‘Warhammer 40K: Space Marine VR’ Experience Coming to VR Attractions Next Week, Trailer Here

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Revealed back in May, the first official Warhammer VR game for out-of-home VR attractions is now set to launch next week, coming to Zero Latency locations worldwide.

Update (September 16th, 2024): Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine VR – Warriors of Avarax is officially coming to Zero Latency September 25th, with pre-bookings now available.

Based on Space Marines 2, in 30-minute Warhammer VR experience lets you and up to seven others take the fight to Tyranid forces, promising plenty of co-op exploration and combat.

The original article detailing the initial announcement follows below:

Original Article (May 23rd, 2024): We knew as of 2022 that a Warhammer 40K experience was in development for VR attraction Zero Latency. It was initially expected in 2023, but it seems we’ll have to wait until October this year to jump into our very own Power Armour.

The teaser for Warhammer 40K: Space Marine VR reveals very little, save for Space Marines, Tyranids, and an October release date (see update).

But we know that Zero Latency is a VR attraction with experiences that are typically designed to last around 30 minutes. So while this won’t be a full-blown Warhammer 40K VR game in the traditional sense, it’s likely to be a fun time (with you and up to 7 of your friends!). Here’s the text teaser for now:

In Space Marine VR: Defenders of Avarax, you will play as a Space Marine, a genetically enhanced super-soldier. Exploring the Hive City of Fervastium, players will delve deep into a vault on an important mission that could turn the tide and help beat back the Tyranids, an all-consuming alien swarm from beyond the known galaxy. Using a wide range of weapons from the Space Marine arsenal, players will fight off voracious swarms of Tyranids as they step into the shoes of these highly disciplined and indomitable warriors.

Zero Latency is one of the leading VR attractions with 93 locations across 26 countries. We’ve been impressed previously with the company’s internal development talent, and hope to see their work taken to the next level with Warhammer 40K: Space Marine VR. Designing experiences for VR attractions is a surprisingly unique challenge compared to building in-home VR applications—especially with multiple players in the same physical playspace.

Image courtesy Zero Latency

“The Warhammer 40,000 universe and Space Marine in particular has such awesome lore and history, we just couldn’t wait to dive into it,” says Tim Ruse, CEO at Zero Latency. “With Space Marine VR: Defenders of Avarax, we are pushing our technology to the limits, and our talented development team is creating our most immersive and thrilling experience yet. We can’t wait for players to step into the Warhammer 40,000 setting and take on the Tyranids in this epic adventure.”

While it’s a shame this experience can’t also be enjoyed on in-home VR headsets like Quest, luckily there’s already a few ways to dive into the Warhammer universe from the comfort of your own VR headset with the likes of Warhammer 40,000: Battle Sister (2020) and Warhammer Age of Sigmar: Tempestfall (2021).

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Sequel to Quest’s Most Popular VR Boxing Game Teases Release in New Trailer

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Thrill of the Fight 2, the upcoming sequel to Quest’s most popular VR boxing sim, seems to be gearing up for release, as studios Sealost Interactive and Halfbrick Studios tossed out its first teaser trailer.

Update (September 16th, 2024): Announced early last year, we’re still waiting on gameplay, although the studios are chumming the waters now with a new live-action teaser, stating to “Prepare Yourself.”

The game is coming to Quest first, however original creator Ian Fitz says the team plans to bring it to other platforms eventually, which he notes isn’t due to “any contractual exclusivity or anything like that.”

Additionally, Fitz notes the Sealost Interactive team officially started work on Thrill of the Fight 2 in July 2020, but scaling the studio was an issue. “I abandoned that [internal scaling] plan and started working with Halfbrick, and we restarted the project together in January 2023,” Fitz says in a Discord post.

There’s no release date yet, however Fitz says we’ll find out “soon! ! and I mean soon!” The original article detailing the initial reveal and Halfbrick’s involvement follows below:

Original Article (January 23rd: 2023): Created by Ian Fitz and his studio Sealost Interactive in 2016, Thrill of the Fight focuses on realistic boxing mechanics, eschewing arcadey things like stamina bars and unrealistic knockout blows.

Thrill of the Fight 2, which is now in co-development by Halfbrick Studios, is bringing the much-requested feature of multiplayer mode. In a development update video (below), Halfbrick CEO Shainiel Deo reveals a few more features coming to the sequel: improved audio and visual feedback, changes to how combinations are scored, more gameplay variety to keep players coming back for more.

Halfbrick is known for developing both the flatscreen versions of Fruit Ninja and Fruit Ninja 2 and also their respective VR adaptations. The studio’s bread and butter however has been its slew of mobile games, including Jetpack Joyride, Battle Racing Stars, Dan the Man, and Shadows Remain.

In an update posted to Reddit by Sealost Interactive, series developer Ian Fitz discusses Halfbrick’s involvement.

“The reason I’m partnering up with Halfbrick on this is because I was comfortable it would help make the game I wanted to make. They want to make (and play) the same game I do,” Fitz says.

