The XR Week Peek (2021.06.28): Blaston retreats on ads, Vive Focus 3 ships with positive reviews, and more!

It's the time of the week when you can once again read the most important news from the past week in AR and VR! Are you ready? Before we start, my friends from FXG and Leenzee Games are promoting the Chinese mystery game VR

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Top news of the week

(Picture by Facebook)

Resolution Games steps back from setting up ads in Blaston

After the big backlash from the community against the ads that Facebook is going to implement in VR, the first partner studio that should have implemented it is taking a step back. Blaston by Resolution Games had been advertised as the first game that should have implemented VR ads, but after the VR community riots and the 1-star bombing on the game's page on various stores, the studio changed its mind. 'notice.

Blaston, a paid game, will not contain VR ads.

A small victory for the VR community,

who managed to make his voice heard. But I think it's not as good as it looks. First, Resolution Games hasn't backed down from partnering with Facebook: 3 hours after announcing its withdrawal from using VR ads,

Resolution Games had made another tweet announcing that probably ads would be implemented in "Bait!", which is a free game.

Of course, ads in a free game are much more acceptable, so

it's a good decision

, but it shows that VR ads are here to stay. And this is confirmed by the fact that

Facebook actually never changed its mind, not even a bit, after the community backlash.

As has always happened over these years, they stepped forward, defended their position, only to take another step forward when the waters cooled. So it's just a small victory for the community.

Still a win, but almost nothing will change in the future.

More info (Blaston will not show ads in virtual reality)

More info (My editorial on Facebook and ads in VR)

Other relevant news

HTC delivers the Vive Focus 3

HTC has started shipping the Vive Focus 3, so

we started reading the first reviews about it

. In my case, I'm also writing, because I have a review unit and I wrote one of the most detailed reviews about it you can find there. Below I give you the links to my review, as well as two others I found on the web, so you can have many different opinions on this. As TL;DR, what I can say is that

it is a very interesting autonomous helmet.

Yes it's

really expensive

(about 1400€), but it offers

great comfort, amazing display, fantastic sound, wired/wireless streaming from PC and good tracking

. It's not perfect, however, and it has its fair share of issues: aside from a few software glitches (which will be fixed in the future),

the most annoying thing is that the lenses have a small sweet spot and are prone to glare

. Also, the fan is a bit noisy. If you're an enterprise customer, I suggest you check it out, as it's a good device.

More info (My opinion on the helmet)

More Info (CNET Get Started)

More information (first impressions of MRTV)

Varjo Announces Varjo Reality Cloud

Finnish company Varjo has announced

Varjo Reality Cloud, a platform which they claim is capable of creating a “realistic metaverse”.

Varjo Reality Cloud is an augmented virtuality space sharing system.

A user who wears a Varjo XR-3 is able to scan their surroundings using the device's high-quality cameras, then that environment can be shared via Varjo Cloud and viewed by others connected remotely with the device. 'user . In other words,

it is possible for several people to meet in XR inside a perfect reconstruction of the real environment in which the XR-3 user finds himself.

And this reconstruction would be< /p>

constantly updated in real time

, so the virtual version of the environment is always consistent with the real one. The XR-3 user can also see the people he meets, in augmented virtuality, right there with him. It's very cool and futuristic. Sure,

currently, this system is at the prototype stage

and doesn't work exactly as advertised, but Varjo is very confident that he can make it work quite well in the future. And since Varjo is a very smart company, I am also convinced that this will happen. The problem with all of this is that

its use case is unclear.

I mean, why would I buy a $5,000 Varjo XR-3 to scan my environment, when< /p>

I could very well do that even with a $1000 iPhone?

So what's the benefit of seeing a constantly updated environment? In 95% of cases, a static reconstruction would be suitable (for example to visit a newly built house). And in the end, why should it matter to the "metaverse"? It's just a reconstruction of the environment... The community asks itself these questions and many others. I think if Varjo considers this "the greatest announcement he's ever made" either they're crazy or

we are all missing pieces of the puzzle.

They probably did. a roadmap for this system which now seems useless to us, but which will show its true value in the coming months or years. I'm intrigued, and also very patient, so I'll wait before expressing my judgment.

