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Valve has filed a patent for a brand new VR controller with a linear hand strap adjuster to accommodate different user hand sizes.
According to the patent abstract, the new VR controller from Valve is meant for an electronic system, and it may include a linear hand strap adjuster to accommodate different hand sizes of users who may hold the controller in their hand. For example, a linear slot may be defined in the handle at a proximal end of the handle that is adjacent to the neck region where the handle is adjoined to the head. The linear slot may extend longitudinally along the handle. An anchor disposed within the linear slot may protrude from the outer surface of the handle to provide a point of attachment for an end of the hand strap. Accordingly, a first end of the hand strap is configured to be coupled to the anchor, and the anchor is movable along the linear slot to adjust the first end of the hand strap.
The new VR controller still features finger tracking, as per the patent description. The disclosed linear hand strap adjuster does not change the user’s grip on the handle, which helps to maintain a consistent finger placement on the handle, which, in turn, helps with the calibration of finger tracking sensors in the handle. No prototype images show the rear side of the controller, and, therefore, it’s difficult to get a look at the triggers. The image above shows that the controller has the ring going down similarly to PSVR 2 controllers. It also shows a system button. The primary idea Valve appears to want to highlight for the purpose of this patent is that users will be able to remove/replace the hand strap by design. As with all patents, however, it’s unknown if this one will ever materialize into an actual product.
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Gaming & VR
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Image: BackboneThe Backbone One controller is one of the best ways to unleash your smartphone’s gaming potential, and Backbone today revealed the third iteration of the gamepad (after the original iPhone and Android versions), featuring a major facelift that looks right at home alongside the PlayStation 5's stark white DualSense controller.These types of clamp-on smartphone controllers have been around for almost as long as touchscreen smartphones have, but until recently, they’ve been mostly niche products for playing the handful of mobile action and racing games that are actually worth playing, or as a way for fans of retro gaming to turn their phones into solid handheld emulation devices.Then 5G and wifi improvements helped make game streaming a viable thing a few years ago, and suddenly the smartphone you’ve already got in your pocket could be used used to play AAA titles from Microsoft and Sony that were otherwise only available on powerful consoles. Smartphone controllers became a must-have accessory, and while companies like Razer have been iterating them for quite some time, the Backbone One more or less knocked it out of the park on its first time at bat—so much so that the recently released Razer Kishi V2 looks like it borrowed a few ideas from Backbone.Image: BackboneThere’s no debating whether or not the new Backbone One: PlayStation Edition took inspiration from Sony’s hardware, because the folks at Backbone actually worked with the PlayStation team to recreate the colors and finish of the PS5 DualSense controller, right down to the transparent face buttons.G/O Media may get a commission22% OffSony 85-Inch 4K Smart TVThe biggest of screens This massive TV uses intelligent TV Processing thanks to a 4K HDR Proeccesor X1 to deliver unparalleled visuals for your TV shows, films, and games, has an amazing array of colors to draw from, and grants access to a bunch of streaming services thanks to Google TV and Google Assistant.Image: BackboneHowever, PlayStation fans will undoubtedly notice that the symmetrical analog joystick design that’s been a hallmark of Sony video game controllers for years was not carried over to the Backbone One: PlayStation Edition. According to Backbone, since the controller is designed to be “used primarily on mobile devices which have smaller form factors,” the asymmetrical joystick placement provides “a more natural ergonomic position on smaller screens so they can play the games they already love on PlayStation Remote Play with maximum comfort.”Screenshot: BackboneAs with previous versions, the Backbone One: PlayStation Edition controller works with the PS Remote Play app, but also any game or game streaming service that supports controllers, including Xbox game streaming. It’s not an accessory that’s exclusively for PlayStation gamers, although the Backbone app does offer a “customized PlayStation experience” with access to its library of games, and a new portrait mode allowing other content in the Backbone app to be more easily accessed without the controller attached.The Backbone One: PlayStation Edition controller is available starting today in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Sweden, Netherlands, and the UK for $100, with a wider release later on. However, like the original Backbone One, this special edition version will only be available for iPhones and iOS.
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Gaming & VR
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With the recent unveiling of the PlayStation VR2, Sony brings its virtual reality system to current console generations, proving that VR is here to stay. The Oculus Quest 2, Valve Index, and now the PS VR2 are just some of the headsets that people can use to explore historic locations, become characters in games, and even create unique avatars for socializing with friends. But the announcement of new VR systems always poses the same question–will disabled people be able to use them?Even though some VR games include accessibility options and inclusive design practices, like Polyarc Games’ Moss, which features the main character using ASL, VR’s reliance on physical movements can be a deterrent for many players with motor disabilities. Beyond that, the headsets and screen resolution can lead to numerous barriers for low-vision users, so much so that games without appropriate features or accessible design are completely unplayable. And as accessibility evolves, the presence of VR is indicative of an industry that still has much to learn.Accessibility consultant Erin “geekygimp” Hawley’s physical disability prevents her from enjoying many VR games. With muscular dystrophy, Hawley cannot stand and can only move her right hand a few inches; she cannot move her left. She has an Oculus Quest 2, but she is limited in what she can play.“VR is really not accessible for me. I have to hold the right controller at a weird angle to both reach the trigger button and aim the pointer at objects on the screen,” Hawley says. “The need to use both controllers and to reach objects that are up high locks me out of most apps and games. Also, when you have to turn your whole body to look at something, that’s almost impossible—I have to drive my wheelchair in a circle while holding on to the VR controllers.”Hawley acknowledges that developers are trying to make their games inclusive, and because VR is relatively new in terms of overall industry support, the opportunity to create accessible experiences is still being explored. Yet, without proper options or accessible design, Hawley cannot even access games or apps like historic simulations. Something like the Anne Frank House VR tour, an experience that should be accessible to all, is filled with barriers that make the tour impossible to complete.“I got to a part where I had to mimic opening a door, but there was no way I could do it with the controllers,” she says. “Why couldn’t there be an option to open the door with the press of a button? I understand the need to feel immersed, but I also can’t open a door in the real world, so it just ends up locking me out. Literally.”Hawley is not alone in her frustration. People like accessibility advocate Daniel “AccessibleDan” Gilbert and content creator Kristie “KristieMJM” Matheson cannot play VR games that require big movements. Like Hawley, Gilbert failed to make it through the Anne Frank House VR tour due to necessary motion controls. “At one point it requires the user to physically interact with the bookcase that leads to the tour, and I couldn’t progress. It really upset me that even educational content was inaccessible,” he says.For Matheson, a spinal cord injury at birth led to paralysis on the right side of her body, resulting in balance issues and weakness. Because of this, VR games that require extensive range of motion on both sides of the body are incredibly difficult to play. Further, the headset itself can negatively affect her balance. “Devs need to recognize that not everyone can do everything using all parts of their body and maybe need to sit down if playing games with VR,” she says. Despite her and Gilbert’s inability to play certain games, Matheson still believes VR can be accessible, if developers design games with disabled audiences in mind.“I think VR can be included in the future of accessible gaming, with the right consultation and testing. It just needs to be more open-minded when it comes to what its ideal gamer looks like.”People with motor disabilities are not the only ones who struggle. Individuals with chronic pain or limited vision also run into barriers in VR. Content creator Janae “Janey Laney” McPhaul and Kongregate producer Anne Teensma both criticize the egregious motions often required in VR games. For McPhaul, VR is only playable if games offer stationary modes and don’t require full arm movements. Even then, there are still times when she is unable to play. “When I am bedridden and cannot move my arms as much, I often find myself watching movies instead of actively playing or interacting,” McPhaul says.With Teensma, her disabilities make VR virtually unplayable. Her nearsightedness, coupled with hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, means that the overall shape and weight of a headset are not only uncomfortable but impractical.“I have yet to find a VR headset that sits comfortably on my face and fits over my glasses,” she says. “My choice is either to play without my glasses on—meaning at best I see a bunch of colored blurs with a weird bokeh effect due to my severe nearsightedness and astigmatism. Second, with chronic pain and heightened pain reception from hEDS, the weight of the headset means I physically cannot wear the headset for longer than maybe five to 10 minutes, if that.”Teensma’s critique, particularly with her inability to wear headsets because of her glasses and chronic pain, highlights a significant barrier when playing VR. For disabled players that require an aid, whether visual- or mobility-based, VR is incredibly restrictive, often forcing people to play a specific way without providing an alternative means of access.“Somewhere around 75 percent of adults and 25 percent of children and teens wear corrective lenses, and at least 10 percent of the world's population, if not more, experience some form of chronic pain,” she says. She urges players and developers alike to remember that “not everyone who wants to play VR has perfect vision or the ability to obtain or wear contacts, or a pain-free existence. Also, make more VR games that do not require so much physical movement, especially for those who may have mobility issues.”Content creator and accessibility consultant James Rath shares Teensma’s sentiments about the inaccessibility of VR for blind and low-vision users. Rath, who was born with ocular albinism, nystagmus, and astigmatism cannot play games unless screens are positioned inches from his face. And while VR headsets ultimately require that individuals place screens close to their eyes, the lack of options and features designed to benefit blind and low-vision users within games prevents Rath from fully enjoying them.“The biggest barrier is having a lack of options for adjusting visual settings such as text size, contrast settings, shaders, et cetera,” he says. “If developers make their games’ assets and UIs too small, it doesn’t matter how close to my face it is. I’ll be blind to it. I have used a Samsung Galaxy Gear VR and an HTC Vive. Both were manageable, but it was dependent on the app and the resolution at which apps were set to.”Aside from visual options, Rath notes that sound design is also crucial for him and for blind and low-vision individuals. And he says features like text-to-speech are not only great accessibility tools but could be thematically important for certain VR games or genres. “If I can have menus read aloud to me, fantastic,” he says. “It can also add to the feeling that many VR games or apps try to set you in a futuristic, hi-tech future. At the end of the day, just because the screens are so close to the eyes, don’t make UIs minuscule. If anything, allow the user to customize these text and menu sizes.”Accessibility in games is quickly becoming the norm. As studios continue to innovate and implement accessible features and inclusive design, disabled players can successfully access titles across a variety of platforms. Yet VR is still riddled with barriers, in both hardware and software, that prevent or discourage disabled players from enjoying a new experience. And as Erin Hawley notes, disabled people should never feel excluded.“Whenever a disabled person advocates for inclusion, even in gaming, and especially in tech, there’s this idea that ‘not everything is for everyone,’ and that’s just so wrong,” she says. “It is not only problematic to think disabled people shouldn’t have access to gaming, but that attitude stifles creativity and innovation. It stifles progress that can benefit disabled and nondisabled people alike.”More Great WIRED Stories📩 The latest on tech, science, and more: Get our newsletters!Driving while baked? Inside the high-tech quest to find outYou (might) need a patent for that woolly mammothSony's AI drives a race car like a champHow to sell your old smartwatch or fitness trackerCrypto is funding Ukraine's defense and hacktivists👁️ Explore AI like never before with our new database🏃🏽♀️ Want the best tools to get healthy? Check out our Gear team’s picks for the best fitness trackers, running gear (including shoes and socks), and best headphones
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Gaming & VR
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Oculus Quest 2 has dominated VR these last two years, so it’s unsurprising that standalone rivals continue popping up. While Bytedance is making waves with Pico 4, HTC has chiefly stuck to PC VR and business headsets with its Vive range, barring some odd exceptions. However, thanks to a recent leak, we’ve got a fresh look at HTC’s standalone plans. Marking a new contender for the best VR headset against Quest 2, YouTuber Brad Lynch revealed the HTC Vive Flowcus in a recent video. A successor to Vive Flow, Lynch avoids directly showing off any headset photos, which he claims were provided to him in black and white. Instead, he partnered with product designer Marcus Kane to offer realistic 3D renders based on those images. Citing “many industry sources,” Lynch details key specifications in this report. Reportedly, Flowcus uses pancake lenses with an LCD panel resolution of 1920 x 1920 per eye, powered by the Qualcomm XR2 Gen 1 chip previously seen in Quest 2. Lynch states that HTC’s new headset also uses four black-and-white tracking cameras, one RGB passthrough camera, and the same tracked controllers as Vive Focus 3. Claiming Flowcus will launch in early 2023, Lynch advises this headset’s targeting a “prosumer” audience like Meta Quest Pro. Clarifying further details after the video’s publication, they stated on Twitter that it would potentially cost over $1000. Naturally, pricing remains speculative until HTC officially reveals this upcoming VR headset. However, if true, that’s comparable to the HTC Vive Pro, which costs nearly $1,100 for the complete equipment. This isn’t the first time Lynch has been in the news recently. Back in September, a Quest 3 leak gave us our first look at Meta’s next headset via CAD images. While Oculus Quest 3 seemingly lacks the facial and eye tracking features seen in Meta Quest Pro, Lynch claims it’ll use the more powerful Qualcomm XR2 Gen 2 chip. Of course, this could change, and Meta’s likely tested multiple designs, so don’t take these specs as a given until its revealed.
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Gaming & VR
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Published on Jul 25, 2022 The rising popularity of virtual reality (VR) along with augmented reality (AR) technologies is driving the metaverse into a new realm of economic opportunities, one that transcends the digital and physical world. Virtual Reality (VR) engages users in an alternate universe that transcends physical and temporal boundaries. Within this virtual world, users can engage in activities they often perform in their everyday life, including shopping, working, and much more. They can create their personalized avatars and buy clothing to dress their avatars, thus projecting an individualized sense of style. This has led to a sudden rise in several digital-only fashion houses, like Fabricant, RTFKT, Auroboros, Republiqe, and more. Augmented Reality (AR) helps in enhancing visual experiences by adding digital real-world informational elements to a live view. This assists consumers in making a more informed decision. In retail applications, AR allows users to experience virtual products and holograms within their natural setting to make shopping decisions. With AR filters, consumers can try on digital garments without being present in real-world stores. These features facilitate delivering superior consumer shopping experiences, thereby boosting sales quality and minimizing returns. Read more: Shopping, Playing, or Working: How will you be spending your time in the Metaverse in 2026? Retailers and brand marketers are building online communities and transforming them into marketplaces to sell virtual goods and digital assets. Companies are augmenting and virtualizing their products to create a digital shopping experience like real-life ones by mimicking their in-store shopping. Retailers like IKEA, Home Depot, Walmart, Kohls, Shopify, etc., and fashion brands like Louis Vuitton, Gucci, Nike, Balenciaga, and more are providing AR-VR experiences to their consumers. With new-age consumers engaging in an immersive online experience through digital identities and virtual hangouts, the metaverse is becoming a primal venue for brand introductions, consumer interactions, and building footprints and loyalty. Focusing on Establishing a Seamless Integration With the physical world making a shift into the metaverse, expectations of customers are on the rise. With no longer a bifurcation between the physical and the digital, it is becoming transparent that a hybrid approach is what customers expect. With digitalization opening up new streams of revenues, brands are focusing on creating myriad opportunities to connect with customers and drive sales beyond their real-world stores. To tap into this new digital realm of opportunities, retailers are embarking on opportunities to meet their customers wherever they are, including the metaverse. According to a report published by JP Morgan, around $54 billion was spent on additional in-game content in 2020. A digital version of Gucci’s Dionysus Bag was created for the Roblox marketplace, which was sold for over $4,000 – more than the price of its real version. Read more: NFTs: The Future of Payment and Loyalty Programs What Opportunities will the Metaverse offer Retailers? The COVID-19 pandemic shifted major operations to online platforms for digital consumption. This has led to a stringent shift in customer experiences and expectations. At the same time, it has also enhanced the need for human interaction and the purpose of driving community. Shopping malls were centers for such connections: hubs for driving culture, leisure, and wellness activities along with shopping. With metaverse, this role is set to change as well as bring in new components to evolve online experiences for the consumers. A fusion of both worlds referred to as 'phygital,' metaverse is set to present a thriving and innovative environment for retailers. But what will consumers be doing there? Among the highly anticipated possibilities of shopping and owning non-fungible tokens (NFTs) - brands like Adidas, Gucci, and Vans are staking out a presence. Retailers are innovating to offer their customers the best of the digital and the best of the physical, along with opportunities to move easily between the two. Retailers and Fashion Brands The rapidly evolving metaverse market has opened new avenues of opportunities for traditional as well as emerging digital-only fashion brands. With the options to dress avatars in in-game skins and virtual garments, the metaverse is giving rise to a new commerce model for brands. There are almost 3 billion regular participants across multiple devices and platforms. The gaming industry yields billions in revenue from players, which is drawing in new as well as established brands across industries. Traditional as well as digital-only fashion houses are perceiving metaverse participation and offering a 'Direct-to-Avatar' (D2A) fashion lineups that comprise clothing items, shoes, accouterments, and much more. To connect and interact with their younger online consumers, brands are growing their treasure database of consumer behaviors to promote their products in the Metaverse. Top brands like Nike, Louis Vuitton, Ralph Lauren, Tommy Hilfiger, Balenciaga, Gucci, Vans, and more are creating beachheads in the D2A market to offer their consumers digital product collections. In August 2021, Ralph Lauren launched a 50-piece D2A collection on the social networking app Zepeto. The digital fashion house Fabricant is aimed at visualizing D2A collections for brands including Adidas, Puma, and Tommy Hilfiger. Gucci and North Face, in January 2021, released a joint D2A collection for Pokémon Go by employing Wanna technology. Read more: What Is Data Democratization? How is it Accelerating Digital Businesses? Nike has also been reading the metaverse race as it has been filing metaverse-related patent and trademark applications. To stay ahead of its competitors, Nike established Metaverse Studio and launched Nikeland on the Roblox platform - a virtual space with arenas for gameplay and D2A product showrooms. It has also joined with and acquired the virtual fashion startup RTFKT, a popular metaverse fashion firm that deals in selling digital sneakers. Meta, on June 20, 2022, established a metaverse fashion store where the consumer can buy avatar outfits designed and offered by brands like Balenciaga, Prada, and Thom Browne, for use on social platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and Messenger. The product lineup contains the quintessential Balenciaga look, including ripped jeans and a plaid shirt, a black skirt suit, a motocross jumpsuit, and low-rise jeans with a crop logo tee and logo briefs. Prada's lineup includes the white tank top with logo triangle and tiered skirt. And Thom Browne's lineup contains a shrunken gray three-piece suit, a pleated gray skirt suit, and a shorts outfit that is inspired by Browne's trademark uniform. Key Highlights The metaverse revolution is changing the way consumers buy retail products. Clothing brands including Adidas, Gucci, and Vans are preparing to establish their presence in the digital sphere. Instead of reducing physical sales, the metaverse is set to unlock opportunities for retailers, thereby bridging the gap in the physical as well as the digital world while creating a cohesive customer experience. To gain a successful run, phygital retailers are moving to incorporate innovative elements to offer their customers the best of the digital and the physical world, along with opportunities to move easily between the two. Read more: NFT Digital Art: The Technology that is Transforming Creativity The Rise of Endless Possibilities with Metaverse AR and VR technologies are profoundly changing the ways consumers interact with brands and retailers to make their purchase decisions. Advances in technology and virtual experiences are encouraging consumers to spend time in the immersive metaverse where 3D avatars will be a primary medium of interaction. With the gap between physical and virtual continuing to blur, projecting operations through digital avatars is likely to gain importance. Retailers and fashion brands are now transcending the physical boundaries and entering the virtual worlds to create digital products and runways and stay connected with the evolving customer base. Metaverse is expected to transform and revolutionize how consumers shop! Instead of reducing physical sales, the metaverse is set to unlock opportunities for retailers, infiltrating every sector in the coming years. This implies that physical footfall will no longer tell the entire story regarding shopping malls. In this metaverse future of retail - both the physical and digital worlds will work together in unison to put the customer at the heart of sensory as well as emotional experience to deliver what they really want. Shopping malls have existed at the center of communities. With people starting to gather in the metaverse, retail will coexist and work in harmony to offer a sense of connection. With a presence in New York, San Francisco, Austin, Seattle, Toronto, London, Zurich, Pune, Bengaluru, and Hyderabad, SG Analytics, a pioneer in Research and Analytics, offers tailor-made services to enterprises worldwide. A leader in the Technology domain, SG Analytics partners with global technology enterprises across market research and scalable analytics. Contact us today if you are in search of combining market research, analytics, and technology capabilities to design compelling business outcomes driven by technology.
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Gaming & VR
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Sure, your Sony PlayStation 5 comes with a built-in 825-gigabyte solid state drive. (Seriously, why not 1 TB?!) But did you know it also has an expansion slot you can use to add extra storage? If not, now you do, and it's honestly not that hard to install a second SSD and boost your PS5's capacity by several terabytes.With the file sizes of games getting larger to take advantage of the new technologies the PS5 has to offer—including ray tracing, the haptic feedback DualSense controllers, and 4K resolution—that 825 GB of internal space (of which only around 670 GB is usable) will only get you so far. Yes, you could plug in a compatible external drive, which is technically the cheaper option—but then you'd have to remember to take it with you when you lug your PS5 to your friend's place for a good ol' fashioned couch party. Installing a drive in the PS5's internal M.2 SSD expansion slot is actually one of the biggest upgrades you can make to the console. Once done, you can use the drive to store and play additional PS4 and PS5 games, launching them straight from the SSD. You can also use the added storage for media apps.Trust me, spend 15 minutes installing the M.2 SSD and you'll be thanking yourself for years (OK, maybe months) to come.Step 1: Pick a Compatible DriveWD_Black SN850 NVMe SSD
Photograph: Western DigitalNot every model of M.2 SSD will work with your PS5. And since they're not the cheapest drives, you'll want to make sure you select a model that is going to work.Before you get started, note that M.2 SSDs come both with or without a heatsink attached. You should select an SSD with a preinstalled heatsink to ensure the drive doesn't overheat while your PS5 is running. You could select a drive without a heatsink and then install your own heatsink on it, but that's a much more complicated process and not something I'd recommended for beginners. For those who want to take the BYO-heatsink route, Sony says that “single-sided cooling structures are an easier fit” within the rather tight confines of the PS5's expansion slot.Now let's select your drive. First, make sure its interface is a PCIe Gen4 M.2 NVMe SSD. Also make sure it's the right size. The PS5 supports sizes 2230, 2242, 2260, 2280, and 22110. The overall size of the drive, including the heatsink, should not be more than 25mm in width, 110mm in length, and 11.25mm in thickness. (For those of you installing your own heatsink, you have up to 8mm above the circuit board and up to 2.45mm below the board.) Sony recommends a minimum read speed of 5,500 megabytes per second for the drive, and a socket type of Socket 3 (Key M).For this guide, we're using the WD_Black SN850 NVMe SSD with heatsink, which comes in 500 GB ($150), 1 TB ($250), and 2 TB ($360) capacities.Phew! So now you've bought the drive and you're ready to install it. Read on.Step 2: Prep the Patient for SurgeryPhotograph: Saira MuellerBefore you power down your PS5 and unplug it, make sure it has the latest software installed. You can do this by navigating through the following menus on your PS5: Settings > System > System Software > System Software Update and Settings > Update System Software. If your PS5 says “Up to date” at this screen, then you're ready to go. Turn off your console and unplug it from the wall.To install your SSD you will need a clean, hard surface in a well-lit area—ideally one that is dust-free and clean of debris like pet hair that can drift inside your console while it's open. You'll also need a No. 1 Phillips or cross-head screwdriver. Step 3: Ground YourselfPhotograph: AmazonNo, I'm not talking about doing yoga or meditation here. Grounding yourself is an important step to ensure you don't accidentally damage your SSD or any of your PS5's internal components due to a discharge of built-up static electricity.Grounding essentially transfers any static charge from your body into a metal item that is either touching the ground or connected to other metals that are touching the ground themselves, ensuring that you don't transfer that static into your SSD or PS5.There are two easy ways to ground yourself before getting to work pulling apart your PS5. The first is by using a grounding wrist strap, which will set you back between $5 and $10 on Amazon or at an electronics shop. To use it, first attach the strap to your wrist, then attach the clip to an unpainted metal part of any object that's properly grounded. A computer, a radiator, a sewing machine, whatever's nearby.The second way is by touching an unpainted metal-grounded object (for example, the metal case on your PC). If you're just touching an item to ground yourself and not using a cable, it's worth doing this step once you've removed the cover of your PS5 but before you handle any of the internal components.Note: It's also never a bad idea to remove any metal rings from your fingers before getting started. And, if you're working on carpet, remove your socks if they're made of synthetic fabric or wool, as these can rub against the carpet and build up static electricity in your body.Step 4: Remove Your PS5's CoverPhotograph: Saira MuellerPosition your console so the PlayStation logo is facing down and the power outlet is on your right. Put your left hand in the bottom left corner of your PS5 to hold it tight, then use your right hand to grip the top right corner and gently pull up, away from the table and toward the sky. This should release the two plugs that attach the PS5 to the cover in that corner. Then, with your left hand in that bottom left corner, gently slide the cover toward you until it's completely removed.Don't worry if it takes you a little while to do this step. I failed to do it twice before I got it right, and it all comes down to that top right corner detaching properly.Step 5: Remove the Expansion Slot Cover and SSD ScrewPhotograph: Saira MuellerIt's time to unscrew things. Start by removing the rectangular metal expansion slot cover in the top left of your PS5, next to the fan.Using your screwdriver—and the good ol' lefty loosey, righty tighty mindset; in other words, turn it counterclockwise—remove the small screw at the top of the cover and set it aside for now. Be careful when removing it to make sure it doesn't fall inside the fan. Slide the cover toward the top edge of your PS5 so the clip detaches, then pull it out and set it aside.Once the cover is removed, you will see a green area with five screw holes. Depending on the size of the SSD you purchased, you will use one of these holes to secure your drive to the PS5.First, remove the SSD screw in the very top slot (110) and set it aside, but keep it within reach for now. Underneath the screw, you will see a silver spacer that looks like a little silver ring. This spacer is used to ensure your SSD properly lines up with the circuit board. If you don't already know what size your SSD is, measure it against the green area (with the metal prongs facing towards you and the hole for the screw at the top) to see which of the slots the spacer should sit in. Place the spacer in this hole.Step 6: Mount the SSDPhotograph: Saira MuellerTo install your SSD you will need to align its connection prongs, which should already be facing towards you, with the PS5's circuit board. The easiest way to do this is to tilt the SSD slightly, so the top (where the screw will go) is higher horizontally than the bottom. Then, firmly push the SSD into the board until you hear it click into place.Next, gently push the top of the SSD down so the hole at the top aligns with the hole where you placed the spacer. Fasten the SSD by twisting the screw back into the spacer.You're almost done! Reattach your expansion slot cover by tilting it the same way you did the SSD, so the clip at the bottom aligns with the hole, then firmly press it down and screw it back in.Step 7: Replace the PS5's CoverPhotograph: Saira MuellerThis part is easier than it looks—trust me. Align those two prongs in the top right corner, then press and slide the cover back into place until you hear it click.Step 8: Power Up the PS5 and Format the SSDPhotograph: Saira MuellerNow it's time to see all your effort pay off. Plug in your PS5 and turn it back on. The first thing you should see is a screen saying you need to format your M.2 SSD in order to use it. There are two choices at the bottom of the screen. The one on the left says “Don't Format and Turn Off PS5” and the one on the right says “Format M.2 SSD.” Select the option to format your new drive.Once your SSD has been formatted, your PS5 will bring up a new screen that shows you the read speed of your drive and then another screen saying it has been successfully formatted. To change the drive your games are installed on, navigate through the following menus: Settings > Storage > Installation Location and choose the M.2 as the new location. Happy gaming!More Great WIRED Stories📩 The latest on tech, science, and more: Get our newsletters!Weighing Big Tech's promise to Black AmericaWhat can convince people to just get vaccinated already?Facebook failed the people who tried to improve itDune is an exercise in delayed gratification11 key security settings in Windows 11👁️ Explore AI like never before with our new database📱 Torn between the latest phones? Never fear—check out our iPhone buying guide and favorite Android phones
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Gaming & VR
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Lowe's Metaverse Open Builder.Courtesy: Lowe'sIt seems like every company is getting into the metaverse these days. Lowe's doesn't want to miss out on the opportunity to use it to help builders imagine projects. But unlike other retailers that chose a particular virtual platform or game like Fortnite or Roblox, Lowe's metaverse assets – including free downloads of 500 product assets, including items such as chairs – are available on its own hub."It's all emerging, and it's all up for exploration," Lowe's executive vice president and chief brand and marketing officer Marisa Thalberg told CNBC in an exclusive interview. The retailer decided not to choose one metaverse platform but rather "a kind of an agnostic and kind of democratized approach," she said.While other brands have found immediate ways to make money in the metaverse, even on an experimental basis, Thalberg said "this isn't about immediately jumping in and trying to make an event or immediately commoditizing it." Rather, she told CNBC, "our goal really is to take this new frontier and help people use their imaginations and help them make their virtual spaces as exciting and inspirational and enjoyable as their real world spaces. And that's the only benefit we seek to obtain at this point."At least that's the only stated benefit. As the first major home improvement retailer to enter the metaverse and make its applicable assets available for free, no doubt a key goal is watching consumer behavior to eventually capitalize on the opportunity that might exist. The assets are based on real products the company currently sells online and in its stores. Lowe's Metaverse Open Builder.Courtesy: Lowe'sAnalysts see a big breakthrough coming for the metaverse. By 2026, a quarter of consumers will spend at least one hour per day in the metaverse, said consulting and research firm Gartner estimates. Morgan Stanley estimates the total addressable market for advertising and e-commerce opportunities could be worth $8.3 trillion in the metaverse, with $697 billion in home and home related spending. The firm lists walking through "home renovation plans" as an example."Just last year, it was estimated that about $100 billion were spent on virtual goods inside gaming platforms. That doesn't even include NFTs," said Futures Intelligence Group CEO and chief metaverse officer Cathy Hackl.Metaverse participants have, in some cases, already paid thousands of dollars for unique non-fungible tokens to outfit aviators from luxury and fashion brands like Gucci, Balenciaga, Dolce & Gabbana and Ralph Lauren. Gucci saw 19 million visitors to its Gucci Garden on Roblox. Dolce & Gabbana sold an NFT called "The Glass Suit," with an accompanying physical garment, for over $1 million.For its part, Lowe's is releasing a free, limited NFT collection of boots, hardhats and other related accessories for builders on the Decentraland platform to the first 1,000 participants.Seemantini Godbole, Lowe's executive vice president and chief information officer, told CNBC in an exclusive interview the retailer is applying many of the principles it currently uses for shoppers for this metaverse project. "What we have noticed in our current mediums like Lowes.com and in our stores ... people like to experiment and while they're shopping and getting inspired they like to put things together in the virtual world before they start their project," she said. "It's the same idea for the metaverse. That you want them to experiment, feel and understand how it's going to look before they start the project in the real world." Lowe's Metaverse Open Builder.Courtesy: Lowe'sGodbole said many of these metaverse assets had already been created as 3D digital versions of physical products available for purchase, to help online shoppers visualize the real-life dimensions and features. Lowe's is already using virtual and augmented reality technology to allow shoppers to design an entire kitchen online or map their home's floor plan using their smartphone as examples."There is just a huge appetite from our customers to use emerging technology" like the VR and AR tools Godbole said. "We are applying some of those lessons in the metaverse."Right now, Lowe's isn't offering a physical good with the purchase of a virtual one, or any link back to its website from any metaverse platforms, Godbole said. But that could change. "In the future, we could absolutely think about, how do all these different things link, and make sure that [metaverse users] are able to shop these items on Lowe's dot com or in our stores," she said.Thalberg acknowledged that the typical metaverse participant "skews really young," likely younger than the typical Lowe's shopper or homeowner today. "But if you look at kids who've used platforms like Minecraft and Roblox, a lot of what they do there, is fascinatingly enough, build and design. This idea of being able to build and decorate and design and improve is kind of core to how these spaces are emerging," she said. "And so if we catch them young, that's great, but we see a real utility too, as we look to a huge wave of millennial new homeowners who aren't afraid of technology."
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Gaming & VR
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With the holidays fast approaching, ‘tis the season for companies to reveal all the shiny new gadgets they want showing up on wish lists. Today is Meta’s turn, with CEO Mark Zuckerberg expected to reveal all the details on Project Cambria (rumored to be called the Meta Quest Pro)—its next generation virtual reality headset—at its Meta Connect conference. Anyone can tune in to watch the event when it streams starting at 1 PM ET today.OffEnglishA year ago, Facebook revealed a major rebranding, with the company changing its name to Meta and making a major push towards realizing the metaverse: a somewhat vague and buzzwordy term for a virtual reality platform where people can play games, shop, work, and interact with each other, all while wearing a VR headset, like the Meta Quest 2.Despite a significant $100 price bump announced for the Meta Quest 2 back in July, the headset remains one of the most popular virtual reality solutions available to consumers, selling almost 15 million units since its debut in 2020. But two years is an eternity for VR hardware to go unchanged, as the definition of virtual reality endlessly morphs and evolves. That’s why Meta has been teasing its Quest 2 follow-up over the past year. Codenamed Project Cambria, but rumored to officially be called the Meta Quest Pro, it could significantly exceed $800. We’ll know for certain how Meta plans to further shape the metaverse starting at 1pm EST today as CEO Mark Zuckerberg takes the stage for an opening Meta Connect keynote speech that will include the big Cambria reveal. You can tune into the event’s livestream through the Reality Lab’s Facebook page, or, if you have access to a Meta Quest 2 headset, you can also register and experience the event in the metaverse itself inside Horizon Worlds. If you go that route, you’ll probably want to keep a backup battery on hand for your headset, as today’s presentation is expected to run for five hours, including an address by John Carmack starting at 5:30pm EST.
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Gaming & VR
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A year after changing its name, the company formerly known as Facebook has revealed its plans to give the metaverse legs – literally.Mark Zuckerberg’s virtual reality project is getting a raft of additions including $1,499 (£1,356) “pro” headset, integration with Microsoft Office and the sitcom The Office, and, yes, the ambulatory appendages.Legs join shoulders and knees, though not yet toes, as part of an upcoming visual overhaul of the avatars in Meta’s Horizon virtual worlds, Zuckerberg revealed. Currently, other users simply hover slightly above the ground, with heads, arms and torsos rendered in a cartoony style but bodies ending at the waist. As a result, legs are “probably the most requested feature on our roadmap, the chief executive and co-founder said.“But seriously, legs are hard, which is why other virtual reality systems don’t have them either.” The company’s systems will now try to guess the position of users’ legs and feet using a number of inputs, from direct visual tracking using front-facing cameras to more advanced attempts to predict their movement with just the motion of the head and hands, based on models of human anatomy.Derision of Horizon’s avatars has prompted irritation from Zuckerberg in the past. In August, a post from the Facebook founder of his glassy-eyed figure standing in front of a virtual Eiffel Tower went viral on social media, with people mocking the vaguely soulless appearance of the virtual world. In response, he shared a render of a more realistic version of his virtual face a few days later. “I know the photo I posted earlier this week was pretty basic – it was taken very quickly to celebrate a launch,” he said. “The graphics in Horizon are capable of much more.”While legs may have been the most-requested feature, the star of Meta’s Connect event was the Quest Pro headset, a new business-focused device that will sell for $1,499 and push what is possible in virtual reality forward. The headset introduces two new headline features to Meta’s VR lineup: eye tracking and “passthrough” mixed reality.The former uses tiny cameras mounted on the inside of the headset to track where in the virtual world a user is looking. That lets developers offer experiences that respond to a user’s attention, from virtual characters that react to being looked at to interfaces that can be activated with a glance. But it also enables whole new levels of surveillance, with advertisers potentially able to assess exactly who has looked at what promotions for how long.Passthrough mixed reality attempts to offer a similar experience to devices such as Magic Leap and Microsoft’s HoloLens AR glasses, layering a virtual experience on top of the real world. But rather than experimenting with holographic lenses like those two devices, the Quest Pro uses high-resolution front-facing cameras to simply record the real world and then display it on the interior screens. That turns a display technology challenge into one of computing speed, since the device needs to be able to process and display the live footage rapidly enough to have zero lag, or users would get horrible motion sickness.Neither feature is cheap, and Zuckerberg implied the Quest Pro will be sold at a loss despite costing $1,100 more than its mainstream Quest 2 headset. “The strategy overall is not to make money on the hardware,” he told tech site The Verge, though “there are lots of different ways to basically do the accounting on this.”But the market for the Pro is professional users. “If I could give all of our engineers a device and have them be 3% more productive, I’d give them a $1,500 device, for sure,” he added. To that end, the company announced new deals with partners including NBC, which will bring experiences based on The Office sitcom to the platform, as well as Microsoft, which is a version of Office, Teams and even Xbox Game Pass for the Quest platform.
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Gaming & VR
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OpenAI, the Elon Musk-founded artificial intelligence startup behind popular DALL-E text-to-image generator, announced on Tuesday the release of its newest picture-making machine POINT-E, which can produce 3D point clouds directly from text prompts. Whereas existing systems like Google's DreamFusion typically require multiple hours — and GPUs — to generate their images, Point-E only needs one GPU and a minute or two.
OpenAI
3D modeling is used across a variety industries and applications. The CGI effects of modern movie blockbusters, video games, VR and AR, NASA's moon crater mapping missions, Google's heritage site preservation projects, and Meta's vision for the Metaverse all hinge on 3D modeling capabilities. However, creating photorealistic 3D images is still a resource and time consuming process, despite NVIDIA's work to automate object generation and Epic Game's RealityCapture mobile app, which allows anyone with an iOS phone to scan real-world objects as 3D images.
Text-to-Image systems like OpenAI's DALL-E 2 and Craiyon, DeepAI, Prisma Lab's Lensa, or HuggingFace's Stable Diffusion, have rapidly gained popularity, notoriety and infamy in recent years. Text-to-3D is an offshoot of that research. Point-E, unlike similar systems, "leverages a large corpus of (text, image) pairs, allowing it to follow diverse and complex prompts, while our image-to-3D model is trained on a smaller dataset of (image, 3D) pairs," the OpenAI research team led by Alex Nichol wrote in Point·E: A System for Generating 3D Point Clouds from Complex Prompts, published last week. "To produce a 3D object from a text prompt, we first sample an image using the text-to-image model, and then sample a 3D object conditioned on the sampled image. Both of these steps can be performed in a number of seconds, and do not require expensive optimization procedures."
OpenAI
If you were to input a text prompt, say, "A cat eating a burrito," Point-E will first generate a synthetic view 3D rendering of said burrito-eating cat. It will then run that generated image through a series of diffusion models to create the 3D, RGB point cloud of the initial image — first producing a coarse 1,024-point cloud model, then a finer 4,096-point. "In practice, we assume that the image contains the relevant information from the text, and do not explicitly condition the point clouds on the text," the research team points out.
These diffusion models were each trained on "millions" of 3d models, all converted into a standardized format. "While our method performs worse on this evaluation than state-of-the-art techniques," the team concedes, "it produces samples in a small fraction of the time." If you'd like to try it out for yourself, OpenAI has posted the projects open-source code on Github.All products recommended by Engadget are selected by our editorial team, independent of our parent company. Some of our stories include affiliate links. If you buy something through one of these links, we may earn an affiliate commission. All prices are correct at the time of publishing.
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Gaming & VR
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The best gaming laptops make playing your favorite games a transformative experience. With the right pick, you'll be enjoying desktop-level hardware, high frame rates, top detail settings and maybe a little ray tracing in compatible games—all on the go, if you so choose. The Razer Blade 15 continues to be one of the best gaming laptops in the world in 2022. Razer Today’s best gaming laptops are faster than ever, and gone are the overweight designs of yesteryear, too. In fact, they're almost as lean as some of the top laptops on the market, and some could almost be considered lightweight. You don’t need to spend ton, either, with gaming laptops under $500 that can keep up, depending on the games you like to play. With high-end components, a great gaming laptop can feel like taking your desktop with you wherever you go—perfect for LAN parties or being ready for a game at any time. Whether you’re searching for a top-of-the-line machine or an affordable option that’s excellent for esports and older AAA games, here are some of the best gaming laptops of 2022. Best Gaming Laptop Overall: Razer Blade 15 Advanced Best 17-inch Gaming Laptop: Alienware X17 R2 Best Gaming Laptop Under $500: Lenovo IdeaPad 3 14 Best Gaming Laptop Under $1,000: MSI GF65 Best Lightweight Gaming Laptop: MSI Stealth 15M Best Laptop for School and Gaming: Asus Zephyrus 14 Best Budget Gaming Laptop: MSI GF63 Best 300Hz Gaming Laptop: Asus Strix Scar G15 Best Gaming Laptop Overall
Cutting Edge Hardware In a Streamlined Chassis CPU: Intel Core i7 12800H GPU: Nvidia RTX 3070 Ti Storage and Memory: 1TB SSD, 16GB DDR5 Display: 15.6-inch, 2560 x 1440, 240Hz Who it’s for: Gamers who want a do-it-all high-end gaming machine to fit in with their other Razer accessories. The Razer Blade 15 Advanced features the most cutting edge mobile gaming hardware money can buy. From its Intel Alder Lake 12th-generation 12800H processor to its NVIDIA RTX 3070 Ti graphics chip and high-refresh rate QHD screen, this is a new laptop for a new year, with a lot of new hardware. That means big gains in graphical performance, especially with it fully leveraging Nvidia's Ampere architecture to deliver higher frame rates, finer detail settings and better support for higher resolutions, like the 144op display it dons. It features Razer's iconic Blade build quality with a sleek finish on every surface, a minimalist chassis with thin bezels, and the classy Razer Chroma backlighting for the keyboard. Inside, it also comes with 16GB of RAM, a terabyte of fast storage, and a capable and quiet cooling solution. Other hardware options include the new RTX 3080 Ti graphics chip for even more GPU power, and both 1080p and 4K screens, perfect for juggling performance in esports titles or cranking the visuals in more atmospheric single player experiences. A great quality of life upgrade with this edition of the Blade is the revamped keyboard. With new, bigger keycaps and the snappy responsive switches, it's a more comfortable and accurate keyboard for typing and gaming over longer sessions. You don't need to worry about the layout feeling different, however, as Razer has also reduced the size of the gaps between the keys, so the overall size of the keyboard remains the same. Battery life isn't extensive with such a high-end configuration, but you can get a few hours of play away from a power socket — just don't be gone for long, and note that you'll get the best performance with this laptop plugged in. Pros High-end components Excellent build quality Runs cool and quiet Cons Expensive forbes.comRazer Promo Codes | 20% Off In June 2022 | Forbes
Best 17-inch Gaming Laptop
Big, Bold, And Beautiful CPU: Intel Core i7 12700H GPU: Nvidia RTX 3070 Ti Storage and Memory: 1TB SSD, 16GB LPDDR5 Display: 17.3-inch, 1920 x 1080, 360Hz Who it’s for: Gamers who want to play on a big-screen with a mains socket nearby. Gaming laptops aren't gaming desktops, but with some of the larger designs you can get something that's pretty close. The Alienware x17 R2 is one such gaming laptop, with a giant 17-inch screen that looks simply gorgeous whatever you're playing. That extra size also gives it plenty of room for powerful components, delivering fantastic performance for high-speed gaming. It's still a pretty trim laptop, however, so while it isn't lightweight, it's more portable than many of its contemporaries at similar sizes. Inside this chassis is a monstrous hardware combination, pairing the Intel Core i7-12700H CPU with all of its 14 cores (6P + 8E) all running at up to 4.7GHz when boosted, with 16GB of high-speed new generation LPDDR5 memory. That gives this more general compute power than even the best gaming laptops from last year, and when combined with the Nvidia RTX 3070 Ti, it's a stellar gaming laptop with all the power you need to play just about anything. That's what it's targeting, too, as though it has heaps of GPU power, this laptop has a 1080p display. That's a relatively low resolution for a high-end laptop, but where some gaming laptops target higher resolutions, this one goes for frames. With a 360Hz refresh rate, this laptop makes high-speed games look gorgeously smooth, and if you're playing against other players, it'll even give you an edge by lowering your response time and input lag. Battery life isn't extensive (that’s to be expected with such a powerful laptop), but it does stay pretty cool due to advances in Dell's cooling technologies. The overall look of the laptop is stellar, too, giving you a really different looking laptop without it screaming "gamer" at anyone who dares look its way. As this size, with this power, this is easily the best 17-inch gaming laptop you can buy in 2022. Pros Big, super-fast display for competitive gaming High-end hardware can play anything at high FPS Gorgeous design Cons Bulky Poor battery life Best Gaming Laptop Under $500
A Decent Budget Gaming Laptop CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 5500U GPU: AMD Radeon 7 Storage and Memory: 256GB SSD, 8GB DDR4 Display: 14-inches, 1920 x 1080, 60Hz Who it’s for: Gamers on a budget who don't want to play the latest AAA games. Most gaming laptops start their pricing around the $800 mark, but that doesn't mean you can't get a gaming laptop if your budget is lower. The Lenovo IdeaPad 3 14 isn't a gaming-laptop per say, but it's a laptop with all the power you need to start gaming. It has an AMD Ryzen 5500U processor with onboard Radeon Vega graphics which are powerful enough for all sorts of indie games, and esports games. It'll even play older AAA games too, though you'll need to play with the settings to keep the frame rates comfortable. The 1080p display is bright and vibrant, and you get a full 256GB of SSD storage. That's not a lot, but it's more than enough for Windos and a handful of even modern games. There's also 8GB of RAM, which again isn't a lot, but it's upgradeable, so if you need more or want a little performance bump in the future, doing that will give This laptop enjoys Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.0 support, and comes with a USB-C connector modern convenience. Cooling in this laptop is solid, and when combined with the relatively efficient hardware, it stays cool and quiet during even heavy gaming. It also has great battery life, lasting over 10 hours of mixed usage or well over five when gaming. This isn't a gaming laptop, but it can game and it does it well, especially for such an affordable price. Pros Playable esports gaming performance at a low price CPU and SSD keep general use snappy and responsive Cool and quiet even when gaming Cons Onboard graphics are underpowered for AAA gaming 256GB SSD doesn't have much space for bigger game libraries Best Gaming Laptop Under $1,000
A Great Budget Gaming Laptop CPU: Intel Core i7 10500H GPU: Nvidia RTX 3060 Storage and Memory: 512GB SSD, 8GB DDR4 Display: 15.6-inch, 1920 x 1080, 144Hz Who it’s for: Gamers on a budget who still want to enjoy new-generation gaming performance. The $1,000 mark is the point where you start to get a seriously good gaming laptop for your money—and that's even better if you can get it at a serious discount. With the MSI GF65, you get just that and then some, with a combination of new generation and recent generation hardware delivering fantastic performance at a price well south of $1,000. At $850, there's nothing quite like it for delivering impressive gaming performance at 1080p, whether you're playing esports games or dipping your toe into something more graphically demanding. The GF65 has a potent combination of components under the hood, twinning the Intel Core i5-10500H processor with the Nvidia RTX 3060 graphics chip. Together they give you all the performance you need to drive the vibrant 144Hz display, letting you enjoy smooth animations and a responsive gaming experience in competitive titles. You get half a terabyte of storage with this laptop, which isn't huge, but it's more than enough for a handful of your favorite games. There's full support for Wi-Fi 6 right out of the box, so you can enjoy fast networking, and you can go searching for this high-speed networks without worry too, thanks to the relatively trim four pound weight of this portable and powerful gaming laptop. When you do sit down to game with the MSI GF65, there are plenty of ports you can take advantage of. Whether you're looking to plug in a gaming mouse, a headset or even a high-speed Ethernet cable for a more reliable connection, this laptop lets you. It comes with two USB-C 3.2 Gen1 ports, two USB-A 3.2 Gen 1 ports, an HDMI output, an RJ45 Ethernet connector and a 3.5mm headphone jack. Pros Excellent performance for the price Supports DLSS and ray tracing with new-gen GPU Great gaming display Cons CPU is outdated, but still capable 8GB of RAM is a little weak Best Lightweight Gaming Laptop
Super Portable And Super Powerful CPU: Intel Core i7-11375H GPU: Nvidia RTX 3060 Storage and Memory: 1TB SSD, 16GB DDR4 Display: 15.6-inch, 1920 x 1080, 144Hz Who it’s for: Gamers who don't want it to be obvious that their laptop can play. If you want a gaming laptop that doesn't look like a gaming laptop, then the MSI Stealth 15M is a great buy. It has powerful internal components, whilst looking like any other professional workstation out there. Better yet, it's lightweight and portable, giving you the day to day easy use of an ultrabook, with all the power of a gaming laptop. It makes this configuration a little more expensive than it would be in a more typical gaming laptop, but if you want the best of both worlds, this is the perfect laptop for the job. At just 3.7 pounds, the MSI Stealth 15M is well under the typical 4-5 pound mark of most modest gaming laptops, and at 15 inches, it offers plenty of screen space while still being easy to fit into a backpack or laptop messenger bag. The Intel Core i7-11375H and NVIDIA RTX 3060 offer stellar gaming performance in esports and AAA games, letting you enjoy the 1080p 144Hz screen to its fullest at an affordable price. With all of that, this laptop not only has solid performance, but a great selection of up to date features, including cutting edge connectivity in Thunderbolt 4 and USB 4.0. Pros Super sleek look and feel Very lightweight and portable Solid gaming performance, despite size Cons You can get more performance for your money Best Laptop for Gaming and School
Good At Everything CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 5900HS GPU: Nvidia RTX 3060 Storage and Memory: 1TB SSD, 16GB DDR4 Display: 14-inches, 2560 x 1440, 120Hz Who it’s for: Anyone who wants a great all-round laptop with solid gaming performance. The Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 has been one of the best gaming laptops for a few generations now, and that's no different this time around. It's a lean and lightweight gaming laptop that is portable, understated, and very powerful, with a potent selection of internal components. It has an AMD Ryzen 5900HS processor teamed up with Nvidia's excellent RTX 3060 mobile GPU. Together they deliver fantastic mid-range gaming performance; perfect for esports gaming, or playing the latest AAA titles with some of the settings turned to medium. The eight-core CPU gives you all the multi-threaded performance you need for both gaming and more intensive professional tasks like video editing and transcoding. If you're just throwing a few Office tasks at it, it'll blow through them with ease, even if you're working with large spreadsheets or lengthy documents. It's the combination of that CPU with the Nvidia RTX 3060 mobile GPU that makes it truly special, though. It gives great performance in esports games and AAA titles, and in games where the frame rate climbs high, you can really enjoy a smoother gaming experience thanks to the 120Hz display. Better yet, it'll give you a competitive edge over gamers with slower screens, and the keyboard is both comfortable and accurate with plenty of travel for such a thin frame. There's heaps of storage space (1TB SSD) and all the RAM (16GB DDR4) you'll need for current and next-gen games. With support for the latest Wi-Fi 6 standards, you'll have access to the fastest network speeds no matter where you want to play too. At just 3.5 pounds, this powerful little laptop won't hold you back when gaming on the go, and its sleek white paint job really helps it stand out from the crowds of RGB-lit black and silver. Pros Great blend of performance and portability Comfortable and accurate keyboard Stand-out looks Cons CPU is a generation old Best Budget Gaming Laptop
An Affordable Gaming Laptop With Real Power Specs: CPU: Intel Core i7-11800H GPU: Nvidia RTX 3060 Storage and Memory: 512GB SSD, 16GB DDR4 Display: 15.6-inches, 1920 x 1080, 144Hz Who it’s for: Gamers who want a compact, attractive laptop with impressive performance, at a great price. The entire Acer Predator line of affordable gaming laptops is great, but the Predator Helios 300 is something quite special. At around the $1,200 mark, it's just starting to nudge into the mid-range laptop territory and that brings with it a lot of advantages. This is a capable gaming laptop built to a great standard, and with some very capable hardware inside. Under the hood there's the eight core Intel Core i7-11800H CPU — one of the best gaming CPUs of its generation. It's paired with Nvidia's RTX 3060 GPU, a graphics chip more than capable of handling 1080p for just about any game, esports or AAA. You might not always hit the 144Hz refresh rate limit in higher-end games, but load up an older esports games and you'll blow past that sort of FPS easily. That performance can be maintained over longer gaming sessions, too, thanks to the Helios 300's excellent cooling system. It also stays relatively quiet, despite its effectiveness, so you don't have to play in headphones to have a focused gaming experience. Acer has also made it easy to upgrade this model, so if in the future you need more RAM or additional storage space, just pop the back panels off and install the drive or sticks that you need. This is by no means a cheap gaming laptop, but it still makes the most of your budget to come in at an attractive price. Pros High-end performance at an affordable price Upgradeable design Strong cooling keeps the laptop cool and quiet Cons Older processor isn't as strong as new-gen options Best 300Hz Gaming Laptop
A Last-Gen Flagship CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 5900HX GPU: Nvidia RTX 3070 Storage and Memory: 1TB SSD, 16GB DDR4 Display: 15.6-inches, 1920 x 1080, 300Hz Who it’s for: Esports gamers who want a competitive edge. It's been proved time and again that playing high-paced games on a fast gaming laptop can give you a greater chance of winning. With higher frame rates on a higher refresh rate display, you can enjoy a more responsive gaming experience, giving you a chance to get your opponent before they get you. With its high-end components and powerful 300Hz 1080p display, this laptop has all the power and speed you need to get every competitive edge possible. Now you need to only worry about raising your game, not your hardware holding you back. This was arguably the best gaming laptop you could buy in 2021, and it still holds its own in 2022. Combining an AMD Ryzen 5900HX eight core processor with an Nvidia RTX 3070 mobile graphics chip, you have all the power you need to play the latest games at the highest detail settings. Its 1080p display may not be super high resolution, but the 300Hz refresh rate helps make the action buttery smooth no matter what you're playing. It's especially important in esports games, where not only will the action look smooth when you hit those high frame rates, but you'll get a few milliseconds advantage over your opponents. Asus put a lot of effort into this laptop’s cooling. It uses the iconic liquid metal thermal compound from Thermal Grizzly to maximize heat dissipation through the intelligent cooling system, which helps prevent noise levels from ever getting too high and ensures that you maintain maximum performance even when the laptop starts to warm up. Pros The fastest gaming laptop display you can buy Strong hardware helps hit high frame rates Unique look Cons Hardware is overkill for most esports games Who Makes The Best Gaming Laptops?
