Sat.Nov 04, 2023 - Fri.Nov 10, 2023

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AR and AI Lead at Lens Fest

AR Insider

Snap held its sixth annual Lens Fest where it unveiled Lens Studio 5.0, spotlighted several AI infusions, and amped up the platform's performance. We examine drivers & dynamics. This post appeared first on AR Insider.

AR 362
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The XR Week Peek (2023.11.01 + 2023.11.08): Pico performs layoffs, Nimo announces AR glasses, and more!

The Ghost Howls

I’m back. The big crunch is over and the result has been the launch of a new version of the VRROOM application together with an amazing concert by the American rapper Armani White. Sorry for disappearing for so long, but it was necessary to ensure the success of the whole VRROOM team. Today I can’t rest, either, because I’m attending the On|Metaverse Summit, the event in Milan about XR/Web3/metaverse that I’m co-organizing.

AR 355
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SteamVR Gets New ‘Theater Screen’ for Playing Flatscreen Games in VR

Road to VR

Valve released the SteamVR Beta 2.1.1 update which includes a new way to play flatscreen games in VR. Called SteamVR Theater Screen, the new function is said to replace the old Desktop Game Theater app , which was first released in 2016. Like Desktop Game Theater, the new Theater Screen is a way of playing non-VR games from a large, virtual screen—i.e. it doesn’t turn your non-VR games into actual VR games.

Gaming 307
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Virtualware Becomes Official Sponsor of Unity’s Unite 2023 Education Summit

XR Today - Virtual Reality

European virtual reality (VR) solution Virtualware announced on Monday it had officially sponsored the Education Summit at the Unite Summit 2023. With the new sponsorship, the company aims to boost “the potential of immersive technology in industry and education,” it said in a statement. Virtualware will also serve as the exclusive sponsor of the event to unite “Unity instructors and workforce development professionals,” according to a press release.

Education 227
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The Future of eLearning in 2022: A Sensitive Eye for Authentic Translation and Localization

Speaker: Chris Paxton McMillin, President of D3 Training Solutions

To avoid awkward and sometimes disastrous learning content, instructional designers must use authentic translation in the right context to get optimal results. For example, even a simple phrase like “got milk” translates to “are you lactating” in Mexico. Can you imagine what a straight translation might do to your course? With over 317 million people in the US and over 6.7 billion potential customers in the world, personalizing training seems logical.

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How Much is Spent on Consumer XR App & Game Development

AR Insider

How much is spent on software and developer tools to build XR entertainment & gaming experiences? Our latest Behind the Numbers installment unpacks original data from our research arm, ARtillery Intelligence. This post appeared first on AR Insider.

Gaming 364

More Trending

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Report: Pico to Layoff “hundreds” as Company Shifts Focus to Hardware

Road to VR

There were rumors circulating late last month that TikTok parent company ByteDance was set to spin down its China-based VR headset company, Pico Interactive. While the company dismissed those rumors , a new Reuters report maintains Pico is soon set to lay off teams focused on sales, videos and platform operations, which could affect “hundreds” of employees.

Hardware 301
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Meta, MakeMePulse Debut ‘Inside Kristallnacht’ VR Experience

XR Today - Virtual Reality

The Claims Conference has unveiled a new immersive experience to commemorate the 85th anniversary of Kristallnacht (The Night of Broken Glass). Kristallnacht is the tragic pogrom took place from 9 to 10 November, 1938, during the rise of Nazism in Germany. In the terrible incident, Nazis detained 30,000 Jews and sent them to concentration camps. In partnership with the University of South Carolina Shoah Foundation, the virtual reality experience will include immersive 360-degree footage of foota

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Is Visual Search’s Path to Scale Through APIs?

AR Insider

Visual search requires immense levels of AI training for object recognition. Given Google's unique capabilities (think: Google Images), we're predicting that it releases a visual search API. What are the telling signs? This post appeared first on AR Insider.

Google 356
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Meta CTO: We Asked Google To Bring The Play Store To Quest, But They Said No

Upload VR

Meta's CTO says Google declined a request to bring its Play Store to Quest. When asked about Meta's plans to support 2D Android apps in an Instagram AMA (ask me anything) session yesterday, Andrew Bosworth replied: There's nothing preventing Android developers who have an APK that's running on Android phones today from bringing that into VR. They just have to ship the APK to us.

Google 145
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How to Train Employees 65% Faster With Virtual Reality

With a rapidly changing economy, Avangrid Renewables looked to virtual reality to develop a standardized form of immersive training in order to onboard and upskill technicians faster than ever before.

