The XR Week Peek (2023.12.26): WMR gets discontinued, Meta to showcase an impressive AR prototype, and more!
I hope you all had a nice Christmas with your families! On my side Christmas was kinda good: I spent some time with my family, ate some delicious food, and unwrapped some nice gifts. It was not a perfect day because I also had some work-related issues to cope with, but it’s part of life when you are working with cutting-edge technologies 😐
I’m curious to know how the holidays are going for you, so answer this post letting me know how life is going for you! But before, let me list the most important XR news of the past week.
(PS Remember that there is an ongoing giveaway of physical copies of the Sam&Max game for PSVR for all people in North America! You can access it at this link: http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/452b8f897/?)
Top news of the week
Microsoft kills Windows Mixed Reality
Microsoft has decided to pull the plug on the Windows Mixed Reality platform, the one of the WMR headsets by Acer, Asus, HP, Lenovo, and Samsung which were the first to introduce inside-out tracking in the VR ecosystem. WMR headsets could have represented a revolution for virtual reality because of their cheap price and ease of use (they didn’t require the installation of any base stations). But unluckily, their tracking performance was bad, especially for what concerns controllers, the manufacturing quality was debatable, and especially Microsoft never invested enough into dedicated content. For this reason, even if across the years some good headsets came out from that ecosystem, like the Samsung Odyseey+, the platform never took off.
Microsoft in the end has decided to deprecate it. In the list of deprecated features of Windows, the company states that “Windows Mixed Reality is deprecated and will be removed in a future release of Windows. This deprecation includes the Mixed Reality Portal app, and Windows Mixed Reality for SteamVR and Steam VR Beta.”
To a request for further explanations by Upload, Microsoft answered that the future release of Windows that will remove the software will happen in late 2024. And that “As of Nov. 1, 2026 for consumers and Nov. 1, 2027 for commercial customers, Windows Mixed Reality will no longer be available for download via the Mixed Reality Portal app, Windows Mixed Reality for SteamVR, and Steam VR beta, and Microsoft will discontinue support.” Of course, existing WMR users can still use the devices if they do not upgrade to a version of Windows that does not have the software anymore.
It means that there is time for the few people who still use Windows Mixed Reality to upgrade to a newer and better headset. But it is a bit sad to see such a platform, which seemed it could disrupt the market, be killed.
More info (Microsoft shuts down Windows Mixed Reality — Road To VR)
More info (Microsoft shuts down Windows Mixed Reality — Upload VR)
More info (Microsoft explains better the deprecation timeline)
Other relevant news
Meta to showcase an incredible AR prototype in 2024
It’s not a secret that Meta is working on AR glasses, and it is not a secret that the date for the release of the first version of these glasses has been postponed year after year, with the estimated date now being around 2027. But this week Andrew Bosworth, the CTO of Meta, wanted to raise the hype again for this technology.
Speaking with the journalist Alex Heath, Boz claimed that Meta will unveil a very expensive prototype for AR glasses already in 2024. And Boz used very strong words to describe this device:
“It’s probably our most exciting prototype that we’ve had to date. I might get myself in trouble for saying this: I think it might be the most advanced piece of technology on the planet in its domain. In the domain of consumer electronics, it might be the most advanced thing that we’ve ever produced as a species”
Well, this is a pretty bold statement. Considering that many companies are working on XR devices, saying that Meta is going to show the most advanced thing created by humankind is pretty bold. He had better say this for something that is truly incredible. For now, the previous rumors talk about lightweight AR glasses with 70° FOV and high brightness, obtained thanks to the use of MicroLED and silicon carbide waveguide, but I’m ready to be surprised even more by “the most advanced thing that we’ve ever produced as a species”.
Whatever will be this mesmerizing device, remember that it won’t be on sale because it will be too expensive. So it will mostly be there as a showcase of the products that Meta wants to deliver in the medium-term future.
Kura wins an Innovation Award at CES
The startup Kura has always got a lot of attention from the XR communities for its promise of lightweight glasses with 150-degree field-of-view, 95% lens transparency, and 8K resolution. This always looked like a dream to all of us, and many experts in the field showed themselves pretty skeptical about this claim, saying that the technology to offer such a product simply does not exist. The startup went silent in the last months, but now it appeared again to claim it has won an Innovation Award at the upcoming CES.
