Virtual & Augmented Reality and 3D News - Page 3

Meta has displayed some new prototype VR headsets that the social networking + virtual reality giant says will drive the future of VR, displaying worlds that will be "indistinguishable from reality"... oh, and they're prototyping the new "Starburst" VR headset that is 200x brighter.

The new VR headsets are being worked on at Meta's Reality Labs Research division, with the team saying that they're using a "visual Turing test" that is a bar that needs to be met, in order to convince your visual system that what you're seeing in the virtual world, is real. The Turing test is used to see if an AI is capable of thinking like a human being.

This isn't just a simple case of higher resolution display + higher refresh rate... there's much more going on inside of these new prototype VR headsets than you'd think... especially when you compare it up to the Meta Quest 2 headset.

Apple will change the world with its first-gen AR/MR (augmented or mixed reality) headset, with all signs pointing to the second-gen MR headset boasting a possible 4000 PPI display.

In a new report from Patently Apple, Sony will be providing Apple with its Micro-OLED displays for their first-gen MR headset, meanwhile, LG Display will provide higher-resolution Micro-OLED panels for the second-gen Apple MR headset. Patently Apple added: "We learned this week that LG will be using ultra high-resolution fine metal mask (FMM) from AP Systems".

"It was rumored in September 2021 that Apple requested FMM sample from AP Systems (APS Holdings) for use with the mixed reality headset. Apple had requested a resolution of 3000ppi (pixels per inch). Apple tested the FMM sample to see if it could be applied to production, then form a more concrete plant for the VR device's development".

Apple hasn't even announced let alone release its first-gen AR headset, but we're already hearing solid rumors about the second-gen Apple AR headset.

LG Display is reportedly trying to be the supplier of its Micro-OLED panels to Apple, for its second-gen mixed reality headset. Apple is working on an AR headset with mixed reality capabilities, which should see Apple's new headset being used for both AR (augmented reality) and VR (virtual reality) and LG wants it to have its Micro-OLED panel.

The news is coming from TheElec, who said its sources say LG Display is "aiming to supply" the Micro-OLED panels for Apple's new mixed reality (MR) headset. Micro-OLED technology mounts the OLED on a silicon substrate, unlike conventional panels that place the panel on the glass. OLED on Silicon -- or OLEDoS -- is expected to be used more and more as we see augmented, mixed, and virtual reality headsets released over the years.

Pimax has just unveiled its new Pimax Crystal QLED virtual reality headset, which rocks a spiffy new QLED + Mini-LED infused display, 160Hz refresh rate, and more. Check it out:

The new Pimax Crystal headset has a resolution of 2880 x 2880 per eye (5760 x 2880) with 42 pixels per degree (PPD) which is above the PPD of most competing headsets. Pimax is driving the 2880 x 2880 resolution display at a smooth 160Hz, so we should see the screen door effect (SDE) lessened, and a good amount of PC hardware grunt to drive it.

Pimax's new Crystal headset features a Qualcomm Snapdragon XR2 chip, Wi-Fi 6E connectivity, a 6000mAh battery, auto-IPD (inter-pupillary distance), and Tobii eye tracking. Inside of the package, you'll have the headset, two controllers, and the 140-degree lenses for $1899. This makes the Pimax Crystal headset a new enthusiast-grade VR headset.

Apple has been in the headlines for a while when it comes to its upcoming AR or MR headset, with the company set to kick off its upcoming WWDC 2022 conference on June 8.

I recently reported on the company seemingly teasing its "realityOS" operating system for its upcoming headset, with a shell company by the looks of things... you can read more on that here. But now, analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has chimed in to waste down our expectations, and the hype.

Ming-Chi Kuo tweeted: "It still takes some time before Apple AR/MR headset enters mass production, so I don't think Apple will release AR/MR headset and rumored realityOS at WWDC this year. Apple's competitors worldwide can't wait to see the hardware spec and OS design for Apple's AR/MR headset".

