Apple probably didn’t actually design its pricey Vision Pro case to be impervious to getting run over by a car. But at least for one thankful customer though, it seems the official carrying case was well worth the extra cash.

At $200, the official Apple Vision Pro Travel Case isn’t exactly the best deal out there, since Vision Pro can technically fit into a vast array of VR headset cases already on the market.

Still, one Reddit user is probably pretty happy they chose the premium option, which Apple seems to have actually undersold in its spec sheet; it only lists some […]

Beat Saber was the defining game on Quest when it came to the company’s first standalone at launch back in 2019, making the infectious block-slashing rhythm game a real system-seller. Now, Meta says it’s cutting Beat Saber’s online services for Quest 1 later this year.

The Meta-owned studio Beat Games revealed the news via a post on X, maintaining that all multiplayer functionality will be pulled come November 2nd, 2024:

Dear players, to focus our development efforts on our next projects within Beat Saber, we will no longer support Meta Quest 1 as of November 2, 2024. The game will […]

Some major car manufacturers still design cars in clay before heading into production, and while that tradition doesn’t seem to be going away just yet, companies like Ford, Volvo and Rivian say mixed reality headsets are substantially helping them to reduce time and cost in vehicle design.

In a new video focusing on the Australia-base ddesign team behind the Ford Ranger, Ranger Raptor and Everest, we get a look at just how one of the world’s largest car manufacturers is using mixed reality, namely Varjo’s enterprise-focused XR-3 headset.

“We’ve been using mixed reality in the design process for more than a […]

Five Nights at Freddy’s: Help Wanted 2 (2023), the sequel to the popular VR horror game, is officially coming to Quest next week.

Developer Steel Wool Studios announced FNAF: Help Wanted 2 is slated to arrive on the Quest platform on May 9th, 2024, supporting Quest 2/3/Pro.

Originally launched on PSVR 2 and PC VR headsets in late 2023, FNAF: Help Wanted 2 is all about mini-games where you’ll see if you have what it takes to excel in the world of pizzeria management and maintenance—of course taking place at Freddy Fazbear’s very friendly and not at all dangerous entertainment compound.

FNAF: Help Wanted 2 […]

Searching for Vision Pro apps when not actually wearing the thing has been a hassle since day one. Now Apple has added a nifty new search function to its App Store web portal which makes it a lot easier to browse and download stuff.

Apple launched its Vision Pro web portal a while ago, but if you were left scratching your head looking for a search function, scratch no more. Now next to the ‘Arcade’ and ‘Apps & Games’ section is a link to a proper search bar, making it easier to find and download apps […]

The PC VR population has been growing ever so steadily over the last four years. Meanwhile, the MacOS population has shrunk and been overtaken by VR.

If you were just looking at the percent of the Steam population with monthly-connected VR headsets, you’d probably conclude that VR on the platform has shrunk slightly over the last four years. Here’s a look at the trend of the percent of the VR population on Steam:

But the total population of Steam itself has been growing at a steady clip.

To eliminate the growth of the Steam population as variable, Road to VR maintains a […]

Popular indie game Smalland: Survive the Wilds (2024) launched out of Steam Early Access back in February, bringing its big 1.0 update on PC along with a fresh version for Xbox and PlayStation. Now the studio launched a VR-native spin-off for Quest too.

Smalland: Survive the Wilds VR promises “dozens of hours” of survival, crafting, and exploring, although you’d be forgiven thinking it’s a straightforward 1:1 port of the original judging just by its name alone.

Described as a “new, unique single-player adventure set within the world of Smalland: Survive the Wilds,” the Quest exclusive omits co-op support, but includes many […]

Looking to see how that new 77-inch TV will fit in your rumpus room? Best Buy’s new Vision Pro app has you covered.

Released in April, the new Best Buy Envision app for Vision Pro offers up 3D preview models from a number of product categories, including TV & home theater, large kitchen appliances like fridges and freezers, computers & tablets, health & fitness stuff, and even furniture.

For now, you can’t actually buy stuff directly on the app; instead you’re given a hyperlink to the web-based store that you can then navigate and purchase on the full […]

Hugo Barra, Meta’s former Head of VR, offered some unique insight into the XR industry recently with an extensive blogpost that centers around Apple Vision Pro. Barra warns that, like the company’s first standalone headset Oculus Go, the novelty around casual content consumption will probably fade fairly quickly.

