Pico’s Vision Pro Competitor Delayed Amid Cancelled September Reveal

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Pico was set to debut its next flagship standalone XR headset early next month, however now the ByteDance subsidiary says it’s postponing the reveal and release date of its long-awaited Apple Vision Pro competitor.

The News

Initially teased earlier this year as ‘Project Swan’, Pico announced last week it was putting on a big product launch event for the newly-named Pico Space Pro, which was set to take place in Beijing on September 2nd.

There, we expected Pico to fill in the gaps of the headset’s spec sheet, global release plans, and pricing for what is surely one of the company’s most expensive XR headset’s to date.

Now Pico says it’s adjusting the product release date to sometime in Q4 2026, citing the need for more time to push a “major upgrade” to the software experience.

Here’s Pico’s announcement below, machine translated below from the original Chinese, courtesy Antony ‘Skarred Ghost’ Vitillo:

PICO Space Pro Release Date Adjusted

Hello everyone, to allow PICO Space Pro to be presented to you in a more complete state, we have decided to adjust the product release date to the fourth quarter of this year. Over the past period, the hardware and software of PICO Space Pro have reached a high level of completion, but during the final stage of experience verification, we saw an exciting new opportunity and wanted to bring it to everyone in the initial release. Therefore, we decided to spend more time on a major upgrade to the software experience. We hope these investments will ultimately lead to a better product experience and look forward to bringing you some new surprises. We sincerely apologize for this adjustment to the release date and for the wait it has caused, and thank you for your continued attention and patience. In the coming months, we will expand our Pioneer Experience Program, inviting more users to experience PICO Space Pro early and work with us to refine the product.

In the meantime, Pico is expanding its ‘Global Early Access Program’ closed beta test, which includes sending pre-production units and software to applicants for external testing.

As the company’s next flagship, Pico Space Pro is the slated to arrive with microOLED displays boasting 4,000 pixels per inch (PPI), an average ~40 pixels per degree (PPD), and a dual-chip architecture: a custom XR silicon for perception and imaging (claimed ~12 ms perception latency) and separate flagship SoC with “more than 2× CPU and GPU performance vs XR2 Gen 2.”

Pico Space Pro is set to not only compete against Apple Vision Pro, but also Samsung’s Galaxy XR headset which released late last year as the first to run Google’s Android XR processing system, both of which largely appeal to prosumers and enterprise.

My Take

While Pico is undoubtedly going to focus on the Chinese domestic market with Space Pro, the device is also launching globally. I’ve always thought of it primarily as a Vision Pro/Galaxy XR competitor, but it’s also set to be a direct competitor to Steam Frame across a number of regions too. That’s not a comfortable spot to be in if you can’t go toe-to-toe in the software department, which Valve has in spades, as it’s delivering a native Steam user experience on standalone for the first time.

That said, I don’t know if I entirely buy the company’s supposed launch day software woes as the full reasoning behind the delay, as Pico could simply release updates post-launch to literally no one’s surprise.

Leaked ‘Project Swan’ render | Courtesy Luna

I think it has more to due with actively avoiding the very present risk of being upset by Steam Frame’s launch, which is due any day now. Imports of literal tons of units into the US, FCC certification, a constant influx of the best Frame-compatible games via Valve’s ‘Great on Frame’ page, and now a number of leaked Steam Frame unboxing and user setup videos all point to Valve’s long-awaited reveal of both the release date and price of one of the most-anticipated VR headsets in recent memory.

And at least from the limited spec sheet mentioned above, Pico Space Pro sounds like it will be a very capable device. Still, it’s competing against Valve, which has more good will stored up among consumers than almost any other company in the space right now. Stepping aside and regrouping as the market digests Steam Frame (for good or ill) may just be the best move Pico can make right now.

