HAPPY HALLOWEEN ALL! Even if it is not part of the Italian tradition, probably Halloween is the right festivity for me, since I’m a ghost :). In fact, this week was a great one for me. HTC Vive chose me as one the top 100 VR influencers. Adello magazine featured my company Vrroom in their online publication. a host of the afterparty of the Unity Unite event, with a concert of Blu DeTiger inside VRChat (Look for Unite2022 tag and you’ll find the world). So many exciting things are happening and I’m thankful to you all for the support you are giving me ❤
Top news of the week
The Meta Quest Pro was officially launched on October 25thIt was then sent to the preordered customers.
After the specifications and price were revealed, it was obvious that the device would be priced at a high price. It has not received stellar customer reviews. There are three major critics.
- The price is too highQuest 2 costs 4 times as much.
- There is no clear use case for the product yet. Although face tracking and mixed reality can be cool, there are no apps that truly exploit them.
- Some features still are missing. For instance, it is a mixed reality headset but can’t do environment understanding
That is what I believe the problem is. There was a mistake on purpose Meta sells the device not only as a consumer one but also as an advanced way of playing games. The same confusion caused problems for HTC with the Vive Pro in the past. People think it is a gaming device, but then the price doesn’t match their expectations, and so they get angry. And besides that, the headset should be a “business” one, but Meta has not yet developed a business offering. Pico is my favorite company for clearly seperating business and consumer lines.
As per my speculation, the second part of this problem is to Meta would love to have this out before Apple releases its headseTo have a first-mover edge over it. The problem is that for this reason, it has rushed the launch of a device that has no “wow feature” or “killer application”, and so this is not going to impact at all the future launch of Apple Reality.
Don’t misunderstand me, The headset also has its positive sides, such as the amazing lenses and incredible controllers. It is still better than Quest 2. However, all the reviews say it is. Most people don’t see the value in $1500. Its launch probably should have been planned more carefully.
We started to get more information about the release. The full light blocker is required to create VR. isn’t shipping until November (another disappointment). Quest Link can be used to track the eye and face of developers, but not for developers. There are new complaints about Meta’s privacy policy on eye trackingAvi Bar-Zeev (my friend) points out that it is possible. This is possible with the Quest mixed-reality WebXR applications, which are incredibly cool. Particularly It was amazing to see the developers create some incredible experiments with it. I’m linking here below my favorite one (which you MUST absolutely see) about someone making a “scratchable” virtual reality that unveils the real reality that is beyond it.
I’m pretty convinced that the Quest Pro will unveil its value in the next 12 monthsMeta will run faster and the community will have contributed some great content. But for now, it doesn’t look like a must-have.
More info (Meta Quest Pro starts shipping)
More info (Meta Quest Pro review — Road To VR)
More info (Meta Quest Pro review — Upload VR)
More info (Meta Quest Pro review — Android Central)
More info (Meta Quest Pro review — Ars Technica)
More info (Meta Quest Pro review — Redditor 1)
More info (Meta Quest Pro review — Redditor 2)
More info: Pro light blocker is available in November
More info (Doubts regarding Meta Quest Pro’s privacy policy for eye tracking)
More info (Eye and face tracking accessible via Link)
More info (Meta Quest Pro and WebXR)
More info (Amazing scratchable reality demo)
Other relevant news
Meta Reality Labs’ revenues fall down, as the interest in the metaverse
Meta is in financial trouble due to the poor economic conditions, new iOS privacy policies, and fierce competition from TikTok. The company’s revenues have stagnated. And its investment in the “metaverse”, which costs $10B/year, It is hard to justify spending money in this money pit When the traditional business isn’t growing as it was before. Even worse, the “metaverse” division of the company, Meta Reality Labs, For the first time, revenues declinedIt was a huge success, especially considering it made 50% less than one year earlier. This is due to the Quest 2’s higher price, which makes it less attractive.
All these factors combined led to Meta losing again stock value and now The company is worth 7 times what it was seven years ago. It’s a mad rush on the part of investors. All are speculating if investments in the metaverse should be continued Meta can focus on the cash cow business or Meta can be focused more on Instagram. Meta and Zuckerberg are being blasted by the media for the problems they are having. everyone is mocking Zuck’s idea of the “metaverse”.
And while I’m not a huge fan of Meta, I see this situation as pretty dangerous, because if everyone criticizes the idea of the “metaverse”, This pessimism will cause problems for everyone in the field: This negativity might discourage big brands and investors from associating themselves to the metaverse. For this reason, I’ve written an article in which I somewhat defend Meta (yeah, it sounds strange to me too…) from all the clickbait bullshit that there is around and can hurt us all. The metaverse will eventually come, but it will take time. It is just as stupid now that all the hype surrounding the technology is over a year ago.
More info (Meta Reality Labs’ financial troubles — Forbes)
More info (Meta Reality Labs’ financial troubles — Road To VR)
More info (Meta Reality Labs’ financial troubles — Upload VR)
More info (Business Insider criticizes Meta’s metaverse)
More info (Snap CEO criticizes Meta’s metaverse)
Further information: My editorial about the negative side of the metaverse
Meta confirms Quest 3 is coming in 2023
It was something we all suspected, but it’s now official: Meta announced that Quest 3 is coming to you in 2023. The announcement was probably made to offer investors hope following the release of very negative financial data from Meta Reality Labs.
