VR
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Ten years later, Facebook’s Oculus acquisition hasn’t changed the world as expected
Every year, Time Magazine issues a list of the 200 best inventions of the past 12 months. Frankly, I don’t know how the editors do it. The dirty secret of this job is that true, game-changing inventions rarely cross your desk. In fact, you’re extraordinarily lucky if you average one a year. Oculus’ Rift prototype…
Meta now requires users to verify their age to use its Quest VR headsets
During the congressional online safety hearing in January, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg argued that mobile app store providers like Apple and Google should be the ones to implement parental controls…
Mindfulness and meditation apps have tremendous potential in the world of extended reality. The full immersion created by headsets like the Meta Quest and Apple Vision Pro offer great potential…
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HTC Vive became an enterprise product while you weren’t looking
A lot has changed at HTC in the decade since a small team broke off to form its mixed reality division. In fact, it’s a fundamentally different business in several meaningful ways. For one thing, you can’t call HTC a phone company any longer. Contrary to popular perception, the Taiwanese corporation does still produce handsets…
Sony’s PS VR2 is getting compatibility, possibly by end of year
PlayStation VR often gets overlooked in conversations about mixed reality. These days, it seems all anyone wants to talk about is Apple Vision Pro versus Meta Quest. But Sony has…
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VR sickness happens. Here’s how to avoid and treat it.
Over the past week, a number of people have reported returning their Vision Pros for a number of reasons, including issues around headset comfort and sickness. Returns are par for the course with any nascent technology. No matter how polished a first-generation product is upon release, there’s a very real sense in which it serves…
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Immersive gaming and fitness apps are the key to Vision Pro’s consumer appeal
The foundational vocabulary of any new medium is inherited from that of its predecessor. Take, for instance, the early days of television, when so many shows were effectively radio programs caught on film. The new medium’s success is dependent on the development of its own vocabulary, distinguishing itself from earlier paradigms. In the case of…
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Apple Vision Pro review: The infinite desktop
In 2000, Paradox Press published “Reinventing Comics: How Imagination and Technology Are Revolutionizing an Art Form.” The book was Scott McCloud’s follow-up to his seminal 1993 work, “Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art.” Where the earlier title explored the history and visual language of sequential art, the second volume finds the medium at a crossroads. The…
Apple releases its ambitious Vision Pro headset to consumers today, February 2. There are over 600 apps and games currently available on the visionOS store, with more to come. Although Netflix…
The much-hyped Apple Vision Pro headset has begun arriving for those who preordered it, or is available for a test drive for those wanting to give it an in-person demo.…
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Apple Vision Pro: Day Two
Last night, I fell asleep under the stars, the chirp of crickets intermingling with the old radiator’s whistle off in the distance. I just finished an episode of Justified: City Primeval on the big screen. It was a constant 68 degrees, but I tucked myself into the duvet, nonetheless. For tonight, I’m thinking the surface…
Meta Quest adds support for Apple’s Spatial Video ahead of Vision Pro launch
Apple’s brand-new Vision Pro headset has lost one of its competitive advantages over rivals, as Meta announced today that it, too, will add support for spatial video playback on its…
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Apple Vision Pro’s secret weapon? Mindfulness
More than anything, Apple’s Vision Pro is a beginning. There are moments while using it that feel like a porthole into a different world and — just maybe — the future. It’s imperfect, sure, but it’s an undeniable accomplishment after so many decades of extended reality false starts. Using the headset for even a few…
Soon you’ll be able to play Dungeons & Dragons in VR . . . if you want
Wizards of the Coast and Resolution Games have announced their collaboration to bring Dungeons & Dragons to virtual reality. The decades-old tabletop role-playing game has become increasingly popular over the…
Remember the Virtuix Omni? I’ll never forget trying out an early version of the virtual reality treadmill in a hotel suite many E3s ago. The system, which features a concave…
Only 150+ apps have been designed specifically for Apple’s Vision Pro, so far
It’s not just Netflix, Spotify, and YouTube that don’t have apps for Apple’s Vision Pro at launch. New App Store data indicates the new mixed reality headset and Apple’s foray…
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I spent the morning with the Apple Vision Pro
Update: The Vision Pro is now available for preorder on Apple’s site for $3,500. Apple has also offered a better look with a 10-minute “guided tour” of the device. It’s set to start shipping February 2. “Avatar” first arrived in theaters in 2009. It was a technological marvel that gave audiences one of the most…
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Will Apple’s Vision Pro launch be a Groundhog Day for immersive computing?
