Peter Graham – Augmented & Virtual Reality Confabulation

June 26, 2022

The VR Job Hub: Vicarious Surgical & Magnopus

Welcome to another VR Job Hub where every weekend gmw3 gathers together vacancies from across the virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), mixed reality (MR) and now Web3 industries, in locations around the globe to help make finding that ideal job easier. Below is a selection of roles that are currently accepting applications across a number of disciplines, all within departments and companies that focus on immersive entertainment.

Location	Company	Role	Link
Waltham, MA	Vicarious Surgical	Chief of Staff	Click Here to Apply
Waltham, MA	Vicarious Surgical	Senior Manager of Downstream Marketing	Click Here to Apply
Waltham, MA	Vicarious Surgical	UI Designer	Click Here to Apply
Waltham, MA	Vicarious Surgical	Advanced Manufacturing Engineer	Click Here to Apply
Waltham, MA	Vicarious Surgical	Senior Human Resources Business Partner	Click Here to Apply
Waltham, MA	Vicarious Surgical	Senior Director of Quality	Click Here to Apply
Waltham, MA	Vicarious Surgical	Electrical Engineer II	Click Here to Apply
Waltham, MA	Vicarious Surgical	Senior Mechanical Designer	Click Here to Apply
Waltham, MA	Vicarious Surgical	Senior Systems Engineer	Click Here to Apply
Waltham, MA	Vicarious Surgical	Director of Software Engineering	Click Here to Apply
Waltham, MA	Vicarious Surgical	Senior DevOps Engineer	Click Here to Apply
Waltham, MA	Vicarious Surgical	Senior Embedded Software Engineer	Click Here to Apply
Waltham, MA	Vicarious Surgical	Senior Software Architect	Click Here to Apply
Waltham, MA	Vicarious Surgical	Senior Software Product Owner	Click Here to Apply
Waltham, MA	Vicarious Surgical	Vice President of Software Engineering	Click Here to Apply
St Albans/Remote (UK)	Magnopus	Associate Art Director	Click Here to Apply
St Albans/Remote (UK)	Magnopus	Lead Artist	Click Here to Apply
St Albans/Remote (UK)	Magnopus	3D Motion Designer	Click Here to Apply
St Albans/Remote (UK)	Magnopus	Senior DevOps Engineer	Click Here to Apply
St Albans/Remote (UK)	Magnopus	QA Analyst	Click Here to Apply
St Albans/Remote (UK)	Magnopus	Lead Unity Programmer	Click Here to Apply
St Albans/Remote (UK)	Magnopus	Unreal Programmer	Click Here to Apply
St Albans/Remote (UK)	Magnopus	Senior Web 3D Programmer	Click Here to Apply
Los Angeles/Remote (US)	Magnopus	Senior Backend Server Multiplayer Engineer	Click Here to Apply
Los Angeles/Remote (US)	Magnopus	DevOps Manager	Click Here to Apply
Los Angeles/Remote (US)	Magnopus	Senior Interactive Producer	Click Here to Apply
Los Angeles/Remote (US)	Magnopus	Senior Unity Engineer	Click Here to Apply

Don’t forget, if there wasn’t anything that took your fancy this week there are always last week’s listings on The VR Job Hub to check as well.

If you are an employer looking for someone to fill an immersive technology-related role – regardless of the industry – don’t forget you can send us the lowdown on the position and we’ll be sure to feature it in that following week’s feature. Details should be sent to Peter Graham (community@gmw3.com).

We’ll see you next week on gmw3 at the usual time of 3PM (UK) for another selection of jobs from around the world.

June 20, 2022

Meta Showcases Future of VR With 3 New Prototypes

Every so often Meta hosts an “Inside the Lab” roundtable where it showcases early technology it’s currently working on, usually on a very specific research field. Today’s was Inside the Lab: Passing the Visual Turing Test focusing on a very important part of a virtual reality (VR) headset’s hardware, the display. Trying to tackle a range of challenges, CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Chief Scientist of Reality Labs, Michael Abrash and several others unveiled three prototype headsets currently being developed.