Part of the reason that modern gaming laptops are so exciting is because there is so much competition. There are no longer just a couple of decent brands.
The best brands for gaming laptops today are Razer, Asus, Acer, Dell, MSI, and Lenovo, though you'll also find a few options from HP, and certainly Dell's sub-brand, Alienware is always worth considering. Most of these manufacturers have a few clean-cut dedicated gaming laptops, but some also offer more modest stealth designs, which are both lightweight and powerful, while others are more overt with a focus on bigger and more powerful systems that can even rival some gaming desktops.
Do I Really Need A Gaming Laptop?
If you just want to do a little light gaming in the off hours, you don't need a gaming laptop. In fact, you don't need a gaming laptop to play games at all, but if you want to play newer games, higher-end games with cutting-edge graphics or play anything at higher resolutions, then gaming laptops offer the best combination of powerful hardware and capable cooling.
You might find similar hardware in workstations, but they'll be more expensive. Creative-focused laptops come with more detailed screens than you really need for gaming, and the most lightweight and portable machines just don't have the component performance for the latest games.
Gaming laptops are designed for a specific purpose and with the appropriate amount (and use) of power for your budget. Some of the most recent designs can dynamically shift power between the CPU and GPU to maximize your performance in-game. You aren't going to find those sorts of features on non-gaming laptop designs.
What CPU Do You Need For Gaming?
The two main brands of processors used for gaming are Intel and AMD, and their designs have gone through huge revolutions in design and performance potential in recent years. They've gained in efficiency too, so while you used to game on dual cores and sometimes quad cores, today you can go anywhere up to 10 cores on gaming laptops, and battery life is better than ever.
In reality though, whether you are playing on an AMD or Intel laptop, you want at least a quad core gaming laptop to get decent performance in modern games. You'll get even better performance in some games with six, while eight or more cores don't tend to offer quite such leaps in performance. Getty Images The only caveat is that next-generation games designed for the new-generation Xbox and PlayStation consoles will take better advantage of higher core counts, so eight-core CPUs will have greater future proofing. Although the processor isn’t the most important part of a gaming system, desktop or laptop, it still plays its part–especially at 1080p resolution. Faster CPUs will give you greater performance, but it’s more important to meet the recommended requirements for the games you want to play.
Once you make sure you have enough cores, you want the highest single-core performance. Clock speed and instructions per clock tend to go up each generation and both play a big factor in how well a CPU can play games. The latest generation processors are much faster than their predecessors, so target those if you want the best performance.
The types of games you play has a big impact on the type of processor you need, as if you're playing much older or indie games, then you won't need anything too powerful. That said, as a general rule of thumb for buying or building a new PC, an AMD Ryzen 3000, 4000, 5000 or 6000 CPU will be excellent. For Intel processors, at least a Core i5 from the 10th generation is best, though you'll see a big leap in performance from the 11th or 12th generations.
Note that higher-end Core i9 or Ryzen 9 processors will give you a slight performance bump at lower resolutions, and you might as well get the best of the best if you have the money to burn. That said, you won't see a huge difference between a good mid-range CPU and a top of the line chip when it comes to high-resolution gaming.
Does A Gaming Laptop Last Long?
There are two factors which determine the longevity of a gaming laptop: The build quality and its performance. Most gaming laptops are built well enough that they can go for years without breaking down, but if its hardware is weak, it may no longer be able to play the latest and greatest games.
High-end gaming laptops with powerful components can last for five years or more and still act as capable gaming machines. Those with more entry-level hardware, particularly those without dedicated graphics, are only going to be able to play contemporary games for two to three years or so before they really start to show their age.
As long as you buy a gaming laptop from a reputable brand—like Razer, Asus, Acer, Lenovo, HP or MSI—you should be able to enjoy your gaming laptop for many years to come. Just bear in mind that you may have to start playing at lower settings or accept they you can't play the latest games after a few years.
Some gaming laptops do allow upgrades, specifically memory and storage, and those laptops can remain competitive gaming machines for a bit longer, especially if you have an ever-expanding game library you need to cater to. There are some very niche laptops that allow CPU and GPU upgrades, but those rarely have options for more than an additional generation or two, so are rarely worth purchasing for that feature alone.
Is $1,000 Good For A Gaming Laptop?
The best general purpose laptops usually start around $1,000 and that's not too dissimilar for gaming laptops. With that kind of laptop, you'll typically get a solid 1080p gaming machine which won't be the best for the latest and greatest games, but will give you great frame rates in esports games.
If you want to play at higher resolutions, you'll have a much better chance at around the $1,300 mark; though again, the higher you go, the better performance you'll get. The best gaming laptops can cost upwards of $3,000, so your budget is your only limitation once you get into the high-end models. What’s The Best Graphics Card For Laptop Gaming?
The graphics card or chip is the most important component in a gaming laptop, helping to drive higher resolutions, higher frame rates and higher detail settings than any mainstream laptop can manage. At the most entry-level end of the spectrum, for lightweight esports and indie games, an Nvidia GTX 1650 or AMD Radeon RX 6400 are great options. They're perfect for simple 1080p gameplay at high frame rates and low detail settings. If you want to play more demanding games, you'll need to step it up to Nvidia's RTX 3000 range, with an RTX 3060 or 3070, or an AMD Radeon RX 6700M. For 4K gaming you'll want the best you can afford, like Nvidia's 3080 Ti or AMD's 6800M.
For more stealth gaming laptops, AMD's new range of RX 6600X, 6700S and 6800S offer great gaming performance without such heavy power draws. Nvidia's Max-Q and Max-P designs do something similar. getty Do You Need A High Refresh Rate Display?
High refresh rate displays are a great way to improve your gaming experience, especially if you're playing esports or older games at higher frame rates. With a high refresh rate display and a high FPS, you can enjoy smoother animations and a more responsive gaming experience, with limited input lag. That means that as well as making your games look and play better, it can actually make you play better too, giving you a light performance advantage in competitive gaming.
Higher refresh rates are often a more beneficial upgrade than a higher resolution, especially on the smaller displays on most gaming laptops. While you won't see a huge difference between 1440p and 4K on a 15-inch screen, you will be able to tell the difference between 60Hz and 144Hz. The difference between that and 240Hz or 360Hz isn't as pronounced, but you should still be able to feel it, even if it isn't super obvious.
Is A 13-inch, 15-inch Or 17-inch Gaming Laptop Better?
Bigger displays are almost always better when it comes to immersion and visual clarity. If you can see more of the screen, you can have a wider field of view, larger HUD elements and take better advantage of the higher visual fidelity of modern games. The bigger you go, though, the less portable a gaming laptop is. Man sits in front of gaming laptop at night. He wears headphones with connected microphone and plays ... [+] a video game. He could be participating in an esport event. The gaming laptop shows a video game with a soldier firing a rifle. The image on the screen is the photographer's work. getty The big reason to buy a gaming laptop is that your gaming machine becomes portable. While 17-inch gaming laptops with the top hardware aren't going to be comfortable to carry around in a backpack all day, they still let you take your gaming PC to a friend's house or LAN party easily enough.
There are also plenty of smaller, lightweight gaming laptops that you can cart around with you for gaming on a train or on a long car ride. Those tend to be less powerful, but they'll give you the kind of battery life that lets you be a truly mobile gamer rather than one restricted to only gaming when there's a power socket within reach. For those who want to game in a variety of situations, a 14- or 15-inch laptop is an excellent middle ground. They have the size and scope for more powerful hardware and give you plenty of screen space to enjoy your favorite games, but they’re nowhere near as heavy or bulky as their 17-inch counterparts.
Is A Gaming Laptop Worth The Money?
If you use your laptop primarily for gaming, then absolutely. Playing on any gaming laptop is an upgrade from a non-gaming laptop, but if you can buy one of the best gaming laptops available, it can make a huge difference. That kind of investment might feel expensive, but today's gaming laptops will still be playing the latest games a few years from now. Any laptop not running today's best games is going to feel very outdated in the not-too-distant future.
On top of better performance, gaming laptops also have nicer-looking and more responsive displays, more storage space and often more comfortable keyboards and touchpads than your average laptops. They may not have the best battery life and they aren't as portable as the most lightweight ultrabooks, but the best gaming laptops are fantastic machines no matter what you want to do with them.
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Facebook parent Meta unveiled a high-end virtual reality headset Tuesday with the hope that people will soon be using it to work and play in the still-elusive place called the “metaverse.”The $1,500 Meta Quest Pro headset sports high-resolution sensors that let people see mixed virtual and augmented reality in full color, as well as eye tracking and so-called “natural facial expressions” that mimic the wearer’s facial movements so their avatars appear natural when interacting with other avatars in virtual-reality environments. Formerly known as Facebook, Meta is in the midst of a corporate transformation that it says will take years to complete. It wants to evolve from a provider of social platforms to a dominant power in a nascent virtual-reality construct called the metaverse — sort of like the internet brought to life, or at least rendered in 3D. CEO Mark Zuckerberg has described the metaverse as an immersive virtual environment, a place people can virtually “enter” rather than just staring at it on a screen. The company is investing billions in its metaverse plans that will likely take years to pay off.VR headsets are already popular with some gamers, but Meta knows that won’t be enough to make the metaverse mainstream. As such, it’s setting office — and home office — workers in its sights.“Meta is positioning the new Meta Quest Pro headset as an alternative to using a laptop,” said to Rolf Illenberger, founder and managing director of VRdirect, which builds VR environments for businesses. But he added that for businesses, operating in the virtual worlds of the metaverse is still “quite a stretch.” Meta also announced that its metaverse avatars will soon have legs — an important detail that’s been missing since the avatars made their debut last year.
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With bots and console resellers snatching away many people’s chance to directly purchase a PlayStation 5 or a new OLED Switch, virtual reality headsets were a popular gift during the holiday season. The Meta (Oculus) Quest 2 in particular experienced a surge in corresponding app downloads heading into the new year.Whether you’re finished slashing through Beat Saber’s Lady Gaga music pack or need a break from the Horizon Workroom, VR headset owners can take the time to kick back and stream a movie. (That Supernatural workout can roll over to tomorrow, you’ve earned this.)Outside of a few experiences, watching a movie with a VR headset does not mean you are immersed in the action. When streaming in VR, your avatar is often placed in a virtual room or cinema with a 2D viewing screen.Streaming services like Netflix and Prime Video have native apps for the Quest that are easy to download. Video-on-demand rentals through YouTube or Bigscreen require a couple more steps, but the process is straightforward. Other movies can be accessed on VR browsers or downloaded to the headset.Although setting up a Remote Desktop Client through Bigscreen takes a few minutes, the process is worth it for those who have video files saved to their computer and mainly use a headset at home. Our guide to VR movie watching is primarily focused on the Quest 2, but some suggestions are applicable to the HTC Vive and Valve Index.How to Stream Netflix Movies and MoreFrom Don’t Look Up to Twilight, you just need to download the Netflix app to watch the streaming service’s movies in VR. After the app downloads, active members can sign in and new members can sign up for Netflix. (Personally, I recommend watching the Fear Street trilogy of movies for a bit of spooky, bloody fun.)Amazon Prime members can stream movies in VR through the Prime Video app. All you need to do is download the app and log into your profile to start watching movies like Alien, The Big Sick, and Jennifer's Body.Any Showtime subscribers out there? The service is fairly niche, but the Showtime app lets you experience Moonlight and other award-winning movies with a VR headset.How to Rent MoviesIf you want to rent recent movies to watch in VR, the YouTube app offers a sizable catalog of films at various price points. Free Guy is available to rent for $6, while Dune costs a whopping $25. Additional YouTube rental highlights include: Barb and Star Go To Vista Del Mar ($6), No Time to Die ($6), and Spencer ($5). After renting a movie from YouTube, you are given one month to begin streaming and 48 hours to finish the film.Another essential app for watching movies on your VR headset is Bigscreen. It’s basically a virtual movie theater where you enter different environments and stream movies alone or with other people. The selection of rentals is not as extensive as on YouTube, but popular movies like Arrival ($4), Top Gun ($5), and Titanic ($5) are available. Unlike in the physical world, if you're streaming a rental with friends in VR, you all have to pay the fee.Do the VR Browser WorkaroundWhat about all the streaming services without a native app? HBO Max, Hulu, and Paramount Plus may not have VR apps, but headset owners can open the websites in a browser as a basic workaround. The Firefox Reality app is on Oculus and works more consistently for videos than other VR browsers.Open Firefox in VR and visit the website for the streaming service you’re interested in viewing. Use your member information to log in and start watching movies. This method is a little clunky and less reliable than streaming from a dedicated app. If any issues arise, you can troubleshoot by toggling between mobile mode and desktop mode in Firefox.Watch Movies From Your ComputerThe Bigscreen app can be used for a lot more than just movie rentals. Any movies available on your PC can be streamed in VR. It’s possible to load movies onto your Quest 2 for offline viewing by plugging the headset with the charging cable into a PC. Put on the headset and allow data access for the connected device.Once this is completed, the Quest 2 should appear as a device within the This PC tab. Load any entertainment you would like to watch in the Movies folder of the Quest 2. Restart Bigscreen on your headset, and in the Watch section choose Videoplayer and then Local Video Files to access the downloads.
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After spending years developing its mixed-reality headset, Apple could finally start mass production of the device in March 2023. Sources told DigiTimes Asia that the headset could enter production early next year, with the device reportedly costing over $2000.
The publication claim Apple supplier Pegatron will mass-produce the device at the end of the first quarter of 2023, with initial production output expected to be low. According to the report, estimated annual shipments for Apple’s mixed-reality headset will likely be “around 0.7 to 0.8 million units.”
Apple’s mixed-reality headset has been in development as back as 2015. The headset will look like a pair of ski goggles. It will be made of “mesh fabrics, aluminum, and glass,” and it will be thinner and weigh less than the Quest Pro. The upcoming headset will scan a user’s irises for easy logging into their individual accounts as soon as users put on the headset. The device will come with a dedicated processor and feature two ultra-high-resolution 8K displays, while the operating system powering the device will be called “rOS” and will be based on the existing iOS. There has been a lot of consumer interest in Apple’s XR “extended reality” headset that combines virtual, augmented, and mixed reality. Bloomberg earlier this year spotted trademarks in the US and global markets related to the headset that was filed by Apple-affiliated firms. The mixed-reality headset will directly against Meta’s Quest Pro and PlayStation VR 2.
Meta’s Quest Pro was first revealed in October and has recently gone on sale for $1500. PlayStation VR2, on the other, will be available early next year for $550.
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At least digital humanoids don’t get Zoom fatigue—yet.During the Meta Connect 2022 live keynote last week, CEO Mark Zuckerberg discussed his new plans for Meta to bring avatars—uncanny digital stand-ins for human workers—to video chats.They would be customized to match a person’s exact skin tone, hairstyle, and outfit choices. According to Zuckerberg, an entirely virtual roundtable meeting would consist of you and your coworkers’ avatars chatting in something like a “third mode” between fully camera-on and camera-off.“You can still express yourself and react, but you’re not on-camera, so it’s kind of like a better camera-off mode,” he said.The social media giant invested $10 billion in building the metaverse last year, a digital space where users can interact with experiences and other people using VR technology. Zuckerberg revealed the video chat avatar feature in the key note after announcing partnerships with several companies, including one with Microsoft chairman and CEO Satya Nadella that would bring Microsoft apps to Meta Horizon Workrooms—the VR metaverse rooms where workers’ avatars meet—to create “a unified, digital office we think can make distributed work so much better.”As Intelligencer’s John Herrman points out, all of this could be a strategy to diversify Meta’s business—but it could also be a play at acknowledging execs’ challenges with remote work and trying to rectify them. The opportunity for a “better camera-off mode” just might be an answered prayer for the bosses unhappy with the remote workers who tend to join meetings with their web cameras off.Is seeing still believing?Proximity bias, which describes bosses tending to prefer workers they can see in person, has long been proven. It also may explain why managers who are used to commandeering a physical office would be thrilled if they could see their workers—even if that required them to wear an elaborate headset that costs as much as a Peloton.A 20,000-person survey by Microsoft itself found that bosses are still regularly questioning their remote employees’ productivity levels. Some have even taken draconian measures to ensure that their ideal level of productivity is met. Per August research from the New York Times, eight out of the 10 largest private employers in the U.S. track productivity metrics, including active online time, incidence of keyboard pauses, how long it takes to write an email, and even individual keystrokes.Zuckerberg’s enthusiasm about metaverse meetings, and the support from a tech sector heavyweight like Nadella, may speak to exactly this kind of “productivity paranoia.”But some experts are wary of a full-scale pivot to the metaverse. “We would have to carefully attend to the physical implications of headsets,” Roshni Raveendhran, assistant professor at the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business, told Fortune last year. “Like if it harms our eyesight or implicates our brain functions; we don’t know any of these things now, and we won’t know until there’s more of a continual usage pattern. We need to pay attention to some of those before we go into full-scale adoption.”The metaverse is unlikely to be as all-encompassing as Zuckerberg hopes, says Cathy Hackl, a futurist and metaverse expert. For instance, meetings that hinge on deeper bonding or team building, such as new hire orientations or holiday parties, are still best done in person. “Your company can’t treat you to a cocktail virtually,” she told Fortune.And with even the most advanced VR devices, Hackl added, she hits her limit around the 45-minute mark. “I don’t think I could wear a headset for a six-hour video call.”This story was originally featured on Fortune.comMore from Fortune: The economist who just won the Nobel Prize warns the Fed will cause ‘all kinds of trouble’Microsoft’s remote-work-friendly CEO puts his finger on the big problem with working from homeGen Z activists who dumped 2 cans of tomato soup on Van Gogh’s ‘Sunflowers’ plead not guilty in courtSouth Korea stands to lose billions from making K-pop superstars BTS do military service
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John Carmack, the consulting CTO for Meta's virtual-reality efforts, announced his exit in an internal memo. Carmack joined Oculus in 2013 before Facebook acquired it, and moved to a new consulting role at Oculus in 2019. His exit memo urged people at Meta to "give a damn." John Carmack, the consulting CTO for Meta's virtual-reality efforts, announced plans to leave the company Friday in an internal memo viewed by Insider.The scathing note, posted to the company's internal Workplace forum, openly criticized Meta's AR and VR work, core to its metaverse ambitions. Mark Zuckerberg has been spending billions of dollars on the project, worrying investors. Carmack's comments will likely add fuel to this fire. "We have a ridiculous amount of people and resources, but we constantly self-sabotage and squander effort," Carmack wrote in the memo. "There is no way to sugar coat this; I think our organization is operating at half the effectiveness that would make me happy.""I have never been able to kill stupid things before they cause damage, or set a direction and have a team actually stick to it," he added in another part of the memo.A spokesperson for Meta did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Read Carmack's full memo:This is the end of my decade in VR. I have mixed feelings.Quest 2 is almost exactly what I wanted to see from the beginning – mobile hardware, inside out tracking, optional PC streaming, 4k (ish) screen, cost effective. Despite all the complaints I have about our software, millions of people are still getting value out of it. We have a good product. It is successful, and successful products make the world a better place. It all could have happened a bit faster and been going better if different decisions had been made, but we built something pretty close to The Right Thing.The issue is our efficiency.Some will ask why I care how the progress is happening, as long as it is happening? If I am trying to sway others, I would say that an org that has only known inefficiency is ill prepared for the inevitable competition and/or belt tightening, but really, it is the more personal pain of seeing a 5% GPU utilization number in production. I am offended by it.[edit: I was being overly poetic here, as several people have missed the intention. As a systems optimization person, I care deeply about efficiency. When you work hard at optimization for most of your life, seeing something that is grossly inefficient hurts your soul. I was likening observing our organization's performance to seeing a tragically low number on a profiling tool.]We have a ridiculous amount of people and resources, but we constantly self-sabotage and squander effort. There is no way to sugar coat this; I think out organization is operating at half the effectiveness that would make me happy. Some may scoff and contend we are doing just fine, but others will laugh and say "Half? Ha! I'm at quarter efficiency!"It has been a struggle for me. I have a voice at the highest levels here, so it feels like I should be able to move things, but I'm evidently ot persuasive enough. A good Fraction of the things I complain about eventually turn my way after a year or two passes and evidence piles up, but I have never been able to kill stupid things before they cause damage, or set a direction and have a team actually stick to it. I think my influence at the margins has been positive, but it has never been a prime mover.This was admittedly self-inflicted – I could have moved to Menlo Park after the Oculus acquisition and tried to wage battles with generations of leadership, but I was busy programming, and I assumed I would hate it, be bad at it, and probably lose anyway.Enough complaining. I wearied of the fight and have my own startup to run, but the fight is still winnable! VR can bring value to most of the people in the world, and no company is better positioned to do it than Meta. Maybe it is actually possible to get there by just plowing ahead with current practices, but there is plenty of room for improvement.Make better decisions and fill your products with "Give a Damn!"Are you a Meta employee or someone else with insight to share? Got a tip? Contact Kali Hays at khays@insider.com or through secure messaging app Signal at 949-280-0267. Reach out using a non-work device. Twitter DM at @hayskali.Contact Ashley Stewart via email (astewart@insider.com) or send a secure message from a nonwork device via Signal (+1-425-344-8242).
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Facebook CEO, Mark Zuckerberg (L) and Apple CEO, Tim CookReutersMark Zuckerberg on Tuesday hinted that he sees Apple as Meta's main competitor in virtual and augmented reality, which it calls the "metaverse."The remarks came after the Meta CEO unveiled the company's latest virtual reality headset, the $1,499 Quest Pro. Without naming Apple — as he has avoided doing in the past — he said that competitors were focused on building tight control over a VR platform that would lock consumers into a particular operating system."In every generation of computing, there's been an open ecosystem and a closed ecosystem, there was Windows and Mac, then Android and iOS," Zuckerberg said. "Closed ecosystems focus on tight control and integration to create unique experiences and lock in. Although most of that value ends up flowing to the platform over time."Zuckerberg's remarks mirror Facebook's ongoing complaints with how Apple manages the App Store for iPhones and iPads. The only way to install apps on Apple's iPhone is through the App Store, forcing companies like Facebook to submit its software for approval with Apple's App Review department, and taking between 15% and 30% of all digital sales.Facebook has chafed against this restriction in the past, and Zuckerberg has accused Apple of preventing Facebook from adding features to its apps.Facebook changed its corporate name to Meta last year, and the larger company is now focusing on virtual reality and computer-generated virtual worlds, known as the "metaverse," to spark its next generation of growth. The company has warned it could take until the 2030s before the metaverse starts to generate significant revenue.Zuckerberg said Meta is focusing on an "open ecosystem" that would share the upside of new metaverse technology with more developers and companies."I see our role is not just helping to build this open ecosystem, but making sure that the open ecosystem wins out in this next generation of the internet," Zuckerberg said, saying that Meta hopes to partner with a broad range of companies.The remarks are the latest sign of corporate tension between Apple and Facebook as they both invest heavily in developing virtual reality and augmented reality headsets.Apple has not released a VR headset nor confirmed one is in the works, but analyst and press reports say the iPhone maker is preparing to release a VR device with the ability to pass through video from exterior cameras to interior high-definition screens in real time — the same headline feature on the Quest Pro.Zuckerberg sees virtual reality and augmented reality as the start of a new platform that could supplant the smartphone eventually. If Meta ends up with a significant market share in head-worn computers and they take off and become a mainstream device, then Meta will no longer be constrained by Apple's "closed ecosystem" policies.Meta has also sparred with Apple over a recent platform privacy change that makes it harder for Facebook to offer targeted advertising, which Zuckerberg previously said cost the company $10 billion.Meta said on Tuesday that it believes that the ultimate form of virtual or augmented reality would be a pair of glasses that would allow access to virtual worlds while being lightweight and having a day-long battery life — and that the company is actively working on this device."The fundamental technologies across the stack to build augmented reality glasses are coming together. We've got displays, sensors, silicon, AI, and more," Zuckerberg said.
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IDG Even if you haven’t donned a Meta Quest headset and have experienced Mark Zuckerberg’s virtual world, it may not be too long before you can try out Apple’s own “metaverse.” According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, Apple’s work on its virtual reality/augmented reality (VR/AR) headset continues to move forward, and the company has posted job listings that offer a peek into what’s in store with its VR/AR project. In one listing, Apple is looking for someone to help build a 3D mixed reality world and Gurman concludes that this could be a sign that Apple is “working on a virtual environment that is similar to the metaverse,” though Apple likely won’t call it that. While Apple’s headset has often been called a mixed-reality device, prior reports have mostly been about its AR functionality–how the things viewed in everyday life can be augmented with digital aspects, such as map directions. This is the first substantial report that Apple is also working on a virtual world where people can interact. Another job listing hints at Apple’s intentions to create a video service for the headset that would feature “3D content that can be played in virtual reality.” Two years ago, Apple acquired NextVR, which developed technology for producing and broadcasting VR events, and this along with the new job provides further insight into Apple’s intentions with the headset. Apple hopes its headset can also be a productivity tool. Gurman reports that Apple’s Yaniv Gur has switched from heading the iWork engineering team to working on the headset. Gurman thinks this move is so that Gur can create productivity apps for the headset. Gurman also reports that Dave Scott, former CEO of Hyperfine, is also part of the headset group and could be working on health applications. Apple’s headset could launch in 2023 in the $2,000 to $3,000 price range. As previously reported, Apple could use an M2 processor along with ten cameras and high-resolution displays. It will run its own operating system, which could be called realityOS, and Apple has filed patents for “Reality One” and “Reality Pro,” which could end up being the names for the headset. Roman has covered technology since the early 1990s. His career started at MacUser, and he's worked for MacAddict, Mac|Life, and TechTV.
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Joe Hunting's documentary "We Met in Virtual Reality" might look like an animated movie, but it was shot entirely in the VRchat platform. Here's how. In the opening minutes of “We Met in Virtual Reality,” a bunch of avatars resembling animals and anime characters enter an open world based on “Jurassic Park,” hop into vehicles, and speed around the landscape with glee as a handheld camera tracks their moves. Later, that same camera visits house parties, dance classes, and a marriage ceremony.
Anyone who hasn’t strapped on a VR headset might think they were watching a low-budget animated movie with glitchy effects, but “We Met in Virtual Reality” is actually a groundbreaking documentary shot exclusively in VRchat, the popular VR social platform. The feature-length debut of UK-based filmmaker Joe Hunting stems from his experiences roaming VRchat over the course of three years, during which time he befriended many of the communities within. Hunting, who supports himself in part by working as a VR event photographer, has provided the most robust opportunity to experience the nature of a social platform that only VR users can truly grasp. A far cry from the dystopian headlines about the future of the metaverse, the movie offers a more celebratory look at the potential of forging bonds and finding a sense of purpose in an all-digital space. Hunting’s camera features everyone from deaf characters to lovers from different parts of the world who met and forged their bond entirely in the digital ether. Inspired by documentaries like “Paris Is Burning” and “Bombay Beach,” Hunting bridges the gap between a new frontier of digital storytelling and traditional cinema while capturing the potential of VR on a personal scale.
“It is a complete other world at this point,” Hunting told IndieWire. “That’s what I wanted to investigate — not what it’s like to arrive as a first-timer, but the community that already exists there.”
I first met Hunting in VRchat as well, ahead of the movie’s Sundance premiere in January. In avatar form, we stood under a large tree in a vast orange meadow surrounded by distant mountains as Hunting’s own virtual cameras recorded the conversation.
“We Met in Virtual Reality” director Joe Hunting, left, in VRchat with the author of this article in avatar form.
VRChat, which as been around since 2014, is one of several major social platforms accessible by consumer-grade headsets (and in 2D mode via computer). However, while Microsoft’s Altspace has hosted thousands of users for events like Virtual Burning Man and Meta is investing major resources in growing Facebook Horizons, VRChat remains the most robust option for large-scale design work and maintains the largest user base. Hunting first tried it out in 2018 after reading an article about how some users dealt with mental health problems by socializing on the platform. “My curiosity about it exploded,” he said. “I wanted to tell more stories not just about VR but how people use this space as a separate world from our world to find joy in their lives.” To make the movie, he used both a native camera that exists in VRchat and a more advanced third-party one called VRCLens developed by a Japanese VRChat user who goes by the name Hirabiki. Though it costs less than $10 online, the virtual camera simulates a wide array of real-world effects that enabled Hunting to bring a genuine cinematic touch to his filmmaking process.
“It allows much greater control and behaves more like a physical cinema camera,” Hunting said. “The essential reason I operated with this camera was to fly my lens as a drone, see peaking and zebra displays, and have more accuracy over my focal length and aperture. Those tools fundamentally gave me more immersion in the filmmaking process.” Hunting mainly used focal lenses within the 20mm to 50mm range, resulting in an intimate feel that often has the familiar quality of cinema verité despite the unusual setting. There are even a few striking moments when Hunting racks focus to capture characters located far apart from each other. “The recipe for success was using focus peaking on my camera display to give me accuracy on where my line of focus was,” he said. “I had two monitors, one clean feed and another littered in guidelines, like actual cinematography processes.”
“We Met in Virtual Reality” director Joe Hunting IRLcourtesy of HBO
The only real practical barrier to his approach was that he couldn’t shoot with multiple cameras at the same time while using a headset tethered to a single computer. “I would block out the cinematography of a scene and move between each position with the conversation or action,” he said. “I was constantly shooting with the edit in mind.”
Social platforms in VR can be overwhelming to newcomers in part because they can feel awfully busy at first. Rooms filled with avatars mean that snippets of conversations can seep into one person’s audio (just like, you know, real life). For documentary purposes, this created additional recording hurdles. “There isn’t a precise way to mic someone in VRChat specifically,” Hunting said. “It was important to me that we recorded the dialogue of the subjects through their own headset microphones to immerse audiences in an authentic experience of VRChat, and to embrace the spatial tones in each of their voices. All the dialogue is recorded in real time using OBS, and when background noises occurred, I could typically do a retake in the moment or fix in post.”
Hunting found many of his subjects organically by wandering public worlds on VRChat, though with time he was invited to Discord servers that allowed him to become more entrenched in specific communities, eight of which are shown in the movie. “I essentially lived in VR for a year,” he said. “I filmed almost every day. When I wasn’t doing interviews I was out location scouting or just getting to know different communities. It was a complete journey of exploration.” Hunting was in touch with VRchat administrators for the project, but the platform allows creators to retain ownership of their avatars as well as the worlds they built, which meant that the documentary didn’t need any official approval from the company itself. “The film is not associated with VRChat in any way,” Hunting said. “Our relationship is simply mutual respect and understanding.”
In true documentary form, he had all his subjects sign release forms that included both their real names (though none are mentioned in the movie) and VRChat usernames. “I took the same care and honesty that any documentarian would,” Hunting said. “It was really valuable to me to make someone aware they were being filmed for a documentary and the full breadth of the context they were in and not just exploit someone because they were using anonymity.”
“We Met in Virtual Reality”courtesy of HBO
Over the course of the movie, subjects share experiences they’ve had with depression, anxiety, and loneliness, some of which is specific to the pandemic. “We are talking about real traumas in the film so it was important to treat that carefully,” Hunting said. “The film is about the truth of their experiences in VR.”
In the wake of the positive reception for the movie, Hunting is doubling down on the potential of filmmaking in VRChat with plans for additional features and series in the works. “I think there is going to be a boom of VR filmmaking to come,” he said. “I really want the documentary to educate people on the positive impact of VR. It gives you a tangible space in this gorgeous environment, and it allows you to feel present. Presence was a big inspiration for making the film.”
“We Met in Virtual Reality” is now streaming on HBO Max. Sign Up: Stay on top of the latest breaking film and TV news! Sign up for our Email Newsletters here.
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Gaming & VR
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Simple Wi-Fi routers can be used to detect and perceive the poses and positions of humans and map their bodies clearly in 3D, a new report has found.With the help of AI neural networks and deep learning, researchers at Carnegie Mellon University were also able to create full-body images of subjects.This proof-of-concept would be a breakthrough for healthcare, security, gaming (VR), and a host of other industries. It would also overcome issues affecting regular cameras, such as poor lighting or simple obstacles like furniture blocking a camera lens, while also eclipsing traditional RBG sensors, LiDAR, and radar technology. It also would cost far less and consume less energy than the latter, researchers noted.However, this discovery comes with a host of potential privacy issues. If the technology does make it to the mainstream, one’s movements and poses could be monitored — even through walls — without prior knowledge or consent.Perceiving Humans Via WiFi Antenna, Seeing Past ObstaclesResearchers used three WiFi transmitters, such as those on a $50 TP-Link Archer A7 AC1750 WiFi router, positioned it in a room with several people, and successfully came up with wireframe images of those detected in the room.With the help of artificial intelligence algorithms, researchers managed to create 3D images from the WiFi signals that bounce off of people.Technically speaking, researchers analyzed the amplitude and phase of the WiFi signal to find human ‘interference’ signals and then later allowed AI algorithms to produce an image.“The results of the study reveal that our model can estimate the dense pose of multiple subjects, with comparable performance to image-based approaches, by utilizing WiFi signals as the only input,” the researchers’ pre-print brief reads.DensePose itself is a technology developed by Meta Platforms Inc. and used by Facebook that generates 3D visuals of humans via a flat RGB image, not via WiFi radio signals as is the case here.The research paper goes on to say that WiFi perception will quell privacy concerns that arise when traditional sensors such as cameras are used in non-public places.“We believe that WiFi signals can serve as a ubiquitous substitute for RGB images for human sensing in certain instances,” researchers said. “In addition, they protect individuals’ privacy and the required equipment can be bought at a reasonable price. In fact, most households in developed countries already have WiFi at home, and this technology may be scaled to monitor the well-being of elder people or just identify suspicious behaviors at home.”Researchers noted some of the shortcomings of the technique, such as unusual body poses and difficulty with three or more subjects in the space that can be resolved by obtaining more training data for AI algorithms.“In future work, we also plan to collect multi-layout data and extend our work to predict 3D human body shapes from WiFi signals. We believe that the advanced capability of dense perception could empower the WiFi device as a privacy-friendly, illumination-invariant, and cheap human sensor compared to RBG cameras and Lidars.”Potential Privacy Dilemma on the HorizonAlthough researchers said the technology could be used for good such as monitoring the well-being of elderly people without disturbing them with cameras or detecting break-ins by thieves, there are serious privacy issues that may arise if the technology were to become mainstream.In a time where facial recognition, doorbell cameras, drones, and hackable IoT devices such as indoor smart cameras are abundant and endanger our privacy and security every day, WiFi perception technology would be the cherry on top of everything. It could be abused by everyone from Big Data to cyber criminals and could make people lose trust in their humble WiFi routers.Detecting people without cameras or expensive LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) sensors is not new. In 2013, researchers at MIT found a way to use mobile phone signals to breach walls, and in 2018 another MIT team came up with a more basic version of the technique discussed above.If you have an iPhone 12 Pro or later, or the 2020 iPad Pro or later, they come with a LiDAR sensor, which is a pulsed laser beam, mainly for AR (augmented reality) applications. You can try out what 3D object mapping looks like by downloading the free Polycam app on the app store.This type of bleeding-edge technology, one that may potentially see through walls, is reminiscent of a scene from The Dark Knight film. It may well one day replace cameras and other sensors and may be part of the smart cities we shall soon live in.
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Gaming & VR
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From extra game storage to a fancy new 120-Hz TV, here are our favorite WIRED-tested complements to your PS5.Picking out accessories for a new PlayStation 5 is almost as tricky as buying one. That's because of its new capabilities. The cybernetic clamshell tower of a console is packed to the gills with impressive hardware. It can run games in native 4K, hit frame rates in excess of 120 frames per second, and output video at 120 hertz for that ultra-silky-smooth look and feel. It's the first game console that can really take advantage of a killer home-theater setup. To that end, we've compiled our favorite PS5 accessories, which include a few luxury picks for those of you looking to really turn your living room into a cathedral for your new PS5.Be sure to check out our full review of the PlayStation 5, along with our roundup of our favorite PlayStation games. For more home-theater buying advice, see our Best TVs and Best Soundbars guides.Updated August 2022: We’ve adjusted prices and added the Backbone PS5 Edition. If you buy something using links in our stories, we may earn a commission. This helps support our journalism. Learn more. Please also consider subscribing to WIREDPhotograph: SonyA Charging DockSony DualSense Charging StationYou'll want a charging dock. Even if you stick with one controller, it's nice to just drop it in the dock when you're done playing and know it'll be fully charged when you're ready to get back at it. This is the official charger from Sony, so it matches the cyber-clam aesthetic of the PS5, which is a plus. They look really cute together.Photograph: SonyA Second ControllerSony DualSense ControllerIt's 2021 and game consoles still don't ship with two controllers. You'll need an extra gamepad if you want to get in on any couch co-op, and the best one is still Sony's official DualSense model. That might change in the coming months, but right now, no other third-party controller really packs the same level of immersive feedback the DualSense does.Thanks to the placement of haptic feedback motors throughout the controller, you can feel more nuanced vibrations than you can with other controllers. It's like spatial audio for your hands. If something whips by your character on the left side, you might feel a little rumble under your left hand. It's awesome. Games can control how much resistance the left and right shoulder triggers give you. If you're pulling the drawstring on a bow and arrow, for instance, a game might make it more difficult to press the triggers.Photograph: ScufA Controller for CompetitorsScuf Reflex ControllerThe DualSense above is one of my favorite controllers of all time. I've come to love and appreciate the streamlined design, the slim form factor, and the overall look and feel of Sony's latest controller. That's why I'm obsessed with Scuf's Reflex controller. In the months I've spent testing it in 2022, it's managed to do everything the DualSense does, but better. That extra-ness will definitely cost you, though: The DualSense is about $70, and the Reflex starts at $200. So what does that get you? The body is covered in a soft-touch material that doesn't pick up fingerprints and is grippy without feeling sticky. It's like the suede of plastic.It also has four (removable) back paddles, which you can configure individually. These are a godsend in games like Destiny 2 where you have to juggle multiple abilities all at once. And the faceplate comes off so you can swap out the thumb sticks if you want. (There are taller ones available that provide a more nuanced sense of control.) You can also swap out the faceplate itself for other colors. Overall, it's everything a premium controller should be, and if you're going to play a lot of competitive online games, it's an accessory I'd highly recommend. Photograph: SonyA Great Wireless Headset for PS5Sony Pulse 3D HeadsetSometimes first-party peripherals are the right way to go. The Sony Pulse 3D headset brings immersive surround sound to any of your PlayStation games, and it can connect via an included dongle. Because it’s made by Sony for a Sony console, it works seamlessly with the PS5. It’s as plug-and-play as it gets, and the sound quality you get out of this headset is hard to beat at this price. You'll sound great over voice chat too.Photograph: SteelSeriesA Killer Multi-Platform HeadsetSteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro WirelessThe Steelseries Arctis Nova Pro headset works easily with every current game system. The Nintendo Switch, the PS5, the Xbox Series S/X—it even works with your PC. It also has Bluetooth, so it even works with your phone or tablet. That level of compatibility and ease is a lifesaver if you're like me, constantly bouncing between games on different platforms.The Arctis Nova Pro also has super-soft ear cups that drown out external noise even better than some low- and mid-range ANC headphones I've tested. That means your games will sound rich and resonant. They create a detailed tapestry of sound to immerse you in whatever you're playing, no matter where you're playing it. Works great for PS5 and all other current platforms.Photograph: HyperXA Wireless Headset That Lasts 300 HoursHP HyperX Cloud Alpha WirelessSomehow, HyperX managed to cram around 300 hours of battery life into its Cloud Alpha Wireless headset. As a result of its longevity and solid all-around sound, it received one of the few perfect 10 scores we've ever given out here at WIRED. If you're anything like me, it can be hard to remember to plug in your PS5 headset after every use. More often than not, I go to fire up the PS5 and find it dead. The HyperX Cloud Alpha Wireless all but eliminates that problem with its nigh-immortal battery. This thing is ready whenever you need it, as long as you remember to plug it in once every two weeks or so. If you're gaming literally 24 hours a day for 12 days without charging it, you might run the battery flat. Maybe. Photograph: Audeze A Luxurious HeadsetAudeze Penrose Gaming HeadsetI could go on about this headset for days. It's super comfy and packed with impressive technology that turns your head into a home theater, and it works no matter what your setup is. If you want a wireless headset, the Penrose does it via an included dongle or Bluetooth. If you want a wired headset, it works that way too—though it does still need a charge to run corded. Just plug it right into your DualSense controller. This headset sounds incredible, and there's a reason for that. It employs planar magnetic drivers, which means sound is filtered through a super-thin layer of conductive film suspended between two permanent magnetic fields. Technical details aside, that means the Penrose and other headphones with this tech produce unbelievably detailed, rich sound, especially down low. While gaming, you'll feel noticeably more immersed in the world onscreen.It’s much more expensive than the other headsets on this list, so consider it more of an upgrade pick if you’re looking for one that works great with just about any gaming setup—not just your PS5.Photograph: HyperXA Good Headset Under $50HyperX Cloud Stinger CoreThe HyperX Cloud Stinger Core is a great pick if you need a headset that'll produce rich sound with an ultra-clear microphone attached. It's a no-frills headset that gets the job done and stays out of your way. It's also comfortable to wear for long periods, which can be important during marathon gaming sessions when your roommate is trying to sleep.Photograph: BackboneA Controller for StreamingBackbone PS5 EditionI was skeptical of PlayStation Remote Play the first couple times I tried it. The service essentially lets you play your PS5 games on your phone or tablet, and I didn't really see the appeal. After all, why not just play them on your PS5, on your TV? That changed when I tried the Backbone controller for the first time. The Backbone is an attachment for your iPhone (the Android version is coming soon) that turns it into a mobile gaming device, like a Nintendo Switch. You can use it for other games on your phone too, not just ones you stream. But streaming games from the PS5 with the Backbone PS5 edition is kind of amazing. You can sit back on your couch, have your TV playing a chill vibe, and still play your PS5 games every bit as smoothly as you would straight from the source. Photograph: Sony A Media RemotePlayStation 5 Media RemoteIf you use your PS5 as your media hub, you'll want to pick up a media controller. It's basically just a less functional controller, but it's nice to have a dedicated device you can just put next to your other TV remote controls without having to get up and pluck your controller off the charging dock. This way you'll also save your controller's juice for gaming and not waste it binge-watching Next in Fashion.Photograph: Western DigitalAn Internal M.2 Drive for Extra StorageWD_Black M.2 SSD with Heat SinkNow that the PlayStation 5 officially supports M.2 drives, you can pop your console open and install your own lightning-quick storage drives. This is one of our favorites for PCs, and this model includes a low-profile heat sink to keep it at safe temperatures while inside the PS5. It comes in 500-GB, 1-TB, and 2-TB models. For most people, an extra 500 GB is probably fine, but an extra terabyte will ensure you’re able to load up potentially dozens of digital-only games all at the same time. Here’s a quick rundown of how to install an M.2 drive in your PS5.Photograph: Western Digital An External Drive to Hold GamesWD_Black 2TB Game DriveIf you’re not comfortable with cracking open your new PS5, which was probably pretty hard to get your hands on, we don’t blame you.I like this WD Black external drive from Western Digital. You can't play games directly from it, because the drive isn't fast enough. But if you just need an extra 2 GB of storage to archive games you’re not playing right now, it works just fine.Photograph: LGThe Absolute Best TV for PS5LG C1 OLEDIf you have money to burn and want to get the absolute most out of your PS5, this is the TV for you. The LG C1 OLED is a gorgeous TV with rich, vibrant colors and deep contrast. It's also one of the growing number of TVs on the market with a 120-Hz refresh rate. That means your 120-Hz PS5 games will look completely unreal and liquid-smooth on this TV. It truly must be seen to be believed. The next frontier for console games is the 120-Hz refresh rate, and the LG C1 OLED puts you ahead of the curve. Read our guide to learn more.Photograph: Best BuyA TV With 120 Hz for Fast Frame RatesHisense U8GWhile it doesn't have the the pixel-level local dimming or ultra-sharp colors you get out of an LG OLED TV, the Hisense U8G costs less than $1,000 and boasts the most important feature for PS5 owners: a 120-Hz refresh rate. With that refresh rate, your games will look as liquid-smooth as they would on the LG C1, for a whole lot less.Photograph: TCLA Good 4K TV Under $500TCL 5 Series (50-inch, 2021)No TV on the market looks better than a good OLED model, and LG makes them. However, this TCL can also run your games in 4K resolution at 120 frames per second. We definitely notice the improvement in many compatible games.Photograph: YamahaAn Affordable Soundbar (With a Sub)Yamaha ATS-2090You can't get through a conversation with WIRED reviewer Parker Hall without him urging you to buy a soundbar, and he's right. If you're going to play couch co-op without headphones, nothing will upgrade your home theater setup like a soundbar with a subwoofer. Going from TV speakers to a soundbar is like going from black-and-white to color, but for your ears. This pick is one of our favorites.Photograph: NakamichiAn Insane Dual-Sub Sound SystemShockwafe 9.2 Dolby Atmos Soundbar If a soundbar isn't enough, and you are really decking out your gaming space, the Nakamichi Shockwafe system is a great way to go. It's super expensive, but for that price you get two subwoofers, a soundbar, and four surround sound speakers. It's overkill in the best way.With all the speakers set up, this system turns even the most humble YouTube video into a cinema-level experience. Much as with the Audeze Penrose headset, every gaming experience will feel more immersive and intense.Photograph: SonyOn the HorizonSony PSVR 2It's not out yet, but the PlayStation VR 2 is probably just around the corner. There's no official release date yet from Sony, but the information released so far suggests it might be hitting store shelves by early 2023—possibly even by the upcoming holiday season. The PSVR 2 features an all-new headset design. From what we can tell, it should be lighter and a bit more comfortable than the first iteration. The internal displays make up a combined 4K resolution, and they'll reportedly feature HDR. But the most interesting part is the controller design. Sony's DualSense controller for the PS5 features best-in-class haptic feedback and feels super comfy in the hand. The PSVR 2 controller promises to deliver a similar experience. Sony claims the orb-shaped controllers leverage similar haptic technology to deliver advanced levels of feedback that we just haven't seen in other VR headsets. It's a ways off, and it's probably going to cost you a pretty penny (the original PSVR started at $300), but it's shaping up to be an interesting accessory for the PS5.Jaina Grey is a product reviewer at WIRED, covering all those devices that make your life easier—and sometimes much more difficult. Since her first byline in Dragon Magazine to her more recent work at Digital Trends, she’s covered a little bit of everything, from crime, courts, and patent filings to... Read more
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Gaming & VR
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This story is part of Focal Point iPhone 2022, CNET's collection of news, tips and advice around Apple's most popular product. Dynamic Island is the most Apple name of all Apple names. The feature, a part of the upcoming iPhone 14 Pro announced at Apple's latest product event, was maybe the most surprising feature on Apple's next phone: the new little black oval front-facing camera cut-out has become the unlikely home for an animated series of new notifications that will pop up, and around, where you'd normally be posing for selfies.I looked at the feature while visiting Apple Park in Cupertino this week, and it weirdly filled me with a familiar feeling. I couldn't pin down exactly where it was coming from, at first. Then, suddenly, it kicked in. And it made me think. I thought of, well…AR.Apple's long-expected AR (and VR) headset didn't make an appearance at the 'Far Out' event, to no surprise. But as the questions inevitably rise about when such a headset could make its debut, so too will the questions about how that headset's OS will need to feel consistent with Apple's line of existing products and software.Is Apple's next new interface feature, which seems to blend notifications and widgets in an animated blend, the future of phones? Or is it, maybe, the future of Apple's communication language as it starts to move beyond flat screens and into a universe of VR and AR? Dynamic Island makes a lot more sense the more I think about it. Apple event: Full coverage Everything Apple Announced: iPhone 14, Apple Watch Series 8 and More iPhone 14 and 14 Plus Start at $799 Featuring Camera Updates Apple's New AirPods Pro 2 Get Better Noise Canceling iPhone 14 Pro, Pro Max Get New Notch with Dynamic Island Feature Apple Watch Series 8 Unveiled Using the Meta Quest 2 for the last few years, I'm used to a number of notifications that pop up for me in VR. I get text messages, Slacks from my phone and pings that friends are online. I see things appear and, sometimes, I can click up and interact with these messages. Sometimes not.The future of AR glasses and headsets, according to companies like Meta, is about serving up quick contextual information that can be interacted with. Pop-up bubbles, in a sense. Smart and dynamic notifications. No one's really nailed this type of interface language for AR yet, because so few AR headsets right now exist, and the ones that do aren't super-connected with vast mobile ecosystems like phones. It'll help to have something more than notifications, but less annoying than standard apps and widgets. Something that could start small and suddenly become big. Is that Dynamic Island?I watched as a small phone icon bloomed out to become a Music interface widget. Or, an icon showing AirPods being connected. On a phone, these types of features could be really fun and useful, but how different would many of them be from the Lock Screen interfaces and widgets that are already on iPhones?On an AR headset that would eventually remove us from our phone screens in place of a larger, all-surrounding immersive screen, however, Dynamic Island-type interfaces could be ways to know when other things are happening and suddenly jump into them without opening up apps, or having to invoke little widgets. They'd happen and then fade away.I'm speculating, of course. But Apple's expected to announce its own AR/VR headset early next year, and we're getting to the point where the existing product line will likely be around when this headset arrives. Is Apple going to have a common design language in its future immersive tech? If so, how will it flow?It makes me wonder more than ever if a little thing like Dynamic Island is the start of something bigger. Maybe not, but I see a brilliant little interface that could have a more immersive, ambient, cross-device future like the one Apple needs to create for its future headset. Dynamic Island would be as good a place to start as any.
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Gaming & VR
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Tuvalu said on Thursday (Nov 17) that it plans to build a digital version of itself, replicating islands and landmarks and preserving its history and culture as rising sea levels threaten to submerge the tiny Pacific island nation. Tuvalu's Foreign Minister Simon Kofe told the COP27 climate summit earlier in the week that it was time to look at alternative solutions for his country's survival and this included Tuvalu becoming the first digitised nation in the metaverse - an online realm that uses augmented and virtual reality (VR) to help users interact. Kofe, who grabbed global attention at last year's COP26 when he addressed the conference standing knee-deep in the sea, told Reuters that his video address from the digital twin of the islet Te Afualiku had gone viral, adding that viewers had mixed feelings. "You're shocked but then also excited about this new technology that we're exploring," Kofe said. Tuvalu will be the first country to replicate itself in the metaverse but follows both the city of Seoul and the island nation of Barbados which last year said they would enter the metaverse to provide administrative and consular services, respectively. A group of nine islands and 12,000 people halfway between Australia and Hawaii, Tuvalu has long been a cause celebre for the risks of climate change and rising sea levels. Up to 40 per cent of the capital district is underwater at high tide, and the entire country is forecast to be underwater by the end of the century. Kofe said he hoped that the creation of a digital nation would allow Tuvalu to continue to function as a state even if it becomes completely submerged. "As expected from a country that is at the forefront of climate we need to think outside the box, we need to pioneer some of these initiatives," he added. This is important as the government begins efforts to ensure that Tuvalu continues to be recognised internationally as a state and its maritime boundaries - and the resources within those waters - are maintained even if the islands are submerged. Kofe said that seven governments have agreed to continual recognition, but there were challenges if Tuvalu goes under as it is a new area of international law.
