Evidence Mounts for Apple’s Support of WebXR in Latest iOS Beta

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As the most valuable tech company in the world, decisions that Apple makes tend to reverberate throughout the industry. Recent evidence strongly points to Apple planning to support WebXR on Safari and possibly its forthcoming XR headset, which would widen consensus on the standard.

WebXR is a web standard designed to make it possible for developers to deliver AR and VR experiences straight from a web browser. While Safari on iOS devices had some basic support for the precursor standard (WebVR) in the Cardboard era, Apple hasn’t done much to adopt the modern incarnation of WebXR.

But that looks to be soon changing. Developer Maximiliano Firtman spotted four new experimental WebXR features in the latest version of Safari in iOS 15.4 beta:

• WebXR Augmented Reality Mode
• WebXR Device API
• WebXR Gamepads module
• WebXR Hand Input Module

Firtman notes that the features, as they exist presently, appear to support external devices only; and postulates “this is preparing the scenario for Apple’s upcoming goggles or headsets.”

This is somewhat surprising considering that Apple has been pushing AR on its iOS devices and would presumably want to use WebXR to allow developers to tap into iOS’s ARKit capabilities. Even if the current experimental features only support external devices, it seems likely that Apple will eventually support WebXR more fully in Safari in the future.

The new capabilities come a few months after an Apple job listing for a ‘WebKit 3D Graphics Engineer‘ which specifically mentions WebXR as part of the role.

You will be responsible for driving the future of graphics on the web. This includes working on 3D and GPGPU standards like WebGPU, AR and WebXR. You will be encouraged to work across all layers of code while maintaining a firm understanding of software architecture. And you will help define the next generation of web standards through participation in governing bodies including WHATWG and W3C.

Another Apple job listing posted last month seeks an ‘Interaction Testing Framework and Prototyping Engineer‘ and lists “Experience with OpenXR, WebXR” among its “additional requirements.”

WebXR support has been brewing under Safari for quite some time, even if not much of it has been built into the browser just yet. WebKit is the browser engine that forms the foundation of Safari; the WebKit bug tracking site shows that the earliest work implementing the core WebXR Device API started in early 2020 and work has been ongoing ever since. It isn’t clear if Apple will adopt all of the WebXR capabilities of WebKit, but given the first glimpses of it in Safari on iOS 15.4 beta, it seems like the company is poised to back the standard in a substantial way.

The post Evidence Mounts for Apple’s Support of WebXR in Latest iOS Beta appeared first on Road to VR.

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Meta Visually Unifies Avatars Across Quest, Facebook & Instagram in Metaverse Push

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Meta released its new Quest avatar system last year, bringing a big upgrade over the previous in terms of expressiveness and customizability. Now the company announced it’s standardizing those across all Meta platforms—Facebook, Messenger, and Instagram—essentially letting users build and use the same 3D avatar for VR and social media.

Starting today, Meta says the visual style for 3D avatars on Facebook, Messenger, and Instagram will be “the same look and feel as the avatars you’re already familiar with on Quest.”

The company says its avatars don’t sync across its various properties yet, with the only exception being between Facebook and Messenger, and also Instagram Stories if you choose. For example: if you build an avatar for Quest, it won’t be ported over to your Facebook account. You have to manually build the 3D avatar there, and vice versa.

The update includes things like more expressions, faces, skin tones, over-the-ear hearing aids, cochlear implants, and NFL football shirts in preparation for the Super Bowl.

 

One thing that won’t be available to Quest users for now though is the inclusion of wheelchairs, which are coming to 3D avatars on its traditional social networks.

The 3D avatar update is gradually rolling out starting today, the company says. Users in the US, Canada and Mexico will be able to access it today, while other countries will follow.

The quasi-unification of its avatar systems across Quest and Facebook is ostensibly part a wider push to position its immersive tech closer to the core of its business. It’s also hoping to build more bridges to these platforms, or so we’ve gleaned.

In a Digiday interview earlier this month, Meta said it would be opening its social VR Horizon apps to non-VR devices at some point in addition to bringing its various experiences together in a more seamless way.

We haven’t seen that happen yet, however the entrance of uniform 3D avatars puts the company even closer to making that cross-platform space—the company’s vision of the metaverse—a significant step closer.

The post Meta Visually Unifies Avatars Across Quest, Facebook & Instagram in Metaverse Push appeared first on Road to VR.

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Meta Avatars Get More Facial Shapes And Super Bowl T-Shirts

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Meta is adding to its avatars system new facial shapes as well as assistive devices for people with disabilities designed to “better reflect the billions of unique people on this planet.”

“We will also be adding limited-time offerings for NFL fans as we begin to bring real-world fandom into the metaverse,” Meta announced in a blog post.

Here’s a look at some of the new cochlear implant options for Meta’s avatars:

“One day you’ll have multiple avatars ranging from expressive to photorealistic,” Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg said today.

Avatars are key to Zuckerberg’s strategic vision for a “metaverse” that sees his company able to shape key aspects of personal computing going forward. While some apps like Eleven Table Tennis and GOLF+ already adopt Meta avatars, the avatar editor being only available on Quest and Rift limits wider appeal. Popular apps such as Rec Room and VRChat use their own avatar systems which allow users on other platforms to customize how they look. The cartoonish art-style of Meta’s current system also makes them unsuitable for many games – even titles from studios owned by Meta don’t use the system. Put another way, 2022 is likely to see big changes to avatars as competing platform companies roll out new capabilities to developers.

