LG's Entry Into XR

Good morning folks!

We’re just 3 days away from Vision Pro pre-orders and I keep asking the same two questions to myself. One, should I really buy the Apple Vision Pro, and two, which kidney should I sell: the left one or the right one?

Headlines for people in a hurry:

• 🥽 LG Announces Upcoming XR Headset To Launch By 2025

• 😲 Leaked Video Showcases Meta’s ‘Augment’s Feature’

• 📅 Vision Pro Internals & Store Demo Details Revealed

• 🕶️ TCL Crowdfunding For Ray Neo X2: The First Standalone AR

Read time: 3 minutes

TOP STORIES

ANNOUNCEMENTS

LG Has Entered The Chat

LG Electronics has confirmed its plans to release an XR device as early as next year. The company's CEO, Cho Joo-wan, announced this development, noting that the XR device development has been moved into the division responsible for LG's TVs to accelerate progress. While it's unclear whether Cho referred to a single device or multiple devices, this move signifies LG's renewed interest in the XR space.

LG's history in VR is brief, with a smartphone-tethered headset released in 2016 and a PC-tethered SteamVR headset prototype in 2017 that never reached the market. The new XR device is likely to be more advanced, possibly utilizing Qualcomm's Snapdragon XR2+ Gen 2 chipset. This chipset powers several upcoming headsets, including Immersed's Visor, Samsung's Google-powered headset, a new HTC Vive headset, a YVR headset in China, and Sony's enterprise headset.

There are also rumors of a partnership between LG and Meta to build future Quest Pro headsets, with the first headset from the partnership potentially launching in 2025. That means, in the future, there might be just three XR tag teams that dominate the mainstream market: LG+Meta, Samsung+Google, and Apple which uses Sony displays, so I guess you could pair them up as well.

META

Leaked Video Reveals The Upcoming Augments Feature

Meta Quest 3's upcoming 'Augments' feature, revealed through leaked videos, showcases a significant advancement in mixed reality. Initially announced at Connect 2023, Augments are described as "persistent spatially-anchored digital objects" in your physical space.

The leaked videos, mistakenly posted by a technical filmmaker on their Vimeo account and later taken down, were saved and sent to the news organization UploadVR by popular XR enthusiast Luna.

The videos revealed a greater degree of interactivity and functionality than previously suggested. They show examples like a playable miniature pinball game, an interactive calendar, and a pet-like virtual plant that can be watered.

The technical details behind Augments indicate that Meta Spark Studio will be used to build these mini-apps, supporting 3D asset importing, animation, and JavaScript for advanced functionality. This approach allows for lightweight apps that can run alongside each other in the Quest home environment, akin to Apple's strategy with Reality Composer Pro and RealityKit.

APPLE

Vision Pro Internals & Store Demo Details Leaked

New leaks suggest that the Apple Vision Pro will rock a 10-core GPU version of the M2 and will have up to 16 gigs of RAM. That should make Vision Pro's GPU at least 50% more powerful than even the overclocked Adreno 740 in Qualcomm's new Snapdragon XR2+ Gen 2.

Apple will offer in-store demos starting on launch day. These demos, available at Apple's largest stores, will feature more than a dozen units and provide a comprehensive experience of the headset's capabilities.

The demo starts with a face scan to determine the best-fitting light seal and strap size for each customer. For those wearing glasses, ZEISS optical inserts will be customized accordingly. Then you’ll be taught the basic tutorials followed by a caliberation process. Once this is done, the 20-25 minute demo begins, involving:

1. Viewing regular photos, including panoramas, at lifelike scale.

2. Viewing 3D "spatial" photos and 3D "spatial" videos.

3. Multitasking by positioning multiple windows in space, including Safari browser tabs.

4. Watching 3D movies and immersive 180-degree videos, featuring clips of wild animals, the ocean, sports, and a scene that simulates being on a tightrope.

The headset will also be preloaded with various third-party apps, though their specific inclusion in the demos is not detailed. Apple's goal for Vision Pro demos is to provide an experience that's compelling but not exhausting, ideally leaving customers itching for more.

NEWS FLASH

META

Meta’s Mixed Reality To Get Much Better

• 🔦 Mixed Reality on Quest 3 gets more realistic with object shadows and highlights.

• 🕶️ TCL to crowdfund the first standalone AR glasses, RayNeo X2, with microLED display and advanced features.

• 🍏 Apple's Vision Pro headset criticized for its limited virtual keyboard, requiring one-finger typing or external Bluetooth keyboard.

• 🎮CitraVR is a Quest native Nintendo 3DS emulator from the creator of Air Link

• 🥇 In December 2023, PSVR 2 charts were topped by 'FNAF: Help Wanted 2' and 'Among Us VR', marking strong debuts for both games.

• 📺 Meta restores the Quest's TV casting feature following user complaints, two weeks after its removal due to reliability issues.

• 🎮 Vertigo 2, an acclaimed solo VR campaign, launches on PSVR 2 after its successful PC VR release.

• 🗡️ Tiger Blade, influenced by Korean neo-noir cinema, brings 'slash-n-dash' action to Quest in late 2024, after its PSVR 2 release.

BOOKMARKS

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• 8 Smart Home Gadgets You Should Invest In

• Why Wi-Fi 7 Won't Significantly Reduce Wireless VR Latency

COOL PROJECTS

SOCIAL MEDIA

XR Is The Future Of Content

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“My Time Has Come”

Have a great week folks.

I’ve been watching Apple iPhone’s spatial videos on my Quest 3’s Youtube VR app, and it looks great. Here’s a video I recommend you watch.

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