Wow, okay, so here’s the scoop from this wild week in AR/VR land. Trust me, this one’s got more twists than a pretzel factory on double time. First off, if you missed my chat with the brains behind Animal Company, you can still catch it. Seriously, those guys have more insights than Google Maps.
What’s HOT in AR/VR this Week?
Ever heard of Pico? Right, so Bytedance (yes, them) is cooking up a new mixed reality headset. They scrapped whatever the Pico 5 was supposed to be. Now, they’ve pivoted to something with the saucy codename “Swan.” Imagine a 100-gram headset that’s lighter than your phone. It hooks up with this “puck” thingy — which, honestly, I can’t decide if it’s genius or just plain annoying. Anyway, they’re in this mad dash against Meta, who’s pretty much doing the same thing with a headset named… get this… Puffin. Swans vs. Puffins. It’s like the nature channel, but geekier.
Meanwhile, Meta’s Up to Its Old Tricks
Meta’s out here flexing new headset prototypes with an insane field of view (FOV, get it?). They’ve cooked up some gizmo with fancy “reflective polarizers” — whatever that means. All I know is, they’re claiming this headset can see more of the world, even more than my ex did on Instagram. But, will it hit stores? God knows.
HTC’s Mysterious Coordinates
HTC is playing it mysterious on social media. They’re teasing something new, but all they’ve given us are some cryptic coordinates. Spoiler alert: it’s Taipei 101. Why, you ask? HTC is based there. So, you can bet something’s brewing — maybe a headset, maybe an espresso machine. Anticipation is killing me.
Games Changing Gears
Brazen Blaze has flipped the script and gone free-to-play. It’s a gamble, honestly. In a world filled with cost-conscious kids who can’t afford the premium stuff, this might be genius. Or a flop. It’s a roll of the dice, really. These games survive on in-app purchases, and truth is, not all of them can pull it off. Crossing my fingers for this one.
VR Innovations & Uses
Then there’s Alex and The Jets, jumping from mixed reality to VR because, hey, Quest 2 users deserve some love too. Mixed reality hasn’t quite hit its stride. Developers have to get creative to keep their lights on. Meta has been trying to nudge MR forward, but the market just ain’t biting.
Heard About Coray Air2?
There’s these new glasses called Coray Air2, launched by a Chinese company with silicon carbide tech. It’s ironic ‘cause, you know, silicon carbide’s a material America’s being stingy with. Yet, here it is in a Chinese pair of glasses. They’re shiny, they’re pricey—no word on if they’re worth the splurge.
Cool Gadgets & Tools
Oakley’s Meta smartglasses apparently beat Ray-Ban’s in comfort and quality. Also, Bigscreen has a new headset edition, very VRChat fan-specific. Oh, and VRChat now kinda supports something called Gaussian Splats via a community hack — don’t ask me to explain that one.
Tech for Developers & More
Meta’s offering something neat for VR developers: the Meta Runtime Optimizer. It’s like therapy for your VR app, spotting performance bottlenecks that make you want to pull your hair out. Plus, the Venice Immersive festival announced its XR projects lineup. Loads of creativity there.
Military & Sales Insights
There’s chatter about VR penetrating the military sector. A blog post splashes the details on that trend. And if you’re a gaming bargain hunter, PlayStation’s summer sale has slashed prices across some awesome VR titles — Metro Awakening, anyone?
Miscellaneous Madness
In random tidbits, Meta’s branching out into medicinal products. We may even see FreeAim VR shoes drop, if their Kickstarter hits the target. Varjo, not to be outdone, is pulling the plug on support for some headset models.
Final Nuggets & Giveaways
For a charitable twist, let’s talk donations. My blog won’t beg for funds this week, but the Red Cross needs help in Ukraine. Also, I’ve got a free Squishies game key for the fastest fingers out there. If it’s taken, hey, maybe throw some coins towards the devs. Good karma, right?
So there you have it! This week’s wild ride through the virtual worlds we love — messy, chaotic, and utterly human.