“We know you may want to represent yourself differently on different platforms, so right now you can create three different Avatars if you choose—one for Facebook and Messenger, another for Instagram, and a third for VR. And if you’ve set up Accounts Center and chosen to sync your Avatar, any changes you make to your Avatar on Facebook and Messenger will automatically appear on Instagram as well, and vice versa. Over time, our goal is to eventually make it easy and seamless to move your Avatar from place to place if you want,” Meta’s blog post reads.

The roll-out of the new 3D avatars is supposed to take place over the course of “the next few months” on Facebook, Instagram, and Messenger. They should appear starting today for people in the United States, Canada, and Mexico as people can set their avatars to show up in stickers, feed posts, Facebook profile pictures, and other areas. The new feature is coupled with the release of t-shirts people can put on their avatars to show support for either the Bengals, Rams, or Super Bowl LVI itself.

Meta provided the following image to show the progress of its avatars system between April of 2021 and January 2022.

Meta says it will continue to add new “items” to the avatar editor throughout 2022.

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New VR Games February 2022: All The Biggest Releases

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Looking for the new VR games February 2022 list? We’ve got you covered with our full rundown.

After a whirlwind January with huge releases like Zenith, Wanderer and Hitman 3’s PC VR support, February looks to be just a little quieter. This month is front-heavy with some big releases in the first week, though PC VR fans will have plenty of interesting new oddities to check out over on Steam, too.

As always, you’ll find most of these titles on the Quest, Steam and PSVR stores. Also don’t forget that we often see Quest games launch without notice, so expect more titles to arrive as the month goes on. Oh, and if you want to find out what’s coming a little later in the year check out our 40-strong list of new VR games for 2022. Now, let’s get stuck in.

New VR Games February 2022

Ultrawings 2 (February 3rd) – Quest 2, PC VR to follow

Arguably the biggest release on track for February thus far, Ultrawings 2 is a full sequel to the arcade-style VR flight game. Master a handful of new aircraft and take to the skies to tackle a wide range of new missions across the game’s open environments. Dogfighting is being added as a series first, and the developer estimates it’ll take around 20 hours to complete all of the game’s missions. Expect a PC VR version to follow on from the Quest release.

Les Mills Bodycombat (February 3rd) – Quest 2

OhShape and Chess Club developer Odders is back with a new fitness-focused VR experience. Les Mills takes martial arts inspired workouts to VR. You’ll box targets to the beat and dodge obstacles. With 30 different plans designed for users of all fitness levels, instructors to help you on your way, a full soundtrack and five environments to visit, this could be your next VR workout app.

Paper Birds (February 18th) – PC VR

Paper Birds is a roughly 30 minute VR movie starring heavy hitters like Ed Norton, Joss Stone, and Archie Yates. You follow a young boy named Toto, who navigates a supernatural world using music. With some light interactive elements, this is definitely one for those interested in VR storytelling.

Grid Leaper – (February 28th) – PC VR

Grid Leaper is another experiment in VR platforming, this time hurtling players through environments as they grab bricks with their hands and avoid obstacles. Expect physics-defying leaps across 90 different levels.

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And that’s the list of New VR Games February 2022! What are you looking forward to? Let us know in the comments below!

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Resident Evil 4 VR Update Adds Left-Handed Features, New Locomotion Options

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Resident Evil 4 VR is getting a new update today that improves the game’s accessibility features.

Headlining today’s patch is support for controller-based movement. This means Leon will walk in the direction you point your hand, which is a preferred method of movement for many in VR.

Left-handed players will also be glad to know that you can now swap which controller lets you move with the analog stick. You can also now adjust your height and toggle different positions for your holsters. Finally, you’ll be able to change the color of your laser sight and there are tweaks for reloading and bug fixes too.

And, in case you were wondering, this isn’t the update that’s going to add the previously-promised Mercenaries mode to the game. The unlockable bonus mode, which pits you against hordes of enemies in the game’s environments, was missing from release last year despite being present in every other version of Resident Evil 4. It’s expected to be added back into the game later on in 2022 for free.

Even with Mercenaries missing, though, we think Resident Evil 4 VR is a superb port and one of the best games you can currently play on Meta Quest 2. Not every element of the original translates to VR well, but developer Armature did a first-rate job updating the visuals and making as many elements as possible feel immersive. It’s one of the best ways to experience the series in VR, though PSVR support for Resident Evil 7 and VR mods for the remakes of 2 and 3 are great options, too.

Are you going to try Resident Evil 4 VR’s updated accessibility options? Let us know in the comments below!

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Rumors Suggest Hideo Kojima Could Be Working On A PSVR 2 Game

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Rumors and unconfirmed reports emerged over the weekend that suggest Metal Gear Solid and Death Stranding creator Hideo Kojima could be working on a new game for PSVR 2.

Kojima Productions got PSVR2 prototypes back in November 2021. According to unconfirmed information that I’ve got, studio's upcoming smaller project could be a VR game/experience in collaboration with award-winning Virtual Reality expert and storyteller Céline Tricart. pic.twitter.com/fAyF3OyCxk

— Oops Leaks (@oopsleaks) January 28, 2022

The source of the rumors is the Twitter account Oops Leaks (@oopsleaks), pictured above. The tweet suggests that Kojima Productions “got PSVR2 prototypes back in November 2021” and the studio’s “upcoming smaller project could be a VR game/experience with award-winning Virtual Reality expert and storyteller Céline Tricart.”