Prototyping quite often relies on trying to solve a singular problem, be that resolution, weight, size, durability, clarity or any number of other issues. Whilst the Meta Quest 2 does offer a good VR experience, it’s by no means perfect, with areas that can always be improved upon.

Butterscotch

Ensuring a user’s eye sees the best image possible is of utmost importance and Meta is trying to solve that in a number of ways. The first VR prototype shown was Butterscotch, looking like a heavily modded Oculus Rift.

This was built to address VR resolution, more specifically providing retinal resolution in VR. With 60 pixels per degree (ppd) being the benchmark – one which TVs and mobile phones have long surpassed – so that the headset can depict the 20/20 line on an eye chart. “This is the latest of our retinal resolution prototypes, and it gets us to near retinal resolution in VR — 55 pixels per degree. And that’s two and a half times the resolution of Quest 2,” says Abrash on Butterscotch.

While you might expect this to have been achieved via a new panel this wasn’t the case because: “there are currently no display panels that support anything close to retinal resolution for the full field of view of VR headsets today,” Abrash continues. “So what the Butterscotch team did was they shrank the field of view to about half that of a Quest 2 and developed a new hybrid lens that would fully resolve the higher resolution.”

Meta Reality Labs Eye Chart Comparison. Image credit: Meta

As you can see from the above images, Butterscotch does achieve excellent clarity but it’s still a bulky, far from a finished prototype.

Starburst

Even bigger and bulkier than Butterscotch is Starburst. With fans on the top and a pair of side handles, Starburst is Reality Labs’ prototype HDR VR headset. Yes, you read that right, this is what High Dynamic Range in a VR headset currently looks like.

HDR will be a crucial addition as it helps to increase that sense of realism and depth to an image. To do this VR headsets need lots of light to play with, with brightness referred to as nits. Meta’s peak brightness goal is 10,000 nits but as TVs have yet to achieve this number – Samsung’s 65Q9 range can hit 2,000 nits in HDR – that goal is still a way off. When it comes to current VR levels the Quest 2 maxes out at 100 nits.

Meta Starburst Research Prototype — Meta – Starburst Research Prototype. Image credit: Meta

Packed into the Starburst prototype is a bright lamp behind the LCD panels. This helps Starburst reach an impressive 20,000 nits, creating what is likely one of the first 3D HDR VR displays. You probably wouldn’t want to use it for long though: “to be clear, [Starburst is] wildly impractical in this first generation for anything that you’d actually ship in a product. But we’re using it to test and for further studies so we can get a sense of what the experience feels like,” says Zuckerberg.

Holocake 2

As the last two headset prototypes look many years away how about something which looks slightly more production-ready. Described by Zuckerberg as: “the thinnest and lightest VR headset that we’ve ever built,” the Holocake 2 certainly looks the part of a futuristic device and it’s already capable of running PC VR games!

That might be impressive in a prototype headset but what’s even more remarkable is Holocake 2’s thin profile. VR headsets are thick because the displays and lenses need to be a certain distance apart so that your eyes can properly focus on the imagery. To achieve this slim design Meta has developed two new technologies; a flat holographic lens and polarized reflection.

Meta - Holocake 2 Research Prototype — Meta – Holocake 2 Research Prototype. Image credit: Meta

When it comes to the holographic lens Zuckerberg explains: “Holographs are basically recordings of what happens when light hits something. So just like a holograph is much flatter than the thing itself, holographic optics are much flatter than the lenses that they model, but they affect incoming light in pretty much the same way. So it’s a pretty neat hack.”

As for the polarized reflection, this method of optical folding reduces the space between the display panel and the lens. Both of these technologies have been combined with specialized lasers rather than LEDs as the light source. There’s only one problem, finding a laser with the performant size and price that you need for consumer VR headsets. “We’ll need to do a lot of engineering to achieve a consumer viable laser that meets our specs — that’s safe, low-cost, and efficient and that can fit in a slim VR headset,” Abrash notes. “As of today, the jury is still out on finding a suitable laser source.”