The award has been won for the integration of AR with AI technologies. The press release states that “Kura is also in the process of developing a multimodal AI platform and APIs which combine visual, voice, motion, and gesture inputs to augment users’ workflow and activities” So these very futuristic glasses are in the process of being merged with a futuristic AI that can assist the user wherever he is. All of this sounds very… futuristic.
The press release also contains a render of the AR glasses, which look very lightweight, and also the mention of the fact that the company “has provided demos to hundreds of users and professionals”. The fact is, no one I know has actually tried the latest version of them, only some prototypes. Even worse, my friend Nima told me on X that these Innovation Awards are given based on a presentation, so no one among CES organizers tried this, either.
The mystery around Kura continues. I’ve myself interviewed the CEO Kelly Peng a few years ago, and I found her to be incredibly smart and competent. But at the same time, it is strange that there are such advanced glasses around and no one has tried them. I hope that Kura finally showcases what it has at CES, so we can finally see if we are looking at a revolution of the AR market (as I hope) or at the AR version of the Decagear.
More info (Kura wins CES Innovation Award)
More info (VR Nima talks about innovation awards)
Apple Vision Pro may launch this February
A new week, a new set of rumors about the Apple Vision Pro:
- According to Mark Gurman, the headset is now slated to launch this February. Last week, people said January. I love how every time these “analysts” throw random dates until one of them proves to be true
- A video shared by a developer using the Vision Pro shows how the hand tracking and hand occlusion work: they are great, but not perfect, with a little lag affecting both of them
- The SDK of the Apple Vision Pro is now enabling dynamic foveated rendering
- There has been a leak related to a cover for the Vision Pro which can protect it when you put it in a backpack to carry it around
More info (Vision Pro is slated for February)
More info (Hand tracking performance on Vision Pro)
More info (Dynamic foveated rendering in SDK)
More info (Cover for Apple Vision Pro leaked)
News worth a mention
Discover the games of the year
Road To VR and Upload VR shortlisted their favorite games of the year and assigned them some important awards. Vertigo 2 and Horizon: Call Of The Mountain got recognition from both magazines, but in many categories, the two websites had different opinions. It’s so interesting to have a look at both lists and compare them to the list of favorites we all have.
More info (Road To VR Awards)
More info (Upload VR Awards)
Bytedance may have disinvested in Pico because of unrealistic expectations
According to a recent report, Bytedance’s CEO may have been disappointed by the foray that the company had into the gaming business because this “long-term” bet was not paying off after four years. The same attitude is what may have led to the disinvestment in Pico: the company was expecting the VR business to be successful much sooner, without realizing that a long-term is a truly long-term bet, meaning that it may require losing money for 10 years. In China, speed is always a paramount factor, but for these investments patience is key and we all should admire the persistence of Zuck on the topic, for instance.
Quest Pro can now track your tongue
In version 60 of its SDKs for Unity and native code, Meta has added the functionality of detecting how much you are pulling out your tongue. This can be used only on devices that can track your face, like the Quest Pro.
I foresee tongue tracking as relevant in two kinds of applications. One is social VR, and in fact, Steam Link has already integrated this tongue-tracking technology with VRChat, so that your avatar can show the tongue to other avatars. The second one is instead…
More info (Tongue tracking in Meta SDK)
More info (Tongue tracking in Steam Link)
Somnium VR-1 First Hands-On
A group of VR influencers, including Nathie, Tyriell Wood, and Brad Lynch, have been able to fly to Prague to try the Somnium VR-1 headset in preview. I’ve watched the related video by Tyriell Wood and found it very interesting. The headset seems promising, but it still needs to iron out a lot of little problems before its release. Plus its price is not going to be cheap: this premium headset is going to cost at least 1700$.
How to design your VR experience like a magician
Laura Mingail has written an awesome article on Upload VR, in which she compares the development of mixed reality experiences to the performance of a magician who has to perform tricks on the user. I found it a very inspiring article, very different from the others I usually read. Also, the videos inside showcasing some interesting MR experiments are worth a watch. So my advice is to read this post because it’s one of the most interesting ones I’ve read lately.