Tricart has worked on a variety of VR projects, seemingly more focused on immersive films and media than games specifically.

Now, we would encourage you to take this entire rumor with a major pinch of salt, as the tweet is incredibly vague, unsubstantiated and only cites “unconfirmed information.”

But, with that very important disclaimer out of the way, could there be any stock to this? Well, we do know that Kojima is fond of VR and said in September 2020 that he thought the next two to three years would be “major” for the technology and people working in it. He was also “really interested” in VR back in 2019, but at the time he wasn’t free enough to work on a game for it.

Kojima also spoke to Famitsu at the end of last year, which was originally published in Japanese. However, Siliconera’s Andrew Kiya gave a translated report on what he said, suggesting Kojima confirmed that his studio was working on two games – one “big” title and a second “new, challenging” title. The description of the second could be referring to a new IP, but it’s also possible that the challenge he describes related to working with a new medium, perhaps VR.

A tweet from Kojima on January 12 showed a new folder on a computer, which (when translated using Google Translate) is called something to the effect of ‘New Project’. Again, very vague, but we live in hope.

Overall, it’s all still super unsubstantiated but given some developers likely have their hands on PSVR 2 dev kits by now and we know Kojima is working on two new games, it’s not impossible. Let’s keep our ears peeled for more info in the future.

Would you like to see a Kojima game for PSVR 2? Let us know in the comments.

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HalfDive VR Headset Kickstarter Cancelled Due to Niche Appeal, Manufacturing Issues

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Japanese startup Diver-X launched a Kickstarter for a unique VR headset called HalfDive that was designed to be used while laying down, drawing some pretty clear inspiration from hit anime Sword Art Online. Although the unique project managed to secure enough cash to be considered fully funded, the team has decided to cancel the Kickstarter, citing scaling issues which ultimately stem from its niche appeal.

Update (January 31st, 2022)

Diver-X announced that it’s pulling the plug on HalfDive, announcing that all backers would not be charged for funds collected.

The company mentions three major concerns, which essentially boil down to its niche appeal, inability to reduce costs by producing major components in-house, and resultant cash flow issues due to scalability issues. You can read the full text in the company’s blog post.

“We were faced with the brutal reality that no matter how optimized and multifunctional our device may be for use in sleeping-posture, it is only a replacement of existing VR devices and not yet an interface that brings innovative experiences,” Diver-X says.

Despite the setback, the company maintains it’s still dedicated to developing “full dive” tech which emphasizes in-bed VR immersion. The original article announcing the campaign’s start follows below:

Update (December 20th, 2021)

HalfDive has just surpassed its funding goal, amassing around $178,000 from 177 backers. All available funding tiers are still available at the time of this writing, with the most popular tier, the early bird Basic Model, having nearly sold out at $1050.

Diver-X hasn’t published stretch goals yet, however we’ll be following the project as it finishes out the remained of its 40 days until the campaign comes to an end on January 30th, 2022. The original article detailing the Kickstarter follows below:

Original Article (December 16th, 2021): HalfDive isn’t a brain-computer interface like SAO’s NerveGear, however it does promise to let users play SteamVR games like VRChat and experience some pretty interesting object interaction via its tethered force feedback solution too.

The Kickstarter launched today, and is asking for ¥20,000,000 or around $176,000 USD. At the time of this writing, the project has already garnered over $70,000, putting it around one-third of the way there.

Diver-X is offering two distinctive models through the Kickstarter, what it calls a ‘HalfDive Minimum Model’ (starting at $750) and ‘HalfDive Basic Model’ (starting at $1,050).

The minimum model includes the headset and base, a pair of HalfDive controllers, and a proprietary head tracker. The basic model includes that, plus the force feedback module and a pair of wind feedback modules (re: fans) for both greater immersion and cooling.

Image courtesy Diver-X

The company previously said it would be providing a more expensive version with variable focus lenses, however the creators say the variant is too difficult to mass produce. There won’t be a stretch goal for vari-focal lenses either, something Diver-X says they’ve decided as to better focus on development and production.

Controllers haven’t been revealed yet either. The creators are ostensibly still working on its promised foot-worn ankle controllers and the Vive Index-style hand controllers, which it teased in previous marketing material. Its force feedback cuffs appear to provide a place to attach Vive Trackers at least. The company says its working to integrate support for Tundra Trackers as well.

As for functionality: unlike standard VR headsets, which require you to strap them to your head for optimal fit and image clarity, HalfDive is more of a passive experience that seems to cradle your head rather than tightly affix it in place. Diver-X CEO Yamato Sakoda adjusts himself into a prone position and slips on two hand-worn cuffs that are tethered with retractable wires to force feedback modules in the base of the unit.

Diver-X says its design primarily allows users to operate in VR without any pressure on the head, and as a result covers 99% of all human head sizes.

As you’d imagine, a user laying on the ground has a different expected range of motion is than someone using a VR headset in either sitting or standing positions. The headset’s range of motion was previously described by Diver-X as 4.5 degrees of freedom (DOF), further calling it “virtual 6DOF”. We can see what that means functionally in the video of the 3D printed third prototype below as he adjusts the visor down into the optimal viewing position and angles it left and right, also called ‘yaw’.

What the gif doesn’t show is it can also apparently pitch up and down (relative to the user’s point of view) to a lesser degree. Still, that action looks pretty stiff, and even with the promise of a smoother injection molded body, looking around will decidedly require more effort than with a standard VR headset in either seated or standing position.

