Facebook Spaces, the company’s social VR application which launched in beta one year ago, is getting an entirely new avatar system and customization tool, something Facebook says in a recent blog post was designed to make avatars “more expressive and customizable than ever.”
Valve’s monthly Steam hardware and software survey is out, and it appears Oculus Rift is still gaining momentum over HTC Vive on the Steam platform as the number one VR headset among Steam users.
What is happening with the VR industry? Is adoption and growth still on target to support a vibrant and diverse ecosystem of independent VR developers? Leading headset manufacturers have not been transparent in sharing any specific information, and analyst datum that’s been released hasn’t been a reliable or comprehensive source of information. So it’s been difficult to get an honest and candid assessment about the overall health and vibrancy of the virtual reality ecosystem. But there are a few companies who have some deeper insights into the VR ecosystem, and these are the independent VR development companies who have released best-selling VR titles.
Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon 845 VRDK, a VR headset reference design for hardware and software developers, is now offering 6DOF controller input with ultrasonic tracking.
Lenovo’s Mirage Solo, a standalone VR headset in the Daydream app ecosystem, has had an official release date and price for some time now: May 5th and $400. Pre-orders are now live for both the VR headset and Lenovo’s VR180 camera.
Watson, IBM’s artificial intelligence platform designed to understand natural language, launched support for Star Trek: Bridge Crew (2017) across all VR platforms back in June of last year. Last week, Ubisoft said in a forum post that it was pulling support for Watson due to unspecified “technical reasons.” The company has since reversed that decision, saying Watson-powered voice controls will remain online “through 2018.”
Thanks to a free update to PS4’s WipEout Omega Collection (2017), you can finally get the authentic anti-grav racing experience on PSVR. The game’s VR update is a smart and skillful adaptation, offering players a chance to “play the full game in virtual reality from start to finish.” Just be sure to get familiar with the game’s various comfort options to find what works for you before you push it to the limit.
High Fidelity, the open source VR platform founded by Second Life creator Philp Rosedale, and NeoSensory, a Palo Alto-based haptics company, announced they’ve partnered to create a haptic jacket dubbed the ‘exoskin’.
Survios, the studio behind Raw Data (2017) and Sprint Vector (2018), debuted a new single player VR game this year on the GDC expo floor, an upcoming arcade boxing title that puts you in the shoes of Adonis Creed, son of Apollo Creed and protegé of Rocky Balboa.
Magic Leap, the mysterious augmented reality headset company, has apparently begun shipping its first wave of Magic Leap One AR systems to partners in limited numbers.
Indie VR developer Mixed Realms, creators of badass VR ninja simulator, Sairento, announced this week plans for their next chapter, coming in the form of Sairento Reborn. Described as “bigger and better,” Sairento Reborn hopes to open up the title, allowing cooperative hack & slash fun for both VR and PC players.
Virtual reality (VR) has been a hot topic in the media and the tech sector for the last couple of years, but it is about to hit a new level of buzz, thanks to the internationally best-selling book Ready Player One (2011) by author Ernest Cline, and movie adaptation from award winning director, Steven Spielberg, premiering in theaters today. The Ready Player One (RPO) novel is often cited by industry experts as one of the top recommendations for VR-related book lists. The story’s primary backdrop is a world where VR is intertwined into every aspect of our daily lives, what I call a ‘VR-First future’. RPO follows the adventures of a teenager and his friends as they overcome untold challenges on their quest to win a global online scavenger competition and its gigantic prize.
