Category: XR News

Posted on

Tobii Negotiating With Sony to Supply PlayStation VR2’s Eye Tracking

In a rather surprising statement today, eye-tracking specialist Tobii has revealed that it is currently talking to Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) in regards to supplying its tech for PlayStation VR2.

It was certainly a very short but sweet statement, saying: “Tobii AB, the global leader in eye tracking and pioneer of attention computing, announces it is currently in negotiation with Sony Interactive Entertainment (“SIE”) be the eye tracking technology provider in SIE’s new VR headset, PlayStation VR2 (PS VR2).”

Tobii added that the negotiations are “are ongoing” with no details to share regarding how a deal would financially impact the company. The only reason the details have been shared is due to EU Market Abuse Regulations.

PlayStation VR2 was initially teased in early 2021, with eye-tracking confirmed by Sony during its CES 2022 presentation. What makes the reveal so surprising is the timing. Whilst SIE hasn’t yet confirmed a launch date, there have been suggestions it could be this year. If the eye tracking component is still being negotiated then that could mean waiting even longer for PlayStation VR2. Key features like this are usually settled upon well in advance so videogame companies know what they’re working with.

PlayStation 5 VR Controller

Even so, having Tobii on board would mean the eye tracking is in very good hands. Tobii already supplies the likes of the HP Reverb G2 Omnicept Edition and the Pico Neo 2 Eye, both of which are enterprise-level VR headsets.

Eye-tracking is commonly used to enhance VR experiences, allowing avatars to be more expressive or thanks to foveated rendering reduce the processing workload for improved visuals. PlayStation VR2 will utilise all of these features, SIE recently launched a new landing page for the headset where you can delve into its capabilities and sign-up for more info. Unfortunately, there’s no picture of the headset just yet.

As further details of this announcement come to light, gmw3 will keep you updated.

Posted on

Ultrawings 2 Hits PC VR in March, Competitive Dogfighting in the Works

Ultrawings 2 soared onto Meta Quest 2 last week with plenty of positive feedback from gamers. A day later developer Bit Planet Games detailed what it has planned post-launch, with features including multiplayer, more aircraft and, of course, the PC VR version.

Ultrawings 2

For Ultrawings 2’s first major patch the team will feature enemy dogfighting whilst in the freeflight for particular aircraft. “We want some emergent — almost — survival type of gameplay where you engage the enemy and see how long you can survive and how many kills you rack up,” a blog post explains.

Moving on from that, competitive dogfighting is on the cards with a closed beta to be held in the next month. No further details on that just yet but it’ll certainly evolve the franchise even further as it’s been entirely single-player so far.

As for additional content, a racing plane and air races will appear later in the year as DLC. Bit Planet Games will be listening to player feedback to help shape and expand Ultrawings 2 in the future.

Ultrawings 2

Finally, there’s the PC version for Steam and the Oculus Rift store. Initially marked for February on Steam, the studio has now earmarked March for the PC launch which will support Rift, Valve Index, HTC Vive, and Windows Mixed Reality. Also confirmed is cross-buy on Oculus Store.

As these new features are rolled out, gmw3 will keep you updated.

Posted on

Buy HTC Vive Pro 2 and Get After the Fall for Free

If you’ve got an awesome PC and want to take your gaming to the next level then you’ll want to explore the world of virtual reality (VR). There are several headsets on the market, of which the HTC Vive Pro 2 is one of the very latest, having launched last year. Today, HTC Vive has announced a brand new promotion gifting you a free copy of After the Fall, one of the hottest co-op shooters to arrive in 2021.

HTC Vive Pro 2

The promotion begins today (7th February) at participating retailers in Europe, the Middle East, and North America – Amazon, Scan and Overclockers in the UK – with Vive.com running the promotion starting this Wednesday, 9th February. If you’re in Australia you’ll find the After the Fall deal has already begun, with the offer also applicable on Vive Pro and Vive Cosmos headsets.

HTC Vive Pro 2 is the company’s high-end, tethered VR headset for consumers and enterprise customers. Available just as the headset – if you’re upgrading – for £719 GBP or £1,299 for the Full Kit, Vive Pro 2 boasts a 5K resolution display delivering 2448 × 2448 pixels per eye. There’s a 120-degree field of view (FoV), a 120Hz refresh rate; a manually adjusted inter-pupillary distance (IPD) from 57-70mm and built-in headphones for clear spatial sound.

With the Vive Pro 2 Full Kit, you also get the latest Vive controllers and Lighthouse Base Stations (2.0). As with any Vive Pro 2 headset purchase, you’ll get a free 2-month membership to Viveport Infinity, HTC’s hardware-agnostic store featuring a lot of the most up to date VR experiences.

