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Meta Quietly Rolls Out ‘Horizon Worlds’ Premium Digital Currency in US, UK and Canada

November 15, 2024 From roadtovr

Meta has added an important puzzle piece to Horizon Worlds, as the company has quietly rolled out its premium digital currency on the social VR platform in the US, UK, and Canada.

Roblox has Robux, Rec Room has Tokens, and Horizon Worlds now has Meta Credits, letting users buy in-world digital goods from creators, such as avatar outfits and access keys to premium worlds. Unlike Quest Cash, Meta Credits can’t be used to buy hardware or accessories, just stuff in Horizon Worlds.

While it’s a big step, this isn’t the official start of the Horizon Worlds economy. Meta has been experimenting with monetization on Horizon Worlds since 2022, allowing users to buy digital goods directly with their local currency. The difference with Meta Credits (like all premium tokens) however is the all-too familiar obfuscation of the amount of real-world money being spent.

Image captured by Road to VR

As seen above, you can buy packs of Meta Credits that come along with various bonus amounts, or go for the straight 10:1 conversion at the lowest 300 Meta Credit tier, which costs $3 and doesn’t come with a bonus amount.

Similar to how Meta rolled out Horizon Worlds itself, the company is keeping a short leash on Meta Credits; they’re only available to users in the US, UK, and Canada for now. Horizon Worlds-supported regions still waiting for Meta Credits include Australia, New Zealand, most of Europe, and many countries in East Asia.

Meta says parents or guardians of children aged 10-12 (ages vary by region) must approve any purchase requiring a credit card, including the purchase of Meta Credits, through a parent-managed Meta account.

Meta Credits can’t be transferred from one account to another either, meaning they’re tied to your individual account—i.e. not like a cryptocurrency—and can only used within Horizon Worlds, either in Quest or its standard mobile app.

With Meta Credits, Horizon Worlds is taking a definitive step towards building a sustainable virtual economy, although we’ll simply have to wait and see whether it’s enough to strip creators (and users) away from more mature ecosystems, like Roblox, Rec Room, or VRChat.

With Meta’s reach though, there’s more than a good chance we might see Meta Credit gift cards at the checkout aisles as we near Holiday Season.

Filed Under: Meta Quest 3 News & Reviews, News

Apple Releases The Weeknd’s Immersive Music Video Exclusively for Vision Pro

November 15, 2024 From roadtovr

Apple has released a new immersive music video from The Weeknd featuring his latest single ‘Open Hearts’, which is available exclusively on Vision Pro for a limited time.

Captured in Apple’s Immersive Video format, Open Hearts serves up 180-degree immersive views and spatial audio set to eponymous single from the Canadian pop artist’s upcoming album ‘Hurry Up Tomorrow’.

Putting viewers in the center of the action, the music video—or more of a immersive music experience—lets viewers journey alongside the Weeknd on what Apple calls “an electrifying sonic voyage,” as he makes his way through a surreal, haunting cityscape.

The five-minute experience is free on Vision Pro through the Apple TV app, although users looking to view the experience for entirely free can technically request to demo Open Heart at their local Apple Store starting today.

Apple says it’s soon bringing out more experiences for free, including the upcoming Concert for One, which is launching globally on Friday, November 22nd, which invites fans to enjoy intimate performances from the world’s biggest artists.

This follows the release of Submerged, Apple’s first scripted short film, and potentially one of the most expensive immersive videos to date. Also filmed in Apple Immersive Video format, Submerged was filmed on a full-scale 23-ton submarine set made with real metal, modeled after WWII-era vessels.

Filed Under: Apple Vision Pro News & Reviews, News

Final Cut Pro 11 Finally Unlocks Spatial Video Editing, But Lacks Vision Pro Preview

November 15, 2024 From roadtovr

Apple has released Final Cut Pro 11, which finally lets you edit spatial videos captured with Vision Pro, or iPhone 15 Pro or later.

The latest Final Cut Pro now lets users make adjustments to the left- and right-eye angles on their Mac display, add effects, color correction, and titles to spatial videos.

Of course, thanks to Mac Virtual Display, you can also now edit those spatial videos captured with Vision Pro on Vision Pro.

While the added virtual screen real estate is undeniably better for organizing complex workflows, Final Cut Pro 11 tethered with Vision Pro is still essentially a 2D editing experience, just bigger.

Image courtesy Apple

Still lacking is the ability to actually preview spatial videos in-headset while editing—i.e. having a 3D window inside of Final Cut Pro that renders stereoscopically.