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Arm Patents Method to Reduce XR Motion Sickness Using Ultrasound

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A newly granted patent from Arm describes a head-mounted system that analyzes motion in the images headed to a display, then sends control signals to ultrasonic transducers intended to stimulate the wearer’s vestibular system and control their sense of balance. The basic aim is to reduce the discomfort, dizziness, and motion sickness that the application associates with a mismatch between what a wearer sees and what their balance system reports.

The patent, “Method for minimising motion sickness for head-mountable extended reality,” was first filed in the US on July 24, 2023 and officially granted on June 16, 2026.

Arm, a subsidiary of SoftBank, is a semiconductor design company whose technology is the essential foundation for processors used in most modern mobile devices like smartphones and XR headsets, including processor brands like Snapdragon and even Apple Silicon. When you hear a CPU being described as “Arm-based,” it’s this company the phrase refers to.

In Arm’s newly granted patent, a head-mounted device compares visual motion in a sequence of displayed images against a threshold. When that comparison calls for it, processing and control circuitry generate signals for multiple transducers that stimulate the wearer’s vestibular system. Put less formally: if the virtual world appears to move in a way that might conflict with the wearer’s felt movement, the system is designed to respond through the sensory system involved in balance.

The application specifically discusses low-intensity focused ultrasound, or LiFU, and ultrasonic transducers. One described scenario maps a small visual movement to the left to a corresponding physical feeling of leftward movement; a larger visual motion would use greater acoustic radiation force to stimulate the vestibular system to match. The patent also describes arrays with one or more transducers per ear, potentially using beamforming to target specific parts of the inner-ear.

Vestibular stimulation is not the filing’s only proposed response. The system described could also ask the XR application to reduce visual motion, fade the displayed image, introduce a vignette, or align displayed motion with the wearer’s sensed movement. The patent also describes basing stimulation on the wearer’s pose or motion, configured preferences, and sensor-derived signals; it proposes recalibration if sensed user movement does not align with the expected visual motion.

That combination suggests the patent is concerned with an adaptive form of comfort management rather than a single solution; one that could adjust either the visual content, the physical balance cue, or both. The important open question is whether a headset-based ultrasonic system could deliver that kind of precise, comfortable vestibular response across different wearers and real XR experiences.

This isn’t the first time we’ve seen vestibular stimulation proposed as a method for combating motion sickness. Other approaches have considered using electrical stimulation rather than ultrasound. But to date, no commercially available XR device has included any kind of direct vestibular stimulation.

A patent application shows what a company has sought to protect, but it is not proof that the described technology will appear in a product.

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XREAL AURA Surpasses 10,000 Unit Reservations Ahead of Launch This Fall

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XREAL today announced that XREAL AURA, the first AR glasses running Google’s Android XR operating system, has now surpassed 10,000 global reservations.

Xreal says the reservation milestone for the company’s latest flagship AR glasses has shown “strong early demand across consumers, developers, and enterprise customers,” as the initial $99 reservation offer for a $199 launch credit has now sold out.

That said, Aura still doesn’t have final pricing, which could affect some of those 10,000+ refundable reservations when all is said and done. The company has said however Aura will “not exceed $1,500, excluding applicable taxes.”

Like all of Xreal’s XR glasses up to this point, Aura is based on birdbath optics, which feature a fairly large 70-degree field-of-view (FOV) in a package that weighs less than 95 grams of on-head weight.

XREAL AURA | Courtesy XREAL

Notably, that on-head weight is offset by a pocketable compute unit, which tethers to the glasses’ via cable; Aura features a split-compute architecture, including both Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Reality Elite chipset for XR processing and AI workloads, and Xreal’s in-house X1S Spatial Coprocessor for managing display and sensor processing.

And unlike some birdbath-based AR glasses that focus on displaying traditional content on a virtual screen, Aura supports six degrees of freedom (6DOF) tracking, hand tracking, and multimodal AI experiences, all of which run on Google’s Android XR operating system, giving users access to existing Android applications via the Play Store as well as a growing catalog of XR applications.

While Aura is slated to launch sometime in Fall 2026, Xreal says we’ll learn more about pricing and availability in the coming weeks, as $199 refundable deposits are still open.

