The Ghost Howls

JULY 3, 2023

Top news of the week (Image by Google) Google killed its AR glasses Project Iris Do you remember the name Project Iris? It was our hope for Google entering the AR race together with Meta and Apple. It seems that more than 300 people worked on the project, which was headed by Clay Bavor, the head of AR/VR efforts at Google.

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The Ghost Howls

OCTOBER 31, 2021

Here in Italy we were not used to celebrating it when I was a kid, but children now have fun dressing up and asking for some sweeties from their neighbors. Apart from this, we had a few important announcements, like for instance: GTA San Andreas coming to Quest 2 Project Cambria : a hybrid AR/VR headset arriving next year.

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The Ghost Howls

NOVEMBER 27, 2023

Italy won the Tennis Davis Cup, and that was pretty cool to see (the match between Sinner and Djokovic was just incredible). This may be one of the potential names for either the upcoming mixed reality headset that Samsung is developing with Google or the name of future AR glasses. Who will it be… Sony or Meta?

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The Ghost Howls

OCTOBER 10, 2022

Among other things, I have written a fantastic post about the VR concerts worth millions of dollars that Pico is doing in China ; I have been interviewed in a podcast by Moonbase ; and this Saturday I will be close to Turin (Italy) speaking at a science and technology festival about my work in immersive concerts. Kura is still alive.

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The Ghost Howls

NOVEMBER 29, 2021

If you were wondering, we in Italy do not celebrate Thanksgiving, but I would love one year to participate in its celebration hosted by an American family. It is building the reference design of AR glasses and has a valid SDK for building outdoor AR experiences. More info (Niantic receiving an investment) More info (Fold AR).

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Machine Learning AR Apple Oculus 382

The Ghost Howls

JULY 4, 2022

These ’20s are really harsh years: a long pandemic, a terrible war, and a drought in some parts of the world have all exhausted us. And all these problems are also creating unfavorable economic conditions. Inflation here in Italy is ramping up, and the impression I have is that we are entering into a recession phase.

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The Ghost Howls

MAY 17, 2021

But before leaving you to the best pieces of AR/VR news of the week, let me tease you that in the upcoming days I will publish an article I’m sure you will all love… it’s a hands-on preview on… you’ll discover it! Image by Sony Interactive Entertainment). Just be sure to keep an eye on your e-mail to not miss it…. Other relevant news.

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The Ghost Howls

AUGUST 2, 2021

What a fun thing, this is the power of the intern… no, sorry, of the metaverse. (And if you were wondering, yes, I’m very happy about the two amazing gold medals that Italy won yesterday at the Olympics!). It sounds like a group that has to work on social AR/VR and experiment with different solutions. Sony has sold 10M PS5 worldwide.

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The Ghost Howls

JANUARY 20, 2021

2020 has been a good year for the sales of VR devices : Half-Life Alyx and the launch of the Quest 2 have created a big spike in the sales of VR hardware and software. I expect all these trends to continue in 2021, for a year that will see the growth of the technology on all its sides (software and hardware).

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Virtual Reality Trends China HTC 532

The Ghost Howls

MARCH 20, 2023

I’m back in Italy! But Google has already made clear that is working on AR glasses, so probably it is planning to launch a new pair of smart glasses and so is discontinuing the old model. First of all, Sony CFO Hiroki Totoki has said that he thinks that PSVR 2 may sell more than the 5–6 million units that the original PSVR sold.

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The Ghost Howls

APRIL 13, 2020

On the other side, this is massive for Apple, that mixing the data of Apple Maps together with all these point clouds detected by the rear cameras when in use, will be able to create an AR Cloud ecosystem probably even before Facebook, Microsoft, and Google. The reason for the program halting are still unknown. supports VR.

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Augmented Reality Virtual Reality Apple Tools 405

The Ghost Howls

MAY 4, 2020

While in Italy we get ready for the “Phase 2” of the lockdown, I write the best AR/VR news of the week just for you! This money includes all the revenues not related to the main business of Facebook (advertisement), but Facebook has clearly specified that this big increment is mostly related to Oculus hardware and software.

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The Ghost Howls

OCTOBER 26, 2020

Coronavirus is back in Italy and from yesterday we’re having new restrictions like a night curfew, some kind of shops closed, etc… I hope that you and the people you love are safe. While HTC is struggling on the hardware side, I think that it is moving very well to create a good software ecosystem, at least in China.

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The Ghost Howls

MARCH 2, 2020

This roundup of the most important AR/VR news of the past week comes out with a little delay since I’ve been very busy with my development job, and I’ve also a damn cold that doesn’t make me feel very well (but it’s no coronavirus, don’t worry :D). iPhone 12 may feature a special connection for AR glasses. Sorry for that!

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The Ghost Howls

APRIL 18, 2022

Anyway, today should be a vacation in Italy, but here I am writing this roundup for you, so if you want to show your appreciation, don’t forget to make a donation on Patreon ! In a piece of separate news, Pico’s parent company Bytedance has also announced the public beta of Effect House, the AR filters editor for TikTok. Road To VR).

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The Ghost Howls

FEBRUARY 24, 2020

The damn coronavirus has arrived in my city in northern Italy, but I’m still alive and kicking, reporting you the most interesting XR news of the week! The cool stuff of all of this is that all these Cosmos have the same base unit and just ship with a different faceplate on , and these faceplates are also on sale for $200.

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HTC Hand tracking Virtual Reality Oculus 227

The Ghost Howls

APRIL 25, 2022

Today is a bit of a special day for this newsletter because this article you are reading is the 250th roundup about XR news I’ve written! If you make the calculation, it means that it is almost 5 years that every damn weekend I collect the best news of the week in AR and VR (and the “mmmmmmmetaverse”) and I organize them for you!

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The Ghost Howls

OCTOBER 16, 2022

Meta has not explained why it was removed: some people suspect it was because it could have been used “to see through some clothes”, but I don’t know if the truth is actually some software/hardware incompatibility. Quest Pro specifications (Road To VR) Quest Pro won’t ship with a depth sensor (Upload VR).

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The Ghost Howls

DECEMBER 8, 2021

Today is a special day in Italy when families prepare the Christmas Tree, so I decided to publish a very special post that is a big gift to the whole XR community. It wasn’t even possible to buy another Tundra HDK, and months later they are still showing out of stock. Image provided by Rob Cole). Image by Rob Cole).

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