Apple’s Vision Pro headset is set to finally launch in the U.S. on February 2, at a retail price of $3,499. At that price, there’s no doubt it’ll have limited appeal, which seems just fine with Apple given reports about their initial sales expectations. Apple originally announced Vision Pro last June at its annual developer…
Qualcomm next-gen XR chip promises up to 4.3K resolution per eye
Just ahead of CES, Qualcomm today announced the next generation of its Snapdragon XR platform, the aptly named XR2+ Gen 2. The new system-on-a-chip promises up to a 4.3K resolution…
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The first annual VTuber Awards was a win for VR
On stream, Filian took the stage at the center of a colossal arena, lit with violet spotlights and surrounded by crowds of fans holding lightsticks. The streamer opened the show dressed in a vivid purple skirt, magenta bow tie and high white boots that matched her jacket — a ritzy version of her avatar’s usual…
Cruise ceases robotaxi operations, the Apple Watch gets a new feature and Carta tries to head off bad press
Hello, ghouls and goblins, and welcome to this Halloween Weekend edition of Week in Review (WiR), TechCrunch’s weekly tech recap in newsletter form. For our U.S.-based readers (and this reporter),…
Meta’s Quest 3 has now been available for over a week, and the reviews have largely praised the updated consumer mixed reality headset. In my own first impressions, I shared…
Mojo Vision’s Series A hits $43.5M, following pivot to micro-LED displays
Back in April, Mojo Vision announced a new $22.4 million Series A. Six months later, the round has nearly doubled to $43.5 million, courtesy of New Enterprise Associates (NEA) and…
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Meta Quest 3 takes a step closer to mainstream AR/VR
However this all plays out, 2023 will almost certainly be regarded as a pivotal year for AR and VR. After years of waiting for the category to have its iPhone moment, Apple finally unveiled the Vision Pro during WWDC back in June. It was everything we’ve come to expect from the company: big, boisterous and…
Transfr, a VR platform for workforce training, raises $40M
Transfr, a startup creating VR tools for training and career development, today announced that it raised $40 million in a Series C round led by ABS Capital with participation from…
Meta’s 512GB Quest 3 now comes with 6 months of the Quest+ subscription
Meta’s VR subscription service, Quest+, is now being bundled with the company’s Quest 3 mixed-reality headset. The subscription, which provides VR device owners the ability to two handpicked games from…
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Meta’s $500 Quest 3 targets consumer mixed reality
Meta’s Quest Pro arrived to a mixed reaction when it launched late last year. The consensus — if one can be found — was that the headset presented some impressive technological leaps over its consumer predecessor (the Quest 2), but the $1,500 price tag was ultimately prohibitively expensive. If that sounds at all familiar, it’s…
Meta Connect 2023: How to watch the Quest 3 reveal now at 10:30AM PT
Update: Meta’s moved the start time by 30 minutes to 10:30AM PT/1:30 PM ET. No explanation why, but the sun’s blazing on the presentation area, and crowds are milling about.…
After more than a year and a half in development, Meta is bringing Horizon Worlds out of the headset. The VR social app has started rolling out for some users…
It’s time to beta test Meta’s greatest technological innovation since the News Feed: legs. Now on Meta Quest headsets, you can download an update that lets you walk on two…