Hey there, welcome back to the chaos of the AR/VR universe! And, oh boy, this week’s got more twists than a pretzel. Stick around, and you’ll get your hands on a giveaway key too! Missed my chat with the Animal Company crew? Don’t fret, the interview’s still floating around somewhere—full of juicy details on cracking the XR game world. Plus, they gave a sneaky peek at their next big thing!
Top News This Week That Made My Coffee Spill
So, yeah, Pico’s cooking up a new headset. Apparently, after tossing the Pico 5 blueprint, they’re now on the "Swan" project. Fancy name, huh? It’s this ultra-light mixed reality gadget tied to a computational puck. Sounds high-tech but bothers my brain strangely, like that tethering thing on Vision Pro. Plus, Zuck’s gang might be playing a similar round of gadget chess with their Puffin/Loma – whatever they call it today. Seriously, are tethers in vogue now, or are they just annoying folks like me?
Other Shenanigans in the XR World
Meta, oh Meta – unveiling these wild wide-FOV headset prototypes. They’re flaunting around at SIGGRAPH, and they’ve squeezed out this crazy 180-degree tech. Still don’t get half of the jargon, though—some “reflective polarizer” thingy. Cool, I guess? But will we ever see it outside a research lab? Who knows.
And HTC Vive, ever the tease, hinted at some new gizmo on social media. Coordinates landed smack on Taipei 101. So, maybe something’s buzzing over at HTC HQ. Product? Software? Your guess is as good as mine, really.
Oh, and remember Brazen Blaze? It’s joined the free-to-play club. Bold move in a teens-dominated world where in-app wallet drains reign supreme. Fingers crossed Meta’s helping them out.
Now, Alex And The Jets jumped onto VR too. It’s basically now the sad state of MR headsets on Quest. Numbers not looking great, let’s face it. Developers might just prefer plain ol’ VR instead after all.
A wild throw in—Coray Air2—now those glasses are boasting about being first with Silicon Carbide. A bit of a sarcastic twist since they’re China-made, given the material’s export restrictions. Ah, global ironies.
Crazy New Gadgets and Cool Releases
Speaking of gadgets—Bigscreen unveiled this special “VRChat Edition” headset in purple. Yes, purple. Plus, VRChat’s stirring things up with Gaussian Splats, thanks to community love. Gotta say, VRChat folks are always brewing something wild.
More Meta stuff again! They rolled out the Meta Runtime Optimizer tool for developers, helping hunt down those pesky performance bottlenecks. And, guess what, it’s not just for Meta setups!
And What About the Artsy and Sale-y Bits?
Venice Immersive’s picked out 69 cool XR projects. All global, all artsy. And, heads up, PlayStation’s annual summer sale is setting some VR titles rolling in discounts. Pretty cool, huh? Never hurts to snoop for a bargain.
Dive into TMNT new VR game concept art, or wait for Hidden Memories Of The Gardens Between’s latest soon-to-launch expansion. Frost Survival VR’s braving the cold landscape. A pirate game, an early access war machine sandbox, mixed reality ASMR app—seriously, the XR world’s bonkers right now.
Reviews? Yep, they rolled out too. World War Z VR getting some side-eye, while Jungle Man whimsically jungles up your room. Table Troopers did that Worms nostalgia thing, pretty neat.
Random News Flashes
From Meta’s med-world dreams to FreeAim VR shoes Kickstarter shenanigans, there’s a bit of everything. An editorial discussing AI and loneliness—perfect reading if you’re pondering the void.
And for some bonus content, I’ve got a free game key for Squishies. It’s a quirky puzzler that rolled onto Quest. Snap it up before it disappears like cookies at a bake sale.
Before I bounce out, all the XR learning courses on LearnXR are now free. So, props to Dilmer for the generous move! If only learning always came with a no-price tag, right?
Oh, and don’t forget the Red Cross—important stuff happening over in Ukraine.
Excited to see where XR winds blow next week! Until then, keep your VR goggles steady and your AR world as mixed up as possible.