Construction of the mold for mass production is said to take place in February 2022, with completion estimated for May. Shipping is said to arrive sometime in Summer 2022; Kickstarter funding tiers are marked as releasing in August 2022.

It’s an innovative design for sure, however HalfDive is probably not for everyone. Playing VR games whilst laying down—but positioned in the VR world as if you’re standing up—may cause discomfort in some users depending on the amount of movement required in the game. Vection, or the motion that’s implied by movement in your visual field, can lead to discomfort if artificial motion and your body’s expectation of that motion don’t match up well enough.

That’s essentially why room-scale games without any type of artificial locomotion are usually the most comfortable to play, while games that toss around your point-of-view with topsy-turvy game geometry, or include heavy expectation of frenetic movement, are often the least comfortable among the bunch.

Granted, HalfDive looks pretty ideal for watching Netflix in the void theater, and maybe even hanging out in VRChat for a chill virtual face-to-face that doesn’t require too much virtual locomotion. We’re looking forward to seeing more as the headset exits its third prototype phase and heads closer to mass production in early Summer 2022. Again, you can check out the Kickstarter here.

Specs

• Display – 2,880 × 1,600 LCD at 90Hz (1,440 × 1,600 per eye)
• Optics – 10-element aspheric lens array
• FOV – estimated 134°
• Adjustable IPD – 58-84 mm range
• I/O – Located in headset base: DisplayPort 1.2 / USB3.0 / 3.5mm audio jack / 12V power source / I2C (module connection),
• Tracking – HalfDive tracker, Vive tracker supported (Tundra Tracker support coming soon),
• Audio – built-in 4-spear array, microphone
• Supported OS – Windows 10 (Linux support coming soon)
• Minimum PC specs – Dual Core CPU with hyper-threading, 8GB RAM, Nvidia GeForce GTX970 / AMD RX 480

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Top 5 VR Cooking & Food Games – Quest, PC VR & More

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Looking to cook up a storm in VR? We’ve got you covered — here’s our list of the best VR cooking and food games on Quest, PC VR and PSVR.

The gaming industry, and more recently the VR industry,  has a bit of a love affair with the cooking genre. There’s just something about chopping, frying and assembling food in virtual reality that is so attractive to developers and players alike.

Luckily, we’re now at the stage where we have enough games to assemble a list of the top five cooking and food games across all VR platforms. We’ve ranked them from worst to best, but realistically each game brings something different to the genre — any of these are good options, depending on what you’re looking for.

5. Job Simulator – Quest, PSVR, PC VR

This is one of the oldest VR games on this list, dating all the way back to a release on the original Vive headset in  2016. It’s also not technically a full cooking game in and of itself. Job Simulator sees you take on menial tasks across a few different levels set in different work environments – a car repair shop, a convenience store, a boring office cubicle and, most importantly, behind the grill at a restaurant.

It’s that last level that gets Job Simulator a spot on this list — it’s basically the original cooking game for VR, one of the first to grace us with its presence. Since its beginnings on the Vive, Job Simulator has released on loads more platforms, including Quest 2 with enhancements, and received new modes and levels. It consistently features on the PSVR top seller charts each month and, as of January 2020, it reached 1 million units sold across all platforms.

Read more: Job Simulator, Vacation Simulator Get Enhanced For Oculus Quest 2

4. Clash of Chefs VR – Quest, PC VR

Clash of Chefs VR takes the age-old premise of many cooking games – prepare food with increasingly complex ingredients and methods, for an increasingly impatient and growing customer base. There’s four kitchens with different cuisines – American, Italian, Japanese, and Mexican – but regardless of which you find yourself in, the name of the game is time management under pressure.

There’s a fair amount of content for each kitchen and there’s also a competitive multiplayer mode as well, where you are pitted against others and can throw knives or plates at your opponent chefs to disrupt them.

Clash of Chefs is a solid entry in the list, but it doesn’t bring anything particularly new to the genre. Still, if you want something simple and tested, this might be your go-to.

Read more: Clash of Chefs VR Review: Virtual Burger Time

3. Cooking Simulator VR – PC VR

Despite the ‘simulator’ tag, this is really a part-authentic, part-slapstick mixture of cooking interactions featuring hundreds of dishes and a wide range of ingredients. As expected though, it’s all about time management and steady hands here. There’s a big focus on precision — the game will ask you to season food a specific amount, or cut items into perfectly equal pieces, which isn’t always easy with VR controllers.

There’s a career mode and a sandbox mode. Career mode will see you open a restaurant and gradually move through a selection of dishes, earning money to buy new items and upgrade your setup. The sandbox mode focuses more on fun and silliness — throw food, start fires, do whatever you want.

Read more: Cooking Simulator VR Review: A Frantic Celebration Of VR Realism And Chaos

2. Lost Recipes – Quest

Lost Recipes is perhaps the most markedly different title on this list – where most cooking games focus on precision, pressure and time management, Lost Recipes strips this away entirely. It falls somewhere between a game, simulator and educational tool — instead of working to a clock, you simply follow the recipe at your own pace with almost no external pressure. It’s all about learning and taking your time, accurately reproducing authentic recipes from three ancient cultures.

It’s a short experience, because it’s essentially about learning how to cook these dishes and understanding the meaning behind them. It’s a slow, meditative and really special VR experience. The most amazing part is that its structured in a way that will let you take what you’ve learnt and apply it to your own cooking. I managed to cook the steamed fish in real life after playing through the level in Lost Recipes — it’s quite an amazing achievement from Schell Games.

