Virtual Reality (VR) / Augmented Reality (AR)

RayNeo has partnered with SEI Robotics to present the Pocket TV: a new way to get Google TV apps and services on the former brand's virtual/augmented reality (VR/AR) glasses. The portable device also doubles as a power bank and even external storage for Air- or X-series headsets, and also sports remote control-like buttons.

Volkswagen has announced that the Pro S version of the ID.3 electric car can get from 0 to 62 miles per hour (mph) thanks to a more powerful motor. It also has some of the marque's latest infotainment and UI features, and can also charge faster with battery pre-conditioning. It can also be configured with a Harman Kardon sound system.

Razer has turned its hand to virtual and/or augmented reality (VR/AR) with its latest accessory. Its new Adjustable Head Strap System is custom-made for the Meta Quest 3, and is backed to balance and stabilize the headset for any user, regardless of head size. It also has an optional Facial Interface to enhance comfort and prevent light-bleed.

Rokid has announced its Kickstarter campaign for the Rokid AR Lite suite. Users can enjoy multimedia or work within a multi-window virtual environment with the ultralight Rokid Max 2 AR glasses powered by the Rokid Station 2 host unit. This suite is a follow-up to the 2023 Rokid AR Studio.

HTC has something new to add to its U series of Android smartphones, according to a new leak. It might have some decent internals to drive an up-to-date OS, an on-trend Qualcomm processor included. It is tipped to succeed a device with an AMOLED display and an AR/VR tie-in.

Volkswagen has showcased its latest developments in automotive design at the 2024 Auto China event. The next-gen features are projected to come combined with Level 4 autonomous driving in the upcoming ID. CODE e-SUV. The new range of youth-friendly ID.UX electric vehicles has also been announced during the event.

Facebook's parent company has launched Meta Horizon OS for third-party VR headsets, the same operating system that powers Meta Quest. Two of the very first companies that have jumped on board are Asus and Lenovo, with Microsoft working with the company to bring a "limited-edition" VR headset that's "inspired by Xbox."

Canon Japan has developed a mixed-reality headset to enjoy live music performances outside traditional performance venues. This headset allows music goers to enjoy a more realistic performance than watching it on television or other sources.

According to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, consumer interest in Apple's Vision Pro is on its way down, as indicated by a drop in the demand for demos at Apple Stores. While the AR/VR industry has seldom managed to maintain user enthusiasm beyond initial launch, the Vision Pro also suffers from other problems of its own making - including a high price tag, tediousness of use, and the lack of a 'killer app' for the device, as pointed out by Gurman.

QIDI asserts that it can bring all the advantages of augmented reality (AR) to the user's outdoor adventures with its upcoming product. The VIDA glasses are touted to pack all the tech necessary to make cycling futuristic, a heads-up display for info on performance, speed and heart-rate via in-built sensors included. They are also projected to replace the equipment necessary to keep teams together safely.

Why choose between QLED and micro-OLED displays when you can have either - or even both? That new feature debuts in the new Super version of Pimax' Crystal virtual reality (VR) headset. It can support a resolution of up to 4K at 90Hz, has a "massive" field of view (FOV) and has integrated audio. It debuts alongside its new Light sibling for potentially high-res, lightweight PCVR experiences on more of a budget.

For a limited time, you can score a free pair of Anker Soundcore Liberty 4 NC by purchasing the XREAL Air 2 Pro smart glasses. The bundled noise cancelling wireless earbuds generally go for $99.99, and they work well with augmented reality (AR) glasses.

Dyson has improved the boring task of vacuuming a home with CleanTrace, an augmented reality app to visualize the missed areas. This tool ensures manual Dyson users that they have covered every last nook and cranny of their homes.

Sony asserts that its next flagship camera for dedicated pan-tilt-zoom (PTZ) recording will leap to the forefront of professional subject-tracking on its launch. The BRC-AM7 is touted to be the world's lightest and smallest device of its form-factor on its launch, yet pack the picture quality and format support to match some of the OEM's other flagship video cameras.

The Meta build 64.0 is rolling out to Quest headsets in phases. While the release brings new features to the Quest 2 and Quest Pro, it focuses on improvements for the Quest 3. These include higher resolution and image quality for Passthrough and support to Use Apps While Lying Down.

Meta Quest 2 is back on sale. For a limited time, the virtual reality headset is now available for $199 on Amazon and $199.99 on Best Buy. That’s a generous drop from the regular price tag of $250.

