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XR Industry News of the Week – Oct. 4

By Bobby Voicu

I’ve been writing a newsletter for XR gamers for a while now, and I think some of the readers of the blog might appreciate the section with news about the industry (there are more news about Gaming and Entertainment, go here and subscribe).

This time, in particular, it’s news for the last 2 weeks, since I’ve been traveling to San Francisco to see the Meta Connect event (which I LOVED).

Here are the news:

🤝 Palmer Luckey’s company, Anduril Industries, is partnering with Microsoft to enhance the U.S. Army’s HoloLens-based IVAS headsets by integrating Lattice software for real-time threat updates.

❌ Meanwhile, Microsoft is discontinuing production of its HoloLens 2 headset, with no replacement planned, while continuing support until 2027.

☠️ Also, with the latest Windows 11 update, Microsoft has discontinued support for its Windows Mixed Reality (WMR) headsets, effectively ending their functionality and access to SteamVR content after November 2026.

💰 Distance Technologies secures an oversubscribed €10 million seed round to advance its glasses-free mixed reality technology that transforms transparent surfaces into MR displays for automotive, aerospace, and defense industries.

🕶️ Meta introduces Orion, its most advanced AR glasses featuring immersive augmented reality and contextual AI, unveiled at Meta Connect as a major milestone toward consumer AR wearables, though not yet available for public release.

✍️ Logitech’s MX Ink, the first tracked stylus for Meta Quest enabling natural 2D and 3D writing and drawing, is now available for purchase.

🥂 YouTube co-watching is coming to Quest’s Horizon Home next week, while Amazon Prime and Netflix apps on Quest have added new features.

🥽 Meta Quest 3S, the affordable successor to Quest 2, is now available for pre-order ahead of its October 15 release.

🤝 GameDriver Inc. and Perform have partnered to enhance game and XR development, combining GameDriver’s automated testing with Perform’s performance optimization and DevOps services.

🍫 Nestlé is launching a virtual factory experience to reduce travel, showcasing its manufacturing processes and innovations through personalized VR tours.

📸 DPVR has introduced the P1 Pro Cam, a 4K mixed reality headset designed for education, featuring a 13MP camera, ergonomic design, and tailored classroom integration.

📈 VR shooter Ghosts of Tabor has surpassed $20 million in revenue, driven by high player engagement and long play sessions, with over 835,000 registered players since its release.

➡️ ➡️ ➡️ Don’t forget: there are more news about Gaming and Entertainment, go here and subscribe.

XR News of the Week – September 14th, 2024

By Bobby Voicu

I’ve been writing a newsletter for XR gamers for a while now, and I think some of the readers of the blog might appreciate the section with news about the industry (there are more news about Gaming and Entertainment, go here and subscribe).

Here they are:

🕶️ Qualcomm, Samsung, and Google are developing mixed reality smart glasses that will connect to smartphones, aiming for widespread adoption.

🥽 Chinese company Play for Dream launched a Kickstarter to bring its Snapdragon XR2+ Gen 2 mixed reality headset, similar to Apple Vision Pro, to the global market, including the US.

🦿 Pico Motion Trackers, primarily used for leg tracking, can also be used for custom object tracking and integrated with external devices via USB-C.

📱 Meta will introduce its new Spatial App Framework at Meta Connect 2024, enabling easier development of immersive apps for Meta Horizon OS using familiar mobile development tools.

🥽 Meta accidentally leaked the Meta Quest 3S, a rumored budget version of the Quest 3, ahead of its official reveal.

🥽 The Vision Pro Hackathon, Vision Hack, is taking place this week with $25K in cash and prizes across multiple categories.

🕶️ Sharp and Japan’s largest telecom NTT Docomo have unveiled MiRZA, lightweight AR glasses launching this fall, with advanced optics, 6DOF tracking, and Snapdragon AR2 Gen1.

🤩 You can now share your first-person view in Messenger video calls on Quest headsets, displaying both passthrough and virtual content.

We just raised $1.6M for Mixed Reality games

By Bobby Voicu

It took a lot of patience and effort not to write about my latest company, MixRift.

The company started with a message from David in December 2023: “Did you ever play Mixed Reality games?”

Less than a month later, we had a vision, a co-founders team that also included Andrei, and I started the long process of raising money for the new company. I say long because the last time I did this, in 2012, it took me almost a year.

This time, though, it took us just 7 weeks to get the deal done. Yeah, it took a few more weeks to finally have the money in the bank, but we had the deal in place by the end of February of 2024.

