The Oculus Quest was released on Tuesday. The $399 all-in-one 6 DOF mobile VR headset has over 50 launch titles, and free social media and big screen video experiences. The HMD sports four outward facing cameras that track your hands and the environment you're in (aka inside-out tracking). No PC, no wires. Just put it on and you're in VR. Reviews including ours have been universally great. Oculus appears to be selling the Quest a huge loss (someone told us $300) in the hope of making it up like Sony did with the Playstation, from software sales over time. We'd be interested in hearing from anyone who has more insight into this.
It's full steam ahead for XR as we head into the last month of conference season with the 10th edition of Augmented World Expo next week (May 29-31st). Read our curtain raiser here. Apple's World Wide Developer Conference (WWDC) in San Francisco the week of June 3rd follows. Apple's confirmed it's working on a wearable display, but no details or launch date have been or probably will be announced. Would be amazing if they did, though. Some say maybe as soon as 2020.
Google Glass 2.0 emerges, powered by Snapdragon and Android. Google announced Google Glass Enterprise 2 this week which features measured improvements over the original hands-free computing design. The new Glass sports Qualcomm’s Snapdragon XR1, an improved camera, and features a USB-C port. The software is built on Android as Google aims squarely at enterprise users. Google Glass Enterprise 2 is priced at $999.
Focals by North gain useful features in this week’s update. The smart glasses from North received an update this week adding features like Google Fit, Google Slides, and a Distraction Free mode. Users can now view health and fitness data tracked by Google Fit via their Focals. The glasses will also help users keep tabs on time spent in front of both their smartphone screen and with the glasses themselves. In addition, wearers can now use the smart glasses as a portable teleprompter with new Google Slides integration.
HMDmd cleared for marketing by the FDA announced that development has commenced of the next generation of high performance, wearable displays for medical applications, supported by the proprietary technology, engineering and manufacturing resources of Kopin Corporation (KOPN). They will be exhibiting in the Kopin booth at AWE.
BeBop Sensors wins Red Herring award for wearable smart fabrics. BeBop Sensors creates the Forte Wireless Data Glove, a wireless data glove that using haptics and sensors embedded into a one-size-fits-all fabric glove. The Red Herring awards highlights innovative tech companies around the globe each year and BeBop Sensors has won Red Herring’s Top 100 North America 2019 Award.
Sixense Studios gains former head of HTC’s Vive Studios, Joel Breton, as new President. Breton will lead Sixense Studios’ VR and AR content development and strategy.
VRStudios debuts Men in Black VR experience and launches free roam VR at Dave and Busters in Tampa. The companies continue to deepen their relationship which began with the popular Jurassic World VR motion platform "ride," and now includes "Men in Black Galactic Gateway," now available at 125 Dave & Buster’s locations as a multiplayer seated VR experience. VRStudios also launched its first free roam VR experience at a Tampa Florida Dave & Buster’s location with an original title described as a hybrid of “laser-tag dodgeball”.
Watch 2019 Stanley Cup in VR thanks to NextVR. Game highlights from the Boston Bruins vs. St. Louis Blues match up will be available in VR for free via NextVR’s app. After each game viewers will have access to VR viewable highlights such as a “Goalie Experience” viewpoint.
RecRoom is coming to iOS. The popular free-to-play social VR game will soon be available on iPhone and iPad. Last year the developer Against Gravity opened their game for PC players to join the existing VR player base. RecRoom was also a launch title for the Oculus Quest. As of this summer, Rec Room will be cross platform between PC powered VR headsets, PSVR, Oculus Quest, flat-screen PC players, and iOS users.
Fyusion lands $3 Million investment for its 3D imaging technology. The AI powered immersive 3D imaging company creates high quality 3D images using any camera. The investment comes from Japanese firm Itochu.
"This Week In XR" is written and edited with Michael Eichenseer.