In a recent email to developers, Meta has given details about how the support for the original Quest VR headset will be cut off. The email also outlines information about the future of the headset.

The Vision Pro, Apple's mixed reality headset, is set to launch in China at some point in 2024. This comes from both the Chinese state media and Apple CEO Tim Cook. Apple has focused on the Chinese market with aggressive advertising and product discounts.

Apple is at the first major cross-roads since the passing of its late co-founder Steve Jobs 12 years ago. It finds itself still largely dependent on the product lines and businesses that Jobs left behind. Its Vision Pro has received mixed reviews on launch, while it is also facing several other headwinds including a major lawsuit against what the DOJ claims are its anticompetitive practices.

NVIDIA’s AI research team has unveiled a new generative model that can turn text prompts into 3D models within a second, ready (or at least close to it) for applications such as game development, design and robotics. So far, the model has only been trained to generate “animals and everyday objects”, but more categories can be added. The near-instant speed should transform many workflows.

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has unveiled the company’s latest AI products and services for the enterprise during GTC 2024 (GPU Technology Conference) in San Jose, CA. The company announced the Blackwell GPU platform as part of their new lineup powering AI in areas such as robotics, drug discovery, and warehouse automation. Advances in autonomous vehicles and humanoid robots were demonstrated.

HTC touts VIVEPORT as the "best place" for developers to make and market their virtual/augmented reality (VR/AR) games or apps, not the least as their earnings from doing so are slated to increase "significantly" very shortly. The new revenue share percentage, freshly unveiled at 2024's Game Developers Conference (GDC), applies to new and existing games alike.

Recent rumors and leaks suggest Meta will release a budget version of its VR headset. Currently known as either the Meta Quest 3 Lite or Meta Quest 3S, the new headset looks like a stripped-down version of the Meta Quest 3.

A report from Bloomberg says that Sony has stopped manufacturing new PSVR 2 units due to unsold inventory. The VR headset isn't selling much due to a lack of content and its high price tag.

Hatsumi and Monobanda have held the world premiere of its SoulPaint VR project at South by Southwest 2024. This body mapping experience allowed participants to explore their own bodies and express lived experiences and emotions through art drawn in 3D VR on virtual representations of the self. The project explores the combination of tech, medicine, and art for healing and self-exploration.

Hugo Barra, the former Head of Oculus at Meta has labeled the Apple Vision Pro an “over-engineered devkit” in a lengthy blog post that closely examines its strengths and weaknesses. Overall, as an AR/VR enthusiast, Barra says the arrival of Apple in the spatial computing segment is a good thing as it will spur competition and advance the pace of innovation.

The Goovis G3X is a new VR headset that is designed to be particularly compact and light and thus comfortable to wear for long periods of time. Micro OLEDs from Sony are used, which promise a particularly colorful display.

Honda will introduce the Honda XR Mobility Experience at SXSW 2024 in Austin, Texas on March 10-13, 2024. The experience combines its UNI-ONE, two-wheeled, self-balancing wheelchair with VR goggles. Users can feel real movement as they navigate virtual worlds.

After news of high returns broke earlier this month, an Apple analyst posits that up to 30% of those returns are because “users don't know how to set up Vision Pro. The next-gen Vision Pro is also predicted to arrive by 2027 and be more efficient than the current version.

OPPO has launched the third iteration of its prototype assisted reality (aR) glasses, the Air Glass 3, sporting a lightweight and unassuming design. The device features an AI voice assistant, powered by Oppo’s LLM AndesGPT, as the main interface, and serves up useful information on a full-colour projected display. Oppo has not yet announced any plans to bring the Air Glass 3 into production.

The Apple Vision Pro has proven to be even more complicated to disassemble or re-assemble compared to its iPhone or Mac counterparts. However, as a prominent teardown vlogger claims to have found, the first-gen headset has something in common with its potentially more affordable Apple siblings: the dreaded anti-repair parts-pairing issue.

The RayNeo X2 glasses are now available to international augmented reality fans - albeit not as a retail product. The "AI + AR" spectacles' crowdfunding campaign has kicked off to bring their full-color microLED tech to the global market. They are also backed to deliver yet more world-firsts, Qualcomm Snapdragon XR2 power included.

A new emulator that mimics the Nintendo Virtual Boy is now available for software modded 3DS handhelds. The emulator includes support for the 3DS's 3D function, mimicking the faux-VR of the Virtual Boy.