Fitz also broke down the division of labor, and how the sequel is being made in cooperation with Halfbrick.

“I made the blueprint. Sealost prototyped and proved out many of the mechanics and tech challenges. Halfbrick is putting together a release-worthy product and supporting it into the future. I’m in meetings with them every workday building the product right alongside them and making sure we don’t deviate from the original plan (which hasn’t been a problem because, again, they want to make the same game I do).”

Fitz notes the partnership with Halfbrick “doesn’t have anything to do with funding. This is just about having a solid production team and a plan in place to support the game post-launch.”

The studios say they’re aiming for release “later this year,” although that’s admittedly “just an estimate based on current progress,” Fitz says.

It’s still unclear which platforms are initial targets, however if the original is any indications, we’re liable to see it on Quest 2/Pro, Steam VR, and possibly also PSVR 2.

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‘Human Fall Flat’ is Getting Official VR Support Thanks to This Prolific Modder

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Human Fall Flat (2016) is getting VR support soon, bringing the whimsical, wobbly physics-based platformer to all major headsets. And you can thank VR modder ‘Raicuparta’ for that.

Raicuparta reveals Human Fall Flat studio No Brakes Games actually bought experimental VR support from the modder after having seen a video of some early control concepts at work. Although the mod was never released, it was enough to get the studio interested in hiring Raicuparta.

“I showed the video to the creators of the game, and they were very excited,” Raicuparta reveals in a Patreon post. “They offered to hire me, but that wouldn’t work for me at the time.”

While Raicuparta wasn’t directly involved in the development of the official VR port as it is today, the studio did implement the third-person control scheme featured in the recently released trailer, seen below.

“They then offered to buy the mod from me, so that they could eventually use the same “puppet controls” concept on an official VR port,” Raicuparta says. “I don’t think they really needed to pay me at all, so that was really nice of them.”

Raicuparta is known for adding unofficial VR support to number of games over the years, such as The Stanley Parable, Outer Wilds, and Neon White. Raicuparta also served up the game and mod management tool ‘Rai Pal’ to go along with their Universal Unity VR mod currently in development, which, much like Praydog’s Unreal Engine VR (UEVR) tool, makes it possible to inject VR support into flatscreen games running in the Unity game engine.

Working with Flat2VR Studios, an Impact Reality studio dedicated to porting flatscreen games to VR, Raicuparta also had a major hand in porting the soon-to-release Trombone Champ: Unflattened to all major VR headsets, which is slated to come among a rash of official VR ports, including WRATH: Aeon of Ruin VR, Roboquest VR, and Flatout VR.

Launching “soon” on Quest 2/3/Pro, PSVR 2 and SteamVR headsets, Human Fall Flat is coming with all levels from the game’s original release as well as extra content created by community members. There’s no release date yet, but you can now wishlist on Steam and the Horizon Store, with a PlayStation Store listing still pending.

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Backrooms-inspired PC Adventure ‘POOLS’ is Getting VR Support Soon, Gameplay Trailer Here

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Games inspired by ‘The Backrooms’ Internet lore are usually pretty scary, but PC game POOLS (2024) has a different way of getting under your skin. No monsters. Just pools. And soon, you’ll be able to play in VR.

Developer Tensori is bringing VR support to Pools soon, which is slated to arrive as a free update to the PC game.

The game, which throws you into an eerie, maze-like pool facility, is also heading to PS5, which according to the PlayStation Store listing will also be bundled in for PSVR 2.

Pools “can feel oppressive at times by invoking fears of getting lost, the dark, tight spaces and liminal space architecture,” the studio says, having released the game on Steam earlier this year to overall ‘Very Positive’ user reviews.

There’s no release date yet, however Tensori says in a Steam update they’ll be announcing “all the details on when the update is coming real soon.” The studio said previously while it’s making no promises, “during this year is likely.”

Notably, the studio hasn’t mentioned whether it’s eyeing Quest support at this time, although we hope they do.

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Hit Physics Platformer ‘Human Fall Flat’ is Coming Soon to VR Headsets, Trailer Here

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Curve Games and No Brakes Games, makers of indie hit Human Fall Flat (2016), today announced an entirely new version of the game targeted at all major VR headsets.

Called Human Fall Flat VR, the puzzle-filled platformer sends you wobbling through whimsical dreamscapes, letting you control your wibbly arms, where you can leap, climb, and swing around by using your VR controllers.

The game is slated to arrive “soon” on Quest 2/3/Pro, PSVR 2 and SteamVR headsets, bringing with it all the levels from the game’s original release, along with a wide selection of Extra Dreams created by some of the most talented community creators, the studio says, noting that it will feature an “intuitive 3rd-person view specially designed for VR headsets.”

Like the original, there will be both solo and online multiplayer, letting you team up with three other friends to navigate the game’s tricky traps and mind-bending physics puzzles.

While there’s no release date on the books yet, and store pages for Meta and PSVR 2 are still coming, Human Fall Flat VR is available to wishlist on Steam, priced at $13/£10/€13.

