The Ghost Howls

JANUARY 10, 2022

My favorite ones have been: Sony Interactive Entertainment has revealed that the next PSVR headset will be called PSVR 2 and will feature 2K x 2K per eye, up to 120 Hz framerate, and 110° FOV. It will be the first consumer headset with eye-tracking and foveated rendering, and also the first one to feature haptics directly on the headset.

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Apple Simulation Las Vegas Haptic 306

The Ghost Howls

OCTOBER 26, 2021

Every year I make this prediction game about what Facebook is going to announce at Oculus/Facebook connect, and this year won’t be an exception! Oculus Rift 3. Oculus Quest 2 Pro / Oculus Quest 3. Facebook is going to announce the Oculus Quest 2 Pro. This is never going to happen. New Facebook Name.

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Hand tracking Oculus Eye Tracking AR 493

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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Oculus Eye Tracking Hardware Las Vegas 299

Upload VR

AUGUST 3, 2022

There’s a lot of hardware on the horizon, with confirmed and rumored AR and VR headsets abound — PSVR 2, an Apple mixed reality headset, the Lynx R-1 and more. Apple Headset. Apple has yet to officially confirm the existence of its mixed reality headset. You can read more about Apple’s rumored headset here.

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Apple AR Eye Tracking Hardware 131

The Ghost Howls

JANUARY 25, 2022

I can’t guarantee that these predictions will come out to be true (I always joke about the fact that I miss many of the predictions about Meta/Oculus), but I think they will be worth reading anyway to understand what can be the trends to look for in this new year. Me wearing my branded Oculus Quest 2. So… let’s start!

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Virtual Reality Eye Tracking Apple Government 483

The Ghost Howls

MAY 1, 2018

On Friday, a report on CNET shook a bit the XR community revealing that Apple is working on an AR/VR headset for 2020. An article that has become pretty popular, since every time that Apple makes something in an industry, it for sure changes all the market dynamics. Let’s take point 1: Apple is working on an AR/VR headset.

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Apple AR Magic Leap Eye Tracking 153

The Ghost Howls

SEPTEMBER 27, 2021

This is the first newsletter of Autumn 2021: I think I’ll miss the sun but for sure not the mosquitos. This has been a hectic week for the leaks on the upcoming new Oculus Quest Pro device. Marky Z hinted that the device should feature eye and face tracking, and recent findings in Oculus Quest 2 runtime confirm this.

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Eye Tracking Apple Controllers Oculus 280

The Ghost Howls

OCTOBER 30, 2022

I totally want them to care more about our privacy, and I’m all in with Avi Bar-Zeev in having better management of eye tracking data on the Quest Pro. Zuck announced Meta in 2021 and people were already expecting the metaverse in 2022. Meta is bad, Apple is our savior! Yes, I can’t wait for our savior Apple.

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Magic Leap Apple Technology Microsoft 545

The Ghost Howls

SEPTEMBER 20, 2021

I think I’ll miss the joys of summer (and all the trophies that Italy has won), but at least I’ll be able to enjoy again some delicious hot chocolate Before leaving you to the news of the week, I’m happy to announce to you that I’ve been selected as a speaker for AWE US 2021 ! Apple VR headset may feature a 3000PPI microOLED display.

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AR Nigeria Apple Oculus 495

The Ghost Howls

NOVEMBER 17, 2019

Image by Oculus, from Road To VR). John Carmack leaves Oculus. In a surprise move that no one was expecting, the god of programming John Carmack has decided to leave Oculus. More info (John Carmack leaves Oculus) More info (Carmack stating he’s not satisfied with VR pace) More info (Damo9000’s sarcasm on the news).

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Magic Leap Oculus AR Apple 258

The Ghost Howls

JANUARY 2, 2023

Meta bought Luxecel, Apple Limbak. It is obvious that this product was ideal to build AR glasses. Meta’s competitor Apple has instead acquired Limbak (even if the acquisition has not been officially confirmed). More info (Meta acquires Luxecel) More info (Limbak got acquired) More info (Probably Apple acquired Limbak).