Doublepoint has come to Barcelona to announce that WowMouse has upgraded to support for the Pixel Watch 2. The app is rated to turn a user's smartwatch hand into a "mouse" thanks to its support for Wear OS, and, thus, to add a new, touch-free level of control over PCs, mobile devices or VR/AR headsets.

Apple is reportedly mulling the expansion of its wearables range with rivals for devices such as the Oura Ring - not to mention the Meta/Ray-Ban glasses - then again, they may be a long way off compared to others such as next-gen AirPods. To that end, the first-gen Ring from the Cupertino giant might lag significantly behind a Galaxy Ring rumored to make an imminent debut.

Researchers say that companies who are promoting the daily use of headsets like the Apple Vision Pro should exercise “caution and restraint” until further research is undertaken into their effects.

You can now also learn movement sequences from the best. That sounds like a quick shortcut to the laborious process of learning an instrument. But with the intelligent glove presented by researchers at MIT, even more is possible.

Sony has announced four new games for the PS VR 2, which will launch separately in the coming weeks. It has also confirmed gamers will be able to use their headsets on PC later in 2024.

Qualcomm has announced that it will bring its first ever "Automotive Grade" Wi-Fi 7 access point to MWC 2024. The new addition to the Snapdragon Auto Connectivity platform is thus touted to bring cutting-edge bandwidth, interference-free reception and potentially super-fast data transfer rates to the next generation of vehicles.

Once among the best-known mobile device names in its native China, Meizu has now decided that it is time to "go All in" on AI, thereby finally leaving "traditional" smartphones behind. The OEM has unveiled plans for projects such as replacing the anticipated 21 Infinity flagship with its first "AI device" by the end of 2024 and taking brands such as PANDAER along for this new ride.

Apple asserts that its inaugural Vision Pro will be to "spatial computing" as the iPhone was to personal mobile device use. However, if the Cupertino giant was hoping for universal acceptance of its new headset, it seems it is not getting it, as the device is reportly being returned in noticeable numbers.

TCL has launched a new pair of AR glasses called the Nxtwear S Plus. They are successors to the Nxtwear S, and just like the predecessors, you need to connect these glasses to a compatible device. That is, they are not standalone devices like the Apple Vision Pro or Meta Quest headsets. But the new TCL glasses are more affordable, coming with a price tag of $399 or £399.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has finally tried out Apple's Vision Pro and compared it to his own Quest 3 in an Instagram video. The competition between Meta and Apple promises exciting innovations. The video shows the strengths and weaknesses of both VR headsets from Zuckerberg's point of view and allows speculation about future developments.

Apple has released a new version of visionOS, its equivalent of iOS or iPadOS for the new Vision Pro. It fixes the ultra-premium headset's famous passcode bug, by which a unit might have even required a trip back to the Apple Store to be unlocked. Nevertheless, its new ability does not compromise its security.

Frame is a newly launched pair of AI-enabled smart AR glasses from Brilliant Labs, featuring a discreet camera and a micro-OLED colour display projected onto the lens. Using a voice assistant and multimodal AI models, it can do a real-time online search for whatever one is looking at, as well as answer queries and translate text or audio. Priced at $349, the Frame competes directly with the likes of Meta’s Ray Ban smart glasses and the Rabbit R1.

YouTuber Luke Miani introduces the VisionBook Air Max Ultra, a concept which adds a bezel-less display to a MacBook Air M2 / M1, making it both lighter and more compact. But how does it work and what are the practical benefits?

Rokid and Hainan Airlines have partnered to offer passengers the world's first AR flights from February 7 until March 31, 2024. Using Rokid Max glasses connected to the portable Rokid Station, passengers can watch a variety of entertainment in flight on a virtual 360-inch screen.

Apple’s EyeSight feature has been marketed as a key point of differentiation between its Vision Pro headset and other AR/VR headsets already on the market. However, in practice, the feature does not work anywhere near as well as it appears in Apple’s advertising.

Vision Pro early adopters have found - to their horror - that their new $3,500 is incapable of playing immersive spatialized pornography.

Rocket Homes and Wayfair have announced that they see the Vision Pro's (astronomical) value as the ideal new platform for their respective sales apps. Accordingly, those with Apple's first-gen headset can now view their next dream home in virtual and/or augmented reality (VR/AR) with Real Estate Search, then make it their own with the Decorify app.