Because CES, the world's largest convention with 180,000 attendees, takes over Las Vegas January 7th - 11th, this week in XR is really about next week in XR. Over the holidays I got a taste of the new Vuzix Blade AR Glasses, which you can read here, which will be featured at the show. If you're going, don't miss my CES Survival Guide: #22 years of experience, fifteen tips, a few dining suggestions, and humorous pet peeves. Look for Digital Assistants like Alexa and Google to saturate the convention again this year. Self-driving cars and other automobile technology will again surround the convention center as vehicles continue to morph in consumer electronics. Uber drones could make a killing at CES. It can take thirty minutes to travel a mile in Vegas during the show. Longer in a car. Sadly, Apple, Facebook, Google, Microsoft and Amazon don't exhibit at the show because they have their own developer conferences. Last year, Microsoft and Amazon had invitation-only VIP rooms in strip hotels to show off select products. Not to be missed is the start-up action at Eureka Park at the Sands, which is connected to the Venetian, a thirty-minute walk from the LVCC.
Hear The 5G Hype Train Coming. It's in the NY Times. Twice. Qualcomm posted this sponsored story about 5G on the NY Times Website as well. All the news that's fit to click. Keep in mind, huge publicly traded companies like Qualcomm, Verizon, and AT&T are not just selling products, they're selling their stock. You can never start too early with that. Snark aside, if 5G is half as good as everyone says it is it will be truly transformative. At least that's what it says in my new book. I hope they don't make me a liar.
Valve reveals top selling VR games of 2018 on Steam. Topped by the ever popular Beat Saber, games released more than two years ago still made the list. Shooters such as Onward, Pavlov, and Arizona Sunshine sit in the Platinum tier alongside VR remakes of Skyrim and Fallout 4. VR MMORPG OrbusVR also made Platinum as one of the only MMORPGs built for VR. You can check out the rest of Steam’s list here.
HoloLens2 rumors ignite as HoloLens goes out of stock at the end of 2018. The Microsoft Store page for HoloLens displays “out of stock” for both Developer and Enterprise editions of the mixed reality headset. Little comment has been made by the company in regards to the lack of supply, causing the AR community to assume a next-gen HoloLens is on the way. Given that the first HoloLens edition is over two years old, and the new mixed reality player Magic Leap has joined the game, a new version of the HoloLens seems likely in 2019.
Immersive art installation Meow Wolf coming to D.C. The collaborative immersive art experience includes “architecture, sculpture, painting, photography, video production, cross-reality (AR/VR/MR), music, audio engineering, narrative writing, costuming, performance, and more.” Slated to open in 2022 by the Fort Totten Metro station, the space will be part of a development including artists’ residences, a food hall, a craft brewery, makers’ spaces, a children’s museum and a grocery stall. You can find Meow Wolf today in Sante Fe, Las Vegas in 2019, and Denver in 2020.
New VR experience DragonFrost hits Dave & Buster’s locations nationwide. Friends fly atop the backs of dragons together in the same game world as they battle the Ice Prince and his Army of Ice. VRstudios, creators of Dragonfrost, have worked with Dave & Buster’s for over a year creating their original IP where four friends can experiences the same virtual world together from unique perspectives. Dragonfrost uses proprietary hardware for the multiplayer Dragonback flying experience.
SPHERES gets first public premiere at New York’s Rockefeller Center. The three-part VR series will premiere January 18 - March 3, 2019, with tickets starting at $50. CityLights purchased SPHERES for a seven-digit price tag at Sundance for it’s an immersive exploration of the cosmos. Each episode is 15 minutes in length and can be purchased on the Oculus Store for VR headset owners. Tickets for the Rockefeller Center showing can be purchased here.
How My Mentor Alan Bought a Jaguar XKE from Robert Stigwood for one million dollars. A trade publication just reminded of a humorous anecdote I wrote about the late producer of Saturday Night Fever, who died three years ago today.
See you in Vegas! I'll be speaking on a panel called "XR Gets Down To Business," presenting my book on the LVCC stage as part of Gary's Book Club (signing afterward), and trying out a new presentation at VR Fest. Stop by one of these events and say hi!
"This week in XR" is written and edited with Michael Eichenseer.
