Hey, guess what? New week, new XR tidbits. But let’s kick things off with a bit of… well, almost gossip. Got lots of folks pinging me about Project Moohan. Like, why isn’t Google buzzing about it? Could be the price is steep. Google’s mum ’cause it knows a hefty tag might not make everyone rush to buy it. Too much hype and suddenly, bam, “VR is dead” headlines when it doesn’t fly off shelves. Just my wild thought, you know? Time will tell, I guess.
### The Big Stuff This Week
Oh, Meta’s financials, who knew I’d be excited? Reality Labs bumped their revenues by 5%. Not hats off to Quest, though. It’s those Ray-Ban Meta glasses that are flying — not literally — like hot cakes. Luxottica’s hyped about it too, saying sales are triple what they were last year. Makes you think: are we moving to smart glasses over mixed reality headsets? Quest 3 and 3S didn’t exactly wow for mixed reality. Guess that’s why Meta ditched Quest 4’s planned design. Seems more people dig lightweight and chic than juggling gorillas in VR. Zuckerberg threw some words around about these glasses leading us into the metaverse. Yep, he went there. We’ll see if they really are the magic bridge to techy specs all day long.
### Other Juicy Bits
Meta shared their golden time for VR sessions: 20-40 mins, they say. Shorter isn’t worth the effort, longer and you’re getting a headache. Can confirm; 60 mins in, and my forehead’s complaining. Devs, take note: aim for game chunks fitting that timespan. And, oh, don’t compare to mobile; nobody logs in VR just to collect a reward.
Brilliant Labs dropped Halo glasses. They’re light and run all day. With a built-in AI, Noa, that keeps tabs on your past questions. Handy? Creepy? You decide. They’re open-source, which is cool, and all privacy-focused, supposedly. I went and pre-ordered mine. Experiment time!
Meta and Stanford’re tinkering with ultra-thin MR glasses. Just 3mm thick and all holography tech, promising true depth. But don’t hold your breath, they’re years away from being on your face, if ever.
Oh, Meta Avatars got new hair tricks. Change styles, keep realism. Could be handy for hairtry-ons, I guess. Plus, some body customizations, and fashion help from AI. Let’s see how creative we can get with them.
Alibaba’s cooking up smartglasses too, powered by their AI. And DJI’s launched a 360° camera, stirring up some rivalry with Insta360. Choices, choices!
### In Other Corners
Teams is going 3D for meetings. Exciting? Meh, maybe meetings just suck less as avatars, but still suck, just saying.
And remember when I mentioned Dunkelstein’s AR game? Tabletop murder mysteries, ahoy! It’s all over Kickstarter and thriving.
Finally, let me slip in a shoutout: support the Red Cross for those needing help in Ukraine. Gratitude to patrons supporting my ramblings weekly, really means a lot.
That’s the scoop. Swing by next week for more XR-ish banter. If I missed something or went off-road, well, that’s just how it goes sometimes. Cheers!
