This is going to be the week of the Apple Vision Pro, with the first people who preordered it finally receiving the device at home! Finally, we will have some real impressions on the device not coming from scripted demos. I’m not envious, no… absolutely no, don’t worry… And it will also be a bit my week… Top news of the week (Image by Apple)Apple Vision Pro preorders were a success, but… As I’ve said in the introduction, this is going to be an epic week for Apple and XR in general, because Apple is going to ship the first Apple Vision Pros on Friday, February, 2nd. According to Mark Gurman, we should have the first genuine reviews of the device starting today, that is Tuesday. It will be very interesting to discover how the headset actually is, outside of scripted demos. This is the moment we’ll read if there is something beyond
There’s going to be a ton of apps available on Vision Pro day one, with more than one million iOS and iPad apps working in compatibility mode on Apple’s first mixed reality headset. While Apple is positioning the $3,500 headset as a general computing device for work and casual media consumption, as it stands today, there’s only around 200 native apps coming to the headset at launch. A number of native VisionOS apps come pre-installed on Vision Pro, which include: App Store Encounter Dinosaurs (AR app) Files Freeform Keynote Mail Messages Mindfulness (AR app) Music Notes Photos Safari Settings Tips TV Despite Apple touting Vision Pro’s access to more than 150 3D movies across various streaming services, the headset will notably lack apps for YouTube, Spotify, and Netflix. There’s also set to be a number compatible apps (non-native) that come pre-installed, including Books, Calendar, Home, Maps, News, Podcasts, Reminders,
One of the traditions of this blog is my usual greeting message for the Winter Holidays… and this year could not be an exception. So, if you celebrate Christmas, I wish you would spend a wonderful day with your family, feeling joy, happiness, and human warmth. I hope you will receive wonderful gifts and that Santa Claus will surprise you with what you always wanted. If you don’t celebrate Christmas, well, I still wish you a wonderful day, maybe with fewer gifts, but still cool. And then I wish you all a wonderful 2024, in which all your dreams can come true. I love being part of this community, and I really hope that all of you can have a bright future. Yes, this image is made with AI and yes, I’m lazy ” data-medium-file=”https://i0.wp.com/skarredghost.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/happynewyear.jpg?fit=300%2C300&ssl=1″ data-large-file=”https://i0.wp.com/skarredghost.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/happynewyear.jpg?fit=640%2C640&ssl=1″ src=”https://i0.wp.com/skarredghost.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/happynewyear.jpg?resize=640%2C640&ssl=1″ alt class=”wp-image-14549″ srcset=”https://i0.wp.com/skarredghost.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/happynewyear.jpg?w=1024&ssl=1 1024w, https://i0.wp.com/skarredghost.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/happynewyear.jpg?resize=300%2C300&ssl=1 300w, https://i0.wp.com/skarredghost.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/happynewyear.jpg?resize=150%2C150&ssl=1 150w, https://i0.wp.com/skarredghost.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/happynewyear.jpg?resize=768%2C768&ssl=1 768w, https://i0.wp.com/skarredghost.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/happynewyear.jpg?resize=194%2C194&ssl=1 194w”
Les Mills XR Dance brings a new fitness program to Quest, featuring over 45 songs tomorrow.Following Les Mills Bodycombat, XR Dance features over 25 dance routines and Odders Lab is partnering with EDM record label Monstercat for the soundtrack. Choreographed for different music styles like pop, club and more across three difficulty levels, you’re guided by the Les Mills Dance program’s official presenters – Gandalf, Danni, Bianca, Summer and Meno. Here’s the extended trailer:recent update. A press release confirms that post-launch content is in the works and that will arrive across future updates “over the following months.”We had positive thoughts in our Les Mills Bodycombat impressions last year. Though we thought it wasn’t the most inventive VR fitness app going, we considered it a “polished, effective and fun workout experience” on Quest that “gets the basics right.” Compared to Supernatural and FitXR, we also praised Bodycombat for using a one-time fee over an ongoing subscription
I’m finally back to writing articles after a long time. And since it’s Sunday and it’s a bright day outside of the window, I want to restart writing articles with something bright and funny… a satirical post about all the hype around technology that I’ve seen these months. I hope you will move some muscles around your lips while reading it… The iPhone moment The only true iPhone momentIn my 9+ years in XR, I’ve heard countless times that something that was happening was the “iPhone moment of XR”. The Oculus Go was an iPhone moment for XR, then the Quest was the iPhone moment, then the Quest 2, now the Quest 3. In the middle of this, of course, the Apple Vision Pro was also an iPhone moment, without forgetting Half-Life: Alyx in the mix. We had 749 iPhone moments of XR, more than the actual iPhone devices launched,