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Gaming & VR
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Meta will STILL devote 20% of its costs to the metaverse – committing to virtual worlds despite exec quitting over 'strategy clash' with Mark Zuckerberg and stock plunging 60% since name changeMeta is continuing its push into the metaverse, a digital world that consumers have yet to adopt but one that the firm has sunk over $30 billion into Mark Zuckerberg's company will devote 20% of its costs to Reality Labs, the division responsible for Meta Quest Pro, with the remaining for core businesses 'Economic challenges across the world, combined with pressures on Meta’s core business, created a perfect storm of skepticism,' Andrew Bosworth said Gaming industry vet John Carmack, 52, who was chief technology officer at Oculus and an executive consultant for VR at Meta, resigned Friday Published: 11:26 EST, 20 December 2022 | Updated: 11:27 EST, 20 December 2022 Meta is still making a major push into building the metaverse - committing to devote 20% of its costs to the much-maligned effort at the company's Reality Labs division - despite the company's stock price dropping 60% and a top metaverse executive departing.'Meta began 2022 with a new name and a new vision for the future, and at Reality Labs it’s our job to bring that vision to life,” wrote Reality Labs CTO Andrew Bosworth in a blog post. 'We never thought it would be easy or straightforward, but this year was even harder than we expected.'Fewer than half the expected 500,000 users have signed up for Horizon Worlds, the firm's main virtual reality world, while other tech executives like Apple's Tim Cook have said consumers are unlikely to fully adopt to something they don't even understand. Over the course of a year, the firm has lost at least $30 billion in its bid to build virtual worlds where up to one billion users will ultimately shop, relax and work with the aid of VR devices like the Meta Quest Pro. Meta is still making a major push into building the metaverse - committing to devote 20% of its costs to the much-maligned effort at the company's Reality Labs division'Economic challenges across the world, combined with pressures on Meta’s core business, created a perfect storm of skepticism about the investments we’re making,' Bosworth explained. In November, Meta laid off more than 11,000 employees, with an ashen-faced Zuckerberg delivering the news via video conference. However, macroeconomic challenges aren't the only hurdles the company faces. Gaming industry veteran John Carmack, 52, who served as chief technology officer at Oculus and was an executive consultant for VR at Meta, resigned on Friday.According to a resignation note seen by Bloomberg, Carmack said he never felt adequately able to influence the company's virtual reality endeavors in the right direction. 'There is a notable gap between Mark Zuckerberg and I on various strategic issues, so I knew it would be extra frustrating to keep pushing my viewpoint internally,' Carmack said on Twitter. What is the metaverse?The 'metaverse' is a set of virtual spaces where you can game, work and communicate with others who aren't in the same physical space as you. Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg has been a leading voice on the concept, which is seen as the future of the internet and would blur the lines between the physical and digital. 'You'll be able to hang out with friends, work, play, learn, shop, create and more,' Meta has said.'It's not necessarily about spending more time online — it's about making the time you do spend online more meaningful.'While Meta is leading the charge with the metaverse, it explained that it isn't a single product one company can build. 'And it won't be built overnight. Many of these products will only be fully realized in the next 10-15 years.' In August, virtual reality social platform Horizon chief Vivek Sharma quit for a new opportunity. According to Bosworth, 20% of Meta's overall investments went to Reality Labs, with the other 80% going to its core businesses: Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram. 'It’s a level of investment we believe makes sense for a company committed to staying at the leading edge of one of the most competitive and innovative industries on earth,' Bosworth wrote.To be sure, Meta's family of apps are still wildly popular, even with the overall advertising downturn gripping the tech industry. Both Instagram and WhatsApp have 2 billion monthly active users. Bosworth said the company remains invested because it believes the long-term value of these new technologies will ultimately grow from how they're adopted by developers, creators and builders. The firm's Meta Quest Pro, which was released in October and starts at $1,499.99, is a big step in that effort. The virtual reality headset has been described as a productivity device, aimed at designers, architects and other creative professionals.'This is a game changer for scaling the metaverse' in businesses, said Accenture CEO Julie Sweet at the time. The device is 40 percent thinner than the Quest 2 due to new pancake lenses that also delivers 75 percent more contrast and includes new self-tracking controllers that 'work like an extension of your hand.''Mixed reality is a key part of the journey toward full augmented reality devices, and eye and face tracking is an essential piece of the technology stack needed for AR and VR devices to reach their full potential,' the firm said.Even so, the metaverse project has struggled to gain traction and faced a barrage of criticism from outside the company - about everything from what happens in Horizon Worlds (harassment or people just bored) to the original avatars being legless and amateur-looking. One expert has warned the digital world could be used for 'brainwashing' the population.Brian Shuster, who has 17 years of experience with the metaverse and also created his own digital world called Utherverse, told DailyMail.com that a more dystopian version of the metaverse will happen if it is used to inflict public dominance. 'It is the ultimate extension of the 'echo-chamber' of current social media, in which people naturally tend to associate with others who share their viewpoints, and therefore those viewpoints are reinforced, and users tend to conclude (wrongly) that those views are consensus,' said Shuster.'In this dystopian metaverse, this artificial echo-chamber actually changes the reality for the user so that the viewpoint desired by the controlling entity is forcibly made into consensus.' In November, Meta laid off more than 11,000 employees, with an ashen-faced Mark Zuckerberg (seen above during Meta Connect in NYC) delivering the news via video conference Advertisement
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Gaming & VR
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Apple's first mixed-reality headset could come with the company's flagship M2 processor, just one of the "deluge" of new products the company is expected to unveil in the next year, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reported Sunday.The M2, unveiled in June, features redesigned central processing units and a significant memory increase, which would provide a significant boost to the much-rumored headset over the previous M1 chip. The much-rumored headset incorporating both virtual and augmented reality environments is expected to provide a boon to the gaming industry. Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo said earlier week that the headset -- expected to be announced in January 2023 -- would be the most complicated product Apple has designed yet.Apple CEO Tim Cook has been vocal about his excitement about AR. Earlier this week, he explained that the tech industry is still in the "very early innings" of this technology's possibilities."I couldn't be more excited about the opportunities we've seen in this space, and sort of stay tuned and you'll see what we have to offer," Cook told China Daily.Other products Gurman expects to debut in the next 12 months include four iPhone 14 models, three Apple Watch variations, several Macs with M2 and M3 chips, iPads, updated AirPods Pro earbuds, a fresh HomePod, and an upgraded Apple TV. Apple didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.Read more: Apple AR, VR Headset Rumors: WWDC, Release Rumors, M1 Chip and More
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Gaming & VR
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In November 2021, Facebook announced it would delete face recognition data extracted from images of more than 1 billion people and stop offering to automatically tag people in photos and videos. Luke Stark, an assistant professor at Western University, in Canada, told WIRED at the time that he considered the policy change a PR tactic because the company’s VR push would likely lead to the expanded collection of physiological data and raise new privacy concerns.This week, Stark’s prediction proved right. Meta, as the company that built Facebook is now called, introduced its latest VR headset, the Quest Pro. The new model adds a set of five inward-facing cameras that watch a person’s face to track eye movements and facial expressions, allowing an avatar to reflect their expressions, smiling, winking, or raising an eyebrow in real time. The headset also has five exterior cameras that will in the future help give avatars legs that copy a person’s movements in the real world.After Meta’s presentation, Stark said the outcome was predictable. And he suspects that the default “off” setting for face tracking won’t last long. “It’s been clear for some years that animated avatars are acting as privacy loss leaders,” he said. “This data is far more granular and far more personal than an image of a face in the photograph.”At the event announcing the new headset, Mark Zuckerberg, Meta’s CEO, described the intimate new data collection as a necessary part of his vision for virtual reality. “When we communicate, all our nonverbal expressions and gestures are often even more important than what we say, and the way we connect virtually needs to reflect that too,” he said.Zuckerberg also said the Quest Pro’s internal cameras, combined with cameras in its controllers, would power photorealistic avatars that look more like a real person and less like a cartoon. No timeline was offered for that feature’s release. A VR selfie of Zuckerberg’s cartoonish avatar that he later admitted was “basic” became a meme this summer, prompting Meta to announce changes to its avatars.Companies including Amazon and various research projects have previously used conventional photos of faces to try to predict a person’s emotional state, despite a lack of evidence that the technology can work. Data from Meta’s new headset might provide a fresh way to infer a person’s interests or reactions to content. The company is experimenting with shopping in virtual reality and has filed patents envisioning personalized ads in the metaverse, as well as media content that adapts in response to a person’s facial expressions.In a briefing with journalists last week, Meta product manager Nick Ontiveros said the company doesn’t use that information to predict emotions. Raw images and pictures used to power these features are stored on the headset, processed locally on the device, and deleted after processing, Meta says. Eye-tracking and facial-expression privacy notices the company published this week state that although raw images get deleted, insights gleaned from those images may be processed and stored on Meta servers.That data on a Quest Pro user’s face and eye movements can also be broadcast to companies beyond Meta. A new Movement SDK will grant developers outside the company access to abstracted gaze and facial expression data to animate avatars and characters. Meta’s privacy policy for its headsets says that data shared with outside services “will be subject to their own terms and privacy policies.”Courtesy of MetaTechnology that captures expressions is already at work in photo apps and iPhone memoji, but Meta said this week that real-time body language capture is key to the company’s ambition to have people wear virtual reality headsets to join meetings or do their jobs. Meta announced it will soon integrate Microsoft productivity software, including Teams and Microsoft 365, into its virtual reality platform. Autodesk and Adobe are working on VR apps for designers and engineers, and an integration with Zoom will soon allow people to arrive at video meetings as their Meta avatar.As for Meta’s Portal device for home video calls, the success of the Quest Pro may depend in part on whether people will buy hardware with novel data-collecting capabilities from a company with a record of failing to protect user data or to monitor the activity of third-party developers with access to its platform, like Cambridge Analytica. That may add to the existing challenges of selling Mark Zuckerberg’s vision for the metaverse. Meta has reported no more than 300,000 monthly active users for its flagship social VR platform, Horizon Worlds. The New York Times recently reported that even Meta employees working on the project used Horizon World’s very little.Avi Bar-Zeev, a consultant on virtual and augmented reality who helped create Microsoft’s HoloLens headset, gives Meta credit for deleting images from interior cameras on its headset. He also wrote in 2020 that the device’s predecessor, the Quest 2, had “serious privacy issues,” and he says he feels the same way about the Quest Pro.Bar-Zeev worries that face and eye movement data could allow Meta or other companies to emotionally exploit people in VR by watching how they respond to content or experiences. “My concern is not that we’re going to be served a bunch of ads that we hate,” he says. “My concern is that they’re going to know so much about us that they’re going to serve us a bunch of ads that we love, and we’re not even going to know that they’re ads.”Kavya Pearlman, founder of the XR Safety Initiative, a nonprofit advising businesses and government regulators on safety and ethics in the metaverse, also has concerns. A former security director at Linden Labs and creator of Second Life, she has advised Facebook on security but says Meta’s previous scandals make her distrustful of the company.Pearlman received a demo of the Quest Pro before its launch and found that the screens prompting users to activate face and eye tracking had “dark patterns” apparently designed to nudge people to adopt the technology. The US Federal Trade Commission released a report last month advising companies to not use designs that subvert privacy options.“My background suggests that we are on a very dangerous path, and if we aren’t careful our autonomy, free will, and agency are at risk,” says Pearlman. She says companies working on VR should publicly discuss what data they collect and share and should set tight limits on the inferences they will ever make about people.
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Mark Zuckerberg, chief executive officer and founder of Facebook Inc., demonstrates an Oculus Rift virtual reality (VR) headset and Oculus Touch controllers.David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesMeta will hold its annual virtual reality conference, Connect, on Oct.11, CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced on Tuesday.In an announcement post on his Facebook, Zuckerberg appears to be wearing a new headset, which is likely Project Cambria, a highly-anticipated and powerful mixed-reality headset.The product and how it is received will be a key test in Zuckerberg's efforts to pivot the Facebook parent company to creating virtual reality and augmented reality hardware. Meta has spent as much as $10 billion a year on Zuckerberg's vision of creating the next major software platform, and the company has said one reason the technology hasn't taken off is that the hardware isn't good enough yet.The release timing of the product will give Meta an opportunity to gain a foothold in the market before Apple releases a competitive mixed reality headset of its own, reportedly as soon as next year.Zuckerberg said last month in an interview with podcaster Joe Rogan that the company planned to release "Project Cambria" in the fall. It's a hotly expected headset with the computing power to capture the real world with external cameras and display them inside the headset in real-time and in color.The headset, which will likely cost $800 or more, will be significantly more expensive and capable than the current best-selling headset, the Meta Quest 2.Meta didn't announce a conference lineup on Tuesday but the event is expected to last an entire day. It will be streamed online.In addition to revealing Project Cambria, Meta will also discuss updates to Horizon Worlds, its metaverse social networking app that has drawn mockery in recent weeks for its cartoonish graphics. The VP in charge of Horizon is leaving the company, Meta confirmed in August."The graphics in Horizon are capable of much more -- even on headsets -- and Horizon is improving very quickly," Zuckerberg posted in August.In addition to Project Cambria, Meta is developing a slew of various virtual reality and augmented reality prototypes. The company believes that the technology will eventually be used in a pair of lightweight glasses that can replace a user's smartphone.
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This technology could let you cuddle your cat in virtual reality ｜MNE Research The missing puzzle ｜Touch Touch is one of five essential human senses. With displays and cameras, we're able to capture and reproduce sound and sight. Virtual Reality(VR) takes our experience of interacting with the digital world to the next level - with advanced optics enabling depth and perception for better immersion. However, to further improve a better sense of presents, we need a way to reproduce the sense of touch. From a warm handshake or sympathetic hug to a congratulatory pat on the back. Humans have developed complex body language to aid communication, cultures, and emotional expressions through physical contact. This paper presents a breakthrough tactile rendering technology which fills the gap in advancing the sense of touch in the digital world. Existing techniques to reproduce tactile stimuli can be classified into two categories - mechanical and electrical stimulation. By applying localized mechanical force or vibration on the skin, mechanical actuators can provide stable and continuous tactile sensations. However, mechanical actuators are bulky. And the spatial resolution of mechanical actuators is limited when integrated into a portable or wearable device. While the second category of tactile stimuli technique; electrotactile stimulators, can be light and flexible while offering higher resolution and faster responses. They require high voltage to penetrate the outer layer of our skins to activate the nerves. This led to safety concerns, together with the problem of tingling sensations. "When an external force deforms the skin, mechanosensitive ion channels are opened, depolarising the soma of mechanoreceptors and thus triggering action potentials propagated to the somatosensory cortex through peripheral nerve bundles. That's why we can feel a tactile perception." Says Prof Zhengbao.YANG. "There is no doubt that we cannot use electrical stimulation to mimic the human natural tactile perception, but we need to reduce the high operating voltage and further improve the tactile rendering resolution simultaneously." The Innovation The newly developed electro-tactile actuator is very thin and flexible, Thinner to a point where it can be integrated into a finger cot easily. This fingertip wearable enables tactile sensations, such as pressure, vibration, and even texture roughness - in high fidelity. The problem of unsafely high voltage required for penetrating stratum corneum layers (outer layer of the skin) has also been solved. Unlike most electro-tactile stimulators that rely on high voltage direct current pulses to penetrate our skin, The team invented a high-frequency alternating stimulation strategy. They succeeded in lowering the operating voltage under 30 V and ensuring the tactile rendering was safe and comfortable. Further, the key breakthrough of this research - Ultrahigh tactile resolution, enables a more realistic tactile perception. In previous studies, the number of tactile rendering points depends on the number of electrodes. However, the research team propose a novel super-resolution strategy in which they can render tactile sensation at locations in-between physical electrodes. The team's current steering super-resolution strategy thus increases the spatial resolution four times (from 25 to 105 points) without extra hardware. Use cases - Making reality, virtual The team have created a wearable electro-tactile rendering system that provides tactile stimuli both with high spatial resolution and rapid refresh rates. The novel current-steering super-resolution stimulation technique reduced the operating voltage below 36 V for user safety. This opened up applications across domains which were previously not possible. VR/AR are the obvious use cases for this technology. For instance, the high spatiotemporal control of haptic stimulation is well suited for rendering the texture of clothes in a virtual shopping scenario. Even interacting with pets in the virtual would become possible. The feedback resolution is high enough to provide the feeling of roughness variances when petting a cat's fur. The sense of touch and haptic feedback is considered to be the missing puzzle for enabling sports in the virtual world - which is one of the most promising markets within the world of VR. Another exciting application of this technology is frontier explorations - for astronauts and deep-sea divers. The protective suits of these personnel have a thick insulation layer, and often time it is also pressurized. This prevents intricate motoring tasks from being performed by hand because of the lack of senses. The technology can restore high-fidelity tactile perception that is currently unavailable. By integrating the newly developed electrotactile rendering system into the protective glove, sensors capture pressure distributions on the glove's surface and relay the information to the user in real time through tactile stimulation. For example, this allows the user to quickly and accurately locate a tiny steel washer using only tactile feedback from the sensorized glove. Moving forward The idea for all of these is that one day we could truly have a sense of presents in the virtual world. And when that happens, much more good use of the technology will be developed - not only for entertainment but also for professional use cases like virtual training or even 5G remote surgery. Read the paper Meet the team Weikang Lin1,2†, Dongsheng Zhang1†, Wang Wei Lee1†, Xuelong Li1, Ying Hong2, Qiqi Pan2, Ruirui Zhang1, Guoxiang Peng1, Hong Z. Tan1‡, Zhengyou Zhang1, Lei Wei1*, Zhengbao Yang2* 1 Robotics X Laboratory, Tencent Technology (Shenzhen) Co. Ltd., Shenzhen, China. 2 Department of Mechanical Engineering, City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
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With the Steam Summer Sale of 2022 over and done with, the company has announced a VR deals event called the Steam VR Fest that begins today. While nowhere near as big as the enormous Summer Sale, this VR Fest does well to highlight some fantastic games that even seasoned VR players may have missed.While Steam is doing its best to highlight PCVR headsets like the company's Valve Index and HTC's Vive Cosmos, most people access Steam VR using via the Meta Quest 2 (formerly the Oculus Quest 2). When hooked up to a VR-ready PC via a cable or AirLink, the Quest 2 acts just like a PCVR headset and will run Steam VR games extremely well. That means all these bargains are available to just about anyone with a VR headset.The VR Fest runs from Monday, July 18, until July 25, so you have some time to grab any of the games you want. Don't wait too long, though! I missed out on Summer Sale goodies because of procrastination.There are dozens of games discounted for the VR Fest but if you can only buy one, make it Pistol Whip. A mix between a rhythm game and a first-person shooter, Pistol Whip is the closest thing you'll ever get to being John Wick with a backdrop of catchy electro-pop. If that doesn't sound like your bag, try one of these amazing VR games instead.I will keep digging around to find the best VR deals at the VR Fest, but for now, these are the best ones you can choose. In particular, $30 for Half-Life: Alyx is a bargain -- grab that one if you can.
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By Baldeep Chahal and Manish PandeyNewsbeat reportersImage source, Contributor handoutImage caption, Hargun says the rise of Playerunknown's Battlegrounds (PUBG) has fuelled the growth of esports in India"I feel like an athlete representing my country."For Hargun Singh, the captain of Team India's esports team, the Commonwealth Games is a significant moment.Competitive gaming is being included as a pilot event at the 2022 Commonwealth Games, though it will have separate branding, medals and organisation.But there are hopes that esports could become a part of the full programme by the next Games in 2026 ."This will definitely grow much bigger and bigger in the future," the 19-year-old tells BBC Asian Network.Hargun feels esports was seen as "taboo" in the Commonwealth Games "because you don't really move around as much" as in a traditional sport."But you need to constantly practice for five hours straight, your brain is constantly focused and mental energy is being used."Media caption, Dan loves playing FIFA and wants to competeData from the Commonwealth Games Federation suggests that 16-24-year-olds are more likely to watch esports tournaments (32%) than traditional sports tournaments (31%), with 44% watching live streams of video games.Gaming or studies?In Asian countries, Hargun feels families may not support kids wanting to be part of the esport world."You need to balance your studies, play eight hours of the day and study well which can put a lot of pressure on your brain. And constantly staring at the screen," he says.From his own experience in India, his parents were initially against him being involved in esports even though his grades didn't drop down much."But when I won my first big tournament, they were like: 'let's give him a chance'," he says."And it's been pretty good after that. They've been really supportive."Image source, Hargun SinghImage caption, Hargun used to play football until he broke his leg and started playing video gamesHe also feels the margin for error in esports is smaller than in "normal sports", and it should be given greater respect."I feel like we put the same amount of hours during the practice [as normal sports]."Featuring at the Games will be a "huge way forward for people to understand that it's so much bigger than they think it is", according to Shoubna Naika-Taylor, co-founder of the Coventry Crosshairs esports team and lecturer in esports at Coventry College.'Creating heroes'"A lot of people think it's just teenagers playing games in their bedroom. But what we've developed is more like a community," she says.She hopes people "will realise there is a career behind this"."How do you define sports?" she asks."Does it have to be physical? In that case something like snooker can't be classified as a sport.""Every time something new comes up there will be criticism," she says, adding that she hopes the Games will provide an "education of what esports actually is".Chester King, chief executive of British eSports and vice president of the Global eSports Federation, says: "You can be any shape, anybody can have disabilities, and you can be playing together as the same team."Being a parallel pilots event at the Commonwealth Games. It just identifies what a great global activity this is." "We want to create heroes. You want to be recognised."The Commonwealth Esports Championships are due to take place at the International Convention Centre in Birmingham on 6-7 August.Listen to Newsbeat live at 12:45 and 17:45 weekdays - or listen back here.
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Mobile gaming fans might be interested in Google’s often overlooked Play Pass subscription service. Play Pass is an affordable way to get a mix of games and apps on your Android phone, including some of our picks for the best mobile games. We have all the details and a few recommendations for you.Are you married to your Xbox Game Pass subscription for life? If so, you might want to check out some of our other buying guides to improve your experience, such as the Best Mobile Game Controllers or the Best Gaming Headsets. Special offer for Gear readers: Get a 1-Year Subscription to WIRED for $5 ($25 off). This includes unlimited access to WIRED.com and our print magazine (if you'd like). Subscriptions help fund the work we do every day.If you buy something using links in our stories, we may earn a commission. This helps support our journalism. Learn more.What Does Google Play Pass Include, and How Much Is It?Google Play Pass offers hundreds of Android games and apps (close to 1,000 in total). The library boasts many titles that usually cost money, and there are no ads or in-app purchases in any of the included content. Apps and games that usually contain ads or in-app purchases are ad-free with extra content unlocked with Play Pass.If you want to subscribe, you can pay $5 per month or $30 per year (£5 and £30, respectively, in the UK). You can share a subscription with up to five other family members. You can each download, install, and play different apps and games just as though you have individual memberships.How to Subscribe to Google Play PassIt’s easy to subscribe on an Android device. Here’s how:Open the Play Store on your Android device.Tap your profile avatar at the top right.Tap on Play Pass.If you want to pay monthly at $5/month then tap Get Started, or you can save some cash and pay annually by tapping the yearly subscription link at $30/year.Select your payment method and tap Subscribe.Once you subscribe, you will see a new tab in the Play Store app at the far left, titled Play Pass. Content is organized into different categories, and you can find the latest additions under New, or check out Top Charts to see what is popular. There is also a handy Children tab with recommendations for different ages.
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Published October 16, 2022 3:07PM Updated 3:19PM article The olfactometer (Credit: Jens Lasthein/Stockholm University) STOCKHOLM, Sweden - A new gaming console could not only transform your eyes into virtual reality but also your nose. Developers between Stockholm University and Malmö University said they have come up with an odor machine, or "olfactometer," that makes it possible to smell in virtual reality environments. The research was recently published in the International Journal of Human - Computer Studies. RELATED: TikTok algorithm mystery: What we know, and don’t know, about the Chinese government's control of the app Researchers tested out the new technology in a "wine testing game" where the user smelled wine in a virtual wine cellar and received points if the guesses on the different aromas were correct. The gaming console has four different valves with each one connected to a channel. A fan used for sucking air into a tube is in the middle. Using a computer to help, the player can control the four channels that can open to different degrees and provide different mixtures of scents. Matthew McConaughey plays virtual bingo Actor Matthew McConaughey joined a group of seniors from The Enclave at Round Rock Senior Living community in Round Rock, Texas. "The possibility to move on from a passive to a more active sense of smell in the game world paves the way for the development of completely new smell-based game mechanics based on the players' movements and judgments," Simon Niedenthal, interaction and game researcher at Malmö University, said in a news release. But researchers hope the technology will be used for other purposes. RELATED: Bio-hacking humans: People implanting chips in hands and heads "For those who, for example, lost their sense of smell after COVID-19 or for other reasons, the new technology can mean an opportunity to regain their sense of smell with the help of game-based training," Jonas Olofsson, research team leader, said. Virtual reality — computer generated 3D environments that can range from startlingly realistic to abstract wonderlands — has been on the cusp of wide acceptance for years without ever really taking off. The pandemic should have been VR’s big moment, offering an escape for millions of locked-in households. Special headsets and gloves let people interact with a 360-degree, three-dimensional environment, seemingly a good fit for people stuck indoors. But consumers preferred simpler and more accessible tech like Zoom, Nintendo’s Switch and streaming services like Netflix. But consumers have balked at the hardware’s expense: a headset costs several hundred dollars, the same price as video game consoles that support hundreds of games. Early VR headsets also lacked a game or service that would make them seem indispensable, like web browsers for consumer PCs or the mobile Internet for iPhones. Headsets’ hefty weight, slow software, and tendency to sometimes cause nausea also kept VR from taking off. The Associated Press contributed to this report. This story was reported from Los Angeles.
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Facebook is opening up Horizon World, its virtual reality world of avatars, to anyone 18 and older in the U.S. and Canada.Courtesy of MetaThe vice president of Meta's Horizon social media virtual reality software, Vivek Sharma, is leaving the company, a spokesperson said Friday.Sharma has been an employee of Meta (previously Facebook) for the past six years and held high-ranking positions in the company's marketplace, gaming. and most recently its nascent metaverse-related business unit.As VP of Horizon, Sharma, who is based in the Seattle area, oversaw various VR projects such as the Horizon Worlds social media service, which is akin to the old online game Second Life that's been retrofitted to virtual reality. Other Horizon products include the VR-based workplace collaboration app Horizon Workrooms, and the Horizon Venues app for live events (it was moved into the core Worlds app this summer.)"Thanks to his leadership, the Horizon product group has built a strong team with an ambitious vision and it is just getting started," a Meta spokesperson said in a statement. "Meta continues to be a source for developing great leaders, and we're excited to see what Vivek accomplishes in his next chapter."The spokesperson added that Sharma's Horizon team will now directly report to Vishal Shah, Meta's VP of the Metaverse.Meta is betting that the metaverse, a collection of digital worlds that people can access through VR and related augmented reality technologies, will represent the next frontier of computing.Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in a recent episode of the Joe Rogan Experience podcast that his company will debut a new VR headset in October, which is the month that Meta typically holds its Connect VR conference.Watch: What is the metaverse and why are billions of dollars being spent on it?
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Amazon's cloud-based video game streaming service Luna first launched in 2020, after the tech giant bought Twitch in 2014. Since then, it's gained popularity amongst gamers for its selection of games at a $5 monthly subscription. Amazon dropped prices for its Luna Gaming controller two weeks ago, and now it's offering gaming bundles with the same $30 discount. Get the equipment you need all in one go with any of these six deals for $30 off, including the Fire HD 10 tablet (black, 32GB) with a Luna controller for $190, or the Fire HD 8 tablet (black, 32GB) with the Luna controller for $130. For gamers who want to play on-the-go, you can have the Luna controller with a phone clip for just $53. Amazon is also offering Fire TV stick bundles for under $100. The Fire TV Stick 4K with a controller costs $90, but for $5 more, you can get the Fire TV Stick 4K Max with the Luna controller.
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Meta says it plans to connect Horizon Worlds and Crayta in ‘meaningful ways’ which will bring the first inkling of cross-platform interoperability to the company’s metaverse plans. Meta may be all in on the metaverse, but to date hasn’t done much to actually build one. Sure, the company has Horizon Worlds, which is no doubt a great collaborative creation platform, but it’s an island unto itself with no interoperability outside of its own walls—something which many agree is a requirement for a proper metaverse. But soon, Meta says, it will take its first step—a tiny step—toward an interconnected metaverse.
At the upcoming Meta Connect event next week, the company plans to explain how it will connect its VR creation platform Horizon Worlds to Crayta, another creation platform acquired by Meta last year.
In the session called Building Bridges to the Metaverse, the company reveals that, “[User-generated content] creation platforms Crayta and Meta Horizon Worlds will soon be connected in ways that will demonstrate the potential of a metaverse of experiences with shared values. Leads from both teams will discuss this journey and show how it’s possible for two products on different platforms to connect meaningfully and add value without compromising either of them.”
While we’ll have to wait for the session itself to get more details about how deep this connection will go, another session reveals that one part of the connection will be sharing avatars between platforms.
“This session explains the thinking and problem solving that allowed the [user-generated content] game platform Crayta, to welcome Meta Avatars into its ecosystem. Takeaways include insights into how another platform thinks about avatar appeal, and examples of technical problem solving to allow a user’s avatar to travel between platforms.”
It isn’t clear if this will be a two-way street (where avatars from either platform can hop onto the other) or only a one-way street (where Meta Avatars can jump into Crayta but not the other way around). It also isn’t clear if there will be anything beyond sharing the same avatar, or if some other parts of users’ digital identities will be able to cross between the platforms, like usernames, control preferences, or in-game points or resources.
Many agree that, like the web, the metaverse should be open and widely interoperable; so while it’s nice nice to see Meta taking its first steps toward connecting otherwise disparate platforms, this is still just one player connecting two closed platforms, with no way for others to be part of the club. In that sense, it will still be a long time yet before we see anything that feels like a proper metaverse.
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Zuckerberg claims new 'mixed reality' headset will 'bring the metaverse to life': Meta could finally reveal its highly-anticipated Project Cambria device at its Connect conference on October 11Meta is set to finally reveal its new headset at a virtual conference next monthThe 'mixed reality' headset will underpin the 'metaverse', a virtual shared spaceMixed reality allows real and virtual elements to interact within an environment Published: 05:26 EDT, 7 September 2022 | Updated: 05:28 EDT, 7 September 2022 Meta is set to be planning to finally lift the lid on its new 'mixed reality' headset next month. Mark Zuckerberg's firm has announced that the company's annual 'Meta Connect' conference will be livestreamed on October 11. Zuckerberg has also posted a photo of himself wearing a headset to his Facebook page with the caption: 'See you at Meta Connect on Oct 11' – a strong indicator that the device will finally be revealed at the event. However, the mixed reality headset, which goes under the code name Project Cambria, is well concealed in the photo to keep fans guessing. It's believed the new headset will underpin the 'metaverse' – a collective virtual shared space accessible online that features avatars of real people. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg posted a photo of him wearing a headset to his Facebook page with the caption: 'See you at Meta Connect on Oct 11'. The new headset will likely be revealed at the 'Meta Connect' conference, which is taking place virtually on October 11 The Meta Connect conference is taking place virtually on October 11. It's suspected the company will reveal its new 'mixed reality' headset at the event WHAT IS MIXED REALITY?Mixed reality describes experiences that combine elements of both a physical and virtual environment, allowing real and digital elements to coexist and interact. Augmented reality (AR) and mixed reality (MR) are both immersive technologies but they aren’t the same. Mixed reality is an extension of augmented reality that allows real and virtual elements to interact in an environment. Mixed reality maintains a connection to the real world, so it is not considered a fully immersive experience like virtual reality (VR) is.Source: bernardmarr.com Meta said in a blog post that next month's conference will provide 'a look at what’s to come in the near and far future' and 'and the next era of social computing'. Also at the Meta Connect, the company will be 'exploring what it will take to bring the metaverse to life'. Zuckerberg has already said that the upcoming 'high-end' headset is launching later this year. Back in May, Zuckerberg posted a teaser video of himself testing out the headset, although the device itself had been pixelated. The video shows Zuckerberg petting a cute virtual creature, picking up and throwing a virtual ball, and viewing a web browser that appears to be floating right in front of his face. The CEO already spoke about a few Project Cambria features at Meta Connect 2021, including sensors that enable a user's avatar to make natural eye contact and facial expressions in real time while in the metaverse. Meanwhile, cameras will pass high-resolution full-colour video to the headset's screens, he said. Zuckerberg has also already said that Project Cambria will cost more than the current headsets, although it's not known how much exactly. Project Cambria is expected to cost around £799, two people familiar with the matter previously told The Information. The device will be the follow-up to Meta's Oculus Quest 2, which was released in October 2020, and the original Oculus Quest, released in May 2019. Last year, Zuckerberg said Project Cambria is 'not the next Quest', and although it will be compatible with the latest Quest device it will be its own product. After Project Cambria is released, Meta reportedly wants to release three more headsets – Stinson (to be released in 2023), Funston (2024), and Cardiff (2024), according to an internal road map seen by The Information. Back in May, Zuckerberg posted a teaser video of him testing out the headset, although the device itself had been pixelated Zuckerberg said Project Cambria is 'the future of hardware to help bring the metaverse to life'. The term 'metaverse', coined in the 1992 dystopian novel 'Snow Crash', is used to describe immersive, shared spaces accessed across different platforms where the physical and digital converge. Zuckerberg, who co-founded Facebook in his dormitory room at Harvard University in 2004, has described the metaverse as an 'embodied internet'. Within years, Facebook users will be able to use the platform not on their phone or computer, but by donning a headset. Rather than swiping the screen of a device, they could potentially meet up with a Facebook friend in a virtual shared space – like an ultra-realistic simulation of another planet or an idyllic garden – and vocally chat to each other's avatars. 'It'll be characterised by social presence, the feeling that you're right there with another person, no matter where in the world you happen to be,' Meta says.'The metaverse is still a ways off, but parts of it are already here and even more are on the horizon.' Zuckerberg's company announced at last year's Connect conference in October 2021 that it was renaming itself, as part of its long-term project to turn its social media platform into a metaverse. So the word 'Facebook' now refers to the social media platform and not the company that owns it. THE FACEBOOK 'METAVERSE': A VIRTUAL WORLD WITHIN A WORLD In a recent interview, Mark Zuckerberg said that over the next five years, he wants people to think of Facebook not as a social media company, but a 'metaverse' company.That is one that is akin to a virtual environment where people can work and play for most of their 24 hours without leaving their home.'And my hope, if we do this well, I think over the next five years or so, in this next chapter of our company, I think we will effectively transition from people seeing us as primarily being a social media company to being a metaverse company,' Zuckerberg said in the interview with The Verge. 'And obviously, all of the work that we're doing across the apps that people use today contribute directly to this vision in terms of building community and creators. 'But this is something that I'm spending a lot of time on, thinking a lot about, we're working on a ton. And I think it's just a big part of the next chapter for the work that we're going to do in the whole industry.'So what exactly is the metaverse? As Zuckerberg describes it, it's a 'vision' that spans the entire tech industry, calling it the successor to the mobile internet.'But you can think about the metaverse as an embodied internet, where instead of just viewing content — you are in it,' he continued. 'And you feel present with other people as if you were in other places, having different experiences that you couldn't necessarily do on a 2D app or webpage, like dancing, for example, or different types of fitness.' The Facebook CEO says his vision – which he has been working on for several months – would not only reach into virtual reality, but augmented reality, computers, mobile devices and game consoles as well. Advertisement Read more: Save the Date: Meta Connect Returns October 11 Meta Plots Ambitious VR Release Schedule of Four Headsets by 2024 — The Information
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Whether you're strapping in for a Peloton ride or buying up virtual real estate, Mark Zuckerberg says you've joined the metaverse.On an August episode of the Joe Rogan Experience podcast, the Meta CEO said the evolution of virtual reality will unfold similarly to computers and cell phones: Gamers are the first to explore new technology, followed by mainstream users who want to use it to socialize.But the metaverse already appears to be transforming beyond that traditional trajectory, Zuckerberg said. He considers fitness apps, like Peloton, a third step in virtual reality's evolution because their technology connects people across the world through physical movement."This was sort of my theory: 'Gaming is use case number one for VR [virtual reality],'" Zuckerberg said on the podcast. "But then pretty quickly…we're getting all these other use cases that are kind of crazy and are happening sooner than I thought."While Meta executives have admitted it could take up to 15 years to fully realize their vision for the metaverse, elements like gaming, social media and fitness platforms have already started engaging users in the virtual worlds. And Zuckerberg said exercise apps are helping make those experiences more immersive, nearly physical, reality.That's particularly important to Meta, whose goal is to help people connect and communicate online, Zuckerberg said.This isn't the first time Zuckerberg has drawn a link from virtual fitness platforms to Meta's work. Last year at VivaTech, a French tech conference, Zuckerberg said VR and augmented reality (AR) exercise could be at the forefront of the "next big computing platform.""It's not like computers are going away or phones are going away," Zuckerberg said at the time. "But I think this has the potential to be something at that scale of importance in the world."That evolution also aligns with Zuckerberg's vision for the metaverse. On repeated occasions, the Meta co-founder said he wants media to become more immersive and less distinguishable from physical reality."These are like the first physical computing platforms [where] you don't move around while you're on a computer," Zuckerberg said on the Joe Rogan Experience. "VR, and eventually AR, are really designed to be able to…interact with the world."Sign up now: Get smarter about your money and career with our weekly newsletterDon't miss:Mark Zuckerberg doesn’t like your scrolling habits: Social media is for ‘building relationships,’ not just consuming content‘This is creating more loneliness’: The metaverse could be a serious problem for kids, experts say
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Gaming & VR
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There is no denying that consumer VR headsets have gone a long way since their inception back in 1995 with the release of Virtual Boy, a 32-bit video game console with a red monochrome display. Only to be deemed Nintendo's greatest commercial failure. After selling only 770,000 units and publishing no more than 22 games.Thanks to the technological breakthroughs in AI and hardware. VR has seen a lot of advancements. Big tech companies like Meta and Bytedance are heavily invested in standalone headsets, bringing features like inside-out positional tracking, hand tracking, and Mixed Reality, through built-in cameras and sensors. Without the need for an expensive gaming PC, base stations, or wires. Further deepen the sense of immersion and lowing the barrier to VR entry.Nintendo Virtual BoyBut even so, the adoption of VR headsets in the consumer market is going slower than expected. Don't get me wrong, VR is not dying but rather, a lot of factors are keeping it from reaching its full mass adoption potential. Here are three problems VR needs to solve in the next few years.VIRTUAL REALITY SICKNESSMotion sickness occurs when your brain experience mismatch in the cues coming from your eyes, ears and body causing some people to feel dizziness, tiredness, headache, etc. Unfortunately, when users put on a headset their mind thinks it's moving around, but in reality, their body is static (of course, that's part of the immersion), leaving some with an unpleasant first-time experience, even hours after removing the device.According to 2020's research on factors associated with virtual reality sickness, gaming scores the highest on the list in Simulator Sickness Questionnaire, and it's not hard to find out why. Unlike 360° videos where users sit statically, Video games are way more visually stimulating and requires intense locomotion from players.Unfortunately, developers will have to deal with current hardware limitations and rely on clever techniques to decrease the intensity of Virtual Reality sickness. This can mean offering more locomotion options, adding screen vignette, testing for unexpected lag or camera jittery, etc...WAY TOO UNCOMFORTABLEWith any new piece of technology, there are always going to be some teething problems. And for VR, one of those is the weight of the headsets. Most users who have tried VR headsets agree that they are uncomfortable to wear for long periods. Causing some to feel neck pain and headaches.The Meta Quest 2 weighs 503g. not too bad, considering it packs in a lot of techs. On the other hand, the Valve index weighs 807g Despite being a PC-only headset. However, the Valve Index manages to feel more comfortable to wear. The strap on the headset allows the weight to distribute more evenly, and the materials used can create a day and night difference in player experience.Some manufacturers are working on lighter headsets, and there are also some after-market accessories that can help distribute the weight more evenly.But ultimately, it's up to each individual to decide whether the weight of a VR headset is worth the experience. For some, the immersive nature of VR is worth a little discomfort. For others, it's not.LACK OF VR GAMESCompanies are selling headsets at a loss; they sell to as much consumer as they can and recuperate their loses through game sales. But having most headsets spend the rest of their life on shelf collecting dust, because of the lack of AAA games, is not the ideal situation.AAA (Triple-A) games are the big budget, big name titles that drive the video game industry. They are the games that generate the most buzz and the most sales. And right now, there are very few that are compatible with VR headsets. This is a chicken and egg problem. VR headsets needs Triple-A Video Games to attract customers, but game developers are reluctant to invest in VR until there is a larger installed base of headsets.The Elder Scrolls V Skyrim - BethesdaCompanies like Meta and Sony are acquiring talented studios left and right to build their first party VR catalogue and fill the need for high quality, longer content games. If VR is going to reach its full potential, it needs more big IPs like Elder Scrolls, Silent Hills, Grand Theft Auto, etc.. Otherwise, it will continue to be a niche technology.Sign up for our newsletter today to receive the latest updates, behind-the-scenes content, and more from SheTech. Follow Us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
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Gaming & VR
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Known for making some of the best third-party game controllers you can buy—including options for the Xbox—8BitDo is once again taking inspiration from Microsoft with a new compact gamepad designed to accommodate players with limited mobility that moves almost all of the functionality to dedicated buttons.Back in 2018, Microsoft revealed its Xbox Adaptive Controller, which looks nothing like the controllers included with the company’s consoles. The XAC was more reminiscent of an arcade-style controller, but instead of joysticks, it featured a pair of over-sized pads, a more traditional D-pad, and 19 3.5mm input jacks allowing a wide variety of accessories to be attached and used as button inputs. Although it took decades after the first home consoles arrived for companies to make gaming more inclusive, Microsoft’s XAC was a welcome innovation, and while at $100 it wasn’t considerably more expensive than a standard Xbox gamepad, 8BitDo has a more affordable solution enroute.This new controller was originally created to assist a young gamer named Oskar Karlsson who has a rare neuromuscular disorder called Spinal Muscular Atrophy type 2. Oskar’s father, Andreas, reached out to 8BitDo directly with the request, and the pair helped the company test out various prototypes over the past year before the new 8BitDo Lite SE was finalized.The most obvious difference between the Lite SE and the other controllers and gamepads that 8BitDo makes is that almost all of the functionality has been replicated using individual buttons on the face of the controller. That includes the D-pad, shoulder and trigger buttons, as well as the L3 and R3 buttons (which are traditionally activated by pressing in on the analog sticks). The Lite SE still includes a pair of analog joysticks, but along with the buttons, they have been made easier to press with less physical resistance and more sensitivity.Pressing buttons while holding a controller can also sometimes be a big challenge for some gamers, so as with Microsoft’s Xbox Adaptive Controller, the 8BitDo Lite SE features a flat bottom with a no-slip rubber grip (which appears to be optionally removable), allowing it to be placed and used on a flat surface without the controller sliding around when the action gets intense.The 8BitDo Lite SE accessible controller is officially available for pre-order through the company’s website starting today for $35, with shipping starting next month on July 15. Even though the Lite SE is only compatible with the Nintendo Switch and devices running Android, that’s still an accessible price point, and it’s now the cheapest 8BitDo controller you can get that has a pair of analog joysticks.
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Gaming & VR
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There's not much you can do to make a VR headset's video better short of buying a new headset, but a better pair of headphones could make a big difference for audio. The two-year-old Quest 2 has serviceable built-in audio via small speakers in its headband, but the new Logitech Chorus adds over-ear headphone upgrades for an extra $100, available August 30. But this might be too pricey an upgrade for a headset that's already $101 more expensive.The over-ear headphones are part of an entirely new headband that powers via the USB-C port, and has its own passthrough USB-C for charging. The headband also looks to be more comfortable, similar to the Elite battery strap made by Meta, minus the extra battery. The integrated audio has a look similar to what PC VR headsets like HTC Vive and Valve Index have used. A clever feature also mutes audio when the over-ear floating-type headphones are flipped up.You could, of course, also just plug your own headphones into the Quest 2 using the headphone jack. The Chorus could be a better option for anyone who's wanted a comfier pro-style headband and better over-ear audio, too. Meta's not expected to have a true Quest 3 headset out this year, but a more expensive Pro headset codenamed Cambria could be arriving soon, possibly with audiovisual upgrades. In the meantime, the Chorus might be a solution to mildly upgrade the Quest 2 you already have.
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Gaming & VR
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In an AR scenario, a virtual mouse hops forwards and rests briefly on each point of the hand. The hand patch, with hydrogel-based electrodes, has 32 electrotactile stimulation pixels on the palm side, allowing the threshold currents to be easily mapped for different users. Credit: City University of Hong Kong Enhancing the virtual experience with the touch sensation has become a hot topic, but today's haptic devices remain typically bulky and tangled with wires. A team led by the City University of Hong Kong (CityU) researchers recently developed an advanced wireless haptic interface system, called WeTac, worn on the hand, which has soft, ultrathin soft features, and collects personalized tactile sensation data to provide a vivid touch experience in the metaverse. The system has application potential in gaming, sports and skills training, social activities, and remote robotic controls. "Touch feedback has great potential, along with visual and audial information, in virtual reality (VR), so we kept trying to make the haptic interface thinner, softer, more compact and wireless, so that it could be freely used on the hand, like a second skin," said Dr. Yu Xinge, Associate Professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering (BME) at CityU, who led the research.
Together with Professor Li Wenjung, Chair Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering (MNE), Dr. Wang Lidai, Associate Professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering (BME) and other collaborators, Dr. Yu's team developed WeTac, an ultra-flexible, wireless, integrated skin VR system. The research findings were published in Nature Machine Intelligence. An ultrathin, wireless “Skin VR”, developed by a team led by researchers at City University of Hong Kong and collaborators, provides a vivid and “personalized” touch experience in the virtual world. Credit: Dr Yu Xinge's research group / City University of Hong Kong Light-weight, wireless, wearable hand patch instead of bulky gloves
Existing haptic gloves rely mostly on bulky pumps and air ducts, powered and controlled through a bunch of cords and cables, which severely hinder the immersive experience of VR and augmented reality (AR) users. The newly developed WeTac overcomes these shortcomings with its soft, ultrathin, skin-integrated wireless electrotactile system. The system comprises two parts: a miniaturized soft driver unit, attached to the forearm as a control panel, and hydrogel-based electrode hand patch as a haptic interface.
The entire driver unit weighs only 19.2g and is small (5cm x 5cm x 2.1mm) enough to be mounted on the arm. It uses Bluetooth low energy (BLE) wireless communication and a small rechargeable lithium-ion battery. The hand patch is only 220 µm to 1mm thick, with electrodes on the palm. It exhibits great flexibility and guarantees effective feedback in various poses and gestures. The wireless skin-integrated electrotactile system comprises two parts: a soft driver unit (right), attached to the forearm, and the hand patch (left). Credit: Dr Yu Xinge's research group / City University of Hong Kong High pixel-density device provides a personalized experience
"Electrotactile stimulation is a good method to provide effective virtual touch for users," Dr. Yu explained. "However, as individuals have different sensitivities, the same feedback strength might be felt differently in different users' hands. So we need to customize the feedback parameters accordingly to provide a universal tool for all users to eliminate another major bottleneck in the current haptic technology." The ultra-soft feature of WeTac allows the threshold currents to be easily mapped for individual users to determine the optimized parameters for each part of the hand. Based on the personalized threshold data, electrotactile feedback can be delivered to any part of the hand on demand in a proper intensity range to avoid causing pain or being too weak to be felt. In this way, virtual tactile information, including spatial and temporal sequences, can be faithfully reproduced over the whole hand. A user touches a virtual tennis ball in VR via WeTac, a skin-integrated wireless electrotactile system. Credit: Dr Yu Xinge's research group / City University of Hong Kong The WeTac patches are worn on the hands to provide programmable spatio-temporal feedback patterns, with 32 electrotactile stimulation pixels on the palm instead of the fingertips only. The average center-to-center distance between the electrodes is about 13mm, providing wide coverage over the whole hand.
The device has several built-in safety measures to protect users from electric shock, and the temperature of the device is maintained in a relatively low range of 27 to 35.5°C to avoid causing any thermal discomfort during continuous operation.
Wide range of potential applications
WeTac has been successfully integrated into VR and AR scenarios, and synchronized with robotic hands through BLE communication. With the miniature size, wearable and wireless format, and sensitivity-oriented feedback strategy, WeTac makes tactile feedback in the hand much easier and user-friendly. Users can feel virtual objects in different scenarios, such as grasping a tennis ball in sports training, touching a cactus, or feeling a mouse running on the hand in social activities, virtual gaming, etc.
"We believe that this is a powerful tool for providing virtual touching, and is inspiring for the development of the metaverse, human-machine interface (HMI), and other fields," said Dr. Yu. More information: Kuanming Yao et al, Encoding of tactile information in hand via skin-integrated wireless haptic interface, Nature Machine Intelligence (2022). DOI: 10.1038/s42256-022-00543-y Citation: Wireless, ultrathin 'skin VR' to provide a vivid, personalized touch experience in the virtual world (2022, December 15) retrieved 15 December 2022 from https://techxplore.com/news/2022-12-wireless-ultrathin-skin-vr-vivid.html This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no part may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is provided for information purposes only.
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Gaming & VR
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The NVIDIA® GeForce RTX® 4090 is the ultimate GeForce GPU. It brings an enormous leap in performance, efficiency, and AI-powered graphics. Experience ultra-high performance gaming, incredibly detailed virtual worlds, unprecedented productivity, and new ways to create. It’s powered by the NVIDIA Ada Lovelace architecture and comes with 24 GB of G6X memory to deliver the ultimate experience for gamers and creators. Architecture Performance Ray Tracing DLSS 3 Reflex Create Specs Architecture Performance Ray Tracing DLSS 3 Reflex Create Specs Architecture Performance Ray Tracing DLSS 3 Reflex Create Specs NVIDIA Ada Lovelace Architecture Ahead of its time, ahead of the game. New Streaming Multiprocessors Up to 2x performance and power efficiency Fourth-Gen Tensor Cores Up to 2x AI performance Third-Gen RT Cores Up to 2x ray tracing performance Learn More About the Architecture Only on RTX The ultimate platform for gamers and creators. Cutting-Edge GPUs NVIDIA Ada Lovelace Architecture Realistic and Immersive Graphics Dedicated Ray Tracing Cores AI-Accelerated Performance NVIDIA DLSS 3 Game-Winning Responsiveness NVIDIA Reflex low-latency platform Built for Live Streaming NVIDIA Encoder AI-Enhanced Voice and Video NVIDIA Broadcast Fast-Track Your Creativity NVIDIA Studio Performance and Reliability Game Ready and Studio Drivers 3840x2160 Resolution, Highest Game Settings, DLSS Super Resolution Performance Mode, DLSS Frame Generation on RTX 40 Series, i9-12900K, 32GB RAM, Win 11 x64. All DLSS Frame Generation data and Cyberpunk 2077 with new Ray Tracing: Overdrive Mode based on pre-release builds. Hyperrealistic. Hyperfast. The Ada architecture unleashes the full glory of ray tracing, which simulates how light behaves in the real world. With the power of RTX 40 Series and third-gen RT Cores, you can experience incredibly detailed virtual worlds like never before. RTX On RTX Off The performance multiplier, powered by AI. DLSS is a revolutionary breakthrough in AI-powered graphics that massively boosts performance. Powered by the new fourth-gen Tensor Cores and Optical Flow Accelerator on GeForce RTX 40 Series GPUs, DLSS 3 uses AI to create additional high-quality frames. *Captured with GeForce RTX 4090 at 3840 x 2160, New Ray Tracing: Overdrive Mode, DLSS 3, pre-release build. Victory measured in milliseconds. NVIDIA Reflex and GeForce RTX 40 Series GPUs deliver the lowest latency and best responsiveness for the ultimate competitive advantage. Built to optimize and measure system latency, Reflex provides faster target acquisition, quicker reaction times, and the best aim precision for competitive games. Top tools for the creative trade. NVIDIA Studio NVIDIA Encoder NVIDIA Broadcast NVIDIA Omniverse NVIDIA Canvas Take your creative projects to the next level with NVIDIA Studio. Powered by new dedicated hardware, RTX 40 Series unlocks unmatched performance in 3D rendering, video editing, and graphic design. Experience feature-rich RTX accelerations in top creative apps, world-class NVIDIA Studio drivers engineered to provide maximum stability, and a suite of exclusive tools that harness the power of RTX for AI-assisted creative workflows. Additional Features and Benefits Game Ready Drivers GeForce Game Ready Drivers deliver the best experience for your favorite games. They’re finely tuned in collaboration with developers and extensively tested across thousands of hardware configurations for maximum performance and reliability. GeForce Experience Capture and share videos, screenshots, and live streams with friends. Keep your drivers up to date and optimize your game settings. GeForce Experience lets you do it all. It’s the essential companion to your GeForce graphics card. NVIDIA G-SYNC Get smooth, tear-free gameplay at high refresh rates, plus HDR and more. This is the ultimate gaming display and the go-to equipment for enthusiast gamers. 8K HDR Gaming Connect, play, capture, and watch in brilliant HDR at resolutions up to 8K with the GeForce RTX 4090. Capture up to 8K HDR footage with the GeForce Experience™ ShadowPlay™ feature and play back smoothly with AV1 decode. Virtual Reality The highest performance graphics deliver the smoothest, most immersive VR experiences. Resizable BAR Resizable BAR is an advanced PCI Express feature that enables the CPU to access the entire GPU frame buffer at once, improving performance in many games. © 2022 NVIDIA Corporation. NVIDIA, the NVIDIA logo, GeForce, GeForce Experience, GeForce RTX, and G-SYNC are registered trademarks and/or trademarks of NVIDIA Corporation in the United States and other countries. All other trademarks and copyrights are the property of their respective owners. Prepare your system for the GeForce RTX® 4090 Founders Edition Graphics card specifications vary by add-in-card manufacturer. Please refer to manufacturer specifications for add-in-card models. The following steps require some knowledge of PC component specifications, in addition to physical installation. 1. Check your power supply 850W Minimum
A higher power rating may be required depending on your system configuration.
