Oculus co-founder Palmer Luckey designed a new VR headset that adds the ultimate layer of realism to VR—mortality. Thought to be relegated to dystopian cyberpunk fiction, this new headset comes with the ability to literally kill its user if killed in-game. Its design involves an Oculus Quest Pro, with explosive charges strapped to the forehead, which activate when the headset receives a specific pattern of red color flashes from the game's display-head, to a photo receiver (typically the "Game Over" screen). There's already a concept for a game designed for this.

Mortality replaces visual fidelity and photorealism (or other forms of sensory realism); as the most powerful stimulus. You play the game like your life depends on it—which it literally does. You're in an MMO playing against another human in an unpausable PvP game, where the consequence of losing the duel is losing your head in real life. But first, the good news—the cursed thing isn't in mass-production, and while the US-FDA has approved for certain kinds of pain-stimulating gaming peripherals, it didn't approve killing the user. The product will have to pass through a long line of political, legislative, legal, and philosophical hurdles before it's released to market as something you can buy. Please don't.

AR/VR device shipments revised up to 14.19 million units in 2022, with an annual growth rate of 43.9%, according to TrendForce research. Growth momentum will come from increased demand for remote interactivity stemming from the pandemic, as well as Oculus Quest 2's price reduction strategy. Microsoft HoloLens 2 and Oculus Quest 2 are first in market share for AR and VR, respectively.

According to TrendForce, the topic of the Metaverse has driven brands to actively plan for and stimulate product shipment performance. However, the AR/VR device market has yet to experienced explosive growth due to two factors: component shortages and the difficulty of developing new technologies. In addition, cosmetic and size considerations have made the more optically and technically difficult Pancake design the first choice for new high-end products. Furthermore, various embedded tracking feedback technologies key to enhancing the user's immersive experience such as eye tracking and 6DoF further affect the development progress of a new product as a whole. Since there are no new foreboding products on the horizon, TrendForce believes, no other branded products have a chance at supplanting the current mainstream status of Oculus or Microsoft until at least 2023.

Mark Zuckerberg has recently announced a rebrand of Facebook to Meta during the companies Connect 2021 AR/VR event. This change will involve the dissolution of the Oculus brand for hardware naming and will also introduce an arguably more significant change in that Oculus/Meta accounts will be disassociated with Facebook accounts removing the need for a Facebook account to use the headsets. This change has allegedly come about due to the negative connotations regarding the Facebook brand and to encourage new users who aren't interesting in creating a Facebook account. While these changes won't be fully implemented until 2022 some users have reported that Oculus support is able to unlink Facebook accounts immediately while retaining purchases and most non-social features on the headset.

Andrew BosworthAs we've focused more on work, and as we've heard feedback from the VR community more broadly, we're working on new ways to log into Quest that won't require a Facebook account, landing sometime next year. This is one of our highest priority areas of work internally.

Canon U.S.A., Inc., a leader in digital imaging solutions, has introduced its first product designed to empower the next generation of immersive storytellers. The new RF5.2 mm F2.8 L Dual Fisheye lens brings stereoscopic 3D virtual reality (VR) capture to the EOS R5 camera as part of the EOS VR System, which also includes a future firmware update for the EOS R5 camera to support use of this lens with new VR shooting specific functions, as well as new upcoming Canon EOS VR software solutions for conversion and processing.

As the world's first digital interchangeable dual fisheye lens capable of shooting stereoscopic 3D 180° VR imagery to a single image sensor the complexities of virtual reality production and the ability to view the content in full capacity, are greatly streamlined for seasoned professionals and newcomers to the craft. In order to truly experience the captured content by this system in its truest form, a compatible VR headset is recommended for use such as the Oculus Quest 2, allowing the viewer to immerse themselves in the content—by simply moving their head to provide a vivid, incredibly wide view.

Facebook has announced that it is working with developers to trial showing ads within Oculus Quest games. The adverts will initially appear in Blaston a paid bullet-hell game developed by Resolution Games with more games to be added in the coming weeks. Facebook will seek user feedback from the trial and may expand the program in an attempt to make the Oculus platform financially sustainable. This latest move comes after Facebook started testing ads in the Oculus mobile app last month to give developers a "new way to showcase their VR applications". Facebook has confirmed that the Oculus privacy and advertising policies will remain the same and that user movement will not be used to show targeted ads.