It is not known if it has been resold. it will be a consumer-oriented device, priced around $3–500. It is also possible to guess that The release will take place during Meta Connect 2023. Brad Lynch shared some rumors about it a few months ago. If they are true, the headset will be very focused on mixed realities. I’m sure we will have more rumors in the next few months. In the meanwhile, I’m excited to know more about it!
More info (Meta confirms Quest 3 for 2023 — Road To VR)
More info (Meta confirms Quest 3 2023- Upload VR
HaptX announces the new generation of its haptic gloves
HaptX unveiled its next generation VR gloves. Dubbed HaptX G1 These models are smaller and less expensive than the old version and represent a significant improvement in the haptics industry. Problem is, the DK2 model is used as a basis for comparison. It was huge and costly (rumored to have cost around $20K). The end result is far from consumer-oriented.
Although the gloves require a large box for work, they are now much easier to use. This box can also be used as a bag.Also, The gloves are now smaller and more comfortable than ever before. They keep their specialty of offering touch sensations on all the different parts of your hand through the use of very small inflatable balls that can apply a “textured” haptic sensation by inflating and applying pressure on your skin. HaptX impressed me last year when I tried it at AWE. HaptX’s price is still very enterprise-oriented. It now stands at $5600. That’s still quite a lot but only about a quarter what it was before.
The road towards believable consumer haptics for XR is still long and difficult, but I’m very happy to see this step forward and I wish good luck to HaptX!
Get more information
News worth a mention
Neal Stephenson talks about his company Lamina1
Neal Stephenson is co-founder of Lamina1, a Web3 firm. The idea of creating a new blockchain in a sustainable way that is not only sustainable but also that creates an ecosystem that isn’t based on speculation. Giving value to content creators He seems to have a fascinating vision and explains it in this interview with Fast Company.
Get more information
New York Times discusses the UX of immersive journalism
The New York Times published an article on the subject that is very interesting. Imagine the user interface for immersive journalism. It focuses on how to create an AR experience that is informative and can be used in conjunction with an article.
Get more information
Enjoy Quest Halloween sale
This is the best time to purchase VR games. There is an interesting Halloween sale at the Quest Store!
Get more information
Mixed reality content starts to surface
As I’ve said before, many developers are experimenting with the Quest Pro, and this week we had two interesting pieces of news about MR games. First, Demeo finally released its mixed reality mode. Cubism’s developer is We are currently working on a laser avoidance system in mixed reality!
More info (Demeo in Mixed Reality)
More info: Laser avoidance game in Mixed Reality
Some news on content
- A visually stunning adventure game Hubris It will be available on PC VR headsets starting December 7th and on Quest and PSVR 2, beginning in 2023
- Wooorld Quest 2 & Quest Pro now available at $15 on the Meta Quest Store. This VR experience is similar to Google Earth VR, but it offers an entirely different approach to earth exploration.
- FirmamentThe release of, the new experience by Myst Studios, has been delayed until 2023
- Broken EdgeThe multiplayer VR sword fighting game ”, will be available on Quest 2 headsets and SteamVR headsets starting November 17th
- Dr Beef’s VR mods Pico 4 may soon have games like Doom
- Hell-arcade shooting game Desperate: Vladivostok Quest VR and PC VR are coming together on November 3
More info on Hubbris
Get more information at Wooorld
More information (Firmament).
More information (Broken Edge).
More info (DrBeef’s VR mods)
More info (Desperate: Vladivostok)
Other news
VRChat now offers hand-tracking support, so it’s possible to use it entirely without the controllers.
Learn More
With NeRF, you can take drone shots from your phone!
Cool infographics on the most current headsets and their placement in the market
Learn More
The Africa XR Report reveals the current state of immersive realities in Africa
Learn More
Check out the components of the Pico 4
News from partners (and friends)
Follow me on Youtube
Since I have no friends’ news to report, I just Invite you to also follow my Youtube channel. in case you aren’t already doing that! I don’t publish often, and my videos are not the best ones you can find… but you can still find on my channel some interesting XR content.
Find out more
Some XR fun
Although this is a serious piece, it made me smile. It was funny to see how happy chickens are in virtual reality. These chicks have better VR than I!
Funny link
Quest is best not to be used outside.
Funny link
It’s the same for me when I talk about VR
Funny link
The new guide to writing content about the metaverse
Funny link
Donate for good
Like last week, also this week in this final paragraph I won’t ask you to donate for my blog, but to the poor people that are facing the consequences of the war. Please support the Red Cross in Ukraine to address the current humanitarian situation. You can find the link below.
Let me just take a moment to thank all my Patreon contributors for the support they provide to me.
- Alex Gonzalez VR
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Now, here’s the link for you to donate
Help the Red Cross Ukraine
(Header image by Meta
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