Meta Reality Labs Lens Comparison. Image credit: Meta

If any of these prototypes look familiar its because Butterscotch and Holocake were teased by Zuckerberg and CTO Andrew “Boz” Bosworth in 2021. No sign of the Meta Quest prototype previously mentioned.

Mirror Lake

Finally, there’s Mirror Lake. This isn’t even a prototype at this stage merely a research concept the Display Systems Research (DSR) team at Reality Labs rustled up. This is pie-in-the-sky thinking, coming up with a ski goggle-like form factor combining all the varifocal (Half-Dome) and eye-tracking and other tech Reality Labs has been working on.

And there you have it, all the prototype VR headsets Meta has currently revealed and the challenges it’s trying to solve. While Holocake 2 might be on the near horizon the next headset from Meta is Project Cambria, expected to arrive later this year. For continued updates on the latest Meta VR devices, keep reading gmw3.

June 19, 2022

The VR Job Hub: Pico Interactive, Cloudhead Games & Leia Inc.

Location	Company	Role	Link
Mountain View, CA	Pico Interactive	Game Operation Manager, Pico Studios	Click Here to Apply
Seattle, WA	Pico Interactive	Head of Overseas Content Eco System, Pico Studios	Click Here to Apply
Mountain View, CA	Pico Interactive	Display Architect (MicroLEDs)	Click Here to Apply
Mountain View, CA	Pico Interactive	Head of Consumer Sales	Click Here to Apply
Mountain View, CA	Pico Interactive	Operation Manager	Click Here to Apply
Mountain View, CA	Pico Interactive	Head of VR Game Strategy – Pico Studios	Click Here to Apply
Mountain View, CA	Pico Interactive	User Researcher VR – Pico Studios	Click Here to Apply
Mountain View, CA	Pico Interactive	Optical Design Engineer	Click Here to Apply
Mountain View, CA	Pico Interactive	Head of Pico Studios	Click Here to Apply
Mountain View, CA	Pico Interactive	Color Scientist	Click Here to Apply
Mountain View, CA	Pico Interactive	Business Development Manager – Games	Click Here to Apply
Mountain View, CA	Pico Interactive	Tech Lead Manager, Product Design	Click Here to Apply
Mountain View, CA	Pico Interactive	Enterprise Marketing Manager	Click Here to Apply
Seattle, WA	Pico Interactive	Haptic UX Prototyper	Click Here to Apply
Seattle, WA	Pico Interactive	Haptic Software Engineer	Click Here to Apply
Seattle, WA	Pico Interactive	Haptic Hardware Scientist	Click Here to Apply
Seattle, WA	Pico Interactive	Haptic Controls Engineer	Click Here to Apply
Seattle, WA	Pico Interactive	Haptic Research Scientist (Perception & Interactions)	Click Here to Apply
Mountain View, CA	Pico Interactive	Imaging Display Architect	Click Here to Apply
Mountain View, CA	Pico Interactive	Optical Design Engineer	Click Here to Apply
Mountain View, CA	Pico Interactive	Vision Scientist	Click Here to Apply
Mountain View, CA	Pico Interactive	Perceptual Imaging Architect	Click Here to Apply
Vancouver, Canada/Remote	Cloudhead Games	Lead Engineer	Click Here to Apply
Vancouver, Canada/Remote	Cloudhead Games	Gameplay Engineer	Click Here to Apply
Menlo Park, CA	Leia Inc.	Display Optical Engineer	Click Here to Apply
Menlo Park, CA	Leia Inc.	Display Optical Metrology Engineer	Click Here to Apply
Menlo Park, CA	Leia Inc.	Field Solution Engineer	Click Here to Apply
Menlo Park, CA/Remote	Leia Inc.	Principle Graphics Engineer	Click Here to Apply
Menlo Park, CA	Leia Inc.	Procurement Technician	Click Here to Apply
Menlo Park, CA	Leia Inc.	Senior Software Engineer – Unreal SDK & Tools	Click Here to Apply

Don’t forget, if there wasn’t anything that took your fancy this week there are always last week’s listings on The VR Job Hub to check as well.