Granted, spatial videos can be exported directly to a user’s Photos library after editing, and viewed immediately on Vision Pro, although just not previewed during the editing process, which feels like a miss.

Still, Apple is bringing out its expanded Mac Virtual Display options, which will let users blow up either Mac Virtual Display to a massive 32:9 ultra-wide curved display, which the company likens to two 5K monitors side by side.

For now, the panoramic Mac Virtual Display option is available in beta, which only requires a few simple steps to download, which may come in handy (but not too handy) when editing spatial videos on Final Cut Pro 11.

Filed Under: Apple Vision Pro News & Reviews, News

Roguelite VR Shooter ‘The Light Brigade’ Gets New Class and Weapon in Latest Update

November 14, 2024 From roadtovr

Funktronic Labs, the studio behind roguelite shooter The Light Brigade (2023), just dropped a major content update that brings a new playable character, new ability, and a new procedurally generated region.

Called the ‘Phantom of Time’, the free update introduces the ‘Saboteur’, a revolver-wielding gunslinger who comes part and parcel with a new ability, called the ‘Timepiece’.

The new ability lets you cloak yourself and deploy a ‘deadringer’ copy, letting you make a swift escape, or tactical move to outmaneuver your enemy. Check it out in action in the trailer below:

A new region, called ‘Memorial Grounds’, is here too, bringing a new procedurally generated, war-torn crypt that the studio says was “once a resting place for honored soldiers, now reduced to ruins by endless battle. Uncover secrets buried in the chaos.”

Initially released in February 2023, we were mightily impressed with The Light Brigade, giving it a solid [8.5/10] in our full review thanks to its clever upgrade system and engaging WWII-era weapons.

The free update is available starting today across all supported platforms, including PSVR 2, SteamVR headsets, and Quest 2 and up, where you’ll find it priced between $25 and $17.50 depending on platform-specific sales.

Filed Under: Meta Quest 3 News & Reviews, News, PC VR News & Reviews, PSVR 2 News & Reviews

Xiaomi Reportedly Partners with Goertek to Chase Success of Ray-Ban Meta Smartglasses

November 13, 2024 From roadtovr

Xiaomi makes everything, from phones and vacuum cleaners to massage guns and even electric cars. Now, according to a report from Chinese media 36kr, Xiaomi may be developing a device that goes toe-to-toe with Ray-Ban Meta smartglasses.

The report maintains Xiaomi is planning to launch a new generation of AI-assisted smartglasses, which will be built in collaboration with Goertek, the China-based ODM behind a bevy of XR parts, reference designs, and finished white-label hardware.

The rumored Xiaomi smartglasses are said to “fully benchmark” against Ray-Ban Meta, which includes AI functions, integrated speakers, and camera modules. Notably, Ray-Ban Meta smartglasses aren’t officially available in China.

Ray-Ban Meta Glasses, Image courtesy Meta, EssilorLuxottica

Citing insider sources, the report maintains the device is slated to arrive in Q2 2025, with 36kr noting it may launch in time for the Mi Fan Festival, which is typically held in April to mark Xiaomi’s founding anniversary.

The report further maintains, Xiaomi co-founder Lei Jun expects to ship more than 300,000 units.

Xiaomi has dabbled in XR hardware in the past, although it really hasn’t entered full force. The Chinese tech giant hyped a widely reported AR glasses prototype at Mobile World Congress (MWC) in 2023. A year prior, the company launched a pair of smartglasses, called Mijia Glasses Camera. Much like the now defunct Google Glass, the device featured a single heads-up display.

All of that is changing though, it seems. Next year is shaping up to be a big year for smartglasses in China, as the country’s largest brands may be hoping to replicate Meta’s success with Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses.

Baidu announced at its Baidu World Conference on November 12th its own co-product with Xiaodu, the Xiaodu AI glasses, which is launching in China in the first half of 2025.

The 36kr report also notes that Chinese heavy-hitters OPPO, vivo, Huawei, Tencent, and ByteDance are also currently evaluating their own smartglasses projects.

Filed Under: News, XR Industry News

Sony to Discontinue Free PSVR Camera Adapter for PlayStation 5 This Month

November 11, 2024 From roadtovr

If you’re one of the few remaining PSVR owners looking to use the original 2016 headset on PlayStation 5, you only have a few more days to request your free PS Camera adapter, as Sony is discontinuing the device later this month.

Sony released its PlayStation Camera Adapter for free in 2020 to help bridge the gap for PSVR users looking for a console upgrade to PS5, which notably didn’t offer full PSVR support out of the box.

