Latest education updates from around the world

‘Five Nights at Freddy’s: Help Wanted 2’ Coming Quest This Week, Trailer Here

By |May 6, 2024|

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 […]

Apple Makes It Easier to Browse Vision Pro Apps Outside of the Headset

By |May 6, 2024|

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 […]

Hackers Are After Student Data. Here’s Why

By |May 6, 2024|

Students generally have pristine credit records, which makes student data an appealing target for criminals. The good news is, there are ways they can help keep student data safe.

4 Ways To Fight Spring Fever Outbreaks

By |May 6, 2024|

Spring is the time of year when even normally diligent students (and even some faculty) start struggling to pay attention.

Catchy Words: How to Use It to Teach

By |May 6, 2024|

Catchy Words takes AR to a new level for education making it more immersive and accessible for all.

There’s Now More VR Than Mac Players on Steam

By |May 4, 2024|

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 […]

Tech Tips for End-of-Year Organization & Archiving

By |May 4, 2024|

As the school year draws to a close, it’s essential to organize and archive your digital classroom to ensure a smooth transition to the upcoming academic year. At Teacher Tech we focus on transformative uses of EdTech that enhance student-centered learning environments. Here, I’ll share strategies using Google Workspace, alongside other practical tools, to effectively…

The post Tech Tips for End-of-Year Organization & Archiving appeared first on Teacher Tech with Alice Keeler.

‘Smalland: Survive the Wilds VR’ Arrives on Quest, Serving up a VR Spin-off of the Popular Indie Game

By |May 3, 2024|

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 […]

Best Buy App for Vision Pro Lets You Preview Products at Scale in Your Home

By |May 3, 2024|

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 […]

Meta’s Former Head of VR: Oculus Go Was His “biggest product failure” & Why it Matters for Vision Pro

By |May 2, 2024|

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 […]

‘EarthQuest’ is What ‘Google Earth VR’ Should Have Been on Quest

By |May 2, 2024|

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 […]

Former Oculus CTO: Don’t Expect Cheaper VR Headsets Than Quest After Horizon OS Release

By |May 2, 2024|

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 […]

New Unity 6 Feature Makes it Easier for XR Devs to Maximize Text & UI Quality

By |May 2, 2024|

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 […]

‘Batman: Arkham Shadow’ Announced Exclusively for Quest 3 From Meta-owned Studio Behind ‘Iron Man VR’

By |May 1, 2024|

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 […]

New Quest Update Adds More Vision Pro Features & Passthrough Improvements

By |May 1, 2024|

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 […]

Edtech Show & Tell: May 2024

By |May 1, 2024|

New edtech products that have caught our attention this month

Star Wars VR ‘Vader Immortal’ Trilogy is Getting a Huge Discount, But Still No Quest 3 Upgrade

By |May 1, 2024|

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’ Fan Trailer Shows How Intense It Could be in VR

By |April 30, 2024|

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 […]

‘Alien: Rogue Incursion’ Signals the Beginning of the End for Quest 2 & Quest Pro

By |April 29, 2024|

VR veteran studio Survios finally revealed Alien: Rogue Incursion, the upcoming single-player horror game that’s sure to pit you against some nasty Xenomorphs. The officially branded tie-in game is coming to Quest 3 later this year, but not any other Quest headset, which could signal waning developer interest in supporting Quest 2 and Quest Pro.

In addition to launching on PSVR 2 and SteamVR, a Survios spokesperson told Road to VR that Alien: Rogue Incursion is indeed “native to Meta Quest 3 only,” i.e. not Quest 2 or Quest Pro. Given what we know about where standalone headsets […]

‘World of Warcraft’ Mod Brings PC VR Support to the World of Azeroth

By |April 29, 2024|

The long-awaited VR mod for World of Warcraft (2004) is here, bringing full PC VR support to players grinding the vast lands of Azeroth.

Created by Flat2VR community members ‘Streetrat’ and ‘Marulu’, the long-time modders have finally brought full 6DOF VR support to World of Warcraft in the aptly named WoVR mod.

According to the Github, where you can download WoVR for free, it also includes directional audio, synced eye rendering, the ability to switch between third and first person, motion controls and a floating UI.

While couched as an “experimental release,” WoVR aims to add PC VR support to 3.3.5a, the […]

4 Star Wars Tech Tools for Teaching

By |April 29, 2024|

With Star Wars Day (May the 4th) fast approaching, it’s a good time to appreciate how far edtech has come