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Meta CTO Confirms Work on “glasses form-factor” Mixed Reality Device

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Meta CTO and head of Reality Labs Andrew ‘Boz’ Bosworth says the company is currently working on a “glasses form-factor” mixed reality headset.

In an Instagram Q&A, Bosworth confirmed the company is working on the device, although didn’t provide any concrete timelines:

“I don’t think a mixed reality headset, even in a glasses form factor—which we’re working on—is going to disrupt the smartphone. But I do think augmented reality is going to at some point, and we’re also working on that—but I can’t tell you the timelines.”

Two weeks ago, a report from The Information citing two Meta employees alleged the company is now considering a mixed reality device resembling “a bulky pair of glasses,” codenamed ‘Puffin’, which could release as early as 2027.

Puffin allegedly incorporates pancake lenses and includes an “External Processing Puck and Battery,” which would ostensibly offload weight from the user’s head.

In his Q&A, Bosworth also highlighted that a “ground breaking” AR announcement is set to come during Connect 2024, which is due o kick off September 25th.

“I think the AR announcement will be very ground breaking. We’ve already kind of teased it, but I think when people start to be able to experience it, I think that it’s really going to turn some heads,” Bosworth said.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg confirmed in an interview with YouTuber Kane ‘Kallaway’ Sutter back in July the company was showing off a pair of prototype AR glasses soon, which now appears to point to a Connect reveal.

“The glasses are, I think, going to be a big deal,” Zuckerberg said. “We’re almost ready to start showing the prototype version of the full holographic glasses. We’re not going to be selling it broadly; we’re focused on building the full consumer version rather than selling the prototype.”

We’ll also be looking forward to learning more about the all-but-confirmed Quest 3S, which is likely set to be the company’s next affordable headset. There’s also a fleet of third-party Quest-like headsets running HorizonOS still sitting in the wings, which will arrive from partners ASUS, Lenovo, and Xbox.

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VisionOS 2 Launches Next Week, But Three Big Features Won’t Come Until “later this year”

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Apple confirmed it’s launching VisionOS 2 on September 16th, which is coming along with a ton of previously teased features announced back at WWDC in June. Three features are listed as “coming later this year” though. Here’s what you’ll be missing come Monday.

We wrapped up the list of VisionOS 2 stuff below, however three pretty interesting features don’t have release dates yet:

Panoramic Productivity with Mac Virtual Display

This one we really hoped would come along with VisionOS 2, but we’ll just have to wait a bit longer. Later this year Apple will finally allow Mac Virtual Display for a more immersive, ultrawide screen experience, something the company says simulates two 4K displays side by side for enhanced multitasking.

It looks pretty simple too. The video above shows a UI toggle to go from ‘Normal’ to ‘Wide’ and ‘Ultrawide’ modes when using Mac Virtual Display, which could tip the scales of finally bringing Vision Pro (along with your Mac) to the coffee shop to get work done.

Spatial Videos Support for Final Cut Pro

Apple announced back at WWDC that Final Cut Pro will finally play nice with MV-HVEC videos captured by Vision Pro, iPhone 15 Pro, and now the entire iPhone 16 line thanks to support for of spatial video, photo and audio capture. At some point, Apple says you’ll be able to import and edit spatial videos in Final Cut Pro on your Mac, add “immersive titles and effects,” and then view the final product in Vision Pro.

We haven’t seen it in action yet, but if Apple is investing sufficient resources, we’re really holding out hope for a seamless editing and live viewing experience, which would be great for workflow.

Apple TV Sports Multiview

At some point Vision Pro is getting the Multiview feature on Vision Pro’s Apple TV app, putting it more in line with the capabilities of Apple TV 4K.

The addition of Multiview means you’ll be able to watch up to five MLS or MLB games simultaneously, with customizable layouts and the ability to switch between different game views. On the toilet.

In case you missed it, here’s a list of some headlining features coming to VisionOS 2 next week:

Coming Next Week:

• Create Spatial Photos from 2D Images: Instantly transform existing photos into spatial photos with depth and dimension by tapping on them in your library.
• SharePlay for Photos: On FaceTime, share and interact with spatial photos, videos, and panoramas with friends and family, allowing you to relive memories together in life-size scale.
• Redesigned Photos App: A refreshed and organized Photos app makes it easier to find photos and featured spatial photos with a visually appealing and user-friendly layout.
• Trim Videos at Any Scale: Trim videos from your photo library with ease, adjusting the scale to fit your preferences.
• See Your Keyboard in Any Environment: When immersed in an Environment, your Magic Keyboard or MacBook keyboard will be recognized, allowing uninterrupted typing.
• Cinematic Video Experience in Safari: Enjoy watching videos on a massive screen in Safari, with enhanced cinematic effects, such as screen glow and reflections.
• Guest User Mode: Easily let friends and family try Apple Vision Pro with Guest User mode, which now saves their eye and hand data for quick setup in future sessions.
• Look to Dictate in Messages: A new dictation method in Messages where you can simply look at the text field to start dictating.
• AirPlay Receiver: Use AirPlay to mirror your devices to Apple Vision Pro, expanding sharing and viewing capabilities.
• Train Support in Travel Mode: Work with multiple apps or watch shows while commuting, enjoying a massive screen in a serene virtual Environment.

