Road to VR

JULY 31, 2023

In the ‘one more thing’ bit of the WWDC keynote, Apple lauded Vision Pro’s AR capabilities thanks to its color passthrough cameras, impressively responsive UI, and, from our hands-on with the headset , rock-solid hand-tracking.

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The Ghost Howls

MARCH 1, 2024

Both Apple and Google already have very popular stores , they have full suits of tools (think about the Google Docs suite) and entertainment channels (think about Apple TV), and they have enormous expertise in building hardware and operating systems. The PC community is very strong and dedicated, while the standalone one is more casual.

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The Ghost Howls

MAY 30, 2023

Since I’m not totally convinced that just a few LEDs in that position may alone offer realiable tracking, I would also speculate that maybe either data from the depth sensor or some hand-tracking data is involved in the sensor fusion to arrive at the final controller pose. In the meanwhile, Microsoft is working on a 1.1

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XR Today - Mixed Reality tag

APRIL 3, 2024

The “Spatial Personas” is ready for various Vision Pro applications under the Shareplay banner, allowing up to five Personas for entertainment and collaboration via services such as FaceTime. Leading workplace applications on the Apple Vision Pro include SynergyXR, JigSpace, Omniplan, Zoom, Microsoft 365, and Teams.

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VRScout

DECEMBER 26, 2018

While this past year may have seemed like a quiet one when compared to the more exciting releases featured in 2017 and 2016, these past 12 months have been crucial in the development of the immersive entertainment sector. If 2018 is remembered for anything, it’ll be for the multiple high-quality animated VR films released throughout the year.

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ARPost

JUNE 8, 2022

Zappar was also nominated in the Best Developer Tool category for the ZapWorks SDK , and in the Best Head-Worn Device category for the new-and-improved ZapBox – a mobile phone adapter that includes targets and two hand-tracking controller wands. Best Location-Based Entertainment. This is the company’s third Auggie.

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The Ghost Howls

MARCH 2, 2020

Developers continue to have fun with Oculus Quest hands tracking! A new week, a new sheer of demos exploiting Oculus Quest hands tracking! A demo made by the creator of Holoception, that mixes portals and hands tracking. Image by Microsoft). My favorite from this week? News worth a mention.

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The Ghost Howls

MAY 1, 2023

According to the CMA: “Microsoft already enjoys a powerful position and head start over other competitors in cloud gaming and this deal would strengthen that advantage giving it the ability to undermine new and innovative competitors.” So I wonder if this suspension could also change Microsoft’s future plans concerning the M-word.

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The Ghost Howls

APRIL 5, 2021

Microsoft signs a $22B deal with the US Army. We all know that Microsoft is building AR glasses for the US Army : a modified version of HoloLens 2 called IVAS, that is ruggedized, with a wider field of view (80° x 40°), and feature additional sensors (for instance to provide thermal vision). Well played, Microsoft. More info.

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VRScout

OCTOBER 1, 2019

Quest hand tracking is perfect for slower experiences with light interaction. During Oculus Connect 6 in San Jose, CA, Mark Zuckerberg unveiled that the Oculus Quest would allow for hand and finger tracking without the need of any hand controllers, and of course, I couldn’t wait to try it. The Overall.

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VRScout

AUGUST 17, 2016

The headset has an inside out tracking system enabled by Intel’s amazing RealSense technology. This provides Leap Motion type hand tracking as well as six-degrees-of-freedom, room-scale positional tracking. It is so precise that it tracks down to individual finger movements.

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VRScout

AUGUST 17, 2016

The headset has an inside out tracking system enabled by Intel’s amazing RealSense technology. This provides Leap Motion type hand tracking as well as six-degrees-of-freedom, room-scale positional tracking. It is so precise that it tracks down to individual finger movements.

