More than just the latest in a long line of niche gadgets, Oculus Go represents the linchpin of Facebook’s lofty goal of putting one billion people into virtual reality. Built with the new or casual user in mind, the device’s non-intimidating tether-free design and Snapdragon 821 mobile processor (which will be two years old in August) manage to keep costs low and user-friendliness high.
Lowe’s, a major North American retailer of home improvement goods, has dreamt up an interesting in-store use of VR. Using an HTC Vive and a specially made controller, the ‘Holoroom Test Drive’ allows anyone timid around power tools to put on a VR headset to learn how to use the tools in a safe virtual space.
The Oculus Go was released on Tuesday, May 1st at the Facebook F8 developer conference, and it is a self-contained, 3-DoF mobile VR headset priced at $200 that is optimized for media consumption and social VR interactions. Facebook showed off four first-party applications including Oculus TV, Oculus Gallery, Oculus Rooms, and Oculus Venues. The Oculus Venues will be treated as public spaces that will be governed by Oculus’ updated Terms of Service that has a code of conduct to ensure safe online spaces. In order to enforce the code of conduct, then Oculus will need to do some amount of capturing and recording of what happens in these virtual spaces, which has a number of privacy implications and tradeoffs between cultivating safe online spaces that may erode aspects of the freedom of speech and the 4th amendment rights to privacy within these virtual spaces.
If you’re already an Amazon Prime Member, or looking to become one starting today, there’s an Amazon Prime Day Oculus Rift deal waiting for you.
Amazon Prime Day is here; this year HTC’s latest VR headset Vive Pro [Amazon] is getting a special deal. From now until July 17th at 8:59 PM PT (local time here), US Amazon Prime Members can get a $50 Amazon gift card and $50 Viveport gift card with purchase of a Vive Pro VR headset.
Sony will soon release an AR and VR adaptation of the late, great David Bowie’s commemorative museum retrospective ‘David Bowie is’.
3rd Eye Studios, the Helsinki-based developers behind Downward Spiral: Horus Station (2018), today announced the PS4 and PSVR version of the game is slated to land on PSN in August.
Multiverse Entertainment, the studio behind VR sci-fi shooter Seeking Dawn (2018), recently announced their 10+ hour title is due for a “huge content” update, which is said to arrive sometime before the game makes its way to PSVR.
Magic Leap is soon to launch its first AR headset, the Magic Leap One. We don’t know exactly when or how much, but following the company’s confirmation that the headset is due to launch this Summer, the product has hit the FCC for certification.
The 70th Annual Emmy Awards are nearly here, and the nomination list is out. Seven pieces of VR content have made the cut, including big names such as Rick And Morty: Virtual Rick-ality (2017), Coco VR (2017), Blade Runner 2049: Memory Lab (2017), and Spider-Man Homecoming VR Experience (2017) to name a few.
Pimax previously said their upcoming “8K” VR headset was heading into the mass production phase. Kickstarter backers probably shouldn’t expect an imminent launch though, as the company today announced they’re sending out a second iteration on their pre-production ‘M1’ headset to their select group of independent beta testers. An alleged leak points to concerns over the headset’s build quality and software readiness.
Oculus has been on quite the hiring spree as of late, with over a hundred positions currently advertised on the company’s career website aimed at bringing hardware and software engineers into the Seattle area. Now, a report from real estate analysis firm BuildZoom estimates parent company Facebook has spent over $88 million in Redmond-based labs and office space for Oculus this year alone.
Panic Button Games, the studio responsible for the PSVR port of Electric Hat’s To The Top (2017), are working on bringing popular underwater survival game Subnautica (2018) to PlayStation 4. Although both Steam and Oculus Store versions of the game support VR, PS4 users won’t be so lucky; Unknown Worlds, the game’s original developers, say it probably won’t ever come to PSVR.
Beat Saber, the acclaimed VR rhythm game, is soon to get a special version, Beat Saber Arcade, which will offer officially sanctioned use of the game in out-of-home VR arcades.
