For the remainder of the year, British Airways has announced that it will test the availability of virtual reality headsets for passengers on flights from London's Heathrow airport to New York's JFK airport. These headsets will offer users access to select travel shows, movies, and documentaries in 2D, 3D, and 360-degree formats.
The Galaxy Note 10 is a fine smartphone and example of innovation in the smartphone market. It is, however, also arguably one of Samsung most highly-debated models in recent memory. Perhaps in an effort to further distance it from the Galaxy S line, Samsung has changed quite a lot in the Galaxy Note 10. That, unfortunately, has forced it to drop things like the headphone jack and, something Samsung left out from the press, support for its own Gear VR platform.
Today we're running down the just-released details of Oculus Connect 6. This event will take place at the San Jose McEnery Convention Center, California. Dates for Oculus Connect 6 are September 25 and 26, 2019. The event promises to be a major moment in the history of both Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality with keynotes, presentations, and talks with big names like John Carmack and Respawn Entertainment. Given the latest notes from Carmack, this event promises to be a shock to the senses.
Virtual reality is great for videos, games, and new experiences but if the technology is to be practical for the next wave of computing, platforms need to offer applications that let users also be productive. While office suites might be out of the question, web browsing is fortunately in a position to bridge the gap between entertainment and productivity. And fortunately for users of the new Oculus Quest, Mozilla just made Firefox Reality available for them.
Virtual reality news has more or less quieted down over the past months but that doesn't mean it's far from gone. While its application in other industries have yet to be realized, it continues to grow, albeit slowly, in its native entertainment market. In fact, Amazon has finally made its long-expected foray into VR and it's coming to Oculus' mobile platforms, including the Gear VR.
The folks at Valve released new Valve Index VR headset kits today for immediate shipping in the USA. The Valve Index VR system was actually first released in late June, but "initial quantities were outpaced by demand." As Valve tells us today, "users were asked to reserve their hardware as new kits were in production." Today's the day when new kits begin to ship.
Holograms performing on stage in lieu of the unavailability of certain personalities isn't unheard of but, given the context, it isn't always considered appropriate either. That doesn't mean, however, that there isn't room for such holograms in the near future. Microsoft seems to have thought of a use case that takes advantage of its various technologies, like HoloLens and Azure, to create an exact replica of a live person, except that it speaks a different language from the original speaker.
On July 5, a new massage center will open in Los Angeles, but it won't resemble the type of spas you're familiar with. Called Esqapes, the center will combine automated massaging technology with virtual reality to transport customers into a different, more relaxing environment. The company calls this an 'immersive relaxation experience,' one that is like 'a mini vacation' without the high cost.
This week the folks at HTC revealed more details on the release model for HTC Vive Cosmos, their newest VR headset. This machine has a "flip-up halo design" so users can pop in and out of VR without removing the entire unit. It's also got a new vented front design that "keeps air flowing so users can stay in VR for longer without fatigue and stay cooler."
In January of this year we got a look at the then-newly-revealed HTC Cosmos VR (for PC) headset. Fast forward to now, June of this same year, and we're getting another look at the headset, and it looks ever-so-slightly different. Now the device has two additional cameras, both attached to a faceplate that'll come standard with the headset when it's released, presumably soon.
Google has quietly retired the Google Play Movies and TV app for its Daydream VR platform, fueling speculation that the company plans to shift away from virtual reality in favor of augmented reality. The company confirmed the app's removal in a statement on Thursday, saying that other Google apps already available on Daydream will remain. Device owners can still watch their purchased content.
After a period of hype, the VR market seems to have gone a bit quieter. Some might take it as a sign of stagnation but others will most likely argue that it's simply maturing behind the scenes. One sign of that maturity is perhaps the adoption of VR technology and hardware in the potentially more lucrative enterprise market. And that's exactly the market that the HTC Vive Pro Eye is launching to in the US and Canada. For a hefty price, naturally.