The PlayStation 5 HD Camera that launched alongside PS5 can’t track the original PSVR headset or PS Move controllers spatially, requiring the additional adapter.

PS Camera Adapter | Photo by Road to VR

Of course, this was nearly three years before Sony released PSVR 2, making the adapter indispensable for playing any VR title on PS5.

Now, Sony says it’s discontinuing the free adapter program come November 26th, or “until supplies last.”

If you still haven’t requested a free adapter, all you need is the serial number on the PSVR Processing Unit. In the US, requests can be directed to Sony’s toll-free number 1-800-345-SONY (7669).

Notably, the adapter has never officially gone on sale. There are however heaps available through eBay if for some reason you own a used PSVR that has already technically claimed its one free adapter. You’ll need it!

Filed Under: News, PSVR 2 News & Reviews

Vision Pro Ultrawide Display Turns a Little MacBook into a Productivity Powerhouse

November 8, 2024 From roadtovr

Apple has finally dropped the ultrawide virtual display for Vision Pro in beta, giving the existing virtual display feature the ability to stretch to wide and ultrawide widths for extra screen real-estate. Out of the box it’s impressive, but default MacOS window management makes it kind of a pain to use. But with the right third-party window manager, it’s even better than I hoped for.

I’ll be honest, I didn’t know just how useful the new ultrawide feature would be. I’ve used Vision Pro’s virtual desktop feature many times before. It’s a great way to get some extra screen real-estate out of my MacBook Air (M2). But it was limited in that it could only really act like a single, large 16:9 monitor.

My productivity workhorse is my desktop PC on which I’ve used two side-by-side monitors for years. For a power-user like me, having the extra width to have multiple things on screen at once is great; constantly minimizing and maximizing apps is a pain. I also combine my dual monitors with additional virtual workspaces, meaning I can group applications together on a specific workspace for a specific task.

I’ve yet to make the leap to a single ultrawide monitor over dual monitors. They’re pretty damn expensive and physically take up a lot of space.

But with a little software update, Apple just gave me an ultrawide monitor that I can take with me wherever I take my Vision Pro. The ultrawide setting essentially gives you two 16:9 monitors side-by-side, but without the seam in the middle if you were using dual monitors.

So not only is my little MacBook Air now able to replicate all the screen real estate that I have with the big setup that takes up my whole office desk, it also has the benefit of no seam in the middle of the monitors. I didn’t fully appreciate how much this would increase the flexibility I have with setting up my workspaces. Now it’s easy to span an app seamlessly in the ‘middle’ of the workspace, while less important apps can be on the flanks. It’s great! But…

MacOS window management is simply not ready to handle ultrawide monitors. Even though Apple just added improved window tiling in the latest version of MacOS, it really isn’t very helpful on an ultrawide monitor.

At best you can ask the system to put an app into any quarter of the monitor, but this results in super-wide apps that aren’t useful in that particular shape. You can make a window go to just one half of the screen, but that gives you a maximum of only two apps on the screen at once.

Without window management that’s actually made for ultrawide monitors, you’re stuck doing a lot of resizing of windows to get them into useful arrangements to really take advantage of all the space you have. Or you do the seemingly insane thing Apple always shows in their marketing: just use randomly sized windows that overlap with other windows while also wasting a bunch of screen space. I mean look, this is literally what they showed when promoting this feature:

Image courtesy Apple

Being able to quickly get apps into useful size and position is essential to really benefiting from an ultrawide monitor. The more time it takes to size and position apps, the less often you’re going to actually use the extra space to your benefit.

Luckily there’s many third-party window managers out there for MacOS. And I would argue that having one is essential if you’re using the Vision Pro ultrawide virtual display.

Here is a look at MacOS’s built in quadrant window tiling which is not remotely useful for an ultrawide monitor. Then you see a third-party tool that makes things much better.

For now I’ve landed on a window manager called Rectangle. With it I can easily set up a ‘main’ app in the center 2/4 of the monitor, then stick apps in the remaining 1/4 on the left or 1/4 on the right. Or I can even stack two apps on the sides, taking up 1/8 of the monitor each.

This works great and makes me feel like I have even more room than I did when using two physical 16:9 monitors (again, the lack of gap in the middle is a surprising benefit because you can put your most important app directly in front of you).

Screenshot by Road to VR

Although Rectangle has the features that make this work well, the app itself is overcomplicated; like using a sledgehammer when all you really need is a regular hammer. There still might be a more streamlined solution out there.