Please check with your PSU vendor. Power Compatibility Option 1.
3x PCIe 8-pin cables from power supply to included RTX 4090 Power Connector Adapter. Graphics card supports 3x or 4x PCIe 8-pin cables. Power Compatibility Option 2.
1x 450W or greater PCIe Gen 5 power cable from power supply Three unused expansion slots.
Reserving clearance around the graphics card equivalent to an unused expansion slot will typically improve airflow. Clearance: Must have space for 12" (304mm) x 5.4" (137mm) x 3-slot card (61mm). Plan 1.4” (36mm) additional space for power cables.
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Gaming & VR
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Sandbox VR is an interactive experience company based in Hong Kong. It has opened about two dozen locations in the U.S., including one in Dallas at Mockingbird Station.(Arthur Mitchell Bodner)Sandbox VR, a virtual reality experience, opens this weekend in Mockingbird Station, joining other shopping centers in the area that are adding interactive entertainment to their mix.Players pay $45 to $50 to enter one of six free-roam reality experiences. They dress in gear that weighs about 20 pounds and includes haptic feedback technology, which simulates physical contact such as a zombie running into you. Children who are at least 4 feet tall can play.Sierra Lawrence, Sandbox VR’s marketing manager, said the company likes Mockingbird Station’s proximity to Southern Methodist University and that Dallas has a significant population working in technology jobs.The concept is filling in 5,427 square feet of space that’s been vacant for a while across from the Angelika theater and next to Urban Taco. Sandbox VR opened last week in Fort Worth’s Crockett Row, a center in the West 7th shopping district. It’s heading to Houston and has opened in Austin’s Domain Northside.The Hong Kong-based company, founded in 2016, has about two dozen locations in the U.S. and late last year received a new round of venture capital funds, for a total of $119 million, to pay for its expansion. Celebrity investors include Justin Timberlake, Katy Perry, Kevin Durant and Will Smith. Several more stores are planned, Lawrence said.Another entertainment tenant coming to Mockingbird Station is Hack Shack, a golf practice play facility that uses TrackMan simulator technology to display 40 courses from around the world. It’s taking up more than 10,000 square feet on the second level of the building along the north side of the development.The 25-year-old mixed-use development, which also has offices and apartments, was the first in Dallas on a DART train stop. The center is on the east frontage road of North Central Expressway north of Mockingbird Lane.Mockingbird Station lost some longtime tenants during the pandemic, but its core retailers, Urban Outfitters, West Elm, Ann Taylor Loft and Bath & Body Works, remain.Gap, which has been closing stores across the U.S., is one of Mockingbird Station’s longtime stores that closed late last year.Trinity Hall Irish pub closed last August after repeatedly opening and reopening during the pandemic.Mockingbird Station, which is leased by Dallas-based ShopCos., has five “coming soon” restaurants listed on its directory. The center has also focused leasing on services and wellness tenants such as Hydrate IV Bar, a concept that administers customized IV therapy services that opened last week.The development is attracting another high-rise residential project nearby. Trammell Crow Co. is planning an 18-story apartment building next to Mockingbird Station.Twitter: @MariaHalkiasLooking for more retail coverage? Click here to read all retail news and updates. Click here to subscribe to D-FW Retail and more newsletters from The Dallas Morning News.Get D-FW retail newsGet the latest on openings, closings and trends of the D-FW retail scene.By signing up you agree to our privacy policyMost Popular on DallasNews.com123456
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Gaming & VR
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Bild: SonyPlaystation VR 2 goes against the trend of recent years and uses a cable. But Sony is researching wireless VR.
This is what Sony’s SVP of Platform Experience Hideaki Nishino says in an interview with the Japanese video game magazine Famitsu.
When asked why Sony is going for a cable solution, Nishino says that only a cable will be able to unlock the full potential of the PS5 and PSVR 2, but adds that the company is also considering other options.
“We also understand that going wireless will give you another experience, so we’re always looking at all possibilities and doing technical research. However, there is still the issue of how far the cable solution can be replaced with a wireless one in terms of performance,” Nishino says.
Sony plays it safe
As anyone who uses standalone devices like Meta Quest 2 or Pico 4 on a PC knows, wireless PC VR streaming is getting better and better. However, this type of use is secondary and doesn’t quite come close to wired data transmission in terms of image quality, connection stability and latency.
That’s what Nishino refers to: Sony’s VR system is ultimately supposed to offer an uncompromising high-end VR experience – and wireless VR is not (yet) enough for that.
Besides these factors, the power supply probably also played a role in Sony’s decision for a wired connection. With a wireless connection, Sony would have had to place a battery and additional processors in the VR headset, which would have had a negative impact on the weight and cost of the device. Compromises that Sony did not want to make, which could be different again with Playstation VR 3 and advanced network technology.
PSVR 2: “Suitable for the price”
Nishino says he can’t wait for the launch. Playstation VR 2 is excellently positioned in terms of hardware and content quality, he believes. PSVR 2 would enable a “completely different level of immersion.”
Asked about the PSVR2’s software lineup, Nishino says Sony hasn’t announced all of its VR games yet. More games could be revealed in early January at Sony’s CES press conference.
And what about the relatively high price of $550 / 600 euros? Nishino, of course, thinks it’s justified. “We believe that we are able to provide functions and experiences that are suitable for the price, so we hope you will pick it up.”
Sales will show it: Playstation VR 2 will be released worldwide on February 22, 2023. You can find more information about Playstation VR 2 here. Read comments Meta Quest 3: First hint at display and resolution Playstation VR 2: Release, resolution, controller – all you need to know What’s inside the Playstation VR 2 box Showtime for Playstation VR 2? Sony announces CES press conference The 24 best VR games of all time (so far) Why Meta Quest 2 could be a problem for Playstation VR 2 Meta Quest 2: PC VR streaming with Air Link – latency review Playstation VR 2 launches in February 2023 for $550 The top 16 free VR Games for Quest 2, PSVR, PC VR, and Pico 4 Playstation VR 2: Why Sony must go all out The Playstation VR 3 probably won’t be released until 2030 – what does that mean for VR? Playstation VR 2: Sony’s best VR studio no longer makes VR PSVR 2: Sony promises more than 20 “major” VR games at launch MeganeX: Super-compact PC VR glasses with 2.5K displays Pico Neo 3 Pro review: B2B VR headset partially catches up with Quest 2 Playstation VR 2: New trailer shows what makes the VR headset unique New PSVR 2 video shows finger tracking in action Pimax Crystal: Standalone high-end VR headset launches in November Playstation VR 2 Previews: The early press verdict “Horizon Call of the Mountain” for PSVR2 is a full-price title – and that’s probably good news U-turn on Hololens: Microsoft follows Meta and Apple – Report Playstation VR 2: Sony shows VR games again PSVR 2 previews, Pico 4 in the starting blocks & GPT-3 security vulnerability Note: Links to online stores in articles can be so-called affiliate links. If you buy through this link, MIXED receives a commission from the provider. For you the price does not change.
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Gaming & VR
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The Pico 4 headset is the closest-priced and sufficiently powerful VR device to the Meta Quest 2 we’ve seen to date. Screenshot: Pico/ByteDanceMeta is terrified of TikTok’s domineering presence in the social media market, and now it seems the company behind the app, ByteDance, is coming for Meta’s own stake in the Metaverse with a headset that’s the closest we’ve seen in price to the Quest 2.OffEnglishBytedance’s VR subsidiary, Pico, introduced the Pico 4 in an English language Thursday livestream that was equal parts cringey and surprising—mostly because of how much it seems to be going after Meta. The device will sell at $425 (€429) for the 128GB version and $492 (€499) for the 256GB version.The big thing here, however, is that the device will only launch outside of its home country in Japan, Korea, and 13 countries in Europe, including the UK, France, Germany, Spain, and Italy. The Chinese Market will get its own announcement on Sept. 27, and full preorders are set to start Oct. 18. The Verge noted that the headset could appear in the U.S. eventually, based on FCC filings.The Pico 4 is running on an eight-core, 2.84 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon XR2 processor, according to the products specs page. Considering Meta’s already contracted with Qualcomm for custom chipsets, it will be interesting to see how powerful this device will be compared to future Quests. Otherwise, the Pico 4 is boasting a pretty beefy 4,320 x 2,160 resolution (of course, that’s 2,160 pixels per eye). The two 2.56-inch LCD screens boast a refresh rate between 72Hz and 90Hz.G/O Media may get a commissionAlexa?Has an 8" HD touchscreen which can let you watch shows, stream things, or even make video calls thanks to the 13 MP camera, you can also use it to control other smart devices in your home with ease, and even display photos if you want to as a digital photo frame.The headband is just a single strap, but Pico is promoting that the weight of the device is balanced due to the 5300mAh battery sitting behind the head. The device’s controllers are also pretty interesting. The loops, used by the headset to track positioning, are angled in front of the palms rather than around or in front of the hands. The four buttons used in most modern games are shared between both controllers.But Pico is also advertising you won’t have to use controllers for everything, as the device does have hand tracking capabilities. Of course, the company did not show off this feature in-action. The Quest 2 also has hand tracking.Last year, ByteDance bought out Pico for an undisclosed amount. Pico was ranked as one of the largest VR headset makers. It was a deal that mirrored Facebook when it purchased Oculus back in 2014. Even back then, we speculated that the TikTok owner could have been setting itself up with a showdown against its rival in the social media space, and it appears that with its announced specs and price point, the company is ready to make a statement.Meta recently bumped the price of both its 128GB and 256GB Quest 2 models by $100, so Pico 4 now sits comfortably against the $399 Quest headset.But what may make the difference here is the software available for the device. Pico makes little mention of what games its system will support, but instead advertises proprietary sports programs and video content. Pico did show off some upcoming games, including The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners Retribution and Peaky Blinders: The King’s Ransom alongside other VR classics like Gorn, and the company promised more VR games would be coming to the Pico store over time.Pico seems to be going after Meta and its metaverse directly with its “Avatar System.” Leland Hedges, the general manager for Pico, showed off his own rather gaunt and plastic-looking avatar, but apparently this avatar will be used in multiple applications, including “Pico Worlds,” the company’s own answer to Meta’s Horizon Worlds. The company also boasts its device’s ability to track facial muscles that will be reproduced on player’s avatars.“He really does look like me, doesn’t he,” Hedges said during the livestream in a very stiff and uncomfortable way. Horizon Worlds recently became the butt of many jokes for just how bad it looks, to the point that CEO Mark Zuckerberg had to come out and tell everyone that his own avatar won’t look like a dead doll forever after enough graphical updates.Pico is also sniping Meta before the company can announce its upcoming Meta Quest Pro, which Zuckerberg recently said was set to be revealed in October during the annual Connect conference. We still don’t know what kind of pricing model for the device once dubbed Project Cambria, though some leaks have hinted it could cost over $800, likely positioning it around other mid-to-high tier headsets. Pico will supposedly also work on a Pro model that includes eye tracking, though we don’t know much about it at this point.But what should also not go unsaid is that ByteDance is not the best company out there when it comes to people’s private data. It’s been surrounded by scandal in recent months after leaked internal audio mentioned that user data could be seen by Chinese government officials. All this proprietary focus on its internal store makes it somewhat concerning.At the same time, patents filed by Meta and revealed by The Financial Times have already showed the American company’s own potential plans to sell facial expressions and more to advertisers. It’s a shame two major companies with long histories of pawning off user data are also trying to be the biggest players for devices that with the capability to track everything else about our lives, including our movements.
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Gaming & VR
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CNN Business — Meta’s newest virtual-reality headset, the Meta Quest Pro, is a slick, powerful device. It can display text and fine details in VR, making it possible to read even small type with ease. It can track your eyes and facial features, giving you a sense of connection with other people in virtual spaces: If you arch your eyebrows or they puff up their cheeks in real life, so too will the VR avatars. And it can be used as a mixed-reality headset, showing you a view of the world around you in color while letting you interact with digital objects — whether you’re painting on an ersatz easel or putting on a faux mini-golf course. But the black headset, which Meta unveiled on Tuesday during an online event, is probably not in your price range. At $1,500 ($1,499.99, to be precise), it costs nearly four times that of the company’s cheapest Quest 2 headset. Its price, power, and potential are aimed more toward businesses — think architects and designers — with pockets deep enough to shell out for the headset, and some creative and die-hard VR users. Buyers can pre-order the Quest Pro as of Tuesday, and it will ship out on October 25. It can be purchased online directly from Meta, and in the United States it can also be bought at Best Buy stores, via Best Buy’s website, and through Amazon. The capabilities of the Quest Pro mark an important milestone for Meta (and for CEO Mark Zuckerberg), which has spent years and billions of dollars steering toward a future where it believes people will spend more and more time in virtual spaces and mixing digital elements with the real world. The company’s VR unit, Reality Labs, is still tiny compared to its main business of selling ads on Facebook and Instagram, and costly: Meta said it lost $2.8 billion during the second quarter of this year because of Reality Labs. It’s also a major strategy shift, showing the company is now pushing its best VR technology to business customers, hoping they’ll be eager to use VR and mixed-reality apps at work. It’s a plan that could be lucrative, though it risks alienating its consumer VR business (the company plans, from here on out, to have two Quest product lines and to use the higher-end one to decide which features to add to the less expensive one). This shift may unnerve companies such as Microsoft and Magic Leap, which have been working for years to convince enterprise users that their pricier mixed-reality headsets represent the future of work. (Microsoft, maker of the mixed-reality HoloLens headset, is apparently hedging its bets by bringing its software to the Quest Pro and Quest 2, in a partnership announced Tuesday at Meta’s Connect event, which focuses on its latest advances in virtual reality and related technologies.) And it’s not clear whether — or how — this powerful device will help Meta popularize the so-called metaverse, which Zuckerberg believes so strongly in that he rechristened Facebook as Meta in 2021. Meta is the leader in the nascent VR headset market with its consumer-geared Quest 2 headset, but that market is still tiny compared to, say, console gaming. I spent several hours using the Quest Pro last week at a Meta office near San Francisco, coming away both impressed and flummoxed. It was quickly clear that it’s not intended to be a headset for the masses — a decision that will frustrate some Quest 2 owners waiting for an upgrade to the two-year-old headset. Yet it does offer a glimpse of what VR and mixed-reality experiences may be like in the coming years: better looking, more fun, and increasingly intuitive. The Quest Pro looks markedly different from the Quest 2, as Meta took the battery out of the main body of the headset, curved it, and moved it behind the wearer’s head. This, plus a dial on the back of the head strap that lets you adjust it precisely (making it much easier for those of us who wear glasses to keep them on in VR), gives it a layout reminiscent of HoloLens 2. The dial also makes it easier to get the headset on and off, especially if you have long hair. Unfortunately, this new layout may mean that some people find it less comfortable to wear, particularly over an extended period of time. With the increased weight behind my head and just a knob to adjust the single strap around my noggin, I had to keep adjusting it slightly. I wore multiple identical headsets over the course of roughly two hours; after six different demos, ranging from virtual painting to DJing, I left with a headache. One of the most noteworthy new features on the Quest Pro is its ability to track the wearer’s eyes and face — something that may make people feel more present when interacting with other avatars in virtual spaces. To do this, the headset uses five infrared sensors to capture details like where you gaze and whether you sneer, smile, frown, or raise an eyebrow. This tracking is turned off by default; Meta also said that it’s processing eye and face images on the headset and then deleting them, and that this will be the case even for developers who add this tracking to their apps. I tried this new tracking out while playing around with a demo of a green-faced alien character, named Aura, that Meta is making available to developers so they can get a feel for how it works. With the Quest Pro on my head, I could smile, sneer, wink, scrunch up my eyes, wiggle my nose, and so on, while Aura did the same, in real time (munfortunately, there is no tongue tracking). The responsiveness and specificity of Aura’s facial mimicry was impressive, even at this early stage. This kind of tracking feels like a step in the direction of what Zuckerberg promised was coming after he was widely criticized online in August for a Facebook post featuring an image of his blocky, cartoon-like avatar in Meta’s flagship social app, Horizon Worlds. Upon its release, Quest Pro users will be able to use it in that app and Horizon Workrooms, Meta said, as well as in several developers’ apps such as painting app Painting VR and DJ app Tribe XR. The headset is also more of a mixed-reality headset than a VR headset, as it isn’t meant to block out all ambient light all the time. This is a big departure from Meta’s past focus on immersive VR, where your physical surroundings were typically more of an obstacle than an asset. Meta is including magnetic light-blocking panels that can pop on to the sides to cut out more light, and starting in late November, it will also sell a $50 accessory meant to fully block out ambient light. Letting some surrounding light in is part of the company’s effort to make headset wearers feel in touch with their physical surroundings. To build on this, the Quest Pro uses outward-facing cameras on the headset to let you see your surroundings in color (rather than black and white, as on the Quest 2), and continues Meta’s recent push toward getting apps to interact with the real world. This was on display during a demo in which I used Painting VR to paint on a virtual canvas, moving around a real-world space set up with a virtual brush and tool stand on one side of the canvas and a shelf of paint cans on the other. I could mix paints, grab brushes, and post my finished (and admittedly awful) painting on the actual wall behind me, all while seeing what was happening around me and getting advice from the app’s creator. The hand controllers that accompany the Quest Pro will also play an important role in both VR and mixed-reality apps, and they’ve been vastly improved over the ones that come with the Quest 2. Now, rather than relying on the headset to help determine where the controllers are in space, each controller includes three sensors to shoulder the load. This means they can track 360 degrees of motion, which should make for smoother and better hand and arm tracking in all kinds of apps. (Sadly, though, they still won’t let you have legs in VR.) A pressure sensor on each controller enables more precise motions than with the current Quest 2 controllers. I tried this out with a demo in which I was able to pick up and toss around a variety of small objects like a teacup, blocks, and a garden gnome. I found that if I picked up the teacup gently, particularly by the handle, I wouldn’t harm it; if I grabbed it, however, I crushed it (I mostly crushed it). The things the Quest Pro and these controllers can do without connecting to a powerful computer or setting up a slew of external sensors seemed impossibly far away when then-Facebook bought VR headset maker Oculus in 2014. At that time, most people didn’t even consider VR a mass-market technology; eight years and billions of dollars later, we know and expect more. The headset may deliver technologically, but it will be up to Meta’s customers to decide whether it’s worth the price.
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Gaming & VR
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How do you raise the game in VR treadmill running? The team at Octonic has answered that question by transforming workouts into exciting VR fitness adventures.
How do you raise the game in VR treadmill running? The team at Octonic has answered that question. Octonic’s software connects VR headsets to fitness treadmills, transforming workouts into exciting VR fitness adventures. Time flies as users are immersed in beautiful virtual reality worlds while treadmill exercising. Customer feedback on the Early Release, available on Meta’s AppLab and SideQuest VR since August 2022, has been positive. Now, Octonic’s developers are taking the experience to a whole new level.
First, they are implementing integrations with 40 treadmill brands (400+ treadmill models), allowing for full control over physical treadmills (start/stop, speed, etc.) from VR through bluetooth connectivity. Octonic’s Motion Engine precisely matches the physical treadmill speed with the VR speed, eliminating motion sickness and empowering complete immersion. Their Early Release product, however, offered a non-connected mode where runners adjusted physical treadmill speed manually, utilizing a passthrough viewbox. Effective December 19, 2022, their connected and non-connected products are covering 99% of fitness treadmills on the market.
But the Octonic team didn’t stop there. In collaboration with longstanding treadmill manufacturing partner, NoblePro (the leading UK smart treadmill manufacturer), they have created VR treadmill replicas, precisely calibrating in-headset treadmill visuals with the real thing, including handrails and the moving belt. So when people reach out to their virtual treadmills, they will touch their real NoblePro treadmills in complete synchronicity, creating the first ever integrated VR fitness treadmill.
Another improvement is a swappable hand tracking – controller interface, allowing for interchangeable use between the two input methods. Hand controls are based 100% on natural interaction: tap, click, and swipe.
Lastly, Octonic is growing their worlds library. Their Early Release featured two worlds, and they’re now introducing two additional ones: Sky Island, a natural world, and Sprintblaster, a gaming experience. Moving forward, developers will continue building more gaming, as well as multiplayer experiences that allow runners to compete or run with friends, AI bots, or random runners from across the world.
These improvements rest on one of Octonic’s critical features – a proprietary 3-level Safety Engine providing real-time runner’s position tracking, avatar representation, and a departure warning system. As a result, runners seamlessly exercise in the metaverse. Octonic and their treadmill manufacturer partners believe that VR running with Octonic is as safe as real-world running.
Octonic is compatible with Meta’s Quest 2 and Quest Pro, with development plans for upcoming mobile headsets. The Quest 2 is a good fit for walkers and light joggers at speeds up to 6 MPH, with the addition of non-fabric headstraps to maximize comfort. At speeds above 6 MPH, the Quest Pro, with its balanced design, works well.
Octonic’s new 2.0 update is available December 19th, 2022. The $14.99 price remains, and includes their two largest natural worlds and a free demo of the newly-released Sky Island world. Additional running worlds are available as in-app purchases, ranging from $2.99 to $9.99 per world. Visit their LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook sites for the latest news. About Octonic VR Octonic builds software that facilitates two-way communication between VR headsets and fitness treadmills, allowing users to transform workouts into fitness adventures, without leaving their home or gym.
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Gaming & VR
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Video gaming can be an expensive hobby, but that just makes scoring deals all the more important. Whether you're looking for a new gaming laptop, a better mouse, or any gadget crammed full of RGB LEDs, there are plenty of deals for you today.The WIRED Gear team tests products year-round. We sorted through hundreds of thousands of deals by hand to make these picks. Crossed out products are out of stock or no longer discounted. Our Amazon Prime Day coverage page has the latest stories, and our Prime Day Shopping Tips will help you avoid bad deals. You can also get a 1-Year Subscription to WIRED for $5 here.Updated July 13: We've added a list of several PS5, Xbox, Switch, and PC games to the end of this article.If you buy something using links in our stories, we may earn a commission. This helps support our journalism. Learn more.Gaming Rig DealsAlienware Aurora
Photograph: AlienwareThe Aurora R14 is an upgraded version of one of our favorite gaming desktops. It has Alienware's trademark stylish chassis, an RTX 3080 graphics card, and 32 GB of RAM, making it a beastly machine.Razer makes some of the best gaming laptops in the world, and the Razer Blade 14 is one of our favorites. It packs an RTX 3080 graphics card, 16 GB of RAM, and a 1-terabyte SSD for silky smooth gaming even when you're away from home.Few manufacturers can give Razer a run for its money in the gaming laptop space, but Asus is one of them. The Rog Zephyrus G15 is one of our top picks overall for gaming laptops in 2022, thanks to its RTX 3080 graphics card, 16:10 wide slim bezel (edge) display, and AMD Ryzen 9 5900HS processor.TV and Monitor DealsPhotograph: LGThis OLED TV from LG (8/10, WIRED Recommends) supports up to 120 frame-per-second (fps) gaming at 4K HDR, as well as either Nvidia's G-Sync or AMD's FreeSync for the smoothest possible gaming on one of the nicest looking screens we've tested. It also comes in a smaller 48-inch variant for $797.Ultrawide monitors like this one from AOC provide way more peripheral vision coverage than typical displays, which is an excellent asset to have while gaming. If you want to be immersed in the games you play, this monitor is one of our favorite ultrawides.For the performance-minded, this LG Ultragear monitor sticks with a 1080p panel, but boasts up to 240 fps for the most buttery smooth action, even from fast-paced games. It's compatible with both Nvidia G-Sync and AMD's FreeSync, and the included base is height, tilt, and pivot adjustable.Okay, technically, Philips Hue lights aren't gaming-specific, but what gamer doesn't need more RGB lights? This kit is our upgrade pick and it's one of the most popular (and also most expensive) smart light systems around. As long as you're comfortable committing to a pricier system for the long haul, this is a good deal on a starter pack.Accessory DealsPhotograph: RazerIt's hard to find a perfect mouse, but the Razer Viper Ultimate gets close. It's our top pick for wireless mouse with a dock, and it's been among our top picks overall in the past thanks to its ambidextrous design, clever charging dock, and convenient dongle storage.There is no such thing as too many buttons on a gaming mouse. That's how I do it. That's how Razer does it. And it's worked out pretty well so far. This mouse is one of our favorites, in no small part due to having 19 customizable buttons, making it a Swiss Army knife of customizability for gamers and workers alike.This charging station is one of our picks for PS5 accessories, and for good reason. It's a handy way to make sure your controllers stay charged in between sessions, plus it matches the ostentatious design sensibilities of the PS5 itself, so it'll fit right in on your entertainment unit.With games getting bigger and bigger, there's never enough storage for them all. Fortunately, slim SSDs like this one from WD can expand the storage on your PC or PS5 with minimal effort. This model packs 1 terabyte of storage into a compact stick.The latest console or fastest gaming PC won't matter much if you don't have the bandwidth to download or play games on it. This mesh Wi-Fi system from Orbi is our top pick for large homes to give your network better coverage and faster speeds no matter how far you are from the router. It has been this price a couple times in the past few months, but does not stay at it.Headphone DealsPhotograph: Steelseries This headset was already one of our favorites under $50, but this deal makes it even sweeter. The wireless version of the Arctis 1 (8/10, WIRED Recommends) impressed us with its rich sound and clear mic quality. This model is largely the same but uses a wired connection instead.The Bluetooth version of the Arctis 3 is our top pick for Switch players who want to use voice chat. However, this corded option is still a great headset and can connect to any platform, making it a versatile and inexpensive set of cans.The Arctis Prime from SteelSeries (8/10, WIRED Recommends) is our pick for midrange gaming headset under $100. However, right now it's way under $100. If you want a better-than-average pair of headphones without spending a ton, now's the time.Logitech's G Pro X is currently our top pick for best wireless gaming headset. It supports PC, PlayStation, and has solid battery life. Its DTX:S object-based surround sound makes it easy to hear exactly where enemies are in your game, and Logitech's G Hub software enables a ton of audio customization options.Game DealsPS5 GamesRatchet & Clank: Rift Apart for $40 ($30 off)Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade for $30 ($16 off)Guardians of the Galaxy for $25 ($5 off)Far Cry 6 for $13 ($12 off)Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection for $30 ($20 off)Sackboy: A Big Adventure for $30 ($30 off)Battlefield 2042 for $20 ($10 off)Xbox Series X GamesHalo Infinite for $40 ($20 off)Guardians of the Galaxy for $25 ($5 off)Microsoft Flight Simulator for $45 ($15 off)Sea of Thieves for $20 ($20 off)Disco Elysium: The Final Cut for $15 ($8 off)Battlefield 2042 for $15 ($15 off)Nintendo SwitchAnimal Crossing: New Horizons w/ 12-month Switch Online Bundle for $60 ($20 off)Mario Kart 8 Deluxe w/ 12-month Switch Online Bundle for $60 ($20 off)Super Mario 3D World + Bowser's Fury w/ 12-month Switch Online Bundle for $60 ($20 off)Mario Party Superstars w/ 12-month Switch Online Bundle for $60 ($20 off)Animal Crossing: New Horizons w/ 12-month Switch Online Bundle for $60 ($20 off)PC GamesAmazon Prime members can snag 30+ games right now entirely for free. While some of the titles are hit or miss, the stand out is Mass Effect Legendary Edition which includes the entire trilogy of landmark Mass Effect games.
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Sony on Thursday introduced its PlayStation Stars loyalty program for the PS5 and PS4 gamers. It'll be free to join, and players will be able to earn loyalty points by completing a variety of campaigns and activities. The points can be redeemed for including PlayStation Network wallet funds and select PlayStation Store products.PlayStation Plus members will also automatically receive points for purchases they make on the PlayStation Store, if they enroll in the loyalty program.The PlayStation Stars program will launch later this year, though an exact time frame hasn't been provided yet. CNET reached out to PlayStation, but the gaming giant didn't immediately respond for comment.More to come.
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Gaming & VR
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"An empty world is a sad world." That's reportedly one of the concerns expressed in an internal Meta document related to the company's central metaverse offering for consumers, a virtual land it calls Horizon Worlds.Internal documents including memos from employees show that Horizon Worlds isn't pulling in the number of visitors Meta had hoped for, and that the visitors who do show up generally don't head back to Horizon after the first month, The Wall Street Journal reported Saturday.With Facebook parent Meta's social VR platform, users can don one of the company's Quest virtual reality headsets to explore digital spaces such as a comedy club or a concert venue as avatars. Users are also able to create their own virtual worlds. Meta first showed off the app in 2019 and opened it to the public at the end of 2021.It's a major part of Meta's big bet that a larger virtual realm known as the metaverse will be the future of computing, replacing present-day social networks as well as online-meeting tools like Zoom."We believe that the next computing platform has the potential to be more social, more human than anything that's come before," Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said during a keynote presentation at the company's Meta Connect conference this past Tuesday. So far, though, Horizon Worlds seems to be having some trouble.Meta first set a target of hitting 500,000 monthly active users of Horizon Worlds by the end of this year, later revising the goal to 280,000. But the present number is less than 200,000, the Journal reported, citing the documents. Combined, Meta's social-media products, including Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, attract over 3.5 billion average monthly users, the Journal noted.Other information from the internal docs, according to the Journal:Since the spring, Horizon Worlds' user base has steadily declined.Users have said they can't find worlds they like or other people to hang out with and that they don't like the look of the avatars. They've also said other users behave badly.Just 9% of worlds built by creators are ever visited by at least 50 users, and most are never visited. The "empty world is a sad world" remark in one of the documents refers to Meta's efforts to direct users to areas in Horizon Worlds where they'll meet other people, the Journal said.Retention rates for the Quest VR headset -- that is, continued use by owners -- have dropped in each of the last three years. The Journal reported that anonymous sources familiar with the data said over half of Quest headsets aren't in use six months after purchase.Meta didn't immediately respond Saturday to a request for comment on the Journal's report. A spokesman for the company told the publication that Meta is working on improvements to Horizon Worlds, including changes meant to keep users safe. The spokesman also said Meta continues to think the metaverse is the future of computing and that its efforts in this area were always meant to a multiyear project.The company has reportedly gone into a "quality lockdown" for the rest of the year to address performance and other issues in Horizon Worlds, and earlier internal memos have said employees working on the project weren't spending much time in Horizon and needed to start doing so.In August, when Zuckerberg posted an image of his avatar to announce the release of Horizon Worlds in France and Spain, users mocked the low-quality graphics. Zuckerberg then shared a new image with a more detailed rendering of his avatar and noted that he would share "major updates to Horizon and avatar graphics."At the Meta Connect conference earlier this week, Zuckerberg unveiled what his new avatar looks like and said the company also plans to add a highly requested feature: legs. The company's present-day avatars appear only as floating torsos with heads, arms and hands.CNET's Queenie Wong contributed to this report.
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For years, Mark Zuckerberg has extolled a lofty vision of the metaverse where virtual reality-powered services will transform every aspect of people's lives, from school environments to their family time.On Tuesday, the Meta CEO pitched corporate America on becoming one of the early adopters of this vision through the company's new - and pricey - VR headset, the Quest Pro.Subscribe to The Post Most newsletter for the most important and interesting stories from The Washington Post. "As in-person work ramps up, we want everyone to feel like they're present, even if they are not physically there," Zuckerberg said at Meta Connect, the company's annual developer conference. "For virtual reality to really reach its full potential, we need to get to the point where the 200 million people who buy new PCs each year for work can do some or all of their work even better in the metaverse."To that end, Meta also announced that the Meta Quest Pro headset will offer new integrations with Microsoft products that are ubiquitous in the working world. The Microsoft Teams videoconferencing program will be available through Meta's Horizon Workrooms, the company's virtual reality space targeted for teams, the company announced. Microsoft 365 programs will also be offered.Related video: Virtual workout, real sweat - VR fitness apps, scientifically tested"We are clearly going through a once-in-a-lifetime change in how we work," said Microsoft chief executive Satya Nadella, who appeared at the conference, "and every organization today is looking for new ways to reconnect, re-energize their workforce at home, in the office and everywhere in between. That's why we are bringing Microsoft Teams' immersive meeting experience to Meta Quest."Still, Meta faces steep challenges in executing its vision. While it is the clear leader in the virtual reality headset market now, claiming 90 percent of the market thanks to its Quest 2 headset, the company is likely to face competition from companies such as Apple and TikTok parent ByteDance, each of which already offers or is expected soon to release its own VR headset.And the biggest impediment to Meta's plans doesn't have an easy fix: The technology required to accomplish some of Meta's biggest ambitions for its VR devices is, by its own admission, still years away. Even if Meta manages to continue elbowing out its headset competitors, there is no guarantee that most people will want to don the headsets and spend their lives in a virtual world."There're clear challenges ahead. Look, competition's going to increase," said Dan Ives, an analyst at Wedbush Securities. Meta watchers have every reason to be concerned about the strategy. "They bet the future on the metaverse," he said. But that bet is "risky . . . especially in this market."For now, Meta is targeting its Quest Pro, with its $1,500 price tag, at businesses, creators and virtual reality enthusiasts with a slew of improvements over its previous headsets, including a slimmer design, more vibrant visual displays and an enhanced ability to blend the physical world with the virtual.In Zuckerberg's vision of the future of work, employees will be able to travel seamlessly from their own digital work spaces to virtual offices, where they can brainstorm and create with their colleagues just like they do in the real world."What if you could collaborate with colleagues as if you were right there together, even if you were far apart?" Zuckerberg asked. "What if you could overlay your work and the people you're interacting with right on top of the physical world. This device would help you be more present, more productive, more you."To make that possible, Zuckerberg said its headsets were going to have to become more advanced. For a price tag of nearly five times what Meta's Quest 2 headset costs, Meta Quest Pro boasts the ability to track wearers' facial expressions and reflect those in their avatars. Such technology will unlock the ability for users in disparate locations to see how the other is reacting in real time, the company said.Meta also said its new headsets are more capable at blending the real physical world with virtual reality spaces. Among the improvements the company said it had made to the pro device include "a high-definition, full-color mixed reality experience" so that users can see the outside world along with their digital experiences.While Meta has pitched Meta Quest Pro as a worthwhile investment for corporate workers, it will have to compete against other companies with that already have a record of serving businesses and other institutions. Big organizations often turn to VR-powered software to help train their workers for scenarios that are hard to replicate in real life, such as a complicated surgery for medical students or an active shooter drill for retail workersAnshel Sag, an analyst at Moor Insights & Strategy who covers virtual reality businesses, says those kind of groups might be willing to pay top dollar for a high-end virtual reality device but that Meta will face competition from companies - such as Apple, Pico, which is owned by China's ByteDance, and the Taiwan-based High Tech Computer Corp. - that have been serving those kind of clients for years. To rise above the fray, Meta will have to offer strategic software capabilities on its devices, according to Sag.Meta "went all in on Microsoft because a lot of their competitors don't really have that," Sag said. "They were very clear that they have lots of partners in this productivity space."Meta has got a lot riding on the idea that people in the future will want to congregate in digital worlds with their colleagues or loved ones. Last year, Reality Labs, the division that works on its VR-powered hardware, including Quest 2 and its smart glasses, Ray-Ban Stories, lost nearly $10.2 billion, according to regulatory filings.Meta's big-time investment in VR is happening at a particularly vulnerable time for the company as many advertisers cut spending in an uncertain economic environment. In July, the company reported its first quarterly revenue decline in a decade. This month, Meta implemented a hiring freeze, pausing new offers to job candidates, recruiting and internal transfers, according to a memo viewed by The Washington Post.But it may have few other choices than to build out the metaverse. The company is facing intensifying competition for advertising dollars and users from newer rivals such as TikTok and Snapchat. And the targeted advertising methods that turned Meta into an economic behemoth took a hit last year when Apple introduced new privacy restrictions that forced app makers to explicitly ask users if they could track their activity across the internet - a request many rebuffed.If Meta can get a head start on creating the next communications platform, it avoids having to rely on mobile phone platforms to get its services in the hands of users. But it won't be easy, Sag said. For one, Meta will have to invest in building up software offerings that make it enticing to buy a $1,500 headset."The biggest and first [challenge] is price, and then immediately after is content," he said. "They have got a long road map ahead."Related ContentWest Virginians fear a road meant to help their towns could destroy themChicago scientists are testing an unhackable quantum internet in their basement closetNorway is portrayed as both hero and villain in Europe's energy crisis
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Gaming & VR
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by Stephen Jacob - Nov 11, 2022 Welcome back to the second installment of Fing Insights! In this episode, we jump into the ever-evolving world of gaming. That’s right, we have analyzed trends in gaming devices according to our catalog. Think you know what’s in store already? Some of the results may come as a surprise! At Fing, we constantly work to expand our knowledge of devices, brands, and operating systems to provide you with the number one network scanning and device recognition platform Want to contribute to our ever-growing catalog? Check your devices and help us improve our recognition. Check your devices now Gaming Devices: A Fing Overview This iteration of Fing Insights will focus on gaming devices – mainly consoles and handhelds. In the past month, Fing recognized more than 215,000 gaming devices. There is no doubt that this is a very popular category in the Fing catalog! Let’s have a look at the top 10 trending gaming consoles. As you can see, there is a mix of new generation consoles, devices rising on contemporary trends (like virtual reality) and some good old ones, which still rock more than a decade after their release. Interesting, right? Keep reading to discover more insights. Sony Gets Number One Sony's position in our catalog comes as no surprise when considering its status as one of the Big 3 console manufacturers. Sony has been an ever-present and dominant figure in the industry since the launch of the original PlayStation in the mid-90s. These days, however, its fortunes appear ever linked with Microsoft's and vice versa. When discussing the current generation, there's validity to the claim that the PlayStation 5 has had a stop-start existence so far. In terms of performance, its quality as a next-gen console cannot be denied. However, with a release window falling within the first 9 months of the global pandemic, the new generation of consoles felt the full effect. Low supplies of semiconductors had a widespread impact on the tech industry, an issue still ongoing today. Despite the clear difficulty in consumers acquiring one, Fing recognized nearly 57,000 PS5 in the past month, making it the highest on the monthly rankings. These numbers suggest that without being hampered by global supply issues, the PS5 would generate even more recognition and consolidate its leadership. If you just got your PlayStation 5, you might have noticed that the console has light indicators with various colors. For example, red for overheating and orange for rest mode. To know all the meanings of the color indicators, check out the video below. Despite the PS5 success, Sony’s last generation flagship – PlayStation 4 – is still very popular. Almost 29,000 units appeared online in the past month, making it the 3rd most popular gaming device in the ranking. To date, the PlayStation 4 is also the catalog’s number one overall gaming device, with 61 million recognitions to its name. Considering its age and popularity along with its direct rival, Microsoft's Xbox One, these figures come as no surprise. If you own one, don’t miss this video about common mistakes that can damage a PS4 controller. On a side note, there is another Sony console that made it into our top 10. PlayStation 3 peaked at number 9, with almost 3,000 recognitions in the last month – not bad for a device originally released worldwide between the end of 2006 and the beginning of 2007! Rise of the Steam Deck First announced in July 2021, Valve's Steam Deck was received with a mixture of speculation and curiosity. The Steam Deck was not Valve's first piece of hardware – the Steam Link launched back in 2015 and still has a presence in Fing’s catalog – but this was its first venture into the gaming handheld space. Pre-orders went live on July 16th 2021, a day post-announcement. To curb overflow due to demand, Valve introduced a reservation queue, servicing orders based on the date and time of purchase. After releasing in February 2022, reservation queue orders would go on to be serviced for another 8 months, officially ending on October 6th. The response from critics varied between lukewarm and positive. The New York Times suggested it “lacks the polish and practicality of mainstream gaming devices, which makes it tough to recommend to casual gamers.” Tom's Guide was much more forthcoming in their assessment, claiming, “this is arguably the best handheld console ever manufactured.” Based on our catalog's data, the Fing community's response to Steam Deck would lean closer to the latter. Overall, 52,000 Steam Decks have been counted within a 30-day segment, making it the second most popular gaming device of the past month. Considering the uncertainty when it was first announced, it’s not too bold to say the Steam Deck has been a success. New to gaming handhelds? Discover more in this Steam Deck guide below. Is Virtual Reality the Next Big Thing? An unexpected high riser on catalog placement was the Oculus Quest 2 VR system by Meta, the parent company of Facebook. During this past month, there were nearly 17,000 detections of the Quest 2, helping it finish in the top 5. This leads us to the future of the system and Meta's plans to improve the Quest. The next generation of Meta's VR line, Meta Quest Pro, was announced at Meta Connect 2022. According to the developer, the device comes with 4 times higher resolution than Quest 2. We are fascinated to see how Fing users will adopt this next iteration which has since been released on October 25th. If you’ve got your hands on the Oculus Quest 2, make sure to watch the following video to learn how to reduce eye strain! Microsoft Chases After Having cemented its position as a global leader in software through the previous decade, the 2001 release of the original Xbox finally offered Microsoft a route into the hardware market. Despite the risk, the Xbox brand has become renowned for not just console gaming but also some innovative technology. As highlighted in our PlayStation segment, these two giants have since become synonymous with one another in gaming, but how does the Xbox stack up against PlayStation from a Fing perspective? In the past 30 days, two Xbox consoles have made it into our top 10 ranking. The highest of these is last generation's Xbox One with 25,000 recognitions - enough to help it climb as high as 4th. As for the current generation, perhaps the biggest surprise we found was the Xbox Series X's overall position on the list. Microsoft's current flagship console accumulated a humble 8,500 recognitions and landed at 7th within our 30-day review. Although our data might suggest the opposite, Xbox's popularity remains abundant. Thanks in large part to Game Pass, the monthly subscription service which enables players to access otherwise full-priced games. As of January 2022, over 25 million users had active Game Pass subscriptions. The question is, how long will this offer remain an acceptable counter to PlayStation's impressive library of first-party titles amongst the Xbox player base? If you’re on Team Xbox, you can learn some tips and tricks to help improve your Xbox Series X or S usage in the video below. Nintendo Between New and Old Consoles Nintendo's unique ability to influence the gaming industry has always spoken for itself. We were eager to learn how this narrative presented itself from a Fing perspective. Indeed, our data room revealed some intriguing details about this industry leader's gallery of consoles. Broadening the view to the top 20, Nintendo had the most unique devices recognized in the past month, with no fewer than seven overall. These seven also collectively account for over 28.6 million Nintendo device recognitions in the catalog. Among these are a mixture of the relatively new and the very old. Representing the old is the original Nintendo DS (released between 2004 and 2005) which, according to Visual Capitalist, is still the second best-selling console of all time with nearly 155 million in total sales. Fing has recognized over 3,000 DS connections in the past month. This also applies to the Nintendo Wii – originally released in 2006 – which appeared almost 2,000 times in the same period. These figures speak not only to the longevity of these devices but also to the expert craft behind their engineering. Unsurprisingly, the Switch is Nintendo's highest entry on our list. Last month it clocked at over 12,000 recognitions, helping the Switch rank 6th highest among all consoles. Are you a Nintendo lover? Learn these tips and tricks to help optimize your Switch in the following video. Final Thoughts Our analysis of gaming devices has brought up very interesting and unexpected data. We have covered the leaders in the sector, we delved into new trends like virtual reality and industry staples such as handheld devices, and we reminisced on some evergreen consoles. Are you wondering what device type we're covering next? Make sure to come back for our new installment!
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Gaming & VR
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The National Gallery has teamed up with Roblox, the children’s gaming phenomenon, to allow “aspiring museum keepers” to curate their own collections.The gallery has become the latest cultural institution to link up with the online gaming platform that has already built links with fashion houses and American museums keen to tap into Roblox’s young users.The Keeper Council game, which will be available on Roblox this summer, will allow users to move through the National Gallery’s ranks from apprentice to High Keeper after completing a series of quests.The game is part of the gallery’s ambition to attract young audiences “in new and innovative ways”The platform, which was created with the help of three British universities, has built on the gallery’s existing immersive augmented reality app, The Keeper of Paintings and the Palette of Perception. It allows users to
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Forget hunting for a PlayStation 5. A desktop PC lets you play thousands of games on Steam and glows in the dark while you're doing it. Consoles like the Nintendo Switch or PlayStation 5 may be great for gaming, but they're hard to come by. Fortunately, a good old-fashioned gaming PC is always an option. If you want to get access to the massive library of games on stores like Steam and Epic, we've got some of the best gaming PCs collected here.Since gaming desktops can be upgraded more frequently than consoles, they can deliver high-fidelity visuals unrivaled by most other systems. Paired with the right peripherals—a quick and responsive mouse, a mechanical keyboard, and a good headset—a gaming PC can quickly become the place you spend most of your free time.Choosing a gaming desktop can be incredibly complex, though. There are several factors to consider, including specs, what kinds of games you're going to play, and how many thousand RGB lights you want on it. Building your own PC is also a great option if you’re handy and want to upgrade it over time, but for everyone else, these are the best gaming desktops we've tested.Updated June 2022: We've added the Maingear Vybe system, updated the Alienware Aurora R13, and removed the Acer Predator Orion 3000.Special offer for Gear readers: Get a 1-year subscription to WIRED for $5 ($25 off). This includes unlimited access to WIRED.com and our print magazine (if you'd like). Subscriptions help fund the work we do every day.If you buy something using links in our stories, we may earn a commission. This helps support our journalism. Learn more. Please also consider subscribing to WIREDPhotograph: MSIBest Compact DesktopMSI Trident XSometimes you just need something small and speedy. For anyone who doesn't have the extra space for a gaming setup or the desire to dedicate a corner of your hangar bay to housing a big old desk, look no further than the MSI Trident X. The Trident is about the size of a standard game console, like an Xbox Series X or the PlayStation 5 (OK, maybe not that big.) It's the perfect size to slip beside your TV or into an entertainment center. Despite its compactness, the Trident X is a powerful gaming machine that can play most anything without trouble.As listed on Amazon, the Trident comes with a GeForce RTX 2070 graphics card and 32 gigabytes of RAM, which should be enough horsepower for most of the latest games.Photograph: Dell Sleek and StylishAlienware Aurora R13Alienware's design language used to be all about making computers look like angular space artifacts; cursed objects half-hidden beneath the sands of Mars, humming with power. More recent Alienware products, like the Aurora R13, embrace a smoother, more organic-looking exterior, and I couldn't be happier.The Aurora R13 is a powerful gaming desktop, but it's also a conversation piece. Its smooth, rounded exterior makes it look like a big speaker or air purifier, and I mean that in the best way. Those design flourishes aren't just for show—that sleek chassis is designed to maximize heat dissipation and ensure that cool air is well distributed among internal components.You want at least an Intel Core i7 processor (i3 and i5 are weaker). It will also come with a graphics card from the RTX 30XX lineup, which will give you ample power for your money.Photograph: OriginBespoke BeautyOrigin PC MillenniumVisiting Origin's website to shop for a PC is like walking into a sleek spaceport with merchants from all over the galaxy. There is a wealth of customization options at your fingertips, and each PC is built to order, so you can be sure you're getting exactly what you want. On top of that, the Origin Millennium is a remarkably solid machine that's built to last. It arrives at your doorstep in a crate worthy of the Ark of the Covenant. Origin's attention to detail makes it one of the best gaming rigs money can buy.Origin's configuration is super comprehensive. We suggest an AMD Ryzen build, starting with a Ryzen 5 5600X processor and GeForce RTX 3060 graphics card. If you don't have strong opinions on them, the default motherboard and fan options are fine. Photograph: MaingearPersonalized PowerMaingear VybeMaingear's customizable machines are some of the best blends of prebuilt and DIY gaming PCs. You can pick from a selection of prebuilt arrangements or customize every part. The company will then ship the PC out to you, fully assembled, with what we found to be impressive cable management and plenty of stylish LEDs.Unlike many prebuilt PCs, however, Maingear's are still built with standard parts, so you can upgrade them later. We tested a fully tricked-out $7,000 machine with an RTX 3090 Ti, and it chewed through fast-paced games like Doom: Eternal. Normally, paying such a premium would make us worry about longevity, but knowing parts can be upgraded makes it easier to customize a build and not worry that it will be useless in five years.Photograph: NZXTA Custom PC on RailsNZXT BLDOne of the best ways to get a great gaming PC is to build one yourself, but if you're not up for learning how to put it together—and we can't blame you, it's not simple—then NZXT offers the next best thing. The company's BLD gaming PCs let you pick the parts you'd like in your gaming rig, using handy wizards that will give you an idea of what your new machine will be capable of.You can see frame-rate estimates for popular games like Fortnite or Minecraft that will update based on which graphics card, processor type, or other components you choose. This can help you decide on the right parts even if you're not sure what they all mean. Once you've chosen your build, the company will put it together and ship it to you.Photograph: NvidiaDo It YourselfHow to Find a Good DealSet a Budget: If you're new to PC gaming, it's easy to get overwhelmed by the price of entry. You don't need to spend $2,000; PC gaming is just as much about deal hunting as it is about, you know, playing games. You can put together a solid rig for $700 to $1,000. We have a full guide on how to build a PC if you're ready to take the plunge.Choose a Graphics Card: For a gaming desktop, your graphics card is your most important piece of hardware, but that doesn’t mean you need the best one. An older GeForce GTX 10XX will be OK for some games (and possibly easier to find), but the newer GeForce RTX 20XX will handle modern games more easily. The GeForce RTX 30XX are more future-proof, but it’s nearly impossible to find at MSRP right now. Fun fact: One of the most reliable ways to get an RTX 30XX is to buy a PC with the card already inside, remove it, and sell the remaining parts. For most people building a gaming PC, the 10-series will do for shoestring-budget machines, and 20-series cards will get you to the middle of the pack. Unfortunately, tricking out a high-end PC right now is a chaotic market due to supply chain shortages.Jaina Grey is a product reviewer at WIRED, covering all those devices that make your life easier—and sometimes much more difficult. Since her first byline in Dragon Magazine to her more recent work at Digital Trends, she’s covered a little bit of everything, from crime, courts, and patent filings to... Read moreEric Ravenscraft is a product writer and reviewer at WIRED, based in Austin, Texas. He's guided readers on how to use technology for nearly a decade for publications including Lifehacker, OneZero, and The New York Times. He also streams on Twitch for WIRED occasionally and can be found on YouTube... Read more
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Gaming & VR
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Meta has finally announced the Meta Quest Pro: a $1,499 virtual reality headset it’s been teasing for the past year. The Quest Pro is a new branch of the Quest VR headset lineup, featuring a new processor and screen, a dramatically redesigned body and controllers, inward-facing cameras for eye and face tracking, and a color video feed for mixed reality apps. Preorders open today in 22 countries, and devices will ship on October 25th.The Quest Pro will sit alongside the $399 Quest 2, which Meta will continue selling as well. But where the Quest 2 user base favors fitness, games, and other entertainment, the Quest Pro is aimed at businesses and professionals who can afford its higher price tag.The Quest Pro and its new controllers charge on an included dock.The Quest Pro is effectively a heavily redesigned Quest 2 with extra features. Its body uses a thinner stack of lenses, which Meta says cuts its depth by 40 percent compared to the Quest 2. It fits on your head with a padded plastic ring (similar to the Quest 2’s optional Elite Strap) instead of cloth straps, and its battery has been shifted to the back of the headset, rebalancing it. That helps offset the 722-gram weight, which is quite a bit heavier than the Quest 2’s 503 grams, though the difference gets less dramatic with the separate 173-gram Elite Strap.By default, the Quest Pro’s thinner lens system means you’ll see more peripheral vision and space under your headset. Optional face masks can block those openings, giving you an experience closer to the earlier Quest.Now, your avatar can raise an eyebrow when you doMeta is touting two major new features you won’t find on its older headsets. The first is a set of inward-facing cameras that track your eyes and face. These have several uses, on top of anything outside developers might do with them. They’re supposed to let the Quest Pro detect whether it’s fitted correctly and enable foveated rendering, which cuts down on processing requirements by only rendering fine detail where your eyes are pointed. They also power facial expressions on Meta’s avatars, which will be able to smile, wink, and raise an eyebrow when you do.The second feature is full-color passthrough video — a midway step between VR and holographic augmented reality. The Quest Pro uses high-resolution outward-facing cameras to capture images of the world and render them inside the headset, which can then place virtual objects in the room with you. That means you can do something like pin a virtual picture on your real wall or (since this is a business-focused headset) use a set of virtual screens while still seeing the world around you.Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has emphasized the importance of eye tracking for future VR headsets, and the Quest 2 has blurry black-and-white passthrough mixed reality already. So, as the price of these options comes down, we might see them integrated into a cheaper consumer headset. But for now, they set Meta’s much pricier offering apart from its midrange sibling.The Quest Pro’s accessories, including controllers, a charging dock, and optional face masks.The Quest Pro uses Qualcomm’s newly announced Snapdragon XR2 Plus, which Meta claims delivers 50 percent more power than the Quest 2’s XR2, and it’s got 12GB of memory instead of 6GB. It comes with 256GB of storage; unlike the Quest 2, there’s no option for a cheaper 128GB model. It uses two LCD panels that give you 1800 x 1920 pixels per eye. That’s about the same as the Quest 2 on paper, but Meta promises the panel design will give users 75 percent more contrast and 10 percent more pixels per degree of sight, among other benefits. (You’re actually not seeing all those pixels on the Quest 2, although it’s not yet clear how different the Quest Pro design is.)The Quest motion controllers have also gotten an overhaul. Where Meta’s old headset tracked its controllers with LED rings around the top, the new controllers are studded with cameras that track motion just like a headset. That makes them smaller and quite a bit less weird-looking. Meta has replaced the controllers’ AA batteries with built-in batteries that charge on a dock along with the headset.Say goodbye to the controllers’ tracking ringsThe Quest Pro is broadly a Quest 2 upgrade, but it’s getting one major downgrade: a battery that lasts one to two hours rather than the two to three the Quest 2 offers. The rechargeable controllers are supposed to last somewhat longer than the headset, but you won’t get the weeks of use you could stretch out of the Quest 2’s AA batteries.Despite all the modifications, the button layout remains the same, so the controllers (and the entire Quest Pro headset system) are compatible with existing Quest 2 games and apps. You can even get a set of new controllers to use with a Quest 2, although at $299, they cost almost as much as the Quest 2 itself. The Quest 2 and Quest Pro will share a games and apps store, although some apps will be exclusive to the Quest Pro.The Quest Pro will be available online through the Meta Store. It will also sell through retail partners in four countries: Best Buy and Amazon in the United States; Amazon, Argos, and Currys in the United Kingdom; Best Buy and Amazon in Canada; and Amazon, Fnac, and Boulanger in France.
