The Ghost Howls

FEBRUARY 7, 2022

Before leaving you to the news of the week, let me just tell you two things that may interest you: If you missed them, don’t forget to read my predictions about augmented reality and virtual reality in 2022; This Thursday at 5 pm CET AWE Nite Florence comes back! The first one is that Reality Labs had $10B of losses in 2021.

Virtual Reality 367

Virtual Reality Microsoft Data Machine Learning 367

ARPost

NOVEMBER 25, 2020

In 2019, the demand growth for augmented reality and virtual reality engineers skyrocketed 1400% from the previous year, surpassing the demand for blockchain engineers (the most in-demand skill in 2018). Venture capital investment in augmented reality and virtual reality hit $4.1

Augmented Reality 368

Augmented Reality Machine Learning New York Los Angeles 368

The Ghost Howls

OCTOBER 19, 2021

HTC advertises it as a headset for relaxation and productivity because it wants to position it as a different product than a gaming machine like Oculus Quest 2. This week we had two big news that endorsed the importance of training in virtual reality. Amazon Glow is a video projector for kids.

Magic Leap 502

Magic Leap HTC Training Virtual Reality 502

VRScout

NOVEMBER 26, 2016

Weekend Downloads is part of our weekly update to bring you the latest additions to the Samsung Gear VR and Oculus Rift. Oculus is also offering a $100 Oculus Store credit when you purchase a Rift from Best Buy, Amazon, and Microsoft in the US and Canada. This Week’s New Gear VR and Oculus Rift Content (11/26/16).

Oculus 150

Oculus Virtual Reality Canada Tips 150

The Ghost Howls

NOVEMBER 26, 2019

I am also excited because thanks to the organizers of the VRX event, yesterday I have been able to interview Facebook’s Sean Liu and ask him some questions about Oculus and its vision of Virtual Reality. Oculus Link is here. If you’re interested, you can check the interview out here. Top news of the week. Image by Valve).

Oculus 216

Oculus South Africa Arizona Canada 216

AR Insider

OCTOBER 1, 2019

Why Facebook and Amazon have joined the race to bring computing to your face. — Facebook and Amazon each discussed computer glasses at launch events this week. — Amazon’s approach is to get a lightweight product out now, while Facebook is promising advanced technology in a few years. by Kif Leswing, CNBC, 9/29/19.

Amazon 157

Amazon San Jose Google Microsoft 157

The Ghost Howls

JANUARY 19, 2020

Oculus Go price cut down to $150. Facebook has permanently cut down the price of the Oculus Go to $150 , the same price that made it sell incredibly well on Amazon during the Cyber Monday. More info (Oculus Go price cut) More info (Xiaomi laying off the team dedicated to Go). Top news of the week. Image by Engadget).

AR 204

AR Oculus Magic Leap Microsoft 204

Hypergrid Business

NOVEMBER 25, 2021

Oculus Quest 2. The Oculus Quest 2 standalone virtual reality headset is the best in all categories given its room-scale VR capability, a large library of games, fast performance, and good resolution, especially for its price point. Buy on Amazon or directly from Oculus. One potential downside? Price: $300.

Amazon 105

Amazon HTC Controllers Hand tracking 105

The Ghost Howls

JULY 28, 2019

Oculus Quest and controllers (Image by Oculus). Oculus is updating its Rift S and Quest offering. This has been an interesting week of news and updates for Oculus’s flagship devices. And finally, Oculus has deployed a new update to remove the annoying “Static Flash” bug that was taunting Rift S users.

Magic Leap 163

Magic Leap Oculus Controllers Amazon 163

The Ghost Howls

MARCH 1, 2021

Oculus has also partnered with Virtuclear to offer prescription lenses for the Quest 2 for $80. All the 3 major VR runtimes (Oculus, SteamVR, Microsoft) are now compatible with OpenXR , and this means that on the runtime layer on PC, now OpenXR has been fully integrated. Image by Virtual Desktop). News worth a mention.

Sony 385

Sony Oculus Unity AR 385

The Ghost Howls

DECEMBER 27, 2021

Oculus Quest 2 had a great Christmas. The sales of Oculus Quest 2 have been great during the holidays , and the Quest has been a Christmas gift very much appreciated by kids (but wasn’t there an age limit?). These numbers are impressive for a VR company, and show how a virtual reality company can be successful now.

Unity 461

Unity Oculus Virtual Reality Gaming 461

The Ghost Howls

MAY 17, 2021

Roblox CEO hints at the Oculus Quest as a future platform. And among these platforms onto which the game could be ported in the future, he has also mentioned the Oculus Quest. Some intriguing news on the Oculus Quest. Oculus Quest 2 has disappeared from all Amazon EU websites. News worth a mention.