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Saudi Arabia Magic Leap Ukraine Japan 367

The Ghost Howls

SEPTEMBER 16, 2020

Oculus Quest 2. Oculus has finally revealed the Quest 2. Here you are its specifications: Resolution (per-eye) : 1,832 × 1,920 LCD Refresh Rate: 90Hz Processor : Snapdragon XR2 RAM : 6GB Battery Life : 2–3 hours Field of View : Same of Quest IPD Adjust : 58mm, 63mm, 68mm Weight : 503g Storage : 64GB or 256GB.

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AR Oculus Apple Gaming 361

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. More info (Speculation on PSVR2 inside-out tracking) More info (Another interview teasing PSVR2 in 2021).

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Augmented Reality Virtual Reality Apple Tools 385

ARVR

JUNE 9, 2021

WaveOptics is a manufacturer of displays for smart glasse, both for the optics and projection part and it is the same technology already used by Snap in its smart glass Spectacles 2021. Again, as of 2021, we just have rumors. The smart glass market was valued at USD 3.89 billion in 2020 and is expected to reach USD 7.96

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AR Augmented Reality Wearables Apple 130

Upload VR

FEBRUARY 1, 2024

If you prefer the old Quick Action Menu, you can re-enable it in the Movement tracking section of the headset's settings. iPhone Spatial Video Support Spatial Video is Apple's term for stereoscopic 3D video on its devices. The Oculus PC app was recently renamed Meta Quest Link.

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Hand tracking Video Software Eye Tracking 137

The Ghost Howls

JULY 21, 2019

Original image from Oculus). Oculus Rift and Gear VR have sold 10M units. At the beginning of the week, Jack McCauley, one of the founders of the Oculus startup, had claimed in an interview with CNBC that Facebook VR will never succeed. Of course, he was not only talking about Oculus but about VR in general.

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Oculus Gaming Haptic AR 172

The Ghost Howls

JULY 4, 2022

Of course for some ad-based tech companies, the current economic situation is not the only problem, but there is another big one which is Apple and its new privacy features embedded into iOS. PSVR 2 will have eye-tracking from Tobii and maybe a detachable cable. Especially Apple, which everyone is waiting for. Upload VR).

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Machine Learning Eye Tracking Unity Hardware 371

The Ghost Howls

APRIL 18, 2022

To summarize, these are its specifications: Qualcomm XR2 chipset 4K low-persistence 90 Hz Curved Display 3664 x 1920 resolution, 773 PPI 72Hz with support for 90Hz 98° FOV 6GB RAM (2133 Mhz) for the Pro model, 8GB for the Pro Eye Model 256GB storage Wi-Fi 6 connectivity USB-C 3.0 And they don’t want to pay other platforms’ money for that.

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Europe Tools Apple HTC 308

The Ghost Howls

JANUARY 21, 2020

Me wearing the Oculus Quest. On the other side, PC gamers are appreciating the high-quality Valve Index (even if it has some reliability issues ), and casual gamers are loving the Oculus Quest. This year, I’m not going to make an exception, also because my predictions for 2019 performed pretty well.

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Virtual Reality Oculus Trends AR 440

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.

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Oculus AR Data Gaming 544

The Ghost Howls

MARCH 1, 2021

They “will incorporate some of the key features found in the DualSense wireless controller, along with a focus on great ergonomics”; There will be a “new generation” of games and experiences for it; It is still under development and won’t launch in 2021. MWC Shanghai 2021 showcased some XR technologies. More info (Qualcomm AR Viewer?—?Road

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Sony Oculus Unity AR 369

The Ghost Howls

NOVEMBER 1, 2021

The company has stated that in 2021 it will spend $10B for the metaverse , and that in next years that expense will be even larger. Oculus brands disappears. And most importantly, the Oculus brand will disappear and will just become Meta : Oculus Quest will be the Meta Quest (yes, it sounds terribly, I know).

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Oculus AR Tools Unity 454

The Ghost Howls

FEBRUARY 22, 2021

And it also makes me super-happy that no one is about Facebook and Apple… I was getting pretty bored in writing newsletters only about these two companies! The French startup headed by Stan Larroque is developing passthrough AR glasses with eye-tracking and hands tracking that can offer a new paradigm to augmented reality.