After the Fall

Of course, if you’re going for this deal then you’ll be wanting to try After the Fall right away. The latest monster shooter from Vertigo Games, After the Fall is primarily a multiplayer experience where you go on Harvest Runs through a frozen Los Angeles, collecting vital resources to upgrade your weapons along the way.

Whilst the videogame does support single-player by way of bots, the runs allow up to four players to team up and try to survive the nightmarish Snowbreed. After the Fall features 32-player hubs to socialise in, and there’s also a 4v4 competitive multiplayer for something different.

For continued updates on all the latest VR deals, keep reading gmw3.

Posted on

The VR Job Hub: Reality Gaming Group, Dark Slope & Lumeto

Every weekend gmw3 gathers together vacancies from across the virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR) and mixed reality (MR) 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
London, UK/Remote Reality Gaming Group Producer (Reality Studios) Click Here to Apply
London, UK/Remote Reality Gaming Group Lead Programmer (Reality Studios) Click Here to Apply
London, UK/Remote Reality Gaming Group Unity Developer Click Here to Apply
London, UK/Remote Reality Gaming Group Senior Game Designer (Reality Studios) Click Here to Apply
London, UK/Remote Reality Gaming Group Lead Artist (Reality Studios) Click Here to Apply
London, UK/Remote Reality Gaming Group Programmers (Reality Studios) Click Here to Apply
London, UK/Remote Reality Gaming Group Community Executive Click Here to Apply
London, UK/Remote Reality Gaming Group Lead Blockchain Engineer Click Here to Apply
Remote/Toronto, ON, Canada Dark Slope Studios QA Tester Click Here to Apply
Remote/Toronto, ON, Canada Dark Slope Studios Producer Click Here to Apply
Remote/Toronto, ON, Canada Dark Slope Studios Game Developer (Unreal Engine) Click Here to Apply
Remote/Toronto, ON, Canada Dark Slope Studios 3D Modeller Click Here to Apply
Remote/Toronto, ON, Canada Lumeto Clinical Lead Click Here to Apply
Remote/Toronto, ON, Canada Lumeto Director of Engineering (VR/AR) Click Here to Apply
Remote/Toronto, ON, Canada Lumeto Scrum Master Click Here to Apply
Remote/Toronto, ON, Canada Lumeto Technical Product Manager – VR Click Here to Apply

Don’t forget, if there wasn’t anything that took your fancy this week there’s 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 (pgraham@vrfocus.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.

Posted on

Co-op Shooter Gambit! Resurfaces, Coming to PC VR & Quest 2 This Spring

18 months ago XREAL Games (Zero Caliber) teased a new virtual reality (VR) title it was working on, a co-op shooter called Gambit! The premise sounded good but then it all went quiet. Until today that is, with a new Steam page appearing, screenshots, gameplay details, launch window and supported headsets.

Gambit

Set to offer both single-player and multiplayer modes, Gambit! is described as a “buddy adventure” where you and three mates work together to unleash some carnage across a 20+ hour campaign (9 levels over 3 chapters). There’s no gameplay footage just yet but the screenshots highlight an abundance of enemies, an assortment of weapons and some awesome looking visuals.

Players will have the option to select from four different characters, each with their own unique special weapon and style. We’ll have access to chainsaws, pistols, SMGs, and more, all of which can be customised with attachments, skins, and charms.

Gambit! might be built around cooperative gameplay but it won’t purely rely on it. There will be competitive leaderboards, tournament ladders and a PvP mode to keep you busy. And when you’re not fighting enemies or trying to beat a boss, there are mini-games to play, hidden areas to find, and graffiti boards with adjustable spray cans to get creative with.

Gambit

Gambit! has got some serious competition in the co-op arena with Vertigo Games’ After the Fall released just before Christmas. It did very well at launch, managing to achieve $1.4 million in revenue during its first 24 hours. Also due for release in 2022 are SIN and Green Hell VR sporting co-op features.

Being developed by a subsidiary team within XREAL Games, Gambit! is currently slated for a Q2 2022 release – May at the moment – for PC VR and Meta Quest 2 headsets. It’ll also support cross-play. As for Zero Caliber, the studio will still support the videogame through 2022 with further updates to come. As gmw3 learns more about Gambit! we’ll keep you updated.

Posted on

The VR Drop: Meta-what?

Next week is a little quiet at the moment when it comes to virtual reality (VR) videogame releases. Gmw3 usually likes to have a nice round five for you folks to peruse but today there are only three, one of which is a biggie.

