Virtual/Augmented/Mixed Reality News & Discussions

[weatheriscool]

Augmented reality laptop ditches screen for 100-inch virtual display
Ina Fried

Two former Magic Leap employees have teamed up to create Spacetop, a $2,000 laptop that ditches the traditional screen and instead uses its own augmented reality glasses to create a 100-inch virtual display.

Why it matters: Laptops have always been defined around the space constraints of the screen, with display size determining just how big the device needed to be.

How it works: The company is selling 1,000 of the devices as part of an early access program, with hopes of using the feedback to inform a broader launch.

https://www.axios.com/2023/05/18/augmen ... al-display

I'll take the ones that are put onto a screen. There are others that offer to beam it into your eye directly and with how many errors occur due to lack of regulation I'll pass on that.

I believe this is the future of computing. Simply putting on glasses to have a display of any size is fucking awesome and with this AR you could use your hands to click on what you wanted and have a special keyboard to type or maybe the keyboard would be cooked into the system in the style that is used in smartphones at this moment.

It seems utterly retarded that this concept wouldn't take off.

[Powers]

It seems utterly retarded that this concept wouldn't take off.

Privacy concerns?

[weatheriscool]

It seems utterly retarded that this concept wouldn't take off.

Privacy concerns?

How would it raise anymore concerns compared to the current set up? When you shut off the AR it would be no more invasive then what the monitor currently has. It would be a screen that you'd look at and no one else would see.

[weatheriscool]

Meta Quest 3: What to Expect in 2023
https://www.cnet.com/tech/computing/met ... t-in-2023/

This has been a big year for new VR headsets: the PlayStation VR 2 and Vive XR Elite are already here, and Apple's mixed reality headset should be announced in a matter of weeks. The biggest product of all of them, however, could be the Meta Quest 3.

Meta's sequel to the most popular VR headset in the world right now will be a 2023 product, and Meta's Mark Zuckerberg has already confirmed it will be priced similarly to the Quest 2. That should mean it'll be a far more affordable headset than what Apple is readying.

[weatheriscool]

A First Look at the Headset That Could Be Apple’s Biggest Competition
Meta’s Quest lineup will be Apple’s biggest mixed-reality competition.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newslett ... t-li7h3suy

This week, I go hands-on with Meta’s yet-to-be-announced Quest 3 and explain how it may be the biggest challenger to Apple’s new headset. Also: The first major iOS 17 details emerge, Apple extends its supply agreement with Broadcom, and a tap-to-pay executive departs.

Last week in Power On: A look at the key Apple executives responsible for the company’s upcoming headset.

[weatheriscool]

Quest 3 hands-on confirms Meta’s building a ‘far thinner and lighter’ headset / Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman confirms a lot of rumors while adding finer details about the headset Meta’s expected to launch later this year.
https://www.theverge.com/2023/5/28/2374 ... s-on-rumor
May 28, 2023, 12:17 PM PDT|

A hands-on look at the Meta Quest 3 reveals a massive set of improvements to the Meta mixed reality headset, as detailed in Mark Gurman’s Power On newsletter for Bloomberg this morning. Gurman says the Quest 3, now codenamed Eureka, is “far lighter and thinner” than the original Quest 2, which bodes well for its comfort during extended usage.

A lot of the features he mentioned are similar to what we expect to learn about the Apple “Reality Pro” VR / AR headset soon, including fancy hand-tracking and pass-through video. But some rumors say the rumored Apple headset could cost as much as $3,000. Gurman said Meta also hasn’t settled on the Quest 3’s price yet, but that it could be costlier than the $400 Quest 2, which “may stick around at a lower price.” It will still remain far cheaper than the disappointing Quest Pro that launched last fall at $1,499.99 before getting a price cut in March to $999.99.

[weatheriscool]

PlayStation VR2 Has Strong Launch Despite Reports, Outselling Original PSVR
The headset is off to a strong start.
Ryan Dinsdale

The PlayStation VR2 is off to a stronger start than previous reports indicated as Sony has revealed the virtual reality headset had a better launch than the original PSVR.

Shared in a business presentation, Sony revealed that the PSVR 2's first six weeks outperformed the original PSVR's first six weeks, coming in at just below 600,000 units sold. Specific numbers are unclear on the provided graph (below), but the original PSVR came in closer to 500,000.

https://www.ign.com/articles/playstatio ... ginal-psvr

[weatheriscool]

SenseGlove Nova 2 puts haptic VR feedback in the palm of your hand
By Paul McClure
May 29, 2023
https://newatlas.com/vr/senseglove-nova ... tic-glove/

Dutch-based tech company SenseGlove has announced the upcoming release of Nova 2, the second generation of its innovative haptic force-feedback glove and is claimed to be the first of its type with palm feedback.