There’s really no reason why MacOS itself shouldn’t have similar window-arranging capabilities that actually make sense for ultrawide monitors, especially now that Vision Pro doubles as one.

Anyway… with the window management issue taken care of, I’m finding the ultrawide virtual display feature even more useful than I expected. When combined with MacOS’s built-in Spaces feature—which allows me to slide easily between multiple ultrawide workspaces—my little MacBook Air feels like an absolute productivity powerhouse. It’s wild to me that it can run five ultrawide workspaces worth of apps and still feel nice and smooth.

For me, the ultrawide option (with some third-party help) has changed Vision Pro’s virtual display feature from something that’s nice to have here and there, into an essential capability of the headset.

Now listen, some of you who have made it this far might be thinking to yourself: “to some extent you’re just praising ultrawide monitors in general.”

You’re not wrong. But the thing is, this one fits in my headset, which means I can bring a highly productive workspace with me anywhere that I would take my laptop.

Vision Pro is still too heavy to want to use this setup all day (and it’s still more expensive than an ultrawide monitor itself!). But mark my words: once Apple has an equivalent headset that’s half the size and half the price, people are going to see huge value from this kind of work setup.

Filed Under: Apple Vision Pro News & Reviews, News

Meta Opens First Ray-Ban Pop-up Store in Hopes of Making Smartglasses Fashionable

November 8, 2024 From roadtovr

Ray-Ban Meta smartglasses are already pretty fashionable, as they look nearly identical to a few of EssilorLuxottica’s best-selling sunglasses, albeit with the inclusion of neatly integrated cameras, speakers, battery and onboard AI driven by a positively tiny Qualcomm Snapdragon AR1 Gen1 processor. With the launch of a new pop-up store in Los Angeles today, Meta is hoping to test out whether it can move the needle with broader adoption.

Meta calls the LA pop-up store “experiential retail,” having modeled it after the Meta Lab pop-up at Connect 2024 in October, which allowed event-goers to try on a pair of Ray-Ban Meta smartglasses to capture photos and videos and keep the resultant files, or even buy a customized pair of the $300 glasses right then and there.

Ultimately, the idea with its first publicly available pop-up in LA is to increase word-of-mouth marketing, which Creative Director Matt Jacobson hopes will make its users into the “best salesperson ever.”

Ray-Ban Meta Glasses, Image courtesy Meta, EssilorLuxottica

Adorned with a giant pair of Ray-Ban Meta glasses on the outside (with the glasses’ LED privacy light), the flagship pop-up in LA is only going to be around until December 31st, although it won’t be the last.

The company’s next pop-up is planned to hit Phoenix, Arizona in January, which the company calls a “real shop-in-shop,” the exact location of which is still a mystery.

Meta Lab (LA) | Image courtesy Meta

“Can we build a store inside somebody else’s business? Can we drive traffic to it, and can we leverage their marketing as well as ours? By the end of January, we will have tested all three expressions of our experiential first-party retail.”

To boot, the Meta Lab location is doing more than just letting people try on and buy Ray-Ban smartglasses. The company says it will have “regular programming,” which includes stand-up comedy with Desi Banks, a live podcast with Madeline Argy, a ‘paint and sip’ night with Tinashe, a Ray-Ban Meta-focused workshop with Director Drex Lee, and a cooking class with Cassie Yeung.

From there, Meta hopes to share its findings with EssilorLuxottica, which operates over 17,000 stores worldwide, as well among third-party partners. Meta announced in September it was expanding its smartglasses partnership with the eyewear conglomerate into 2030.

As pop-ups go, the LA and Phoenix locations may be a limited engagement, but it may also spark more to come.

“We can’t scale a hundred of these, but we can build a few of them at locations around the country, and then fill in if we decide we want to do more first-party retail. This is aspirational, inspirational. They’re not easily scalable in terms of what they look like, but in terms of experience, they are,” Jacobson says.


If you’re in the LA area, you can find the Meta Lab pop-up over at 8600 Melrose Avenue, open from 10:00 am – 7:00 pm PT seven days a week beginning November 8th through December 31st.

Posted holiday hours are 10:00 am – 3:00 pm on Black Friday and Christmas Eve, with the location closed on Thanksgiving, December 3rd, and Christmas Day.

Filed Under: News, XR Industry News

Apple Releases Long-awaited Panoramic Display Feature on Vision Pro in 2.2 Beta

November 5, 2024 From roadtovr

Apple has released initial access to the long-promised panoramic display feature for Vision Pro’s Mac Virtual Display, which now brings three virtual screen sizes via its visionOS 2.2 beta release.

