Road to VR

NOVEMBER 2, 2017

Khronos Group , the consortium behind the OpenXR project which aims to standardize the way applications communicate with AR and VR headsets, just added Microsoft to its ranks. Among its count of members, the OpenXR working group consisted of nearly every major player in the industry except Microsoft until now.

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Microsoft Magic Leap AR Groups 279

Road to VR

MAY 9, 2018

Later this year, Microsoft is increasing the cut developers earn when publishing on the Microsoft Store. Microsoft says in a blog post that gaming apps won’t see the raise from the standard percentage, which at the time of this writing is a standard 70/30 split. Check out more details on the Microsoft blog post.

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Microsoft Industry Gaming Google 231

The Ghost Howls

JANUARY 15, 2023

Some selected developers have received the Apple headset. Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, who is considered a reliable reporter about Apple, claimed that “a small number of high-profile software developers” have already received the Apple mixed reality headset to start developing content for it. Other relevant news.

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Apple Ukraine Virtual Reality Hand tracking 406

Road to VR

JUNE 22, 2023

At least from the outside, it appears Microsoft isn’t actively competing for a seat at the XR table, which is fairly odd coming from a company that pioneered enterprise AR while simultaneously wrangling some of its top OEM partners to make a fleet of PC VR headsets for consumers in 2017. If Microsoft goes in half-cocked, maybe.

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Strategy Microsoft Magic Leap Apple 360

The Ghost Howls

AUGUST 24, 2020

Oculus devices will require a Facebook login. The enormous piece of news of the week is tha t Facebook has communicated that from October, 20th, all people that want to use an Oculus device for personal use will have to use their personal Facebook account to log in. Top news of the week. Image by Tweakanalogy). The same on Twitter.

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Unreal Apple Government Oculus 505

The Ghost Howls

JULY 20, 2020

(Image by Oculus). Oculus could be starting the production of a new Quest at the end of July. Multiple reports seem to confirm that Oculus is actually starting the production of a new Oculus Quest headset, with an expected release date in 2021. of units more produced annually. Other relevant news. Image by Pico).

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The Ghost Howls

AUGUST 3, 2020

Some time ago, the most important companies of the XR ecosystem (HTC, Oculus, Microsoft, etc…) joined the Khronos Group to discuss a standard to end the fragmentation of the XR space. That is if every company implemented OpenXR, a program built for the Oculus should work with SteamVR as well. Image by Oculus).

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The Ghost Howls

MAY 7, 2022

In the case of VR, we all remember the competition between HTC and Oculus in 2016, with HTC clearly winning the market until Oculus used Facebook’s money to slash the price of the Rift around 2017. This led to a growing importance of Oculus, until with the Quest it started dominating the market in a way no one was able to face.

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Road to VR

MAY 2, 2024

Meta announced last week it’s set to release Horizon OS (ex-Quest OS) to select third-party OEMs , marking a monumental shift in how the company hopes to compete with Apple now that it’s released Vision Pro. Image courtesy Meta “You could drive the Apple displays from Quest silicon.

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Oculus Hardware Apple Software 299

The Ghost Howls

APRIL 13, 2020

Well, if the rumor becomes reality, this would mean that all next Apple devices will have both front and back depth cameras, for high-precision Augmented Reality and 3D reconstruction. Well played Apple. Microsoft releases Azure Remote Rendering. Let’s see if Facebook will be a worthier opponent than Google. supports VR.

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Augmented Reality Virtual Reality Apple Tools 466

The Ghost Howls

JANUARY 22, 2021

Regarding the glasses, I have not big hopes for true AR glasses, but I think that thanks to Facebook and Apple, finally we’ll have some important smartglasses entering the market , making the mainstream think about wearing something on their face to enjoy notifications from the phone. Didn’t work (Image by Microsoft).

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Augmented Reality Magic Leap AR Apple 541

The Ghost Howls

MARCH 15, 2021

Apple already made hardware, so it already had the infrastructure to build it and just added XR people on top of this infrastracture, while Facebook could not). In September, the new Facebook Avatars will come and substitute the current Oculus avatars. Apple AR headset may have been delayed to 2025. But it is impressive anyway.