Eye Tracking 369

Eye Tracking HTC China Amazon 369

The Ghost Howls

JANUARY 25, 2021

Furthermore, the comparison with Microsoft doesn’t hold well: Microsoft was a software company that just didn’t have high standards, so it made products with many bugs. Amazon acquires Umbra. Amazon acquires Umbra. Amazon has just acquired the Finnish company Umbra. More info (Use Google Translate).

Apple 421

Apple New Zealand AR Data 421

Road to VR

JUNE 12, 2017

At Bethesda’s E3 briefing last night, the studio announced that Fallout 4 VR will be coming this year for the HTC Vive, but with AAA virtual reality PC content, comes prices to match. Fallout 4 VR is available on the HTC Vive headset via Amazon (US only currently) or direct via SteamVR for $59.99

HTC 202

HTC Virtual Reality Amazon Microsoft 202

VRGames

DECEMBER 17, 2019

Microsoft has not expressed interest in joining the VR wars anytime soon but a recent patent filing might be evidence that Bill Gates’ outfit was just being coy with its future plans. Of course, as The Sun points out, none of this means that Microsoft is bringing anything definitive to the next Xbox in the way of VR gaming.

Microsoft 40

Microsoft AR Augmented Reality Course 40

VRGames

DECEMBER 17, 2019

Microsoft has not expressed interest in joining the VR wars anytime soon but a recent patent filing might be evidence that Bill Gates’ outfit was just being coy with its future plans. Of course, as The Sun points out, none of this means that Microsoft is bringing anything definitive to the next Xbox in the way of VR gaming.

Microsoft 40

Microsoft AR Augmented Reality Course 40

XR Today - Mixed Reality tag

AUGUST 30, 2022

When creating the new “Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond” title, Respawn wanted to reboot an entire franchise for access in the Oculus VR platform. The company developed a gaming experience where users can enhance their scoring abilities, agility, teamplay, and even boost their instincts in virtual reality.

Case Study 91

Case Study Study Gaming Unity 91

The Ghost Howls

APRIL 29, 2020

Really, it works with all platforms: PC, Mac, smartphones, PC VR headsets, Oculus Quest , even Cardboards! Liv Ericksen explained to us that depending on the Amazon Virtual Machine you’re going to buy, you can have a certain number of people together. Azure is one of the best cloud providers (Image by Microsoft).

Unity 475

Unity Tools Amazon Brazil 475

ARPost

NOVEMBER 4, 2019

According to CBINSIGHTS , tech giants like Facebook, Amazon, Microsoft, Google, and Apple (FAMGA) have all been acquiring AI startups aggressively in the last decade. According to a report by Zion Market Research , the global augmented and virtual reality market was valued at around US$26.7

AR 217

AR Augmented Reality Machine Learning Apple 217

The Ghost Howls

SEPTEMBER 1, 2019

(Image by Microsoft). According to Reuters, Microsoft’s executive vice president Harry Shum took the stage at the World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai and said that the HoloLens 2 will be released sometime in September of this year. It is not on sale on US HP Store and will be on Amazon US next month.

Oculus 161

Oculus AR Microsoft 360 Video 161

AllThingsVR

JULY 23, 2016

Oculus Executive Calls For 3D Equivalent Of JPEG To Build The Metaverse A new standard for 3D scenes is gaining momentum with support from graphics industry leaders, potentially laying the groundwork for science fiction’s “metaverse” to be realized.

Oculus 70

Oculus Groups Microsoft Industry 70

The Ghost Howls

JUNE 13, 2022

After the report of last week by Insider, in which Alex Kipman was accused of improper behavior at work, especially towards women, Alex Kipman has resigned from Microsoft. Rumors already talk about a new AR headset produced by Microsoft in collaboration with Samsung that should substitute it, but we have no sure info about it.

AR 323

AR Apple Microsoft Ukraine 323

The Ghost Howls

APRIL 26, 2021

This week has mostly been in the sign of Oculus, with many news and updates from the brand controlled by Facebook. Even if most of this roundup will be about Oculus, I have decided to put another brand on top of it and it is Magic Leap. Johnson has worked at Microsoft and Qualcomm before, and she is a very respected executive.

Magic Leap 378

Magic Leap Oculus Unity Gaming 378

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.

Unreal 434

Unreal Apple Government Data 434

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. Other relevant news.