If you want something more laid back that will focus on teaching you about the recipes and how to cook them, then Lost Recipes is your best bet.

Read more: Lost Recipes Review: A Refreshing, Relaxing & Educational Take On VR Cooking

1. Cook-Out: A Sandwich Tale – Quest, PC VR

On the opposite end of the spectrum, if you want VR’s closest experience to frantic console and PC game Overcooked, then Cook-Out: A Sandwich Tale is the game for you. This is a multiplayer-focused title that will require you and your friends to cooperate under increasingly stressful conditions to make sandwiches for impatient customers.

It’s all about the balance between hectic action and overwhelming chaos — as orders come in, you’ll need to work together to make sure each sandwich gets the right ingredients, in the right order. Some players will only have select ingredients in their fridge, requiring you to communicate with the other players to make sure everyone has what they need. It can be hectic and difficult, but it nails converting that chaotic and stressful Overcooked style of gameplay to a VR headset.

Read more: Cook-Out Review: Resolution’s Best Game Yet And A Tasty Overcooked Tribute

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What’s your favorite cooking game on VR platforms? Let us know in the comments below.

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Demeo’s New Social Hangout Spot Teased In Video

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A new video from Resolution Games gives us our first glimpse at Demeo’s upcoming social hangout hub.

The video, which reflects on the developer’s 2021 and looks ahead to 2022, rounds up all the releases the developer has announced for this year. Alongside updates for Blaston and the launch of Ultimechs, we also get two very quick glimpses of Heroes’ Hangout, the social hub for Demeo.

You can see it just after the 0:55 mark below.

Demeo Heroes’ Hangout Teased

2021 was a year we’ll never forget, but we have a feeling that this year is going to be even bigger! pic.twitter.com/Zl1pZ5po3v

— Resolution Games (@resolutiongame) January 26, 2022

Heroes’ Hangout sounds similar to the social hub Resolution added for Blaston – it’ll be a place for players to meet and head into games together, with some other activities thrown in too. You can spot an arcade cabinet for a game called The Hauntlet, for example, which seems to offer 2D, top-down action.

The video also gives us another look at Demeo’s flatscreen version, which is set to launch in April, and teases two new adventures to come later in the year.

There’s plenty to come for our 2021 Game of the Year, then. We loved Demeo for its compelling social VR mechanics, which simulated the board game experience inside headsets. We’re also hoping to see Resolution bring the game to more headsets in 2022, though the studio is yet to announce plans for platforms like PSVR 2 and beyond.

Are you looking forward to Demeo’s social hub? Let us know in the comments below!

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Magic Leap 2 Specs Suggest A Best-In-Class Seethrough AR Headset

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Magic Leap 2’s specs – at least some of them – were revealed this week in a presentation at SPIE Photonics West 2022.

While Microsoft HoloLens came out first targeted toward businesses, the original Magic Leap One launched in 2018 as the first augmented reality headset available to consumers, priced at $2300. After reportedly selling just 6000 units in the first six months, the company pivoted to targeting enterprise customers instead in 2019.

Magic Leap 2 was first teased back in late 2019 with a launch target of 2021, though no details were given. In October 2021 the company shared the first image and announced it will launch this year, claiming it will have the largest field of view of any transparent optics headset.

 

At Photonics West, Magic Leap’s VP of Optical Engineering Kevin Curtis revealed some key specs for Magic Leap 2 (ML2).

The headset apparently weighs 248 grams, down from Magic Leap 1’s 316 grams.

However, Magic Leap headsets use a tethered compute box attached to your waist rather than housing the battery & processor in the headset itself. Curtis says ML2′ new compute box is more than twice as powerful as ML1’s with “more memory and storage” too. While ML1 used an NVIDIA Tegra chip, Magic Leap announced a partnership with AMD in December.

ML1 has two variants to accommodate narrower and wider interpupillary distances (IPDs). Curtis claims ML2’s eyebox is twice as large meaning this is no longer necessary. The eyebox refers to the horizontal and vertical distance from the center of the lens your eyes can be and still get an acceptable image.

While ML1 uniquely had two focal planes so near and far virtual objects were focused at different distances, there was no mention of the same technology in the ML2 spec presentation.

ML2 seems to have its own unique optical technology though; a new feature called Dynamic Dimming. A major problem with see-through AR headsets is the inability to display the color black, since their optical systems are additive – they superimpose color onto a transparent lens, but black is the absence of color. Curtis claims dynamic dimming can vary the lens from letting through 22% of real world light to letting through just 0.3%. At 22% the real world will be visible even in dark rooms, 0.3% would let virtual objects remain visible even in bright outdoor conditions.

ML1 had one eye tracking camera per eye, but ML2 has two per eye, which Curtis says “improves image quality, minimizes render errors, and enables “segmented dimming”. The later use case wasn’t elaborated on, but may suggest the headset could vary the Dynamic Dimming level based on whether you’re looking at darker or lighter virtual objects.

Notably, Curtis did not reveal the resolution or the exact field of view. But CEO Peggy Johnson revealed it in November at Web Summit as approximately 70 degrees diagonal, up from 50 degrees in the original.

If we assume the aspect ratio shared in the October tease is accurate, that would mean a horizontal field of view of roughly 45 degrees and vertical field of view of roughly 55 degrees. This is significantly narrower than opaque passthrough headsets like LYNX R1, but much taller than competing seethrough headsets like HoloLens 2.

