Apple’s Vision Pro: five months later
On this episode of The Vergecast, a look back — and forward — at Apple’s headset.
In its quest to build a cheaper headset, Apple has asked manufacturers for technical details needed to develop 2-inch or 2.1-inch displays with a pixel density of 1,700ppi (or about half the Vision Pro’s 3,386ppi), according to an Elec report cited by UploadVR yesterday.
Assuming the same aspect ratio, the outlet pegs the resolution “somewhere around 2600 x 2300,” or just over two-thirds that of the current headset.
The headset is now available to buy in China, Japan, and Singapore, with Apple documenting the international launch via a recent blog post.
The Apple Vision Pro will also roll out to Germany, France, Australia, the UK, and Canada on July 12th, with preorders for those regions available starting today at 5AM PT.
“Every person who I’ve shown it to so far is just like... their reaction is giddy,” CEO Mark Zuckerberg says in an interview. Perhaps at Meta Connect in September?
You can read more about Meta’s AR / VR roadmap in a report from last year by my colleague Alex Heath.
Game developer Creator just showed a new trailer for Starship Home, its augmented reality cosmic gardening sim for the Meta Quest 3, during the UploadVR Showcase. The game is up for preorder now at a discounted $17.99, with a “Summer 2024” release date, Meta announced.
Some jitteriness aside, I still think the game is promising in a casual Tamagotchi or Animal Crossing sort of way.
Sony is developing just two PSVR 2 games, Android Central reports. Two! That’s not a great sign.
If you already have a PSVR 2, you’ll be able to hook it up to your PC starting in August, so that might make it more useful. But mine has been in a closet for months, and still I don’t see a reason to take it out.
[Android Central]
Joking aside, Oculus and Anduril founder Palmer Luckey made good on his promise to announce a new head-mounted display during a talk at Augmented World Expo. He said little about the new project, though, except the quote above — and he suggested it’s still in the early stages.
Luckey also mentioned “adult entertainment” could be the most promising VR hardware niche for a small company, since mainstream companies won’t touch it. He emphatically did not say that’s what he’s working on here.
What’s in that case that says “Oculus Development Kit” in front of Oculus and Anduril founder Palmer Luckey, appearing beside Bigscreen VR’s Darshan Shankar and moderator Stephanie Riggs at Augmented World Expo? The new headset Luckey said he’d announce at AWE?
Nope! It’s exactly what you’d expect. A vintage 2013 DK1.
The feature has been limited to Apple’s Camera app since launch, but third-party apps will be able to record in the format starting later this year.
Meta forms new Wearables group and lays off some employees
Meta’s Reality Labs is undergoing its biggest restructuring in years by separating into two orgs: Wearables and Metaverse. A small number of employees have been laid off as a result.
Called the Logitech MX Ink, it will work on the Quest 2 and Quest 3, and can be used to draw in 2D on surfaces or 3D using “full 6DoF positional tracking,” according to UploadVR.
The MX Ink will have haptic feedback, pressure sensitivity, multiple buttons, and will support a double tap feature. Users will reportedly be able to seamlessly switch between it and Quest Touch controllers.
Previously an experimental feature, WebXR support is on by default for Vision Pro beta testers, RoadtoVR wrote last week. The open standard allows for VR and AR experiences on the web, such as those listed on this GitHub page.
However, the outlet writes that AR experiences do not seem to work quite yet, limiting it to fully-VR ones for now.
Just Dance VR: Welcome to Dancity — the first VR title in this popular dancing game series — will be available on October 15th for the Meta Quest 2, Meta Quest Pro, and Meta Quest 3.
Ubisoft says the game supports up to six dancers, and features customizable avatars, 25 songs, and a new social hub called “Dancity” where global players can interact with each other.
From Apple’s post-WWDC 2024 keynote release (emphasis mine):
visionOS 2 also adds mouse support for additional workflow options, and Vision Pro will now reveal the user’s physical Magic Keyboard — even when they are fully immersed in an Environment or app.
I can’t wait to see my keyboard floating in the clouds like Falkor from The Neverending Story when visionOS 2 comes out this fall.
A month ago, we got news that a new Batman: Arkham game was in the works, this time exclusively for the Meta Quest 3. Now, we have a brief trailer detailing a very bad July 4th in Gotham City. Unfortunately, Arkham Shadow still doesn’t have a release date — only that it will arrive in fall 2024.
Meta is hosting its Connect event on September 25th and 26th, where it will share announcements related to AI and mixed reality. This means we could get a look at the Quest 3S — a potentially more affordable version of the Quest 3 headset that Meta briefly listed on the Quest Store.
“Even Palmer would rather release a handheld than a VR HMD, just like Valve,” joked Valve watcher Brad Lynch, after seeing Luckey’s new Game Boy. (Valve context here.)
Luckey replied: “I am going to be announcing the fact that I am working on a new HMD at AWE!”
Augmented World Expo starts June 18th in Long Beach, California.
Three stores in New Jersey, California, and North Carolina will let you use a Vision Pro headset to visualize kitchen designs in virtual reality. The experience uses Lowe’s Style Studio app, which launched on the Vision Pro in February.
You can book a Vision Pro session on Lowe’s website. The store will also allow a “limited number” of walk-ins.
Job Simulator and Vacation Simulator have arrived on Apple’s Vision Pro headset, letting you stack up virtual sandwiches or soak up simulated rays. Both VR titles are now optimized for hand and eye-tracking, too.
Marvel says What If...? – An Immersive Story will have viewers (players?) casting spells, fighting battles with Marvel characters, and using the infinity stones. Judging from the trailer, that means making Doctor Strange’s magic sparks with your hands.
This edition of What If...? will be “free for a limited time” when the app is available on May 30th.