Looking back at his time at Meta (then Facebook), Barra notes that Oculus Go was “the biggest product failure” he’d ever been attached to, stating that although casual content consumption was the headset’s raison d’être, the hype wore off pretty quickly.

Here’s Barra’s appraisal of the situation:

Watching TV/movies in virtual reality […]

Despite not receiving updates in years, Google Earth VR (2016) on Steam is still one of the most useful and immersive ways to interact with the company’s 3D version of planet Earth, Street View and all. There are already a few apps on Quest that tap into Google’s free-to-use Maps APIs, but none that are doing it at the scale of EarthQuest.

Released on Quest in September 2023, EarthQuest promises “almost every identifiable city on earth is in realistic 3D,” going toe-to-toe with Google’s own Earth VR app on Steam by bringing 3D areas available on earth.google.com to the Quest-native app.

One of […]

Meta announced last week it’s set to release Horizon OS (ex-Quest OS) to select third-party OEMs, marking a monumental shift in how the company hopes to compete with Apple now that it’s released Vision Pro. While Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg envisions a range of “specialized” third-party headsets running its OS, and consequently having access to its store of XR apps, former Oculus CTO and legendary programmer John Carmack says we shouldn’t expect cheaper VR headsets than Quest as a result.

“Meta already sells the Quest systems basically at production cost, and just ignores the development costs, so […]

The latest version of the Unity game engine—which is the basis for the vast majority of XR games made today—is now available to developers as a preview. Unity 6 Preview includes new features to make XR development easier, including ‘Composition Layers’ which can significantly increase the quality of text, UI, photos, and videos in XR.

Unity 6 Preview (formerly known as 2023.3 Tech Stream) is now available for developers to experiment with. The upgraded engine includes a range of improvements for XR development.

Foveated Rendering

First is the built-in Foveated Rendering API. This allows developers to reduce the resolution […]

We’ve been waiting a long time for a fully fledged Batman VR game, and now Meta announced we’re getting one later this year, exclusive to Quest 3.

Developed by Meta’s Camouflaj and Oculus Studios, and created in partnership with Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and DC, Batman: Arkham Shadow is little more than a teaser trailer for now, appended with a “late 2024” release date.

That said, it’s likely we’re in for a Batman vs. Ratcatcher saga, as hordes of rats stream in from the streets of Gotham. The Ratcatcher, aka Otis Flannegan, was an Easter egg character in console and PC title […]

Meta is set to release its v65 update to Quest, promising a number of improvements ostensibly spurred by its ongoing competition with Apple Vision Pro.

The company says in a recent blogpost that v65 will include updates to the spatial video playback feature introduced in v62, a new way to view panoramic stills in-headset, and improvements to how passthrough works on Quest 3.

In early April, Meta rolled its v64 update for Meta Quest 3, which included marked boost in passthrough quality, improving color, exposure, contrast, and dynamic range for a more realistic view in mixed […]

Star Wars Vader Immortal is a three-episode experience that’s not only one of Quest’s best immersive narrative experiences, but also an awesome introduction to VR for any Star Wars fan. While you’ll soon be able to pick up the trilogy at a steep discount, it’s a real shame the series isn’t tapping Quest 3’s potential.

With Star Wars Day (‘May the 4th’) fast approaching, Meta shared an interview with one of the developers behind the Vader Immortal games, and confirmed the trilogy is getting huge 66% discount from May 4th through the end of May 5th. If you’ve ever […]

Helldivers 2 (2024) doesn’t have VR support yet, official or otherwise, although this new fan-made trailer shows just how immersive it could be.

Created by YouTuber ‘DemoAkuroVR‘, the unofficial cinematic trailer reimagines the squad-based shooter action in a modded version of Blade & Sorcery, the viral VR combat sandbox that is all about taking on waves of baddies and, as you’ve probably seen, decapitating them in style using melee and magic.

Check out DemoAkuroVR’s take on Devil May Cry (built in Blade & Sorcery) to see what we mean:

As you might have guessed, Blade & Sorcery is extremely moddable, letting you import anything […]