Microsoft’s Xbox briefing has come and gone and no sign of the originally touted “high fidelity VR” we were hoping for from the newly christened Xbox One X. Nevertheless, here’s what we know about Xbox One X virtual reality support so far.
At Microsoft’s pre-E3 keynote today, we’ve seen plenty of non-VR games coming to the Xbox console family, now including XBox One X (formerly Project Scorpio). But with still no clue of possible VR support to come for the 4K console, the second installment of Lucky’s Tale (2016), called Super Lucky’s Tale, is apparently coming to XBox One as a console exclusive with no clear sign that VR support is in the cards.
At Microsoft’s E3 2017 briefing, the company’s event this year was all about the mid-generation Xbox hardware powerhouse formerly known as Project Scorpio. Xbox One X is the name and it’s coming on Nov 7th this year.
E3 2017 is underway and one of the key events this year is Microsoft’s Xbox briefing, at which we’re expected to learn much more about Project Scorpio, the PS4 Pro rival which the company have stated will host “high fidelity” VR. Watch the livestream right here
UK gamers looking to add a little VR spice to their PS4 games should check out this new PlayStation VR bundle which will get you up and running in VR and offers a healthy £74 saving.
A new report from Nielsen suggests that not only is public awareness of virtual reality at record levels, it’s nearly doubled year on year.
The virtual reality industry is poised for a transformative five years. While consumer VR equipment is still cost prohibitive for many, location-based ‘VR arcade’ businesses offer a chance for consumers to experience high-end VR equipment without a big up-front investment. And it’s catching on. Especially in China, location-based virtual reality entertainment (LBVRE) is enjoying remarkable traction, where spending on out-of-home entertainment is high. VR developers are increasingly prioritizing this avenue to monetize their content.
Another entrant in the rapidly burgeoning wireless VR segment appears as DisplayLink prepares to present their new WiGig 60Ghz wireless VR technology at next week’s E3 convention and, according to a recent hands-on, it’s looking pretty impressive.
Augmented Reality has played a huge role at the developer conferences for Microsoft, Apple, Facebook, and Google, which is a great sign that the industry is moving towards spatially-aware computing. Microsoft is the only company to start with head-mounted AR with the HoloLens while the other three companies are starting with phone-based AR. They are using machine learning with the phone camera to do six degree-of-freedom tracking, but Google’s Project Tango is the only phone solution that’s starting with a depth-sensor camera.
Apple’s broad embrace of VR this week shows that the company has had virtual reality support on its roadmap for quite some time. During a session at WWDC, Apple and Valve confirmed they’ve been working together for nearly a year to bring SteamVR and OpenVR to MacOS.
There’s an invisible cyber war that’s happening between major nation states, and Zero Days VR takes you inside of it in a completely new way using virtual reality. You go on a journey into a hyper-stylized cyberspace world where you embody the Stuxnet computer virus as it navigates programmable logic controllers, changes code, and destroys Iranian nuclear centrifuges.
Showcased at Apple’s Worldwide Developer Conference this week, ARKit is a new core technology for iOS 11, due to launch this Fall, soon to enable augmented reality features on hundreds of millions of iPhones and iPads. As the iOS 11 developer beta is already available, we’re starting to see some interesting real-world tests of ARKit, showing off the tracking that’s achievable with nothing more than a camera.
HTC launched its interesting Viveport Subscription service back in April; for $7/month, the program lets users choose five VR games from a pool of available apps, and grants them unlimited access. The company is sweetening the deal with 75 additional titles to choose from, including a number of notable games.
Sports in VR is squarely in the realm of low-hanging VR that you often hear rattled off on five fingers when broaching the topic of industries VR will revolutionize. And while it’s easy to imagine, actual execution is a completely different story. With VR sports broadcasting deals being signed with the world’s biggest sporting leagues, the space is clearly maturing, but there’s still some missing pieces needed to boost this use case out of novelty and into orbit.
The hotly anticipated Vive Deluxe Audio Strap launched just yesterday and the initial stock has already been nabbed, apparently putting the unit out of stock in both the US and EU regions. HTC has also confirmed that the upgraded headstrap isn’t compatible with the Vive pre, along with investigating some deterioration issues with the strap’s foam padding.