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Mixed Reality Flight Sims Are Accelerating F-16 Pilot Training in Ukraine

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Flight simulator company Dogfight Boss, and Varjo, the high-end XR headset creator, announced they’ve shipped their first mixed reality F-16 simulator to the Ukrainian Air Force to help accelerate pilot training. And there’s likely more to come, as the country inevitably looks to scale training to keep pace with the influx of the American-built fighter jets.

Last month Ukraine began receiving its first F-16s from NATO members Denmark and the Netherlands, which are meant to replace its aging Soviet-era MiG and Sukhoi jets. Belgium and Norway have also signed on to provide Ukraine with over 60 of the fighter jets.

A handful of Ukrainian pilots began training to fly F-16s in Arizona late last year, however Ukrainian officials have expressed frustration they simply can’t train enough, as F-16 training programs in the US and across Europe have limited seats.

Now Dogfight Boss and Varjo have partnered to deliver a MR headset-equipped F-16 C Viper simulator to an unspecified Ukrainian Fighter Pilot Base in Kyiv, which will allow pilots to fly virtual missions while seeing a passthrough of their instrument cluster, allowing for a more realistic training experience.

Although such a platform doesn’t address the training crunch at hand, it will allow pilots to train and maintain skills in-country, which has been an active war zone since the Russian invasion began in February 2022.

Dogfight Boss maintains in a LinkedIn post that the reception to the MR simulator has been promising thus far, noting there is an “urgent need for additional units to support cooperative training scenarios.” This could see at least eight more simulators shipped to the Ukrainian military, the company says.

“After nearly a year of detailed fine-tuning and extensive testing with the help of EU F-16 pilot instructors, we are honored to deliver Ukraine’s first fully functional F-16 simulator,” Dogfight Boss CEO and founder Lukas Homola says. “This simulator is a testament to our commitment to precision and excellence, which is being developed and produced in-house. From construction to electronics, every component, including the complete instrument panels, throttle quadrant, pedals, and force-sensing stick base, has been crafted to meet the highest standards.”

Both the Finland-based Varjo and Czechia-based Dogfight Boss have worked extensively with defense customers over the years, with Varjo’s XR headset currently used by 60 such entities, including the U.S. Army Reconfigurable Virtual Collective Trainer (RVCT) program which uses Varjo for portable training for the Apache, Chinook, and Blackhawk helicopters.

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iPhone 16 Adds Spatial Photos and Spatial Audio Capture for Vision Pro

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Apple announced its new iPhone 16 is getting a little more spatial with the addition of both spatial photos and audio, essentially putting it in line with Vision Pro’s capture capabilities.

The company’s big event on Monday didn’t bring any giant revelations for Vision Pro, although the company announced a host of products, including its AI-infused iPhone 16 line, as well as all-new Apple Watch Series 10 and AirPods 4.

iPhone 16 Pro Max & 16 Pro  (left), iPhone 16 Plus & 16 (right) | Images courtesy Apple

The iPhone 16 introduces a new pill-shaped camera design, enhanced AI features, and a couple of new buttons (Action and Camera Control) compared to the iPhone 15. It retains the same 60Hz display (120Hz on iPhone 16 Pro), with improvements being pretty incremental overall.

The entire iPhone 16 line however also comes with the ability to not only capture spatial video like on iPhone 15 Pro, but now spatial photos and audio. Vision Pro can do all of these things, although you’d have a hard time fitting it in your pocket.

Regardless of what phone you have, if you own a Vision Pro all of your photos can be spatialized thanks to an update earlier this summer which automatically converts 2D photos to 3D—and pretty convincingly so.

Notably, spatial videos can also be viewed on other XR devices that support the MV-HVEC video codec, such as Meta Quest.

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Official Quest 3S Image Leaks Ahead of Anticipated Meta Connect Unveiling

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Meta has leaked an image of the supposed Quest 3S via an update to its PC software, showing off what is likely the upcoming cheaper alternative to Quest 3.

As first spotted by Reddit user ‘Gary_the_mememachine‘, the image of can be found in the files of Meta Quest Link client for PC.

At the time of this writing, Meta hasn’t removed the image from its latest software update. Provided your client is updated, you can find it yourself by following this pathway:

C:\Program Files\Oculus\Support\oculus-dash\dash\data\js\assets\src\apps\dash\asset_files\experience-panels

Image courtesy Meta

The headset, like many in the ‘experience-panels’ folder, is referred to by its codename, which is labeled as ‘Panther’. The codename was first spotted by serial dataminer Luna when digging through the v65 UX files in the Quest software.