We’ll see you next week on gmw3 at the usual time of 3PM (UK) for another selection of jobs from around the world.

June 17, 2022

NFT Thought Leaders Becomes Go-To Web3 Event GMW3 Live

As Web3 has grown during 2022 so has your favourite website Good Morning Web3 (gmw3), bringing you news, interviews and exciting feature pieces. Today, gmw3 takes another step toward becoming the prime resource for Web3 by welcoming influencer network NFT Thought Leaders to the brand. This will see the network and its international events program rebrand to GMW3 Live.

Co-founded by Charles Adkins and John Kraski, NFT Thought Leaders has been acquired by gmw3 parent company Admix for an undisclosed sum. The network became a leading NFT (non-fungible token) community, building a 30k strong following within the Web3 space, and hosting 20+ in-person events across the globe including Los Angeles, London and Amsterdam.

Under the new GMW3 Live brand, it’ll continue acting as a resource hub for all things Web3-related as well as rolling out more events during the course of 2022. In conjunction with gmw3, there will be whitepapers, research, and technical deep dives to keep the community up to date.

“Networks are where ideas, plans, and deals are born. As part of Admix, GMW3 Live will leverage the extraordinary networking success achieved by NFT Thought Leaders and take it to the next level, says Adkins in a statement. “Our focus remains on putting people who matter together in an environment where business can flourish. In addition, we’re building an expanded content development team and will host a wealth of new market intelligence data and reports on the new GMW3 hub.”

As part of the arrangement, Adkins and Kraski will assume key roles at Admix, Global VP of Marketing and Director of Strategic Partnerships respectively.

“Charles and John are two of the most knowledgeable and well-connected people in Web3, who understand the transition from web2 and know how to on-ramp brands into the metaverse,” said Samuel Huber, founder and CEO of Admix. “We’re excited to supercharge the platform they have created and rebrand in under gmw3 to create the most important networking and knowledge resource in the space.”

To hear more about the announcement and the future of GMW3 Live join Sam, Charles and John for the live announcement on LinkedIn, starting at 9 am PST (5 pm BST) Friday 17th June 2022.

For all the latest updates on GMW3 Live events, you know where to come.

Disclosure: Admix is the parent company of gmw3. gmw3 retains its editorial independence.

June 16, 2022

Curse of the Serpent Lord Expands Demeo’s Adventures Today

As Resolution Games continue to release new adventures for tabletop experience Demeo, the videogame goes from strength to strength. Today sees the latest instalment arrive in the form of Curse of the Serpent Lord, adding not only a new environment but also new enemies and gameplay mechanics.

In Curse of the Serpent Lord players are able to venture into a new Demeo region, Ronth, a desert land under the gaze of a scorching sun. All adventures need a bit of backstory and this new addition is no different. “In the desolate wastelands of Ronth Desert, the village of Izteria was built to be a shielded sanctuary to protect the followers of Iztir so they could worship in peace and solitude. But with the arrival of their serpent god, that peace broke — turning the townsfolk into monsters clad in the skin of reptiles,” the synopsis explains.

As you may already suspect, with its sandy domain Curse of the Serpent Lord is filled with scorpions, scarabs and more unusually shockwave-summoning Brutes. Oh, and snakes, big, red-eyed monstrous reptiles that cause havoc. In addition to those beasts are corruption tiles. This new environmental hazard can poison the minds of players and cause them to turn on their teammates.

There are new perks to make the challenge a little easier. First up are the merchants who can be found in-game to trade rare items with for valuable cards. Then there’s the new potion stand where you can pick up random potions for everyone in your party, with some new concoctions added in the update.