In the meantime, check out out initial hands-on with Aura from December where we discuss field of view, sharpness, brightness, electronic lens dimming and more.

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Steam Frame Unboxing & Setup Videos Leak, Pointing to Imminent Launch

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It looks as though Valve is actually gearing up to release Steam Frame, as user setup videos have leaked showing off unboxing and first-time user experience with Valve’s first standalone VR headset.

As first reported by Steam Hardware Updates on X, the ARM Steam Client got an update this week that contained a number of videos, including an unboxing, sign-in, and setup video of Steam Frame.

Although Valve immediately pulled the videos in a subsequent update, all three video has been reuploaded multiple times by now; here’s one such compilation from YouTube channel VRelity that includes all three:

Notably, Valve has been on the ‘brink’ of Steam Frame’s release for some time now, with the headset receiving FCC certification late last month along with imports of literal tons of units flowing into the US in June.

Meanwhile, Valve is preparing SteamVR for the influx of Steam Frame users with its ‘Great on Frame’ page, showing off all of the best Frame-compatible games, but also quietly lowering requirements for developers looking to release (or otherwise port) native, standalone content on Frame.

And however patently Valve the long wait for Frame’s release might be, you can blame the ongoing memory and storage crisis, which Valve confirmed earlier this year would affect Steam Frame in addition to its console-style mini-PC, Steam Machine, the latter of which launched in June for the not-so-friendly price of $1,050.

But now with chipmaker Qualcomm noting it has to raise prices of mobile chips too, it has likely thrown a second (or third) monkey wrench in Valve’s release plans for Frame, as the headset is centered around a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset.

Still, with the new fleet of leaked videos in hand, we’re surely closer than ever to learning the most important information left: price and release date.

Looking for more Steam Frame news?

Hands-on: Steam Frame Reveals Valve’s Modern Vision for VR and Growing Hardware Ambitions: We go hands-on with Valve’s latest and greatest VR headset yet.

Valve Says No New First-party VR Game is in Development: Valve launched Half-Life: Alyx (2020) a few months after releasing Index, but no such luck for first-party content on Steam Frame.

Valve is Open to Bringing SteamOS to Third-party VR Headsets: Steam Frame is the first VR headset to run SteamOS, but it may not be the last.

Valve Announces SteamOS Console and New Steam Controller, Designed with Steam Frame Headset in Mind: Find out why Valve’s new SteamOS-running Console and controller will work seamlessly with Steam Frame.

Steam Frame vs. Quest 3 Specs: Better Streaming, Power & Hackability: Quest 3 can do a lot, but can it go toe-to-toe with Steam Frame?

Steam Frame vs. Valve Index Specs: Wireless VR Gameplay That’s Generations Ahead : Valve Index used to be the go-to PC VR headset, but the times have changed.

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Pico’s Vision Pro Competitor Gets Official Name and Debut Date

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Pico’s Vision Pro competitor is set to debut at a special event in Beijing early next month, which is now officially named Pico Space Pro.

As first reported by Chinese outlet Nweon, Pico Space Pro is suspected to be the company’s Project Swan standalone VR headset, which the company first teased in March.

While Pico hasn’t revealed the full specs sheet yet for Project Swan/Space Pro, the company’s next flagship is slated to arrive with microOLED displays boasting 4,000 pixels per inch (PPI), an average ~40 pixels per degree (PPD), and a dual-chip architecture: a custom XR silicon for perception and imaging (claimed ~12 ms perception latency) and separate flagship SoC with “more than 2× CPU and GPU performance vs XR2 Gen 2.”

And although the company has been present at a number of events since its announcement earlier this year, we still haven’t seen the headset beyond a leak of a reported setup video (rendered), which has since been removed in full from leaker Luna’s initial X post.

You can see a still image from the video below:

Courtesy Luna

We’ll be following along with the September 2nd event in Beijing, which Pico typically livestreams and dubs with English.