All signs currently point to an imminent launch of Quest 3S, as a new Meta headset was recently certified by the FCC, which is now just a few weeks before Meta Connect 2024, taking place September 25th – 26th.

There, we hope to get confirmation of a few rumors floating around currently, including whether it packs in the same Fresnel lenses and display as Quest 2, if it has the same Snapdragon XR2 Gen 2 chipset as the Quest 3, and whether it will really hit the rumored $299 price point.

We’re also hoping to learn more about when Meta will release HorizonOS to third-party OEMs, which includes XR devices from hardware partners ASUS, Lenovo, and Xbox.

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Vision Pro Hackathon Takes Place This Week With $25K in Cash & Prizes

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Vision Hack, the world’s first global visionOS hackathon, is being held this week from September 13–15th. The organizer has announced $25K in cash & prizes on offer for winners.

Guest Article by Cosmo Scharf

Cosmo Scharf is an Emmy-nominated product designer and entrepreneur with a decade of experience in XR. He co-founded Vision Hack and visionOS Dev Partners to support visionOS developers. Previously, Scharf created MovieBot, an AI-powered 3D animation app, and Mindshow, a VR platform for animated content creation. His also started VRLA, one of the world’s largest immersive technology expos.

Vision Hack is happening this week starting on Friday the 13th. All skill levels are welcome and there’s still time to sign up to participate. The first two readers to use code RoadToVRF5M3T can sign up for free.

We have some exciting updates for you about the event.

Prize Categories

There will be four main prize categories:

• Game & Entertainment
• Productivity & Utility
• Wellbeing & Lifestyle
• XR Demoparty – Presented by XR.vc

Each category will have three winners: 1st Place ($3,000), 2nd Place ($1,500), and 3rd Place ($500).

Schedule

Here’s a schedule of Vision Hack’s key moments (all times in EST):

Day One – Friday, September 13th

5:00 PM – Opening Ceremony
6:00 PM – Hackathon Begins

Day Two – Saturday, September 14th

10:00 AM – Check-in & Workshop Kickoff
1:00 PM – Teamwork & Mentor Office Hours
7:00 PM – Evening Coding Jam

Day Three – Sunday, September 15th

10:00 AM – Check In
6:00 PM – Project Submission Deadline
6:30 PM – Closing Celebration

Day Four – Monday, September 16th

10:00 AM – Winners Announced

Local Meetup Update

We’ve added Manchester and Stockholm to our existing lineup of NYC, SF, Paris, & Montreal. RSVP here. Can’t wait to see you IRL!

Thank You Sponsors & Media Partners

Thank you to our sponsors XR.vc, The Venture Reality Fund, Syntech, CXR Agency, Annapro, & Globular Cluster! Thank you as well to our media partners Apple Insider, Apps for Apple Vision Pro, Road to VR, XReality Zone, r/VisionPro, and Immersive Tech Week!

Sounds fun? Sign up for Vision Hack here.

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Road to VR is a proud media partner of the Vision Hack event

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‘Hitman 3 VR: Reloaded’ Gets First Big Patch Today Following Critical Misfire

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Hitman 3 VR: Reloaded flopped pretty hard when it launched on Quest 3 last week, currently garnering it a [2,7/5] star user rating to go along with an overwhelmingly negative reaction from reviewers far and wide. Now developer XR Games is pushing out its first big update which hopes to address a myriad of issues.

In our full review we gave Hitman 3 VR: Reloaded a [3/10], where we noted that while technically playable on launch day, it was simply not advisable due to some pretty terrible optimization—not to mention the woeful amount of gloss stripped from the original to make it work on Quest.

During our review, the studio mentioned there would be a ‘Day 4 Patch’ confirmed to drop on today, September 9th, that would address some these ills. We haven’t gone hands-on with the patch yet, although we’re looking forward to seeing it in action when it rolls out, presumably later today.

Check out those patch notes below:

Day 4 Patch

Major Additions and Changes

• Significant improvements to LOD popping (adjusted LOD distance — world elements will appear from further away)
• Added stabiliser for the sniper rifle while aiming down sights
• Increased crowd sizes and cull distances
• Fixed Dartmoor Library agency pickup

Small Tweaks

• Adjusted lighting to better balance light in dark areas
• Data Core Chamber area brightened [Chongqing]
• Outdoor area brightened [Final Test]
• Gun no longer visible in the left hand while dragging bodies
• Adjusted the grip on multiple Sword type weapons to better match player’s hand position
• Reduced animation slicing for distance NPCs and crowds

