Meta Releases Anti-piracy Tools for Quest Devs, Including Hardware-based App Bans & More

Meta announced it’s introducing new anti-piracy measures for Quest developers that the company says will protect VR apps from “unauthorized modifications and potential security breaches.”

Called the Platform Integrity Attestation API (Attestation API), Meta says its new system is designed to detect whether an app’s server is interacting with an untampered VR device, thereby ensuring whether an app is authentic or not.

The Attestation API includes things like secure device authentication, hardware-based app bans, protection of financial and enterprise app data, prevention of external data misuse, and other anti-piracy measures.

In a developer blogpost, Meta calls it “increasingly important to instill a consistent method for validating the integrity of apps in order to provide a secure and safe user experience for everyone.”

It remains to be seen what effects this will have on modding communities, since modders for Quest games such as Beat Saber may inadvertently run afoul of the new token system at the core of the Attestation API.

“Once integrated, the API will provide you with an ‘attestation token,’ which you can use to determine if an app running on a Meta device has been tampered with,” Meta says. “This token is cryptographically signed by the Attestation Server to reinforce the security and reliability of the attestation process.”

At the time of this writing, we have not yet received a response for comment from Meta on what effects it may have on those communities. We’ll update this piece when/if we do.

Meta is allowing developers to opt-in now for their Quest apps, which spans Quest 2, Quest Pro, and the upcoming Quest 3, whcih is slated to launch in late 2023. Meta has published documentation for both Unity and Native.

This article was originally published on roadtovr.com

CES 2023: Wireless XTAL 3 Aims For Q3 2023 Release

Super wide field of view headset XTAL 3 is getting a wireless option. We last got a look at XTAL 3’s “distortion-free” wide field of view VR system from Vrgineers at CES last year. This year, the company is announcing some updates including a wireless option developed working with the company’s partner IMRNext. While the headset offers native 4K resolution per eye, according to Vrgineers, the wireless mode compresses the resolution to 2560×1440 at 70 Hz per eye and transmits it wirelessly via a belt-worn module to IMRNext’s Wi-Fi 6E access point connected to a capable computer. The aim is for the wireless option to support “more dynamic use case scenarios and enhance the quality of single-user and multi-user simulation and training exercises,” according to Phil Purdy, IMRNext director of Engineering and Delivery, in a prepared statement. Vrgineers says its latest XTAL headset weighs 920 grams.

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Somnium Space Plans Modular 2800×2800 Standalone VR Headset With XTAL Maker

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Lynx R1: XR2 AR-VR Hybrid Ships 2022 For ‘A Few Hundred Dollars’

French startup Lynx is shifting strategy for its upcoming AR-VR hybrid headset, dramatically lowering the price to target consumers too.

Lynx R1 was initially announced in February 2020 as a $1500 product focused on businesses & professionals. It has the same Snapdragon XR2 processor found in Oculus Quest 2 & HTC’s Vive Focus 3. But whereas those headsets can only show a low resolution black & white view of the real world, Lynx R1 has two dedicated high resolution color cameras for passthrough AR.