We expect to hear not only price and release date there, but also a better understanding of device specs and global availability, so check back soon.

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‘Into the Radius 2’ Leaves Quest Early Access Aug 27, Including Campaign & New Content

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CM Games announced its VR survival shooter Into the Radius 2 is officially leaving early access on Quest 3 and Quest 3S next week, bringing along with it a host of new (to Quest) content.

First launched on PC VR headsets in late 2024, Into the Radius 2 actually already left early access on Steam back in April, bringing to the PC VR version a full campaign, new zones, anomalies, equipment, and four-payer co-op over the course of multiple updates.

Now, CM Games announced it’s getting ready for its big 1.0 launch on Quest on August 27th, which is set to bring the standalone version much closer to the PC VR release.

Notably, the update coming to Quest next week will feature most of the content from both 1.0 and 1.1 updates first released on SteamVR, the studio said last month.

That’s slated to include the full campaign with completely voiced narrative, environmental lore notes, and mysterious destructible figures throughout the zone.

You can also expect more night ops thanks to inclusion of night vision devices, flares, thick exploration fog, and new anomaly types in addition to a host of new weapons, like the G3 rifle, MP5 SMG, GP-34 underbarrel launcher, and a wide array of hand grenades.

If you were looking forward to four-player co-op on Quest though, which was a part of the 1.1 update on SteamVR in June, unfortunately the studio is capping co-op to two players on Quest due to technical limitations.

In the meantime, you can find Into the Radius 2 on the Horizon Store for Quest 3/3S, which is currently priced at 30% off its $40 MSRP, bringing it to $28.

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How to Find Every Major PC VR Mod in One Place

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Finding PC VR mods has always meant wading through a patchwork of Discord threads, news articles and GitHub repositories. Thanks to a new PCVR Central database though, you can now find it all in one place.

The News

Reddit user ‘camracks’ launched the PCVR Central database last week, aiming to be the one searchable place for VR mods that let you play flatscreen PC games in VR.

And while you might not find every single last PC VR mod there right this second, the newly launched database already boasts over 1,500 games with nearly 900 VR mods currently cataloged.

On the front page alone, you’ll find Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, Cyberpunk 2077, Grand Theft Auto V, Escape from Tarkov, Palworld and a lot more.

Courtesy PCVR Central

As a database and not a re-hosted central library as such, none of the mods are hosted locally, instead pointing to relevant links and repos for PC VR mods. Outside of making them easily searchable, PCVR Central also includes the ability to connect Steam (or simply paste a Steam link) to show VR mods for Steam games you already own, either natively or through a mod.

In addition to a user rating and review system, so you can see what the community feels about a given mod, mods are also tagged with how they fit on the ‘okay-to-native VR’ spectrum. You’ll find the tags ‘Experimental’, ‘Playable’, ‘Excellent’, or ‘Native-like’.

The database also indicates whether mods feature 6DOF controls, if the modder is still active, and how heavy the installation process is.

PCVR Central creator Camracks says they’re planning to expand the database and add more useful PC VR tools and features over time. In the meantime, you can learn more by visiting PCVR Central.

My Take

Less than a week since launch, PCVR Central has already proven to be an awesome resource, not only from a personal perspective as someone who always wants to poke around and see if any of my flatscreen games can be played in VR, but as someone who’s actively tracking the continued rise of PC VR mods, which seem to have experiencing a renaissance right now as VR game studio budgets falter.

And as enthusiasts push things forward in the post Meta-funding-bubble, filling in the gaps where studios won’t or simply can’t, having a central, searchable, modder-submittable platform is even more important. It declutters the mess of finding mods, and adds a useful community rating so you can know what’s actually worth your time and effort.

And while the barrier to entry into PC VR isn’t as high as it once was (in comparison to standalone platforms like Quest), PCVR Central has a good chance of playing a central role in keeping consumers engaged in VR, and maybe thinking twice before going full-apostate and leaving the space for good.

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