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Hey there from Cupertino! Yep, the place with all the Apple stuff. I’m hanging out here for a week, supposed to have some meetings or whatever. Then it’s off to Berlin to play mentor at XRCC. Fingers crossed my Bay Area stay doesn’t repeat last week’s chaos at AWE. (Spending days feeling like a Resident Evil zombie—definitely not ideal). Anyway, vibes appreciated! I’ll toss a recap of the cool XR updates of the week your way, so stay tuned!
Weekly Tidbits!
Meta and Oakley ready to unveil some snazzy glasses: So, a bit back, rumors were flying about Meta and Oakley cooking up some sporty glasses with a camera smack dab between the eyes. Well, someone just made an “oakleymeta” account and dropped a video with their logos doing a wild dance. And guess what? It’s teasing something big on June 20th. I thought they’d save this for Meta Connect, but hey—Summer’s practically calling for new sunglasses, right? The coordination—or lack thereof—between launches with or without Luxottica seems clever or bizarre. We’ll see!
Snap’s fresh Spectacles set for 2026: Over at AWE, Snap’s head honcho, Evan Spiegel, was dropping hints about their upcoming glasses. Word is they’ll be lightweight but packed with more features, finally looking like something you’d want to wear out and about. And guess what? They won’t be "Spectacles" anymore, just "Specs." With that many lenses already good to go, they’re set to make a splash in the AR scene if no one beats them to it.
Qualcomm’s new AR1+ chip drops: Qualcomm has rolled out a new chip, called AR1+, primed to power up those high-end smartglasses. Imagine 7% less power usage, slimmer temples, and fancy local AI processing. Privacy alert! Your glasses can now keep your secrets locked up tight. I caught a demo, and I swear, it had me wide-eyed (AWE pun intended!).
Google’s XR projects spill some beans: We’re getting whispers about Google’s XR stuff—like Samsung’s Project Moohan might pop up next month. HP’s got a new teleconferencing gadget dubbed the Dimension, launching for a whopping $25k, though it needs a separate Google Beam license. Oh, and XREAL’s promising some mighty wide views with its Project Aura glasses, rivaling Meta’s Orion. Game on!
Apple’s Vision Pro getting cooler: Apple spilled extra deets on widgets—they’re like stickers or posters and change based on your distance. Plays nicely with the PSVR 2 controllers, which is a plus for gaming. The fun part? Some iPad games might jump onto Vision Pro soon.
Random cool bits: I mean, where to start? Mbucchia’s tinkering with drivers for forgotten WMR headsets, while Meta’s new headset hints at fancy features like face unlock and eye tracking. Even heard Palmer Luckey’s talking up a mega-pricey military headset, ‘cause money’s no object when missions are on the line. Also, OpenXR’s adding spatial computing—imagine tricking cross-platform experiences seamlessly.
AWE Showcase Aftermath: AWE wrapped up, but the buzz continues. Like, I got hands-on with killer gadgets—Infinadeck anyone? Tech sites are still buzzing with their picks. There’s also a drip-feed of news on upcoming games—Thief VR, anyone? Oh, and FYI, Le Mans Ultimate hits stores this July!
Reviews that might surprise you: Checked out Zombie Army VR—decent visuals, but a bit of a yawn fest in action. Hidden Memories of The Gardens Between is lovely, but could use a splash more VR spice. What The Car was zany fun in mixed reality!
Miscellaneous Musings: Meta sneaked v77 into the wild, dodged some QA kerfuffle. There’s a wild app letting folks relive their fave moments. Plus, a mad YouTuber played through all the VR games during Steam’s Next Fest. Dedication or madness? You decide.
Partner News and Quirky Picks
Launching soon, Umbrella Up lets you flit about whimsical parks using—get this—umbrellas. Sounds oddly charming, right? And there’s a big AR/VR survey with prizes like there’s no tomorrow. Got some mad Unity chops? Phygtl’s on the hunt. Oh, and in the spirit of silliness: Silicon Valley truly gets it—funny links galore!
Final Thought
On a serious note, let’s pivot from XR talk. The situation in Ukraine is dire, and the Red Cross needs all the help it can get. If you’re feeling generous, give what you can. Huge thanks to all my Patreon supporters who keep this blog—and me!—going.
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(Header image by Meta)