Fixes

• Fixed occluders in all levels to reduce issues with flickering, floating, and invisible environment elements
  • Fixed assets in all levels to remove Z-fighting and gaps in environments
  • Fixed holes in different areas of the terrain geo as well as as floating assets
  • Bikes no longer clip into the ground [Berlin] The ‘Yuzhong Square’ Neon sign renders correctly [Chongqing]
  • The Microphone Asset in the centre of the Asado now displays [Mendoza]
• Improved textures in all levels
  • Water textures added to Carpathian Mountains
  • Texture displays when shooting bullets while flashbanged
• VR pointers no longer appear behind UI in certain options
• Fixed possible crash when exiting to main menu through pause menu when cinematic is playing
• Cinematics now play on first-time selection of Mendoza and Chongqing
• Window frame assets now display in both eyes from a mid-far proximity
• Player can no longer see items they hold when entering the “Dance with Diana” mission exit [Mendoza]
• Completing “The Final Test” now plays “Call Me 47” cutscene
• Environment no longer clips through the train floor [Carpathian Mountains]
• Selecting ‘Continue Story’ after completing mission from loaded save will now play cinematic
• Adjusted light emission and VFX in all levels
  • Antique Cannon smoke VFX corrected [Mendoza]
  • Torches have correct light emission VFX [Berlin]
  • Improved VFX for water bottle explosions
  • Added water VFX to fountain [Dubai]
• Loading screen graphics no longer display tilted or at the wrong height if HMD is tilted before they appear

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Sharp & Japan’s Largest Telecom Unveil Lightweight AR Glasses ‘MiZRA’

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Sharp and Japan’s largest telecom NTT Docomo today announced a new pair of AR glasses called MiZRA, which is hitting the Japanese market sometime his Fall.

It would be pretty tough to mistake Mizra for a normal pair of glasses, what with its chunky struts and rims, 6DOF tracking sensors, and center-mounted camera—not to mentions its unique AR optics, which incorporate so-called ‘mirror bars’ courtesy of South Korean AR lens creator LetinAR, promising a 45-degree diagonal field of view.

Created by NTT QONOQ Devices, a joint venture between Sharp and NTT’s XR development branch NTT QONOQ, Mizra isn’t going to be cheap either. Priced at an eye-watering ¥248,000 (~$1,730 USD), the funky but functional device more than likely will be squarely targeted at enterprise.

In the press release (Japanese), the company highlights its ability to take photos and make calls, and also display multiple screens positioned anywhere around the user. Mizra promises a peak brightness of 1,000 nits, although it’s unclear if that’s referring to perceived brightness to the end user or the brightness of the 1,920 × 1,080 microOLEDs.

To boot, Mizra promises good weight distribution thanks to placing components closer to the back of the glasses’ struts. Both internal battery and processing (Qualcomm Snapdragon AR2 Gen1) is on board, however it boasts wireless connectivity to Snapdragon Spaces-compatible smartphones.

Image courtesy NTT QONOQ Devices

For now, the company has only certified the AQUOS R9 SH-51E, a Japan-only flagship from Sharp, however the company says more compatible phones will be announced in the future.

We’re still waiting for more clarity on launch regions, however it’s likely Mizra may be a Japan-only device. In the meantime, check out the specs below:

MiZRA Specs

• Weight:125g
• Size: Approx. 187mm (W) x 45mm (H) x 184mm (D) (when in use), Approx. 187mm (W) x 45mm (H) x 96mm (D) (stored)
• Chipset: Snapdragon® AR2 Gen1
• Display: Resolution: FHD (1,920 x 1,080), 45° FOV (diagonal), 1,000 nits brightness, MicroOLED binocular full color
• Optics: LetinAR’s unique thin mirror bar type optical module
• Battery: continuous use time: 1～1.5 hours, charged in under 2 hours using the included USB Type-C cable
• Camera: 1x front RGB camera (image quality: FHD), 2x side monochrome cameras
• Audio: 4x microphones, 2x speakers
• Other sensors: Touch sensor (for operation), Proximity sensor (for determining wearing status), Illuminance sensor (for automatic brightness adjustment), Acceleration/gyro/camera spatial recognition sensor (for 6DoF tracking)
• Connection: Bluetooth 5.0, Wi-Fi 6E

The post Sharp & Japan’s Largest Telecom Unveil Lightweight AR Glasses ‘MiZRA’ appeared first on Road to VR.

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This Mod Lets You Play ‘Star Wars Outlaws’ in VR

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Serial modder Luke Ross has released a new VR mod for the PC version of Star Wars Outlaws (2024).

Ross has been keeping up with the latest game releases it seems. Released only on August 30th, you can now play Star Wars Outlaws in VR.

Granted, the 6DOF mod uses gamepad and not VR controllers as such, and is probably best played in third-person, although you can adjust the camera to give some pretty great first-person views.

Check out YouTuber ‘Lord Beardsteak’ below make their away around Tatooine, showing off some the game’s impressive open-world environments:

If you haven’t had a chance to jump into Star Wars Outlaws, here’s how Ubisoft describes it:

Experience the first-ever open world Star Wars game, set between the events of The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. Explore distinct locations across the galaxy, both iconic and new. Risk it all as Kay Vess, a scoundrel seeking freedom and the means to start a new life, along with her companion Nix. Fight, steal, and outwit your way through the galaxy’s crime syndicates as you join the galaxy’s most wanted.