Magic Leap 1 is targeted toward enterprise but still available to individuals who want one. It’s unclear what sales path Magic Leap 2 will take, and no price or specific release date has yet been revealed.

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Editorial: Three Generations In The Metaverse

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I convinced my Mom and Dad to buy a Meta Quest 2 for Christmas 2020 with hopes that the “Metaverse” could bridge the physical gap between us. I’m still waiting for that to happen.

When I packed up my wife and kids and moved to Seattle in 2015, I knew that I was leaving behind my close knit Cincinnati family. Grandparents, cousins, and long time friends were now thousands of miles away instead of right across the street. Not wanting to be excluded after we moved, we attended big family gatherings via FaceTime and got passed around with just enough time to say a garbled, “Hey! Nice to see you,” then shuffled to the next aunt or uncle. 

As an early adopter of technology, I find myself constantly waiting around for others to catch up and see the value of things. Over the course of my first few years in this industry, virtual reality helped me find good friends in places like Ireland, Australia, and France. Places that are much farther away from me than Cincinnati. We meet up at virtual bars, play laser tag, and enjoy movies together. Full and satisfying interaction. As cliché as it sounds, it feels like we’re really together.

It made sense for me to encourage members of my family to jump into VR as well to give us a newer, better way to interact. The tech works. It’s a decent substitute for the real thing and much better than awkwardly staring at each other on flat screens. Do you miss our New Year’s Day ritual of bowling as a family? Put on your headset and we can do that right now. Hey Dad, how about we go on a fishing trip and pull in some smallmouth bass while we discuss the latest Sportsball game? 

But that didn’t happen… yet.

When I convinced my parents to buy a Quest 2, I knew it would take some time for them to get acclimated. I still have nightmares of when they first got smartphones and joined the world of social media. I also knew that my nieces would probably get the most use of it when visiting my parents. It didn’t take long for my kids to connect with their cousins to jump into Rec Room and enjoy themselves until their batteries died. But when it came time for my Mom or Dad to suit up, there was immediate resistance.

It could be my fault. Throwing my parents into very early untracked headsets with super low quality screens may have set an unfortunate precedent. I can remember my Dad playing hours of Wolfenstein 3D back in the early 90s, but when Doom came onto the scene, he couldn’t play it. It was too much for him and he got sick. Same with early VR. Now that I’m trying to get him into the newer, smoother, higher resolution VR, I wish I could persuade him to get past his previous notions and try it.

Even if it’s taking time for some members of my family to give VR a second chance now that it’s so much more compelling, I also understand there are still fundamental roadblocks making VR headsets intimidating. It takes time for habits to change and syncing up playtime with family in other time zones can still be pretty challenging, requiring passwords or room codes that can be pretty foreign to some people. But unlike previous headsets and platforms, the barriers truly are lower than ever. The destinations in VR are more beautiful, the things you can do with others are more fun, and for those reasons alone a lot more headsets are going to be charged up and ready to play a lot more often.

Maybe I’m being impatient. Once others from my parents’ generation start buying headsets they might feel the pressure to join their peers and not be left behind. That’s how Facebook evolved. What started as a “College Kids Only” club slowly became a haven for parents sharing photos with grandparents and 50th grade school reunion pages. How long before there are “Seniors Only” nights in the Metaverse? Would mainstream mass adoption be enough for my parents to meet me in VRChat? When the neighbors brag about seeing their grandkids in VR every Friday, will that push my parents to jack in?

I hope that’s all it takes. I guess I can wait a bit longer for my multigenerational virtual experience. The best part of having a big family is that multiple generations can share wisdom and enjoy experiences together. In today’s world of emerging technology and whatever the Metaverse becomes, physical distance shouldn’t be a hindrance. 

I still believe 2022 will be the year I see three generations of my family play together in VR, it’s just taking a little bit longer than I expected for everyone to get ready.

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Zenith Plans For 3+ Classes, Better Dungeons And User-Generated Content In Long-Term Future

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Following what looks to have been a very successful launch, Zenith developer Ramen VR has teased big plans for the VR MMO.

In a Q&A session hosted on Reddit last week the company provided just a few hints for the long-term roadmap for the game. Zenith’s current release is technically in early access; it’s marked as such on Steam but not on Quest or PSVR, which don’t label titles as pre-release. With that in mind, co-founder Andy Tsen shared some details about where the game might head next.

New Classes

Firstly, Tsen replied to a comment asking if there were plans for more classes. Currently, Zenith has two main classes allowing you to wield swords or projectiles, with three job roles to define how you level up. Tsen revealed that the team has plans to add more classes in the future, though, resulting in more than three choices. “We absolutely have plans to add additional classes overtime — beyond 3,” he said.

In the same reply he also confirmed there will be Character Customization updates, allowing you to better define your avatar.

Better Dungeons

Tsen also touched on the possibility of creating better dungeon content that’s unique to the game. “Internally our design goal is to build something that feels completely different from dungeon content in other games — this is a hard goal but we’ll do our best,” he said. “It’s part of the reason we didn’t release with instanced dungeons at launch (we actually had 3 dungeons fully complete, but we felt like it didn’t live up to our standards so we’re going to go back to the drawing board and make them better.)”

Ramen also hopes to add environmental aspects to battles and exploration in the future.

Replayability And User-Generated Content

Finally, Tsen provided a look into how Ramen hopes to evolve Zenith’s content in the months and years to come. New zones, dungeons, bosses and systems will be key to expanding the game, but Tsen was also cautious about how they’re implemented.

