Tech giants from East take on Vision Pro

To VR & AR enthusiasts.

Welcome today’s edition of Futurescape - a 3x deep-dive newsletter focused on what is happening in the Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) world.

Here is what we got today:

• Giants taking on Vision Pro

• VR in social science

• Horizon Call of Mountain

NEWS

Apple Vision Pro

While the talk last was on Vision Pro returns, other users and even companies are betting the farm on the future of this spatial computing headset.

Reading comics - Brian Heater from TechCrunch wrote an article sharing their experience on reading comics with Vision Pro. The verdict - Not life-changing, not the end of my paper comics reading experience, but not altogether bad,

Brian has been playing around with Marvel and Dark Horse apps on Vision Pro - to read comics books, but will not consider going premium ( for Marvel - $10/mo.) cause they already have the subscription on iPad and iPhone.

Beond x Vision Pro - The luxury airline company will start offering free Vision Pro to its passengers instead of regular entertainment. Here is what the CEO Tero Tasikila said:

Sony, Samsung, Huawei

This electronic giants have thrown their hats in the ring to take on Apple’s Vision Pro. Here is the latest. Sony x Siemens is probably this new set for commercial use, while Samsung is targeting Vision Pro’s weak spots. As for Huawei, the

Sony: It’s headset set of this year was revealed during Sony’s CES 2024 presentation. It looks more like a stripped back PSVR 2, and is aimed at ‘spatial content creation ' efforts for users. Two key components the headset will have include; 4K OLED microdisplays and Snapdragon XR2+ Gen 2 chipset.

Samsung: Its headsets is targeting Vision Pro’s weak spots including; price tag, comfort and battery life. We have known of Samsung Infinite - a collaboration among Qualcomm and Google. The VR device is also also set to be powered by the Snapdragon XR2+ Gen 2 chipset with support for 4.3K resolution for each eye and output of up to 90 frames per second.  There are talks of the company selling its for around $1,000 price tag.

Huawei: Former Meizu Executive Li Nan shared a sneak peak of the upcoming Huawei VR headset on his Weibo handle. One key feature is Huawei’s VR headset will weigh 350 grams compared to Vision Pro’s 600 grams.

Scape Bites

Startup - Emdoor VR, a Chinese startup has launched a Vision Pro looklike (knockoff) dubbed ‘ ‘Huaqiangbei’ for $280 only. “We did not want to miss the Apple Vision Pro opportunity, so we rode the wave and made something similar, CEO Shi Qing said.

Funding - Felix & Paul Studios secure multi-million dollar financing for the latest location-based VR experience. The funding came from Export Development Canada (EDC), The Bank for Canadian Entrepreneurs (BDC), the Société de développement des entreprises culturelles (SODEC), and National Bank of Canada's Creative Industries Group

HARDWARE

Frame from Brilliant Labs

Frame from Brilliant Labs is a pair of lightweight AR glasses powered by a multimodal AI assistant called Noa.

About Noa: The AI assistant powers multiple capabilities including;

• Voice commands

• Visual processing

• Translation

• Image generation

The tech powering this capabilities include integration of AI models like Open AI’s GPT-4 for text-generation, Whisper’s speech recognition system, Perplexity AI’s conversation search engine and Stability AI’s Stable Diffusion for image-generation.

Specs: The device weighs just less than 40g and, at estimated normal use, can achieve all-day battery life together with Mister Power (included). A bright microOLED is bonded to a thin geometric prism optic to display ~20 degree diagonal field of view. Frame is totally open source, design files and code are on Github.

Design: Frame has been designed for an IPD (inter-pupillary distance) range of 58-72mm. This covers most, but not all, people and we suggest using the Eye Measure app to gauge whether Frame is suitable for you.

Price: You can preorder Frame glasses for $349 currently but the price will jump to $448 after the launch set for April 15th.

Scape note: The glasses has caught the attention of Niantic founder John Hanke, who recently invested undisclosed amount into the Singapore-based startup Brilliant Labs.

Have been kicking track of the company’s X activities, and John Hanke’s handle. Here is video of the power of Noa.

GAMING

Horizon Call of Mountain

Here is the synopsis of the 2023 game that was launched title for the PlayStation VR2 virtual reality headset on 22 February 2023.

Synopsis

In the post-apocalyptic world of Horizon, set in the Carja Sundom region, a new protagonist named Ryas, a disgraced former soldier, is introduced.

Offered a chance for redemption by Blameless Marad, leader of Dawn's Grasp settlement, Ryas must investigate machines exhibiting unusual aggression by climbing Sunspear, the region's tallest peak. His brother previously attempted this but disappeared.

As Ryas climbs, he faces dangers, encounters ancient ruins, and uncovers a conspiracy behind the machines' behavior. Along the way, he meets various characters including Aloy, who offers her expertise.

Ryas grapples with his past, seeking redemption and making difficult choices with consequences for himself and the Sundom's fate.

Reviews

RESEARCH

VR for Social Scientists

A research was published on Journal of Media Psychology in 2009 by a team of scientists who analyzed 230 articles on the impact of Virtual Reality (VR) in Social Science. You can download the PDF here. Or Link to research paper

The focus for the analysis was divided into three categories;

Object: The research was concerned with the nature of the user’s experience regarding the virtual environment (VE) itself and the possible effects of that experience.

Application: The research was concerned with creating and using a VE outside of the laboratory, for example in a psychiatrist’s office or a corporate training center, to change how people behave in the real world.

 Method: The research was concerned with using a VE to examine real world phenomena. Research in this category may use the VE to manipulate variables that are not easy to replicate in the laboratory (e.g., simulating a crowd of people), potentially harmful in the real world.

The findings were the following;

• Social scientific studies examining VR as an object were most popular (41.3%),

• VR applications (38.7%)

• Only 20% of articles concerned the use of VR as a method for studying existing social scientific phenomena.

Additionally, the trend on VR applications is the social science space has gone up, while for the methods not as much.

APPS

Painting VR on Quest 3

Painting VR is a 10.000+ square feet virtual painter's studio with inspiring tools, an unlimited supply of paint, and canvases of all sizes.

Features

• Explore a vast virtual studio space with customizable lighting and atmospheres.

• Experiment freely with a wide range of brushes, tools, and colors, including traditional and unconventional options.

• Paint on various surfaces like canvases, walls, and floors for a multidimensional experience.

• Choose from a selection of inspiring environments such as beaches, mountains, and galleries.

• Share your creations with the community and collaborate in real-time (coming soon).

• Access tutorials and basic lessons to support beginners.

• Export your finished work as images or 3D models for further editing.

Using on Quest 3

Purchase and Download: Get Painting VR from the Meta Quest Store on your Quest 3.

Start the App: Launch Painting VR from your library.

Calibration: Follow the on-screen instructions to calibrate your hand tracking (if needed).

Choose Tools: Select your desired brush, color, and canvas size.

Start Painting: Move your controllers (or hands) freely to paint on the chosen surface.

Explore: Navigate your virtual studio, change environments, and adjust lighting.

Save and Share: Once finished, save your creation or share it with the community (coming soon).

MEME OF TODAY

That is it for today.

Thank you for reading!

Futurespace team