Apple is gearing up for a huge event at its WWDC 2022 on June 8, where we are now seeing reports of references to "realityOS" in recent trademark filings.

Apple is still working on its AR headset, which has been plagued by issues in the last few months but ahead of its Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) we are ramping up for a tease of its AR headset on June 8. Vox Media product manager Parker Ortolani tweeted that "It cannot be a coincidence that the "realityOS" trademark owned by a company that seemingly doesn't exist and is specifically for "wearable computer hardware" is being filed around the world on June 8, 2022".

Ortolani shared not one but two filings to the United States Patent and Trademark Office, which he noticed was registered by a company called Realityo Systems LLC... which is probably just a shell company so that no one sniffs to close to Apple and discovers what's going on... until now. It's not the first time Apple has used a shell company for a product release: previous versions of its macOS share the same address as Yosemite Research LLC, the shell company hiding those macOS operating systems.

If you can imagine a not-too-distant dystopian future where crimes like VIRTUAL murder are punished in the REAL WORLD as REAL crimes... well, don't read this news... because that's exactly what some of the most influential people on the planet are talking about right now.

The United Arab Emirates minister of artificial intelligence, Omar Sultan Al Olama, said that he believes people who commit "serious crimes" in the metaverse should be punished as real-world criminals. Al Olama said at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos: "If I send you a text on WhatsApp, it's text right? It might terrorize you but to a certain degree it will not create the memories that you will have PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) from it."

He added: "But if I come into the metaverse and it's a realistic world that we're talking about in the future and I actually murder you, and you see it ... it actually takes you to a certain extreme where you need to enforce aggressively across the world because everyone agrees that certain things are unacceptable".

ZOTAC has just unveiled its new 4th Generation of VR backpacks with the introduction of the new VR GO 4.0 backpack. Check it out:

The new ZOTAC VR GO 4.0 backpack has been designed with the most advanced technologies, with some upgrades to the hardware, design, and more. We have an Intel Core i7-11800H processor (8C/16T), an NVIDIA RTX A4500 with 16GB GDDR6 memory, 16GB of DDR4 RAM + 512GB M.2 SSD + Windows 11 Pro pre-installed.

ZOTAC does provide the ability to upgrade your storage + RAM, adding in some top and side-loaded I/O ports. The company has used an "intelligent thermal design" with padded support and strap, as well as "sweatproof wearable materials". It wouldn't be a new VR backpack without ZOTAC's in-house SPECTRA 2.0 RGB lighting, with a battery good enough for up to 50 minutes of playtime.

The military's version of a metaverse doesn't quite align with Mark Zuckerberg and Meta's vision for a virtual world for us to inhabit.

Credit: Red 6

Using augmented reality (AR), two fighter pilots completed a high-altitude drill a few thousand feet high over the desert of California on May 10th. Flying a pair of Berkut 540 jets and donning custom AR headsets, the pilots were shown virtual refueling aircraft in the sky, allowing one of the pilots to practice a refueling maneuver with the virtual aircraft while the other observed.

The augmented and virtual reality (VR) technology, head-mounted displays and artificial intelligence (AI) powered environments are being developed by Red 6 and allow pilots to take part in virtual dog fights against enemy aircraft and more while pulling several G's. Red 6 is developing a platform that will allow them to display various scenarios in AR and VR, while using lower latency and higher reliability hardware than consumer-grade AR and VR headsets.

AMD's new low-power APU with Zen 2 CPU and RDNA 2 graphics has been spotted, this time inside of the Magic Leap "Demophon" augmented reality (AR) headset.

The new AMD Mero APU has been referred to as a "silicon copy" of Van Gogh, the APU that powers Valve's portable Steam Deck gaming console. AMD Mero packs a quad-core Zen 2-based low-power CPU, with an integrated RDNA 2-based GPU.

Locuza, who provides die shot analysis, says that Van Gogh has more IP blocks enabled -- including more Compute Vision hardware, or more PCIe lanes -- so Mero could be a custom variant of Van Gogh, made for the Magic Leap AR headset.