Like with many of Luke Ross’ R.E.A.L. VR mods, you’ll have to join their Patreon to get access, which starts at $10 per month. Once you join the Patreon, you’ll find documentation on how to install the mods (basically drag and drop) as well as suggested specs. Spoiler: you’ll need a beefy rig for almost any of Ross’ mods.

Ross is known for offering retroactive VR support for a host of PC games, including Horizon Forbidden West, Elden Ring, and Cyberpunk 2077 to name a few.

Earlier, Ross also modded a number of Rockstar Games titles, including GTA V, Red Dead Redemption 2, and Mafia II, however due to a dispute with the studio many of have been removed from the project’s Patreon, although continue to be available on GitHub.

The post This Mod Lets You Play ‘Star Wars Outlaws’ in VR appeared first on Road to VR.

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VR Attraction Expects 280 New Franchise Locations Over Next Four Years

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Sandbox VR, the location-based VR attraction, announced it’s planning to open up 280 new locations within the next four years.

Having recently opened its 50th store, located on the Gold Coast in Australia, projections of rapid growth are thanks to the company’s franchising program, kicked off in 2019.

The company notes that franchising has been “instrumental in making Sandbox VR the fastest growing location-based VR startup globally, and this US momentum signals continued rapid growth. Limited opportunities for prime locations and territory exclusivity are still available in the US.”

The company has also reported a 60% increase in franchise deals during Q2 of this year, noting that it now serves over 100,000 monthly players and has sold 1.2 million tickets in 2023.

This time last year Sandbox VR announced it had reeled in $23 million in revenue from Deadwood Valley, its most popular VR experience, which like all of their content is produced in-house.

More recently, the company released its officially licensed experience based on the hit Netflix show Squid Game. The company now counts eight VR experiences, which allow teams of up to six to join in.

The post VR Attraction Expects 280 New Franchise Locations Over Next Four Years appeared first on Road to VR.

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‘Hitman 3 VR: Reloaded’ for Quest 3 – A Visual & Mechanical Mess

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A rebuilt-for-Quest version of the celebrated stealth-action title Hitman 3 seemed almost too good to be true when we first heard about it earlier this summer. While that version technically exists now with the release of Hitman 3 VR: Reloaded, the Quest 3-native is unfortunately ambling out the gate as such a twitchy and ugly mess that you’re probably better off waiting to see whether developers XR Games can deliver the mechanical stability and visual appeal Hitman fans are most certainly accustomed to.

Hitman 3 VR: Reloaded Details:

Available On: Quest 3
Release Date: September 5th, 2024
Price: $30
Developer: XR Games

Gameplay

Before the initial gameplay trailer dropped last month, it seemed Hitman 3 was getting a stylized overhaul, maybe even offering up a cool comic book-style, cel shaded take on things as some images have suggested. Known for massive levels and tons NPCs, all of which have their own agendas, it seemed almost a forgone conclusion that something had to give in order to scrunch the game down to fit through Quest 3’s mobile chipset. Visuals would predictably need to be rejiggered as a way to make everything work. That’s cool. I’m ready for it.

But it seems a lot more than the game’s realism was sacrificed to port it over to Quest. While Hitman 3 VR: Reloaded is technically playable, much of the charm is sadly lost. Gone are a bulk of the game’s cinematic cutscenes, sumptuously detailed interiors, and the moody and expressive lighting. At least at launch, in its place are muddy textures, popping geometry, and blocky copy-paste NPCs—all of it smothered in flat and lifeless lighting that makes everything feel woefully under-baked. I would typically reserve that sort of critique for the Immersion section, but it’s so glaringly bad that it actively detracts from gameplay.

Nearly every mission suffers just as badly as the one seen above, which ought to have been a particularly epic reveal for the beginning of the game where you take on your first real mission in the Burj Khalifa-style skyscraper in Dubai.

One of the main issues (besides just plain looking bad) is the hindrance to object permanence. We’re constantly building mental maps of places and things within them, but if you can’t trust your own eyeballs in VR, what can you trust? Oftentimes I’d run up stairs in a panic, bolting from guards while searching for a hiding spot, only to be greeted with a sea of either blurry or popping textures, and a crowd of NPCs that hadn’t been there a moment before.

The studio says we’ll be getting a ‘Day 4’ update coming on September 9th which addresses the myriad of graphical issues identified by the studio itself, such as popping, texture quality, lighting, game stability when rendering large crowds—the works; not something you want to hear on launch day, or in a launch day review, no doubt.

Six of the same NPCs having a chat | Image captured by Road to VR

In all, it definitely feels like the glitchy and ugly visuals sours the underlying game, which I know from having played on flatscreen can be a thrilling and brain-scratching experience at the best of times, which easily entices the user to replay missions just so you can solve the big moving puzzle in fun and interesting ways.

That can be true with the VR version too, although the poor stability and general jitteriness of every interaction left me feeling more disassociated than wowed at the possibility of sneaking up behind an unsuspecting security guard and choking him out.