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Gaming & VR
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© Provided by The Motley Fool Zuckerberg's Metaverse Bet Is More Than Experimental - It's Key to Meta's Survival Pretty much everything about Meta Platforms (NASDAQ: META) and CEO Mark Zuckerberg is divisive these days. So it comes as no surprise that the company's new premium virtual reality (VR) headset, Meta Quest Pro, was received with disdain by many in the media. Hating on VR, the metaverse, and the company's attempt to build a 3D app future is an easy way to get clicks -- especially from those who are unsure of what the metaverse even is in the first place. But that's really a shame, because Zuckerberg isn't pursuing the metaverse just for kicks. Rather, Meta is building a new computing hardware platform to ensure the company's survival. The problem with the software-based business model Meta's social media empire makes money from ads, but at its core, these are still software businesses. Software is asset-light and highly profitable, but it isn't particularly sticky. Alphabet's Google Search is a notable exception, because cataloging the internet itself is an incredibly expensive task. Nevertheless, Google benefits from a special relationship with Apple through which the iPhone peddler accepts billions of dollars a year from Google to remain the default internet search browser on the iOS ecosystem. Facebook and Instagram would probably love to have that type of ally, but they don't -- and they're paying for it dearly this year. Second quarter revenue fell 1% year-over-year to $28.8 million, and diluted earnings per share plunged to $2.46, down 32% from the year-ago period. Apple's tracking transparency changes, which forces iOS apps to ask users for permission before tracking their activity, are lowering ad value on Meta's social media apps. And then there's TikTok, that new and shiny social media platform sopping up young consumers' time. TikTok embodies the challenge of software companies: They're easy to ditch for the latest trend. After all, the very thing that makes a software business appealing (low upfront costs, high profit) also attracts competition. But there's a solid way to fight the fickle nature of software consumers: Add a layer of hardware to the mix. Software and hardware is a much stickier duo than software and advertising. Think of Apple and Microsoft and the success each has had since the introduction of the personal computer. The downside to hardware is that sales are cyclical, with growth tied to new devices and features. Intermittent slumps can be brutal, marked by falling sales and periods of thin profit margins. But if a company can pair sticky-but-cyclical hardware with good software, it has the foundation of a more durable business model that can last for many decades. This is exactly what Meta is trying to accomplish with its metaverse bet. Meta secures strategic partners When unveiling the Quest Pro VR headset, Meta wasn't alone. Zuckerberg was joined by none other than Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella to announce that Microsoft Teams and Office 365 will be available on the Quest Pro. Aspects of the cloud computing service Microsoft Azure will also enable businesses to integrate device management and security with Quest Pro. And, the companies are looking to bring Xbox's cloud-based gaming service to the VR headset. Oh, and there was another big cameo: Accenture (NYSE: ACN) CEO Julie Sweet. The IT consulting company is teaming up with Meta and Microsoft to further promote the benefits of VR in the workplace. Accenture said it has given 60,000 Quest 2 devices -- the predecessor to the newer Quest Pro -- to its own employees in the last year alone. As a sales and training specialist, Accenture could go a long way toward promoting and then selling VR headsets. What do all of these partnerships mean? Meta isn't simply trying to build the metaverse. It's predicting that a new computing platform will take centerstage. PCs redefined technology in the 1980s, laptops did that again in the 1990s, smartphones went mainstream in the early aughts, and cloud computing turned access to software on its head in the 2010s. Zuckerberg believes that VR headsets, as the primary device used to interact with the metaverse, will be just as -- if not more -- transformative as other era-defining hardware. Will VR take over the world? No. But could it augment how we work and play? Absolutely. Zuckerberg envisions a couple billion people using Meta's metaverse products in a decade, with each user spending an average of a couple hundred dollars a year. Other analysts predict the metaverse's total addressable market will be between $8 and $13 trillion by 2030, with an estimated 5 billion total users. Meta is already running up against walls as an advertising-based software business. As the mixed-reality revolution unfolds, Meta needs a new outlet. Preferably, that outlet will be one in which it can exert some control -- without getting shut out by computing hardware competitors like apple. What of those who say that Zuckerberg's bet on the metaverse and VR is money poorly spent? Time will tell. Bear in mind, though, that while $10.2 billion in operating losses last year on Reality Labs -- the segment that houses Quest Pro and other VR bets -- sounds like a massive number, Meta is not in trouble. Even in fiscal 2021, the company generated $46.6 billion in operating profit -- and that's after spending heavily on Reality Labs. Zuckerberg and company want to build something new, sure. But as time drags on, Meta really needs its own computing device ecosystem to circumvent its reliance on Apple and other hardware companies. Investors may be getting impatient, but the message from the get-go was that the metaverse would take time to build. There is unlikely to be some singular lightning rod moment that flips Meta's VR from money-losing investment to highly profitable business segment. That's simply not how new technology works. Nevertheless, this is a necessary exercise for Meta. If that's not to your liking, this is probably not the stock you're looking for. SPONSORED: 10 stocks we like better than Meta Platforms, Inc.When our award-winning analyst team has a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.* They just revealed what they believe are the ten best stocks for investors to buy right now... and Meta Platforms, Inc. wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys. See the 10 stocks *Stock Advisor returns as of September 30, 2022 Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Randi Zuckerberg, a former director of market development and spokeswoman for Facebook and sister to Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Nicholas Rossolillo and his clients have positions in Alphabet (C shares), Apple, and Meta Platforms, Inc. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Accenture, Alphabet (A shares), Alphabet (C shares), Apple, Meta Platforms, Inc., and Microsoft. The Motley Fool recommends the following options: long March 2023 $120 calls on Apple and short March 2023 $130 calls on Apple. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
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Gaming & VR
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Most days, Nikki Fuego hurries through her day job duties in just a few hours, squaring away customer service issues for an exercise equipment startup before settling down to her real work — designing horned bodysuits and glimmering geometric helmets that can’t be worn or touched.Fuego is among the growing cohort of people turning to the metaverse for extra income, parlaying hobbies into sometimes lucrative side hustles across a series of virtual spaces that proponents see as the future of the internet.Betting that the metaverse will soon become the main place where people shop, work and play, businesses and investors have poured money into building out its digital and physical infrastructure — which ranges from virtual reality headsets to video-game-like environments like Roblox and Decentraland. As gamers, tech wonks and deep-pocketed advertisers have flocked to the metaverse, aspiring solopreneurs have followed.Nikki Fuego says she earns more selling digital apparel in the metaverse than what she makes in customer service for a startup.Courtesy of Nikki Fuego“I am gagged every single day that I wake up and remember I make money from this,” said Fuego, a 29-year old artist in Kansas City, Missouri.For more than 40 hours a week, Fuego sits in front of her computer with the design software Blender. She uses the program to manipulate points on a mesh graphic, sculpting original accessories to be donned by avatars, the animated characters that people steer through virtual spaces. Her own, which she uses in Decentraland, wears a skintight red and black bodysuit, a black visor and red hair that splits into horns.A single piece in Fuego’s digital apparel collections can take anywhere from several hours to a whole a month to complete. They’ve sold for between two and 175 Mana, the Decentraland currency that’s roughly equivalent to a U.S. dollar. Over the past eight months, Fuego says she’s earned about $40,000 selling her digital wares — more than four times her monthly day-job income.“I would have never thought that I would be making money from making digital items that don’t exist and paying my bills,” said Fuego. “That’s literally an artist’s dream, and I’m living it.” With Roblox, Fortnite and Minecraft collectively boasting hundreds of millions of users, there is growing demand for avatar accessory designers, game developers, consultants and influencers to help accelerate the market for digital goods in the metaverse. While its virtual worlds are ideally navigated in 3D using a VR headset, many are still largely in nascent stages and often simulate browser-based video gaming. Today, anyone with a computer and internet connection can explore Roblox, the Sandbox or Decentraland as a digital avatar and buy goods on their respective marketplaces with cryptocurrencies tied to each one.“People often think, ‘What’s the new job in the metaverse?’ And it’s actually creating interesting things that people would actually do when they get to the metaverse,” said Jeremy Bailenson, founding director of Stanford University’s Virtual Human Interaction Lab. “Sometimes it’s engineering, where you’ve got to build software and hardware. Sometimes it’s simply by showing up and being a character in a type of an event.”The avatar accessories, which are also called “skins,” can be anything from a pair of elf ears with piercings to a floating rainbow-colored flame aura. Or you can simply outfit your avatar in head-to-toe Prada and Balenciaga.And thanks to creators like CK Bubbles, avatars can deck out their nails as well. The 36-year-old New Yorker, who uses they/them pronouns, began designing physical nail art out of their home after losing their job at the height of the pandemic in 2020. But after seeing the musician Grimes perform in Decentraland in March, CK Bubbles thought they’d try doing nails in the metaverse.CK Bubbles started making nail art for real people after losing their job early in the pandemic, and then brought digital versions of their designs to the metaverse.Courtesy of CK BubblesThey snapped a few photos of real-world nail sets they’d already made and sent them to a digital designer known as Mana Daiquiri. In one collection the two developed together for LGBTQ Pride, the virtual nails are spangled with lollipops and bows. Another set glimmers in purple opal and shimmering gems. Without any promotion, CK Bubbles said they sold about 30 nail sets for about 10 Mana amounting to around $300.CK Bubbles’ primary income comes from their work as a creative director in advertising, but they said the avatar nail-art side hustle is more than a hobby. “[The metaverse] has really just exploded in ways I didn’t anticipate, to the point that it will hopefully be my full-time business,” they said.An avatar wears CK Bubbles’ nail art in the metaverse.Courtesy of CK Bubbles and Mana DaquiriMajor brands are eyeing the metaverse’s growth potential too. Already, the market is estimated to reach $783.3 billion by 2024, a 63% increase from 2020, according to Bloomberg Intelligence. Within the past year, brands from Snapple and Gucci to JPMorgan Chase have each invested millions of dollars to scoop up virtual land in the metaverse where they can roll out games and sell exclusive items. Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg is reorienting the tech giant around the metaverse, saying earlier this year that he expects virtual worlds to drive hundreds of billions of dollars in digital commerce within the next decade.To get there, companies are spending heavily on developers who can build out rich experiences in virtual spaces and on influencers who can lure people there. As a result, much of the metaverse smacks of marketing, but that can still mean money in tech-savvy side-hustlers’ pockets.Meta is testing new bonus programs for creators in its metaverse platform, called Horizons World, that reward them for the time users spend in their worlds within it. The Sandbox’s creator fund pays people anywhere between $2 and $60 for original art pieces that the company can sell on its marketplace. Roblox told investors in November last year that nearly 1,000 developers had earned more than $30,000 over the previous 12 months.Serena Elis, a 31-year-old former real-estate agent in The Villages, Florida, saw the metaverse as the break she needed in her budding singing career. After experimenting with cryptocurrency and streaming on Twitch, she decided to host her first event in Decentraland in 2020, performing a few of her synth-pop songs. Only a few people showed up, but she said she saw enough interest to keep going.Serena Elis performing at the virtual launch of lipstick brand Valdé Beauty on Jan. 27 in Decentraland.Courstey of Serena ElisOver the past two years, her metaverse pursuits have expanded, partly thanks to brand partnerships. In January, she performed at the virtual launch of indie lipstick brand Valdé Beauty and created a limited-edition crystal quartz lipstick vessel and nonfungible token (NFT) art pieces for the company. She also performed during Metaverse Fashion Week for the nonprofit Crypto Chicks, which educates women in blockchain, cryptocurrency and other emerging technologies.Elis now estimates that she earns the crypto equivalent of up to $2,500 a month from her metaverse gigs and collaborations. That’s still well shy of the $4,000 to $10,000 a month she made as a real-estate agent before leaving the field a year ago, and she says she’s been tapping her savings to help cover expenses since then. Elis says she doesn’t cash out her cryptocurrency earnings and has few bills to pay, adding that she saves on rent while living with her mom — who doesn’t quite understand what she does.Serena Elis, a former real-estate agent, has spent the past year working on her metaverse music career.Daryel Leyva / Courtesy of Serena Elis“I know it’s really risky,” Elis said. “But I really, genuinely believe in what I’m doing.”Nikki Fuego said she sees a path to leaving her customer service job and taking her metaverse projects full-time. She recently ventured into “wearables” for virtual cars in a Decentraland game she helped create, in which gamers can buy an avatar that transforms into a glowing vehicle resembling their character’s design. She said she has already sold hundreds of pieces for up to $175 each.“People see the metaverse as fake, or like this fantasy or escaping reality,” Fuego said, “when I think it is actually embracing our reality and embracing who we are as people down to the core.”
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Gaming & VR
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MultiVersus is an electric mash-up of platform fighter, corporate IP crossover and character customization, somehow blended into a smooth final product. It aims to appeal to fighting game enthusiasts and people like me who struggled to get into fighters that didn't have the word "Smash" in their titles. MultiVersus brings together characters from across Warner Bros. properties like DC Comics, Game of Thrones, Looney Tunes and some original characters.The game brings a mix of new and familiar elements to the genre, but at its core, it fits the developer's "easy to pick up, difficult to master" ambitions. Whether you're an experienced fighter looking for a new challenge or you just want Rick and Morty to battle Arya Stark and Velma, MultiVersus is worth checking out. The cross-platform game is free to play, and available on most major platforms: PS4 and PS5, Xbox One and Xbox Series S/X and on PC through Steam or the Epic Games Store. You can also get a Founder's Pack (in Standard, Deluxe or Premium editions) for $40 to $100 if you want immediate character unlocks, in-game currency and cosmetics.Here's everything you need to know to get started.
Gameplay: A 2v2 frenzy with perksThe core gameplay of MultiVersus is two teams of two players facing off. The first team to get four total knockouts wins the round. That could mean knocking out both opponents twice, or it could mean absolutely bullying one of your opponents until you've knocked them out four times. After the fourth KO within a team, you'll move to a results screen where you're asked if you want to go again. If everyone agrees, you'll play a best-of-three with the same partner and opponents, but if anyone declines, you'll head back to the main menu. You can also play free-for-all matches for more chaos or 1v1s for more traditional fighting game showdowns.Rounds in MultiVersus follow a frenetic pace, and if you're not quick to react, skilled opponents can quickly combo you off the map. Each character falls into one of five classes, which determine their style of fighting: assassin, bruiser, mage, support and tank. You can try strategic combinations of classes or just one-trick your favorite character. Live your best life. MultiVersus also features a mechanic called perks, allowing you to customize your character's gameplay. Perks fit into three categories -- offense, defense and utility -- and they modify your character's game mechanics. Each character has three signature perks they can unlock by playing games with that character. Signature perks change that character's moves, like adding a knockback effect to Wonder Woman's lasso. Standard perks have effects like reducing cooldown times, adding a shield upon respawn or giving players a third jump. WB Games/Screenshot by Adam Benjamin/CNET MultiVersus characters: An ever-growing rosterAfter the release of Morty on Tuesday, Aug. 23, MultiVersus features 18 playable characters, with three more characters announced, and many more likely waiting in the wings. Here's who's in the game so far:Morty (Rick and Morty) -- BruiserLebron (Space Jam) -- BruiserThe Iron Giant (The Iron Giant) -- TankTaz (Looney Tunes) -- BruiserVelma (Scooby-Doo) -- SupportArya Stark (Game of Thrones) -- AssassinBatman (DC Comics) -- BruiserBugs Bunny (Looney Tunes) -- Mage/RangedFinn the Human (Adventure Time) -- AssassinGarnet (Steven Universe) -- BruiserHarley Quinn (DC Comics) -- AssassinJake the Dog (Adventure Time) -- BruiserReindog (original character) -- supportShaggy (Scooby-Doo) -- BruiserSteven Universe (Steven Universe) -- SupportSuperman (DC Comics) -- TankTom and Jerry (Looney Tunes) -- Mage/RangedWonder Woman (DC Comics) -- TankAnd here are the characters who have been announced as future additions:Rick (Rick and Morty) -- Mage/RangedStripe (Gremlins) -- UnknownBlack Adam (DC Comics) -- UnknownThe internet is full of speculation about which other characters from Warner Bros. properties (including more superheroes, kaiju, and some very famous wizards) might show up, but the characters listed here are the only confirmed playable characters.Wonder Woman is unlocked through the tutorial, and a rotating selection of fighters are made free-to-play each week. You can permanently unlock characters by paying gold (which you earn by playing), gleamium (which you can pay for) or by using character unlock tokens from Founder's Packs.Getting startedYou can download MultiVersus for free and go through the tutorial to get a sense of how things play. The more you play one character, the more you'll progress their abilities, unlocking standard and signature perks as well as cosmetics related to that character. If you've played any Smash Bros. you'll find the gameplay familiar, with a few differences. For instance, you can chain jumps, dodges and moves together in a way that gives MultiVersus characters more map traversal than the average Smash fighter. Stage boundaries are also illustrated, meaning you know exactly how close someone is to getting knocked out. If you find yourself getting into the game, you can pay gleamium to unlock a battle pass, which will award you with even more cosmetics like unique character skins, knockout effects and player banners. The only non-cosmetic element you can unlock from cash transactions (via gleamium) is access to other characters. But you can still unlock characters for free by earning gold through matches played. The battle pass system works much the same as games like Fortnite, Apex Legends and, well… most games these days.Still, the overall experience of MultiVersus is unique and inviting. And with it being free to play, there's no reason not to try it out.For more games coverage, check out the Sega Genesis Mini 2's game list and the biggest titles still coming in 2022. See also PS5 Review: Exclusive Games Power Sony’s Sky-High Console Xbox Series X Review: Game Pass Is the Secret Weapon Xbox Series S Review: Making Next-Gen Gaming More Affordable Meta Quest 2: Facebook’s VR Headset Feels Too Good to Be True Nintendo Switch OLED Review: Not Quite Different Enough
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Gaming & VR
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Over the past several months, we’ve introduced PlayStation VR2 and provided glimpses into the next generation of virtual reality gaming, which will allow you to escape into new worlds while feeling a groundbreaking sense of immersion. Today, I’m very pleased to announce that PlayStation VR2 is officially launching on February 22, 2023. PlayStation VR2 Sense controller charging station, designed specifically for the PS VR2 Sense controller, will also launch the same day. Here is the PS VR2 lineup and recommended retail pricing for each product. Availability in each country is subject to local import regulations. PlayStation VR2$549.99 / €599.99 / £529.99 / ¥74,980 recommended retail price (including tax for GBP, EUR, and JPY)Includes PS VR2 headset, PS VR2 Sense controllers and stereo headphones PlayStation VR2 Horizon Call of the Mountain bundle$599.99 / €649.99 / £569.99 / ¥79,980 recommended retail price (including tax for GBP, EUR, and JPY)Includes PlayStation Store voucher code for Horizon Call of the Mountain, PS VR2 headset, PS VR2 Sense controllers, and stereo headphones PlayStation VR2 Sense controller charging station$49.99 / €49.99 / £39.99 / ¥5,480 recommended retail price (including tax for GBP, EUR, and JPY)Players can charge the PS VR2 Sense controller through a simple click-in design, without having to connect to a PS5 console – freeing up the console’s USB ports. Standalone software titles, including Horizon Call of the Mountain, will also be available for pre-orders starting this month. More details will be provided at a later date. During this initial launch phase for our next-gen headset, players in the U.S., U.K., France, Germany, Belgium, Netherlands and Luxembourg will initially be able to pre-order PlayStation VR2 solely through PlayStation’s online store at direct.playstation.com. Pre-orders will begin on November 15, and players may begin to register for pre-orders starting today. Orders from direct.playstation.com for PlayStation VR2 headsets and bundles will ship throughout the week of launch. In other markets, PlayStation VR2 will be sold at participating retailers, with pre-orders beginning on November 15. Information will be provided through participating local retailers in these regions. PlayStation VR2 Sense Technology includes key features that enable unique gameplay experiences, such as headset feedback, eye tracking, 3D audio, and the adaptive triggers and haptic feedback from the PS VR2 Sense controllers. Together with compatible games they will captivate players’ senses and offer an incredibly deep feeling of immersion. Additionally, with enhanced headset-based controller tracking and high fidelity visuals in 4000 x 2040 HDR video format (2000 x 2040 per eye), PS VR2 adds a true next-gen gaming experience for players to enjoy. We’ve created the PS VR2 headset with comfort in mind, in a slightly slimmer and lighter design compared to our previous headset. We’ve also included an integrated vent for extra air flow, and a lens adjustment dial for a more customized feel. We hope players will enjoy this new design. Today, we are also pleased to reveal additional titles coming to PlayStation VR2, with fresh new reveals on new titles that are currently in development for PlayStation VR2. Read our announcement here. It’s exciting to see how game developers are taking advantage of the PS VR2’s headset features to design the next generation of VR games. We’re expecting more than 20 titles at launch, and we can’t wait for February when PS VR2 launches so players can give it a try. We’ll have more details on our launch game lineup in the future, so stay tuned. PlayStation VR2 Specifications Display methodOLEDPanel resolution2000 x 2040 per eyePanel refresh rate90Hz, 120HzLens separationAdjustableField of ViewApprox. 110 degreesSensors・Motion Sensor: Six-axis motion sensing system (three-axis gyroscope, three-axis accelerometer)・Attachment Sensor: IR Proximity sensorCameras・4 cameras for headset and controller tracking・IR camera for eye tracking per eyeFeedbackVibration on headsetCommunication with PS5USB Type-C®Audio・Input: Built-in microphone・Output: Stereo headphone jack PlayStation VR2 Sense Controller Specifications Buttons[Right]PS button, Options button, Action buttons (Circle / Cross), R1 button, R2 button, Right Stick / R3 button[Left]PS button, Create button, Action buttons (Triangle / Square), L1 button, L2 button, Left Stick / L3 buttonSensing/ Tracking Motion Sensor: Six-axis motion sensing system (three-axis gyroscope + three-axis accelerometer)Capacitive Sensor: Finger Touch DetectionIR LED: Position TrackingFeedback Trigger Effect (on R2/L2 button), Haptic Feedback (by single actuator per unit) PortUSB Type-C® portCommunicationBluetooth® Ver5.1BatteryType: Built-in Lithium-ion Rechargeable Battery
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Gaming & VR
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Gaming laptops are an ever expanding breed, especially in 2022 when machines with powerful graphics cards extend far beyond the traditional hefty devices with flashing RGB you may expect in this field. Oddly, the MSI Katana GF66 sits more firmly in the past, though not necessarily in a bad way. It’s a laptop made for PC gamers who don’t want to splash out for the highest quality of materials and design as well as top-tier performance. As a result, there are a few compromises to accept. And perhaps the hardest to swallow is that, even though the Katana presents itself as a value proposition, higher prices across the board and a lack of low-end GPU options limit this laptop’s appeal.The model of the MSI Katana GF66 I tested isn’t the most wallet-friendly available, sporting a 12th-Gen Intel Core i7-12700H chip, the mid- to low-tier Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060, 1 TB SSD, and 16 GB RAM—all for a price of $1,399 (£1,399). There’s a small but significant difference between the UK model I tested and its US equivalent, with the former featuring a faster 240-Hz display, and the latter, a 144-Hz panel. Both are 15.6-inch, with the Katana GF76 being the 17-inch version of this machine. You can venture as low as a $1,100 model and get a RTX 3050, 512 GB SSD, and 8 GB RAM instead if you’re looking for the cheapest option from this range.Spec BumpPhotograph: MSIThe Katana GF66 is certainly a step up from the previous model, with a new 12th-Gen Intel chip being the biggest change. You can comfortably break the 60 frames-per-second mark in graphically demanding titles like Borderlands 3, and even get above 100 fps in Ghost Recon: Breakpoint—all on Ultra settings at 1080p. For fps fanatics, testing saw around 110 fps in Apex Legends on the same settings. To take full advantage of the 240-Hz display, you’ll have to apply lower Medium settings and reduce the resolution to 720p. The 144-Hz model available in the US should allow for around Medium settings at 1080p to hit the maximum frame rate. Comparing these results with our favorite budget gaming laptop of last year, the Acer Nitro 5—also sporting an RTX 3060—it offers between a 10 to 25 percent bump. Frame-rate-focused titles see the biggest difference, with Apex offering similar frames at 1080p Ultra that it offered at 1080p Low settings on the comparable model.The performance gives little to complain about, and the same goes for some key performance-adjacent factors. The fans aren’t overly intrusive, even when this laptop really gets going, and, despite this, it never gets overly hot to the touch. The steady performance is matched by a strong display. OK, it doesn’t bring remarkably vibrant colors, but the 1080p resolution provides suitable detail, it gets reasonably bright for a gaming laptop—coping with most indoor conditions, but you won’t be using it outside—and the 240-Hz panel has pleasingly smooth gaming across all titles.
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Gaming & VR
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From motion-controlled VR rigs to Volvo's 3 million euro R&D chassis simulator, I've tested a wide range of racing simulator setups. Yet as close as the best get to replicating the feel of driving, all fall just short of the real thing. BMW's M racing and performance division's latest project comes at this problem from the opposite direction, bringing a real accelerating, cornering, power-sliding 2023 M2 sport coupe into the simulation using mixed reality technology.I was able to test BMW's M Mixed Reality M2 prototype on a gray afternoon in late November at the M Driving Academy at Fürstenfeldbruck Air Base, just a half-hour's ride from the automaker's Munich headquarters. For the most part, this is just a normal 2023 M2 with a dark techno-livery. Opening the door, I spy the large stereoscopic camera pod occupying most of the dashboard and the mixed reality headset waiting for me in the driver's seat.The headset is the Varjo XR-3, a pro-level mixed reality unit that features lidar-based 3D spatial positioning, passthrough cameras and hand and eye tracking. It's the latest version of the XR-1 rig that Volvo used a few years ago to test driver safety, and it's one of the most advanced VR/MR headsets that I've ever strapped to my melon. The XR-3 has been modified slightly with six small positioning spheres that further boost head tracking accuracy.The mixed reality headset combines a live view of the dashboard and driver's hands, but totally replaces the view out of the windshield. BMW As I settle into the racing bucket seats and secure the four-point harness, BMW's engineer explains to me that by combining virtual reality with actual driving, the M team is taking an inside-out approach to creating the most realistic simulator. There's also less motion sickness than with a fully virtual experience because your body (specifically, your inner ear) will be experiencing real-world physics. He also explains that he's got a remote brake pedal on his side of the car — like a driver's ed car — but promised only to use it in an emergency. Through the XR-3's displays, my vision is filled with live video of the M2's actual dashboard in front of me, complete with my real hands on the very real wheel. It's as if someone replaced my eyes with the MR headset's cameras. It's a little weird, but there's no perceptible latency. I'm instructed to shift into drive and move to the starting line.Suddenly, the view outside the car changes. The gray sky and empty airstrip I'd lined up on disappear and they're replaced by a futuristic racetrack with a cyberpunk nighttime cityscape in the distance. As I move my head, the virtual world moves perfectly in sync; I can even lean forward or tilt my head to peer around the roof up at the night sky — at least, as far as the harness will let me. My real hands and the. M2's dashboard are still there — that' s the mixed part of this reality — but beyond them stretches a neon-lit course, marked by tall, glowing barriers. The large camera pod, I notice, has also seemingly disappeared. BMW partnered with Epic Games to create the mixed reality simulation in Unreal Engine 4. BMW My co-driver explains that the elongated figure-eight circuit fits nicely within the paved runway — which they surveyed and GPS-marked with a drone at the start of the event much like how you'd mark the safe boundaries of room-scale VR at home. The system uses a combination of camera and laser head tracking, precision accelerometer data and GPS, along with data pulled from the M2's onboard sensor network, to accurately line up the vehicle's position and my augmented field of view.
Then it's "ready, set, GO!" as I'm instructed to take a slow lap to get familiar with the system. The moment I get rolling, all of the mixed reality weirdness disappears and I'm immersed in the sim. Muscle memory takes over as I pilot the M2 smoothly through the video game landscape. BMW added a bit of Mario Kart gamification to the course with BMW roundel tokens to collect to improve my score and large red digital barriers to avoid. It's fun.
Of course, there are limitations to the tech. It can't create camber or elevation changes where there are none — a big parking lot is never going to feel like the Nürburgring's banked carousels or Laguna Seca's corkscrew. And so the two times this tech has been demonstrated to journalists have been flat simulations on smooth runways. The opposite is also true: If there's a bump or pothole on the real driving surface, you'll feel it — and if a puddle or oil slick develops or a deer runs into the driving area, you won't see it coming in the simulation, which is why the human co-driver and their emergency brake pedal are there.Later, BMW's engineers excitedly explain their vision for using technology developed in the M Mixed Reality prototype to teach novice drivers performance techniques or to allow casual enthusiasts to test the real-world limits of a car like the M2 without the fear of putting it into a wall or wrapping it around a pole.Currently, the prototype uses a Varjo XR-3 headset, but that could change in the future. BMW Expert drivers can also benefit from mixed reality driving. Say there's a tricky segment on the Nürburgring you want to practice. Load it up on a skid pad and hit it over and over again without the need to complete the entire Nordschleife between attempts. You could spend the day autocrossing with a different course, each run without having to lay out or pick up dozens of cones.On my second lap, I push the speed a little further and the illusion remains unbroken. The car moves around the simulated course precisely, naturally following my inputs and matching perfectly with the seat-of-the-pants feel. Only the weight of the headset reminds me that I haven't been magically transported inside an arcade racer. The BMW M Mixed Reality prototype is a ton of fun, but for now it's just a development platform with no plans to produce or offer the tech to M car owners. At the end of my session, all that I really want is one more lap.
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Gaming & VR
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Today is November 6th, 2022, the day of the SAO Incident. Thousands of VRMMORPG gamers were trapped by a mad scientist inside a death game that could only be escaped through completion. If their hit points dropped to zero, their brain would be bombarded by extraordinarily powerful microwaves, supposedly killing the user. The same would happen if anyone in the real world tampered with their NerveGear, the virtual reality head-mounted-display that transported their minds and souls to Aincrad, the primary setting of Sword Art Online.
This type of scenario has been a staple of science-fiction for decades, but Sword Art Online exploded in popularity at exactly the right time to have a massive impact on the real world. The already-popular web novel was adapted into an anime series that aired just as the Oculus Rift went from internet forum curiosity for turbonerds to siren of the games industry, endorsed by giants like John Carmack, Gabe Newell, and Cliff Bleszinski – the 4th episode of SAO, “The Black Swordsman” (黒の剣士) aired in Japan just as the Kickstarter for the Oculus Rift DK1 launched!
The popularity of SAO led to massive otaku enthusiasm for Oculus, especially in Japan, which quickly became our 2nd largest market. In turn, the existence of the Rift made SAO itself seem far more plausible and grounded – a story that had been written in a world where VR was a dead technology was now straight out of the gamer hype headlines. This synergy had meaningful impact on our dev kit sales and adoption – literally thousands of people reached out to me asking variations of “Have you seen Sword Art Online? When will you make the NerveGear real?!”. The Oculus SDK was the closest thing to SAO’s World Seed, a software tool that enabled anyone to create incredible VR worlds.
There are dozens of stories I could tell, many of them worth a post of their own. How we ended up with a Kirito mural on the wall of the first Oculus office, how it was eventually moved to Facebook HQ, why it was removed shortly after I was fired. Personally showing Oculus DK2 to Reki Kawahara at Anime Expo, my wife meeting him while cosplaying as Sinon at the next Anime Expo, getting into minutiae of SAO canon at the Hollywood premiere of SAO: Ordinal Scale, the audience screaming as Yuuki came back from the dead to perform a two-user Mother’s Rosario attack combo with Asuna against the 100th floor boss of Aincrad. Arguing with people who only watched the anime about the supposed plot and tech holes, explaining that the anime was only ever meant to act as a companion piece for fans of the novel series that so frequently predicts the future of AR, VR, AI, and more. The beautiful wedding gift from Kawahara-san that shows he is a double-threat writer/artist combo!
But that isn’t what you are here for. You want NerveGear, the incredible device that perfectly recreates reality using a direct neural interface that is also capable of killing the user. The idea of tying your real life to your virtual avatar has always fascinated me – you instantly raise the stakes to the maximum level and force people to fundamentally rethink how they interact with the virtual world and the players inside it. Pumped up graphics might make a game look more real, but only the threat of serious consequences can make a game feel real to you and every other person in the game. This is an area of videogame mechanics that has never been explored, despite the long history of real-world sports revolving around similar stakes.
The good news is that we are halfway to making a true NerveGear The bad news is that so far, I have only figured out the half that kills you. The perfect-VR half of the equation is still many years out.
In SAO, the NerveGear contained a microwave emitter that could be overdriven to lethal levels, something the creator of SAO and the NerveGear itself (Akihiko Kayaba) was able to hide from his employees, regulators, and contract manufacturing partners. I am a pretty smart guy, but I couldn’t come up with any way to make anything like this work, not without attaching the headset to gigantic pieces of equipment. In lieu of this, I used three of the explosive charge modules I usually use for a different project, tying them to a narrow-band photosensor that can detect when the screen flashes red at a specific frequency, making game-over integration on the part of the developer very easy. When an appropriate game-over screen is displayed, the charges fire, instantly destroying the brain of the user.
This isn’t a perfect system, of course. I have plans for an anti-tamper mechanism that, like the NerveGear, will make it impossible to remove or destroy the headset. Even so, there are a huge variety of failures that could occur and kill the user at the wrong time. This is why I have not worked up the balls to actually use it myself, and also why I am convinced that, like in SAO, the final triggering should really be tied to a high-intelligence agent that can readily determine if conditions for termination are actually correct.
At this point, it is just a piece of office art, a thought-provoking reminder of unexplored avenues in game design. It is also, as far as I know, the first non-fiction example of a VR device that can actually kill the user. It won’t be the last.
See you in the metaverse.
-Palmer
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Gaming & VR
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Asus has debuted two new gaming phones Tuesday, the ROG Phone 6 and ROG Phone 6 Pro, which feature the newest Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 processor and a Samsung AMOLED display capable of running at a 165Hz refresh rate. Alongside the phones, the AeroActive Cooling 6 accessory that clips onto the line claims to both reduce temperatures by up to 25 degrees Celsius (77 degrees F) from the back of the phone while including tactile shoulder buttons.Both phones also include a 6,000mAh battery with 65W charging, and additional sensors that add gaming controls through the phone's gyroscope as well as along the phone's corners. They also each include a 50-megapixel main camera, 13-megapixel ultrawide camera and 5-megapixel macro camera. Both phones also include a 12-megapixel front camera.The Asus AeroActive Cooler 6. Asus The main differences between the standard 6 and the 6 Pro come with its storage and memory options: The 6 starts with 256GB of storage with models that include 8GB and 12GB of RAM, while the 6 Pro includes 512GB of storage and 18GB of RAM. The Pro also has a second display on the back that can show notifications, system information and animations. The 6 instead gets a LED logo that can be customized to light up for different situations.It's all specs that -- like other gaming phones -- are meant to prioritize power and performance in order to get the most out of Android games. The battery in particular is especially notable, as last year's Asus ROG Phone 5 was found to have one of the longest batteries on an Android phone by CNET reviewer Patrick Holland. The 165Hz refresh rate is also in line with other competitors like the RedMagic 7, and should make for exceedingly smooth animations beyond the already-great 120Hz that mainstream Android phones now have in the midrange.Release dates aren't yet available, but both phones are set to first arrive in Europe at 999 euros (roughly $1,024, £858, AU$1,510) for the 6 and 1,299 euros for the Pro. This puts them well into flagship territory in terms of pricing, and an uptick over last year's ROG Phone 5 which started at 799 euros.While we would need to wait for a hands-on with the phone in order to check out the Snapdragon chip in the phone, this latest chip along with the higher refresh-rate display on a Samsung-made display are intriguing as they both could eventually end up in more mainstream phones down the line.
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Gaming & VR
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Insta360’s One RS modular action camera is one of our favorites. The ability to swap lenses—from a typical action-camera wide-angle lens, to a 360 lens, to a Leica-designed lens with a 1-inch sensor—makes it more versatile than a GoPro. Insta360 is now building on that modular foundation with the new One RS 1-inch 360 Edition.The 1-inch 360 Edition sports dual lenses and dual 1-inch sensors coengineered with Leica, and builds on the system that One RS owners already have. The core module is the same as the action camera, but the new 360 version adds a bigger battery, a case to hold the battery and core module, and a lens unit with dual sensors and lenses that sit on top, like ice cream on a cone.The result is a camera that produces the best-looking 360-degree video footage I’ve ever seen. Insta360 also has a video editor that makes editing the footage easy. If you’re all in on 360 video, this is the camera to get.Around the WorldI should say that I have never been a huge fan of 360 video. This is mostly because, well, the human eye doesn’t have a 360-degree view of the world. Sure, there are VR goggles that so far almost no one owns or uses, but even then you can’t see it all at once. The only use case that makes sense to me is to capture an entire scene in 360 because you don’t know ahead of time where you want to point the camera. Later, you can edit the video into a normal view. This use case means you have to have a good video editor. Insta360 is the only 360 camera system I’ve used that makes editing your 360 footage easy enough to make shooting it worthwhile.But if you are into 360-degree footage for its own sake, this camera is remarkable. The footage I shot is sharper and captures more detail than any other 360 camera I’ve used, including several of Insta360’s own past efforts. If 360-degree video is your thing, this is your camera.Between the two sensors, you get 6K video (a step up from the 5.7K that the previous version’s 360 Mod is able to shoot) and 21-MP still images. In combination with the improved sensors, these lenses are much more capable than the much smaller lenses on the 360 Mod sold with the action camera. The quality of video is noticeably better than what I was able to capture with the One RS. It’s sharper and has less noise. This was especially obvious when shooting in low light and zooming in to look at leaves, grass, or signs.6K video sounds like a crazy high resolution, and it would be in the normal camera, but professional-level cameras shooting footage for the VR goggles no one buys are typically shooting 10K and up. Still, 6K is a step up for consumer-level cameras. The clarity here is good enough that if you’re framing and cutting down to produce normal video, you shouldn’t notice much difference in video quality from footage shot with a 4K camera. This is especially true if your video’s destination is YouTube or TikTok, both of which heavily compress video anyway.This opens up the possibility of using the Insta360 One RS 360 Edition as a one-person camera rig. Any 360 camera can do this of course, but the improved video quality on the 360 Edition means that the reframed footage doesn’t suffer the loss of quality you’d get doing this with most other 360 rigs.Photograph: Insta360
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Gaming & VR
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Image: Prime VideoA decade from now, a young woman taps into her talent—she is scary-good at VR games, to the point that wealthy clients hire her to play in their stead—to scrape up cash for her family. The Peripheral, which stars Chloë Grace Moretz as the gaming whiz, asks: what if that futuristic VR world was actually real?OffEnglishThe new series from Prime Video is based on cyberpunk pioneer William Gibson’s 2014 novel and counts Westworld’s Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy among its executive producers, so you already have an idea of what its vision of the future will look like: equal parts sleek and bleak. Thanks to New York Comic Con, we have a new trailer for the series, which gives us our best glimpse yet at what to expect.Here’s the official synopsis for the series: “Flynne Fisher lives in the rural American South, working at the local 3D printing shop while earning much needed extra money playing VR games for rich people. One night she dons a headset and finds herself in futuristic London—a sleek and mysterious world, alluringly different from her own hardscrabble existence. But this isn’t like any game she’s ever played before: Flynne begins to realize it isn’t virtual reality… it’s real. Someone in London, 70 years in the future, has found a way to open a door to Flynne’s world. And as utterly beguiling as London is… it’s also dangerous. As Flynne searches to discover who has connected their worlds, and for what purpose, her presence here sets dangerous forces into motion… forces intent on destroying Flynne and her family in her own world.”Created and showrun by Scott B. Smith (A Simple Plan), The Peripheral’s cast also includes Jack Reynor (Midsommar), Gary Carr, JJ Feild, and T’Nia Miller (The Haunting of Bly Manor). It premieres October 21 on Prime Video.Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel and Star Wars releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about House of the Dragon and Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power.
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Gaming & VR
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Because who among us wasn't jealous of the characters on that show? “Squid Game”Netflix “Squid Game” fans who binged the hit South Korean Netflix series, saw starving people forced to compete in what essentially amounted to fights to the death, and thought “I want to do that” are in luck.
Netflix has announced a partnership with Immersive Gamebox on a new multiplayer in-person game that will allow fans to compete in simulated versions of popular challenges from the show. Participants will either lose lives or win virtual money based on their performances in challenges such as “Red Light, Green Light,” “Marbles,” and the eponymous “Squid Game.” The game will be facilitated through a combination of virtual reality and motion sensor technology.
Immersive Gamebox’s “Squid Game” experience is set to launch September 21 at nine locations throughout the United States: New York City; Rancho Cucamonga, California; Oakbrook, Illinois; Denver, Colorado; Dallas, Texas; San Antonio, Texas; The Woodlands, Texas; Salt Lake City, Utah; and Arlington, Virginia. There will also be four locations in the United Kingdom. Participation will be limited to players aged 16 and over, with a 60-minute round of the game costing $21.99 to $39.99 per player, depending on location. More info is available here. This is not the first attempt at allowing “Squid Game” fans to feel like they’re participating in the deadly competition. Netflix previously announced “Squid Game: The Challenge,” a new reality show that will feature 456 contestants participating in a series of challenges inspired by the show as they compete for a whopping $4.56 million prize.
The immersive multiplayer game is the latest example of Netflix’s attempts to monetize its biggest properties through gaming projects. The streaming service previously announced the development of new mobile games based on several popular shows including “The Queen’s Gambit” and “Money Heist.”
The moves come as Netflix’s lack of subscriber growth has attracted industry scrutiny, causing it to search for alternative revenue streams beyond subscriptions and movie ticket sales. The most prominent example to date was the multitude of consumer products that Netflix unveiled during the “Stranger Things 4” rollout, partnering with some of the biggest brands in the country to make food and toy products tied to the popular series. Sign Up: Stay on top of the latest breaking film and TV news! Sign up for our Email Newsletters here.
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Gaming & VR
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Whether you're a fan of PlayStation, Xbox, PC or another format, it's time to upgrade to a gaming headset if you're still using a traditional headset. A gaming headset can provide immersive audio and other features that will give you a better gaming experience, whether you're a novice or a pro. With Prime Day officially set to kick off July 12, and early Prime Day deals already available, now is a great time to find big bargains on top tech (among a ton of other markdowns). And right now Amazon has the Razer Kaira Pro dual wireless gaming headset discounted by $70, bringing the cost to just $130. This gaming accessory beasts a ton of features, including TriForce Titanium 50mm drivers that can tune high, mids and lows separately to produce rich, full range sound and immerse you in the game for extended sessions.The detachable HyperClear Supercardioid mic on the Kaira Pro provides a good amount of voice isolation and the included SmartSwitch technology automatically mutes a game, easily switching from audio on your console to your phone when you answer a call via the on-ear controls, making it super easy to stay connected to both worlds. This particular headset is compatible with PlayStation 5, PS4, PC, mobile and devices with Bluetooth audio capacity, however there is a Razer Kaira headset designed for Xbox available, as well as a non-Pro version that's discounted to just $100.
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Gaming & VR
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What's happening Facebook parent company Meta purchased a Berlin startup to help fuel its virtual reality ambitions. Why it matters Meta has been doubling down on creating the metaverse, virtual spaces where people can work, play and socialize. VR is a key part of those efforts, but Meta is also facing allegations from regulators it's trying to "buy its way to the top." Facebook parent company Meta has acquired a Berlin startup to help achieve its virtual reality ambitions.On Friday, Meta confirmed it purchased a company called Lofelt that's developing "next generation" haptic technology for virtual reality. Haptic technology helps create a sense of touch in virtual spaces by using vibrations and other forces in devices such as controllers. "We're excited that members of the Lofelt team have joined Meta. The partnership will provide people with better haptic experiences and effects when using Meta's VR devices," said Meta spokesperson Kari Ramirez. Meta declined to share the terms of the deal.The acquisition shows how Meta continues to double down on the metaverse, virtual spaces where people can work, play and socialize. One way people can enter these virtual spaces is by strapping on a virtual reality headset like the Quest 2 that Meta developed.US regulators, though, have been scrutinizing Meta's acquisitions more heavily. In July, the Federal Trade Commission said it's trying to block Meta's acquisition of Within Unlimited, a VR studio that created the VR fitness app Supernatural. The FTC alleges that the acquisition is illegal and that Meta is trying to buy its rivals rather than compete with them. Meta pushed back against the idea that the purchase would lead to anticompetitive outcomes and said the FTC was sending a "chilling message" to those who want to innovate in VR. Meta, formerly Facebook at the time, purchased VR headset maker Oculus in 2014 for at least $2 billion.The Wall Street Journal, which reported earlier on the acquisition, noted that Lofelt has roughly 25 employees and raised about 10 million euros ($10 million) in funding prior to the deal with Meta.Lofelt's website says that the company ended support for its mobile apps in July and is "embarking on a new adventure."
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Gaming & VR
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December 14, 2022 In a new study, Stanford University researchers examined how being able to completely transform one’s appearance and digital environment significantly impacts social interactions in the metaverse. In the realm of virtual reality (VR), users can completely transform the appearances of themselves as avatars and of their digital environments, all at the mere click of a button. In a pioneering new study, Stanford University researchers have examined how this unique and profound ability significantly impacts social interactions in the metaverse – the term for immersive virtual worlds, experienced through VR headsets, where people are increasingly gathering to play and work. Go to the web site to view the video. “In the metaverse, you can be anyone or anywhere,” says study lead author Eugy Han, a PhD student in communication who is advised by Jeremy Bailenson, the Thomas More Storke Professor in the School of Humanities and Sciences at Stanford University. “Our ongoing work reported in this study is showing who you are and where you are matters tremendously for learning, collaborating, socializing, and other metaverse activities.”
The study, published in the Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, is the latest to come out of Stanford University’s innovative Virtual People course. Taught by Bailenson and colleagues, the course is among the first and largest ever conducted mostly in VR.
For the study, 272 students used VR headsets to meet in virtual environments for 30 minutes once a week over eight weeks. During those sessions, the students participated in two experiments, accumulating hundreds of thousands of minutes of interactions for researchers to analyze.
Real benefits from virtual environments
One experiment assessed the effects of where the students were, across a range of digital surroundings. The other experiment assessed the effects of who the students were, via how they presented themselves as avatars.
In the experiment focused on virtual settings, students interacted in constrained or spacious virtual environments, both indoors and outdoors. The researchers created 192 unique environments with these varying attributes, from tight train cars to vast enclosed arenas and from walled gardens to endless fields.
When in wide open virtual spaces, whether in- or outdoors, the students exhibited greater non-verbal synchrony and reported increases in many positive measures such as group cohesion, pleasure, arousal, presence, and enjoyment, versus when the students interacted in constrained surroundings. The study also showed that outdoor environments with elements of nature generated more positive feelings independent of the apparent size of the virtual space. “Where you are in the metaverse can have a major impact on your experience and the shared experience of a group,” says Han. “Large, open, panoramic spaces for people to move around in really helped with group behavior.”
The findings accordingly suggest that people can take advantage of the available grandness of VR by opting for big, outdoor environments instead of recreating cramped meeting rooms or lecture halls.
“At the very core of collaboration is people attending and reacting to one another in a productive manner,” says Bailenson, “and our data show that all these great downstream things happen when you make your virtual rooms huge compared to a traditional office space.”
Sense of self in VR
In the other experiment, students virtually interacted with each other either as self-avatars, which resembled the students’ actual, physical-world appearances, or as generic avatars that all looked and dressed alike. The researchers observed the students’ VR behaviors and the students reported on their feelings of measures such as group cohesion, presence, enjoyment, and realism.
The study found that when represented by avatars that looked like themselves, the students displayed more non-verbal synchrony, meaning they gestured and postured similarly to one another. Dovetailing with these observations, the students reported feeling more “in sync” with themselves and each other when congregating as self-avatars. When represented as generic avatars and thus “not themselves” virtually, the students reported the experience to be entertainingly freeing. “People enjoyed being in generic avatars stripped of all identity,” says Han. “On the other hand, when represented by self-avatars, the students reported feeling more active and engaged.”
