Virtual/Augmented/Mixed Reality News & Discussions

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Wristband uses echoes and AI to track hand positions for VR and more
https://techxplore.com/news/2024-04-wri ... tions.html
by Patricia Waldron, Cornell University

Cornell researchers have developed a wristband device that continuously detects hand positioning—as well as objects the hand interacts with—using AI-powered, inaudible soundwaves.

Potential applications include tracking hand positions for virtual reality (VR) systems, controlling smartphones and other devices with hand gestures, and understanding a user's activities; for example, a cooking app could narrate a recipe as the user chops, measures, and stirs. The technology is small enough to fit onto a commercial smartwatch and lasts all day on a standard smartwatch battery.

EchoWrist is among the newest low-power, body pose-tracking technology from the Smart Computer Interfaces for Future Interactions (SciFi) Lab. Cheng Zhang, assistant professor of information science at the Cornell Ann S. Bowers College of Computing and Information Science, directs the lab.

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Virtual skin contact: Smart textiles are making remote hugs tangible
https://techxplore.com/news/2024-04-vir ... tiles.html
by Saarland University

Smart textiles are making virtual reality more immersive and enabling wearers to experience the sensation of physical touch. An ultrathin film that can transmit touch sensations is able to turn textiles into a virtual second skin. For seriously ill children in hospital isolation wards, this new technology offers them the chance to feel the physical closeness of their parents during computer-simulated visits and to experience again the feeling of being held, hugged or cuddled.

A research team led by Professors Stefan Seelecke and Paul Motzki from Saarland University will be presenting the technology behind these smart textiles at Hannover Messe from 22 to 26 April (Hall 2, Stand B10).

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AI-powered 'sonar' on smartglasses tracks gaze, facial expressions
https://techxplore.com/news/2024-04-ai- ... racks.html
by Patricia Waldron, Cornell University

Cornell University researchers have developed two technologies that track a person's gaze and facial expressions through sonar-like sensing. The technology is small enough to fit on commercial smartglasses or virtual reality or augmented reality headsets yet consumes significantly less power than similar tools using cameras.

Both use speakers and microphones mounted on an eyeglass frame to bounce inaudible soundwaves off the face and pick up reflected signals caused by face and eye movements. One device, GazeTrak, is the first eye-tracking system that relies on acoustic signals. The second, EyeEcho, is the first eyeglass-based system to continuously and accurately detect facial expressions and recreate them through an avatar in real-time.

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Apple reportedly cuts Vision Pro production due to low demand

Apr 23, 2024, 9:31 PM GMT+1

Apple is reportedly cutting its Vision Pro headset shipment forecast for the rest of the year due to cooling demand.

Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo writes that Apple cut orders for the Vision Pro even before it launched outside of the US. His sources claim that Apple now expects to sell only around 400,000 to 450,000 units in 2024, compared to what Kuo says was a “market consensus” of 700,000 to 800,000. Demand for the $3,500 Vision Pro dropped much lower than the company was expecting.

Facing the unanticipated drop in steam, Apple is now adjusting its headset roadmap, possibly pushing the future of a lower-cost entry mixed reality headset beyond 2025 (if at all). Apple’s Vision Pro has largely wowed early adopters due to its technical prowess — but not enough to hold on to all of them past the return period.

Apple is often a trendsetter in new product markets, and if the Vision Pro doesn’t do well, it could leave reverberations for the whole industry. Kuo believes that demands for certain VR and AR-specific components, like the Micro OLED displays, may not reach the adoption rate needed for mass production to make it into other devices.

https://www.theverge.com/2024/4/23/2413 ... -kuo-rumor



Credit: Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

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