Play VR Rhythm Game ‘BOXVR’ on Rift for Free This Weekend
‘Beat Saber’ is Now the Highest Rated Title on Steam – VR or Otherwise
After only three days since launch, Beat Saber (2018), the VR rhythm game that puts two lightsabers in your hands, is now the highest rated game on Steam—not just the highest rated VR game, but the highest rated game out of all titles, flatscreen games included.
Facebook Teases “Mixed Reality” Capabilities of Santa Cruz Headset
Facebook’s VP of AR/VR Andrew “Boz” Bosworth showed a quick glimpse of a “mixed reality” game of soccer using Oculus Santa Cruz, the company’s 6 DOF standalone VR headset prototype.
Hands-on: ‘Starbear: Taxi’ is an Unbearably Cute Arcade Taxi Game with RC Spaceships
Funktronic Labs, the studio behind Cosmic Trip (2017), today launched their latest title, an arcade remote-controlled taxi game dubbed Starbear: Taxi (2018). Starbear: Taxi launched today on Rift, Vive, and Windows “Mixed Reality” VR headsets.
Oculus on Half Dome Prototype: ‘don’t expect to see everything in a product anytime soon’
At Facebook’s F8 developer conference Oculus revealed a glimpse at an intriguing new headset prototype dubbed ‘Half Dome’. Including a 140 degree field of view, varifocal displays, and what appears to be eye-tracking, the prototype is a tantalizing peek at the company’s research and what may lay ahead of us—just don’t expect it everything we saw “anytime soon,” says Oculus co-founder and Head of Rift Nate Mitchell.
Google Pays Homage to Film Pioneer Georges Méliès in VR Short ‘Back to the Moon’
Google is celebrating the life and artistry of French film pioneer Georges Méliès today with a charming VR short that commemorates his iconic silent films including the groundbreaking A Trip to the Moon (1902).
Cheeky Airport Security Game ‘TSA Frisky’ to Launch May 17th
TSA Frisky is an upcoming room-scale game that turns the tables on travelers and their would-be airport security officers. The game, which appears to be a cheeky cross between Papers, Please (2013) and Job Simulator (2016), is slated to arrive on Steam for Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, and Windows VR Headsets on May 17th.
Oculus Claims Breakthrough in Hand-tracking Accuracy
One of Facebook’s underlying goals for VR is to use it as a means of connecting distant people. While today friends can talk and play in a range of social VR applications, including Facebook Spaces, the representation of users in VR is still a caricature at best. At F8 this week, Oculus showed work being done on hand-tracking to bring more intuitive control and accurate avatars into VR.
Oculus Reveals 140 Degree VR Headset Prototype with Varifocal Displays
Oculus today at F8 overviewed some of the latest VR technology that they’d been working on internally. Among the projects mentioned is the ‘Half Dome’ prototype, a Rift-like headset with a 140 degree field of view, varifocal displays, and what appears to be eye-tracking.
Oculus Replaces ‘React VR’ Framework With Rebranded ‘React 360’
At Facebook’s F8 developer conference, Oculus today announced it’s both overhauling and rebranding React VR, the company’s open-source JavaScript library that lets developers create cross-platform WebVR experiences. Now dubbed React 360, the company says the framework now “provides clearer prioritization for our future roadmap.”
Palmer Luckey Posts Oculus Go Teardown, Revealing Possible Fix to Lengthen Battery Life
Oculus Go, the company’s $200 standalone VR headset, launched at Facebook’s F8 developer conference yesterday to much fanfare—likely because everyone in attendance got one free. Now that anyone can get their hands on one, Oculus founder and ex-employee Palmer Luckey took it upon himself to post a single image of the headset laid bare, revealing a few interesting bits including what might be a replaceable battery.
This Guy Modded Oculus Touch to Play ‘Beat Saber’ Darth Maul-style
Beat Saber (2018) is finally here, the block-slicing rhythm game that puts two lightsabers in your hands and tasks you with using your Jedi powers to slice to the beat. Less than a day since release, one Twitch streamer has already modded his Oculus Touch controller to play Darth Maul-style, aka with a single double-bladed lightsaber.
Watch Windows VR Controllers Stand up to ‘Beat Saber’s’ Hardest Song
While high-end headsets like the Rift and Vive use external sensors for positional tracking, the Windows VR headsets use a fully ‘inside-out’ solution which eliminates the need for external trackers and simplifies setup, but certainly makes hand-tracking more challenging. While the Windows VR headsets are often criticized for the precision of their hand-tracking, I was surprised to find how well they hold up in practice even with a fast paced, highly active game like Beat Saber (2018).
Windows VR Support on Steam Leaves Early Access, Claims Significant Improvement Since Launch
Microsoft released its April Windows 10 update yesterday, and with it comes the official launch of SteamVR support for Windows “Mixed Reality” VR headsets.
‘Quill’ Artwork Can Now Be Shared With Friends in ‘Facebook Spaces’
Quill, Facebook’s VR painting and animation tool, is now getting a new and immersive avenue for sharing artwork created in the application. With today’s update, users can now share their artwork into Facebook Spaces, letting friends experience it together. Facebook VR artist Goro Fujita created a new short film animated in Quill and shared in Spaces as an example of the new capability.