Real impacts, virtual locations, and avatars
A key takeaway from these results is that for more productive and collaborative interactions – for instance for workplace or professional purposes – self-avatars are the preferred option. “When you’re getting serious in the metaverse, you want to look like you,” says Bailenson, the founding director of Stanford’s Virtual Human Interaction Lab (VHIL) and also a study co-author.
Importantly, the two experiments found that the reported benefits of interacting virtually as certain avatars and in certain environments grew over time. Bailenson says those findings suggest the effects are enduring and not just isolated, positive VR experiences.
The study also demonstrates the potential for VR as a novel and insightful medium for conducting psychological studies, given its unlimited digital possibilities and low costs compared to physical-world alternatives.
“In the history of social science, there are very few studies on the psychological effect of huge indoor spaces, for the obvious reason that it is, for example, very expensive to rent out Madison Square Garden to run a four-person meeting,” says Bailenson. “But in VR, the cost goes away, and one of the more compelling findings from our study is that huge indoor spaces have much of the same redeeming psychological value of being outdoors.” Additional Stanford co-authors of this research include graduate students Cyan DeVeaux, Hanseul Jun, and Mark Miller; Jeffrey Hancock, the Harry and Norman Chandler Professor of Communication; and Nilam Ram, Professor of Communication and Psychology.
Co-author Kristine Nowak, is from the University of Connecticut.
Bailenson is also a senior fellow at Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment, member of Stanford Bio-X, member of the Wu Tsai Human Performance Alliance, senior fellow of Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment, and member of the Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute. Hancock is also a member of Stanford Bio-X and a faculty affiliate of the Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence (HAI).
To read all stories about Stanford science, subscribe to the biweekly Stanford Science Digest.
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Gaming & VR
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Video gaming can be an expensive hobby, but that just makes scoring deals all the more important. Whether you're looking for a new gaming laptop, a better mouse, or literally any gadget crammed full of RGB LEDs, there are plenty of deals for you today.The WIRED Gear team tests products year-round. We sorted through hundreds of thousands of deals by hand to make these picks. Crossed out products are out of stock or no longer discounted. Our Amazon Prime Day coverage page has the latest stories, and our Prime Day Shopping Tips will help you avoid bad deals. You can also get a 1-Year Subscription to WIRED for $5 here.If you buy something using links in our stories, we may earn a commission. This helps support our journalism. Learn more.Gaming Rig DealsAlienware Aurora
Photograph: AlienwareThe Aurora R14 is an upgraded version of one of our favorite gaming desktops. It has Alienware's trademark stylish chassis, an RTX 3080 graphics card, and 32 gigabytes of RAM, making it a beastly machine.Razer makes some of the best gaming laptops in the world, and the Razer Blade 14 is one of our favorites. It packs an RTX 3080 graphics card, 16 gigabytes of RAM, and a 1-terabyte SSD for silky smooth gaming even when you're away from home.Few manufacturers can give Razer a run for its money in the gaming laptop space, but Asus is one of those few. The Rog Zephyrus G15 is one of our top picks overall for gaming laptops in 2022, thanks to its RTX 3080 graphics card, 16:10 wide slim bezel (edge) display, and AMD Ryzen 9 5900HS processor.TV and Monitor DealsPhotograph: LGThis OLED TV from LG (8/10, WIRED Recommends) supports up to 120 frame-per-second (fps) gaming at 4K HDR, as well as either Nvidia's G-Sync or AMD's FreeSync for the smoothest possible gaming on one of the nicest-looking screens we've tested.Ultrawide monitors like this one from AOC provide way more peripheral vision coverage than typical displays. Which is an excellent asset to have while gaming. If you want to be immersed in the games you play, this monitor is one of our favorite ultrawides.For the performance-minded, this LG Ultragear monitor sticks with a 1080p panel, but boasts up to 240 fps for the most buttery smooth action even from fast-paced games. It's compatible with both Nvidia G-Sync and AMD's FreeSync and the included base is height, tilt, and pivot adjustable.Okay technically, Philips Hue lights aren't gaming-specific, but what gamer doesn't need more RGB lights? This kit is our upgrade pick and it's one of the most popular (and also most expensive) smart light systems around. As long as you're comfortable committing to a pricier system for the long haul, this is a good deal on a starter pack.Peripheral DealsPhotograph: RazerIt's hard to find a perfect mouse, but the Razer Viper Ultimate gets close. It's our top pick for wireless mouse with a dock, and it's been among our top picks overall in the past thanks to its ambidextrous design, clever charging dock, and convenient dongle storage.There is no such thing as too many buttons on a gaming mouse. That's how I do it. That's how Razer does it. And it's worked out pretty well so far. This mouse is one of our favorites, in no small part due to having 19 customizable buttons, making it a Swiss Army Knife of customizability for gamers and workers alike.Headphone DealsPhotograph: Steelseries This headset was already one of our favorites under $50, but this deal makes it even sweeter. The wireless version of the Arctis 1 (8/10, WIRED Recommends) impressed us with its rich sound and clear mic quality. This model is largely the same, but uses a wired connection instead.The Bluetooth version of the Arctis 3 is our top pick for Switch players who want to use voice chat. However, this corded option is still a great headset and it can connect to any platform, making it a versatile and inexpensive set of cans.The Arctis Prime from SteelSeries (8/10, WIRED Recommends) is our pick for midrange gaming headset under $100. However, right now it's way under $100. If you want a better-than-average pair of headphones without spending a ton on them, now's the time.Logitech's G Pro X is currently our top pick for best wireless gaming headset. It supports PC, PlayStation, and has solid battery life. Its DTX:S object-based surround sound makes it easy to hear exactly where enemies are in your game and Logitech's G Hub software enables a ton of audio customization options.
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Gaming & VR
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From extra game storage to a fancy new 120-Hz TV, here are our favorite WIRED-tested complements to your PS5.Picking out accessories for a new PlayStation 5 is almost as tricky as buying one. That's because of its new capabilities. The cybernetic clamshell tower of a console is packed to the gills with impressive hardware. It can run games in native 4K, hit frame rates in excess of 120 frames per second, and output video at 120 hertz for that ultra-silky-smooth look and feel. It's the first game console that can really take advantage of a killer home-theater setup. To that end, we've compiled our favorite PS5 accessories, which include a few luxury picks for those of you looking to really turn your living room into a cathedral for your new PS5.Be sure to check out our full review of the PlayStation 5, along with our roundup of our favorite PlayStation games. For more home-theater buying advice, see our Best TVs and Best Soundbars guides.Updated July 2022: We’ve adjusted prices, added the Steelseries Arctis Nova Pro headset, and included some information about the upcoming Sony PlayStation VR 2 headset. If you buy something using links in our stories, we may earn a commission. This helps support our journalism. Learn more. Please also consider subscribing to WIREDPhotograph: SonyA Charging DockSony DualSense Charging StationYou'll want a charging dock. Even if you stick with one controller, it's nice to just drop it in the dock when you're done playing and know it'll be fully charged when you're ready to get back at it. This is the official charger from Sony, so it matches the cyber-clam aesthetic of the PS5, which is a plus. They look really cute together.Photograph: SonyA Second ControllerSony DualSense ControllerIt's 2021 and game consoles still don't ship with two controllers. You'll need an extra gamepad if you want to get in on any couch co-op, and the best one is still Sony's official DualSense model. That might change in the coming months, but right now, no other third-party controller really packs the same level of immersive feedback the DualSense does.Thanks to the placement of haptic feedback motors throughout the controller, you can feel more nuanced vibrations than you can with other controllers. It's like spatial audio for your hands. If something whips by your character on the left side, you might feel a little rumble under your left hand. It's awesome. Games can control how much resistance the left and right shoulder triggers give you. If you're pulling the drawstring on a bow and arrow, for instance, a game might make it more difficult to press the triggers.Photograph: ScufA Controller for CompetitorsScuf Reflex ControllerThe DualSense above is one of my favorite controllers of all time. I've come to love and appreciate the streamlined design, the slim form factor, and the overall look and feel of Sony's latest controller. That's why I'm obsessed with Scuf's Reflex controller. In the months I've spent testing it in 2022, it's managed to do everything the DualSense does, but better. That extra-ness will definitely cost you, though: The DualSense is about $70, and the Reflex starts at $200. So what does that get you? The body is covered in a soft-touch material that doesn't pick up fingerprints and is grippy without feeling sticky. It's like the suede of plastic.It also has four (removable) back paddles, which you can configure individually. These are a godsend in games like Destiny 2 where you have to juggle multiple abilities all at once. And the faceplate comes off so you can swap out the thumb sticks if you want. (There are taller ones available that provide a more nuanced sense of control.) You can also swap out the faceplate itself for other colors. Overall, it's everything a premium controller should be, and if you're going to play a lot of competitive online games, it's an accessory I'd highly recommend. Photograph: SonyA Great Wireless Headset for PS5Sony Pulse 3D HeadsetSometimes first-party peripherals are the right way to go. The Sony Pulse 3D headset brings immersive surround sound to any of your PlayStation games, and it can connect via an included dongle. Because it’s made by Sony for a Sony console, it works seamlessly with the PS5. It’s as plug-and-play as it gets, and the sound quality you get out of this headset is hard to beat at this price. You'll sound great over voice chat too.Photograph: SteelSeriesA Killer Multi-Platform HeadsetSteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro WirelessThe Steelseries Arctis Nova Pro headset works easily with every current game system. The Nintendo Switch, the PS5, the Xbox Series S/X—it even works with your PC. It also has Bluetooth, so it even works with your phone or tablet. That level of compatibility and ease is a lifesaver if you're like me, constantly bouncing between games on different platforms.The Arctis Nova Pro also has super-soft ear cups that drown out external noise even better than some low- and mid-range ANC headphones I've tested. That means your games will sound rich and resonant. They create a detailed tapestry of sound to immerse you in whatever you're playing, no matter where you're playing it. Works great for PS5 and all other current platforms.Photograph: HyperXA Wireless Headset That Lasts 300 HoursHP HyperX Cloud Alpha WirelessSomehow, HyperX managed to cram around 300 hours of battery life into its Cloud Alpha Wireless headset. As a result of its longevity and solid all-around sound, it received one of the few perfect 10 scores we've ever given out here at WIRED. If you're anything like me, it can be hard to remember to plug in your PS5 headset after every use. More often than not, I go to fire up the PS5 and find it dead. The HyperX Cloud Alpha Wireless all but fixes that problem with its nigh-immortal battery. This thing is ready whenever you need it, as long as you remember to plug it in once every two weeks or so. If you're gaming literally 24 hours a day for 12 days without charging it, you might run the battery flat. Maybe. Photograph: Audeze A Luxurious HeadsetAudeze Penrose Gaming HeadsetI could go on about this headset for days. It's super comfy and packed with impressive technology that turns your head into a home theater, and it works no matter what your setup is. If you want a wireless headset, the Penrose does it via an included dongle or Bluetooth. If you want a wired headset, it works that way too—though it does still need a charge to run corded. Just plug it right into your DualSense controller. This headset sounds incredible, and there's a reason for that. It employs planar magnetic drivers, which means sound is filtered through a super-thin layer of conductive film suspended between two permanent magnetic fields. Technical details aside, that means the Penrose and other headphones with this tech produce unbelievably detailed, rich sound, especially down low. While gaming, you'll feel noticeably more immersed in the world onscreen.It’s much more expensive than the other headsets on this list, so consider it more of an upgrade pick if you’re looking for one that works great with just about any gaming setup—not just your PS5.Photograph: HyperXA Good Headset Under $50HyperX Cloud Stinger CoreThe HyperX Cloud Stinger Core is a great pick if you need a headset that'll produce rich sound with an ultra-clear microphone attached. It's a no-frills headset that gets the job done and stays out of your way. It's also comfortable to wear for long periods, which can be important during marathon gaming sessions when your roommate is trying to sleep.Photograph: Sony A Media RemotePlayStation 5 Media RemoteIf you use your PS5 as your media hub, you'll want to pick up a media controller. It's basically just a less functional controller, but it's nice to have a dedicated device you can just put next to your other TV remote controls without having to get up and pluck your controller off the charging dock. This way you'll also save your controller's juice for gaming and don't waste it binge-watching Next in Fashion.Photograph: Western DigitalAn Internal M.2 Drive for Extra StorageWD_Black M.2 SSD with Heat SinkNow that the PlayStation 5 officially supports M.2 drives, you can pop your console open and install your own lightning-quick storage drives. This is one of our favorites for PCs, and this model includes a low-profile heat sink to keep it at safe temperatures while inside the PS5. It comes in 500-GB, 1-TB, and 2-TB models. For most people, an extra 500 GB is probably fine, but an extra terabyte will ensure you’re able to load up potentially dozens of digital-only games all at the same time. Here’s a quick rundown of how to install an M.2 drive in your PS5.Photograph: Western Digital An External Drive to Hold GamesWD_Black 2TB Game DriveIf you’re not comfortable with cracking open your new PS5, which was probably pretty hard to get your hands on, we don’t blame you.I like this WD Black external drive from Western Digital. You can't play games directly from it, because the drive isn't fast enough. But if you just need an extra 2 GB of storage to archive games you’re not playing right now, it works just fine.Photograph: LGThe Absolute Best TV for PS5LG C1 OLEDIf you have money to burn and want to get the absolute most out of your PS5, this is the TV for you. The LG C1 OLED is a gorgeous TV with rich, vibrant colors and deep contrast. It's also one of the few TVs on the market with a 120-Hz refresh rate. That means your 120-Hz PS5 games will look completely unreal and liquid-smooth on this TV. It truly must be seen to be believed. The next frontier for console games is the 120-Hz refresh rate, and the LG C1 OLED puts you ahead of the curve. Read our guide to learn more.Photograph: Best BuyA TV With 120 Hz for Fast Frame RatesHisense U8GWhile it doesn't have the the pixel-level local dimming or ultra-sharp colors you get out of an LG OLED TV, the Hisense U8G costs less than $1,000 and boasts the most important feature for PS5 owners: a 120-Hz refresh rate. With that refresh rate, your games will look as liquid-smooth as they would on the LG CX, for a whole lot less.Photograph: TCLA Good 4K TV Under $500TCL 5 Series (50-inch, 2021)No TV on the market looks better than a good OLED model, and LG makes them.However, this TCL can also run your games in 4K resolution at 120 frames per second. We definitely notice the improvement in many compatible games.Photograph: YamahaAn Affordable Soundbar (With a Sub)Yamaha ATS-2090You can't get through a conversation with WIRED reviewer Parker Hall without him urging you to buy a soundbar, and he's right. If you're going to play couch co-op without headphones, nothing will upgrade your home theater setup like a soundbar with a subwoofer. Going from TV speakers to a soundbar is like going from black-and-white to color, but for your ears. This pick is one of our favorites.Photograph: NakamichiAn Insane Dual-Sub Sound SystemShockwafe 9.2 Dolby Atmos Soundbar If a soundbar isn't enough, and you are really decking out your gaming space, the Nakamichi Shockwafe system is a great way to go. It's super expensive, but for that price you get two subwoofers, a soundbar, and four surround sound speakers. It's overkill in the best way.With all the speakers set up, this system turns even the most humble YouTube video into a cinema-level experience. Much as with the Audeze Penrose headset, every gaming experience will feel more immersive and intense.Photograph: SonyOn the HorizonSony PSVR 2It's not out yet, but the PlayStation VR 2 is probably just around the corner. Maybe. There's no official word from Sony on when exactly it's hitting store shelves, but information released so far suggests that we're probably no more than a year or so away. Maybe even sooner. The PSVR 2 features an all-new headset design. From what we can tell it should be lighter and a bit more comfortable than the first iteration. The internal displays make up a combined 4K resolution, and they'll reportedly feature HDR. But the most interesting part is the controller design. Sony's DualSense controller for the PS5 features best-in-class haptic feedback and feels super comfy in the hand. The PSVR 2 controller promises to deliver a similar experience. Sony claims the orb-shaped controllers leverage similar haptic technology to deliver advanced levels of feedback that we just haven't seen in other VR headsets. It's a ways off, and it's probably going to cost you a pretty penny (the original PSVR started at $300), but it's shaping up to be an interesting accessory for the PS5.Jaina Grey is a product reviewer at WIRED, covering all those devices that make your life easier—and sometimes much more difficult. Since her first byline in Dragon Magazine to her more recent work at Digital Trends, she’s covered a little bit of everything, from crime, courts, and patent filings to... Read more
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Gaming & VR
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This story is part of Making the Metaverse, CNET's exploration of the next stage in the internet's evolution. What's happening Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg outlined new technology, including improved resolution, that could appear in his company's virtual reality headsets in the future. Why it matters Headsets are a key component of Meta's vision for the metaverse, an evolution of the internet that's more immersive than today's version. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg holds up a bulky virtual reality headset called Butterscotch. It's a prototype, used only for research. But it's part of the puzzle Meta is trying to solve to make their plans for the metaverse a reality.The image resolution in Butterscotch is about two and a half times better than the Quest 2, the VR headset Meta sells to consumers and is critical to making virtual worlds seem more realistic. In a video conference, Zuckerberg said the resolution is good enough for people to see objects clearly from 20 feet away.Meta said its Butterscotch prototype headset's resolution is high enough to read the 20/20 line vision line on an eyechart in VR, outperforming the Quest 2 and Rift headsets. Meta Creating more realistic VR images, Zuckerberg said, will help people feel like they're physically there with another person, even if they're not in the same room. A more realistic sense of presence, though, will take more than just improving the resolution in VR headsets, he said."Being able to express yourself in as immersive and realistic of a way as possible is a very powerful thing," he said. "We're in the middle right now of a big step forward towards realism."Meta has big plans for the metaverse, virtual spaces for work, play and socializing. But the company, formerly known as Facebook, has a long and daunting to-do list to check off before it can reach that goal. Headsets need to properly track motion and be more comfortable if Meta wants more people to buy these devices. Meta hasn't said how many headsets it's sold, but it's not making a profit from its metaverse business and doesn't expect to for a long time. In the first three months of this year, Meta's metaverse business Reality Labs lost $2.96 billion, Meta said in an earnings report. The company is making a long-term bet on what comes after the mobile internet, pinning its future to the metaverse. Zuckerberg has been trying to get people interested in VR for years after the company purchased VR headset maker Oculus for more than $2 billion in 2014.Zuckerberg's ambitious vision for the metaverse sounds like it's straight out of science fiction. He wants people strapping on his headsets to feel like they're in the physical presence of a loved one or coworker. In the future, he says, people might not even need to buy TVs."If you have a good mixed reality headset or augmented reality glasses, then that screen or TV that's on your wall could just be a hologram," he said. That vision is a long way off. Though Meta has improved its VR headsets, using them takes you to cartoon-like virtual spaces that feel more like video games than the real world. The company has tried to clear out its list of projects -- Meta has reportedly scrapped a smartwatch and postponed the release of AR glasses -- to cut down on expenses. It still plans to release wrist wearables and AR glasses to consumers. And it still has to address harassment and privacy in virtual worlds, problems Meta has struggled to combat on its social media sites. Still, improving the displays in VR headsets might entice people to try out more virtual spaces.Mixed reality goggles Meta researchers showed what mixed reality goggles could look like but said it was just an idea at this point. Meta During the video conference, Zuckerberg and Meta employees showcased an illustration of Mirror Lake, one of the company's most ambitious projects. The headset resembles a pair of ski goggles and blends the physical and digital worlds, a technique known as mixed reality. Mixed reality goggles, like Mirror Lake, are also in their early stages. Mirror Lake is just a concept and Meta hasn't built these goggles yet, so they don't know if their idea works. It could be a step toward sunglasses-like AR headsets, which overlay digital information on scenes of the real world. Meta wants to bring these AR products to market eventually, but they're still a lot of hardware to wear anywhere outside a home. Meta hopes Mirror Lake will harbor a retina resolution-level display with HDR, eye tracking, a method for creating multiple eye focus points, prescription lenses and holographic lenses that use lasers to create 3D visuals. The headset could eventually include displays on the outside to show a wearer's eye and face expressions while wearing the goggles, a research idea Meta has previously presented and Apple is reportedly working on too.New visual tech in an array of experimental headsets Meta has created many different types of prototypes over the years as it tries to improve the technology in VR headsets. Meta Meta also showed off Holocake 2, its thinnest and lightest VR headset capable of playing PC VR games. The prototype could help the company build smaller VR headsets in the future. And reducing a headset's weight will enable people to be in virtual worlds for a longer time. Resembling the design of Microsoft's Hololens 2, the device uses holographic lenses, which simulate a regular lens' optics but are flatter than the curved lenses used in VR devices like the Quest 2. Most VR headsets have thick lenses, which is why the front of the device looks so heavy, Zuckerberg said. Instead of sending light through a thick lens, Holocake 2 sends light through a hologram of a lens. Meta also reduced the distance between the eye and the VR display to reduce the bulk of the headset. Holocake 2, though, requires lasers to make its holographic lens optics work, and finding consumer-ready lasers that would work in headsets is still tough. Using holographic optics can shrink down the bulky VR headset design so Meta can add other tech, like more cameras, eye tracking and a type of lens that could make VR more comfortable. To improve VR, Meta is applying a test that evaluates whether what's displayed in a VR headset can be distinguished from the real world, said Meta Reality Labs Research head Michael Abrash. The company is calling this the visual Turing test, a reference to English mathematician Alan Turing, who developed another test in the 1950s to determine if a computer can think like a human.No VR technology has passed the visual Turing test, Abrash said. While VR creates a sense of presence, people know that what they're looking at is virtual and not real.Meta outlined four obstacles to creating better displays: resolution, focus, distortion and high dynamic range, used to improve an image's brightness and contrast. One issue is that VR headsets have substantially less color range, brightness and contrast than TVs, laptops and cell phones, Abrash said.Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg holds up a prototype headset called Starburst that includes a bright lamp. Meta Holding up a prototype VR headset called Starburst, Zuckerberg noted the device includes a bright lamp. He called Starburst "wildly impractical" but said researchers are using the heavy headset to improve future devices.Meta also developed another prototype called Half Dome that includes a varifocal lens that can help people's eyes focus better in VR, making nearby objects look sharper. People who used this type of lens experienced less fatigue and blurry vision. They also had an easier time identifying smaller objects, reading text in VR and reacting to environments more quickly. Even after years of development, Half Dome isn't ready for consumers because Meta is trying to make sure eye tracking and other parts of the device work properly. The technology needed to make varifocal work is still difficult to get into a consumer headset."As hard as it is to build the first version of something, it can often be even harder to get it into a shipping product," Zuckerberg said, adding he's "optimistic" consumer units "will come soon." Later this year, Meta is expected to release a new, more expensive VR headset called Project Cambria, which will be the company's first VR headset with eye tracking. After that, it's unclear when or if any of this next-gen display tech will make it into any headset. What's notable is that Zuckerberg and Abrash acknowledge that current VR displays still don't rival the quality of 2D displays on a TV or smartphone. If they want VR to be more than a novelty, it's a problem they'll need to solve.
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Gaming & VR
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The man responsible for Meta's hugely successful virtual reality (VR) platform Oculus presented his latest invention this week – a headset that can kill you in real life. NerveGear, created by 30-year-old Oculus founder Palmer Luckey, instantly 'destroys the brain' of the user when they die in a virtual game by firing explosive modules at the head, he said. It joins a long list of weird and wonderful VR hardware, from a headset with three extra screens to a bizarre device that blasts sexual smells up your nose as you watch porn. From a headset designed to kill you to a bizarre device that blasts sex smells up your nose, MailOnline reveals the most weird and wonderful VR gadgets WHAT IS NERVEGEAR? NerveGear is an unfinished device created by US tech entrepreneur Palmer Luckey. It's a VR headset that features three 'explosive charge modules' pointed at the user's skull. When the user dies virtually during gameplay, the modules fire at their head, killing them instantly. Luckey admitted the device is not quite finished, although it's likely he'll have trouble getting clearance to use it even when it is. NERVEGEARNerveGear, created by 30-year-old Oculus founder Palmer Luckey and inspired by an anime series, instantly 'destroys the brain' of the user when they die in a virtual game. It looks like a normal headset apart from the three terrifying-looking 'explosive charge modules' above the eyepiece that are pointed at the user's skull. When the user dies virtually during gameplay, the modules fire at their head, killing them in real life at the same time. The device was inspired by Sword Art Online, an anime series featuring a VR game of the same name, accessible with a helmet called NerveGear, which stimulates the user's five senses via their brain. In the series, players can experience and control their in-game characters with their minds while wearing NerveGear. But when 10,000 players log into the game online for the first time, they discover that they are unable to log out – and that removing their helmet would be fatal. In the anime game, NerveGear contained a microwave emitter that could be overdriven to lethal levels, but Luckey has used an alternative – explosive charge modules. These are tied to a sensor that can detect light, including when the screen flashes red at a specific frequency to indicate virtual death. NerveGear instantly 'destroys the brain' of the user when they die in a virtual game, thanks to three terrifying 'explosive charge modules' that are pointed at the user's skull Palmer Luckey, pictured here in November 2018, sold his firm Oculus to Mark Zuckerberg's company Meta for $3billion in 2014 at the age of 21 The device was inspired by Sword Art Online, an anime series featuring a VR game of the same name, accessible with a helmet called NerveGear, which stimulates the user's five senses via their brain'SMELL-O-VISION' FOR GAMINGCreated by researchers in Sweden, the 'Nosewise Handheld Olfactometer' can be fitted to the hand controller of HTC Vive to blast aromas up the user's nose during gameplay. It contains liquid scents absorbed into a sponge-like material that are directed to the nostrils at various times during a game while wearing the headset. The academics, from Stockholm University in Sweden, also created a wine tasting game in VR called Nosewise that lets players guess aromas in a virtual wine cellar. In the game, users can pick up a wine glass to sniff the contents in the virtual world, while in the real world they're simply holding the specially-adapted HTC Vive. An odour machine, a so-called olfactometer, makes it possible to smell in VR environments. Pictured is the Swedish research team testing the olfactometer in the lab WHAT WAS SMELL-O-VISION? Smell-O-Vision was a system created in 1960 by Hans Laube, and was used in cinemas during the film 'Scent of Mystery'.The system was fitted to cinema seats and released 30 smells at different points during the film, triggered by the film's soundtrack. Smells included pipe tobacco, gunpowder, gasoline, flowers, wood shavings and foods including peaches, wine and coffee. According to the experts, their system links 'physical smells to a synthetic VR environment', making the VR experience more lifelike. 'Nosewise Handheld Olfactometer', or NHO, brings the concept of 'Smell-O-Vision' to both virtual reality and gaming. Smell-O-Vision was a system created by invented by Swiss professor Hans Laube to bring aromas to an audience while watching a film. The system was fitted to cinema seats and released 30 smells at different points during the film, triggered by the film's soundtrack. SEXUAL SCENTS Another iteration of smelling in VR, devised by porn website CamSoda, requires users to strap both a headset and a device resembling a gas mask to their face. While watching VR porn, the gas mask element blasts a range of sexual or bodily aromas into the user's nostrils, including 'private parts', 'body odour', 'panties' and 'aphrodisiacs'. It's believed that adding smells to the virtual experience makes it more immersive and believable, ultimately increasing pleasure for the user. The mask and VR headset work alongside an app, which allows users to combine the fragrances together, or choose how heavy or light each aroma is. A VR headset or a gas mask? CamSoda launched a device that delivers smells to the virtual reality experience, providing users with immersive aromas while watching adult entertainmentJames B, who tested the mask, said: 'You smell panties, breasts, and even their skin. It smells so real you feel like you're actually there and totally forget where you are watching from.' According to the CamSoda website, the device and 30 scent cartridges can be purchased for $100 (£87). SIMULATED KISSINGAt Carnegie Mellon University’s Future Interfaces Group in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, researchers created a prototype VR headset that simulates the sensations of kissing. Their adapted Oculus Quest 2 is fitted with haptic technology, meaning it simulates touch by applying forces, vibrations and motions to parts of the body. It uses a thin array of transducers integrated into the underside of the headset that direct ultrasound energy at different parts of the mouth. It doesn't require any equipment to be put up against or into a user's mouth; instead, the components rest just above the nose. The prototype headset (pictured) uses a thin array of sensors integrated into the underside of a VR headset that direct ultrasound energy at different parts of the mouthIt's an example of haptic feedback, which is commonly used in video games to match the gameplay (such as feeling a vibration in a gaming controller in FIFA when a football strikes the post). As well as kissing sensations, the haptic simulations can be used to brush teeth, drink from a water fountain or take a puff from a cigarette – all in virtual reality. The technology could make virtual experiences more immersive when inside the 'metaverse' – the concept of a virtual shared space accessible via the internet. THREE EXTRA SCREENS FaceDisplay is a modified Oculus Rift that has three outward-facing touchscreens, allowing not only the wearer to experience a virtual world, but bystanders too. The redesigned headset has one screen on the front and two on each side, all displaying the same experience that the wearer of the device is seeing. FaceDisplay is a modified Oculus Rift that has three outward-facing touchscreens, allowing not only the wearer to experience a virtual world, but and bystanders tooThe screens act as a user interface for those standing nearby, enabling them to influence and interact with the virtual environment 'by touching the corresponding point on any of the touch displays'.During a game for example, at any time, a bystander can tap the screen to influence the environment such as smashing fruits falling from the sky, similar to a two-player video game. The device was detailed in a study by researchers at Ulm University in Germany published in 2017. VIRTUAL BOY Nintendo is one of the biggest gaming companies in the world, but one of its few failures was Virtual Boy, its attempt at entering the VR gaming space.Released in 1995, the portable video game console was stereoscopic, in that it depicted left-eye and right-eye views of the same scene as a single 3D image to create the illusion of depth. Looking like a villainous robot from Star Wars, the red and black Virtual Boy was mounted on a stand and came with an M-shaped controller. Virtual Boy, a tabletop portable video game console developed and manufactured by Nintendo, was released to the market in 1995 RESIDENT EVIL 7 IS BROUGHT TO LIFE WITH SCENTS THAT MATCH THE ACTION Virtual reality video games really can be brought to life with scents designed to match the action, a 2022 study shows. In experiments, volunteers played virtual reality (VR) game Resident Evil 7 Biohazard, both with and without smells that complemented parts of the game.Scenes in the survival horror game feature intense smelling objects such as rotten food, smoke and a rotting head. Researchers found that the addition of the smells significantly increased people's sense of being present in the game environment. The team say odours offer an opportunity to 'create a more immersive experience to increase a person's presence within a VR environment'. 'In addition to gaming, the results have broader applications for virtual training environments and virtual reality exposure therapy,' they write. Read more It was designed to be placed on a tabletop for users to look through the eyepiece, although this often forced the user to adopt uncomfortable positions that became painful after even short periods of use.Development of the Virtual Boy lasted four years, but it was a commercial failure and panned by critics and fans alike for causing aches, pains and motion sickness. Today, Virtual Boy is Nintendo's lowest-selling standalone console and the only one to have less than 1 million units sold. It was discontinued by Nintendo less than a year after it went on sale, but fortunately for the Japanese company, it redeemed itself in 1996 with the hugely successful Nintendo 64. RESTRICTED BREATHINGAlthough not as lethal-sounding as Palmer Luckey's NerveGear, a headset called AirRes features an intimidating-looking attachment that could backfire horribly. Researchers at Salzburg University created AirRes, which has a snorkel-like attachment that can control how much air the wearer can breathe.The developers said it could be used make VR scenarios with a restricted air supply more realistic – such as the smoky environment of a firefighter. Alternatively, it could be used for VR games that require players to use their breath, such as inflating a balloon or blowing out candles. To develop the device, the researchers used a medical-grade gas flow sensor, attached to a mask with an adjustable air valve. In one testing scenario, the researchers put participants in a virtual smoky environment, as if they were a firefighter. The mask restricted the air flow as the participants got closer to the fire, just as if they were really there. The bizarre device created at Salzburg University, called AirRes, features a snorkel-like attachment, which can control how much air you can breatheGOOGLE CARDBOARDOften, VR headsets cost several hundred pounds, with many available only to developers.But in a stroke of genius, tech giant Google democratised the experience by creating a cheap and widely-available headset made of cardboard. Simply called Google Cardboard, the low-cost headset was introduced at the Google I/O 2014 developers conference and made available to the public on the firm's website. Users could get the flat-packed cardboard delivered to their home before assembling it into a no-frills 3D enclosure that could be held up to the eyes. In 2014, Google revealed the virtual reality headset made of cardboard. It uses a mobile phones as the display, with a special app showing 3D images and video.A smartphone would be slotted in to act as a display, viewed through special plastic lenses, with a special app showing the content such as 3D images and video.Google Cardboard, devised by Google engineers David Coz and Damien Henry, was intended as a low-cost system to encourage interest and development in VR applications. In this respect it did its job, and in March last year, the Google Store stopped selling Cardboard viewers.AIRVR Apple is yet to release a VR headset, but the closest we've come is AirVR, developed by a Canadian company called Metatecture. AirVR, developed by a Canadian company called Metatecture, is essentially a pair of goggles into which an iPhone or iPad can be slotted to act as the displayDescribed as 'the most affordable way to experience VR', AirVR is essentially a pair of goggles into which an iPhone or iPad can be slotted to act as the display. There were two versions of AirVR – one big enough to fit an iPhone, and one much larger to fit an iPad. Similar to Google Cardboard, AirVR was devised to make VR more accessible, but strapping a heavy iPad to a user's face appeared to be too daft to gain much public support for the idea. Unfortunately for Metatecture, a Kickstarter campaign to bring AirVR to the market is yet to be success. APPLE CEO TIM COOK SAYS VIRTUAL REALITY IS 'NOT A WAY TO COMMUNICATE WELL' Apple CEO Tim Cook has said virtual reality is 'not a way to communicate well' and most people can't even define the metaverse, a concept being pioneered by Mark Zuckerberg's company Meta. In October, Cook was dismissive of the notion that they'd spend their entire lives inside a virtual world. 'I always think it's important that people understand what something is,' Cook told the Dutch publication Bright, according to a Google translation. 'And I'm not really sure the average person can tell you what the metaverse is.'The comments come despite the longstanding rumors that Apple is developing its own augmented or virtual reality hardware. Cook also expressed skepticism that people will want to spend extended periods of time in VR in the future. '[VR is] something you can really immerse yourself in. And that can be used in a good way.' 'But I don’t think you want to live your whole life that way,' he told Bright. 'VR is for set periods, but not a way to communicate well.' Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has a very different take - having rebranded his entire company in a pivot towards helping to build a virtual world and already offering a number of different AR headsets that consumers can purchase. According to an internal company plan leaked to The Information, Meta is planning to release four new virtual reality headsets in the next two years - with one having an estimated price tag of $799 (£700).
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Gaming & VR
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Aurich Lawson / Getty Images Six years ago, consumer virtual reality seemed set to be the next major tech breakthrough.
With the demonstration of his impressive prototype Oculus Rift head-mounted display (HMD) in 2012, Palmer Luckey managed to instantly erase the poor image VR had garnered from ‘90s movies like The Lawnmower Man and woefully premature commercial curios like Nintendo’s Virtual Boy. This led the Kickstarter campaign for the first Oculus developer kit to balloon past its $250,000 funding goal on the way to a final haul of $2.4 million. Two years later, Oculus accepted a $2 billion buyout offer from Facebook.
The lead-up to the 2016 launch of the first consumer version of the Oculus Rift (the CV1) only raised consumer VR’s profile further. Analyst predictions were bullish, going so far as to say that the VR market would be worth $150 billion in just five years. Oculus’ co-founders were breathlessly profiled in glossy magazines, with Luckey landing on the cover of Time in August 2015. Google even partnered with Disney to give away its low-tech paper Cardboard sleeves, enticing fans of Star Wars and other mega properties with themed mobile experiences. Decades removed from the hangover of failed VR arcades and gimmicky consumer trinkets, things would be different this time.
Double Fine’s Tim Schafer put it best at DICE 2016. “We all wanted Snow Crash to happen, and then we put on the things, and it was just Pterodactyl Terror, and we all threw up,” he told Ars, possibly (jokingly) misnaming Virtuality's less-than-stellar VR arcade experiment Dactyl Nightmare. “I think there’s been a huge leap [this time].”
Six years later, VR has yet to reach the stratospheric heights its cyberpunk fantasy promised. But the latest wave hasn’t been another high-profile failure, either. Meta’s Quest 2 headset has helped significantly revitalize consumer interest in the sector with its user-friendly experience and relatively low price (though it's not as low as it once was), with its Oculus Store supporting a handful of bona fide VR-native hit games. This all goes a long way toward explaining how, given the ups and downs of iteration and experimentation that followed Rift’s consumer release, VR developers and watchers told Ars they’re still excited about virtual reality—and they're thrilled to see where the technology is heading next. And while the initial enthusiasm about its global impact has been tempered a bit since 2016, most in the space now say it doesn’t need to have a profound impact to be a success.
Hype meets reality
Enlarge / The Rift CV1.Evan-AmosWhen the Rift CV1 was released, evangelists proclaimed that VR wasn’t just going to revolutionize games—it would change the world. (Goldman Sachs said in 2016 that mass adoption of VR hardware alone would overpower the $99 billion TV market by 2025, and it was hardly the only company making such lofty claims.)
But an instant revolution was never in the cards, as Road to VR executive editor Ben Lang told Ars. “The expectation among the nascent industry was that it was going to be this crazy takeoff,” Lang said. “But as happens with very new technology, until you can go from pure hype—like, ‘this is going to change everything,’—to really finding specific useful cases, it never becomes this instant, overnight thing.”
Back in 2016, it seemed that every major tech company was eager to carve out its piece of the VR pie. Rift and HTC’s Vive were available for PC early that year, while Sony’s PSVR would be out in October for PS4. On the mobile side, Google improved on its Cardboard product with its mobile-powered Daydream to counter Samsung’s Gear VR.
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Gaming & VR
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The Meta Quest 2 enjoyed a unique situation for the last few years as one of the best standalone VR headsets you could buy -- and, one of the only ones. Competitors seem to be coming now, and HTC's latest Vive headset being announced at Las Vegas' CES show in January is another sign of what to expect in 2023.HTC's self-contained pair of VR goggles was teased to The Verge, and the device looks to follow a similar path to where the Pico 4, Meta's Quest Pro and upcoming Quest 3, and possibly Apple's expected headset are aiming. HTC started to play with compact consumer VR again with its phone-connected Vive Flow goggles, but this new device looks to be more powerful and also have color passthrough cameras that should enable mixed reality.The teased image of the headset looks to be more compact than headsets like the Quest 2 (or even the Pico 4), resembling a design closer to the Meta Quest Pro. It's likely to have "pancake" optics that can compress the display area, something the Quest Pro and Pico 4 both have.HTC's global Head of Product Shen Ye confirmed to The Verge that the device will have the sort of six-degree full-motion controllers that the Vive Focus 3, Quest 2, Pico 4, and almost all modern VR headsets have. Fitness will be one of the uses HTC sees with the headset, similar to how the Quest 2 and Pico 4 work. HTC could experiment with body tracking, considering the company has already deployed its own Vive Trackers with PC-connected VR for years, and even has its own wrist-based tracking accessories. Eye tracking, however, looks like it'll possibly not be included (adding eye tracking tends to bump up VR headset price). Ye confirmed a two hour battery life, similar to existing headsets.Chipmaker Qualcomm, whose processors power nearly every mainstream VR and AR headset, have already indicated for years that a wave of standalone devices would be coming from a variety of global partners. The big challenge hasn't been hardware, it's been software, ecosystem, and price. HTC has to figure out how to make that happen better than Meta, and in a year where Apple looks to be looming with its own device — and who knows who else. We'll know more in Las Vegas when we head to CES this January.CNET has reached out to HTC for comment on this breaking story.
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Gaming & VR
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While gaming chairs are all the rage these days, I've found myself ready to get rid of my gaming chair and upgrade it to an office chair. Yes, you heard that right, I'm upgrading to an office chair. Why? Well anyone who has a gaming chair also knows that a lot of them don't support your back as much as you think they will, leaving you achy. And for that reason, this Staples sale for office chairs as low as $100 will help you (and me) find a nice chair to support you when you're gaming and working.Prices start at $100 and go up from there. If you are looking for a gaming chair, Staples has plenty. This Staple Emerge Vortex bonded leather gaming chair is $100 and has a built-in headrest and plush cushions with support for up to 275 pounds. You'll also get this Staples Emerge Vartan bonded leather gaming chair for $150, saving you 53%. This one has a 135-degree recline with the same 275-pound capacity. If you're looking for office chairs, there are a variety of them from mesh to executive in leather and nylon. One of the office chairs I'm looking at is this $180 (save 40%) FlexFit Hyken mesh task chair in red. This chair is designed to provide support to your back during an extended time at the desk. It also features adjustable lumbar support and a customizable headrest. Another good option is this Raynor Outlast cooling fabric task chair in black also for $180 (save 24%). This chair has a breathable woven mesh back to keep you from sweating and the padded seat will support your tush while you type away at your computer. And should you need a regular to sit in around your home, you can check out Union & Scale Prestige fabric guest chair in gray for $110 (save 38%) or an Adesso Home Kendrick fabric lounge chair for $388. For more chairs made to support your back, hips and neck, check out Staples today.
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Gaming & VR
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It seems like everyone has spent the last year or so falling over themselves to tell us what the metaverse is. This week, though, Apple CEO Tim Cook showed he still “thinks different” by telling us what it isn’t - “the future.” As reported by CNBC, Cook told the Dutch publication Bright that “I’m really not sure the average person can tell you what the metaverse is.” Apple CEO Tim Cook on the metaverseSource: Shutterstock
It’s a fair comment. Ever since Facebook rebranded itself as Meta, one thing that has become clear is that there isn’t a great deal of consensus on the matter. Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg talks about it as a more immersive, VR-enabled version of Facebook. The success of Fortnite and Roblox points to a future heavily influenced by the mechanics and aesthetics of video games. Proponents of the web3 platforms – such as Decentraland and The Sandbox – insist that decentralization is core to the metaverse experience. And giants of the world of office and productivity software – Microsoft and Adobe, for example – talk of the “enterprise metaverse.” Cook, on the other hand, has mostly avoided the “m” word entirely, until now, and is keener to talk about the related technology of augmented reality (AR). Apple has not announced any plans to release VR products, but is strongly believed to be developing an AR product known as Apple Glasses. My own take on what the metaverse will be – or in fact, is – is quite simple. It’s a catch-all term that describes what the internet will evolve into next. We've already had the static web pages of the world wide web, the user-generated web of social media, and the app-driven, internet-everywhere world of the mobile web. Each new “generation” of the internet has brought profound and widespread changes to the way we interact with technology and use it to help us go about our daily lives, radically transforming the way we communicate, socialize, work, play, and shop. All of them have taken place within the space of a quarter of a century, and one thing is for certain – it won’t end there. There will be other developments further along the road – perhaps not too far in the future – that will make the digital domain we inhabit today look as antiquated as a Geocities web page from 1998. And even if the term “metaverse” itself fades out of use before we arrive at that point (which, personally, I don't think will be a bad thing at all), whatever that happens to be will effectively be the metaverse. It may very well be that it bears little resemblance to what we currently think of as the metaverse today – the kiddy cartoon worlds offered by the gaming platforms, the strangely unsettling, hollow-eyed avatars of Horizons, or the anarchic, free-spirited domain of the decentralized web3. Cook could be right that these are all too weird or too niche for mainstream adoption. After all, it was grandmas, not gamers, that drove Facebook to achieve stratospheric success.
But that doesn’t mean that the core components of those platforms – the elements that define them as being a generation beyond the most popular platforms of today – won’t be the building blocks of the “next level” internet. Basic Elements of the Metaverse
Let’s look at those building blocks, then. Firstly, it’s generally assumed that the internet will become more immersive and experiential. The closely related technologies that, together, are often labeled as extended reality (XR) or mixed reality (MR) are the tools that are most likely to allow us to achieve this greatly enhanced level of immersion. In other words, VR and AR. It seems unlikely that the ongoing trend of us spending more and more of our time online and on screens is likely to reverse any time soon. If this is the case, its very likely we will look towards environments that engage more fully with our senses and make our time in virtual worlds more stimulating and exciting. Will this mean we spend increasing amounts of our time in VR? Possibly – but I agree with Cook when he says that, in the short term, at least, AR has the potential to be more transformative. The most interesting and exciting aspect of the metaverse, to me, is not the ability to lock us into imaginary virtual worlds but to blend the boundaries between the real and the virtual. Allowing us to take the best of each domain – such as the people we know and love from the real world and the speed and convenience of the digital world – and merge them together into one hybrid experience. Another core component of the metaverse is persistence. This means that although we will be able to do anything we want – working, playing, socializing, shopping – it will all take place on a unified platform, with a common set of rules, and presenting ourselves in a consistent way – probably via an avatar. Thirdly, there’s the element of decentralization. Blockchains and other aspects of distributed computing, in theory, give us the opportunity to create virtual worlds that are outside of the control of monolithic corporations. The concept of the decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) could potentially allow us to create true democracies online – social networks and similar platforms that are under the control of their users rather than whoever happens to own the servers that run the service and store the data. Distributed storage – as used by blockchain – means there is no one place where the data is stored centrally that one person, business, or government could potentially take control of. If it achieves widespread adoption, then web3 could lead to an internet that’s radically different from what we have today, owned and administered as it is by global mega-corporations. The Future
In short, buying into the metaverse might not require us to believe in, or even really understand, any of these basic elements. If the architects of the brave new internet manage to pull them together in a way that makes it easier, more interesting, and more fun for us to do more things online, then that could be enough. After all, it wasn’t necessary for the general public to have a deep understanding of how cloud-hosted media streaming works for Netflix and Spotify to utterly transform the movie and music industries. It’s true that we may not call it "the metaverse" – just as we don't often hear people these days talking about "the world wide web" other than in a historical context. But I believe that the digital environments of tomorrow will be built around immersion, persistence, and, to some extent, decentralization – no matter what name we choose to use for them!
To stay on top of the latest on the latest business and tech trends, make sure to subscribe to my newsletter, follow me on Twitter, LinkedIn, and YouTube, and check out my books ‘Tech Trends in Practice’ and ‘Business Trends in Practice, which just won the 2022 Business Book of the Year award.
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Gaming & VR
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Meta’s past hints of its “Project Cambria” VR headset appears very similar to recent leaks.Screenshot: Meta YouTubeAnother set of leaks for the Meta Quest Pro hit over the weekend, showing off a wildly redesigned headset. Even leaked videos can’t get me too excited about “the metaverse,” but what’s with all these tech companies leaving prototypes around where others can find them?OffEnglishThe gaming streamer Ramiro Cardenas, who goes by Zectriuz Gaming, shared a video to Facebook over the weekend of what is supposedly a Meta Quest Pro he later commented was found in one of the hotel rooms where he works. The streamer claimed he found multiple such devices left in boxes, and in the video takes the time to “ooh” and ogle at the supposed next gen VR headset while offering very little that viewers can actually identify.The supposed Quest Pro headset and the accompanying controller seem much slimmer and lighter than the Quest 2.Screenshot: Zectariuz GamingThe device shown in the video has a sleek, charcoal black design, which is a far cry from the first Meta Quest and its glossy white plastic finish. It’s labeled both as the Meta Quest Pro and as an “engineering sample” not meant for sale. There seems to be some removable light blockers on the top and bottom of the headset and a dial that could be used to adjust the distance between the lenses and the users’ eyes. The head straps also seem much more rigid than those on the current Meta Quest 2. The leaked devices also apparently lack a top strap, so the headset would likely need to be pretty light or tight on the face to keep it from slipping.The controllers themselves are a bit smaller than in past iterations—even toy-like in appearance—and seem to have nixed the large loops that go around users’ hands. An earlier leak from Sunday, also found on Facebook, shows off the Quest Pro box and gives a better hint of the headset and controllers’ overall slimmed-down design. It also appears to look very much like what Meta’s previously hinted at with its Project Cambria headset marketing.G/O Media may get a commissionGizmodo reached out to Meta for comment and to possibly verify the authenticity of the leaks, but we did not immediately hear back. The device in the video and the leaked box photo do appear to be similar, but if this leak is real (and we have our doubts), then the box does come with a few extra light blockers from the get-go, as long as the engineering sample maintains the same packaging as the retail version.Of course, this kind of leak has “grain of salt” written all over it. The video, like many “accidentally left in a room” stories, has the same vibes as “my uncle works for Nintendo.” Cardenas has also since claimed that the device was returned to its original owner, meaning we never actually got to see him take the device for a spin or even turn the thing on. More crucially, he can’t answer questions about it. The box also looks identical to the original Quest packaging, which adds a bit to the unbelievability of the whole situation.There are a whole host of important things to learn about the new Quest other than how the device looks. We still don’t know how weighty it is, what kind of specs we’re looking at, and—probably most important for the fledgling VR market—how much it will cost. Meta recently boosted the price of both the 128GB and 256GB Quest 2 models by $100.Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg recently said the company would be showing off its new headset at its Connect conference happening on Oct. 11. Still, there are further rumors we could be getting multiple headset models over the next few years, some far more expensive than others. Meta recently struck a deal with Qualcomm to have its upcoming headsets powered by Snapdragon chipsets.The difficulty Meta’s reached in trying to corner the VR market is that it’s been getting as many rather extravagant devices into as many users’ hands as possible, all before creating a legitimate use-case for Zuckerberg’s concept of the Metaverse. Even if the technology can get cheap and sophisticated enough to actually power the company’s nebulous concepts of a shared virtual space like Meta’s Horizon Worlds, it also has to shake increasingly negative perceptions of just how bad the whole thing looks and how awful the people inhabiting digital spaces can be.
