Virtual/Augmented/Mixed Reality News & Discussions

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Wristband uses echoes and AI to track hand positions for VR and more
https://techxplore.com/news/2024-04-wri ... tions.html
by Patricia Waldron, Cornell University

Cornell researchers have developed a wristband device that continuously detects hand positioning—as well as objects the hand interacts with—using AI-powered, inaudible soundwaves.

Potential applications include tracking hand positions for virtual reality (VR) systems, controlling smartphones and other devices with hand gestures, and understanding a user's activities; for example, a cooking app could narrate a recipe as the user chops, measures, and stirs. The technology is small enough to fit onto a commercial smartwatch and lasts all day on a standard smartwatch battery.

EchoWrist is among the newest low-power, body pose-tracking technology from the Smart Computer Interfaces for Future Interactions (SciFi) Lab. Cheng Zhang, assistant professor of information science at the Cornell Ann S. Bowers College of Computing and Information Science, directs the lab.

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Virtual skin contact: Smart textiles are making remote hugs tangible
https://techxplore.com/news/2024-04-vir ... tiles.html
by Saarland University

Smart textiles are making virtual reality more immersive and enabling wearers to experience the sensation of physical touch. An ultrathin film that can transmit touch sensations is able to turn textiles into a virtual second skin. For seriously ill children in hospital isolation wards, this new technology offers them the chance to feel the physical closeness of their parents during computer-simulated visits and to experience again the feeling of being held, hugged or cuddled.

A research team led by Professors Stefan Seelecke and Paul Motzki from Saarland University will be presenting the technology behind these smart textiles at Hannover Messe from 22 to 26 April (Hall 2, Stand B10).

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AI-powered 'sonar' on smartglasses tracks gaze, facial expressions
https://techxplore.com/news/2024-04-ai- ... racks.html
by Patricia Waldron, Cornell University

Cornell University researchers have developed two technologies that track a person's gaze and facial expressions through sonar-like sensing. The technology is small enough to fit on commercial smartglasses or virtual reality or augmented reality headsets yet consumes significantly less power than similar tools using cameras.

Both use speakers and microphones mounted on an eyeglass frame to bounce inaudible soundwaves off the face and pick up reflected signals caused by face and eye movements. One device, GazeTrak, is the first eye-tracking system that relies on acoustic signals. The second, EyeEcho, is the first eyeglass-based system to continuously and accurately detect facial expressions and recreate them through an avatar in real-time.

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[wjfox]

Apple reportedly cuts Vision Pro production due to low demand

Apr 23, 2024, 9:31 PM GMT+1

Apple is reportedly cutting its Vision Pro headset shipment forecast for the rest of the year due to cooling demand.

Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo writes that Apple cut orders for the Vision Pro even before it launched outside of the US. His sources claim that Apple now expects to sell only around 400,000 to 450,000 units in 2024, compared to what Kuo says was a “market consensus” of 700,000 to 800,000. Demand for the $3,500 Vision Pro dropped much lower than the company was expecting.

Facing the unanticipated drop in steam, Apple is now adjusting its headset roadmap, possibly pushing the future of a lower-cost entry mixed reality headset beyond 2025 (if at all). Apple’s Vision Pro has largely wowed early adopters due to its technical prowess — but not enough to hold on to all of them past the return period.

Apple is often a trendsetter in new product markets, and if the Vision Pro doesn’t do well, it could leave reverberations for the whole industry. Kuo believes that demands for certain VR and AR-specific components, like the Micro OLED displays, may not reach the adoption rate needed for mass production to make it into other devices.

https://www.theverge.com/2024/4/23/2413 ... -kuo-rumor



Credit: Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge

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[Tadasuke]

Back in primary school, I noticed that when I wear sunglasses (shades) on my head, in some conditions, the world around looks better than when I don't.

This soon lead me to think and imagine, how in about 20 years, there could be intelligent computerized glasses, that adapt to current conditions around me and my preferences, adjusting contrast, brightness, hue, vibrance and saturation every milisecond, so everything looks better than normally. I find it fascinating, enticing and appealing. There could be such glasses in the 2030s (so later than I expected). This is something that could help everyone who is able to see (even if poorly).

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Portable media streamer for XR glasses puts Google TV in your pocket

https://newatlas.com/home-entertainment ... -streamer/
Augmented reality wearable company RayNeo and smart gadget maker SEI Robotics have partnered to launch Pocket TV, a palm-sized portable Google TV media device designed for RayNeo's series of extended reality glasses.

Instead of cramming a huge TV into your compact apartment, setting up a home cinema with an audience of one or limiting yourself to a small laptop screen, extended reality eyewear essentially puts a big virtual display in front of your eyes.

TCL makes use of RayNeo's micro-LED optics for its NXTWEAR S glasses, and now the latter has partnered with SEI Robotics to launch a pint-sized entertainment box for your pocket that serves up Google TV – an improved flavor of Android TV found at the heart of many smart projectors that brings all your favorite apps, streaming services and games into one intuitive interface.