Having initially launched with Vision Pro back in February, Mac Virtual Display only included a single virtual screen size, albeit allowing Vision Pro users to have multiple app windows open at the same time.

Many were hoping Apple would release the new ‘Wide’ and ‘Ultrawide’ display formats for Mac Virtual Display last month during the company’s online Mac product reveal event. Now, as reported by MacRumors, visionOS 2.2 is here in beta, allowing Vision Pro users who opt in to finally take advantage of long-awaited wider screen real estate.

Apple said during the feature’s unveiling in June the update would bring an “ultra-wide display that wraps around you,” allowing for resolutions “equivalent to two 4K monitors, side by side.” Mac-side dynamic foveated rendering also keeps content “sharp wherever you look,” Apple said.

While it’s unclear exactly when Apple plan to push out visionOS 2.2 to the stable branch, it’s likely to come alongside the next ‘X.2’ updates for iOS, iPadOS, macOS Sequoia, watchOS, and tvOS, MacRumors suggests.

In the meantime, to enroll in the visionOS 2.2 beta, simply follow these few steps:

Updating Vision Pro via OTA updates

  1. Sign in to the Apple Developer Center with with your Apple ID and accept the ToS.
  2. Put on Vision Pro, and go to Settings General > Software Update > Beta Updates and choose the developer beta.
  3. When a new developer beta is available, you can install it from Software Update.
  4. From there, you should see the new ‘Wide’ and ‘Ultrawide’ options when tethered to your Mac.

Filed Under: Apple Vision Pro News & Reviews, News

Apple Reportedly Delays Cheaper Vision Pro Beyond 2027, M5 Chip Refresh May Arrive Instead

November 4, 2024 From roadtovr

Apple may be taking a beat before it releases a cheaper follow-up to Vision Pro, which would more broadly appeal to consumers, instead releasing a hardware refresh next year that includes the new M5 chipset.

According to independent tech analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, Apple has delayed the cheaper version of Vision Pro “beyond 2027”. Kuo, who is a respected figure in Apple supply chain leaks, claims in an X post that “Apple’s only new head-mounted display device in 2025 will be the Vision Pro with an upgraded M5 processor.”

“I think what really drove Apple to delay the cheaper Vision Pro is that simply reducing the price wouldn’t help create successful use cases,” Kuo maintains. “It’s similar to the HomePod situation—even after launching the cheaper HomePod mini, Apple’s smart speakers failed to become mainstream products.”

Image courtesy Apple

This comes in sharp contrast to a previous report from The Information in June that alleged Apple was charging ahead with a single, more affordable headset for release in 2025—let’s call it ‘Vision SE’, and leaving a more powerful ‘Vision Pro 2’ for later release.

Granted, there’s no way of knowing exactly what Apple is planning to do, as the Cupertino tech giant is famous for seeding would-be leakers with misleading bits of information in effort to catch them, so reports of the ilk should be taken with a heaping handful of salt.

Still, Kuo’s claim that Apple is pushing forward with what will surely be an equally expensive hardware refresh to the $3,500 Vision Pro may not be so farfetched.

In the midst of recent supply chain rumors claiming Apple has sharply slowed Vision Pro production, Apple CEO Tim Cook was keen to remind doubters in a concurrent Wall Street Journal interview that Vision Pro isn’t “a mass-market product.”

“Right now, it’s an early-adopter product,” Cook told the WSJ. “People who want to have tomorrow’s technology today—that’s who it’s for. Fortunately, there’s enough people who are in that camp that it’s exciting.”

Provided Kuo’s claim is true, it would signal a decisive shift in the company’s release strategy, leaving the next Vision Pro to carry on its legacy, again putting the headset in the odd position of being both too expensive for general consumers, and too niche for a large swath of third-party developers to consider it a viable money-making platform, like Meta’s Quest platform is today.

– – — – –

Meanwhile, the XR competitive landscape is changing at a pretty fast clip. After the release of Meta’s $300 mixed reality Quest 3S, we’re still waiting to hear more about the company’s next big move to release a fleet of third-party OEMs running Horizon OS, which is ostensibly in service of Meta’s bid to become the “open” XR platform to Apple’s closed garden XR ecosystem.

Meanwhile, Google has signaled its preparing support for XR headsets on Google Play, which could portend the long-awaited Samsung/Google/Qualcomm headset that rumors suggest may try to compete with Vision Pro.

Filed Under: Apple Vision Pro News & Reviews, News

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