Key to it all are the characters you choose and now there’s another, the Warlock Oana. Always accompanied by her Astacat, Cána, she’s a mighty warrior who can cast portals, fire magic missiles, and deploy magical barriers. Resolution Games has also taken player feedback on board regarding the Sorcerer. Zedokar’s new skill Overcharge fills him with electrical energy to stun any attacker whilst his Zap power is now a powerful Lightning Bolt.

“Our players may have started their journeys in the depth of the Elven Necropolis, but they’ve long since ventured beyond its crypt walls,” said Tommy Palm, founder and CEO of Resolution Games. “The world of Demeo is vast and varied, and we’ve revealed just a sliver of it so far. With today’s update players can explore the harsh desert environment for the first time — and there’s plenty more to come.”

Curse of the Serpent Lord is freely available to Demeo owners today. It won’t be the final adventure of 2022 either, with Resolution Games planning the fifth instalment for later in the year. For further updates keep reading gmw3.

June 16, 2022

Take a Look Inside Link, Engage’s Pro Metaverse

There seems to be a new metaverse-related project popping up each week with the latest to make an appearance being Link. Created by the enterprise-focused platform Engage, Link will be aimed at the more professional end of the market, covering educational, entertainment and enterprise users.

Originally codenamed ‘Oasis’ when Engage unveiled the platform in 2021, Link is essentially an extension of the company’s original social platform, the main difference now being persistent virtual worlds. Described as a: “collection of linked persistent spaces designed specifically for enterprise, educational and creative entities to have their presence on the metaverse,” the newly released trailer gives a first look at the social space.

Full of beautifully wide open spaces for users to congregate in, the first area on show is Central Plaza, which as the name suggests is the “jumping-off point” for Engage Link users. A glass-domed circular location, the Central Plaza is surrounded by portals to take users to the various other ‘Metaworlds’ if they so choose. The Central Plaza has been designed for social meetups as well as business meetings, with the area also functioning as an entertainment space.

The next area shown is the Enterprise Plaza, with a revolving stock ticker just in case you’re not sure where you’ve ended up. It’s from here that companies can link their own Metaworlds built by themselves or Engage, completely tailored to that business’s values and aesthetic. Education Plaza connects users to institutions from around the world – or Metaversities as they’re being called – where students can access course content or even attend a lecture.

The last stop of the tour heads to the Apartment Plaza which is far more open to the public. Here you can have your own virtual penthouse apartment: “an opportunity to have friends and family over, to socialize, hangout, watch movies and have a great time,” the video presenter notes. Customisable to your own style, you can add portals to your most visited areas of the Link metaverse for quick and easy access.

Engage Link doesn’t have a release window at the moment but when it does, gmw3 will let you know.

June 15, 2022

Bill Gates’ Take on NFTs: They’re Based on ‘Greater Fool Theory’

When it comes to technology and who people will listen to, Microsoft founder Bill Gates is high up on that list of influential thought leaders. He recently broached the subject of NFTs during a climate change event hosted by Tech Crunch noting his dislike of them due to his view that they’re “100 percent based on greater fool theory”.

Bill Gates tells us what he really thinks of Bored Apes at #TCClimate: pic.twitter.com/vBc8BaaTup
— TechCrunch (@TechCrunch) June 14, 2022

Greater fool theory is a well-known financial concept whereby overpriced assets can still be sold at a profit if the seller can find someone (the fool) willing to pay a higher price, even in a market bubble. “Obviously, expensive digital images of monkeys are going to improve the world immensely,” he remarked, in reference to Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC), one of the most well-known NFT collections.

Gates went on to discuss what he preferred to invest in, saying: I’m used to asset classes, like a farm where they have output, or like a company where they make products.” Referencing both crypto and NFTs, he added: “I’m not involved in that, I’m not long or short any of those things.”