Ming-Chi Kuo a renowned Apple analyst has recently predicted that we will see at least three new XR products from Facebook, Sony, and Apple in 2022. These predictions come from an analysis of recent lens orders from Taiwanese manufacturer Yujingguang by the three companies. Yujingguang is expected to supply the lenses used in the upcoming Oculus Quest 3, and PlayStation VR 2 along with being a "key-supplier" for Apple's headset. These new lenses will offer an increased field of view and improved image clarity over existing options. The company expects to supply 50% of the demand for Oculus Quest 3 equal to 22 million units while their exact supply for the devices from Sony and Apple is unknown.

Today we're announcing features that will begin rolling out soon in the v28 software update to Oculus Quest headsets. Oculus Air Link is a wireless way to play PC VR games on Quest 2, while new Infinite Office features make getting work done in VR even easier. We're also announcing native 120 Hz support for Quest 2 for an ultra-smooth gameplay experience.

Since launching in 2019 and exiting beta last year, Oculus Link has been a widely used feature across the Quest Platform. With a gaming PC and a compatible USB-C cable, Link has given people access to Rift's impressive content library, including games like Asgard's Wrath, Lone Echo, Stormland, and more. But of course, being tethered to your PC can break immersion and limit your mobility. We know gamers want to use Link without a wire—to experience the full freedom of movement offered by Quest 2 while playing the high-end titles that can only run on a gaming PC. That's why we've been working on a new streaming technology called Oculus Air Link—a completely wireless way to play PC VR content on Quest 2 using WiFi, built on the successful Oculus Link streaming pipeline.

Facebook Reality Labs Vice President Andrew Bosworth has recently confirmed in a Q&A session that the Oculus Quest 2 is likely to receive 120 Hz refresh rate support via an upcoming software update. The original Oculus Quest shipped with a 72 Hz refresh rate and when the Quest 2 was released with a better screen this refresh rate was kept for compatibility reasons. Facebook has now made 90 Hz the default refresh rate on the Quest 2 after a period of testing and it seems that this could soon be increased to 120 Hz with the main concerns remaining being performance and battery life. Developers would have the option to target 72, 90, or 120 Hz for their games and applications to run at. The 120 Hz refresh rate would be most noticeable when playing desktop VR games via Oculus Link with a computer capable of high-fidelity VR.

The Oculus Store is the primary way to purchase and download content on Oculus Quest devices. The Oculus Store features a limited library of highly curated content making it difficult for smaller less-polished games to join the platform, users previously had to use programs like SideQuest to get around these restrictions and install such programs. Oculus has recently announced the App Lab as a home for this content, the introduction of App Lab will allow users to access experimental, beta, and niche content through an official program. App Lab content will still support all Quest features and will have to adhere to Oculus content standards. Oculus also announced that third-party distribution such as through SideQuest will be officially supported. Oculus App Lab is now rolling out to Oculus Quest devices with update version 25 and should be available on all devices in the coming days.

Facebook has recently announced during their Q4 earnings call that the companies non-advertising revenue had risen to 885 million USD up 156% from 346 million USD in Q4 2019. This drastic increase in non-advertising revenue can be attributed to strong Oculus Quest 2 sales in the holiday quarter. The Oculus Quest 2 launched for 100 USD less than its predecessor while offering much more powerful hardware, however the headset does require a Facebook account to use. Facebook also confirmed that they are working on a successor to the Quest 2 which will be fully compatible with existing Quest titles.

South Korean startup bHaptics have recently announced their TactSuit X series haptic vests. The TactSuit X40 and TactSuit x16 are designed to increase VR immersion in supported games. The TactSuit X40 features 40 Eccentric Rotating Mass (ERM) vibration motors across the front and back paired with a 9,800 mAh battery which should enable 18+ hours of playtime. The TactSuit X16 reduces the number of motors to 16 and features a 4,900 mAh battery which should provide 22+ hours of use.

The two suits both feature Bluetooth Low Energy 4.0 and include support for SteamVR and Oculus Quest games however the number of supported titles is very limited. Natively supported games include Onward, Thrill of the Fight, and Sairento VR but can be configured to work with Half-Life: Alyx, Skyrim VR, and Fallout 4 VR using bespoke mod files. The suits can also be used in an audio-based mode for unsupported games and other media which converts audio objects to general haptic rumbles. The TactSuit X40 and TactSuit X16 are now available for pre-order at 500 USD and 300 USD respectively with deliveries expected in December.