Haptic gloves allow their wearers to interact realistically with virtual reality (VR) objects, to feel their size, stiffness, and resistance. Not only that, but they allow objects to be held, pushed, touched, connected and squeezed like the real thing.

Since 2021, Nova, the Nova 2’s predecessor, has allowed wearers to feel shapes and textures in virtual reality applications. The gloves’ vibrotactile feedback, functionality and compact wireless design proved popular with many VR users. With the Nova 2, SenseGlove has improved how wearers interact with the digital world.

The Nova 2 is claimed to provide increased realism in VR training, research, and multiplayer social interactions. Imagine shaking hands with a business colleague on the other side of the world and feeling them squeeze your hand. Or feel the slap of a high-five between friends. SenseGlove says you can experience that with the Nova 2.

[weatheriscool]

Apple's AR/VR Headset Display Specs: 5000+ Nits Brightness for HDR, 1.41-Inch Diagonal Display and More
Tuesday May 30, 2023 11:04 am PDT by Juli Clover
https://www.macrumors.com/2023/05/30/ap ... lay-specs/
The AR/VR headset that Apple plans to introduce at the Worldwide Developers Conference next week has long been rumored to feature 4K micro OLED displays with an 8K total resolution, but notable display analyst Ross Young today shared some additional specifications that give some insight into how the headset will work.

apple ar concept 2 ornangeConcept render by Ian Zelbo

Each of the two displays will measure in at 1.41 inches diagonally, with Apple aiming for over 5000 nits of brightness and 4,000 pixels per inch. Unfortunately, AR/VR display specs used in headsets from competitors like Sony and Meta aren't generally advertised beyond resolution and pixels per inch, so it's difficult to make a direct comparison, but the information from Young does provide some context.

With ~5000 nits brightness or more, the AR/VR headset from Apple would support HDR or high dynamic range content, which is not typical for current VR headsets on the market. The Meta Quest 2, for example, maxes out around 100 nits of brightness and it does not offer HDR, and the HoloLens 2 offers 500 nits brightness. Sony's PSVR 2 headset has around 265 nits of brightness, and it does have an advertised HDR feature when connected to an HDR display.

[weatheriscool]

Meta unveils Quest 3 mixed reality headset ahead of Apple's VR debut
By Katie Paul
June 1, 202311:26 AM PDTUpdated 2 hours ago
https://www.reuters.com/technology/meta ... 023-06-01/

NEW YORK, June 1 (Reuters) - Meta Platforms (META.O) CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Thursday revealed the company's next generation mixed reality headset, the Quest 3, as the company braces for Apple to potentially reshape a nascent market that Meta has dominated so far.

Priced starting at $499, the device will be 40% thinner than the company's previous headset and feature color mixed reality, which combines augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR) elements, Zuckerberg said in an Instagram post ahead of Meta's annual gaming conference.

https://www.reuters.com/technology/meta ... 023-06-01/

https://www.instagram.com/zuck/?utm_sou ... c6f7675785

[Nanotechandmorefuture]

Meta Quest 3: What to Expect in 2023
https://www.cnet.com/tech/computing/met ... t-in-2023/

This has been a big year for new VR headsets: the PlayStation VR 2 and Vive XR Elite are already here, and Apple's mixed reality headset should be announced in a matter of weeks. The biggest product of all of them, however, could be the Meta Quest 3.

Meta's sequel to the most popular VR headset in the world right now will be a 2023 product, and Meta's Mark Zuckerberg has already confirmed it will be priced similarly to the Quest 2. That should mean it'll be a far more affordable headset than what Apple is readying.

??? Kinda looks like the guy that was crying about Star Wars back in 2017 or so. Is that him?

[Powers]

Meta Quest 3: What to Expect in 2023
https://www.cnet.com/tech/computing/met ... t-in-2023/

This has been a big year for new VR headsets: the PlayStation VR 2 and Vive XR Elite are already here, and Apple's mixed reality headset should be announced in a matter of weeks. The biggest product of all of them, however, could be the Meta Quest 3.

Meta's sequel to the most popular VR headset in the world right now will be a 2023 product, and Meta's Mark Zuckerberg has already confirmed it will be priced similarly to the Quest 2. That should mean it'll be a far more affordable headset than what Apple is readying.