More info (Varjo Reality Cloud launch post)

More info (Road To VR's hands- on the system)

ENGAGE and VRChat raise big investments

This is a very positive moment for all social VR ecosystems. This week we learned that

ENGAGE has just raised $10 million to further develop its ecosystem.

The company just announced

ENGAGE Oasis, a place that should become “The LinkedIn of VR”:

something like a citadel full of offices, where you can meet and work with people from your company, but also create collaborations with people from other companies. It's a different beast than ENGAGE is today, but

the potential of this vision is certainly great

(although...another reference to Ready Player One...so fancy...). Congratulations to my friend Chris, CEO David and the whole team for the result! After a few days, we also discovered that

VRChat secured a new investment of $80M

. VRChat is one of the most popular virtual reality social ecosystems, and

this money will be useful to create new features, further expand its reach and also to explore new monetization options.

Kudos to Graham and Jason for that! These two stories show me that

there is some hype around the "Metaverse".

Rec Room has $100 million and has become a unicorn, Epic has $1 billion growing its metaverse, and now it's ENGAGE and VRChat's turn. It seems like

it's a good time to get some cash from investors excited about a new buzzword.

We are probably

on top of exaggerated expectations< /p>

of the Gartner Hype Cycle, so I imagine in a few months someone will be saying "the metaverse is dead" when we hit the bottom of the disappointment, and companies will realize that

building a mainstream metaverse is harder than they think

. By also coming out of confinement, there will be less interest in these digital solutions, which will therefore take longer to become popular. So please...

let's all keep our feet on the ground.

A bit of curiosity: VRChat and ENGAGE are the platforms I've personally used the most...does that mean it's my seal of approval making money? 😉

More info (ENGAGE raises $10M)

More info (VRChat raises $80M)

News worth mentioning

(Photo by David Fitzgerald/Web Summit via Sportsfile)

Unity CEO predicts that in 2030 XR headsets will be as popular as game consoles

Unity CEO John Riccitiello has made new predictions about augmented reality and virtual reality

, and this time he talked about the projections for XR headsets in 2030. I take into consideration what Mr.Riccitiello says because his predictions made in 2017 turned out to be true: he predicted that "virtual reality is dead" and also XR's comeback in 2019. So far it's been so much better than most so-called 'market analysts.'Speaking to The Information, the Unity CEO said

he envisions VR headsets reaching 20 million sales per year,

and therefore it is easy to predict that before 2030 the number of p>

homes equipped with a VR headset will exceed 250 million homes

who today have a game console. Speaking of augmented reality, he considers that it is developing faster than virtual reality, but he also added that

Augmented reality is less predictable because it forces companies to solve certain problems related to electronics, optics, etc. .

on which we have no solution today. He also added that "real-time 3D content" will account for almost half of all visual digital content by 2030, up from only around 3% currently.

His words are very conservative:

XR will take more than we hope to become mainstream like today's smartphones.

More info (John Riccitiello lyrics article / 1)

More info (Article on the lyrics of John Riccitiello / 2)

Adobe evolves Medium into a product in Adobe Suite

We've all wondered what Adobe was thinking of doing with Oculus Medium after it was acquired from Facebook a few years ago. We now have an answer: while there will always be

free support

on the Oculus Store,

Adobe has also evolved it into Substance 3D Modeler, a product of the new Adobe Substance 3D suite that lets you sculpt 3D objects.

Substance 3D Modeler has many differences from Medium, for example, it can also be used without VR, but it still gives you the feeling of sculpting clay like the original software. The product is of course

dedicated to professionals:

Substance 3D Collection is currently available from

$39.99 per month.

More info (Substance 3D Modeler on Road To VR)

More info (Substance 3D Modeler on Upload VR)

LIV now lets you shoot mixed reality videos with just a phone

Popular video recording service LIV just updated its app, and

Now it's possible to use the LIV app on an iOS device to shoot mixed reality video of someone playing in VR without using a green screen or complex setup!

The results aren't perfect like traditionally shot videos, but they're still pretty good.

More informations

Facebook patent shows 'augmented reality hat'

A patent filed by Facebook is the WTF news of the week. In this patent you can see

a hat with augmented reality glasses, so you can wear a baseball cap while enjoying augmented reality

. It looks like a weird Japanese gadget and I don't think it will ever succeed, but who knows, the idea of ​​mixing traditional clothing with XR gadgets has potential...