This isn’t the first time Gates has voiced his scepticism on the world of cryptocurrencies, noting the volatile nature of the industry. And that’s not unreasonable in the current climate. Whilst Bitcoin has hit highs of $64k in 2021, that’s now tanked alongside the rest of the industry, currently sitting around $21k.

Bored Ape Yacht Club. Image credit Shutterstock

That’s seen prices of NFTs fall including those of BAYC and CryptoPunks in what’s termed a bear market. Prior to the overall market decline, cashes like Terra’s stablecoin UST and its native token LUNA have only added to cryptos’ woes of late.

NFTs aren’t going away anytime soon though, more and more keep cropping up. Some are tied to celebrities whilst platforms including Instagram have been experimenting with integration. Bill Gates isn’t going to be buying NFTs at any rate, but if you are then check out gmw3’s NFT Spotlight.

June 15, 2022

Review: Mothergunship: Forge

They say that variety is the spice of life and videogames epitomise this with their almost endless customisation options; if they have the of course. Being able to chop and change equipment, tools, and clothing, nay your entire loadout and inventory can mean spending hours fine-tuning everything before you’ve even started a mission. Doing away with all that faff whilst staying true to the joy of perfecting an absolute beast of a gun is Mothergunship: Forge, a roguelite shooter that has the spirit of Doom and the versatility of Inspector Gadget.

Mothergunship might be a familiar name to those of you who love a good roguelite as the title originally arrived as a PC and console videogame a few years back. Now it’s had a virtual reality (VR) makeover, keeping all the ludicrous gun options whilst adding all the physical interaction you’d expect in VR. That means no menus to swap components, simply grab them and move them almost however you please.

You’re fighting a bunch of aliens and their mechanised creations because, you know, nothing makes for a good shooter than an attack on Earth by some nasty extra-terrestrials. Standard sci-fi narrative aside, whilst there are several characters to give a bit of life to the whole experience with some mildly humorous dialogue, uncovering some deeper plot isn’t what you’re here for. So don’t expect a deeply rich adventure because there really isn’t any.

Mothergunship: Forge centres on its single-player modes, running through each one trying to collect as many upgrades and useful items along the way. That being said, there is a co-op multiplayer mode where a mate can join in the frenzy but with that mode unavailable prior to launch this review is based entirely on the solo modes. Of which there is a selection. Starting with the catchy titled Main Mode, you can unlock Recruit Mode, Nightmare Mode, Challenge Mode, Megaship Mode and Ironman Mode by fully completing previous ones, adding a nice replay factor to the experience.

What we’re all really here for though are the guns, or more specifically what you can build with the components that become available to you. The variety on offer is such that it’s easier to say the combinations are almost limitless, as each run you’ll never make the same loadout twice. To begin with, you’re given a couple of components, usually a weapon part and a connector. These connectors are crucial to each build as they’ll only have one way to attach to your arm cannon yet 1, 2, or 3 additional sockets to build upon. These can face forward – great for weapons – or upwards and left or right, all of which make for ideal placement of ammo upgrades or other perks.

Make each of your guns taller, wider, and shoot a range of projectiles with different ammo types like chain lightning or poison. Pop on a Railgun, shotgun, machine gun, or pizza slicer, each hand can have an entirely different setup to mix and match your strategy. Or you can recombine the parts in between levels should the loadout need a slight tweak.

Half the fun is seeing what you can build but there’s also plenty of strategy involved if you want to make it through to the end. Like any roguelite, all the levels are procedurally generated, with the waved-based gameplay throwing dozens of enemies at you in each room. Afterwards Mothergunship: Forge gives you 1-3 random doors to choose from, these can be anything from health and armour to the shop and, of course, gun parts. Keep choosing gun parts and you’ll build an awesome setup yet you might not have enough health to survive a boss encounter. Most of these are lost upon death, with only the purple crystals remaining. These unlock new items to choose from during your next run, making them the most valuable items to select when they become available.

