Latest education updates from around the world

Analyst: Vision Pro Demand Fell “sharply beyond expectations,” Leading Apple to Reduce Shipments for International Debut

By |April 24, 2024|

Independent tech analyst Ming-Chi Kuo maintains Apple may be reducing Vision Pro shipments for its international debut by a wide margin due to demand falling “sharply beyond expectations” in the US market.

Kuo, a respected figure in supply chain leaks and analysis, says in and in a new blog post that Apple has cut 2024 shipments for Vision Pro to 400–450k units—significantly lower than the reported 700–800k units or more expected for worldwide production this year.

“Apple cut orders before launching Vision Pro in non-US markets, which means that demand in the US market has fallen sharply beyond expectations, making […]

[Industry Direct] Strike Rush: A New Team-Based VR Action Shooter Debuts on Meta Quest

By |April 24, 2024|

Industry Direct by Skonec Entertainment

Industry Direct is our program for sponsors who want to speak directly to the Road to VR newsletter audience. Industry Direct posts are written by sponsors with no involvement from the Road to VR editorial team. Links to these posts appear only in our newsletter and do not intermix with our on-site editorial feed. Industry Direct sponsors help make Road to VR possible.

At Skonec Entertainment, we’re proud to announce the launch of our new VR title, Strike Rush, now available on the Meta Quest platform. This release marks a significant milestone as we continue […]

Meta Quest Subscriptions Soon to Be Charged in Local Currencies in Scandinavia, Switzerland & New Zealand

By |April 23, 2024|

If you live in Northern Europe outside of the Eurozone, or in New Zealand, Meta says recurring subscriptions will soon be priced in local currency and not in U.S. dollars.

One of the Quest platform’s biggest subscription plans right now is its Meta Quest+ game service, which lets you play a revolving catalogue of Quest games by either paying $8 USD per month, or $60 USD a year.

Meta announced that starting May 22nd, users in Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Switzerland and New Zealand will start seeing charges in their respective local currencies, and not in USD, which […]

Oculus Founder Reacts to Horizon OS News: “Hopefully it isn’t too late”

By |April 23, 2024|

Meta dropped a major announcement yesterday, saying it plans to allow select partners to build third-party headsets that will run Horizon OS (formerly Quest OS). The news is prompting significant discussion within the XR industry, including from Oculus founder Palmer Luckey.

Here’s a quick primer for those of you who are newer to XR industry. What eventually became the ‘Quest’ headset and ‘Horizon OS’ platform from Meta started when the company bought a VR startup called Oculus back in 2014. Oculus was founded by Palmer Luckey, who was a prominent voice in the XR industry before ultimately being pushed […]

CoSN & ASU-GSV: A Tale of Two Conferences

By |April 23, 2024|

This year’s CoSN and ASU-GSV conferences supported innovation in education, but in very different ways

Teaching Financial Literacy

By |April 23, 2024|

More states are adopting financial literacy requirements for students. Here are tips for teaching the topic.

Meta Affirms it Will Continue Making Quest Headsets Even as it Offers OS to (select) Third Parties

By |April 23, 2024|

Meta says that even though third-parties will be making headsets with Quest OS (now called Horizon OS) the company will continue to develop its line of Quest headsets.

Meta made a huge announcement today, saying that the Quest operating system, rebranded to Meta Horizon OS, would be the software basis of new headsets built by third parties like Asus and Lenovo.

With that news came two big questions:

Will Meta continue making its own Quest headsets?
Will Horizon OS be open to anyone, or only select partners?

Meta tells Road to VR that it will indeed continue building its own hardware, […]

Meta Plans to Blur Barriers Between App Lab and Horizon Store, Court Android App Developers

By |April 23, 2024|

As part of Meta’s huge announcement today, the company says its rebranding the Quest Store to the Meta Horizon Store. In doing so, the company plans to make it easier for developers to get their content onto the platform.

As it stands today, the Quest Store only includes apps that Meta has allowed into the store on an individual basis. Then there’s App Lab, which acts like an ‘unlisted’ store; customers can buy and download content from App Lab, but only if they know the exact name of the app or have a direct URL to the app’s page.

While […]

ASUS, Lenovo & Xbox Are All Making XR Headsets Running Meta’s New Third-party Friendly Operating System

By |April 23, 2024|

Meta today announced it’s opening its operating system to third-parties, and has named three heavy weights that have pledged support for its newly renamed Meta Horizon OS: Asus, Lenovo, and Microsoft’s Xbox.

In a blog post, Meta says it’s tapped ASUS’s Republic of Gamers to develop an “all-new performance gaming headset,” Lenovo to “develop mixed reality devices for productivity, learning, and entertainment,” and Xbox to created its own limited-edition Quest, “inspired by Xbox.”

The company hasn’t shown any of the headsets as such, but this symbolizes a monolithic shift in how the company is […]

Meta to Open Quest’s Operating System to Third-party Headsets, Marking a Massive Shift in Strategy

By |April 23, 2024|

Today Meta made what is likely to be an industry-altering announcement: it plans to open up the Quest operating system to third-party device makers. Asus, Lenovo, and Xbox have been tapped to create new headsets built on the operating system which is being branded ‘Meta Horizon OS’.

