 now offers real-time body tracking of people in the scene as well as occlusion, allowing AR objects to be convincingly placed in front of and behind those people. Apple also introduced Reality Composer and RealityKit to make it easier for developers to build augmented reality apps.
HTC is Now Giving Away 2 Free Months of Viveport Infinity to Rift Owners
HTC’s VR app storefront, Viveport, is looking forward to welcoming a host of new VR users with the entrance of Valve Index and Oculus Rift S. To that tune, the company is giving away two free months of Viveport Infinity, its Netflix-style unlimited subscription service, to anyone with a Rift, Rift S, or Index.
Samsung Reportedly to Release “multiple AR and VR products” in Coming Months
Samsung hasn’t really said much about VR since the release of Samsung Odyssey+, the hardware refresh to its Windows Mixed Reality headset that came to market in October 2018. However at Augmented World Expo (AWE), the company offered a few brief statements to underline their continued commitment to the space. In short: Samsung has more AR/VR products coming down the pipeline.
‘Trover Saves the Universe’ Launches on PSVR, Coming to PC Next Week
Trover Saves the Universe, the latest VR title from Squanch Games and the mind of Rick and Morty co-creator Justin Roiland, launched today on PS4 with support for both PSVR and non-VR. The game will launch for PC VR headsets via Steam next week.
Ultrahaptics Acquires Leap Motion for a Reported $30M
Leap Motion, the pioneer in optical hand-tracking, has been acquired by Ultrahaptics, the enterprise-focused immersive haptics company.
‘Super Smash Bros’ Gets Limited Support for Switch VR Labo Goggles
Nintendo today announced that the latest update to Super Smash Bros Ultimate has added a special mode which allows the game to be played with the Switch VR Labo Goggles.
Get ‘Obduction’ for Free on PC VR from Now Until June 1st
GOG is giving away Obduction (2016), the latest VR puzzler from Cyan, the studio behind iconic ’90s adventure puzzlers Myst (1993) and Riven (1997).
