With Christmas just around the corner and the year drawing to a close, I’ve got a treat for you! Although I’ll be sending out a dedicated post to wish you all happy holidays tomorrow, today, consider me your Santa. I’m hosting not one, but two giveaways so you can snag keys to some exciting XR games, free of charge! Make sure you read through this roundup to learn how to jump in on the fun.
Top News of the Week
(Image by Andrew Bosworth)
Meta Reflects on 2024 and Looks Ahead to 2025
Andrew “Boz” Bosworth, the CTO of Meta, shared some insights on the company’s blog about the year’s accomplishments and a glimpse of what’s to come. A post also echoed by Mark Rabkin, VP of MR/VR, and the Lowpass newsletter’s Janko Roettgers, highlighted familiar points like the launch of the Quest 3S, touted as a budget-friendly mixed reality headset, and a few standard PR boasts about Meta’s innovation. Yet, buried within were nuggets worth your attention:
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Quest 3S Sales Boom: Boz noted robust sales over Black Friday and anticipates more headsets firing up during the holidays. Comparing these figures with past Quest 2 sales post-holidays should be intriguing.
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New to Quest: Interestingly, not all Quest 3S buyers are upgrading from the Quest 2. According to Rabkin, many are fresh faces to the Quest universe—possibly new to MR/VR or switching from other headsets. This suggests Meta’s price strategy is attracting newcomers to XR.
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Younger Users Shifting Store Dynamics: Meta acknowledges a growing number of kids on Quest, altering the economics of the store with social and co-op multiplayer games, free-to-play titles, and in-app purchases, citing games like Gorilla Tag as new hits. Meanwhile, adults (25+) are exploring more traditional entertainment.
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Funding for Popular Genres: Based on store data, Meta is widening its focus on genres that show promise. "We’re backing developers to build a now broader range of apps," Rabkin said, focusing on social gaming, entertainment, core gaming, and MR-first experiences.
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Top Immersive Apps: Currently, Gorilla Tag, YouTube VR, and Horizon Worlds lead the popularity charts on Quest 3S. This reflects sustained interest in media content consumption via VR/MR, reminiscent of Gear VR’s early days, and hints at a shift with younger users favoring Horizon Worlds over VRChat.
- Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses and Future AI: The glasses have impressed, especially with new AI features. Meta aims for AI assistants that proactively help throughout the day, potentially syncing with apps like calendars—a thrilling yet privacy-sensitive development.
Competition looms, particularly from Apple’s advent and Google’s impending launch next year with Samsung. Bosworth admits the landscape’s shifting: "If we slip, we could lose our lead." While challenging for Meta, this competition spells innovation benefits for users and developers.
Other Relevant News
(Image by Niantic)
Spatial Intelligence is Gaining Traction
The synergy between AI and XR is paving new paths, with "Spatial Intelligence"—using AI for spatial understanding—emerging as a key trend. Two notable efforts surfaced this week:
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Niantic’s Geospatial Models: An intriguing blog post from Niantic, creators of Pokémon Go, discusses leveraging LLMs for geospatial understanding. By filling gaps in player-scanned data, AI helps reconstruct sites, akin to imagining a church’s full shape from a few photos.
- NYU’s VSI-Bench: Researchers at NYU are exploring LLMs’ spatial understanding. They developed VSI-Bench to assess AI’s grasp of 3D spaces, offering guidelines for enhancing spatial recognition in multimodal LLMs like Gemini.
News Worth a Mention
(Image by Blackmagic Design)
8K Camera for Apple’s Immersive Video Now Available for Pre-Order
Blackmagic Design is now taking orders for its URSA Cine Immersive camera, crafted to shoot in 8K VR180 for Apple’s format. Sporting stereo lenses and capturing frames at 90 FPS, it’s priced at $30,000—accessible predominantly to professional studios. An update for DaVinci Resolve is in the pipeline to facilitate editing and exporting using this new format.
Meta Unveils Audio-to-Expression Feature
Meta’s latest SDK upgrade includes an "Audio To Expression" tool, animating full avatar facial expressions from audio input. It surpasses the old lip-sync feature by allowing comprehensive facial movement, available freely within the Meta SDK.