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HTC Apple Magic Leap AR 514

The Ghost Howls

APRIL 20, 2020

Last Oculus Quest update shows hints of an Oculus MR ecosystem. Facebook is continuously updating the Oculus Quest , its most successful device, and this week it has rolled out the runtime v16. I think that this update, together with the last ones, marks the beginning of a mixed reality ecosystem that is being built by Oculus.

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Oculus AR Unity Machine Learning 261

UploadVR Between Realities podcast

JANUARY 29, 2017

For every Nintendo there is a Sega and for every Apple there is a Microsoft. There are a handful of major players already cutting their teeth in VR including Google, Sony and Samsung; but the two titans sitting at the top of the heap are Oculus and HTC. Oculus/Apple . HTC/Microsoft .

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Microsoft HTC Apple Oculus 100

The Ghost Howls

JANUARY 17, 2022

The news of the week is that Meta is poaching talents from all the other companies : in particular, it has been able to “steal” 100 employees from the HoloLens team in Microsoft. The same has happened with Apple, which is now offering bonuses to employees to keep them inside the company. Apple may have delays for its headset.

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Survey Apple Sony AR 540

The Ghost Howls

JULY 9, 2022

The Digital Markets Act is a law that the European Parliament and Commission are discussing since 2020 and has the purpose of limiting the excessive power of the major tech giants like Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Google, and Meta. Concept of a future AR glass by Apple. Fairer competition.

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Apple Europe Data Amazon 515

VRScout

JUNE 18, 2017

The leaders of tech juggernauts like Apple, Google, and Facebook have been making aggressive moves into the space while publicly endorsing the world-changing potential of AR. Apple CEO Tim Cook. This month, Apple launched ARKit , a new AR development kit that has already produced some interesting experiences.

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AR Insider

MARCH 30, 2021

This traces back to Facebook’s Oculus acquisition in early 2014 that kicked off the current wave of excitement….including That excitement culminated in 2016 after the Oculus acquisition had time to set off a chain reaction of startup activity, tech-giant investment, and VC inflows for the “next computing platform.” Part V: Apple.

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Wearables AR Strategy Apple 362

Road to VR

FEBRUARY 4, 2019

Avi Bar-Zeev, Hololens co-inventor and longtime AR/VR stalwart, has left Apple, Variety reports. Bar-Zeev helped found and invent the core technologies behind HoloLens at Microsoft, assembling the company’s very first AR prototypes, demos and UX concepts. “ I had the best exit one can imagine.

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Apple AR Microsoft Google 164

The Ghost Howls

MARCH 27, 2023

Furthermore, Microsoft 365 apps such as Teams, OneDrive, and SharePoint, will be connected with Omniverse Project Mellon has been unveiled. Of course, Epic is completely against Apple and its vision of its own walled garden. In his vision, web3 and XR are nice to have but are not fundamental.

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Razer HTC Apple Ukraine 384

Road to VR

NOVEMBER 10, 2021

It’s had pop-up events and in-store demos as far back as 2016 to prepare for the launch of the original Oculus Rift. Opening physical stores though would be much larger step for Meta, putting it in the same retail class as Microsoft, Apple and Google; the latter just opening its first retail store this summer.

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New York Retail AR Microsoft 358

XR Today - Mixed Reality tag

FEBRUARY 14, 2025

Microsoft HoloLens Loses $22 Billion Life Line to Oculus Founder Microsofts HoloLens has taken another major hit , potentially signalling the end of the mixed-reality headset in the future. In the meantime, AndroidXR is receiving industry praise for already offering this access.

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Road to VR

OCTOBER 25, 2021

Today during the company’s Q3 earnings call, Facebook said that it planned to change its future financial reporting to more granularly detail the aggressive investments its pouring into Facebook Reality Labs (FRL), the company’s XR and metaverse division which includes Oculus, FRL Research, and more.

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Road to VR

JULY 6, 2016

Apple has just been granted another AR/VR related technology patent, to add to their growing list. Apple’s absence from the flourishing virtual and augmented reality stage is felt more strongly with every passing day.

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Head Mounted Display Apple AR Augmented Reality 188

Slashgear

FEBRUARY 4, 2021

Apple’s first mixed-reality headset will be no Oculus Quest alternative, new leaks suggest, with a supposed price tag – and high-end specs – that would put it among the company’s most expensive Mac and display models.