“We don’t want to become a content treadmill though,” he said, “because that makes it progressively harder for newbies to get into the game as endgame gets further and further away so we also want to introduce systems that give more replayablility, things like additional crafting systems, PVP, housing, Rogue-Lite, a player economy, a stronger emphasis on the social aspects of the game could all add together to make the end game last a lot longer.”

He also mentioned that the Ramen team sees user-generated content playing “a big component” in the game’s future, but there were no further details on how they might look.

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We’re still journey deep into the core of Zenith to deliver our final impressions soon. Until then, you can check out our review-in-progress for our current thoughts on the game.

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Arcade Flight Sim ‘Ultrawings 2’ to Release on Quest February 3rd, Promising 40-60 Hours of Gameplay

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Ultrawings is an arcade VR flight sim that’s been on the market since 2017 and has become something of a classic in its own right. Developer Bit Planet Games just announced that the long-awaited sequel, Ultrawings 2, is landing on Quest 2 February 3rd.

Update (January 28th, 2022): Bit Planet Games announced that Ultrawings 2 is set to arrive on Quest 2 on February 3rd. In a blog post, the studio says a PC VR release date will be announced “soon,” which may mean it will have some measure of timed exclusivity before it makes the jump to other major VR headsets.

Additionally, the studio says the Quest 2 version is “virtually identical to the upcoming PCVR version with the only exceptions being lack of HOTAS support … and reduction in asset quality.”

They’ve also tossed out a new trailer, which we’ve linked below this update.

Original Article (September 27th, 2021): Ultrawings charmingly combines flight sim mechanics with an inviting world full of aerial mini-games. The game has been well received over the years as its become available on all major VR platforms.

Now developer Bit Planet Games has announced that the sequel, Ultrawings 2, will launch in early 2022 on PC VR and Quest, as well as unspecified “other platform(s)” in the future (considering the original is also available on PSVR and even Nintendo Switch, those are a good bet).

“[…] we decided to go all-in, so to speak, and develop a game that we felt was worthy of being called a sequel,” wrote the studio in its announcement.

Indeed, from the announcement trailer we can see that the game looks more detailed than ever with new environments, challenges, and mini-games. And, a significant addition over the original, Ultrawings 2 is leaning into combat missions which the studio says will include dogfights, bomber interceptions, and convoy destruction.

Bit Planet Games is also promising “three times the gameplay of the original,” with five unique aircraft (including a helicopter) and brand new islands that are significantly larger than the originals. The studio says players can expect a whopping 40–60 hours of gameplay across “several hundred hand-crafted missions.”

'Ultrawings 2' Screenshots

1 of 5

Image courtesy Bit Planet Games

Image courtesy Bit Planet Games

Image courtesy Bit Planet Games

Image courtesy Bit Planet Games

Better still, Bit Planet Games says that Ultrawings 2 is “designed and built for expansion,” and that players can expect new aircraft, gameplay modes, and levels to be added after launch.

While the game is designed around VR motion controllers, like the original, Ultrawings 2 will also support a range of HOTAS (flight sticks) for players who have flight sim hardware at the ready. While officially supported hardware hasn’t yet been announced, we’d expect to see the HOTAS supported by the original game (Saitek X52/55/56, Thrustmaster HOTAS Warthog/HOTASX/HOTAS4/T16000M) carry over to the sequel.

A price has not yet been announced for Ultrawings 2, but a release date of February 2022 is listed on the game’s Steam page.

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‘Wanderer’ Review – A Time Traveling Delight That’s Just Shy of Greatness

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Wanderer is a VR adventure game that puts you in the shoes of a hapless time traveler who finds himself trapped in an alternate history—one that starts (and possibly ends) in worldwide disaster. Wanderer excels with its smorgasbord of interesting puzzles that do very little hand-holding. Its fun and well-designed set pieces play as an immersive backdrop to an engrossing story, all of which hopefully distract you from its particularly clunky level of object interaction.

Wanderer Details:

Available On: Steam, Rift, PSVR
Release Date: January 27th, 2022
Price: $40
Developer: M-Theory, Oddboy
Reviewed On: Quest 2 (Link via Steam)

Gameplay

Theorizing that one could time travel in his own lifetime, Asher Neumann stepped into the Phoenix Project accelerator and vanished. He awoke to find himself trapped in time, facing mirror images that were not his own, and driven by an unknown force to change history for the better.

That’s the setup anyway, most of which I lifted from the intro sequence to cult ’90s TV show Quantum Leap, a big inspiration for Wanderer. Another obvious comparison here is Netflix’s hit German sci-fi show Dark (2021), although Wanderer’s story isn’t nearly as convoluted.

On the contrary, Wanderer’s narrative beats are actually pretty low density despite the wide variety of places you can visit. The story is primarily doled out in found items like videos, books, and posters, which give you a wider understanding of what’s going on and give valuable clues on how to solve puzzles. That said, they very rarely smack you over the head with their meaning, and can be easily mistaken as simple bits of decoration. That means you have to look around and invest more meaning in less objects, i.e. you won’t find a diary indicating all of the thoughts and feelings of a character, just a photo with a cryptic one-liner.

Image courtesy Oddboy, M-Theory

Wanderer’s story only really picks up in intensity in the last quarter of the game. Instead, it puts a much heavier focus on serving up a smorgasbord of escape room-style puzzles, many of which have no instruction on how to solve. These range in difficulty level, with the most challenging typically calling on the player’s ability to travel back and forth through the game’s discrete temporal set pieces to gather the right object(s). More on that below.