??? Kinda looks like the guy that was crying about Star Wars back in 2017 or so. Is that him?

This?

He reminds me more of 'white guy blinking'.

[Nanotechandmorefuture]

Meta Quest 3: What to Expect in 2023
https://www.cnet.com/tech/computing/met ... t-in-2023/

??? Kinda looks like the guy that was crying about Star Wars back in 2017 or so. Is that him?

This?

He reminds me more of 'white guy blinking'.

Yes that is the one. Ah man the dude is a real fan! Looks similar but not the same facially, thank you for the video!

[weatheriscool]

Apple unveils new products at WWDC 2023 event
https://www.cnn.com/tech/live-news/appl ... index.html

Vision Pro, Apple's new VR/AR headset, will work with a slate of apps that the company mentioned Monday.

A large number of iPad and iPhone apps will be available on Vision Pro at launch, Apple said. For example: Users could fire up Adobe Lightroom and edit photos using just their eyes and hands.

Apple's own Reality Composer Pro is a new app that makes it easy to assemble complex scenes with realistic objects.

Several popular apps and games from the platform Unity will gain full access to VisionOS features, as will productivity apps Microsoft Word, Excel and Teams along with Zoom and Webex by Cisco.

More apps will surely come, as developers can use tools like Swift UI, Reality Kit and others to build new apps for Vision Pro.

Vision Pro will cost $3,499 and debut in early 2024

From CNN's David Goldman

If you're interested in Apple's vision of the future, it'll set you back. A lot.

Apple's new Vision Pro AR/VR headset will cost $3,499. That's more than twice the cost of the most maxed-out iPhone 14 Pro. It even costs more than Apple's biggest MacBook Pro.

By contrast, its closest competitor, the Meta Quest Pro, costs $999.

Apple said the Vision Pro will go on sale early next year, after developers have time to build apps that work with the system

[weatheriscool]

[wjfox]

[spryfusion]

[Tadasuke]

A 9 year old showed me games on Oculus Quest 2. They were awesome to him, but to me they were terrible. I thought "I would never buy this. This looks awful. I don't see the appeal.". It's astonishing how he doesn't care about stuff that bothers me.

He didn't have any expectations. He was like an empty book yet to be written. While I on the other hand, had a whole vision on VR and how it ought to evolve even before his birth. So I'm naturally disappointed, while he is not.

This speaks a lot about how much expectations play a role. It did not occur to me while I was thinking about the future, that these expectations would make me feel worse in the future. I wish I had no expectations, but it's too late for that.

In 2013 I thought "So Radeon 280X has 4 teraflops today, doubling every year means 4 petaflops in 2023 - that's what will be used for VR then.". Here we are in 2023 and Quest 3 has 2.5 teraflops (vs 1.25 in Quest 2), 8 GB of RAM and 128 GB of storage at $499 MSRP without tax. In 2013 I thought that in 2023 a single virtual world would be taking terabytes of space. It all seemed so logical, I thought about it all a lot and even talked with others in real life. I tried Oculus DK1 very early.

To make you understand better: Quest 3 SoC (Qualcomm Snapdragon XR2 Gen 2) has Adreno 730 GPU and 51.2 GB/s memory bandwidth. For a comparison: that's how much Radeon X1900 XTX had in Q1 2006. But it was for the GPU only. Quest 3 has 51.2 GB/s for everything. It has to share 51.2 GB/s for every part of the SoC. PlayStation 4 had 8 GB GDDR5 176 GB/s in Q4 2013 and so it was and is faster than Quest 3, even when having less flops. And XR2 Gen 2 has a higher maximum power draw than XR2 Gen 1. So battery life won't improve.

I'm personally more interested in PSVR2 (especially in Gran Turismo 7) than in Quest 3. But that too is too expensive for what it offers and there is not a great selection of things to do. Metaverse is just science-fiction and Zuckerberg's dream with current technology.

For the foreseeable future, I'm going to keep playing normal, non-VR games on a normal screen. I like my PS1/N64 games in a small window, not PS1-like graphics stretched all over a large VR view (even though it still is kinda like looking trough binoculars). And $1000+ headsets will never become mainstream.

[wjfox]

[funkervogt]

Apple probably won't sell many Vision Pro units due to its high price and limited capabilities. However, it will lay the groundwork for future generations of the goggles, which will cheaper, better, and more widely used.
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/apple-vi ... 46894.html