VR Chat dancers.
Tom Faber, who covers nightlife for the NY Times, spent some time finding community, and freedom, on the virtual dance floor in VR Chat. He says “there are dozens of parties happening on VRChat, a platform where users assume fantastical avatars of their own design.” The places he’s talking about are for PC powered VR HMDs, not stand alone VR like the Quest. Quest users have their own entertainment to look forward to as basketball great DJ Diesel (Shaquille O’Neil) hosts an hour-long event featuring performances by Cardi B, Ludacris, Lil Yachty, Killer Mike, and Whipped Cream. Shaq’s New Year’s Eve event will premiere Saturday, Dec. 31, at 3:30 p.m. PT, in VR in Meta Horizon Worlds and on Meta Quest TV, available in the Meta Quest 2 headset, as well as on O’Neal’s Facebook and Instagram pages and in Messenger’s Watch Together. Alspace is hosting a free all day/night rave for all headsets and flatscreen PCs.
Thanks to the Delta spike, just one year ago, in January 2022, there was no traffic, no cab lines, ... [+]
CES, the world's largest trade show, comes to Las Vegas January 4-7. AI is having a moment, and is poised to be the star of this year’s show. Companies will go to great lengths to demonstrate how they are using AI to improve their products. AI has the potential to revolutionize the way we live and work, but it is just now being let out into the wild. No one knows how AI will work with our devices, yet, but everyone agrees smarter devices are better devices. CES was virtual in 2021, Omicrom-diminished in 2022, will still not be back at 2020’s record-setting size of 175,000. The CTA (Consumer Technology Association) is expecting 100,000 people this year. This is my 25th CES, so believe me when I say 100,000 people is still a crushing mob.
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - JANUARY 08: Attendees use virtual reality headsets to experience Hyundai and ... [+]
XR will be well represented at CES. Forbes’ Andrew Williams says keep an eye out for the Sony’s Playstation VR2, HTC’s new standalone headset, teased last week, and Somnimum Space’s VR1. Both Microsoft and Magic Leap will be exhibiting in Central hall, along with Vrgineers, Xtal, Pimax and Vuzix. Cannon is set to introduce cinematic VR cameras. There are a lot of private suite demos. We’re looking forward to meeting with industrial AR giant Real Wear, Dimenco, Lumus, and Digilens. Meta is offering journalists private time with the Quest Pro and Ray Ban Stories. A new high definition headsets from Sharp is also expected.
These tiny VR goggles are SteamVR compatible.
I may have started a vexing trend by asking Is VR in a Perilous Place? after Meta admitted VR HMD sales were slowing. Ironically, they started the current round of schadenfreude by being truthful in their Q3 earnings call way back in November. Metaverse off to ominous start after VR headset sales shrank in 2022 said CNBC. 2023 Could be the Metaverse’s Make or Break Year added CNet. Meta, however, may yet have a hearty laugh this Christmas. The Meta Quest app has been #1 in the App Store since Christmas.
Aerospace Giant Canceled 40,000-Unit Oculus Quest Order When They Saw This Tech. Mobeus, a New Jersey-based startup with $24 million in funding from Accenture Ventures will soon introduce Airglass2, which makes every camera-equipped monitor, every smartphone, a potential shared 3D space.
With Nreal founder and CEO Chi Xu at CES, Wednesday, January 9th, 2020.
Daily Variety says Nreal Air AR Glasses Deliver on a Promise to Transform the On-the-Go Lifestyle. The glasses have reflects the smartphone screen, making it appear to be a massive 201” micro-led screen for media consumption and gaming. The lightweight glasses retail for $319. The Beijing-based augmented reality technology company isn’t exhibiting at CES this year. In 2020, they were the talk of the show with lines to demo dozens deep every day of the show.
Behind the scenes ^^ The final product vv
Virtual Production Is Changing Hollywood. This new music video “Story of A Bird,” from artist Asher Monroe, who also directed, was created using the same game engine technology as “Westworld” and “The Mandalorian.” It was shot in Hollywood in 2022 by XRstudios.live. AI is expected to greatly simplify new workflows created by combining real-time rendered environments with live performers.
This Week in XR is also a podcast hosted by the author of this column, Ted Schilowitz, and Rony Abovitz, founder of Magic Leap. This week we’re home for the holidays, so there’s no show, but give a listen to our 2022 round up and 2023 predictions with Venture Beat lead writer Dean Takahashi on December 16th. We’ll be back the first week in January from CES. We can be found on Spotify, iTunes, and YouTube.
What We’re Reading
The End of the Silicon Valley Myth The companies that define our digital lives have hit a wall.(Brian Merchant/The Atlantic)
The tech we’re most looking forward to in 2023 (Chris Morris/Fast Company)
Immersive AR for consumers is ‘five or so’ years away, says Magic Leap CEO (Tiernan Ray, ZDnet)
This Week in Schadenfreude
How Meta flunked its first year as a metaverse company (Karissa Bell/Engadget)