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XR Today - Virtual Reality

NOVEMBER 28, 2022

Applications like Zoom and Microsoft Teams grew massively following the demand for video conferencing software during the COVID-19 pandemic. On the other hand, headsets like the Pico 4 and PSVR2 by Sony present a range of end-users with powerful immersive headsets.

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ARPost

APRIL 22, 2022

The XRA is an industry organization founded by Google , HTC VIVE , Microsoft , Oculus , and Sony Interactive Entertainment. The world-facing cameras on XR devices that enable world-tracking in AR and hand-tracking in VR contribute to what some are calling “the era of constant reality capture.”

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The Ghost Howls

OCTOBER 11, 2023

So many developers could find themselves with the conundrum of what to offer and to which device : if the Quest 3 Lite will sell a lot of units, maybe developers will prefer to develop content that is compatible with hand tracking, shifting the current attention to games to something else.

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XR Today - Virtual Reality

MARCH 27, 2023

Users are discovering that virtual reality isn’t just a powerful tool for entertainment. Developed in collaboration with other leading XR companies like Microsoft, the HP headset is compatible with a range of platforms. The solution also supports hand tracking through Ultraleap Gemini and Positional tracking via SteamVR.

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XR Today - Virtual Reality

JANUARY 1, 2024

Users are discovering that virtual reality isn’t just a powerful tool for entertainment. Renowned for its ingenuity, Apple has continuously pushed the boundaries of what is possible with its rich tech ecosystem, namely amid increasing competition with Microsoft. Demand for virtual reality is expanding at an incredible rate.

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The Ghost Howls

JULY 31, 2023

This gamification mechanic seems pretty lame to me : people need entertaining quests, not boring stuff just done to show them the new features of the platform. This week has also been announced that there will now be “quests” on Horizon: little actions like “try a new avatar” that are rewarded with small virtual gifts to the users.

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Upload VR

SEPTEMBER 24, 2023

Arashi: Final Cut – An Entertaining Upgrade Marred By Last-Gen Hangovers The upcoming Final Cut of Arashi features some clear upgrades, but also some last-gen hangovers that hold it back. Owlchemy Demo Reaches For Mass Market VR Hand Tracking Owlchemy’s hand tracking tech demo at GDC 2023 pointed to the future of mass market VR.

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ARVR

JULY 7, 2020

Types of user interactions that have been tested so far include gaze , hand gestures/hand tracking , touch controllers or voice commands , or any combination of these. However, this is one of the most popular experiences in VR for entertainment purposes. How to use subtle AR filters to survive your Zoom meetings?

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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!). Peggy Johnson is the new CEO of Magic Leap.

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XR Today - Augmented Reality tag

DECEMBER 9, 2022

VR has gone through a rapid transition from a primarily consumer-focused, tethered device for gaming and entertainment, to standalone headsets in similar verticals. Other devices from Magic Leap and Microsoft’s HoloLens headsets offer deeper levels of immersion.

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The Ghost Howls

SEPTEMBER 21, 2020

In the VR space we had little news apart from the Facebook Connect, so this roundup will be very short… but we had enough news with the Connect that they were enough to keep us entertained for the whole week . Microsoft finally enables Research Mode on HoloLens 2. Top news of the week. Image by Facebook).

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The Ghost Howls

SEPTEMBER 30, 2019

Microsoft has officially stated that Minecraft Earth , that has been in beta for Android and iOS in carefully selected worldwide locations in the past months, is now ready for its launch. If you want to discover everything about this and much other news, read my mega-roundup post linked below. Minecraft Earth is close to its release.

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XR Today - Mixed Reality tag

FEBRUARY 9, 2024

Here’s everything we learned through our hands-on experiments with the device. Its futuristic eye, hand-tracking capabilities, incredible visuals, and breathtaking audio make it a true industry leader. Plus, the eye tracking is insanely good. We can see why it sold out so quickly.