Meta has just made its biggest strategic move in the XR space since betting the farm on standalone headsets over PC VR. Today the company says it’s formally branding the Quest operating system as Meta Horizon OS, and with it, plans to allow third-parties to make new headsets that run the […]

Quest ‘April Mega Sale’ Brings Up to 64% Off Some of VR’s Best Games

By |April 22, 2024|

From now until April 28th, you’ll be able to get your hands on a ton of top Quest titles for up to 64% off the regular price.

For this week only, Meta has put hundreds of classic and recent titles at a discount during its April Mega Sale.

There are 200+ games on sale right now, with a staggering number of popular VR titles on the list, which include:

Among Us VR
Assassin’s Creed Nexus
Demeo
Fujii
Ghostbusters: Rise of the Ghost Lord

New ‘Zombie Army VR’ Trailer Shows Off Explosive Story Campaign, Coming to Major Headsets This Year

By |April 22, 2024|

Rebellion, developer behind cult horror shooter series Zombie Army, is getting ready to release the franchise’s first VR game on all major headsets this year, and it’s pumping the hype with a new trailer that showcases the upcoming co-op story campaign.

Here’s how Rebellion describes Zombie Army VR’s campaign:

The game’s campaign takes place alongside the events of the Zombie Army series and sees you take to the field as one of the Deadhunters, an elite squad that is hunting down zombie war criminals. You fight your way through undead hordes near the bombed-out city of Nuremberg to help Captain Hermann Wolff, […]

Multiplayer Mixed Reality Laser Tag Comes to Quest App Lab in ‘Laser Limbo’

By |April 22, 2024|

Laser Limbo is a mixed reality game for now in early access on Quest App Lab that brings a host of laser tag-style games to your home, playable either in single or multiplayer.

Created by indie studio freeroam.ar, Laser Limbo transforms your home, office, or entire floors into a unique mixed reality multiplayer arena, replete with things like laser pistols and even laser tag vests, which not only show off your team colors, but also act as a pretty obvious enemy targets.

Besides letting you take on another player in head-to-head laser combat, the game also comes with a […]

Formula 1 Racing Game ‘F1 24’ Revealed, Offering PC VR Support at Launch Next Month

By |April 19, 2024|

Codemasters and EA revealed its next official video game of the Formula One World Championship, F1 24, which includes VR support when it launched on PC next month.

Coming to consoles and PC on May 31st, F1 24 is set to launch with PC VR support, letting you race down digital versions of real-world F1 tracks.

In comparison to previous F1 titles in the series, Codemasters says F1 24 includes “[a]ll-new suspension kinematics, an upgraded tyre model, advanced aerodynamic simulation, and new engine and car setup options enhance the driving experience.”

“All driving aspects are improved with cornering, rolling resistance, brake pressure, ambient track […]

SOUL COVENANT Review – Ineffectual Melee Sandwiched in a Very Skippable Story

By |April 19, 2024|

SOUL COVENANT is an action RPG from the core members who brought you the SOUL SACRIFICE series. While the game does a few things to translate the franchises’s melee combat and giant monsters into a VR-native experience, adherence to the series’ repetitive wave-based missions and clunky narrative style takes it one step too many from feeling like a fresh and modern immersive experience.

SOUL COVENANT Details:

Available On: Quest 2/3/Pro, SteamVR, PSVR 2
Reviewed On: Quest 3, Quest 3 via Link
Release Date: April 18th, 2024
Price: $40
Developer: Thirdverse

Gameplay

An artificial intelligence has taken over humanity. The few humans left […]

Quest 2 Accessories Got a Massive Price Cut, Is This a Fire Sale?

By |April 19, 2024|

Meta today confirmed that the recent price drop of Quest 2 to $200 is now permanent, and official accessories are getting the same treatment.

To be honest, when Meta dropped the price of Quest 2 down to the almost too-good-to-be-true price of $200 last month, we didn’t catch that the company also dropped the price on many official Quest 2 accessories.

Well today the company confirmed that the discount on both Quest 2 and its accessories is permanent going forward. While Quest 2 (128GB) got a nice discount from $250 to $200, a handful of accessories got a massive 50% […]

OpenXR 1.1 Update Shows Industry Consensus on Key Technical Features

By |April 18, 2024|

OpenXR, the open standard that creates a standardized way for XR hardware and applications to interface, has seen its first major update. OpenXR 1.1 evolves the standard by incorporating new functionality that was important to the industry but previously not standardized.

Facilitated by the standards body Khronos Group, OpenXR is a royalty-free standard that aims to standardize the development of VR and AR applications, making for a more interoperable ecosystem. The standard has been in development since April 2017 and over time has become supported by virtually every major hardware, platform, and engine company in the VR industry, including […]

Vision Pro Demos Will Soon Include the Option Watch Your Own Spatial Videos Before Buying

By |April 17, 2024|

Apple will soon allow users to upload their own spatial videos to Vision Pro demo units in hopes to really drive home the headset’s value proposition.

When it comes to plonking down $3,500 for Vision Pro, seeing truly is believing, as anyone who wants to buy Apple’s first mixed reality headset can sign up for an in-store demo. That is, anyone in the US, as the company still hasn’t announced when it’s launching Vision Pro internationally.

As reported by 9 to 5 Mac, it was discovered in the iOS 17.5 beta 2 software release that […]