VVR2

Virtual Virtual Reality 2 – Tender Claws

If you want to get excited about one VR title next week then let it be Virtual Virtual Reality 2, Tender Claws’ follow up to its popular 2017 original. This time around the studio is poking (almost literal) fun at the idea of the metaverse with a single-player campaign where your conscience is uploaded to the retirement utopia of Scottsdale. Alas, that bubble is burst when the servers begin to shut down, so you have to find a way out. Cue lots of madcap gameplay, vibrant visuals and some rather unusual NPCs.

Lucky Fish Bread –
Visual Light

Time to cook up a storm with your own street food fish bread (‘Boong-oh Bbang’) business for hungry customers. Fish bread is a famous Korean street snack and in Lucky Fish Bread you’ll learn new recipes and techniques to help prepare the snack. The videogame isn’t purely about bread making, there are plenty of other activities to keep you busy including outmanoeuvring hooligans who loiter and cause trouble.

Lucky Fish Bread

Time Patrol – Overon Station

Or for those looking for a new shooter then there’s Time Patrol by Overon Station. As you can guess from the title, the videogame is all about completing missions through various time periods. There are four time periods to complete with 40 missions in total.

Posted on

Have Your Own Personal Boundary in Horizon Worlds & Venues

Meta’s vision of its metaverse is a safe happy place where you can socialise with friends or make new ones. However, that’s not always the case and there will always be a small contingent who’ll try and ruin it for others. To that end, Meta has just announced Personal Boundary for Horizon Worlds and Horizon Venues, a feature that’ll prevent avatars from coming in close proximity to one another.

Meta Personal Boundary example
An example, not how it’ll look as the boundaries are invisible. Image credit: Meta

Essentially, Personal Boundary is an invisible shield that stops anyone from getting too close. You won’t notice it and there’s no haptic feedback to indicate the fact, it’s just there as your unseen security guard.

Whilst it is a shame such features are required, having them there is better than not. Plus the Personal Boundary does have one customisable setting. By default, it is always on but you can turn it off if you so wish, if you’re in a private setting with real-world friends and family for example. The boundary extends two feet from your avatar so there can be a total of four feet between you and someone else.

There’s no way to adjust the boundary yourself if you want to make it bigger or smaller. Those kinds of customisation options may arrive at a later date as Meta fine-tunes the feature.

Meta Personal Boundary
Image credit: Meta

Meta adds in a blog post that: “Note that because Personal Boundary is the default experience, you’ll need to extend your arms to be able to high-five or fist bump other people’s avatars.” So there might be a few odd moments where two people lean in for a fist bump.

Personal Boundary is rolling out today for Horizon Worlds and Venues. Actually accessing Horizon Worlds is another matter. Currently, under development as Meta’s core metaverse experience, the app was in beta for ages until it opened up to adults in the US and Canada in December 2021. There’s still no indication as to when other territories will gain access.

For continued updates on the Horizon family of apps, keep reading gmw3.

Posted on

A Utopian Digital Afterlife Awaits in Virtual Virtual Reality 2 This Month

Virtual Virtual Reality (VR) was an indie hit for Tender Claws back in 2017, thanks to its narrative and immersive gameplay. Today, the studio has announced a follow-up, Virtual Virtual Reality 2 (VVR2), which is about to launch offering a critical take on the latest tech buzzword, the “metaverse”.

VVR2

In VVR2 you are a human who’s uploaded their conscience to the retirement metaverse of Scottsdale, where humans and AI can enjoy a peaceful afterlife. Or that would be the case but for one little issue, Scottsdale’s venture capitalist funding has been pulled, and so with it the servers where you all live. So rather than settling down into retirement, it’s now a race to avoid being deleted as servers are shut down one by one.

The ultimate goal is to escape and try and make it back into what the AI call; meatspace. This being VVR2 that’s no simple task but along the way, you’ll meet plenty of unusual characters and enjoy some new gameplay mechanics. One of the main ones is the operation of a mech. This giant machine requires multiple NPCs to operate so you’ll be switching between Scottsdale and the mech hive mind.

As you work your way out of Scottsdale the new NPCs you pick up along the way all have their own unique tools and abilities; as well as some emotional baggage. All of which adds up to 10+ hours of gameplay claims Tender Claws.

VVR2

One thing is for certain, from the look of the new gameplay trailer VVR2 is still in keeping with the wacky aesthetics that made the original stand out.

Virtual Virtual Reality 2 will be coming to Meta Quest 2 and Rift next Thursday, 10th February, retailing for $29.99 USD. A SteamVR version will appear on 17th Feb. For further updates on VVR2, keep reading gmw3.