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XR Today - Mixed Reality tag

DECEMBER 29, 2022

We now see VR (Virtual Reality) AR (Augmented Reality) and MR (Mixed Reality) as more than just avenues for entertainment. Already, innovators like Microsoft and Meta have begun leveraging intelligent tools to help users create photo-realistic avatars they can use in virtual environments with VR headsets.

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The Ghost Howls

NOVEMBER 6, 2018

This lets you experience scenes that are a bit more complex than the ones that you can live on Microsoft’s device; The field of view is 40° Horizontal and 30° Vertical. The graphics are nice, the gameplay is entertaining, and everything has been designed to fit quite well in AR; Helio : it is the 3D browser of Magic Leap.

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The Ghost Howls

JANUARY 11, 2022

PlayStation VR 2 Logo (Image by Sony Interactive Entertainment). Of course, the object must be in the FOV of the cameras of the headset to be tracked, even if HTC says that the tracking can somewhat continue also when this condition is not true (i guess using just IMU data). Qualcomm and Microsoft partnership.

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The Ghost Howls

FEBRUARY 11, 2021

This is a simpler mechanism than the waveguides employed by Microsoft HoloLens 2 or by Magic Leap, and while it may provide a bit less immersive holograms, it is the only way to provide affordable wide-FOV glasses at the moment. The Realmax Qian unboxing experience was good. You will have to deal with a bulkier all-in-two device, though.

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XR Today - Big XR News tag

JULY 26, 2023

Despite this, Latta praised the headset’s features like its field of view (FoV), controller-less hand tracking, eye and gaze tracking, and 3D video recording capabilities. ” He explained further, “Looking at the production line, I don’t want to have controllers in my hand or to look for them.

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ARPost

FEBRUARY 8, 2023

See Also: The Future Is Now: 2023 Metaverse and XR Predictions Worth Looking Into Think how Microsoft revolutionized personal computers, or how Apple changed the mobile phone market forever. The device will supposedly make use of hand tracking or a clothes-pin like a finger module for pointing and selection.

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ARPost

MARCH 31, 2023

So, in the past few weeks we have seen big tech, including Meta and Microsoft, announce massive layoffs , mostly to their XR division and at the same time, pivoting towards artificial intelligence and generative content. Meta presence in the amusement and entertainment sector could be stronger.

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UploadVR Between Realities podcast

MARCH 19, 2017

Above: David Holz, founder of Leap Motion, shows off hand-tracking in VR. Above: VR entertainment panelists: Margaret Wallace (left), Theresa Duringer, Noah Falstein, and Shiraz Akmal. There’s going to be a reckoning,” said Margaret Wallace, CEO of Playmatics , on my own panel on VR entertainment experiences.

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The Ghost Howls

JUNE 23, 2020

A nice story you can read to entertain yourself… at this point, I start thinking that all these XR rumors about Apple are so confusing and so diverse that i s probably Apple itself that is spreading them to confuse the ideas to its competitors. Hands tracking on Quest gets always more interest. News worth a mention.

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XR Today - Mixed Reality tag

DECEMBER 1, 2023

We’re already seeing aspects of spatial computing emerge in everything from collaborative platforms like Microsoft Teams to smartphones. This allows users to create more advanced spatial experiences for the augmented reality landscape, with hand gesture recognition and spatial audio. With a projected value of $544.6

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The Ghost Howls

JULY 24, 2023

For me this is not a fortunate sentence: this is what Alex Kipman said about the HoloLens, a few weeks before the whole Microsoft Mixed Reality division was disbanded and he was fired from the company. The most interesting ones for me are related to hand tacking. Meta Quest will receive Hand Tracking 2.2,

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XR Today - Mixed Reality tag

NOVEMBER 9, 2023

We’re already seeing aspects of spatial computing emerge in everything from collaborative platforms like Microsoft Teams to smartphones. This allows users to create more advanced spatial experiences for the augmented reality landscape, with hand gesture recognition and spatial audio. With a projected value of $544.6

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