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This weeks news round up features article about upcoming headsets from Oculus, a man who has begun working in an entirely VR space, free fan made Attack on Titan games, VR experiences arriving at Disney Parks and new VR haptics for your mouth. Yup, haptics for you mouth. Let’s dive into it.
Meta’s Cambria Headset News
The upcoming, more powerful headset from Meta is called Cambria. The Cambria headset is rumored to be planned for a second half of 2022 release date. They are now comparing it’s power to that of a wearable Chromebook which at first brush might not seem great but is actually pretty impressive. With an expected price point of about $800, it is much more expensive than the current Quest 2 but will apparently feature color pass through for AR games as well as much smoother, higher resolution gameplay than the Quest 2. Meta isn’t abandoning the Quest line of products though with new models planned for release in the 2023 and 2024. Read more on ScreenRant.com here
Star Wars VR Adventure Launches at Disney Springs
The new experience is “Star Wars: Tales from the Galaxy’s Edge” and utilize the Meta Quest headsets. The temporary free experience is planned to run from May 2nd through July 21st at the Disney Springs park. You can make online reservations or just join a walk-up line outside the venue. The total length of the actual VR experience is only about 8-10 minutes but should be a great introduction to the Quest 2 headset’s capabilities for many new users. Upon completing the experience, visitors get to leave with some Meta swag and a $25 gift card for the Meta store. The actual game is available on the Quest marketplace for $24.99. Read more on Walt Disney World News Today here
Ohio Man Takes ‘Working Remotely” to the Next Level
This Cincinnati father of two has started a new company handling e-commerce translation with an entirely virtual workspace. Meet Jeff Weiser who spends seven to nine hours a day in VR working with his teammates from all over the globe. After realizing he could spend all day in VR during the pandemic, he though “I might as well get in there”. Taking advantage of the VR application Immersed, he has created a virtual office to collaborate with his coworkers. Utilize shared monitors and virtual whiteboards, Jeff has leaned into the work from home while still having the office collaboration that an office provides. “You are actually there with people. The reason why you can say you are there with them is because that’s the experience” Weiser said. Read more on WOWKTV here
New Fan Made AoT Game Brings Titan Slaying to VR
The Developer Slavkaskola has released a free Attack on Titan game for PC VR users. While not officially licensed the game still features many familiar landscapes from forests, the city, boot camps and fields that look straight out of the anime. The players get to zip around on ODM gear while battling terrifying Titan’s. While the gameplay seems incredibly fun, the movement controls still need to be optimized a bit. Read more on ScreenRant and see a video review from AwakenToast here
New VR Haptics for Your Mouth…
Researchers from the Future Interfaces Group at Carnegie Mellon University have developed a device which can be attached to your headset to provide haptics for your mouth. Utilizing a grid of tiny ultrasound transducers that produce pressure waves directed at your lips and face. It can create the sensation of pressure or vibration on your face and when combined with VR visuals can be incredibly realistic. Many people’s minds may go to the possibility of VR kissing, the researchers don’t believe that is really possible with this form of haptics and would require some other method of generating pressure than the small transducers used in this study. While difficult to calibrate and a long way from a commercially viable product, these sorts of advancements are going to drive VR experiences to the next level. Read more on PopSci here