For example, you may need to grab a sponge and a bottle of spray cleaner from your home base and travel to the pre-Columbian Mayan civilization to wipe off a dusty plaque to see a code. Or you may need to assemble pieces for the Enigma machine, use Morse Code to set off an alarm, and jump through multiple such hoops to get to Woodstock in the ’60s. In short: it’s difficult, and has a ton of moving parts that may tax critical thinking skills.

Image courtesy Oddboy, M-Theory

While some of these left me wishing for an easy win, personally I’d much rather have to waste time retracing steps, turning the game upside down, and coming up with an organizational method for a literal mountain of stuff. It feels more authentic and rewarding, playing stark contrast to games in the genre that lean on tropes like overly helpful robot buddies that essentially tug you by the ear from point A to point B.

Ok, there is a robot buddy. But thankfully your ever-present wristwatch companion Sam is there to help by not only being a clue dispenser when actually needed on demand, but also a useful tool that acts as the game’s inventory. On top of that, his voice is a dead ringer for Matthew McConaughey. (Murph!)

Sam also is the basis for the game’s teleport mechanic, which makes for a novel and fun way of using key items you find throughout the game and using them to travel to new and interesting locales which are always brimming with new items that you might just find a use for in other worlds.

Traveling to other time periods is accomplished by grabbing key items and inserting them into a disk where the clasp of the watch would usually be. Those piece rumble in your hand, so the whole process has a tactile feel that I really appreciate.

In the end, Wanderer basically delivers despite some built-in clunk endemic of this sort of step-by-step gameplay that relies on a large set of interchangeable objects.

You have to not only think practically about every item you’ve encountered and remember where it is in time, but hope it’s the right item that the game intended you to use. Blowing up a bomb where you shouldn’t, or shooting an arrow into the head of Nikola Tesla will result in you being kicked from the timeline to try again. That’s a bit of a downer if you have an obvious alterative solution (ok, not shooting Tesla) and you’re punished for using it.

All of this is punctuated with arcade-style interludes, like a Guitar Band-style rock sequence where you play the drums to the beat. I was left wishing for more of these because they made for a welcome break from doing things like literally fixing and restarting an entire hydro-electric power plant, which includes plenty of grunt work of finding parts, replacing them, and hoping the game doesn’t throw a curve ball your way by, say, leaving a control panel back with a bunch of literal Nazis in another time period.

Image courtesy Oddboy, M-Theory

In the end, it took me around ten hours to complete. I should note that I experienced several bugs which required me to restart to the latest chapter because of how much they broke forward progress. These are functionally small things that will probably be addressed in future updates, however day-one players may experience things like puzzles not activating when they should, which can add to the frustration of retracing your steps in vein before deciding its the game’s fault and not your own.

Immersion

Immersion is a bit of a mixed bag with Wanderer. On one hand, you’re served up some truly gorgeous, well put-together set pieces. It’s the level of care and visual finesse that, if you squint, you’ll swear you’re somewhere else. The team’s ability to layer their world with a vast array of textures and objects that feel real simply can’t be understated.

Both the game’s script and voice acting are giant highlights too. There’s nothing worse than a character with an obviously fake accent delivering a cheesy line when it comes to maintaining immersion, but the level of voice talent and writing expertise in Wanderer is top-notch. Case in point: you interact with Sam for literal hours, and he over that time he starts to feel more like a buddy than a timepiece only capable of delivering quips and puzzle hints.

Image courtesy Oddboy, M-Theory

And then you have an invisible walls that stop you from walking too far for no apparent reason. Or a host of objects on a table, half of which can actually be picked up.

That would be less of an issue if the game’s level of object interaction felt like it belonged in 2022 instead of ostensibly time-traveling from 2016, a time when all games basically forced objects to automatically snap to your hand in one relative position. Another issue is that force grab makes manipulating things less simple by stopping you most of the time from physically grabbing something that’s right in front of you.

Needless to say, the game’s not-awesome object interaction makes for a constantly frustrating experience when it comes to manipulating Sam. I found myself selecting an item with my outstretched finger, and then with that same finger trying to eject it from Sam’s menu, only to close the menu because the game counterintuitively wants you to palm the tiny one-inch icon.

If Wanderer had the same finesse with object interaction as it does much of the rest of the game, you might even make some comparisons to Half-Life: Alyx in its level of polish and immersion, although it’s most important mechanical feature somehow falls short.

Comfort

Wanderer has the full range of standard comfort options, including variable walking speeds and snap-turning angles to go along with smooth turning locomotion and teleportation.

There are very few moments when you’re not on level ground, so moving around the world is almost always a comfortable experience. The only issue I had was the game’s seated mode, which didn’t seem to work at time of review.

‘Wanderer’ Comfort Settings – January 27th, 2022
Turning
Artificial turning
Smooth-turn
Adjustable speed
Snap-turn
Adjustable increments
Movement
Artificial movement
Smooth-move
Adjustable speed
Teleport-move
Blinders
Adjustable strength
Head-based
Controller-based
Swappable movement hand
Posture
Standing mode
Seated mode
Artificial crouch
Real crouch
Accessibility
Subtitles
Languages	English
Alternate audio
Languages	English
Adjustable difficulty
Two hands required
Real crouch required
Hearing required
Adjustable player height

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