The boss fights are where Mothergunship: Forge shines, there big, brash and the kind of old-school battles that arcade games were so well known for. There were times during the normal levels when the enemy repetition and lack of diversity did become noticeable, especially where the attack patterns were concerned. This is made slightly worse due to the lack of freedom you have, unlike the original Mothergunship in the VR version you’re fixed to a particular roomscale supported area, so there’s no environment exploration.

On the plus side, this does make for a very comfortable experience. You can smoothly walk around the area to dodge projectiles or physically duck and move, making for an energetic experience. Developer Terrible Posture Games has also ensured that Mothergunship: Forge is accessible to all players by including a seated mode, this adjusts enemy’s attacks to suit seated play. This option isn’t available in the multiplayer mode, however.

Mothergunship: Forge is a classic wave shooter just like Blasters of the Universe, taking the ability to swap out weapon components to a whole new level. The variance in parts is almost like stepping into a Lego store to build your ideal model. Get far enough and the guns can get ridiculous, filling the screen with components. Then again, that’s kind of the point. It would’ve been nice to have a sandbox gallery to experiment in, even so, the variety of gameplay modes keeps the gameplay entertaining. Just don’t go in expecting a slick, tactical shooter, Mothergunship: Forge is 100% an absurdly frantic FPS.

June 15, 2022

Steam Comes to Nreal’s AR Glasses, AR Hackathon Announced

One company at the forefront of augmented reality (AR) glasses is China-based Nreal, having released the Nreal Light followed by the Nreal Air. Outside of its traditional market in Asia, Nreal’s devices have only started to see global availability in the last year and in doing so the company is increasing content efforts. It’s doing so in a couple of ways, one with Steam compatibility and the other via its first hackathon event.

Unlike AR smartglasses that have features like 6DoF tracking, Nreal’s AR glasses allow users to connect their smartphones to watch movies or play videogames on giant virtual screens. Hence why the company has pushed towards native AR cloud gaming experiences by releasing “Steam on Nreal”. So yes, that does mean you can now stream Steam games from your PC onto a huge 130-inch HD virtual display.

Nreal does note that “Steam on Nreal” is a beta release that requires a bit of setup effort without going into specifics. The software isn’t yet optimized for all Steam games but gamers can enjoy titles like DiRT Rally and the Halo series. As an additional benefit, Nreal Light and Air users can already utilise Xbox Cloud Gaming via a browser inside Nebula, Nreal’s 3D system.

“We are excited to be the first to bring Steam into AR,” said Peng Jin, co-founder of Nreal in a statement. “The beta release is meant to give people a glimpse into what is possible. After all, AAA games should be played on a 200″ HD screen and they should be played free of location restrictions.”

As for the AR Jam, this will be Nreal’s first augmented reality hackathon, an online international contest with more than $100,000 USD in cash prizes to be won by creators. Kicking off on 27th June 2022, the AR Jam is looking for developers to compete in at-home fitness, art; games, video (highlighting Nebula’s multi-screen functionality) and Port (converting existing apps into AR) categories. There will also be three bonus categories should participants wish to enter, Multiplayer/Social/Networks; NFT Galleries, and Students.

“We’ve always been focused on creating consumer-ready AR experiences with groundbreaking tech, to redefine the way we interact with information and content in our everyday lives. With the AR Jam and content fund, Nreal is demonstrating its commitment to supporting pioneering developers and their AR passion projects,” Jin added.

Category winners will receive $10k, whilst those in second and third places will receive small cash prizes. Honourable mentions will get their very own Nreal Light Dev kit. The AR Jam will run until 27th July 2022.

For continued updates on Nreal and the AR market, keep reading gmw3.

June 14, 2022

Review: The Last Clockwinder

Nobody likes repeating themselves but where videogames are concerned repetition can often function as a core mechanic. Having to rinse and repeat (grinding) skirts a fine line between replayability and lazy game mechanics, however, precisely looping yourself over and over becomes an art form in itself in The Last Clockwinder. Almost like creating Rube Goldberg machines with yourself, The Last Clockwinder is a casual puzzler that can almost tie you in knots.