I want us to try to find the “native mechanic” for this Mixed Reality gaming space. Like Gorilla Tag is for VR or like Angry Birds and Candy Crush were for mobile.

We already have two games in the Meta Quest store: Fractured and Hell Horde (early access). Fractured is also available on the Apple Vision Pro store.

If you want to read more, Venture Beat has an amazing article based on an interview with me: here.

Productivity Tip: Sleep

By Bobby Voicu

I’ve been reminded, again, in the last few days, of the best productivity tip ever:

Sleep.

Sleep early enough and sleep at least 8 hours every night.

If you’re in your early 20s, ignore me, this will probably not apply to you.

But if you’re in your 30s or later, sleep the entire night and go to sleep early 🤩

Otherwise, at least in my case, I need so much more effort to be as productive as I want to. If I even get there.

And the last two weeks were brutal for me. I traveled (by plane or by car) every day for 10 days. Then I got a little sick and couldn’t sleep because of it. My Oura ring was telling me I might need to sleep. Which I did and I started to feel better. But I still feel tired.

So, back to sleep for me. At some point during these days…😅

Later edit: what do you know, I wrote about this once before. And again 5 years later. Just forgot to listen to my own advice.

Fanta Makers

By Bobby Voicu

I was traveling to Greece a few years ago and this happened on the flight:

Flight Attendant: what do you want to drink?

Me: Fanta, please.

FA: I don’t have, but I can make it for you!

Me: 🤔

FA: I have Sprite, I have orange juice. Then I combine them: FANTA!

Me: 😅🤦‍♂️

FA: I’m serious, I made one for someone last flight…

Greek people, especially in hospitality, never say no. Even when they should say it. While this can be frustrating if you’re not used to it, it also means they go out of their way (most of the times) to make whatever they agreed upon happen.

And, yes, sometimes they flake on you. But you get used to it, as well. It’s the cost of doing business.

Sort The Court: lazy Saturday game suggestion

By Bobby Voicu

I’ve found Sort the Court by reading my feeds and I have to say it’s a really fun way to spend an hour or so.

The game was part of a game dev competition (Ludum Dare 34), that had as theme “Two Buttons Control”.

It is basically a kingdom management simulator where you rule by saying Yes or No to suggestions from your advisor and to anything else that happens around the kingdom. You manage population, happiness and money and… you go from there. I didn’t expect to enjoy the game as much as I did, but I spent about 2 hours having fun with it.

Here’s a screenshot of the kind of “important” decisions you need to make:

Don’t Be Ignored

By Bobby Voicu

Create something. A game, a business, something.

Put it out there.

Then hope to be judged. And criticized. And rejected.

Otherwise, be safe and comfortable. Be ignored.

You decide.

Steh Godin said it first.

The Meta Quest 3 Lite Leak

By Bobby Voicu

I think a cheaper Meta Quest 3 would really help the MR space. I mean, the most sold headset right now is the Quest 2, that got there with big discounts, being priced at around $200 at some point.

The device looks like this, according to a leak:

It’s basically a Quest 3 in a Quest 2 body. And I’m all for it. A little less resolution, a little les adjustments, but still good passthrough. That’s all we need for Mixed Reality to move forward.

Oh, and we don’t know the price yet. A $250 is ok, $300 would still be acceptable and $200 would be crazy. If they announce it soon and then they launch it October, Christmas will see millions (if not tens of millions) of these devices activating. What an opportunity!

Luck in Business

By Bobby Voicu

I was talking to a friend today and he said he disagrees on luck being necessary to be successful in business.

I disagree with his disagreement :D

Joking aside, I think everybody successful in business was lucky. Context, the right people, there’s a lot of things that you were lucky to get.

Of course, you can be the luckiest person ever, if you don’t take advantage of the opportunities, luck doesn’t matter. But to say it’s not there…

So, if luck matters, why even try starting a business? Because you can put yourself in the best position for the moment luck will hit. You can build a great team, you can optimize costs…

Sometimes, the luck comes too late, of course, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t prepare for that moment.

Teens Play VR Games

By Bobby Voicu

Yeah, the kids are alright 🤩

1 in 4 teenagers play games on headsets.

Many Quest developers report teens being their fastest-growing demographic, and Meta brings in its highest VR revenue in the holiday season of each year when children typically receive gifts like consoles from their parents.

It’s true, 24% teens playing on headsets is half of those that play on desktops and 1/3 of those that play on consoles.

But we got to start somewhere, right?