Last week we brought you a report on how you could end up with a paperweight of an Oculus Quest 2 VR HMD if your Facebook account linked to the headset is banned. There's another aspect to this mess—voluntary account deletion. What if you decided you no longer need your Facebook account, and for whatever reason (read: privacy), decided to delete your account"? Turns out, that all the Oculus games that you own, will be gone forever, according to CixLiv on Twitter, who took the time to actually read the ToS. Deleting your Facebook account, which is a step beyond deactivating it, is a permanent erasure of your data on Facebook, which means that your Oculus profile gets deleted alongside, along with your digital rights to all the games that you purchased.

In a recent interview with Chris Pruett, Facebook's Director of Content Ecosystem at Oculus it was revealed that the Oculus Quest 2 launch had been a huge success exceeding the companies expectations. Chris Pruett commented that the Oculus team "really couldn't be happier" with the launch and noted the headset was selling "faster than Quest did" and "maybe a little bit beyond what we expected". VR developers have been echoing these comments with Rec Room noting a 250% larger launch over the original Quest and a 10x increase in sales.

The data from Rec Room also shows that the majority of Oculus Quest 2 purchases are from people trying VR for the first time which is great news for the VR industry in general. Facebook has been able to keep up with the demand for the new headset which has evidently proven to be a great success even with controversy surrounding the Facebook account requirements.

Qualcomm Technologies, Inc., a subsidiary of Qualcomm Incorporated, is powering better-than-ever virtual reality (VR) gameplay and experiences with the launch of Oculus Quest 2, the first-to-launch VR device powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon XR2 Platform. Oculus Quest 2 is a culmination of years of collaboration between Qualcomm Technologies and Facebook to create the most advanced and immersive gaming VR experiences for consumers to-date.

Purpose-built for extended reality (XR), the Snapdragon XR2 Platform unlocks staggering improvements including twice the CPU and GPU performance compared to its predecessor which powers the original Oculus Quest headset. The Snapdragon XR2 Platform delivers significant performance enhancements in Oculus Quest 2 including:

Logitech G, a brand of Logitech, and leading innovator of gaming technologies and gear, today announced new Oculus Ready immersive audio solutions for Oculus Quest 2 gamers. The new Logitech G333 VR Gaming Earphones and the Logitech G PRO Gaming Headset for Oculus Quest 2.

"The teams at Oculus and Logitech G share the same passion for gaming, and the same ambition to push innovation, design and technology to new heights. We are proud to be partnering with Oculus to deliver a next gen Oculus Ready VR audio experience," said Vadim Kogan, head of business development for VR and AR at Logitech. "The Logitech G333 VR Gaming Earphones and the PRO Gaming Headset have both been thoughtfully designed to support VR set up and to provide the most immersive and refined audio experience possible."

In a recent video accidentally published on the Facebook Blueprint developer site and officially confirmed by the vice president of Facebook Labs details all the new features and changes found on the Oculus Quest 2. The leak confirms many of the existing rumors about the upcoming headset which is set to be announced later this week at Facebook Connect. The Oculus Quest 2 will feature the Snapdragon XR2 processor which has been specifically designed for AR/VR devices and should provide a significant performance increase over the Snapdragon 835 found in the original quest.

The Oculus Quest 2 will feature "nearly 2K Resolution per eye" which would put the total resolution at just under 4K possibly 3,840 x 2,160. The video did not mention if the display refresh rate would be increased from the 72Hz found on the original Quest but the XR2 platform can support up to 90Hz screens. The ram has been increased to 6 GB from the 4 GB found on the original and max storage has been expanded to 256 GB.

The "Gaming Accessories Market - Growth, Trends, and Forecasts (2020-2025)" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering. The global gaming accessories market is expected to reach a CAGR of 9.5% during the forecast period of 2020-2025. Increasing adoption of smartphones, rapidly evolving technologies such as virtual reality (VR) and artificial intelligence (AI) are fueling the growth of the market across the globe.

Major gaming console manufacturers like Nintendo and Microsoft have realized the potentiality of AR and are leading the charge. AR can free gamers from their world' and usher them into the real world to play. For instance, Human Pac-Man is a game that allows the users to wear goggles and chase each other in real life, just resembling the characters in Pac-Man. Such developments are aiding the development of gaming accessories to provide enhanced gaming experience to gamers.

The Oculus Quest is a standalone VR headset released in May 2019, the headset features a Snapdragon 835 and inside-out tracking. The headset has received various software updates bringing features such as hand-tracking and SteamVR tether support which have proved to be a hit with consumers. A leaked image of a potential Oculus Quest successor was posted on Twitter by @h0x0d which shows an iterative upgrade to the original headset.