More informations

Icosa Gallery is the new Google Poly

Google Poly recently shut down, leaving creators with no open and free space to share their 3D creations with other community members. Now

the community created Icosa Gallery, which should be an open replacement for Google Poly

, which will soon be integrated into OpenBrush, the open source replacement for Tilt Brush. It's cool to see these community initiatives!

More informations

Two interesting research projects

Let's talk about two cool research projects I saw this week. The first is

If you're dealing with isolation due to coronavirus, download #VRChat free on steam. You can play it without a VR h… https://t.co/BA2TaxaFcU

— 𝔄𝔫𝔡𝔯𝔬𝔪𝔞𝔩𝔦𝔲𝔰 Wed Mar 18 17:50:14 +0000 2020

a small device that is put in the nose and which, thanks to electrical stimulation, allows you to feel basic scents,

like the stingy scent of vinegar. It doesn't need any spray, no scent particles, it just uses electrical stimulation of the nerves inside the nose. The second is a project presented to SIGGRAPH by folks at Facebook Reality Labs. This is a screen that you place on your helmet and shows

the live stream from your eyes

so people looking at you can still see

a realistic representation of your eyes, even if you are wearing a helmet.

Great, isn't it? (Thanks for the first advice to Pedro Ferreira and for the second to Davy from Holoplant Co)

More info (Smell simulation)

More Info (Eye Display) p>

Try out what your app looks like for people with color blindness

You know I like to plead for

accessibility in XR apps

. That's why I want to advise you to read

this old but valuable article by Alan Zucconi that provides a plugin to let you experience how color blind people see your Unity VR apps

so that you can modify them if you notice that they are not playable by everyone. A quick test that can be useful to ensure that as many people as possible enjoy your creations

More informations

Jump opens presales for its virtual skydiving attraction

JUMP

is a location-based entertainment attraction that wants

give you the same thrills as wingsuit skydiving, but in a safe and controlled environment.

The system uses

virtual reality and wind emitters

to give you the real sensations of falling in the sky. It opens soon and it has already started pre-orders for its first locations. If you are in the US you should check it out.

More information

Steam Summer Sale lets you buy lots of VR titles at a discount

For two weeks, you can give your money to Lord Gaben for

buy discounted VR titles.

Among the current sales on Steam we have Boneworks at $23.99, Star Wars: Squadrons at $14.79, and No Man's Sky at $29.99. If you have PCVR titles that you've always wanted to buy,

now is the time to discover them on Steam!

More informations

Sam & Max: This Time It's Virtual will be released on July 8 for $29.99

Finally, we have a release date for

Sam & Max: This Time It's Virtual,

one of the most anticipated VR games of the moment!

The game will be released for Oculus Quest on July 8 for $29.99.

The shop page is already online, if you want to take a look...

More informations

Some content news

The Popular Game VR Mod

Valheim now correctly supports motion controllers;

Steel Crew

is an interesting cooperative VR game where several people

control a tank together, just like in real life;

Joyway launches

a multiplayer version of Stride on Steam;

Sentenced is a very interesting psychological game on Steam

where you are a hangman. Upload VR tried it and found it interesting and original.

More info (Valheim VR)

More info (Steel Crew)

More info (Stride multiplayer)

More Info (Condemned Review)

News from partners (and friends)

Beers And Boomerangs is an upcoming VR game that already looks super cool.< /p>

Here is his description “A VR game where you throw boomerangs at kangaroos trying to steal your beer! Cook and bring drinks to your friends, but don't forget to defend your barbecue from those pesky kangaroos!" you can already want it on Steam, if you want).

Learn more

UNICEF, in collaboration with the association IT Ukraine, has created

the world's first virtual reality (VR) product to educate children in eastern Ukraine about explosive devices and promote safe behaviors. p>

This is another app where VR can save real lives and so I'm a big fan of it.

Learn more

XR fun

Hitting a real wall when you're in VR always hurts

fun link

SteamVR is a “psychological horror” according to Steam. Considering all the issues I have with it and the Oculus Link, I'm all for it.

fun link

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