Multiple news stories involving product launches and upcoming events hit the headlines last week, sending ripples through the XR industry.
Readers received news of Facebook’s latest smart glass collaboration with Ray Ban, Steam reported an major industry-wide drop in usage on its platform, and Apple teased audiences’ imaginations ahead of a major product lineup update, among many other developments.
In case you missed it, here are the top stories from last week. Be sure to also stay posted with our newsletter by visiting https://www.xrtoday.com/sign-up/ for further updates!
Steam Reports Drop in VR Usage, Oculus’ Lead Shrinks
Game streaming platform Steam reported last week Facebook’s Oculus usage had dropped 0.42 percent in August—its first fall in history—amid the Menlo Park-based firm’s 128GB Quest 2 headset launch.
Figures from the report found a 1.74 percent decrease in usage for Facebook’s flagship headset, followed by similar lower metrics for HTC VIVE, Pico Neo and Oculus Rift.
The news comes as Facebook released its updated 128GB headset model later in August, namely after it faced major criticisms for its previous foam faceguards, which caused skin irritation for users and sparked a Europe-wide recall of the devices from Amazon EU stocks.
Facebook Reveals Teaser of Ray Ban Smart Glasses
Following suit with Apple’s recent augmented reality (AR) teaser, US social media giant Facebook recently released a short video on its Ray Ban smart glasses ahead of their product launch last week.
The video showed Andrew Bosworth, Head of VR, on holiday with Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg, which was filmed from the former’s perspective.
The teaser film comes as Facebook has begun developing its new Metaverse division following Zuckerberg’s announcement last month the company would shift to building the digital space, and was posted a month before the firm’s Connect Developer Conference later in October.
HTC Debuts STYLY Creative Platform on VIVEPORT
Japanese VR software developers Psychic VR Lab and Taiwan’s HTC VIVE debuted its creative cloud services last week to provide MR developers and content creators with a space to distribute their works.
The free platform, STYLY, will offer users with over 10,000 VR scenes for creators to design bespoke immersive experiences for its head-mounted devices and other browser platforms.
VR Filmmaking and the Power of Immersive Storytelling
XR Today had the pleasure of speaking to Gary Yost, veteran filmmaker, software pioneer, and co-director of the WisdomVR Project, to discuss updates on the VR and stereoscopic film industry.
Mr Yost, whose film ‘Inside COVID-19’ has been nominated for an Emmy, tells the story of the ongoing pandemic from the perspective of the virus as well as a prominent doctor infected with the disease.
The XR interview also discussed new technologies in the stereoscopic filming industry as well as his 3D rendering of SARS-CoV-2, which the Center for Disease Control (CDC) later used for educational purposes, as well as the potential future of holographic filmmaking.
Apple Drops AR-Powered ‘Easter Egg’ in Event Update
US tech giant Apple Inc surprised its fans with an AR ‘Easter Egg’, which features a huge Apple logo, prior to its event set to take place on September 14.
The Cupertino-based firm will promote its products with several updates, including new iPhones, Airpods, and Apple Watches, at the upcoming event.
The news comes as Apple rapidly develops its AR technologies for a future mixed reality headset, which reportedly will rely on processing power from external devices such as iPhones and Macbook computers.