Apple 235

Apple AR Eye Tracking Virtual Reality 235

The Ghost Howls

FEBRUARY 8, 2021

Oculus Quest 2 keeps showing impressive sales stats. Someone from a major company (Amazon, Apple, Microsoft), with pockets big enough to be able to compete with the rich Facebook, giving users an alternative and stimulating Facebook in doing even better. Oculus Avatars), plus the features of the store (e.g. easy updates).

Apple 356

Apple Magic Leap Oculus Eye Tracking 356

The Ghost Howls

NOVEMBER 23, 2020

This week we had tons of news about new upcoming augmented reality glasses and smartglasses: Oppo has revealed the second iteration of its augmented reality glasses. Oculus Link gets updated to 90Hz. After one year from the release of the Link , Oculus finally puts it out of beta with a big update. Other relevant news.

AR 251

AR Oculus Augmented Reality China 251

The Ghost Howls

DECEMBER 9, 2019

Oculus products have gone pretty well during the Black Weekend. Past weekend has been the weekend of the Black Friday and Cyber Monday and the company that has dominated the sales of VR hardware has been of course Oculu s, thanks to the discounts on Rift S and Go and the great reputation of the Oculus Quest.

Magic Leap 212

Magic Leap AR Virtual Reality Augmented Reality 212

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.

Apple 471

Apple Europe Data Amazon 471

The Ghost Howls

SEPTEMBER 20, 2020

Oculus Quest 2. The biggest announcement of the event has been for sure the Oculus Quest 2, that Facebook has not only revealed but also launched. Oculus Quest 2 is a great piece of technology. Then Oculus will move the whole experience to 90Hz. The magic of the Oculus Quest 2 (Image by Facebook). Specifications.

Oculus 545

Oculus AR Data Gaming 545

VRScout

JULY 19, 2017

Hyperloop Transportation Technologies – CEO Dirk Ahlborn debuts their VR experience for the station and boarding and their AR collaboration tool Beem on the Microsoft HoloLens. Shape Space – Academy Award winning visual effects pioneer and artist Kevin Mack shares his artistic visions as immersive virtual reality art experiences.

San Diego 186

San Diego AR Virtual Reality Augmented Reality 186

The Ghost Howls

OCTOBER 4, 2021

I have to say that this “leak” comes in a very timely fashion , by chance exactly at the moment when Facebook was building the hype for Oculus Quest 2 Pro , convincing so some people to wait for Valve’s moves before buying the new Oculus headset. Microsoft is going to release a database of synthetic faces. News worth a mention.

HTC 308

HTC AR Oculus Gaming 308

The Ghost Howls

JUNE 17, 2019

The past week has been the week of the E3, and we had an insane amount of news regarding new upcoming Virtual Reality content, especially for the Oculus Quest! Thanks to the popular VR magazine Upload VR, that has organized the E3 VR Showcase, Virtual Reality has had its glorious moment at E3 2019. Image by E3).

Magic Leap 153

Magic Leap Training Virtual Reality Oculus 153

ARVR

JANUARY 6, 2023

Image credits SCAND Blog Virtual Reality (VR)  — It teleports the user into a completely immersive world that replaces the physical world. Users can use HMD devices such as Google Cardboard, Oculus Quest, Rift or HTC Vive to experience an imaginary environment. Mixed Reality (MR)  — It is a combination of both AR and VR.

Augmented Reality 246

Augmented Reality AR Machine Learning Data 246

The Ghost Howls

MAY 24, 2021

Oculus Quest gets v29 update. This week Facebook has started rolling out the v29 runtime update for Oculus Quest , and it brings some interesting features like: Multi-user mode on the original Quest 1 A renewed UI of the “toolbar” of the device. Quest 2 recalled from Amazon EU for skin irritation issue. Other relevant news.

AR 239

AR Google Machine Learning Haptic 239

Road to VR

JANUARY 16, 2020

Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC. Amazon Technologies Inc. A majority of that growth however is said to come from the ‘Heads-Up Displays’ sub-category, which can either serve augmented or virtual reality depending on its intended use. Samsung Electronics Co Ltd. Intel Corp. LG Electronics Inc.

Head Mounted Display 175

Head Mounted Display Strategy AR Machine Learning 175

The Ghost Howls

JULY 13, 2020

And all of this comes in a period when other partnerships between tech giants are happening: remember that some weeks ago, Microsoft closed its streaming service Mixer and allied with Facebook Gaming to fight the quasi-monopoly of (Amazon-owned) Twitch. Thanks Gianluigi Perrone for the tip!). A short review of the StarVR One.

Sony 408

Sony Magic Leap Gaming Unreal 408