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‘Arizona Sunshine’ Studio Working on Unannounced “AAA VR game” Based on a Global Franchise

Road to VR

According to a recent job offer posted by Amsterdam-based developer Vertigo Games, pre-production has begun on a “high-profile, multiplatform AAA VR game,” which is said to be based on a globally recognized franchise. Posted earlier this month, the studio is looking for a Lead Level Designer with a proven track record in level design for console/PC action-adventure games as well as expertise in Unreal Engine.

Arizona 289
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ByteDance Issues Mass Layoffs as Pico Strategy Hits Roadblocks

XR Today - Virtual Reality

News reports have surfaced online that Chinese extended reality (XR) firm Pico Interactive is set to lay off “thousands” of employees across its operations. Tencent Technology News revealed in a report on Monday that the redundancies were “widespread and are expected to affect thousands of employees.” Additionally, the news report found that the ByteDance-owned virtual reality (VR) enterprise had begun communicating with its affected employees about compensation.

Strategy 137
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AR’s Next Conquest: Mapping & Navigation

AR Insider

Online mapping continues to see a barrage of new features. This is driven by Google’s lead as well as Apple’s escalating challenges to that lead. How does AR and other immersive tech fit into this feature arms race? This post appeared first on AR Insider.

AR 354
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Virtual Desktop's New OpenXR Runtime Bypasses SteamVR To Boost Performance

Upload VR

Virtual Desktop now has a built-in optional alternative to SteamVR for OpenXR apps with superior performance, and support for 500 Mbit H.264+ bitrate support on Quest 3. Since 2021 Quest headsets have had a built-in feature called Air Link which lets them act as wireless PC VR headsets, but Guy Godin's Virtual Desktop has offered this since the launch of the original Oculus Quest in 2019, and Godin frequently updates his app with new improvements that make it the preferred choice for many PC VR

Microsoft 145
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AR/VR Simulations for Sustainable, Regenerative, Circular Cities

Speaker: Nik Gowing, Brenda Laurel, Sheridan Tatsuno, Archie Kasnet, and Bruce Armstrong Taylor

With 191 country signatories to the Paris Climate Agreement now hard at work in the race to zero carbon by 2050, much of the heavy lifting in ecosystem sustainability falls on the shoulders of the world's densely populated urban centers. This conversation considers how today's AI-enabled simulation media, such as AR/VR, can be effectively applied to accelerate learning, understanding, training, and solutions-modeling to sustainability planning and design.

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Magic Leap 2 Update Claims Vastly Improved Hand-tracking, Biometric ID, & More

Road to VR

A major update to Magic Leap 2 claims to improve many of the device’s core capabilities. With all that’s happened in the XR space recently, it’s hard to believe that Magic Leap 2 has hardly been out for more than a year. The company continues to support and improve the device, including a major update released today (v1.4.0) which claims to improve a wide range of core capabilities.

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AI Lip Dubbing Puts Words In Your Mouth

Charlie Fink

The free LipDub app will translate and change your exact voice and lip movements to match the new language you've selected.

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Spatial Beats: Smart Contact Lenses & GenAI Shorts

AR Insider

Welcome back to Spatial Beats, AR Insider's weekly series that features observations and insights of author and futurist Charlie Fink. This week, we look at smart contact lenses and new AI funding and M&A. This post appeared first on AR Insider.

AR 332
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Valve Hints At Its Wireless VR Headset Plans In Steam Deck OLED Interview

Upload VR

Valve hinted at its future plans for VR in an interview about Steam Deck OLED. Steam Deck OLED was announced yesterday as a mid-generation refresh of the original Steam Deck. Among its improvements are a larger HDR OLED display with 90Hz refresh rate, Wi-Fi 6E, an improved cooling fan, and longer battery life thanks to its 6nm APU revision and larger battery.

Hardware 144
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Are You Still Watching? How to Create Engaging Presentations for Virtual Learning

Speaker: Richard Goring, Director at BrightCarbon

Remote meetings are here to stay - and many are BORING. If you are trying to engage your learners (or any audience), compelling content is critical. But trying to create stimulating content with the same tools you’ve always had is hard, right? Thankfully, wrong! Terrific tools in PowerPoint along with visual assets help you create the kind of dynamic content you need to capture your remote audience’s attention, with functions that allow for interactive sequences and navigation.

