Category: XRSpace

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Foxconn to Invest $100m in XRSPACE’s Metaverse Vision

Hon Hai Technology Group – better known as Foxconn – one of the largest technology manufacturers on the planet has announced a new partnership with XRSPACE, the virtual reality (VR) company founded by former CEO and co-founder of HTC, Peter Chou. The agreement will see Foxconn invest a whopping $100 million USD in XRSPACE and its VR and metaverse ambitions.

Foxconn XRSPACE
Image credit: Hon Hai Technology Group

Foxconn isn’t dropping the full $100 million right away. The two companies have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Foxconn investing $15million, to begin with, alongside a stake in XRSPACE. Utilising both of their respective expertise – Foxconn’s manufacturing capabilities and XRSPACE’s strengths in AI, VR and computer vision – are looking to build a holistic Metaverse ecosystem.

Foxconn’s investment will allow XRSPACE to continue optimizing its products like the Manova VR headset, PartyON metaverse and GOXR metaverse whilst building the infrastructure needed to expand these digital universes.  

“In order to create a bigger and better metaverse in the future, we need to combine cloud, AI, edge computing, 5G and storage. This is the key reason for this partnership. Foxconn has a clear vision on metaverse,” said Peter Chou, Chairman and CEO of XRSPACE in a statement. “We believe there are so many things we can do to complement each other and work together to make the metaverse better. We are super excited for the partnership with Foxconn, this strategic partnership is not just only making our metaverse experiences better and stronger, Foxconn will also help us a lot on global market development.”

PartyON - XRSPACE

“We are thrilled to partner with XRSPACE, and we envision that this partnership will enhance the software technology, delivering a holistic metaverse hardware and software ecosystem,” adds Mr. Young Liu, Chairman of Hon Hai Technology Group. “Foxconn’s approach towards the Metaverse is the same as that for electric cars—we will provide our expertise within the framework rather than solely focusing on the end product, developing in key areas that include AR/VR, software, infrastructure, content and applications and addressing the increasing demand for cloud services and more powerful server architecture.”

XRSPACE burst onto the XR scene a couple of years ago announcing the €499.00 EUR Manova headset and the accompanying Manova World platform. There’s been little fanfare for the hardware since, but the company has released the PartyON and GOXR apps since then. PartyON is a consumer-focused music metaverse that’s currently available in Meta Quest’s App Lab. GOXR, on the other hand, is designed to help companies create their own metaverse experiences.

As XRSPACE continues to expand its metaverse ambitions, gmw3 will keep you updated.

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Besondere VR-Brillen in Deutschland bestellen

Neben der HTC Vive, Oculus Rift, Valve Index und den Windows Mixed Reality Brillen gibt es noch viele weitere VR-Brillen und VR-Zubehör, für ganz spezielle Einsatzgebiete oder für professionelle Anbieter. Doch wo diese Hardware bestellen?

Besondere VR-Brillen in Deutschland bestellen

Wenn man nach besonderen VR-Brillen sucht, bleibt einem oft nur eine lange Recherche und ein paar Formulare, um bei den Herstellern ein Interesse anzumelden.

Während ihr bei Amazon und Co. zwar die gängige Hardware für Konsumenten erhaltet, bietet Bestware aktuell ein echtes Schlaraffenland für VR Nerds. Ihr bekommt dort beispielsweise die Brillen von Varjo, XRSpace, Pico, XTAL, HP oder Handschuhe von Manus.

Dies ist keine bezahlte Werbung, sondern ein Tipp an unsere Community. Ich wollte in erster Linie dieses Angebot mit euch teilen, da ich selbst von der aktuellen Auswahl überrascht war und mich sehr freue, dass es einen einfachen Weg gibt, um an Hardware zu gelangen, die nicht bei den üblichen Händlern gelistet wird.

Wenn ihr unsere Arbeit unterstützen wollt, könnt ihr dennoch gerne den Affiliate Link benutzen. Ihr zahlt keinen Cent mehr und wir bekommen etwas Unterstützung.

Der Beitrag Besondere VR-Brillen in Deutschland bestellen zuerst gesehen auf VR∙Nerds. VR·Nerds am Werk!

