The Game Developer Conference (GDC) is coming up next week, which could give ByteDance’s XR subsidiary Pico Interactive a perfect opportunity to showcase what, according to a recent trademark and leaked controller model, could be its next standalone VR headset.

A post by X user and serial sleuth @Lunayian shows a 3D model scraped from the Pico Connect PC client, ostensibly showing off the right controller for the alleged Pico 4S.

These look similar to the alleged Pico 5 controllers leaked on Chinese social media in September 2023, which are notably different […]

Mighty Coconut, developer of indie VR hit Walkabout Mini Golf (2020), announced it’s partnering with Wallace & Gromit creators Aardman to bring a course inspired by the very same British boffin and canine pair.

The course is set to feature 18 easy mode and hard mode holes, and commemorative in-game putter and themed avatars all set in the world of Wallace & Gromit, the studio says in a blog post.

There’s no trailer out yet, although Aardman and Mighty Coconut say it will take players to duo’s 62 West Wallaby Street and pack in plenty of “humor, […]

This week Apple released its first significant update for Vision Pro, visionOS 1.1, bringing key enterprise features like the ability to enroll and configure headsets at scale, visual improvements for Personas, and more.

After a number of beta iterations VisionOS 1.1 is now rolling out to the public. The new update for Vision Pro adds some key features for enterprises that want to use and manage a fleet of headsets:

Mobile Device Management

Enables account-driven device and user enrollment using Managed Apple IDs
Support for device configuration (Wi-Fi, VPN, email accounts, single sign-on, and more)
Support for deploying apps in volume […]

Vision Pro doesn’t support motion controllers, however Apple published a new patent last month that describes an Apple Pencil-like device which could point the way for the company’s first Vision Pro-supported controller.

As reported by The Mac Observer, the so-called ‘Handheld Controllers with Charging and Storage Systems’ patent was published on February 29th, specifying a stylus-like controller that enables the user to input to an XR headset.

This includes “swiping motions, waving motions, writing movements, drawing movements, shaking motions, rotations, etc,” the patent says.

Image courtesy US Patent Office, Apple

As patents tend to do, it’s […]

In terms of reviews and revenue generated, Gorilla Tag  is by far one of the most successful games on the Quest platform. Now it’s the first to top 100,000 user reviews.

As first reported by Mixed, the humble game of tag first topped 100K last month, putting it around 102,500 reviews at the time of this writing.

While impressive, this alone doesn’t make it the most-reviewed game on Quest: it garnered that particular achievement the day it came out of App Lab and launched on the main store back in December 2020. Back then, […]

There are plenty of live action VR videos out there, but most are fairly short, based entirely around sports, or other things… Coming soon to Meta Horizon Worlds on Quest is a VR horror series called The Faceless Lady, which is bringing six half-hour episodes in stereoscopic 3D.

In partnership with Meta, and created by Crypt TV, ShinAwiL, and Eli Roth, The Faceless Lady is inspired by the real life seventeenth century Irish folklore of Lady Margaret Hodnett, who is said to haunt Belvelly Castle in Cork stalking visitors through mirrors and reflective surfaces.

The creators say the myth was […]

Meta announced it’s overhauled its aging PC software with a few new features, which should make using Quest for PC VR gameplay a little less 2019 and a little more 2024, as it now includes more modern features such as a higher refresh rate on Quest 3, longer playtime via Air Link, and broadened support for nVidia 4000 series GPUs.

Meta updated its PC software, previously called the Oculus PC app, with “numerous bug fixes and enhancements,” the company announced in a blog post, noting it’s now changed the name to ‘Meta Quest Link’ app.

The newly renamed […]

The Pirate Queen: A Forgotten Legend, the award-winning VR adventure starring Lucy Liu (Charlie’s Angels, Kill Bill), launched today on Quest and SteamVR headsets.

Created by UK-based Singer Studios, VR narrative adventure takes inspiration from true events, following the titular ‘Pirate Queen’ Cheng Shih’s ascent to leadership of the Red Flag Fleet, which in the 19th-century took on major powers in the South China Sea such as the East India Company, the Portuguese Empire, and the Qing Dynasty.

Prior to today’s launch, The Pirate Queen: A Forgotten Legend won both the Storyscapes Award at Tribeca 2023 and The Discovery Award […]

Meta’s Beat Games teased earlier this month that everyone’s favorite block-slicing rhythm game Beat Saber was finally getting the music pack that always needed to happen: Daft Punk. Now that day has come, which arrives with some improved haptics on Quest that promise to be harder, better, faster (and) stronger.

Check out the 10-track list below:

Around The World
Around The World / Harder Better Faster Stronger (Live 2007)
Da Funk / Daftendirekt (Live 2007)
Get Lucky (feat. Pharrell Williams and Nile Rodgers)
Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger
Lose Yourself to Dance (feat. Pharrell Williams)
One More Time
Technologic
The Prime […]

Headspace, the company behind the sleep and meditation mobile app, announced the release of Headspace XR, which combines social VR connection and a number of mindfulness techniques that aims to combat loneliness, anxiety and depression.

Developed by Nexus Studios and published by Headspace, Headspace XR arrives exclusively on Quest today, bringing with it both mixed and virtual reality experiences that include mood-boosting games, one-on-one guided meditations, and techniques the company says “help users strengthen their mind-body connection through movement and breathwork.”

Headspace describes its new XR app as “a virtual playground where you can move, play, meditate, or just explore […]

Meta announced it’s starting to roll out its v63 software update for Quest, which includes two new features: a new parent-controlled payment method for Quest content purchases and the ability to use Quest 2 and Quest Pro while lying down.

The company says it’s soon going to merge existing Meta Quest gift card balances into the newly announced ‘Quest Cash’, which allows parents to monitor and control their teen’s spending in VR and enables users to gift or request Quest Cash.

The second headlining feature to v63 is the ability to use Quest while lying down, which you’ll find in […]

Vision Pro doesn’t have controllers, but it’s clear Apple will need to support immersive hardware input somehow in the future, if only for the greater precision it might bring to industry professionals. Sony has a pretty interesting take on how to serve up ‘pro’ style controllers in its recently revealed enterprise-focused standalone, which could point the way forward for Vision Pro.

Vision Pro is a mixed reality headset with a bit of an identity crisis. While it can technically play fully-immersive VR content, without motion controllers many of the VR games you’ll find on Quest

Meta recently rejected Google’s bid to bring Android XR to Quest, although now it seems the company is looking to make it slightly easier to use 2D Android apps on its standalone headsets, but also possibly harder to mod Quest-native games.

X user ‘Lunayian’ discovered in Quest’s v63 on the public test channel (PTC) that Meta is currently testing the ability to show and keep apps pinned to the Universal Menu dock, which is where you find all of your recently-used apps.

I’m on Quest OS v63 PTC and it looks like Meta is testing allowing 2D Android apps to […]

As XR continues to grow, its relevance outside of entertainment use-cases does too. The technology has caught the attention of the US Central Intelligence Agency, which is now looking to hire an ‘extended reality specialist’.

The CIA is one of the United States’ key intelligence agencies, primarily focused on foreign intelligence and national security. While certainly most associated with spy novels and covert operations, the organization employs some 20,000 individuals, many of whom are focused on information monitoring, retrieval, and analysis.

To aid in its stated mission of being the nation’s “first line of defense,” the CIA is now