Image captured by Road to VR

You can technically do that by grabbing a dude with your own two hands (cool), although many actions are abstracted with ‘Press A to Interact’ instead of, you know, just interacting—a clear holdover from the flatscreen game that makes it feel more like a direct port than a game rebuilt from the ground up for VR. Climbing up a ladder, opening a door, picking up a body—all of them are ‘Press A to Interact’ moments.

I made it through multiple missions, but was so frustrated by the end of them that I never gravitated towards my usual tradition of replaying missions to get Silent Assassin. By the end, I just wanted to play something that wasn’t a blurry, muddy, unpredictable mess.

Immersion

While I’ve played Hitman 3 on flatscreen before, I never jumped into previous VR versions, which are offered as free DLC to HITMAN World of Assassination on both Steam and PS5. Since Hitman 3 VR: Reloaded is a standalone game exclusive to Quest—and you don’t have the flatscreen counterpart to fall back on if for some reason you’re not vibing with VR—it has to stand on its own two legs if it hopes to appeal to Quest users.

In short, if this is your first experience with Hitman, please (please) wait until you hear No Man’s Sky levels of glowing praise before jumping in. Some of its VR-native design shines through, although not nearly enough to make me want to recommend this over the flatscreen game given the state of things.

It’s a shame, because some fairly good VR stuff has made it through, such as a smartwatch with mission map and two hot slots for most-used inventory items for quick and easy holstering and re-holstering. Pulling out and tossing a coin to distract a guard is as effortless as taking it from your own pocket, which is basically ideal.

Image captured by Road to VR

Still, the game borrows a fair amount of stuff from the flatscreen version, including a bevy of 2D menu selection screens and 2D-style inventory selection, as well as automatic gun reload animations that just feels so out of sync with a game that’s meant to be a more immersive version. Shooting non-scoped weapons is mostly a natural experience, however I feel bullets fly very slowly.

And although understandable from a performance standpoint, sniper scopes don’t work as you’d expect. Raising a scoped rifle to your eye enters you into a gamey full-screen sniping mode that feels ripped straight from the flatscreen version.

But then, as I mentioned above, things popping in and out of view are a constant, with even very small levels suffering from this.

 

And yet, on the Horizon Store page you’ll find some rather smooth and snappy headlining images which were likely very carefully vetted to put the best foot forward. Still, the game simply does not consistently look this good right now.

Image courtesy XR Games

And the thing is, after playing on Quest 3, I’m not sure it ever will. Hitman 3 might have never been a good choice on current standalone hardware, as the massive simulation needs rock solid stability at its foundation, which it’s sorely lacking.

I wish the studio well in further refining the game and pushing visuals as far as they can, but it’s safe to say we’re still multiple updates away from reaching a minimum acceptable quality.

Comfort

Most of the standard comfort options are available on Hitman 3 VR: Reloaded, making it a very comfortable experience overall. As most levels are on single planes and don’t have an expectation of forced artificial locomotion, like with a minecart ride or something of that nature, VR novices and experts alike should be able to play without any issue.

‘Hitman 3 VR: Reloaded’ Comfort Settings – September 5th, 2024
Turning
Artificial turning
Snap-turn
Quick-turn
Smooth-turn
Movement
Artificial movement
Teleport-move
Dash-move
Smooth-move
Blinders
Head-based
Controller-based
Swappable movement hand
Posture
Standing mode
Seated mode
Artificial crouch
Real crouch
Accessibility
Subtitles
Languages	English, French, Italian, German, Spanish (Spain) Russian, Simplified Chinese, Japanese, Traditional Chinese
Dialogue audio
Languages	English
Adjustable difficulty
Two hands required
Real crouch required
Hearing required
Adjustable player height

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‘Fisherman’s Tale’ Studio Unveils Mysterious VR Adventure ‘One True Path’ for Quest 3 & PC VR, Trailer Here

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A Fisherman’s Tale studio InnerspaceVR today revealed its next game: One True Path, a narrative-driven VR adventure coming to Quest 3 and PC VR headsets starting this month.

InnerspaceVR calls One True Path its “most ambitious title to date,” which is slated to follow the studio’s patently mind-bending narrative style.

Here’s how the studio describes it:

After the end times. Beyond the badlands. Discover a post apocalyptic western introducing a fresh take on the VR shooter genre.

“You find yourself in a post-apocalyptic penitentiary… and you’re busting out. In one hand: a fistful of lightning! In the other, six shots of hot justice. Based on the bestselling ‘Prisoners of the Cyber-Hounds’ from the Fiendish Fates© gamebook series by Jack Stevenson, a new dimension of deranged adventure awaits… if you dare…”

‘Part 1’ of the game is coming to Meta Quest 3 and SteamVR headsets in early access later this month, however there’s still plenty to learn about One True Path.

We’re apparently in for a slow drip of info over the next few weeks leading up to early access, which is slated to take place “by the end of September.”

The studio says we should keep our eyes peeled on its YouTube channel for more teasers on the 11th and 18th of September.

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