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Mova Is A $599 Standalone, Hand-Tracked VR Headset Built Around A Social VR Platform

Peter Chou, the former HTC CEO that oversaw the company’s beginnings in the VR space, has a new company working on a new standalone headset that uses hand-tracking named Mova, and it’s making some hefty promises.

Mova — originally set to release in late 2019 — is anchored around two core aspects. First, there’s the 6DoF headset with inside-out tracking, which packs the Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 chipset (a generation up from the 835 found inside an Oculus Quest) and 6GB RAM. Two front-mounted cameras are supposed to enable hand-tracked input (though the device also comes with a single controller).

XRSpace says the headset will be launching later this year, reportedly for $599. That makes it $200 more expensive than the 64GB model Oculus Quest standalone headset, which also features hand-tracking along with two hand controllers. A 128GB Quest model sells for $499. The device is even listed as available to pre-order now from its official website.

Another side of Mova, though, is the social platform it’s designed to support. XRSpace calls this Manova, and it sounds similar to previous attempts to establish a virtual metaverse. Check it out in the trailer below though, I stress, it appears highly conceptual right now.

XRSpace envisions it as a platform for friends to meet up and enjoy the same sorts of activities they might do in real life. Judging from the trailer that ranges from tried and true VR interactions like sharing a screen to watch movies, to more ambitious ideas like, somehow, sharing a drink. Later clips also present Manova as a space for virtual working, too.

Facebook itself is currently developing its second shot at a social VR platform in Facebook Horizon (which replaces the ill-fated Facebook Spaces). But, whereas some platforms like Rec Room seem to be thriving in this space, others have struggled to keep up, including Second Life developer Linden Lab, which sold off its Sansar platform in March. Aside from appearing on a new platform, it’s not clear what Manova offers to separate itself from the pack.

However, there’s much more to learn about Mova. For example, Manova appears to be exclusive to the headset, but what other apps will be coming to it? Will its hand-tracking input really be good enough for full-time use (Oculus Quest’s offering is good, but not good enough to sustain an entire platform)? We’ll need these questions answered before we can tell if Mova is worth its hefty price tag.

We’ll be keeping an eye on the device in the run-up to launch.

The post Mova Is A $599 Standalone, Hand-Tracked VR Headset Built Around A Social VR Platform appeared first on UploadVR.

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Former HTC CEO Unveils 5G-enabled VR Headset & Social VR Platform

At a special event in Taipei, Taiwan, HTC cofounder and former CEO Peter Chou today revealed the first products from the new startup XRSPACE. It’s serving up both its own 5G-enabled standalone VR headset as well as a new social VR platform which appears to compete with Facebook Horizon.

Chou sees XRSpace serving the upcoming era of widespread 5G; much like smartphones first arrived on the back of the 2.5G network in the early 2000s, the former HTC CEO sees the company’s headset, Mova, and its social VR platform, Manova, taking human interaction “to a new level” and offering more connectivity on a person-to-person level. And XRSpace planning to bring it to the mass market.

XRSPACE Mova

Mova is standalone VR headset that does away with motion controllers, instead offering optical hand tracking which users will use to navigate UI and interact with others online. Like Samsung Gear VR and Oculus Go, the headset only includes a single remote, which appears to have a touchpad and basic button array for basic input.

XRSpace is taking an interesting route with its hand-centric design philosophy, as the company is looking to appeal more to a wider set of users who aren’t necessarily gamepad savvy. Along with optical hand tracking comes room-scale tracking, making Mova closer to Oculus Quest or Pico Neo 2 in function.

Image courtesy XRSPACE

“We want people just to use their hands for main navigation,” Chou says. “We think everybody knows how to use their hands; there’s no learning barrier. Your hands are always with you—you don’t have to carry them. And hands are free.”

Its optical sensors are also capable of room scanning, the company says, making a photorealistic version of your play space by uploading textures and depth data to the cloud for processing.

Hardware specs are still not entirely clear, however Mova is said to offer 5G, LTE and Wi-Fi connectivity built on the back of a Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 chipset. The company claims a 20% reduction in weight over Oculus Quest, a larger battery, greater DPI display (no resolution just yet) clocked at a 90Hz refresh rate.