The leaked image shows updated Oculus Touch controllers and general ergonomic improvements however, most improvements are likely to be internal with speculation of a faster screen and updated processor. This seems like a logical move for Oculus which recently discontinued their budget Oculus Go headset and announced their intentions to focus on Oculus Quest going forwards.

In a recent driver update for the Oculus Quest references to the upcoming "Oculus Jedi" controllers were discovered by Gerald McAlister. The "Oculus Jedi" controllers are expected to complement the next-generation "Del Mar" standalone VR headset. In an analysis of the drivers UploadVR discovered several key changes in the new design.

When the new "Oculus Jedi" drivers are compared to the existing Oculus Touch controller firmware it is revealed that new controllers will retain the original inputs and layout of the Touch controllers with a thumbstick, index trigger, grip trigger, A/X button, B/Y button, and a system/menu button. The Jedi controller may receive a tracking update with faster controller polling and a new ICM-426-series TDK chip. The updated IMU should greatly reduce noise and improve resolution of tracking to allow more precise positioning of the controller. Other improvements may include updated an updated haptics driver and analog finger sensing like what is found on the Valve Index.

As standalone wireless headsets such as the Oculus Quest grow strongly in popularity, 3dRudder is preparing full support of the wireless experience. The new 3dRudder Wireless Bridge adds wireless supports to the 3dRudder foot motion controller for PC. This new module enables developers and businesses to create games and applications for wireless headsets that integrate native 3dRudder support, providing users with a natural motion experience. It is especially of great importance as hand tracking becomes the main interaction method.

The release of wireless headsets such as the Oculus Quest paves the way for a massive adoption of VR by consumers and businesses. The objective is an out-of-the-box ready experience, where users do not need powerful PCs and do not have to juggle with complex command schemes found in hand controllers. The hands suddenly become free of controllers and the user can interact naturally with the VR worlds, either bear hands or with gloves offering haptic and force feedback. The feet are used for what they are best at: moving. The 3dRudder foot motion controller is used to handle effortless and hyper intuitive movements at the feet, offering 4 axes that can be combined together to move in the 3 dimensions seamlessly (forward/backward, left/right stafe, left/right turn, up/down) as shown in this video.

We knew this was coming, given Valve's own teaser confirmation from March, and then a faux pas that resulted in an incomplete Steam store page ending up public for a short time. Valve had promised more details would come in May, and here we are with a lot of information available about the Valve Index headset, the controllers, the base stations, as well as retail pricing + availability.

Name aside, the Valve Index specs that leaked before end up holding true with the retail product. The headset uses dual 1440x1600 RGB LCDs which Valve claims helps provide 50% more subpixels relative to an OLED display. This in turn should result in higher effective sharpness for the same rendering horsepower, and is further accentuated via a 3x better fill factor to mitigate the dreaded screen-door effect. The headset runs at 120 Hz with full backwards compatibility to 90 Hz to work with VR titles built around that specification and, more interestingly, also supports an experimental 144 Hz mode. PC gamers have long known the benefits of higher framerates, and this is especially valid with VR, but time will tell how the rest of the ecosystem works around this. Equally important to VR gaming is the illumination period, which allows on-screen imagery to remain sharp while you are in motion just as well as when at rest. Valve claims up to a 5x reduction here, with a rated illumination period of 0.33 to 0.53 ms depending on the real time framerate. More to see past the break, so be sure to do so if this interests you!

Standalones headsets are the new flavor of the VR town this side of 2018. They bring a sorely needed dimension to this segment, allowing users to enjoy some VR experiences that are near what the Oculus Rift or HTC Vive offer, but with a much more palatable price and format. The ability to not be tethered also means being able to experience room-scale VR without having your lizard brain worry about tripping on cables either. This brings us to the Oculus Quest that was launched this week at the Oculus Connect 5 developer conference, just a couple of years after the debut of Project Santa Cruz that has finally culminated in a retail product.

The new wireless, standalone headset goes beyond what Oculus Go went to when announced earlier this year. Based on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 (Oculus Go was based on a Snapdragon 821) and offering 64 GB of integrated storage, the Oculus Quest offers 1600x1440 resolution per eye and has full six degrees of freedom (6DOF) support versus the three degrees on the Oculus Go. The headset will be available in spring of next year for $399, and more details can be seen past the break.