Potential Quest Stuttering Fix on Steam VR
A user discovered that disabling Motion Smoothing on SteamVR resolves the Quest’s stuttering issues when linked to a PC. Encouraging results from Reddit testers suggest this workaround might be worth exploring if Valve can optimize their software accordingly.
Tokyo’s Digital Map Release
The Tokyo Metropolitan Government released its city point cloud data for free, offering valuable resources for AI training in spatial understanding, digital twin development, game location setting, and more.
Meta Winter Sale
Treat yourself this Christmas with Meta’s big discounts on favorites like Demeo, Asgard’s Wrath 2, and Assassin’s Creed VR.
Upload VR Selects 2024’s Best Games
With year-end approaching, Upload VR has highlighted top AR/VR games of 2024. Who clinched the Best VR Game? You might guess from the hint: it begins with "Bat."
Alien Rogue Incursion Hits Stores
Alien Rogue Incursion, the latest in a series of VR games out this year, hit shelves but didn’t captivate as much as expected. Critics highlight eerie atmospheres but repetitive gameplay and frustrating save mechanics. Despite this, releases like Batman Arkham Shadow are poised to spur VR adoption.
Content Highlights
- COLD VR: Pre-orders open at $19.99, launching January 21st.
- Figmin XR: Now on Apple Vision Pro with headset colocation.
- Tentacular Playground: Available on Steam.
- Niantic’s Scaniverse: Explore locations recreated with Gaussian Splats in WebXR.
- Dino Hab: New virtual dinosaur-raising game by Doug Liman now available.
- Grimlord: Soulful VR action RPG released on Quest and Steam.
- Zenni Vision VR: Assess your eyesight using your VR headset.
- Masters Of Lights: PSVR 2 action title now available.
Recent Reviews
- Attack on Titan VR: Offers decent combat but marred by bugs and repetitiveness.
- Green Hell VR: Co-op mode enhances gameplay significantly.
- COLD VR: Great concept, though some levels prove tiresome.
Other News
- Genesis introduces a new open-source 3D world generation physics engine.
- OpenAI’s new o3 model promises superior performance at a premium price.
- VR shooter Vail by AEXLAB reaches over $5.5 million in sales.
- Tom’s Guide pits XREAL One against Viture Pro AR glasses.
- Filmmaker Joe Hunting crafts a short film highlighting a unique VRChat friendship.
Partner News
PatchWorld Update
PatchWorld, a musical VR app on Quest, has undergone a significant update, now supporting hand tracking, OSC protocol, and integration with Ableton Live. Until January 6, 2025, enjoy a 50% discount. Find it on the Quest Store!
DeoVR Party at CES
If you’re heading to CES, don’t miss the "DeoVR After Dark: The Ultimate VR Creators’ CES Afterparty." It kicks off January 8th at 4 PM, where I’ll also be mingling! [Disclaimer: DeoVR is a blog patron.]
Home Sports Giveaway
Home Sports by Resolution Games aims to be the Wii Sports of Mixed Reality. Enter my giveaway for a chance at a free game key or purchase directly from the Quest Store to support developers.
Party Versus Giveaway
Join the Party Versus giveaway for your chance at a key to this Schell Games title featuring party games and mixed reality elements. Alternatively, buy directly from the Quest Store.
Some XR Fun
Experience the unexpected with a selection of funny links showcasing the quirks of XR, from Zuck’s car sighting to the antics of primates attempting to play Gorilla Tag. Also, check out speculative reflections on AI replacements, all timed with a satirical swipe at our VR endeavors.
Donate for Good
This week, consider contributing to those affected by the ongoing war. Support the humanitarian cause via the Red Cross in Ukraine. Special thanks to my Patreon supporters for their generous backing:
- Alex Gonzalez VR
- DeoVR
- GenVR
- Eduardo Siman
- And many more…
To donate, here’s the link: Support the Red Cross in Ukraine
(Header image by Meta)
In closing, this blog supports itself with advertisements and affiliate links. Clicking on them might earn me a small commission, which helps keep this content coming. Check out the full disclosure for all the fine print.