The company will first offer a developer kit; there’s no word on pricing yet, although XRSpace says it will reveal more closer to its launch in June. A consumer version of Mova is said to arrive sometime in Q3 2020. You can signal your interest on the company’s website starting today.

Mova Specs

  • CPU – Snapdragon 845
  • RAM – 6GB
  • Connectivity – 5G, LTE, WiFi
  • Weight – 470g
  • Battery – 4600 mAh
  • DPI – 702dpi
  • Refresh rate – 90Hz

XRSPACE Manova

XRSpace is imagining plenty of interactions to take advantage of Mova’s hand tracking in its “mass market” social VR platform Manova, notably highlighting handshaking, high-fiving, and manipulating objects such as throwing darts and playing basketball.

Manova is looking to offer many of the social VR mainstays too, including a personal cinema, and meeting rooms for remote work, however it also promises a busy city center, night clubs, and multiplayer mini-games. It will also offer premium 2D and 360 video content from its operators and partners.

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The social VR platform is said to integrate an avatar creator which lets you make a full-body avatar from a single selfie, something XRSpace Head of Design Chris Lin says will look “just like you.” Avatars, Lin says, include high-quality skin textures, a facial expressions system, and an AI-driven contextual awareness system so your avatar will more realistically react to other users around it. The headset is also said to offer full body tracking, but how that’s possible with front-facing optical sensors, the company has yet to say.

Image courtesy XRSPACE

At this point, Manova feels more like a conceptual wishlist than a functioning social VR platform as such. Many of the activities seen in the announcement video are questionable in their practicality, or even arguably useless in a virtual context. That said, XRSpace has partnered with the likes of Qualcomm, Deutsche Telekom, Chunghwa Telecom, GQ, Vogue, and Getty, and it seems to be grabbing the bull by its horns in a time of remote working, social distancing, and everything in between as the world adapts to the new normal.

The post Former HTC CEO Unveils 5G-enabled VR Headset & Social VR Platform appeared first on Road to VR.

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Consumer 5G Platform XRSpace is Solely Focused on Social Connectivity

XRSPACE MANOVA

After years being called an anti-social technology, virtual reality (VR) has proven it can connect people in new and meaningful ways. Today, Peter Chou, former CEO of HTC, has announced XRSpace, hardware and software solution dedicated to connecting everyone.

XRSPACE Hand Gesture

The platform is made up of XRSpace Mova, a 5G-capable, standalone VR headset and XRSpace Manova a social world where users can connect, work together, find entertainment, create and more. Neither can be used without the other, so the headset won’t support other storefronts.

Powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 processor, the XRSpace Mova is an all-in-one solution with 5G, LTE, and WiFi connections built-in. While devices like Oculus Quest have just introduced hand tracking the Mova is designed to use gesture controls right out the box. With a sleek looking design the headset includes 6GB RAM and 3 lenses at the front for tracking, plus XRSpace claims the device is 20% lighter than rivals. No other specs have been revealed just yet.

As for XRSpace Manova, this social world instantly conjures up thoughts of Sansar or High Fidelity, two platforms which haven’t succeed in creating the worlds they imagined. Manova will feature customisable full-body avatars, public and private locations such as neighbourhood-like areas or personal home spaces. One of the spaces already mentioned is MagicLOHAS, promoting healthy and active lifestyles like walking, dancing and yoga.

XRSPACE MANOVA

For gamers, XRSpace has begun partnering up with developers to offer Manova users more content. These include Angry Birds VR: Isle of Pigs by Resolution Games and Cloudlands: VR Minigolf from Futuretown.

“Our mission is to bring people together through the power of 5G XR, surpassing the limited experience of smartphones today. The singular goal of XRSpace, is to take XR to the masses by redefining how people connect, socialize, and collaborate by simplifying the hardware and user experience,” said Peter Chou, founder of XRSpace in a statement. “When XRSpace started 3 years ago, we have been laser-focused at putting regular customers in everything we do. Today we are here to announce a new platform which will take human interaction to a new level through 5G XR.”

XRSpace Mova is expected to begin shipping in Taiwan during Q3 2020, retailing for $599 USD. After this initial launch, Europe, the US and China will follow. As further details regarding XRSpace are released, VRFocus will let you know.