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Gaming & VR
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A simple corded headset will lend depth and drama to your gameplay, no matter what device you have.Whether charging your new phone or slipping on a pair of earbuds for your morning commute, most of us use wireless gadgets. But you might want to think twice when it comes to your gaming headset. You can use a wired headset with almost any device, as long as it has a headphone jack. You can hear your environment and your allies with clarity, without worrying about charging or compatibility issues. Nobody likes sweaty ears, either. Luckily, there are quite a few headsets that fit the bill—no matter what console, computer, or device you game on. If you're looking to go completely wirefree, check out our Best Wireless Gaming Headsets guide. For all your other gaming accessory needs and/or semi-urgent wants, be sure to check out our other guides, like the Best Gaming Keyboard, Best Gaming Mouse, and Best Gamepad roundups!Updated June 2022: We've adjusted prices and added the SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro. Special offer for Gear readers: Get a 1-year subscription to WIRED for $5 ($25 off). This includes unlimited access to WIRED.com and our print magazine (if you'd like). Subscriptions help fund the work we do every day.If you buy something using links in our stories, we may earn a commission. This helps support our journalism. Learn more. Please also consider subscribing to WIREDPhotograph: LogitechBest for Most PeopleLogitech G Pro XThis is the wired version of our wireless gaming pick, and it’s a favorite for several good reasons. The Logitech G Pro X (8/10, WIRED Recommends) is simple and elegant—more like high-quality headphones than a gaming headset. But there's more to it than meets the eye. Not only does it produce resonant sound on an expansive soundstage with 7.1 surround, but Logitech's included software gives you granular control over the quality of your voice. The included mic and software were engineered with help from Blue (of Blue Yeti fame), and together they produce crystal-clear, broadcast-quality comms. The price is also very reasonable. Wired only. Works with PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series S/X, Switch, Mobile, and PC.Photograph: SteelSeriesThe Best Wired-Only HeadsetSteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Wired HeadsetIt's been a long time coming, but someone finally dethroned the Arctis Pro + GameDac headset that has for so long been our top pick. No surprises that it's the Arctis Nova Pro, the new version of that headset from SteelSeries. This new version produces immersive, expansive sound, and it packs all the great features we loved in the Arctis Pro—like the included desktop DAC with a slick little display. It can be used to adjust volume, or the mix of voice, sidetone, and voice chat. And most importantly, it's super comfy to wear for long periods. The ear cups are plush and soft, and they shut out almost all exterior sound, and the new adjustable head strap pays homage to the classic ski-goggle adjustment strap that made the original Arctis such a standout.Wired only. Works best with PC, but also works well with Switch, Xbox Series S/X, and PS5.Photograph: Audeze Planar PerfectionAudeze Penrose Gaming HeadsetThe Audeze Penrose employs planar drivers. That means an ultra-thin layer of conductive film is suspended between two permanent magnetic fields. Just floating in there! It's super cool. That film vibrates to produce unbelievably clear, detailed, rich sound. For gaming, that means an all-new level of immersion. On top of all that, they work wired and with Bluetooth—and the included (removable) boom mic sounds great.Wired and wireless. Works with PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series S/X, and Nintendo Switch. Photograph: Steelseries Best Under $50SteelSeries Arctis 1 WiredThe Arctis 1 has the quality design, comfort, removable mic, and clear sound that make the Arctis line some of the best gaming headsets you can buy. This headset's wireless version is one of our faves, with an understated design and rich, robust sound. The corded Arctis 1 is an excellent, affordable pick that feels and sounds more expensive than it is.Wired only. Works with PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series S/X, Switch, PC, and mobile.Photograph: SteelSeriesBest Under $100 SteelSeries Arctis PrimeThe SteelSeries Arctis Prime wired gaming headset (8/10, WIRED Recommends) is our midrange Arctis pick right now. These provide a richer, more expansive soundscape than the Arctis 1 and a more solid build quality, but they’re not quite as deep and richly resonant as the Arctis Pro + GameDAC. However, they have retained the comfy, easy-to-adjust ski-goggle headband; the plush noise-isolating ear cups; and a reliable, removable microphone. The ear cups isolate noise much better than most gaming headsets, filtering out background noise without any active noise-cancelation wizardry. Plus, they’re super comfortable and don’t make my head sweaty, no matter how long I wear them. These are a great pick if you’re trying to step up your gaming headset game but don’t really need ANC or wireless connectivity. Wired only. Works with every major system.Photograph: LogitechBest for Gaming on the GoLogitech G333 In-Ear Gaming MonitorsI'm usually of the opinion that earbuds are earbuds, unless they're wireless. They usually sound decent, but they rarely impress with rich, robust sound. That is, until I tried the Logitech G333. These little buds pack big sound in a tiny body. Plus, they come with a tangle-free cable (yes, please) and an included dongle, and they support USB-C right out of the box. All of this makes them a perfect choice for Switch or mobile gamers.Wired only. Works with PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series S/X. Works best with Switch, Android, iOS, PC, and Mac.Photograph: JBL Best for 3D AudioJBL Quantum OneI complain about "gamer" aesthetics pretty often, but in the case of the JBL Quantum One, the ostentatious design and lighting are well worth it. This headset is very expensive, but it's for people who have full-on gaming desktop setups and want the best, most immersive sound while gaming (or listening to music while they work, like me). First and foremost, the sound is just incredible. The broad, expansive soundstage and deep rumbly bass make it perfect for consuming any kind of media.At this price, you get a few more features on top of great audio. These headphones offer spatial audio, so when you set them up with the JBL software, they track the position of your head. If you turn away from your computer, the volume goes way down. The spatial audio makes for a killer, sometimes overstimulating, gaming experience. They also feature active noise cancelation and a super-clear boom mic. The only thing I don't like? The exterior design. If they were a bit more understated, these would be my take-everywhere, wear-everyday headphones.Wired only. Works with PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series S/X, Switch, and PC. Spatial audio only on PC.Photograph: SteelSeriesBest for Voice Chat on SwitchSteelSeries Arctis 3 (with Bluetooth)If you only play Fortnite, you can connect a regular corded headset to your Switch and use the mic. Sadly, that's not the standard for most online Switch games. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Splatoon 2, and other Nintendo titles rely on Nintendo's Switch Online app on Android and iOS for microphone input. If you want to hear your friends and your game, the Arctis 3 with Bluetooth is your best option. It lets you listen to both audio sources at once. You don't need to own a Switch to appreciate it, though. This is a fantastic headset that lets you pipe in Bluetooth audio to add your own soundtrack to games.Wired and wireless. Works with every major system. Best for Switch.Photograph: beyerdynamicBest for Streamers and Audio ProsBeyerdynamic DT 700 Pro XThe DT 700 Pro X (8/10, WIRED Recommends) isn't your typical choice for a wired headset, unless you work in a professional environment. These studio headphones use a mini-XLR to audio jack cable, and they have no internal processing to provide the accurate sound delivery that professional sound designers need. However, we've found that this often means movies and games sound clearer, since you're hearing the highly engineered sound they were designed to have. These headsets lack a lot of features you might expect from others at this price, like a microphone for gaming. But if clear, accurate sound quality is your priority, it's hard to beat this one. –Eric RavenscraftPC only, and you need an external mic. Photograph: AppleThe Superyacht PickApple AirPods MaxDo you need $550 gaming headphones? No. No, you do not. Nobody does. But I’d be lying if I said they didn’t provide an unbelievable next-level gaming experience. These are some of the best headphones we’ve ever tested. They’re super comfortable, and they boast stellar industrial design. They feel great in your hands. But most importantly, they produce truly incredible sound. I started using them for gaming as a goof: “Haha, I bet these super-expensive audiophile headphones won’t sound half as good as they do for music.” I was mistaken. The wails of sirens, pops of gunfire, and thrums of electronic music in Cyberpunk 2077's Night City all melt together into a sonic tapestry to pull you into the game with an unparalleled level of immersion. It’s like VR for your ears. These are not gaming headphones by design. Connecting them may require some tinkering; Windows doesn’t always recognize the microphone; and in multiplayer games, they don’t always play nice with voice chat. But they match the new Switch OLED, and now that the Switch supports Bluetooth connectivity, these have become my go-to everyday Switch gaming headphones.Wired (with Lightning to 3.5mm adapter or cord) and wireless. Works best with iOS, iPadOS, PC, Android, and Nintendo Switch.Photograph: Turtle BeachWill It Work With Your Setup?Headset CompatibilityThe most important question to ask yourself when looking for a gaming headset is, will it work with my [insert device here]? Here are some tips to make sure your new headset will work with your setup.USB headsets may have trouble with consoles: If it's a wired headset that uses USB, it'll work perfectly with a PC but might be finicky when it comes to consoles. Most console headsets plug in via a 3.5mm port on the controller itself.3.5mm works everywhere. Mic audio, not always: Any 3.5mm headphone jack can take any 3.5mm plug, but you might not get the audio and microphone support. Count the bands around the plug. If there are two bands, you'll get audio output with no mic, or you'll get mono audio plus microphone input. Two-banded plugs are called three-pole plugs because the bands separate three sections of metal. If there are three bands, this is called a four-pole plug, and you'll get stereo audio and your microphone. This is what you want out of a corded gaming headset.Wireless is a bonus, sometimes: Most wireless headsets now come with a 3.5mm cable so you can use them wired or wireless. Those cables aren't always the three-band version we want, so be sure to double-check before you buy. Many of them do still require a battery charge to work.Jaina Grey is a product reviewer at WIRED, covering all those devices that make your life easier—and sometimes much more difficult. Since her first byline in Dragon Magazine to her more recent work at Digital Trends, she’s covered a little bit of everything, from crime, courts, and patent filings to... Read more
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Gaming & VR
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Settle in for some bonding time. These are some of the best cooperative titles for two to eight players, all playable on a single TV.If you need to recharge, what better way than to cozy up with friends or family and play some couch co-op games? Whether you want space shooter action, a platform challenge, or a tricky puzzler, we have a game here for every co-op crew, including games built for pairs as well as trios and quartets. Here are the very best cooperative titles for the PlayStation, Xbox, Windows PC, and Nintendo Switch.Updated May 2022: We've added five titles, including Untitled Goose Game, Moving Out, and LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga.Special offer for Gear readers: Get a 1-year subscription to WIRED for $5 ($25 off). This includes unlimited access to WIRED.com and our print magazine (if you'd like). Subscriptions help fund the work we do every day.If you buy something using links in our stories, we may earn a commission. This helps support our journalism. Learn more. Please also consider subscribing to WIREDCourtesy of HazelightBittersweet LoveIt Takes TwoSet against the bittersweet backdrop of a couple going through a divorce, this innovative love letter to co-op gaming is bursting at the seams with ideas. May and Cody find themselves transformed into dolls and must race to reach their daughter Rose. Every level features a new set of co-op mechanics and inventive puzzles to overcome. Designed as a two-player game (there’s no single-player), It Takes Two is a comical roller coaster ride that embraces cooperative gameplay like no other.2 players can take a journey together at home or online.Courtesy of NintendoFowl PlayUntitled Goose GameWaddling around honking, stealing objects, and tormenting the inhabitants of a sleepy rural village sounds like a strange premise for a game, and it is. But role-playing as an annoying goose turns out to be incredibly fun. Winding people up with your antics to complete challenges proves surprisingly satisfying, and adding a partner in crime allows you to ramp up the mayhem and work together to really bug folks. 2 players can honk and annoy at home.Courtesy of SMG StudioSquare OffDeath SquaredImagine if Portal was isometric, starred adorable cubes, and lacked the titular portals and you have Death Squared. Seriously, the game even has a snarky narrator who endearingly gives you guff as you fail and succeed in levels. It's a charming puzzle game that's not afraid to make tickling your brain a cute, funny endeavor.2 to 4 people can team up to solve puzzles.Courtesy of Curve DigitalPhysics FunHuman: Fall FlatThis is the perfect game for cooperative duos in need of a complex puzzler. Its bizarrely entertaining physics force you and a friend to wage war on your controllers to get your blobby avatars up and moving. The physics ensures that navigating simple stages is never as straightforward as it seems. If you play on PC, you can build your own levels and play other players' creations too.2 players can team up at home (8 can team up online).Courtesy of Team17Culinary CookoutOvercooked! All You Can EatCalling all chefs for some culinary co-op chaos! This release includes the original game and Overcooked 2, fully remastered and bundled with fresh content to serve you more than 200 challenging levels. Work together in wacky, themed kitchens to feed hordes of hungry customers before time runs out. Frenetic and often hilarious, you must resist the urge to shout at your teammates and find a way to coordinate smoothly if you want to succeed.2 to 4 players can cook together at home or online.Courtesy of HypersectCheck, MateInversus DeluxeIndie games don't get much more frenetic and fun than this one. Your job is to try and take control of a checkerboard by playing as a moving tile that shoots other tiles. It's super simple, but the skill ceiling is really high. You can play with up to four people locally and fight each other in two-person teams, or cooperatively tackle the game's insane arcade mode (two players only). It supports all of these co-op modes online too.2 to 4 players can team up or battle each other in 2-person teams.Courtesy of Team17Wacky WarfareWorms W.M.D.Expect laughs aplenty as teams of heavily armed invertebrates battle to the death in this long-running series. Selecting correctly from a vast arsenal and aiming carefully as the seconds tick away is key to emerging victorious from the destructible 2D maps. Easy to grasp, with a quirky sense of humor, the near misses, accidental discharges, and friendly fire make Worms W.M.D. a hilarious couch competition. Of the recent releases, this comes closest to the series’ high point, Worms Armageddon.2 to 6 players can throw down at home or online.Courtesy of Contingent99/Humble BundleMystical DashWizard of LegendThis dungeon crawler sets itself apart with its emphasis on magic and speed. Pixels fly and tensions run high, which may not be a fun thing for all players, but fans of craziness will love it. It's a difficult game, so be sure whichever friend you play with is ready to cooperatively overcome frustration.2 players can dungeon-crawl together.Courtesy of Electronic ArtsWoolly FunUnravel TwoUnravel Two is a side-scrolling platformer starring two tiny sentient yarn creatures who must traverse the large, scary world we humans live in. The two yarnies, as they're called, depend on each other's stringy bodies to perform various acrobatic feats and avoid obstacles, such as animals and other natural hazards. While it sometimes struggles to make its puzzles and challenges intuitive, the game's gorgeous graphics and heartfelt two-player design make up for any shortcomings.2 players can platform together.Courtesy of SegaSpeed RunTeam Sonic RacingIf you've played a Mario Kart game, you'll instantly get this cooperative kart racing game. It has team play, letting players divide into groups of two or three in order to outrace foes as a pack. It also encourages trading items mid-race with allies and using their speed to increase your own, meaning an eagerness to help squadmates is mandatory to score first place. It's an exciting, innovative co-op racer built for gamers who know that teamwork makes the dream work.Up to 4 players can race together.Courtesy of Electronic ArtsPrison BreakA Way OutIf The Shawshank Redemption had a video game adaptation, this would be it. The game only works with two players, and it tasks them with teaming up behind bars to find—you guessed it—a way out of prison. This game's an action-adventure like no other, loaded with heists, big-budget set-pieces, unique co-op mechanics, and enough narrative heft to satisfy just about every kind of gaming duo who have wanted to try their hand at escaping jail from the comfort of a couch. Plus, A Way Out offers online co-op if only one of you owns the game.2 players are needed to escape prison.Courtesy of Sony Interactive EntertainmentA Sack-Filled AdventureSackboy: A Big AdventureThis spin-off from the LittleBigPlanet series is a beautifully polished gem of platforming adventure as you battle to save Craftworld from the villainous Vex. Super cute, colorful, and endlessly creative, with a wonderful soundtrack and a masterful level design, it's truly an unforgettable experience. There’s real depth here, too, with tons of replayability, tricky timed challenges, collectibles, and extravagant outfits to unlock.2 to 4 players can team up at home or online.Courtesy of ValveCult ClassicPortal 2Use your portal gun to shoot portals in two places so you can walk into one and come out the other. That's what the original Portal first-person puzzle game was all about. Now, multiply that portal count by 2 and you'll begin to imagine the mind-bending fun of Portal 2, which has a cooperative campaign that requires a pair of players to figure out how to make four portals transport them through some seriously tricky puzzle rooms. If you like physics, teamwork, and funny characters, this is a fantastic, one-of-a-kind puzzler to blaze through with a friend.2 players can solve puzzles together.Courtesy of Team17Riotous RemovalsMoving OutPacking people’s junk into a van is the premise of this gentle physics puzzler, an ideal foundation for single-screen co-op fun. You and up to three pals must work together to squeeze couches, fridges, TVs, and lamps into a limited space as quickly as possible. What could have been a frustrating argument starter is cleverly subverted by comical clumsiness and chaotic challenges that encourage you to cut corners and smash stuff with impunity.2 to 4 players can move couches together at home.Courtesy of CapcomA Grave QuestGhosts N' Goblins: ResurrectionRisen from the dead, this notoriously challenging platform series is still incredibly fun and frustrating, but now you can enlist help. Brave Sir Arthur is joined by three helpful spirits, each with unique powers. Barry can conjure a shield around Arthur, Kerry can pick him up and carry him a short distance, and Archie can build a temporary platform. Pick the right companion to conquer some of the seemingly impossible levels filled with zombies, ogres, and all manner of other demons.2 players can battle evil together.Courtesy of Good Mood CreatorsBeast WarsMekazooEvery stage in Mekazoo can be completed solo, but the platformer's central gimmick of switching between robotic animals mid-level affords the game a unique co-op mechanic. One player controls the primary animal, and a friend controls the secondary one. Only one animal can play at a time, so you take turns as needed. Whoever is pressing buttons on their controller activates their animal until the other player presses a button. (Don't fight!) Extreme precision is required to avoid screwing each other over, but for friends who really want to test their platforming prowess as a team, no game can top this neon-drenched couch co-op insanity.2 players can control robot animals together.Courtesy of UbisoftRay of SunshineRayman LegendsRayman Legends is an absolutely gorgeous, must-play platformer. Every level is smartly designed, movement physics have a great sense of momentum, and the characters and animations are quirky and lively. Name a positive trait and this game has it. Plus, it has music levels, which task you with platforming to the beat of some incredible music tracks. Up to four people can play at once, so there's no reason not to gather a whole party for this game.2 to 4 players can get limbless together.Courtesy of Asteroid BaseSpace OperaLovers in a Dangerous SpacetimeThis 2D shooter and spaceship management simulator lets up to four players save the galaxy from the forces of "anti-love" by controlling different facets of a single spaceship to pilot it through levels brimming with baddies. One player is the pilot, one controls the shields, and the other two control the four guns. The only way to survive is through intense coordination. Thankfully, since it's a couch co-op experience, shouting orders back and forth with your crew is an intergalactic piece of cake.2 to 4 players can control a spaceship together.Courtesy of NintendoSnip SnipSnipperclips PlusIf you've ever enjoyed producing crafts with construction paper, then this unexpectedly fun, family-friendly shape-making game is for you. Snipperclips Plus is all about cutting and trimming objects to make particular shapes that'll allow you to complete a wide variety of objectives, like popping balloons and rotating gears. The game's core levels are built for one to two players, though there are four-player multiplayer modes that allow a quartet of friends to get crafty.2 to 4 players can cut through puzzles together and on teams.Courtesy of Warner Bros. GamesForce FunLEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker SagaStriking the perfect balance between parody and reverence, this beautifully crafted Star Wars adventure offers a vast open world for fans to explore. The gameplay is varied, the gags come thick and fast, and characters evolve as you progress. There’s always something else to do or collect, and a second player can drop in or out at any time. While some levels work better with co-op than others, this trilogy of trilogies is enormous fun to play split-screen as a duo.2 players can use the Force at home.Courtesy of DrinkBox StudiosLucha LibreGuacamelee! (Series)There are a lot of indie games that play like the Metroid and Castlevania series, but Guacamelee! isn't just another retread of a tired subgenre. It's a luchador-themed platformer-brawler with verve, which is evident in its wild animations and zany art direction. Add Guacamelee!'s aesthetic achievements onto its satisfying gameplay mechanics, and the overall experience is definitely a rich one that lends itself to being enjoyed alongside a friend.2 to 4 players can brawl together.Courtesy of Studio MDHRToon WorldCupheadHarkening back to the ye olde days of film-grain-riddled Mickey Mouse cartoons, the 1930s-inspired Cuphead is a visual treat as well as a genuinely exciting game. Beyond its sumptuous visuals, Cuphead delivers a tough and immensely satisfying gameplay experience via a uniquely punishing brand of bullet hell mayhem. Playing co-op doubles the challenge by giving bosses more health, so for masochists who want to brave this beast of a game together, know that no title on this list might test a friendship as much as this one.2 people can get animated together.Courtesy of NintendoMushroom Kingdom EscapadeNew Super Mario Bros. U DeluxeThis Mario Bros. game is, at its core, like every other 2D Mario platformer. It's familiar and incredibly fun. Nintendo has perfected the art of creating safe, enjoyable products the whole family can get behind, and New Super Mario Bros. is a refined and polished plumbing adventure. If you have a group of four in need of a Nintendo Switch game that's easy to pick up and play, look no further.2 to 4 players can platform together.Courtesy of KonamiTick, Tick, BoomSuper Bomberman RWhile you can play story mode co-operatively, the heart of this enduring franchise is multiplayer madness as up to eight players dash around a maze snatching power-ups and laying bombs to blast each other into oblivion. There are issues with Super Bomberman R, but as the price drops, it is worth picking up just for the local multiplayer. Even if you die, you can hurl bombs from the sidelines and get back in if you score a hit.2 to 8 players can get blasting at home or online.Courtesy of CapcomDouble TapResident Evil 6In many ways, Resident Evil 6 is the pinnacle of cinematic action-adventure horror games. It blends its genres with skill and, at times, even manages to sell the idea that you're trapped in a wildly fun B-movie. That fun is doubled when you bring a friend along for the ride, since the game offers a two-player co-op for all four of its lengthy campaigns. Few cinematic gaming experiences offer the bang for the buck that RE6 provides, and even fewer can do it all in a co-op like this one.2 players can survive the zombie apocalypse together.Simon Hill has been writing about tech for more than a decade. He is a regular contributor to WIRED, but you can also find his work at Business Insider, Reviewed, TechRadar, Android Authority, USA Today, Digital Trends, and many other places. Before writing, he worked in games development. He lives... Read more
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Gaming & VR
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Starting early next year, Sony plans to capitalize on the rise in popularity of VTubers—virtual YouTube (and sometimes Twitch) celebrities—and our slow but steady transition to a life spent entirely in VR. The company will be introducing a new and relatively affordable motion capture system that relies on just six sensors strapped to the body and a smartphone capturing all of the tracked motion data.OffEnglishComputer-generated characters appearing in movies, TV, and video games were once all animated by hand; a time-consuming and expensive process that can result in a human character’s movements looking less than realistic (which, fair, isn’t always the goal). Motion capture helped solve that problem by capturing the nuanced movements of human performers and translating their movements to virtual characters, right down to facial expressions and even the movements of the eyes. Now, it seems we’re taking the steps to do it live.Hollywood’s approach to motion capture for VFX-heavy productions like She-Hulk involves lots of expensive equipment, cameras strapped to actor’s heads, and often massive purpose-built studios packed with sensors to accurately capture a full-body performance. In other words, a budget that most VTubers don’t have access to.There are more affordable solutions, such as software-based motion trackers, but they often suffer from accuracy issues. VR systems, like the HTC Vive, offer robust full-body tracking solutions through wearable trackers and nearby base stations, but the price of that hardware starts to quickly add up again. And while solutions like SlimeVR offer multi-limb tracking for just a couple of hundred bucks, it’s a crowd-funded product, which often means challenges when something goes wrong.Sony’s mocopi not only comes from a company with as recognizable a name in electronics as it gets; it also delivers six lightweight wireless tracking sensors (reminiscent of Apple’s AirTags) worn on the ankles, wrists, lower back, and the head. The whole package costs 49,500 yen, or about $360. Expensive, but much cheaper than a studio or even a Vive. Although the sensors are held in place with velcro straps (and a clip for the lower back sensor to attach to pants), the mocopi system looks mostly unobtrusive, as all of the performance capture is handled by a mobile app running on a smartphone.Setup, as demonstrated in this how-to video, looks easy and straightforward, with the app providing a live preview of the user’s captured movements as applied to a virtual character. The mocopi system can be used as a real-time solution to bring a VTuber character to life, or a virtual reality character in apps like VRChat, but through an SDK being released on December 15th, the captured performance data can also be imported into 3D animation programs to create more life-like characters.G/O Media may get a commissionAlthough mocopi won’t provide the same level of accuracy as the hardware that Hollywood relies on, it could be a more affordable motion capture solution for filmmakers or game developers with limited budgets. Pre-orders are expected to be available sometime in mid-December, with the system shipping about a month later in January 2023; however, Sony is initially only making mocopi available to the Japanese market, with no details on if or when it will be available in other markets at a later date.
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Going wireless is cheaper than ever, but if you're going to spend hours wearing a headset coordinating with your squad in a game—or maybe sitting through your tenth Zoom meeting of the day—it needs to be comfortable, sound crisp, and pick up your voice clearly. Over the past four years, we've tested dozens of headset and headphones to pull together this list of the best wireless gaming headsets for PCs, Mac, Android phones, iPhone, Nintendo Switch (all models), Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PlayStation 5, and PlayStation 4. We'll continue testing new models over time, so bookmark this page to see our future picks.Be sure to check out our many buying guides. For more accessory suggestions, check our picks for the Best Nintendo Switch Accessories and Best PS5 Accessories.Updated April 2022: We added the Arctis 7+ and 7P+. Eric Ravenscraft, Jeffrey Van Camp, and Jess Grey contributed to headset testing for this guide.Special offer for Gear readers: Get a 1-Year Subscription to WIRED for $5 ($25 off). This includes unlimited access to WIRED.com and our print magazine (if you'd like). Subscriptions help fund the work we do every day.If you buy something using links in our stories, we may earn a commission. This helps support our journalism. Learn more. Please also consider subscribing to WIREDPhotograph: LogitechBest for PC and PlayStation 4/5Logitech G Pro X WirelessOur previous top pick, the Razer Opus, pulled off an incredible balancing act by outperforming many other headsets we tested while managing to be less expensive. Yet somehow the Logitech G Pro X has topped that act. It features soft matte cans with a silver plate on the edge. It's lightweight enough that I frequently don't register I'm still wearing it, even after I forget to turn my music back on. DTX:S object-based surround sound is also supported, which has a huge impact on games or movies that support spatial audio. Being able to hear exactly which direction an enemy's footsteps are coming from is a literal game-changer.For PC players, Logitech's G Hub offers incredibly powerful tools to set custom EQ filters and acoustic profiles on a per-game basis, and the software will automatically switch between them. The voice filter provides a noticeable improvement to your microphone audio, which your teammates should appreciate. You won't have the G Hub, but you can also use this headset wirelessly with the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 and connect via a 3.5mm audio cable to most other devices.Works wirelessly with PC, PS4, and PS5. Requires a 3.5mm cable with Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.Photograph: SteelSeriesBest for Nintendo SwitchSteelSeries Arctis 7+Many of the SteelSeries Arctis headsets have impressed us, and the Arctis 7+ (8/10, WIRED Recommends) is one of our favorites. It pulls off an impressive 30-hour battery life, and it's comfortable enough to wear for long periods. But the best part is its handy, low-profile USB-C adapter that lets it pair with everything from Android phones to the Nintendo Switch. While the Switch supports Bluetooth audio, you'll get lower latency and better sound quality with this headset.Works wirelessly with Nintendo Switch, Switch OLED, Switch Lite, PS5, PS4, PC, Switch, and Android phones. Requires a 3.5mm cable with Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S.Photograph: SteelSeriesBest for Xbox (One and Series X/S)SteelSeries Arctis 9XWe've used the Arctis 9X for many many months, and it's our favorite Xbox headset. It directly connects to your Xbox the same way you sync a controller—no dongle required—and has all the benefits of the other Arctis headsets. It's comfy as hell on your ears (and cranium), the mic and sound are stellar, and it has a nice retractable mic with balanced mic monitoring so you can hear your own voice when you talk, which helps you avoid yelling loudly when you mean to just talk. Battery life is about 20 hours.Works wirelessly with Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S (has Bluetooth for dual listening)Photograph: AstroBest Headset for Easy RechargingAstro A50 (2019)At first sight, it's clear the Astro A50 is a beast. Unlike most other headsets, this one comes with a convenient base station that charges your headset when not in use. The base station also features a built-in MixAmp that lets you adjust the balance between game audio and voice chat audio by tapping the side of the right ear cup. Combined with support for Dolby Atmos object-based surround sound and powerful equalizer tools on PC, the A50 is an incredible headset. There are two separate models that support wireless audio on either Xbox or PlayStation, but both models can also be used wirelessly with PC and Mac.Works wirelessly with Xbox Series X/S and Xbox One OR PS4, PS5, depending which model you choose. All models work wirelessly with PC and Mac.Photograph: KingstonBest Headset for Battery LifeKingston HyperX Cloud FlightThe HyperX-branded headsets are all about value, and we haven’t yet seen one that offers as much battery per dollar as the Cloud Flight Wireless. It gets 30 hours of battery life, which is the top reason to choose it, though it's also a well-rounded headset with above-average comfort and audio. These are great if you tend to run out of battery at the worst possible time.Our largest gripes are that it lacks a visible way to check if you’re muted and mic monitoring to let you hear your own voice. If you marathon through the 30 hours of battery, it also has a 3.5mm wired option—though the microphone is disabled in this mode.Works wirelessly with PS5, PS4, and PCPhotograph: RazerAlso Great for PC and PhonesRazer Opus HeadsetIt's not often that a headset will be impressive in every possible way and come in at a reasonable price. The Razer Opus headset is one of the least expensive headsets on this list, and even if it was more expensive, it would still be a killer pair of cans. The body is a semi-matte plastic that feels high-quality and lightweight while retaining some much-appreciated heft. The ear cups are incredibly soft and comfortable for long periods of use. With THX-tuned surround sound, they're incredible for gaming, watching movies, or anything else that's going to wrap you up in a textured soundscape.For music, you'll want to play with the included app to find some equalizer settings that balance things out, but once you do, these headphones effortlessly produce rich, layered sound. On top of all that, they can connect via Bluetooth or a 3.5mm cable, and the active noise cancelation is powerful enough to drown out almost everything.Works wirelessly with PC, MacOS, Android, and iPhone. Requires a 3.5mm cable with consoles like Nintendo Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox X/SPhotograph: SteelseriesGreat for PC Gaming (Hot Swapping Batteries)SteelSeries Arctis Pro WirelessThe Arctis Pro got a rare 9/10 score, and our WIRED Recommends badge, which is huge. It has excellent audio quality, with that comfortable cushion and ski goggle style all the Arctis models have. The included transmitter box has a lot of built-in options, like toggling EQ, mic monitoring, and even RGB lighting. Its killer feature is hot-swappable rechargeable batteries. Each battery gets about 10 hours, but the transmitter box has a slot to charge the extra pack. It can also connect to a phone via Bluetooth. A few other headsets can beat it on price, but overall, this is still a great buy.Works wirelessly with PS4/PS5 and PC. On PS5 you'll need to use the console's built-in surround sound and chat-mixing features.Photograph: SteelSeriesA Versatile Nintendo Switch HeadsetSteelSeries Arctis 3 (with Bluetooth)The Nintendo Switch finally received official Bluetooth audio support, so you can pair wireless headphones to the console directly. However, it still uses a mobile app (on Android and iPhone) for voice chat—except in some games, like Fortnite. The Arctis 3 Bluetooth is one of the few headsets that can do both. You can connect it to the Switch with a 3.5-mm cable to hear your game's audio, and pair it to your phone with Bluetooth for chatting (including on Discord). Given Nintendo's complicated system for game chat, this headset is one of the most versatile options for playing on the console. Alternatively, if you don't care about game chat, you can either hook it up to your switch via the 3.5mm cable or Bluetooth. It's comfortable, sounds fantastic, and works with every system (with the 3.5mm cord).Works wirelessly via Bluetooth for Switch's mobile-based chat, Discord, or game audio. Requires a 3.5mm cable with Nintendo Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and PCPhotograph: SteelSeriesGood for PlayStation 5SteelSeries Arctis 7P+In the past, official Sony headsets have earned our recommendation as solid options for the PlayStation, but the company’s most recent Pulse 3D headset didn't impress us. So this time around, we're going a different route.The Arctis 7P+ (8/10, WIRED Recommends) is nearly identical to the Arctis 7+ mentioned above. The minor difference is that the 7+ has a dial to control ChatMix, a PC feature that balances team chat and game audio. But that feature isn't supported on the PlayStation, so the 7P+ repurposes this dial to control sidetone. That change aside, it still pulls off 30-hour battery life and comes with the wireless USB-C dongle that makes it compatible with most systems.Works wirelessly with Nintendo Switch, Switch OLED, Switch Lite, PS5, PS4, PC, Switch, and Android phones. Requires a 3.5mm cable with Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S.Photograph: Master & DynamicGreat Headphones for GamersMaster & Dynamic MW65This headset is an odd one. Master & Dynamic is known for its bespoke style and luxurious craftsmanship, and the MW65 (9/10, WIRED Recommends) is an example of both. It feels solid but lightweight, old-fashioned but uniquely modern. It's a study in opposites. With active noise canceling and Bluetooth connectivity, these have become my everyday drivers. We plugged them in when playing a game and switched to Bluetooth mode when we were out and about. The sound quality is rich, layered, and textured. They're tuned a bit flat, so music might not have the punch you're used to unless you adjust your equalizer settings, but these are excellent all-around headphones.They're an unconventional choice for gaming, and may not be the best choice for barking a lot of commands to teammates, but once you've heard how well they handle complex soundscapes (gunfire, swelling orchestral suites, bootprints on lunar dust, all of the above), it's hard to go back.Works wirelessly with PC, Mac, Android, and iPhone. Requires a 3.5mm cord with Nintendo Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/SHonorable MentionsWireless Gaming Headset Honorable MentionsThere are so many good headsets on the market that we have a hard time picking out only our favorites. Here are a few other headsets that we like but that didn't find a distinct place on our list above.Corsair Virtuoso ($150): This headset is great for PC players. It's lightweight, features 7.1 surround sound, and is comfortable to wear all day long.SteelSeries Arctis 7 ($93): This is another great wireless headset for PC gamers. It supports DTS: Headphone X surround sound and, in our experience, provided fantastic sound. However, despite being compatible with the PlayStation, the mic gets oddly quiet when we use it on PS4.If None of These Look GoodHow to Pick a Great Wireless HeadsetWe've rounded up a wide selection of the best gaming headsets we've tried, but there are countless others on the market. Our list is great if you want recommendations so you don't have to deal with combing through all the options. But if you want to explore for yourself, here are a few important things to look for in a good headset.Audio quality: It seems like it would go without saying, but we're saying it anyway: You can't always tell from a spec sheet how a headset will sound. A well-made stereo headset can sound better than a poorly made 7.1 Dolby Atmos surround sound set. Check reviews to get a sense of how a headset performs in real life.Surround sound options: Modern headsets have gotten very good at recreating or simulating surround sound in headsets with systems like Dolby Atmos for Headphones or DTS:X. These systems are particularly impactful in games where you want to be able to hear exactly where an enemy is firing at you from. Be sure you can turn the surround sound on or off.Comfort: This is another subjective category, but if you're going to wear a headset for hours while you're gaming, it's important that it doesn't hurt. A heavy headset pressing against your temples can give you a headache after a while. Look for headsets that have adjustable, ergonomic designs, plenty of cushioning, and are generally lightweight.An adjustable boom microphone: If you plan to use your headset for online gaming, a good microphone is important. Many headsets come with boom mics that can be positioned in front of your mouth. Some are removable, while others can simply be rotated or bent away from your mouth when they're not in use. Make sure you get the kind that's right for your needs.Visible mic muting and indicator LEDs: It's important to know when you're broadcasting audio so you don't accidentally share your private conversations with your teammates. Some mics mute automatically when you flip them upward, while others use a dedicated mute button. We particularly like headsets that include red LEDs that indicate when you're muted, which can be helpful.Mic monitoring so you can hear your voice: If you want to keep tabs on how you sound to your teammates, and not sound like you're yelling while playing, mic monitoring is a feature that lets you hear your own audio through your headphones. Optimally, you can adjust its volume. When you listen to a podcast or radio talk show, chances are, those folks are using some form of mic monitoring so they can hear themselves as well as others.Equalizer (EQ) and customization tools: Games, movies, and TV shows are mixed differently, and when you're listening, you might want to emphasize different aspects of the audio signal. Custom EQ presets let you set different balances for watching a movie versus playing a game, or even have different balances on a per-game basis.
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Gaming & VR
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ByteDance subsidiary Pico has unveiled its latest virtual reality headset. The Pico 4 will initially be available in Japan, South Korea, the UK, France, Germany, Spain, Italy and eight other European countries. Pico hasn't revealed US release plans as yet, but it aims to bring the device to Singapore and Malaysia by the end of the year, and China at a later date.
The headset — which has a Qualcomm XR2 processor, an Adreno 650 GPU and 8GB of RAM — can be used as a standalone device. Pico claims the battery, which is in the rear strap to help keep things balanced, offers around three hours of use on a single charge, as The Verge notes. The device weighs 295 grams without the strap and 586 grams when it's attached. You can also connect Pico 4 to a gaming PC for higher-end VR experiences. That might be necessary to make full use of the dual displays, which offer higher than 4K resolution at 4,320 x 2,160 resolution for each eye. The displays have a 90Hz refresh rate and 105-degree field of view, according to Pocket-lint.
The Pico 4 uses inside-out tracking with no need for external beacons. It comes with Pico 4 motion controllers (which have vibration features) and there are four external cameras, as Road to VR points out. According to the Pico website, the device will offer full-color passthrough — something Meta is working on for its Project Cambria headset.
Pico
Given that ByteDance also owns TikTok, it shouldn't be surprising that there's a way to view videos from that app. You'll be able to share VR experiences to TikTok as well. There will be hundreds more things to watch in VR and 360 formats. Pico is working to bring live sports and "avatar-based concerts" to the platform as well.
As for games, there are 165 of them in the Pico store and more being added each week. The headset will support the likes of Peaky Blinders: The King’s Ransom, Demeo, The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners, All-in-One Summer Sports VR and Just Dance VR (which will arrive in 2023 as a Pico exclusive). There will also be SteamVR support. Meanwhile, there are plans to launch a metaverse-style experience called Pico Worlds next year. Unlike in Meta's Horizon Worlds, Pico's avatars appear to have legs.
Considering the price and specs, it's Pico is trying to compete with Meta Quest 2 (Meta recently bumped up the price of that product). Whether the brand can hang with Meta on the content front remains to be seen. Users are unlikely to be able to play Beat Saber, for instance. Pico also revealed its latest device just a few weeks before Meta will show off at least one VR headset, likely to be the higher-end Project Cambria model, at Connect.
A Pico 4 with 128GB of storage costs €429 (around $422). A model with double the storage capacity will run you €499 (approximately $491). Preorders open next month and the headset will ship on October 18th. Pico also plans to release some accessories next year. A more accurate fitness tracker, a wireless dongle for PC connectivity and a carrying case will each cost €50 (or around $49). All products recommended by Engadget are selected by our editorial team, independent of our parent company. Some of our stories include affiliate links. If you buy something through one of these links, we may earn an affiliate commission. All prices are correct at the time of publishing.
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Gaming & VR
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Meta’s Oculus Quest 2 has surpassed the number of Microsoft Xbox Series X and S lifetime sales, and it’s catching up with the PS5. The milestone makes Meta’s best VR headset the most successful virtual reality product to date, with a 97% jump in headset sales since 2021. In a celebratory tweet, IDC associate vice president Francisco Jeronimo shares the Oculus Quest 2 lifetime sales figures while highlighting its success. According to Jeronimo, the headset has “contributed to massive growth in VR sales & consumer adoption,” with a 242% sales increase in Q1 2022 backing up the claim. The Quest 2 is undoubtedly dominating the virtual reality scene, but it’s also proving to be a formidable contender within the gaming industry as a whole. The VR headset has a long way to go before catching up with the Nintendo Switch, but Meta has already shifted 3.4 million headsets more than Xbox Series X and S consoles. PS5 still sits in second place with 17.2 million sales, but there’s a chance that the social media giant could catch up to Sony. It’s worth noting that ongoing component shortages and availability issues have affected sales since launch, so the Xbox Series consoles and PS5 could experience a surge if supplies increase. That said, the Oculus Quest 2 does continue to enjoy phenomenal sales success, something that’s a testament to the growth of virtual reality. .@MetaQuestVR OculusQuest2 is the most successful #VR headset to date. With nearly 15mn units sold since its announcement at @facebook Connect 7 in Sep 2020, the Quest2 has contributed to massive growth in VR sales & consumer adoption🏆 👉VR Sales grew 97% in 2021 & 242% in 1Q22 pic.twitter.com/7dIe42FSo7 — Francisco Jeronimo (He/Him) (@fjeronimo) June 6, 2022 While the Quest 2 is Meta’s shining star, both the Oculus Quest 3 and Project Cambria will likely steal some limelight once they arrive. The latter is supposed to be more of a metaverse tool than a pair of gaming goggles, but it might still provide VR enthusiasts with a premium gaming experience.
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Gaming & VR
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The New York Stock Exchange welcomes executives and guests of Roblox (NYSE: RBLX), today, Wednesday, March 10, 2021, in celebration of its Direct Listing.NYSERoblox has built a userbase of over 52 million people by providing a gaming and entertainment platform that's mostly been targeted at kids. Now the company wants advertisers to join the party.As part of its annual developer conference on Friday, Roblox is announcing plans to debut ads next year, marking the company's first significant effort to diversify its business beyond virtual goods in games. Prior to the rollout, Roblox said it will be testing ads with unspecified developers and brands by the end of this year.Manuel Bronstein, Roblox's chief product officer, said the company has already tried out some online ads with brands like Warner Bros. and Vans. The ads were displayed in an experimental ad format that Roblox referred to as "portals," he said. He also said the company remains committed to its core business, which allows gamers to spend real money on the virtual currency Robux that can be used to level up and buy items in games. "We have an amazing transactional economy, and we will continue to invest in it," Bronstein said. He characterized the company's push into online ads as a "good strategic bet" that's "early" in its development.Roblox debuted on the New York Stock Exchange in March 2021, and saw its market cap swell past $80 billion in November, as investors poured into high-growth tech stocks. But this year's economic slowdown has punished those businesses, with Roblox losing 60% of its value in 2022. In August, Roblox reported second-quarter financials that missed on both the top and bottom lines, and revenue growth slowed to 30% from more than 100% a year earlier. The company said in its quarterly filing that it generates "substantially all of our revenue" from the sale of Robux. Roblox CEO David Baszucki told CNBC in February that the company has "many opportunities to increase monetization" and he cited advertising and 3D immersive shopping as potential areas for growth. To date, the company has focused on "creating a safe and civil platform" and growing its daily active user base, Baszucki said.Roblox describes its upcoming ad offering as immersive ads, though there's not yet a standard format for how they will appear. Bronstein speculated that future ads in the metaverse — an online world where people socialize, work and learn — could resemble digital billboards that people can use to buy goods like shoes, or even branded digital coffee cups.In the portal ad tests, when users interact with the brand, they can be automatically transported to the company's virtual Roblox community, Bronstein said. At this stage, companies are just trying to understand how ads can function in Roblox and other metaverses.Regarding Warner Bros. and its recent Roblox test, Bronstein said "they were fascinated by the results."Roblox is jumping into online ads during a period of turbulence in the market. Meta's Facebook business and Snap have been particularly hurt by Apple's privacy changes in iOS, which make targeting more difficult. The economic slowdown has led a number of companies to pull back on ad spending, and TikTok's emergence has added a new avenue to the mix. Meanwhile, Amazon and Apple are bolstering their ad businesses, as companies that rely on those platforms are spending more money to get in front of consumers.With that backdrop, Roblox will have to prove its value before brands will open their wallets in any meaningful way. Businesses could use their metaverse ads "as connections with the real world," Bronstein said. For instance, a company's branded digital item could function like "a coupon to go buy something at a store" in the physical world.Roblox faces the additional challenge of serving ads on an app that's predominantly used by kids. All Roblox ads will be labeled as "immersive ads" and children under the age of 13 will not be able to interact with them, the company said. The company is also adding more guidelines to let parents and children know which virtual experiences are suited for certain age groups based on criteria like violence. In addition to ads, Roblox is debuting other new features, including a tool to help users more easily discover virtual worlds and experiences that may be of interest to them, as well as chatting features, more immersive avatars that include facial animations and other tools for creators.In the second quarter, Roblox's daily active user count climbed 21% from a year earlier to 52.2 million.WATCH: Metaverse faces hardware headwinds for VR future
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Gaming & VR
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I could tell you about all the VR headsets and AR glasses and theoretical apps I tried this year that were supposed to define 2022's vision of the metaverse. Instead I'll just tell you about the best thing I did this year, and the thing I miss the most: Doing improv acting workshops with a little group of other performers in VR. We gathered every week in an app called Altspace VR, invited by a brilliant interactive acting teacher named Jeff Wirth. We met every Monday, exploring ideas in performance with avatars. I put on my Quest 2 headset in my dusty little home office and met with friends I'd never seen in person.The class ended too soon, and when I look back, I remember these sessions like we were really together. That's what the metaverse is to me. It's a real thing. We're just not all there yet.This is a capture of me in a Varjo XR-3 mixed reality, in a virtual kitchen, looking at myself through a window into the real room. Varjo 2022: A brief look forward, but only briefMore recently, standing in a kitchen, changing countertops and looking at cabinet finishes, I walk over to the window. I see a blank white room outside, along with a mirror. I see myself, with a VR headset on. I'm standing in a virtual room, suspended in a real room with mixed reality, wearing a Varjo XR-3 headset. This jarring moment represents the future -- yet still the unrealized potential -- of what could be coming next.I thought 2022 would be a big year for VR and AR, and even the metaverse, a buzzword concept that's a stand-in for how the world's internet and virtual communities, including social media, could evolve. It wasn't. An economic downturn, crypto's collapse, waves of tech layoffs, and the delay of many of the most-expected VR/AR devices turned this year around fast. Now playing: Watch this: Apple's VR Headset Event Will Be Different 10:17 Now 2023 is looking to be the big year for immersive "extended reality" (aka XR). Apple's long-expected headset should arrive, with expectations that it'll rattle the landscape. Meta's Quest 3 is confirmed. The PlayStation VR 2, a headset I've already tried, is coming in February. And who knows what other surprises the new year will bring?As far as the metaverse goes, it'll only move as far as mass social adoption takes it. I'm more interested in the hardware that'll power such tech, because until VR and AR headsets take their next leap, it's still going to be a challenge to expect people to spend more time in them than they already are. But this is what 2022 showed me, and where it points to 2023.The Magic Leap 2, an AR headset I tried back in March. Scott Stein/CNET Magic Leap 2, Meta Quest Pro: A mixed-reality future comingThe two headsets that made the biggest impact on me this year bookended 2022: Magic Leap 2 and Meta Quest Pro. They are, in many ways, mirror products. One is trying to approach the future of mixed reality from the AR side; the other is coming to mixed reality from the VR side. Both are trying to become more comfortable, and more reliable. Both show that there still is no ideal form for The Next Headset yet, but we're slowly getting closer to a consensus on how the devices might do it.The Magic Leap 2, a follow-up to the original Magic Leap headset that debuted back in 2018, has pivoted from a device targeted at the masses to a headset for business. The hardware is considerably better, and it maps overlaid, glowing virtual objects onto the real world with a greater field of view. It also, amazingly, dims out the world – a bit like a pair of sunglasses. But it's not the ideal set of AR glasses: it runs on a more powerful dedicated processor connected to a belt-mounted mini-computer that it's tethered to, and its single controller is fine for basic controls but not necessarily for full immersive interaction.The Meta Quest Pro, a VR headset that blends mixed reality, feels like an AR device. Scott Stein/CNET The Meta Quest Pro really isn't that big a change from the two-year-old Quest 2, and certainly isn't worth the extra $1,100 for anyone who isn't a developer. But its improved features eye- and face-tracking, and better mixed reality with color passthrough cameras -- are indicators of what will show up on many VR headsets (and AR ones) in 2023 and beyond. The Quest Pro's mixed reality is what really surprised me. It's not great, but it's similar in spirit to what the Varjo XR-3 headset can do. And the Pro, when it's on my head running a mixed-reality app, reminds me more of AR headsets like the Microsoft HoloLens 2 than a VR headset. The way I can see the world and also see around the display through my peripheral vision feels like some sort of glasses-like AR experience, for a moment, even if it's not.No one is able to make good AR glasses yet. Instead, everyone's trying to get a bit closer as best they can.The Pico 4 VR headset looks to go against the Meta Quest 2. It largely succeeds. Scott Stein/CNET Expect more competition for MetaThe Pico 4 VR headset, made by TikTok parent company ByteDance, feels like a clone of the Meta Quest 2 but with some improvements. What's really surprising is its price undercuts Meta's. ByteDance did this intentionally, and likely at a loss, but it shows that somewhat affordable standalone VR headsets could be a much more common thing going forward. Pico already has them. Some of Qualcomm's device partners using the company's ubiquitous VR/AR chips will have them, including, likely, HTC Vive, which is already teasing a mixed-reality headset for CES. Valve is rumored to have a standalone VR headset of its own, codenamed Project Deckard, that could make a big gaming splash. Pimax, a manufacturer of VR headsets, has a combination gaming handheld/VR headset called the Pimax Portal expected for early 2023, too.The AR2 Gen 1 looks to power compact AR glasses coming in the next few years. Qualcomm What about phone-connected headsets?Qualcomm has been promising a wave of phone-tethered AR and VR devices for years, and they've been starting to emerge. HTC's Vive Flow, released in 2021, was an attempt at a smaller pair of phone/VR glasses. Qualcomm's latest initiatives for smaller AR glasses arriving between 2023 and 2025 can work wirelessly with phones. It's probably pretty likely that the powerful phones we carry with us will help do some of the heavy lifting for smaller headsets in the next few years. Apple could be planning that approach with its expected headset in 2023.Apple's expected to have a VR/AR device in 2023. So, what will it be like? James Martin/CNET Here comes AppleApple's long-expected headset, likely to be VR with mixed-reality capabilities similar to what the Quest Pro provides, could shake up the landscape like nothing else since the Oculus Rift. Apple's products tend to disrupt and take over categories: the iPhone, the iPad, the Apple Watch, AirPods. Can Apple do the same with VR and AR? It's a far greater challenge, especially with the technical questions and the expected price (well over $1,000, possibly several thousand), as well as the recession climate we're in globally.Even more interesting to me is who else comes out of the woodwork alongside Apple. Google has been laying low with AR and VR for years since its discontinued Google Daydream platform, but recent efforts like Project Starline and assistive smart glasses show there's exploration going on. Samsung hasn't had a new AR or VR device in years, either, even though the company was a VR pioneer with Gear VR and tends to jump into markets early with bold experimental products. Will 2023 be a year for showing surprise products?The Quest Pro fits over my glasses. But it doesn't mean I use it all the time. Scott Stein/CNET Will people care enough to wear them?As I ask myself whether VR headsets really have a future in people's homes, I'm distracted by my 14-year-old son, who's literally playing a VR game on the Quest 2 right next to me. VR's already here for many people. It's hard to appreciate that. It's not "what if," it's "what else can I do?". VR headsets are mostly clever, limited-use game consoles for most people. Meta's tried to flex the Quest to be more. Not everyone's been interested, and the Quest's not fully up to the challenge.The next wave of VR and AR headsets need to be better at what they do: to be better game consoles; have more comfortable displays, more useful controllers and ways to interact; be more interconnected with the apps and devices we already have; be more portable and more accessible. They need to work better with prescription glasses (I find many headsets don't fit with my glasses, or can't accommodate my prescription). New apps need to emerge that can show what a seamless 3D virtual world can do for us. Sony, Meta, possibly Apple and whoever else shows up next year need to do this, because VR/AR headsets aren't necessary tools for everyone yet. They have proved some successes: for design, for simulations, for gaming, even for fitness. In 2023, I'm interested in seeing if they can be more. One thing that does seem certain, though: There are a lot of new VR headsets coming in 2023, and they're coming soon.