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ARPost

SEPTEMBER 23, 2022

Let me give you just a few very well-known examples: Meta bought Oculus VR for 2 billion dollars when there was still only a prototype headset. The US government closed a 22-billion contract with Microsoft for the development of AR for the military and the provision of HoloLens to soldiers. Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) for AR Headsets.

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Road to VR

JULY 14, 2020

Mainly noted for its work in acoustic components, the Weifang, China-based company reportedly played a role in the creation the optical, structural and hardware design of Microsoft’s Mixed Reality headsets. SEE ALSO Report: Apple Starts Preliminary Production on "semitransparent" AR Lenses.

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ARPost

NOVEMBER 25, 2020

billion in 2019, with many billions more being invested in R&D by the likes of Facebook, Apple, Google, Microsoft, Amazon, and many more. Their Oculus app allows real-time collaboration without ever leaving your home. A company still in stealth, but with founder pedigree from Apple.

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The Ghost Howls

FEBRUARY 7, 2022

These are huge numbers for VR: if you look at the most recent SteamVR survey, you get that Oculus headsets are now at 67% of the whole PCVR market. A report from Insider states that Microsoft may have canceled its plans for HoloLens 3. It’s basically a monopoly. But there is also bad news to talk about. Some updates on Meta products.

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The Ghost Howls

JULY 5, 2021

The first interesting forecast is about the number of sold Oculus Quest 2 headsets. Microsoft too had to lose $10B to let Xbox enter the gaming console market and compete with PlayStation. Image by Microsoft). At WWDC, Apple has announced Object Capture, which is a photogrammetry engine built in the iOS runtime.

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Upload VR

MARCH 6, 2025

Pretty much every headset and runtime (except Apple Vision Pro and PlayStation VR2 on PS5) supports OpenXR, sure. Facebook Deprecates Proprietary Oculus APIs In Favor Of OpenXR Facebook will deprecate its proprietary Oculus APIs in favor of industry standard OpenXR. But the reality, today at least, is more complicated.

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Unreal Unity Microsoft Groups 144

Road to VR

AUGUST 11, 2023

The quartet of seasoned VR developers have collectively worked at Oculus, WeVR, Microsoft, EA, and more, with works under their belt like Oculus demo projects Bogo , Toy Box , and First Steps , along with mainstream gaming projects like Destiny , Plants vs. Zombies , and Dishonored.

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The Ghost Howls

MARCH 30, 2020

The same day of the launch of Half-Life: Alyx, Hewlett-Packard has announced its new virtual reality headset, the Reverb G2 , made in collaboration with Microsoft and Valve. Valve could provide some audio-visual improvements, while Microsoft its WMR platform, with inside-out tracking of controllers. Apple ARKit 3.5

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Road to VR

JULY 11, 2017

In a recent tweet, the group shows what at first appears to be another fun video demonstrating the potential of creating apps with Apple’s recently released ARkit. But this is more than just a dancing hotdog-guy.

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Video AR Groups Microsoft 265

XR Today - Virtual Reality

JUNE 13, 2022

For years, the company has been helping brands to unlock next-level promotional opportunities with AR ad campaign creation, and Oculus experiences. Perhaps the biggest competitor to Google in terms of mobile AR advertising opportunities, Apple has also been making significant strides in this disruptive landscape.

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Unity Microsoft Google Apple 256

Road to VR

DECEMBER 7, 2018

Key Items Include: Large Quantities of 27” Apple Thunderbolt Displays. Oculus Systems/ Headsets. Assorted Microsoft Systems/ Accessories/ Controllers. Large Quantities of Dell Monitors. Samsung Odyssey Systems/ Headsets. Wacom 21” Tablets. Google Daydream Systems/ Headsets. Lenovo Mirage Systems/ Headsets.

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Tips Apple Controllers Sony 279

Road to VR

JANUARY 24, 2024

Notably, Demeo is also playable in mixed reality on Quest 2/3/Pro, and is slated to arrive on Apple Vision Pro at some point too, which could equally explain the “beyond.” It was only on the platform for a few years however, and was gone long before Microsoft shut down Altspace VR in March 2023.

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Gaming Strategy Samsung Microsoft 351