Posted on

Meta’s Wireless High-End Headset Project Cambria Still on for 2022

While Meta’s quarterly earnings calls are a number fest, occasionally CEO Mark Zuckerberg gives some interesting insight or update as to its hardware plans. That was certainly the case this week when in amongst all the Oculus Store figures he mentioned that Meta’s high-end virtual reality (VR) headset (Project Cambria) is still on track for a 2022 launch.

New Oculus Facebook headset leak
Leaked image prior to Project Cambria announcement.

Project Cambria was officially announced during the Connect 2021 keynote – although a leak had surfaced – widely expected because had continually talked about an Oculus Quest Pro model. This was going to be more powerful, have more sensors packed into it to track your eyes and facial features. It’s assumed these are the same device, with Meta looking to corner the prosumer and enterprise market as well.

The Connect 2021 address mentioned a 2022 launch window and Zuckerberg has reiterated that fact, saying: “We’re working towards a release of a high-end virtual reality headset later this year.” It’s likely the official launch will take place during Connect which should make for quite an exciting finale to 2022 for VR fans as PlayStation VR2 has been rumoured to arrive by year-end.

Whilst there are still plenty of unknown’s regarding Project Cambria, Meta has dropped several details highlighting its desire to create a much more refined VR experience for those who don’t mind paying for it.

It’ll still be a wireless, standalone headset for ultimate freedom in VR that’ll be compatible with Quest – but it won’t be the next Quest – so it’ll likely still include AirLink or some other PC connectivity. Plus as a high-end product, it’ll cost more, probably north of £500 to differentiate it from the Quest 2’s £299/£399 consumer price point.

Project Cambria optics
Project Cambria’s Pancake Optics. Image credit: Meta

As for the in-built tech, those eye and face tracking features will play a major part, thus allowing your metaverse avatar to express your actual emotions. Meta’s VR avatars actually got an upgrade earlier this week to aid with this process. Eye-tracking also allows for foveated rendering, focusing processing power on where you’re looking whilst your peripheral vision can be rendered at a lower quality.

Project Cambria won’t purely offer VR experiences either, it’s going to be a mixed reality (MR) headset with full-colour passthrough thanks to an array of cameras. This will be different to MR devices like Magic Leap because you won’t have a transparent display to look through. Instead, the real world will be displayed in the internal screens with advanced algorithms helping to add a sense of depth.

None of this will be any good if the optics aren’t amazing. So to make the visuals pop whilst ensuring a slim, light headset Meta will be employing pancake optics. These fold light several times over to maintain a thinner form factor, the lens being one of the main reasons for the bulk of a VR headset.

This pro headset might be readying for launch in 2022 but don’t forget Meta isn’t dropping the Quest product lineup. The CEO said last year that its Reality Labs division was working on follow-up devices: “We have product teams spun up now, working on the next few generations of virtual reality and what Quest 3 and 4 are gonna look like.” So consumer Quest’s aren’t going anywhere.

For further updates on Project Cambria, keep reading gmw3.

Posted on

Quest Store Content Sales Top $1 Billion With 8 Titles Exceeding $20m

Yesterday Meta held its Q4 2021 earnings call revealing plenty of details regarding its virtual reality (VR) business. While the company still refrains from revealing any figures relating to Meta Quest 2 hardware sales, where the Oculus Store is concerned Meta is far more open about its success. The latest figures released note that users have spent $1 billion USD on VR content through the digital platform.

In the call Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said: “We’re seeing real traction with Quest 2. People have spent more than $1B on Quest store content, helping virtual reality developers grow and sustain their business.” Additionally, he went on to say: “We had a strong holiday season and Oculus reached the top of the App Store for the first time on Christmas Day in the 4 US.”

Chris Pruett, Director of Content Ecosystem at Meta then followed this announcement up on Twitter by going into further detail about those sales figures. 8 videogames have managed to surpass $20 million in revenue, 14 titles have hit $10 million, whilst a further 17 are now over $5 million. Even better still Over 120 games are in the millions, further securing Meta Quest 2’s position at the top of the VR gaming industry.

There was no indication of how this breaks down between the official Oculus Store and App Lab, the latter seeing considerable growth since its launch last year. According to App Lab DB the early access store currently contains 846 titles, considerably more than the 339 on the official store.

Oculus Quest - sharing

Additionally, when it comes to Meta’s metaverse plans and its Horizon Worlds app, the company will be creating a mobile version. Quite how that’ll work when the platform is focused on providing an immersive VR experience isn’t clear but supposedly you’ll be able to access Horizon Worlds from your Facebook or Instagram apps as well.

For continued updates on Meta’s vision of an immersive, interconnected future, keep reading gmw3.