Finally back to normal with these newsletters! Let’s dig into the most interesting pieces of news of this week! Top news of the week Meta and Tencent are bringing the Quest to China According to the latest rumors, after one year of negotiation, finally, Meta and Tencent have found an agreement to bring the Quest to China. But it won’t be the Quest 3 to be distributed there, but a “cheaper version” of the VR headset, which may be the rumored $199 Quest 3 Lite device that many analysts are speculating will be released soon. Tencent should start selling the headset beginning in late 2024, with Meta getting most of the device revenue, while Tencent most of the content revenue. I think this can be an important moment: China is a huge market that Meta has never been able to enter properly and now, with this headset, it could finally be able to
Back in 2016, designer and filmmaker Keiichi Matsuda released Hyper-Reality, a concept film that imagined an augmented reality future where physical and virtual realities have merged, resulting in a “city saturated in media.” [embed]https://youtube.com/watch?v=YJg02ivYzSs&feature=oembed[/embed] The 6-minute film presented an exploratory – and largely dystopic – vision of how our reality could soon be overloaded and overlaid with information. Though the film is the better part of a decade old, it remains relevant to modern discussions on how we conceptualize use cases for emerging virtual and augmented reality technologies.The film was heavily circulated, covered extensively across media and news outlets when it released. Despite its confronting and intentionally provocative imagery, it has been a highly influential concept – or, perhaps more accurately, a hypothetical cautionary tale – to those working on the technologies that would enable it to become reality. Matsuda himself subsequently began working in AR following the film’s release,
Tea is Served entertains Dracula, the Mothman, and more in this short comedy VR horror.Developed by Jante Interactive with support from StoryFutures, Tea is Served sees you entertaining a most unusual series of guests, including a Wendigo, the Loch Ness Monster and Brian. You’re tasked with ensuring their needs are met by serving up food and drinks. Failing this sees you becoming the meal instead. [embed]https://youtube.com/watch?v=yYzLS8Pqy2Y&feature=oembed[/embed] For more information, here’s the full description:In Tea Is Served you find yourself as the entertainment for the annual tea party of the world’s most feared cryptids. As they shout at you from all sides, you must obey their bizarre requests until you either succeed and go free, or fail. But beware – if you fail, you might end up as dessert.We briefly went hands-on with a Quest 2 prototype during EGX 2023, serving guests across this 360° environment while your character remains stationary in
Happy Autumn everyone! Temperatures are getting colder, but not in VR… here it is going to be a very hot week with the launch of the Quest 3! Today I was thinking “Oh it’s cool that the Quest 3 is coming in a few weeks…” and then I realized that is going to be fully launched in just 2 days. Oh wow. I’m super excited, and you? Top news of the week (Image from Upload VR)Pico 5 leaks show a very ambitious product line The leaks on the Pico 5 are intensifying, which usually means that the device is going to be announced quite soon. Last week we had a first look at the controllers, while this week we had quite a confusing leak about its product line, which, if confirmed, would show an ambitious plan by the Chinese company. The leak came from China and talked about the Pico 5 product line
It’s been a bumpy ride for social VR platform Neos VR over the past two years partly due to being removed from Steam for heavily featuring its own cryptocurrency. While Neos VR was eventually reinstated on Steam, original Neos VR developer Tomáš “Frooxius” Mariančík has since departed the project and now announced a spiritual successor called Resonite.
There’s a fair bit of drama surrounding Neos VR, something you can read up on over at Ryan Schulz’s blog, which delves into the cryptocurrency-fueled rift between Mariančík and Karel Hulec, CEO of the app’s publisher Sorilax. The two have completely parted ways, with Hulec still managing Neos while Mariančík has headed a new team developing Resonite.
From what by all accounts was a bitter split, Resonite is emerging from the controversy, bringing with it what Mariančík describes as a “novel digital universe with infinite possibilities.”
“Whether you resonate with people around the world in a casual conversation, playing games and socializing or you riff off each other when creating anything from art to programming complex games, you’ll find your place here,” the app’s Steam description reads.
Like Neos VR, Resonite heavily focuses on in-app content creation, allowing users to create their own interactive avatars, art, gadgets, and “complex interactive worlds and games.”
There’s no release date yet for Resonite, however the app’s Steam page says it’s launching into early access sometime in October. Whatever the case, Resonite doesn’t appear to have ambitions to launch on Quest, PSVR 2, or mobile hardware currently, essentially setting it up to be a PC-exclusive experience likely appealing mostly to enthusiasts.
We’re curious to learn more about Resonite, and what sets it apart from Neos. Whatever the case, there seems to be a fairly substantial expected migration of Neos users to Resonite, as Resonite’s Patreon page already boasts over $14,000 monthly donations.
According to cached pages, support for Neos VR’s Patreon has decreased significantly in the past two years since the project included its own cryptocurrency and friction arose between its creators; near its all-time high of over $18,000 per-month donations, today Neos garners a little under $5,000 per month from backers.
This article was originally published on roadtovr.com
