Road to VR

OCTOBER 29, 2024

Valve officially released a feature to the SteamVR stable branch that adds basic hand-tracking to Steam Link for Quest users. Previously only available in the Beta test branch released back in August, the new SteamVR 2.8 update doesn’t actually bring full hand-tracking support to SteamVR’s UI, but rather allows Quest users to DIY their setup for each game by experimenting with input bindings.

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Charlie Fink

OCTOBER 17, 2024

Writer, Director and Producer Tom Paton, who comes from a background in visual effects, brought the first AI feature film, "Where the Robots Grow" to life with a team of just nine people.

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Bernard Marr

NOVEMBER 11, 2024

The stock market’s current AI euphoria, driven by companies like NVIDIA developing powerful processors for machine learning, might mask a more troubling reality. While artificial intelligence promises to revolutionize trading and risk management, it could paradoxically make our financial systems more fragile and susceptible to catastrophic failures. “There’s so much euphoria, with tens or even upwards of a hundred billions of dollars being spent on AI.

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Upload VR

NOVEMBER 1, 2024

Quest v71 is a huge update, bringing a number of improvements and new features to Meta's Horizon OS. In no particular order, the v71 update is bringing: a refresh of the system interface design, an AI model that converts microphone audio into estimated facial expressions, smoother passthrough, train support for Travel Mode, Dolby Atmos and Dolby Digital Surround, a first-party calendar app, a shortcut to Remote Desktop in Quick Settings, improvements to Scene Mesh scanning, a volume mixer for ap

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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.

Mexico

Anand Tech

AUGUST 30, 2024

It is with great sadness that I find myself penning the hardest news post I’ve ever needed to write here at AnandTech. After over 27 years of covering the wide – and wild – word of computing hardware, today is AnandTech’s final day of publication. For better or worse, we’ve reached the end of a long journey – one that started with a review of an AMD processor , and has ended with the review of an AMD processor.

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NVidia VR

MARCH 18, 2024

Generative AI promises to revolutionize every industry it touches — all that’s been needed is the technology to meet the challenge. NVIDIA founder and CEO Jensen Huang on Monday introduced that technology — the company’s new Blackwell computing platform — as he outlined the major advances that increased computing power can deliver for everything from software to services, robotics to medical technology and more.

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Road to VR

SEPTEMBER 25, 2024

Meta today revealed a prototype of its first pair of AR glasses, codenamed Orion. The glasses are impressively compact, have a class-leading field-of-view, but also relies on a wireless compute unit that goes in your pocket. Although Meta has been selling its Ray-Ban smartglasses for several years now, the company hasn’t actually shown any glasses-sized device with a display—until now.

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Road to VR

AUGUST 27, 2024

There’s no shortage of speculation when it comes to all things Valve. Tyler McVicker, YouTuber and one of the leading voices dedicated to deciphering Valve’s various internal developments, however now reports that not only is the company’s long-awaited standalone VR headset still coming, but it may arrive alongside its own Half-Life game.

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Road to VR

AUGUST 13, 2024

Google Earth VR was an early and enchanting app for the first generation of modern PC VR headsets, but unfortunately it never made the leap to the standalone era. Now a new app, FLY , brings the magic of exploring Google Earth in VR to Quest and Vision Pro. Now available on Quest 2, Quest Pro, Quest 3 , and Vision Pro , Fly aims to bring the magic of exploring Google Earth in 3D in a fully immersive way.

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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.

Virtual Reality

Road to VR

SEPTEMBER 12, 2024

Meta CTO and head of Reality Labs Andrew ‘Boz’ Bosworth says the company is currently working on a “glasses form-factor” mixed reality headset. In an Instagram Q&A , Bosworth confirmed the company is working on the device, although didn’t provide any concrete timelines: “I don’t think a mixed reality headset, even in a glasses form factor—which we’re working on—is going to disrupt the smartphone.

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Road to VR

OCTOBER 18, 2024

I was asked recently for my thoughts on Meta’s Orion AR glasses, specifically whether or not such glasses stand a chance of becoming as big as (or replacing) the smartphones in the future. I was asked for my thoughts recently for a Lifewire article about Meta’s Orion AR glasses and the future they may or may not point at. Only a small snippet of my overall response was used, and in a way that supported the article’s (reasonably) skeptical take on the future of AR glasses.

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Road to VR

OCTOBER 31, 2024

Code discovered in a recent Google Play update indicates the company may soon roll out support for XR headsets on its Android app store, which would mark a decisive shift in the competitive landscape. As reported by Android Authority , code in version 43.3.32-31 of the Google Play app contains mention of “XR headset,” including a new headset icon that ostensibly indicates whether an app works with the supported device.

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Road to VR

AUGUST 28, 2024

Quest has been an increasingly popular choice for Steam users since the release of the original in 2019, now accounting for over half of all connected VR headsets. Now Valve’s latest 2.8.3 SteamVR update includes a few new features that’s making Quest a better PC VR headset than ever. Released in late 2023, Steam Link allows users to easily connect their Quest wirelessly to SteamVR to play PC VR or flatscreen PC games, essentially letting you bypass Meta’s own Air Link.