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Gaming & VR
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Oct 28 (Reuters) - Meta Platforms Inc (META.O) Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg will testify in a case by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) that argues the company's proposed deal to buy virtual reality (VR) content maker Within Unlimited should be blocked.In a court document filed with U.S. District Court Northern District Of California on Friday, the FTC listed 18 witnesses it plans to question, including Zuckerberg, Within CEO Chris Milk and Meta Chief Technology Officer Andrew Bosworth.They were also on a list of witnesses submitted on Friday by defendants Meta and Within.In addition to defending the Within acquisition, Zuckerberg is expected to be questioned about the Facebook-parent's strategy for its VR business, as well as the company's plans to support third-party developers, according to the court document.The FTC had filed a lawsuit in July saying that Meta's acquisition of Within would "tend to create a monopoly" in the market for VR-dedicated fitness apps.The regulator argues that the proposed deal would "substantially lessen competition or tend to create a monopoly" in that market. read more Meta, in court documents, has argued that "the FTC's conclusory, speculative, and contradictory allegations do not plausibly plead any facts to establish that any supposed market for VR Deliberate Fitness apps is 'oligopolistic' as to either behavior or structure." read more Facebook agreed to buy Within in October 2021 for an undisclosed sum.Reporting by Ismail Shakil in Ottawa; Editing by Aurora EllisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
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Gaming & VR
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For tech investors hoping Meta Platforms finds religion on cost cuts as they relate to heavy spending on virtual reality, now is not the time to bet on it. The company is cutting costs, including mass layoffs, and much of the market has been focused on the billions that Mark Zuckerberg is pouring into Reality Labs and his vision of a future internet and social connections transformed by the metaverse concept. Right now, that means more than $10 billion a year in losses from Reality Labs, but a top Meta VR executive told CNBC this week that the spending will continue.Investors want to see Big Tech rein in spending in what's been a tough stock market and a slowing economy. Alphabet is under pressure to cut costs. Amazon is doing layoffs, many in corporate divisions where risky bets haven't paid off big enough. Meta shares have declined by 65% in value this year, and an October letter from Altimeter Capital to its leaders which said Mark Zuckerberg's company has "drifted into the land of excess," summed up the view from investors."Last week was really hard," Ash Jhaveri, vice president of Reality Labs, said about the layoffs during an interview with CNBC's Steve Kovach at the CNBC Technology Executive Council Summit in New York on Tuesday. "But the investments we are making in the core business, and the future business, are the right ones," he said.He stressed that the spending level is a direct byproduct of the level of change the company is chasing."If you're trying to build a brand new computing platform with people at the middle of it, and inventing new technology that actually allows you to feel like you are in the same room with someone else, this is sort of [the] first inning of what we are doing ... it's an ambitious long-term vision," said Jhaveri, who estimated that he spends one to two hours each week in team meetings conducted via his virtual reality headset. "It's really about the next version of the internet, what can the technology do to connect us, to make us feel more present versus what we can do today, and with an app or a website you can only get so connected," he said. "That's why we're so invested in the space."Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg demonstrates an Oculus Rift virtual reality (VR) headset and Oculus Touch controllers during the Oculus Connect 3 event in San Jose, California, U.S., on Thursday, Oct. 6, 2016.David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesThe message from the top Meta VR executive reinforced the position staked out by Zuckerberg on the company's last earnings call. At the time, Reality Labs' losses were at $9.4 billion for the year and the CEO said that operating losses would grow significantly in 2023.But some investors are skeptical Meta will stick with this message. Zuckerberg has said it will take up to a decade for the concept to go mainstream — though he expects spending will level off in the years ahead."He's gotta say 'we are so committed to this ... this can be ten years ... this can be so many billions of dollars. But you get to a point where the elastic snaps," said Karen Firestone, CEO of Aureus Asset Management, on CNBC's "Fast Money Halftime Report."She pointed to the Meta layoffs and recent shedding of real estate after years of growth as evidence that Reality Labs' may yet experience spending restraint the company won't admit to today."You see it over and over again with tech companies committed to a spend, and then suddenly, they get religion on the cost side," Firestone said. "Nobody likes when your stock options becomes worth less and less and less." Jhaveri pushed back against the recent market narrative, which has viewed Meta as a business on the decline, citing more people on Facebook than ever before, and strong profit levels still being generated by the core business. But Wall Street did not like the latest set of quarterly numbers, even as active users were higher. Revenue fell while Meta's costs and expenses rose. Income declined by roughly half from the previous year, and Meta's operating margin sank. The stock has rebounded recently from its post-October earnings lows alongside a bounce in the beaten-down tech sector."We need focus, and in many ways, it doesn't change our efforts, it just helps focus them even further," Jhaveri said of the scrutiny from the market.Meta will face more competition from deep-pocketed rivals in a market where it has the early lead with Apple expected to soon release its mixed-reality headset.One cost Jhaveri said would come down is the $1,500 price tag on the Meta Quest Pro VR headset model, though that may not be soon either. Jhaveri said there is good reason for the current Pro model — which a CNBC reviewer called a "huge upgrade" but a technology still in search of an audience fit — to be expensive."If you look at this pound for pound, atom for atom, it has the most tech packaged into a headset ... it's almost like its own computer," he said.But he also drew a comparison to flat-screen TVs which once cost too much for most consumers. "For those who remember when flat screens came out, 1999 or 2000, and it was $10,000 for a 40-inch plasma TV that wasn't even 720, maybe even 480 [resolution], we were clamoring for that, and now it's a 70-inch for $1,800," Jhaveri said.He said the advanced technology on the Pro line is there for enterprises to adopt and to assist developers building on the platform, and a lot will ultimately flow down to consumer models, the next being the Quest 3 expected to launch next year."We very much believe in these cost curves coming down, what is state of the art today becomes mainstream tomorrow," Jhaveri said.
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Home News (Image credit: HTC) HTC is working on a standalone AR/VR headset that's designed to be lightweight and self-contained rather than requiring a PC or phone. Sounding more than a bit like a competitor to the Meta Quest 2, the unnamed headset was revealed to The Verge (opens in new tab) by HTC's global head of product Shen Ye ahead of a full announcement at the CES conference on January 5.Back in 2019, HTC launched the Vive Cosmos as a lightweight, standalone competitor for the Rift. Unfortunately it had tracking problems, which is why the Vive Cosmos Elite went back to base stations for increased accuracy. (The Cosmos Elite still sneaks into our list of the best VR headsets at number five.) HTC's new headset will come with outward-facing cameras and color passthrough for mixed-reality experiences, and a depth sensor for mapping and tracking your surroundings more efficiently. It'll also support controllers with hand–tracking and six degrees of freedom, and apparently the battery will last for two hours of use.One area where it won't be able to compete with Meta is the price. Though he didn't say how much HTC's next headset will cost, Ye sure made it seem like it won't be anywhere near as cheap as the Quest 2 was at launch. "We're in an era when consumer VR headsets have been massively subsidized by companies that are trying to vacuum up and take personal data to provide to advertisers," he told The Verge. "We don't believe the way that we want to approach it is to compromise on privacy."Meta's last headset, the Meta Quest Pro, was a pricier piece of gear, but the Meta Quest 3, which is likely to launch in 2023, will be more consumer-friendly. It's also rumored to support mixed-reality, like Apple's upcoming AR headset. Meanwhile, John Carmack has departed Meta. The CTO of what was still called Oculus when he joined, called it "an org that has only known inefficiency." Sign up to get the best content of the week, and great gaming deals, as picked by the editors.
Jody's first computer was a Commodore 64, so he remembers having to use a code wheel to play Pool of Radiance. A former music journalist who interviewed everyone from Giorgio Moroder to Trent Reznor, Jody also co-hosted Australia's first radio show about videogames, Zed Games (opens in new tab). He's written for Rock Paper Shotgun (opens in new tab), The Big Issue, GamesRadar (opens in new tab), Zam (opens in new tab), Glixel (opens in new tab), Five Out of Ten Magazine (opens in new tab), and Playboy.com (opens in new tab), whose cheques with the bunny logo made for fun conversations at the bank. Jody's first article for PC Gamer was about the audio of Alien Isolation, published in 2015, and since then he's written about why Silent Hill belongs on PC, why Recettear: An Item Shop's Tale is the best fantasy shopkeeper tycoon game, and how weird Lost Ark can get. Jody edited PC Gamer Indie from 2017 to 2018, and he eventually lived up to his promise to play every Warhammer videogame.
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Image source, MetaImage caption, Mark Zuckerberg with the Quest Pro headsetMark Zuckerberg has unveiled a new VR headset, the Quest Pro, at an online event held for developers.With a price tag of $1,499 (£1,499), Quest Pro is almost four times the price of Meta's current headset, the Quest 2, which starts at $399.It boasts thinner lenses, a curved battery around the head strap at the back, and controllers which self-track.The headset also allows users to see their real environment around the periphery of the screen.Quest Pro has mixed reality capabilities, unlike its predecessor - meaning digital content can be viewed overlaid on the real world.Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg said mixed reality was "the next major step for VR". Gartner analyst Tuong Nguyen said the high launch price made it a device more suited to "high-end, enthusiast and potentially enterprise users" than mass-market.Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella also announced that the office platform Windows 365 will be available on it, as Meta seeks to position mixed and virtual reality as a work tool as well as a form of entertainment.The firm Meta, formerly known as Facebook, is betting its future on the creation of a metaverse - a virtual world in which people can both conduct their everyday lives, in the form of avatars, and explore fantasy virtual spaces. Many tech firms are building their own metaverses but it is likely to be several years before any exist.Meta's existing virtual reality world, Horizons, has received mixed reviews so far, and there have been reports of avatars carrying out violence and sexual assault within it. Chief Technology Officer Andrew Bosworth has also admitted that "it will be a while before there are enough headsets out there".Paolo Pescatore from PP Foresight said it felt like the tech was being "fast tracked" into people's hands. "There's no demand, why rush," he said.VR appsThere was much talk about virtual reality apps during the event, some of which have proved very lucrative for their developers, like the VR version of the video game Resident Evil 4, which made $2m in revenue in its first 24 hours.New VR gaming titles announced included Iron Man and Among Us, as well as an upcoming partnership with Microsoft's Xbox Cloud Gaming. However there was no update on the long-awaited VR Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, which some gamers had anticipated. Andrew Bosworth said that one of the most popular apps on the Quest store was YouTube VR."The ultimate goal for the metaverse is to feel like any other social experience, great and small," said Vishal Shah, Meta's vice president of the metaverse.
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The New York Stock Exchange welcomes executives and guests of Roblox (NYSE: RBLX), today, Wednesday, March 10, 2021, in celebration of its Direct Listing.NYSERoblox has built a userbase of over 52 million people by providing a gaming and entertainment platform that's mostly been targeted at kids. Now the company wants advertisers to join the party.As part of its annual developer conference on Friday, Roblox is announcing plans to debut ads next year, marking the company's first significant effort to diversify its business beyond virtual goods in games. Prior to the rollout, Roblox said it will be testing ads with unspecified developers and brands by the end of this year.related investing newsManuel Bronstein, Roblox's chief product officer, said the company has already tried out some online ads with brands like Warner Bros. and Vans. The ads were displayed in an experimental ad format that Roblox referred to as "portals," he said. He also said the company remains committed to its core business, which allows gamers to spend real money on the virtual currency Robux that can be used to level up and buy items in games. "We have an amazing transactional economy, and we will continue to invest in it," Bronstein said. He characterized the company's push into online ads as a "good strategic bet" that's "early" in its development.Roblox debuted on the New York Stock Exchange in March 2021, and saw its market cap swell past $80 billion in November, as investors poured into high-growth tech stocks. But this year's economic slowdown has punished those businesses, with Roblox losing 60% of its value in 2022. In August, Roblox reported second-quarter financials that missed on both the top and bottom lines, and revenue growth slowed to 30% from more than 100% a year earlier. The company said in its quarterly filing that it generates "substantially all of our revenue" from the sale of Robux. Roblox CEO David Baszucki told CNBC in February that the company has "many opportunities to increase monetization" and he cited advertising and 3D immersive shopping as potential areas for growth. To date, the company has focused on "creating a safe and civil platform" and growing its daily active user base, Baszucki said.Roblox describes its upcoming ad offering as immersive ads, though there's not yet a standard format for how they will appear. Bronstein speculated that future ads in the metaverse — an online world where people socialize, work and learn — could resemble digital billboards that people can use to buy goods like shoes, or even branded digital coffee cups.In the portal ad tests, when users interact with the brand, they can be automatically transported to the company's virtual Roblox community, Bronstein said. At this stage, companies are just trying to understand how ads can function in Roblox and other metaverses.Regarding Warner Bros. and its recent Roblox test, Bronstein said "they were fascinated by the results."Roblox is jumping into online ads during a period of turbulence in the market. Meta's Facebook business and Snap have been particularly hurt by Apple's privacy changes in iOS, which make targeting more difficult. The economic slowdown has led a number of companies to pull back on ad spending, and TikTok's emergence has added a new avenue to the mix. Meanwhile, Amazon and Apple are bolstering their ad businesses, as companies that rely on those platforms are spending more money to get in front of consumers.With that backdrop, Roblox will have to prove its value before brands will open their wallets in any meaningful way. Businesses could use their metaverse ads "as connections with the real world," Bronstein said. For instance, a company's branded digital item could function like "a coupon to go buy something at a store" in the physical world.Roblox faces the additional challenge of serving ads on an app that's predominantly used by kids. All Roblox ads will be labeled as "immersive ads" and children under the age of 13 will not be able to interact with them, the company said. The company is also adding more guidelines to let parents and children know which virtual experiences are suited for certain age groups based on criteria like violence. In addition to ads, Roblox is debuting other new features, including a tool to help users more easily discover virtual worlds and experiences that may be of interest to them, as well as chatting features, more immersive avatars that include facial animations and other tools for creators.In the second quarter, Roblox's daily active user count climbed 21% from a year earlier to 52.2 million.WATCH: Metaverse faces hardware headwinds for VR future
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Sony will launch its PS VR2 headset on February 22nd priced at $549.99. The PS VR2 will be priced at $549.99 in the US, €599.99 across Europe, £529.99, and ¥74,980 in Japan. The VR headset itself will include Sense controllers and stereo headphones, but a Sense controller charging station will be available separately, priced at $49.99 (€49.99 / £39.99 / ¥5,480).Preorders for the PS VR2 will begin on November 15th, limited to Sony’s PlayStation online store in many markets including the US, UK, France, and Germany. Games, including Horizon Call of the Mountain, will also be available to preorder later this month.The PS VR2 headset is a major upgrade over the original, with an OLED screen, a 110-degree field of view, and 4K HDR support. It also supports up to 120Hz for smoother frame rates and gameplay. The VR headset has four cameras built into the front of the display, so you won’t have to set up external cameras to follow your movements.Sony’s PS VR2 headset. Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The VergeThe new orb-shaped PS VR2 Sense controllers include adaptive triggers and haptic feedback, much like the DualSense and can also detect finger touches. “We’ve created the PS VR2 headset with comfort in mind, in a slightly slimmer and lighter design compared to our previous headset,” says Isabelle Tomatis VP of brand, hardware, and peripherals at Sony Interactive Entertainment. “We’ve also included an integrated vent for extra air flow, and a lens adjustment dial for a more customized feel.”We were impressed with our initial hands-on with the PlayStation VR2, with my colleague Jay Peters describing it as a major upgrade and an improved single-cable setup. Sony has announced 11 new games for the PS VR2 today:The Dark Pictures: Switchback VRCities VR EnhancedCrossfire: Sierra SquadThe Light BrigadeCosmonious HIghHello Neighbor Search & RescueJurassic World Aftermath CollectionPistol Whip VRZenith: The Last CityAfter the FallTentacular
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Are you excited about Apple possibly launching an augmented reality headset? Tim Cook sure is. You probably already figured that, since Cook has offered his thoughts on AR on several occasions. And he’s doing it again, this time on China Daily, a state-run news outlet in China. In an interview, Cook says he “could not be more excited about the opportunities in the [AR] space. Sort of stay tuned and you will see what we have to offer.” Cook also points out that AR development is in the “very early innings” and that Apple’s App Store has “over 14,000 ARKit apps.” A transcript of the AR portion of the interview is posted below. The rest of the interview is about Cook’s thoughts on the Chinese developers and innovation. China Daily: Chinese consumers are highly enthusiastic about VR and AR technologies but some of them are not very satisfied with products currently available on the market. So what do you think are the key factors for AR products such as AR headsets to succeed in the consumer market?Tim Cook: That is a great question. I am incredibly excited about AR as you might know. And the critical thing to any techology including AR is putting humanity at the center of it. And that is what we focus on every day.Right now, as an example, we have over 14,000 ARKit apps in the App Store which provide AR experiences for millions of people around the world. But I think despite that we’re still in the very early innings of how this technology will evolve. I couldn’t be more excited about the opportunities we see in this space. And sort of stay tuned and you’ll see what we have to offer. Some may consider this confirmation by Cook that an AR headset is coming sooner than later, even though Cook doesn’t explicitly say so. Cook’s statement is a little more emphatic than what he has said in the past–and Cook has been talking up AR for a long time. In 2016, Cook said that we “will have AR experiences every day” but that AR poses some “really hard technology challenges.” Then the AR headset rumors trickled out for a while but picked up in the past couple of years, and references to realityOS (the supposed headset OS) appear in Mac products, and development has gained more momentum, according to reports. There was speculation that realityOS would give us a sneak peek at a possible AR headset at WWDC earlier this month, but it didn’t happen. However, speculation remains high that we may see something later this year or early next, and these comments from Cook will only fuel that fire. Note: When you purchase something after clicking links in our articles, we may earn a small commission. Read our affiliate link policy for more details. Roman has covered technology since the early 1990s. His career started at MacUser, and he's worked for MacAddict, Mac|Life, and TechTV.
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Trying to boost your productivity with a second screen? Want more immersive gaming sessions? Multiple monitors can help. Dual displays are great for multitasking and are easy to set up, but there are a few things to consider before you wade into a multiscreen world—whether you're on Windows or Mac. Be sure to check out our advice on how to use a second monitor or screen with your laptop, and you can find recommendations for monitors, monitor arms, and desks in our Home Office Gear guide.If you buy something using links in our stories, we may earn a commission. This helps support our journalism. Learn more.How Many Monitors Can You Add?Most computers can run dual monitors. But if you want to add a third screen or use two 4K monitors, check that your device is capable first.Windows: The presence of several ports on your graphics card indicates it can likely handle multiple monitors. But you should check the maximum number of supported displays and resolutions. (You can see what graphics card you have by typing Device Manager into the Search bar, opening it, and then expanding Display adapters.) Visit the manufacturer’s website to find the specifications for your graphics card, and look for a section titled Display Support or something similar that will list this info.Mac: If you're adding monitors to a Mac, click on the Apple icon > About This Mac and double-click your serial number, then tap Command-C on your keyboard to copy it, go to Apple's website, and paste it into search. Click on Support to find the Technical Specifications and search for Video Support.What Size Screen Should You Get?You can mix and match the types of screens you have at your workstation, though you'll likely want some consistency. The most common monitor size is 24 inches, but 27-inch screens are increasingly popular. Having the same size screens will be nice for symmetry. Just keep an eye on resolution when you buy. A 1080p screen on a 27-inch monitor might look too fuzzy. We dive into orientation and arrangements below, but consider different types of screen arrangements. My current preference is a 34-inch ultrawide screen paired with a 27-inch screen in portrait orientation. As the name suggests, ultrawides are really wide and can deliver the experience of two screens, minus the screen's bezel in between. Pairing it with a screen in portrait mode means you get enough space on the ultrawide to run two full-size browser windows side by side, plus a vertical screen on the side for apps that benefit from it, like Slack and email. Stands and VESA MountsMonitors come with a wide assortment stand designs. If you are going with the stand that comes in the box, check the measurements on the product page to ensure it'll fit nicely on your desk. Alternatively, you can mount your screen to your desk and get rid of the stand, freeing up a lot of space. (You can also freely move your screen to various angles and positions.) Many displays support the VESA mount system. There are different sizes, and monitor arms have a screen size range and maximum weight they can support. Always check whether the monitor's product page mentions VESA support, and note the VESA mount size. When you buy an arm mount, make sure it supports the screen size and weight of your new screen. Ports and CablesTo get the most from your computer and monitors, you'll need to think about which ports and cables to use. For Windows PCs, your choice is often HDMI vs. DisplayPort. Unfortunately, this isn’t as straightforward as you might expect. There are several versions of each connection type, each with different capabilities. For example, HDMI 2.1 supports up to 8K resolution at 120 Hz, DisplayPort 1.4 can deliver 8K at 60 Hz, and HDMI 2.0 is limited to 4K at 60 Hz.For laptops, you might be looking at Thunderbolt, Mini DisplayPort, or even USB-C. Sometimes you will need an adapter or USB hub to connect an external monitor.Check the technical specifications for your graphics card and monitor to find the best option for you. Remember that the card, monitor, and cable (and any adapters) you use must support the same technology and the same version. High-end monitors usually come with a selection of cables in the box, but some manufacturers annoyingly provide a single option that might not match the monitor’s top capability.It pays to do a little homework when shopping for HDMI cables, or any cable for that matter. Choose those with proper certification from the relevant bodies for DisplayPort, HDMI, Thunderbolt, or USB. If a cable is certified, it will deliver a certain level of performance, but there will likely be differences in durability and warranty. Don’t just grab the cheapest one that supports your chosen version. Read the reviews and make sure there are no issues. For example, DisplayPort cables typically have a mechanical latch that prevents them from being tugged out easily. I have had terrible trouble with cheap DisplayPort cables getting stuck in ports. This one has worked well for me, and we recommend this HDMI cable in our guide on choosing the right TV. I also recommend measuring, rather than estimating, the length of cable you need before you buy, particularly if you use a standing desk. Arrangement and OrientationWindows via Simon HillWith your monitors and cables plugged in and ready to go, it's time to fire up your computer. Your new monitor will probably be recognized automatically, but you will want to tinker with the settings. Here’s how:Windows: Right-click on your desktop and choose Display Settings (you can also click Start > Settings > System > Display). You should see your displays numbered here, and you can click on Identify to see which is which. If your new display hasn’t turned up, try clicking Detect. You can simply click and drag your displays in this view to position them the way you want and match their physical orientation. Doing so will make it feel much more natural when you move your mouse from one screen to the other. Scroll down for options to set the main display, tweak resolutions, change orientation, and more.You can also access these settings and sometimes more on a Windows computer by opening your graphics control panel (Nvidia Control Panel or AMD Radeon Settings, for example).Mac: Click the Apple icon > System Preferences > Displays, and on your main display, click Arrangement. Click and drag displays into the position you want, matching their physical orientation. If you can’t see your new display, click the Detect Displays button (press the Option key if you don't see it). You will want to choose Extend Display (there is a Mirror Display option, too). That should be it, although you can change the resolution by selecting the Scaled option and choosing the one you want.Tips for Multiple MonitorsWindows via Simon HillHere are a few final tips to help you get the most from your dream multiple monitor setup.Experiment with display settings in Windows or MacOS, or via your graphics card control panel, to try to match up the brightness and color settings for your monitors.Windows will automatically extend your task bar across your monitors, but you can tweak its appearance and behavior. Right-click the task bar, and choose Taskbar settings to make changes. If you scroll down, there’s a Multiple displays section.With an expanse of screen, it can feel like you are dragging your mouse for ages, so study these handy keyboard shortcuts to make your life easier.A wallpaper to display across your monitors can tie everything together nicely. On Windows, find and save a high-resolution wallpaper or photo you want to use and then right-click on the desktop and choose Personalize. Choose your picture and then select the Fit you want (Span is usually best for multiple monitors). On Macs, you'll have to cut the images up and apply them to each screen, or you can use an app like Fresco.If you find that you keep losing your mouse pointer, you can find it by pressing the CTRL key on a Windows computer (if it doesn’t work, go to Settings > Devices > Mouse > Additional mouse options > Pointer Options, and tick the box that says Show location of pointer when I press the CTRL key). On a Mac, just rapidly and continuously move your mouse (or finger on a trackpad) back and forth, left to right, and the pointer will grow bigger.Special offer for Gear readers: Get a 1-Year Subscription to WIRED for $5 ($25 off). This includes unlimited access to WIRED.com and our print magazine (if you'd like). Subscriptions help fund the work we do every day.More Great WIRED Stories📩 The latest on tech, science, and more: Get our newsletters!The infinite reach of Facebook's man in WashingtonOf course we're living in a simulationA big bet to kill the password for goodHow to block spam calls and text messagesThe end of infinite data storage can set you free👁️ Explore AI like never before with our new database✨ Optimize your home life with our Gear team’s best picks, from robot vacuums to affordable mattresses to smart speakers
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The Acer Predator Triton 500 SE is not a budget gaming laptop by any stretch. It starts at $2,100, but the top-end configuration reviewed here is a little under $3,000. While this is cheaper than just about any competitors with its specs, this isn't an entry-level machine. It's for a gamer who wants the raw power of a desktop machine with the portability a laptop provides. And, as someone who's a desktop PC gamer, I've been amazed at how well it does in some areas and shocked by how bad it is in others. LikeBright and crisp displayPower in every cornerPorts galoreDecent price for the configuration Don't LikeRuns incredibly hotTouchpad feels cheap While the outside of the 500 SE is rather plain, when you open the lid you are welcomed by a beautiful backlit RGB keyboard. The keys are well-spaced and typing on them is surprisingly nice. I spent a couple of days using it as my work computer and I wasn't disappointed by the experience. The keys also feel soft and offer great travel, and the keyboard doesn't feel rubbery as some do after a while. Acer even added dedicated media controls and a PredatorSense button that brings up the overclocking system whenever you need it. And the additions don't make the keyboard feel cramped, which can often happen when you shoehorn in extra keys. Acer Predator Triton 500 SE (2022) Price as reviewed $3,000 Display size/resolution 16-inch 2,560x1,600 display (240Hz) CPU 5GHz Intel Core i9-12900H Memory 32GB LPDDR5 SDRAM Graphics 16GB Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 Ti graphics Storage 1TB PCIe NVMe SSD Networking Killer Wireless Wi-Fi 6E AX1675, Killer Ethernet E3100 10/100/1000, Bluetooth 5.2 Operating system Microsoft Windows 11 Home Ports SD 7.0 cardreader, 2 USB 3.2 Gen 2, 2 Thunderbolt 4, HDMI 2.1, DC-in, RJ45, Audio Jack One of my biggest bugbears when it comes to gaming laptops over the years is the touchpad. While the 500 SE has a glass-topped touchpad that feels smooth under your hands, the functionality is just not there. The pad itself works fine if you tap the top, but pressing it feels cheap and awkward. It pushes down too far and often doesn't register the click when I do press it. In the end, I stopped using it and used my Razer Naga Pro gaming mouse instead. The only positive with the touchpad is the built-in fingerprint reader, which makes it easy to log in to your laptop securely using Windows Hello. The PredatorSense key was helpful while I tracked heat buildup. James Bricknell/CNET The display is something of a joy, though. The 2,560x1,600-resolution display is 16:10 rather than 16:9, which I appreciate. I know it isn't a massive difference, but the taller screen lets it fit in the bottom bar without sacrificing gaming real estate, so it's a welcome shift. Visuals are crisp and clean, as you would expect from a 240Hz panel with a max brightness of 500 nits. I found the brightness on this screen held up in most lighting conditions short of direct sunlight. When it comes to gaming performance, the Triton 500 SE is pretty much the cream of the crop in this price range. It's worth mentioning that the 500 SE has more memory and a better processor than the rest of the machines tested in our benchmarks, but the cost is equal to or lower than other offerings in this space. For example, we recently reviewed the Razer Blade 15, and while it's more expensive it failed to beat the 500 SE in any of our tests. This makes the 500 SE something of a bargain for a high-end gaming laptop, even at $3,000. (The 2022 Triton 500 SE isn't currently available in the UK or Australia, but the price of my review laptop converts to roughly £2,525 or AU$4,450.) All of the games I played, from first-person shooters like Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and Destiny 2 to strategy games like Civilization 6, worked beautifully. Graphically they looked fantastic of course -- with an Nvidia RTX 3080 Ti graphics card you would expect nothing less -- but even on high or ultra settings I experienced no lag or slowdown, even when the screen was filled with enemies and particle effects. Clearly, the 500 SE was born to play games and it does it with the ease and skill you would expect from a powerhouse like this. Playing Sea of Thieves as rendered by the 3080 GPU was a pleasure. James Bricknell/CNET Playing games on battery power is a different experience, though. As you can see from our battery drain test, the 500 SE isn't the best or worst, though the battery will drain much faster when gaming. That's normal and I managed to get around 1 hour, 10 minutes, before the battery dropped to 10% and I was forced to plug it back in. The Acer uses MUX switching technology to swap between the power-hungry RTX 3080 GPU and the more energy-efficient integrated graphics. It works great if you're not looking to play graphics-intensive games on battery power, but the moment you switch to using only the 3080 your gaming minutes are numbered. These numbers are a little too high to want to keep this sitting in my lap. James Bricknell/CNET Whether you've got it on battery or running off its power brick, one thing is certain: The 500 SE has a heating problem. While Acer speaks of its "fifth-generation AeroBlade 3D fans" and "liquid metal thermal grease" I've never used a laptop that runs this hot. After three hours of playing Civilization 6, the system temperature reached 82 Celsius or a whopping 180 degrees Fahrenheit -- enough to make a decent cup of green tea. The entire laptop got so hot that using the touchpad made my wrist uncomfortable to the point of pain. I dread to think what it would be like with the lid closed and attached to a monitor. If you're going to play games on this for long sessions you will want to keep it on a desk and as cool as possible. Certainly don't play for long sessions with the laptop in your actual lap. That will get uncomfortable very quickly. A warning label is never a good sign. James Bricknell/CNET Heating issues aside, I've really enjoyed my time with the Acer Predator Triton 500 SE gaming laptop (though I think that name is ridiculous). If I'm going to spend $3,000 on a laptop I want it to run anything I can throw at it with equal ease and the 500 SE can do just that. In addition to gaming, I used the laptop for photo editing and rendering 3D models that I've designed and it easily handled both tasks, often simultaneously, something that even my custom-designed PC struggles to do. Gaming on the 500 SE was an excellent experience (apart from the excessive heat and the touchpad, of course). I was pleasantly surprised by how crisp the screen was, and even when I hooked it up to my old 70Hz monitor everything ran smooth as butter. While the battery life is pretty poor when using the discrete graphics card, having the option to switch between it and the onboard graphics on the fly is a huge bonus. It means you can use your laptop for browsing and streaming and get relatively good battery life, then plug it in when you're ready for a big gaming session. Just keep it on the table or you might burn your biscuits. Geekbench 5 (multicore) Acer Predator Triton 500 SE (2022) 13,734 Razer Blade 15 (2022) 9,861 HP Victus 16 9,352 Acer Nitro 5 AN515-58 8,443 Dell Inspiron 16 Plus (7610) 7,601 Note: Longer bars indicate better performance Cinebench R20 CPU (multicore) Acer Predator Triton 500 SE (2022) 17,511 Acer Nitro 5 AN515-58 13,583 Razer Blade 15 (2022) 11,224 Dell Inspiron 16 Plus (7610) 10,412 HP Victus 16 9,888 Note: Longer bars indicate better performance PCMark 10 Pro Edition Acer Predator Triton 500 SE (2022) 7,762 Razer Blade 15 (2022) 7,029 Acer Nitro 5 AN515-58 6,950 Dell Inspiron 16 Plus (7610) 6,265 HP Victus 16 6,229 Note: Longer bars indicate better performance Streaming video playback battery drain test (minutes) Dell Inspiron 16 Plus (7610) 611 Acer Predator Triton 500 SE (2022) 344 HP Victus 16 313 Razer Blade 15 (2022) 305 Acer Nitro 5 AN515-58 277 Note: Longer bars indicate better performance System configurations Razer Blade 15 (2022) Microsoft Windows 11 Home; 2.4GHz Intel Core i7-12800H; 16GB DDR5 4,800MH; 8GB Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070Ti; 1TB SSD HP Victus 16 Microsoft Windows 11 Home; 2.3GHz Intel Core i7-11800H; 16GB DDR4 3,200MHz; 6GB Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060; 512GB SSD Dell Inspiron 16 Plus (7610) Microsoft Windows 11 Home; 2.3GHz Intel Core i7-11800H; 16GB DDR4 3,200MHz; 4GB Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050; 512GB SSD Acer Predator Triton 500 SE (2022) Microsoft Windows 11 Home; 2.9GHz Intel Core i9-12900H; 32GB DDR5 4,800MHz; 16GB Nvidia Geforce RTX 3080Ti; 1TB SSD Acer Nitro 5 AN515-58 Microsoft Windows 11 Home; 2.5GHz Intel Core i5-12500H; 16GB DDR4 3,200MHz; 6GB Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060; 512GB SSD
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Gaming & VR
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A lot has happened in the world of VR during the past few months, and the Oculus Quest 2 is now more powerful than ever—especially when you enhance it with game-changing accessories. When you have a gaming system that’s this good, you have to ask yourself: Can you make it even better? You sure can if you consider adding any of these products we’ve identified as the best Oculus Quest 2 accessories available in 2022. Delve into fantastic VR worlds using the Oculus Quest 2 headset. Oculus What’s great about the Oculus Quest 2 (check out our review) is that it’s inexpensive, easy to use, completely portable and able to play extremely immersive PC-caliber games. It’s also great for experiencing VR-based workouts and other simulated activities, like playing golf or fishing. Whether you are looking for a more comfortable headset fit, a way to play PC VR games from Steam, accessories that’ll make certain types of games even more realistic, or an easy option for making your controllers rechargeable, a vast selection of options are available right now. Check out this list of 15 Oculus Quest 2 accessories and discover exactly what’s missing from your VR universe. Best Safety Mat For Oculus Quest 2: ProxiMat VR Space Station Theo Best Oculus Quest 2 Headphones: Logitech G333 VR Gaming Earphones Best Oculus 2 Charging Cable: Oculus Link Cable Best Oculus Quest 2 Controller Grip: AMVR Touch Controller Grip Cover Best Oculus Quest 2 Charging Dock: Anker Charging Dock For Oculus Quest 2 Best Oculus Quest 2 Head Strap: Oculus Quest 2 Elite Strap Best Prescription Eyeglass Lenses for Oculus Quest 2: VirtuClear Oculus Prescription Lenses Best Oculus Quest 2 Carrying Case: Oculus Quest 2 Carrying Case Best Weighted Gloves For VR Aerobics And Kickboxing: Nayoya Weighted Gloves Best Oculus Quest 2 Face Pad: Facial Interface & Foam Replacement Set For Quest 2 Best Compact Power Bank For Oculus Quest 2: WYWY Wide Smart Power Bank For Oculus Quest 2 Best Oculus Quest 2 Gun Accessory For Shooting Games: Crossmeta Oculus Pistol And Rifle Bundle For Quest 2 Best Oculus Quest 2 Fishing Reel: Oculus Quest Finish Reel Adapter Best Quest 2 Head Strap and Battery Pack Bundle: BOBOVR Battery Pack Head Strap and Charging Dock Combo Best Safety Mat For Oculus Quest 2
Stay Within Your Real-World Gaming Area While Immersed In VR Amazon ProxiMat VR Space Station Theo VR Mat When you get too close to the edge of your play area, your Quest displays the Guardian boundary to keep you from running into a wall. But seeing that grid appear too often ruins the sense of immersion within your VR experience. ProxiMat offers a better solution. It’s a floor mat that delivers tactile feedback to keep you within the play area. The anti-fatigue foam helps you feel where you are in the room. It’s also much more comfortable than playing on a hardwood floor. Plus, it offers a pair of raised buttons to help you orient yourself using your feet. Proximat offers several versions of its mat. In addition to this 35-inch diameter model, you can get a smaller “travel” version or a wide, dog bone-shaped pad designed for fitness games, like Supernatural and Beat Saber. Best Oculus Quest 2 Headphones
These Earphones Offer Enhanced Sound Quality Amazon Logitech G333 VR Gaming Earphones for Quest 2 Not everyone loves the audio built into the Oculus Quest 2. The speakers are weak and sound thin. In fact, almost any pair of headphones you plug into the VR headset’s audio jack will sound better. But external headphones are clumsy and are not too comfortable when you’re already wearing a VR headset. There’s a much better option in Logitech’s aluminum-clad G333 VR gaming earphones. They’re optimized specifically for the Quest 2. Not only do these earphones sound great, but thanks to the silicone-tipped earbuds, they help isolate you by blocking outside sounds and ambient noise. Their best feature, however, is that the wires for the left and right ear are ideal lengths to reach each side, so you don’t have to contend with a lot of extra cabling getting in your way. Best Oculus Quest 2 Charging Cable
Easily Connect Your Quest 2 With Your PC Perhaps the Quest 2’s most compelling feature is that you can use it both as a standalone all-in-one VR headset, but also connect it to a Windows PC to play PC VR games originally intended for other headsets, like the HTC Vive. All you need is a long Oculus Link-compatible USB cable. Well, you don’t get more compatible than Oculus’s own official cable. This 16-foot cable has a fiber optic core. It offers the bandwidth to play any PC VR game with your Quest 2 headset. That said, this cable requires a USB-C connection on your computer (it doesn’t come with a USB-A adapter). Unfortunately, it’s pretty expensive as well, but the added gaming experiences it allows are worth it. forbes.comOculus Promo Codes | Deals From $9.99 In July 2022 | ForbesBest Oculus Quest 2 Controller Grip
Maintain A Steady Grip On Your Quest 2 Controllers Amazon AMVR Touch Controller Grip Cover We’ve all seen those funny videos and memes on social media featuring people accidentally throwing their handheld gaming controllers through their TV or crashing one through a window. Unless you remember to don the wrist strap, the same thing can happen with your Quest 2 controllers—especially in high-energy games like Beat Saber or Sports Scramble. Here’s an antidote: AMVR’s Touch Controller Grip Covers wrap around your controllers and provides a grippy, textured sleeve made of TPU plastic. Using these grip covers, you can be the star of your favorite VR games—not the star of a viral meme video that makes fun of people who accidentally throw their controllers and cause damage. Best Oculus Quest 2 Charging Dock
Organize And Charge Your Headset And Controllers Simultaneously
MOST POPULAR Oculus Anker Charging Dock for Oculus Quest 2 Anker’s Charging Dock for the Quest 2 is more than it appears. Yes, it’s a cool-looking stand that holds your headset and controllers. In addition, it automatically charges your headset, so your Quest 2 is always topped off and ready for action. Best of all, it also charges your controllers. What’s that, you say? You can’t recharge the Quest controllers because they run on AA batteries? Anker solves that by providing rechargeable batteries for the controllers, along with replacement covers for the controller that have charging ports that slip into the dock. Overall, this is an elegant solution for anyone who spends a lot of time using their Quest. It keeps everything organized and charged up automatically so you'll never need to replace the batteries in your controllers again. Best Oculus Quest 2 Head Strap
Use This Strap To Make Your VR Headset More Comfortable Amazon Oculus Quest 2 Elite Strap There are a lot of replacement straps out there for the Quest 2, which isn’t surprising given how uncomfortable the stock strap is. Oculus’s own Quest 2 Elite Strap is one of the best upgrades you can give yourself. The strap features a rigid support for the back of your head that enhances stability, and the wheel in the back lets you ratchet up the tension to achieve the perfect fit. Also, be aware that Oculus offers a version of the Elite Strap with an integrated battery that can extend your playing time. Best Prescription Eyeglass Lenses For Oculus Quest 2
See VR Realms Clearly With Custom Prescription Lenses FramesDirect VirtuClear VR Prescription Lenses While it’s certainly possible to wear prescription eyeglasses or contact lenses in conjunction with your Oculus Quest 2, with eyeglasses, it’s not especially comfortable (depending on your frame design). Playing without glasses is liberating, and you can experience that for yourself by adding a prescription lens adapter to your headset. There are now a few companies which offer this service, but FramesDirect.com seems to be able to fulfill the widest range of prescription lenses. Once you order the replacement lenses, you'll be asked to provide a digital copy of your current eyeglass prescription (from your optometrist). The price starts at $80. Each pair is custom-crafted from 1.6 Hi-Index Essilor lenses. They’re lightweight and come treated with an anti-glare coating. Installation is very simple. Keep in mind, these are Single Vision prescription lenses, so are available with a Sphere (SPH) range between 0 and -8.0 and a Cylinder (CYL) range between 0 and -2.0, which should accommodate most prescription eyeglass wearers. Best Oculus Quest 2 Carrying Case
Travel With Your Quest 2 In Style Using This Case Amazon Oculus Quest 2 Carrying Case Do you take your Quest on the road? Well, you probably need some sort of case to carry it and its controllers. When it comes to carrying cases, it’s hard to beat the quality, simplicity and durability of Oculus’s official version. The hardshell exterior will protect the headset from abuse, while the interior has custom molding to accommodate the headset, controllers, power adapter and charging cable. And don’t worry if you’ve upgraded to the Elite Strap—this case will fit the headset and any head strap with room to spare. Best Weighted Gloves For VR Aerobics And Kickboxing
Add Weighted Resistance To Your VR Workouts These gloves each weigh one pound and are ideal for use when participating in VR experiences that involve cardio aerobics or kickboxing. The gloves add extra intensity to your workout, but they’re easy to put on and remove via their adjustable velcro straps. By adding resistance to your workouts, these gloves help with hand speed, coordination and improving your endurance. They’ll also help to strengthen and tone your arms and shoulders. If you’re fitness minded, these are a low-tech add-on for your high-tech VR headset. Best Oculus Quest 2 Face Pad
Here’s A Low-Cost Option To Make Your VR Headset Comfy Amazon VR Cover Facial Interface & Foam Replacement Set If you don’t like how the Oculus 2 headset feels around your face (especially your nose area), or it slips whenever your forehead starts to sweat, there’s an easy solution. Attach this optional face cover interface with foam replacement for the headset, and you’ll experience greater comfort while keeping your VR equipment cleaner and sweat-free. You’ll discover that the anti-fog airflow channels will keep you cool for longer, while the soft foams give your face the hug it deserves. Best Compact Power Bank For Oculus Quest 2
More Battery Power Means Longer Gaming Sessions Amazon WYWY Wide Power Bank for Oculus Quest 2 One of the biggest complaints Oculus Quest 2 users have is the relatively short life of the headset’s internal rechargeable battery pack. Well, there’s a low-cost solution that’ll extend your gaming time and only add minimal weight to the headset. Check out this optional, 5,000 mAh high-capacity, ultra-lightweight power pack. It weighs a mere 0.2 pounds, but will provide you with up to two extra hours of playtime per charge. As you can see, using its own mount, it securely clips to the side of the headset. Best Oculus Quest 2 Gun Accessory For Shooting Games
This Pistol And Rifle Combo Is A Must For Shooting Games Amazon CROSSMETA Pistol and Rifle Bundle for Quest 2 When it comes to experiencing realism in VR shooting games, why just stick with run-of-the-mill handheld controllers? Instead, connect either the CrossMeta pistols or rifle attachment (both are included with this bundle) to your controllers for a more realistic, immersive and accurate shooting experience. Keep in mind, both the pistol and rifle controller attachments are made of lightweight plastic, so you won’t get the sensation of holding a real weapon in your hand from a weight or metallic feel standpoint, but the shape of these virtual weapons do add to the realism of the shooting games you’ll play. With practice, they’ll also help enhance your aiming accuracy. Best Oculus Quest 2 Fishing Reel Accessory
Reel In Realism When Virtually Fishing Etsy Oculus Quest Fishing Reel Adapter This clever ETSY seller has created and now sells a handcrafted fishing reel and six-inch extension pole, with is the perfect addition to your Oculus Quest 2 for when you’re experiencing fishing simulations. Available in black or white, the reel is made from premium PLA Pro filament, steel screws, steel sealed bearings and custom-printed nylon washers. As a result, everything spins very smoothly. The designer also added small rubber pads on the part of the reel that goes through your right-hand fingers, which makes it extra comfortable during extended play sessions. Best Quest 2 Head Strap and Battery Pack Bundle
Snag This Popular Accessories Bundle At Discounted Price Good Value Amazon BOBOVR Battery Pack, Head Strap And Charging Dock Combo The folks at BOBOVR have researched what’s lacking from the Oculus Quest 2 and now offer a low-priced bundle featuring two main accessories that’ll enhance your overall VR experience. This bundle includes a 5200mah single battery pack (which weighs 4.94 ounces) that’ll add up to three hours to your gameplay time, along with a replacement head strap that'll enhance your comfort while playing during those extended sessions. The battery attaches to the headset magnetically, offering you a cable-free solution for extended playtime. When you’re done, you can simply pop the battery off and plug it in to charge independently, but with this bundle, you can charge the battery, headset and an extra battery in one fell swoop. While it’s a bit on the bulky side, the headset itself is also one of the most comfortable and easiest to use you’ll find.
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Gaming & VR
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The new Nintendo Direct isn't the only video game stream happening this Tuesday. Sony is also airing a new State of Play broadcast on Sept. 13, the company announced. The stream will run for roughly 20 minutes and will highlight a number of upcoming releases for PS5, PS4 and the upcoming VR headset, PSVR 2.Here's everything you need to know about tomorrow's State of Play.What time is the State of Play?The State of Play airs on Sept. 13 at 3 p.m. PT. The stream is slated to run for approximately 20 minutes. How to watch the State of PlaySony is streaming Tuesday's State of Play on the official PlayStation YouTube and Twitch channels. You can also tune in right here on CNET when the stream begins and watch it live below.
What to expectSony hasn't revealed many details about Tuesday's State of Play beyond its runtime. However, the company did confirm the stream will focus on 10 upcoming games from its "amazing Japanese partners and developers all around the world." The featured titles will span PS5, PS4 and PSVR 2.More on PlayStationBest PS5 Gaming Headsets for 2022PS5 Revamp Cuts Weight and Power ConsumptionThe 14 Best PS5 Games You Can Play Right NowThe Best PS4 Games for 2022
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Gaming & VR
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Screenshot: MetaMeta CEO Mark Zuckerberg kicked off the company’s Meta Connect conference today with expected, but still highly anticipated news: The company’s next virtual reality headset will be called the Meta Quest Pro, and will also be the first Quest product to offer a mixed reality experience, bringing the metaverse and the real world together.OffEnglishAs the name implies, the Meta Quest Pro isn’t going to be a replacement for the $400 Meta Quest 2, but a more advanced alternative that’s geared towards productivity and social applications in VR —instead of just fun, games, and unique 360-degree experiences— facilitated through significantly upgraded hardware.Screenshot: MetaThe Meta Quest Pro looks sleeker than the Meta Quest 2—almost like a pair of ski goggles—for a couple of reasons. For starters, it now uses a curved cell battery situated on the back of the user’s head, integrated into the head strap, which should also provide a more balanced feel when worn. That’s a good thing, because the Pro is quite a bit heavier than its predecessor, at 722 grams compared to 503 grams.The pancake lenses on the Quest Pro are also now 40% thinner than the lenses used on the Quest 2, and allow the wearer to physically see the room they’re standing in at all times, making the Pro better suited as a work tool in the office. Being thin isn’t always a benefit here, as it also allows more ambient light to sneak in, so Meta is including a set of magnetic blinders that make the experience feel more like it does on the Quest 2.The headset’s Qualcomm’s Snapdragon XR2+ processor offers 50% more processing power with better thermal dissipation than the Quest 2, while the Quest Pro’s LCD display offers 37% more pixels per inch and 75% more contrast through the use of local dimming. For the first time, the Meta Quest Pro features a full color external-pointing RGB camera to bring real-life and real-time imagery of the user’s environment into the VR world they’re experiencing, which also facilitates mixed-reality experiences, like 3D avatars hanging out in your actual living room.The Quest Pro also features inward facing cameras tracking a user’s eyes and face, which not only makes it easier to ensure the headset is properly fitted, but facilitates foveated rendering, where fine details only need to be drawn where a user’s eyes are actually looking. And because Meta is determined to make its 3D avatars as believable as possible (or at the least, less creepy), the face-tracking cameras can be used to translate IRL facial expressions to 3D characters.Screenshot: MetaThe Quest Pro’s motion controllers have also gotten a major redesign. With the Quest 2, their motion was tracked using glowing LED rings, but the Pro’s controllers each feature multiple cameras capable of tracking their motion in 3D space all on their own, just like the headset does. This allows them to be smaller without the plastic halo of their predecessors, while a demand for AA batteries has been replaced with rechargeable batteries that, alongside the headset, can be all charged together at the same time on a new dock accessory.Screenshot: MetaThe Meta Quest Pro is available for pre-order starting today in 22 countries for $1,499 and shipping on October 25, but will only be available in a model that ships with 256GB of onboard storage—you can’t save a few bucks by opting for a model with less capacity that requires you to juggle content when you quickly fill out. Games and apps designed for the Meta Quest 2 are fully compatible with the Quest Pro, but the Pro will eventually feature some exclusive content that won’t be backwards compatible. However, you can order a set of the new Pro controllers for use with the Quest 2, but at $300, it’s a hefty upgrade.Also at Connect, Meta teased a new pair of AR glasses made in collaboration with Rayban. But details are still pending.This story is developing and will be updated as news unfolds.
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Gaming & VR
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Last week, I traveled to ancient Egypt. It was an easy trip -- no COVID tests, airport security lines or weather delays. I just climbed into a cinematic motion chair, strapped on a high-resolution VR headset and got swept into Queen Nefertari's lavish tomb, a labyrinth of chambers covered in vivid floor-to-ceiling paintings depicting the queen's life and times. A loquacious apparition of Nefertari herself, floating in midair and draped in a diaphanous blue gown, pointed out notable sights with a graceful sweep of her digital arms. Queen Nefertari takes VR visitors through the elaborate tomb in Egypt's Valley of the Queens built for her by her husband, Ramses II. World Heritage Exhibitions GIF by Meara Isenberg/CNET The absorbing virtual-reality experience is part of Ramses the Great and the Gold of the Pharaohs, a dazzling, tech-heavy exhibit at San Francisco's de Young Museum that illuminates the life and achievements of Ramses II. More than 3,300 years ago, the celebrated pharaoh ruled Egypt for 67 years during an era of great prosperity and empire for the country, and the exhibit has the epic Ramses II-era royal statues and gold burial masks to prove it. "The temples he erected, statues he commissioned, monuments he inscribed throughout Egypt and Nubia, and funerary temple and royal tomb he built were reminders of his earthly power and closeness to the gods," Renée Dreyfus, curator of ancient art at the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, said in a statement. "The proliferation of his name led to it becoming almost a synonym for kingship."The traveling show was curated by archaeologist Zahi Hawass, Egypt's former minister of antiquities, and runs at the de Young through Feb. 12, 2023 before continuing to London and Paris. It assembles more than 180 remarkably preserved ancient treasures from the time of Ramses II, as well as hundreds of years before and after him: sarcophagi, ornate tomb relics, beaded jewelry, a mongoose and cats, mummified and likely presented as an offering to the gods. Some of the objects have never before left Egypt. The exhibit also boasts its share of 21st-century flourishes to make 19th Dynasty details more tangible and accessible. Drone photography, for example, contributes imagery to a dynamic multimedia re-creation of one of Ramses the Great's biggest military victories, the Battle of Kadesh of 1275 BCE against the Hittite army of what's now Turkey. A multimedia display at San Francisco's de Young Museum re-creates one of Ramses II's biggest military victories, the Battle of Kadesh. World Heritage Exhibitions One gallery contains the elaborately decorated wooden outer coffin of an elite artisan who helped build and decorate royal tombs during the reign of Ramses II and his father, Seti I. Giant displays lining the gallery walls, and suspended from its ceiling, project the coffin's elaborately painted scenes as theatrically lit photo murals. Smaller displays hang above glass cases containing other ancient artifacts, to highlight every detail. In this era of immersive exhibits that can steep you in a painter's world through 65 million pixels, care must be taken not to let technology components overshadow the art, says Thomas P. Campbell, director and CEO of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco. "But if done right," Campbell told me, "the tech components will add helpful context and enhance the visitor experience, and can act as a bridge into art, an invitation for new audiences to connect with works of art in our galleries." Indeed, nothing turns up the immediacy here like the VR experience, which serves as a tantalizing time capsule to Egypt's famous Golden Age, courtesy of an HP Reverb G2 gaming headset. I've been on a few virtual-reality adventures, but none as multi-sensory as this one, which transports you through 360-degree sandstorms to reach two monuments Ramses II built for his beloved wife Nefertari.Comfy pod-chairs that twist, turn and shake make it almost impossible to believe you're not actually floating through the entrance to the massive rock-cut temples at Abu Simbel just like the digital representation of the queen. As I descended the steep steps of Nefertari's famed tomb into one of its chambers, I thought I might tumble out of my chair and down the stairs onto the stone floor. I constantly turned my head to catch the sights over both shoulders. A smell component even delivered quick rushes of six scents, including frankincense, lavender and gunpowder, via a small dispenser hardwired into the chair. Ahhh, the aromas of ancient Egypt. The cinematic motion chairs in Ramses + Nefertari: Journey to Osiris twist, turn and shake to give a sense of movement. World Heritage Exhibitions Virtual reality hasn't exactly become the mainstream technology some had predicted, but with the right equipment and software, VR can truly shine as an art form, especially in short experiences like this one, titled Ramses + Nefertari: Journey to Osiris and produced by World Heritage Exhibitions. "The VR experience serves an educational purpose, and really brings to life the stories, people and places that our visitors get acquainted with in the exhibition," Campbell said. "With a fun twist, of course."The dream-like experience lasted more than 10 minutes, and honestly, I didn't want it to end. Those who feel the same may be heartened to learn that part of the proceeds from exhibit tickets will help fund ongoing efforts to excavate and restore the 700-foot-long tomb of Ramses II. Ancient tomb raiders plundered it, and flooding later left it severely damaged.Archaeologist Zahi Hawass is leading a team that's working to restore the tomb of Ramses II, which was badly damaged by flooding. Zahi Hawass and World History Exhibitions
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Gaming & VR
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Facebook's parent company Meta is rolling out an expanded set of parental supervision tools for Instagram and Oculus VR headsets, the tech giant said Tuesday. Meta is expanding on the parental supervision features it unveiled in March, and adding new resources for parents that encourage dialogue to help foster positive online experiences for teens.For Quest VR headsets, Meta is rolling out features that allow parents and guardians to approve or deny downloads and purchases and block specific apps that may be inappropriate. Parents can also view things like their teen's headset screen time, apps downloaded to the device and a list of Oculus friends.On Instagram, Meta is giving parents and guardians the ability to send invitations to their teens to initiate supervision tools, set specific times when they'd like to limit their teen's screen time and view information related to when their teen reports an account or post. These expanded tools are available now in the US, and will be rolled out in the UK, Japan, Australia, Ireland, Canada, France and Germany later this month. Meta plans to roll the features out globally by the end of the year.Additionally, parents and guardians will be able to use "nudges" to encourage their teens to take a break or discover something new on Instagram if they notice their teens constantly consuming the same type of content on Explore.More to come.
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Gaming & VR
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