Quest

‘Batman VR’ App Allegedly in the Works for Quest, FTC Filing Claims

November 23, 2022 From roadtovr

Among documents released by the United States Federal Trade Commission (FTC) earlier this week is a claim that Meta’s VR studio Camouflaj, the developers behind Marvel’s Ironman VR, have also planned a Batman VR app for release on Quest.

The apparent leak was found by Janko Roettgers, formerly of Protocol and Variety. The document in whole can be viewed here.

“In September 2022, Meta acquired Camouflaj, which currently developing Ironman and Batman VR apps for Quest.”

The information comes as a part of wider antitrust investigation into Meta’s acquisition of Within, the studio behind the VR fitness app. You can read more about that here.

Last we heard from Camouflaj before the acquisition by Meta, the studio said it had “exciting things on the horizon,” maintaining it was still “all-in on VR.”

As early as May 2022, the studio was hiring for a host of positions to work on its “next exciting AAA project.”

A few months later the studio then released Iron Man VR on Quest 2, releasing it from its two-year exclusivity on PSVR.

Camouflaj hasn’t announced any new projects at this point either. We’ve reached out to Meta for comment and will update when/if we hear back.

Meta Connect Dev Conference to Be Held Virtually on October 11th

September 6, 2022 From roadtovr

Meta today announced that its next installment of Connect, the company’s annual XR developer conference, is again going digital this year. The event, which promises to share updates and looks into the “near and far future” of Meta, will be held on October 11th, 2022.

Like last year’s all-digital Connect, this year’s dev conference will include livestreaming keynotes and developer sessions, which the company says will be available on the Reality Labs Facebook page. And it’s all being boiled down into one day.

There’s no schedule out yet, however the company says its one-day virtual event will explore “the building of the metaverse and the future of augmented and virtual reality.” You can sign up for updates over at metaconnect.com for any upcoming livestreams.

We’d expect that much, but more specifically we’re hoping to learn a few key things. Topping the list is info surrounding its next VR headset, Project Cambria, or what is rumored to be dubbed Meta Quest Pro.

On the Joe Rogan Experience Podcast last week, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg let it slip that its “next device [is] coming out in October,” which suggests a Cambria launch during Connect. That would also mean we get the full info drop on the so-called Quest Pro then. Reminder: at more than $800 Cambria is likely meant for prosumers and developers looking to get their hands on a VR headset capable of AR interactions (aka ‘mixed reality’) thanks to color passthrough and built-in eye tracking.

Whatever we see though will most certainly need top last year’s big name change if the company wants to make good on its complete rebranding, which essentially unplugged the Facebook and Oculus brand names and pivoted the company to focus more on building the metaverse.

Some other bits we’d expect in Connect 2022: Meta’s social VR space Horizon Worlds demonstrating a more definite direction, which we’d hope includes better-looking avatars and the sort of baked-in social features its VR hardware has been missing since, well, forever.

Now that Oculus…er…Meta Quest 2 has seen a price bump and the company still hasn’t delivered on its ambitious metaverse concepts, Connect 2022 may be just the place for the company to set expectations for Meta moving forward.

Meta Visually Unifies Avatars Across Quest, Facebook & Instagram in Metaverse Push

January 31, 2022 From roadtovr

Meta released its new Quest avatar system last year, bringing a big upgrade over the previous in terms of expressiveness and customizability. Now the company announced it’s standardizing those across all Meta platforms—Facebook, Messenger, and Instagram—essentially letting users build and use the same 3D avatar for VR and social media.

Starting today, Meta says the visual style for 3D avatars on Facebook, Messenger, and Instagram will be “the same look and feel as the avatars you’re already familiar with on Quest.”

The company says its avatars don’t sync across its various properties yet, with the only exception being between Facebook and Messenger, and also Instagram Stories if you choose. For example: if you build an avatar for Quest, it won’t be ported over to your Facebook account. You have to manually build the 3D avatar there, and vice versa.

The update includes things like more expressions, faces, skin tones, over-the-ear hearing aids, cochlear implants, and NFL football shirts in preparation for the Super Bowl.

One thing that won’t be available to Quest users for now though is the inclusion of wheelchairs, which are coming to 3D avatars on its traditional social networks.

The 3D avatar update is gradually rolling out starting today, the company says. Users in the US, Canada and Mexico will be able to access it today, while other countries will follow.

The quasi-unification of its avatar systems across Quest and Facebook is ostensibly part a wider push to position its immersive tech closer to the core of its business. It’s also hoping to build more bridges to these platforms, or so we’ve gleaned.

In a Digiday interview earlier this month, Meta said it would be opening its social VR Horizon apps to non-VR devices at some point in addition to bringing its various experiences together in a more seamless way.

We haven’t seen that happen yet, however the entrance of uniform 3D avatars puts the company even closer to making that cross-platform space—the company’s vision of the metaverse—a significant step closer.