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Samsung AR Augmented Reality Eye Tracking 443

The Ghost Howls

AUGUST 4, 2019

The working group, that includes all the major XR companies (Oculus, HTC, Intel, NVIDIA, Valve, etc…), facilitated by the Khronos group, has finally agreed on a set of specifications, after having listened to all the feedback that come after the release of the version 0.9. Oculus wants to make people control AR headsets just using the brain.

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AR Augmented Reality Apple Oculus 166

The Ghost Howls

JULY 19, 2021

Inside this growing VR market, the headset that is selling the most is the Oculus Quest 2. Counterpoint research confirms both trends, saying that headsets shipment has tripled with regard to 2020, and highlighting how in Q1 2021, Quest 2 has represented 75% of the whole shipments of VR headsets. Facebook totals now 60.2%

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AR Technology Data Gaming 507

The Ghost Howls

OCTOBER 31, 2021

Facebook Connect, the most awaited VR event of 2021, happened, and it was not as we expected it to be. The whole event was all about Facebook creating a parent company called Meta that is going to control all the products that until now were in the Facebook’s family, that is Facebook, Instagram, Whatsapp, Oculus, Portal, and all the rest.

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Hand tracking Sony Hardware AR 321

Upload VR

SEPTEMBER 22, 2022

Nearly four years after Mark Zuckerberg personally announced Oculus Quest the standalone VR market for consumers may have real competition. Quest Pro may also compete with the forthcoming AR/VR headset in development at Apple. What Quest Pro doesn’t compete with, however, is Pico 4.

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South Korea Eye Tracking Japan Europe 144

The Ghost Howls

MARCH 2, 2020

The devices that will be based on this reference design will have amazing specifications like: 2K x 2K display resolution per each eye ; Have up to 7 cameras used simultaneously, including the ones for tracking, mixed reality and eye-tracking; High-quality passthrough augmented reality with high resolution and framerate.

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Hand tracking AR Oculus HTC 232

The Ghost Howls

JANUARY 23, 2020

Regarding big brands, I expect Apple and Facebook still to wait a bit before releasing something, while Magic Leap will have to make its move to come out from the quicksands. Maybe with eye-tracking, AI, 5G connection, and a battery that lasts all day. 5G will be great to showcase some AR possibilities of these glasses (e.g.

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Augmented Reality Magic Leap AR Technology 384

The Ghost Howls

JANUARY 11, 2022

To showcase its functionality, HTC showed some videos of the tracker in use to improve the performances of hands tracking and also with the tracker installed on external props. I think for instance about the SenseGlove Nova, which has these big controllers attached to the gloves just to have 6DOF tracking. Further references.

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AR Haptic Las Vegas HTC 543

The Ghost Howls

JUNE 1, 2020

No smearing, reduced mura; The lenses have been upgraded, using the ones engineered by Valve for the Index; The audio is conveyed through off-the-ear speakers , like the ones of the Valve Index; Comfort has been improved; There is IPD adjustment; There are now 4 tracking cameras. Oculus Link 2 could be tetherless.

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Magic Leap AR China Unity 232

XR for Business Podcast

DECEMBER 29, 2020

And moving on, I want to say that 2021 is looking pretty damn amazing to begin with for the XR world. Our VP of Marketing and Strategy, Alex Colgan, will turn the tables and interview me on what happened in 2020 and what we can expect from 2021. But I think we're all looking forward to 2021, and what it's going to mean for all of us.

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Machine Learning Education Apple Technology 78

XR for Business Podcast

DECEMBER 29, 2020

And moving on, I want to say that 2021 is looking pretty damn amazing to begin with for the XR world. Our VP of Marketing and Strategy, Alex Colgan, will turn the tables and interview me on what happened in 2020 and what we can expect from 2021. But I think we're all looking forward to 2021, and what it's going to mean for all of us.

Machine Learning 78

Machine Learning Education Apple Technology 78

XR for Business Podcast

DECEMBER 29, 2020

And moving on, I want to say that 2021 is looking pretty damn amazing to begin with for the XR world. Our VP of Marketing and Strategy, Alex Colgan, will turn the tables and interview me on what happened in 2020 and what we can expect from 2021. But I think we're all looking forward to 2021, and what it's going to mean for all of us.

Machine Learning 60

Machine Learning Education Apple Technology 60