HTC reveals three new flavours of VIVE Cosmos VR headset for novice and experienced users

HTC is expanding the range of its VIVE Cosmos series of PC-tethered virtual reality products – aiming to sate the appetites of the most demanding enthusiasts, as well as entry level starters.

The VIVE Cosmos Elite, Cosmos XR and Cosmos Play family of products (above) were unveiled by the Taiwan-based manufacturer, alongside new faceplates that can expand the functionality of Cosmos.

Cosmos Elite is the highest-capability offering and ‘pairs the performance of...

21 February 2020 | Devices

Survey: VR headset sales on Steam sees biggest ever jump in January

According to the January 2020 data released from Valve’s Steam Survey, VR headset growth on Steam has taken its largest leap yet, with 1.31% of the population having headsets that were connected to their computers.

With a year-over-year increase of 43%, this beats out the earlier record that was set in January 2019 when monthly-connected headsets jumped to reach 0.91% for the very first time. As per the estimations made by the researchers, the number of monthly-connected...

17 February 2020 | Gaming

Virtual and augmented reality market volatile but promising, warns CCS Insight

The market for extended reality products, comprising VR and AR devices, will see a growth of 21% in 2019 to just over 10 million devices, according to the latest forecast from analyst CCS Insight.

Sony has been already on track to record a solid 2019, and Facebook too has started gaining meaningful revenue from its Oculus devices, the company argued in what it descried as a ‘volatile but promising’ market.

CCS Insight also noted that the variety of VR devices is...

4 December 2019 | AR

Facebook acquires VR studio Beat Games to beef up Oculus arm

Facebook has announced the acquisition of Beat Games, the developer of VR rhythm game Beat Saber.

According to the details of the acquisition, Beat Games studio will be operating independently, but it will be a part of Oculus in Prague. The company will be continuing to ship content and updates for Beat Saber across all currently supported platforms with greater support from Facebook from now on.

“Beat Saber is a perfect example of why VR is so exciting – VR...

27 November 2019 | Applications

Mixed reality game streamer LIV raises $2.6 million in series A funding round

LIV, a mixed reality game streaming platform provider, has announced it has raised $2.6 million (£2.06m) in series A funding led by Hiro Capital.

The company said it will be using the funds to accelerate its technology and integrate more third-party game studios.

Established in 2016, LIV was founded by gaming professionals AJ Shewki, known as Dr. Doom, and Steffan Donal among others, who tried early VR HMDs and became convinced of VR’s huge potential in the...

25 November 2019 | Ecosystems

Facebook to launch Horizon virtual reality ecosystem: Will this fulfil Oculus’ long-awaited promise?

Facebook has been biding its time a full five years after it bought Oculus – but with the launch of virtual reality ecosystem Horizon, it could be the start of a major push for both the company and the technology.

The app is aimed at being a ‘mix of social places where users can mingle and chat, and other areas where they can play games against each other’, as per the BBC. The product, which is set to be made available for launch by early 2020, was showcased at...

30 September 2019 | Ecosystems

AR and blockchain technology is creating the perfect storm in gaming ‘ it’s time to get involved

Opinion ‘Digital convergence’ was the major buzz phrase during the nascent days of what we’ll call ‘mobile content’. In the early-2000s, you couldn’t open a trade magazine (remember those?), visit a tech website or attend a conference without being bombarded with the word and what it would mean for myriad industries specialising in creating content, its means of distribution or the devices for consumption.

Sure enough, the smartphone is probably...

12 September 2019 | Applications

Live Planet launches world’s first claimed blockchain VR network

California-based production company Live Planet has announced its Blockchain Virtual Reality Network (BVRN) that will feature in-depth and engaging VR programming from major blockchain industry influencers, including Bad Crypto Podcast, Crypto Trader, Boxmining, BLOCKTV, Decentralized Films, YEN.io, and CoinCentral.com.

The Blockchain VR Network is the world’s first VR network built specifically for the blockchain sector, the company has claimed.

The programming will...

9 August 2019 | Applications

SK Telecom launches new 5G-enabled AR and VR services for eSports

South Korean telecom operator SK Telecom has launched three 5G augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) services, called ‘Jump AR’, ‘LCK VR Live Broadcasting’ and ‘VR Replay’, which aim to offer a more realistic and immersive experience while watching eSports games.

The summary of the products are:

Jump AR: Users can use their smartphones to access Jump AR that transports them to an eSports stadium, LoL Park. When they are accessing...

31 July 2019 | Applications

Analogix Semiconductor aims to support VR experiences for gaming notebooks with new offering

US-based Analogix Semiconductor has introduced its VirtualLink Reference Design that enables VirtualLink directly on the motherboard of high-performance gaming notebooks, allowing them to support virtual reality (VR) over the USB-C connector.

Introduced by a consortium led by NVIDIA, Oculus, Valve, AMD, and Microsoft, the VirtualLink Alternate Mode of USB Type-C was designed in order to deliver the power, display, and data that are needed to power VR headsets via a single USB Type-C...

28 May 2019 | Applications