Google has to open its operating system to more stores
As part of a settlement with the U.S. attorney general for a lawsuit over Google Play Store, Google should stop to privilege its Google Play Store, and should open up its Android operating system to more easily support 3rd-party stores. It should also let applications on Google Play have their monetization of choice without forcing developers to use Google IAP. This sentence, together with the upcoming EU Digital Markets Act, is going to start closing an era of monopoly of the stores, which imposed too taxing conditions on developers. I think the next one to be tackled should be the Meta Quest Store, where Meta still forces developers to use its own IAP system to receive payments.
The predictions for the future of XR are mixed
The current predictions for the future of XR are pretty contradictory: while they all agree on a bright long-term future, they disagree on what will happen in the short term:
- According to Omdia, headset sales will keep declining until 2026, when finally the market will start to grow again
- IDC has a different point of view, and it envisions a +46.4% shipments growth for 2024
I personally think that things will be mostly in the middle: Omdia is underestimating the effect that the rumored cheap Quest 3 Lite may have on the market, while IDC is overestimating the power of the Apple Vision Pro, which will be sold in limited quantities.
Regarding the current VR market, Eric Lempel from Sony Interactive Entertainment, has stated that Sony remains committed to virtual reality products, but he also added: “I think there was a higher expectation generally for what VR would do to gaming”. Sony’s owned Insomniac Studios has zero VR-native games planned in the roadmap for this decade. This says a lot about how Sony sees the VR market for now…
More info (Omnia’s market predictions)
More info (IDC’s market predictions)
More info (Sony on the VR market)
More info (Insomniac’s roadmap)
Enjoy gaming sales
Both Steam and the Meta Quest Store are offering sales for VR games, so go buy some cool titles! It’s funny that a guy told on Reddit to go check the Steam Winter Sales showing a selection of games of his which is a bit… special…
More info (Steam Winter Sale — Special Link On Reddit)
More info (Meta Quest Holiday Sale)
The debate around Asgard’s Wrath 2 is on fire
While Asgard’s Wrath 2 is getting its first upgrade to improve its performance on Quest 3, the debate about its quality is ramping up. It all started with an article on Upload VR where the journalist, after a very detailed review, gave the game a mediocre 3 out of 5 stars. I shared the review on X, asking people if they agreed, and I got a lot of answers, with some of them saying that it is one of the best VR games ever, and some others saying that they would have refunded it if they had to buy it. It’s very interesting to read such a diverse set of opinions about this game.
More info (AW2 getting its first update for Quest 3)
More info (Upload VR reviews AW2)
More info (My tweet with all the debate about AW2)
Some news on content
- The Office Suite is now finally available on Quest, but its interface is not very usable without a physical Bluetooth keyboard
- The Ocean Rift mixed reality experience turns your room into an aquarium
More info (Office Suite)
More info (Ocean Rift)
Other news
First Contact, the studio behind Firewall Ultra, shuts down
KOPIN is working on AR/VR displays that can adjust their brightness and contrast depending on how the eye is seeing the current image
Samsung has unveiled two sensors that may be used in its upcoming VR headset
News from partners (and friends)
Machizzle is now free!
The amazing team at iNFINITE Production made us all a big gift for this Christmas: they put their indie VR puzzle game Machizzle as completely free on Steam! Play with it now!
Get the game
Some XR fun
Have you ever put the headset on to play “just five minutes” and then…?
Funny link
I like to use my VR headset to “play Beat Saber”, too…
Funny link
Donate for good
Like last week, also this week in this final paragraph I won’t ask you to donate for my blog, but to the poor people that are facing the consequences of the war. Please donate to the Red Cross to handle the current humanitarian situation in Ukraine. I will leave you the link to do that below.
Let me take a moment before to thank anyway all my Patreon donors for the support they give to me:
- Alex Gonzalez VR
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And now here you are the link to donate:
Support The Red Cross in Ukraine
(Header image by Zulubo Productions)
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