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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.

Simulation

Road to VR

OCTOBER 7, 2024

Meta’s biggest reveal at last week’s Connect conference was definitely the Orion prototype AR glasses, which the company says it’s been working on for nearly five years. It’s a big deal not only because of how compact it is, but because Meta says it wants to eventually turn the prototype into a consumer product. You may have caught our high-level coverage of the Orion headset here , but our friend Norman Chan from Tested got to sit down with Meta CTO Andrew “BozR

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Road to VR

OCTOBER 16, 2024

In an interview with The Verge , Meta CTO and Reality Labs chief Andrew Bosworth confirmed a number of projects previously subject to speculation, detailed the company’s strategic shift toward AI, and confirmed plans to deepen its partnership with Ray-Ban parent EssilorLuxottica. Meta reorganized Reality Labs earlier this year to better focus on wearables, such as Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses and AI-driven wearable tech, like the newer version of its wrist-worn controller revealed last month

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Road to VR

SEPTEMBER 26, 2024

On stage at Connect yesterday, Meta unveiled Orion , an AR glasses prototype that, while impressively slim, isn’t making its way out of the Meta offices anytime soon. Still, Meta CTO and Reality Labs chief Andrew Bosworth says an AR device based on Orion is coming this decade, and will likely shoot for a price point somewhere north of a smartphone.

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Road to VR

AUGUST 21, 2024

According to a report by The Verge , both Snapchat and Meta will each reveal new AR glasses for the first time next month. Both companies have been working on such projects for years. According to The Verge’s Alex Heath , Snapchat parent company Snap Inc. will reveal its fifth generation of ‘Spectacles’ AR glasses on September 17th at the company’s annual Partner Summit conference in Los Angeles.

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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.

How To

Road to VR

JUNE 18, 2024

Did you know you can technically play SteamVR games like Half-Life: Alyx (2020) on Vision Pro? Well, now you do, as the leading app dedicated to bringing SteamVR connectivity to a ton of standalone headsets is now available for Vision Pro on the App Store. Previously offered as an invite-only beta, ALVR is now free on the App Store , allowing Vision Pro users to stream OpenVR games from your PC via Wi-Fi.

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Road to VR

MAY 30, 2024

Google and Magic Leap today announced a “strategic technology partnership.” The move shows Google seeking to gain ground to keep up with the likes of Meta, Apple, and others in a race to control the AR headset market. While consume VR headsets have been around for years now, none of the world’s major technology companies have launched consumer-focused AR glasses.

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Road to VR

SEPTEMBER 30, 2024

Despite Vision Pro’s $3,500 price tag, which is nearly 12 times more expensive than the $300 Quest 3S , Apple and Meta are destined to be direct competitors in the XR space at some point in the near future. According to a report by Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman , Apple may be rethinking its XR strategy moving forward though following Meta’s unveiling of its impressively slim AR glasses prototype, Orion.

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Road to VR

MAY 29, 2024

Sony said earlier this year it was bringing PC VR support to PSVR 2 , and while we still don’t know when that’s set to arrive, it appears the company is nearing the final steps thanks to a certification with the competent certifying authority in South Korea. As reported by tech analyst and YouTuber Brad ‘SadlyItsBradley’ Lynch, Sony has certified the ‘PlayStation VR2 PC Adapter’ with South Korea’s National Radio Research Agency, which is tasked with cer

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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?

Technology

Road to VR

JUNE 26, 2024

There are a few great ways to market VR games, but there’s arguably none better than by showing real people immersed in virtual environments thanks to mixed reality capture. While Meta has its own Mixed Reality Capture tool (MRC) , the company is taking a step back from development by adopting third-party app LIV as its official solution. LIV describes the deal as a “multi-year partnership with Meta to bring LIV’s mixed reality capture & virtual camera solutions to developers p

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Road to VR

AUGUST 7, 2024

According to a report from Korean tech outlet The Elec , Microsoft has contracted Samsung to supply micro OLED display panels for what is described as “next-generation mixed reality devices.” Citing industry sources, the report maintains the order could reach into the “hundreds of thousands” of micro OLED displays, with such a Microsoft XR device reportedly slated to arrive as early as 2026.

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Road to VR

APRIL 22, 2024

Today Meta made what is likely to be an industry-altering announcement: it plans to open up the Quest operating system to third-party device makers. Asus, Lenovo, and Xbox have been tapped to create new headsets built on the operating system which is being branded ‘Meta Horizon OS’ Meta has just made its biggest strategic move in the XR space since betting the farm on standalone headsets over PC VR.

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Road to VR

AUGUST 7, 2024

Sony released its long-awaited PC VR adapter for PSVR 2 this week, however early reports maintain some user don’t even need the company’s $60 adapter to start playing PC VR games like Half-Life: Alyx (2020). A number of early user reviews of the adapter are echoing many of the same points right now: some graphics cards with USB-C ports allow PSVR 2 users to directly hook into their GPUS and play SteamVR games.

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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

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