Casual because The Last Clockwinder provides calm, steady gameplay that you don’t need to rush. In fact, trying to complete tasks as fast as possible can be detrimental to the whole thing, because efficiency really is key in Pontoco’s indie gem of a virtual reality (VR) game.

Set within an ancient tree on a sprawling water planet, it serves as a home for seedlings from across the galaxy. Why did humans decide that a tree was a good place for this purpose, you’ll have to play to find out but the water is seeping in and endangering the collection. So you have to fix the pump and other areas of this complex by growing and harvesting fruit to power the various machines housed within.

The developer has been clever with its use of space within the giant tree. Rather than expansive areas to explore or winding corridors to navigate The Last Clockwinder takes place entirely in one room, with a giant globe set to one side allowing you to switch between the various floors. It’s a novel approach making the game world easy to navigate for VR beginners whilst adding that extra level of immersion veteran players demand, being able to grab levers and physically move the globe with your hands.

Physical interaction is very much core to The Last Clockwinder’s gameplay because that fruit isn’t going to harvest itself. Picking and dropping it into a container is just the very start of piecing together ever more complex puzzles that do offer a brain-taxing challenge by the end. All you have to do is record yourself in action and then it’ll loop, creating a whole line of handy robot replicas to do the harvesting for you.

Whilst the Meta Quest 2 didn’t seem to struggle even with a room full of clones going about their looped business, The Last Clockwinder’s real challenge is to optimise that process. That inevitably meant throwing fruit across the room, trying to not only make a perfect throw for the next robot to catch but ensuring the process is so smooth that the harvesting is at peak efficiency. Or not, in which case you just need to be a little more patient trying to build those stores up.

You can, of course, continually record and delete these clones as many times as possible, altering them between 1, 2 and 4-second intervals depending on that overall harmonious machine you’re trying to build. There’s no hand-holding either. Some rooms do offer a hints system that’ll enact a small holographic demonstration to get you started but after that, you’re left to your own devices. The Last Clockwinder’s difficulty never lay too much in figuring out the process as so much in the actual deployment of the solution.

Fruit varieties nicely mix up the puzzle complexity, where the bomb fruits will explode after a couple of seconds in your hands whilst the water fruit can only be flung using catapult-style devices. There’s a certain level of satisfaction once there’s a room full of busy robots toiling away. That’s when you’ll notice the slight imperfections and want to redo just one clone, completely unravelling the whole system.

Complementing the puzzle gameplay is the charming sci-fi narrative where mankind might be exploring the stars yet there’s still room for nature. There’s a very eco-friendly message to the whole narrative partially played out in between levels whilst tape recorders can be found to further reveal the plot. Aside from the odd tape player and the puzzles themselves, The Last Clockwinder doesn’t contain a lot of other interactive features. So if you like little side additions in your VR games then this is a little lacking.

That’s not what bothers me with The Last Clockwinder though. It instead features two of my VR pet hates, disappearing hands and teleportation-only locomotion. Grab anything and the hands vanish which always seemed immersion-breaking to me. I understand it’s easier to build yet suddenly seeing whatever object I’ve just picked up floating in mid-air just doesn’t fit.

Likewise with teleportation. Of course, it should be in there as the mechanic makes the whole experience comfortable for all players, especial when paired with snap turning. The Last Clockwinder works great as a roomscale videogame and having that bit of extra freedom with smooth locomotion would’ve been a real boon when fine-tuning a clone placement. Not game-breaking but a real omission.

The Last Clockwinder is a delightful puzzler all about robots, picking fruit, and the frailties of our natural world. If you love creating Rube Goldberg contraptions but want a game with a bit of a twist on that idea then here’s a good alternative. Overall it’s well crafted, lovely to look at, and for those that desire perfection in their puzzle-solving, The Last Clockwinder should provide a good few hours of entertainment.