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‘Tokyo Chronos’ Studio MyDearest Secures $7.8M to Further Expand IP on Quest & PSVR 2

Road to VR

MyDearest, the Japan-based VR studio behind the Chronos adventure game franchise, announced it’s secured $7.8 million (1.2 billion yen), something the studio says it will use to expand its existing IP for VR headsets, such as Meta Quest and PSVR 2. The investment was led by SBI Investment Co., Ltd. and is joined by DG Daiwa Ventures Inc., NetEase Games, Wing Capital Partners, Ltd., OLM Ventures Inc., Samurai Incubate Inc., Dentsu Group and Mitsubishi UFJ Capital.

Japan 272
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Tom Emrich, Director of Product AR Platforms at Niantic

Everything VR & AR

This week the VRARA podcast team welcomes back Tom Emrich. Tom is Director of Product, AR Platforms at Niantic. Tom leads product strategy and development of Niantic’s Lightship Unity SDK (ARDK), WebAR platform (8th Wall), and AR Ads. Come listen as we catch up with Tom and discuss the advancements Niantic continues to bring to the AR development space.

AR 119
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How Does AR Elevate Social Commerce?

AR Insider

"Shoppable" content shifts product marketing down the purchase funnel for measurable conversions. And when combined with AR to visualize products, it’s a powerful one-two punch. We examine the evidence. This post appeared first on AR Insider.

AR 318
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Meta Will Reportedly Bring 'Quest 3 Lite' To China Via Deal With Tencent

Upload VR

Meta plans to bring a cheaper version of Quest 3 to China via a deal with Tencent, The Wall Street Journal reports. Meta and Tencent's aim to sell Quest headsets in China was first reported by Chinese news outlet 36Kr back in February, though that report claimed the product was planned to be Quest 2. In July The Wall Street Journal reported that the partnership faced "challenges" because of Mark Zuckerberg's past comments about China.

China 140
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Who C.A.R.E.S.!? How Learning Got Its Bad Rap & What We Can Do About It

Speaker: Treion Muller, Chief Strategy Officer at ELB Learning

Since when has learning and development (L&D) become such a negative experience with its intended learners? Could it be because learners have been conditioned by very poor learning experiences over the past two decades, combined with the kinks of technological innovation? Or is it because learning has typically been designed as a one-size-fits-all solution, despite the fact that humans are not clones?

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Meta Reportedly to Return to China, Spearheading with Cheaper VR Headset

Road to VR

After 14 years of being sanctioned from operating in mainland China, Meta is set to return to the country with the help of a new, lower-priced version of its VR headset, the Wall Street Journal reports. Meta’s planned return is thanks to a deal—allegedly still in preliminary stages—with China’s Tencent, the world’s largest videogame company and soon-to-be exclusive seller of Meta headsets in China, WSJ reports, citing people familiar with the matter.

China 266
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AMD's EPYC 7003 "Milan" Receives Extended Lifecycle: Availability To 2026 With 6 New SKUs

Anand Tech

AMD has sent word over this morning that the company is extending the product lifecycle for their previous-generation EYPC 7003 “Milan” family of server CPUs. The company will now be offering the Zen 3-based CPUs through at least 2026, and as part of that extension plan, has already launched a further 6 SKUs. With these changes, Milan is effectively being repositioned as a budget server platform for AMD, offering AMD’s past tech at a discount to cost-weary customers.

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Reality Bytes: OpenAI, TikTok & the Beatles

AR Insider

This week on Reality Bytes, we unleash a custom ChatGPT, relive The Beatles’ glory, and examine a digital gifting trend. This post appeared first on AR Insider.

Trends 304
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Quest's Casting 2.0 Lets Creators Capture Uncropped Widescreen To PC Over USB 3.0

Upload VR

Quest Casting 2.0 lets creators and developers record or stream uncropped widescreen to a PC over USB 3.0. Quest headsets can wirelessly cast what the wearer is seeing to TV devices with Google Cast, smartphones, and to a web browser. Those wireless methods aren't changing, at least for now, but the other method of casting to a PC is. This method, usually pitched for developers and creators, is the casting function in the Meta Quest Developer Hub app for Windows and Mac.

Video 138
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The Key to Getting the Best Out of Video-Based Practice & Coaching

Speaker: Micah Eppler, Account Executive for Rehearsal of eLearning Brothers

Did you know that companies such as Paychex, 3M, and Honeywell are getting better results by incorporating video-based practice and coaching within their L&D strategy? From sales pitches to soft skills, learners are becoming top performers by applying and validating knowledge transfer using the unique benefits of video. Whether used as a stand-alone application or integrated with a learning platform, video-based practice and coaching platforms give learners the ultimate opportunity to repeatedly