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Google Glass Could Come Back From the Dead
Google's AI-in-everything roadmap offers a convenient path for the 10-year-old failed AR glasses to make a comeback.
By Adrianna Nine May 15, 2024

https://www.extremetech.com/electronics ... m-the-dead
At its annual I/O keynote yesterday, Google confirmed it's poised to inject AI into virtually everything, from Gmail to Android. Not to be forgotten is Google Glass, the tech giant's stab at a covert augmented reality (AR) wearable from over 10 years ago. While Glass failed miserably, AI could be the key to making the device work—a possibility that isn't lost on Google executives.

One of I/O 2024's biggest announcements was Project Astra, Google's attempt at artificial general intelligence (AGI). Seemingly a direct competitor to OpenAI's multimodal GPT-4o, Project Astra reportedly combines Gemini with natural language responses and real-time image recognition. A demo video shows the tool naming the parts of a speaker, crafting poetic alliterations, explaining a chunk of code, and using the view from an office window to determine which London neighborhood the user is in. The video also shows a Google employee donning a pair of eyeglasses, which appear to pick up the Project Astra experience.

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Report: Apple Stops Work on Vision Pro 2 in Favor of Budget Headset
The cheaper version could cost as much as the most expensive iPhones.
By Ryan Whitwam June 20, 2024

https://www.extremetech.com/electronics ... et-headset
Apple's VR headset was rumored for years before finally being announced in 2023. The Vision Pro is an Apple product through and through, with a slick design and high-end hardware, but the $3,500 price tag ensured it would be a niche product. And it sounds like you might have to wait a while for a true successor to that device. A new report claims Apple has paused development of the Vision Pro 2 so it can focus on a cheaper model.

Since the Vision Pro's launch, rumors have suggested Apple would split the product line into two parts; one "Pro" model and a cheaper non-pro version. According to The Information, Apple has been progressively reducing the number of employees working on the premium virtual reality headset and increasing support for the budget headset project.

The price of the pro was insane and dumb. VR should be easy to get for the avg person!

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Electric "treadmill shoes" set to boost the world of VR gaming
By Ben Coxworth
July 08, 2024

https://newatlas.com/vr/freeaim-vr-shoes/
Shoes with motorized wheels could revolutionize the manner in which gamers walk through VR worlds. Currently being developed by UK/US startup Freeaim, the clever kicks are essentially little wearable treadmills.

While it's easy enough to replicate users' real-world head and arm movements in VR environments, walking is a bit trickier. After all, if a gamer is walking the length of a virtual city block within a game, they can't very well be covering that same distance in real life … or at least, not without running into things.

One solution to this problem involves using what are known as omnidirectional treadmills. These tend to take the form of slippery round(ish) platforms that slope in toward the center like a bowl. As the user walks on that platform – facing in any direction – their feet continuously slip in to the middle, keeping them in place.

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Synchron Shows Brain Chip Tester Controlling Apple Vision Pro
The Vision Pro's eye tracking is a perfect match for Synchron's brain implant.
By Ryan Whitwam July 31, 2024

The Apple Vision Pro might not be selling as well as Apple hoped, but at least one person is very happy to have the $3,500 "spatial computer." Brain chip startup Synchron has revealed one of its early testers is using the implanted brain-computer interface (BCI) to control an Apple Vision Pro just by thinking about it.

Mark, whose last name is withheld for privacy, has amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Sometimes called Lou Gehrig's disease, ALS is a neurodegenerative disorder that causes the loss of motor neurons throughout the body. People with ALS initially suffer stiffness and muscle weakness, but that eventually progresses to full-body paralysis. Naturally, that makes it difficult to communicate and interact with the world. Those living with ALS could benefit massively from brain-computer interfaces, making them ideal testers for technology like the Synchron implant.

https://www.extremetech.com/science/syn ... vision-pro

[wjfox]

Introducing Orion, Our First True Augmented Reality Glasses

September 25, 2024

Today, we unveiled Orion, previously codenamed Project Nazare, which we believe is the most advanced pair of AR glasses ever made.

Orion combines the look and feel of a regular pair of glasses with the immersive capabilities of augmented reality – and it’s the result of breakthrough inventions in virtually every field of modern computing.

We’re giving Meta employees and select external audiences access to Orion, so our team can learn, iterate and build towards our consumer AR glasses product line.

https://about.fb.com/news/2024/09/intro ... y-glasses/

[wjfox]

[Time_Traveller]

I would rather turn them into personalised ads on based on your interests/hobbies. For example a nice forest

[Time_Traveller]

I would rather turn them into personalised ads on based on your interests/hobbies, for example a nice forest or something similar.

[Powers]

I would rather turn them into personalised ads on based on your interests/hobbies, for example a nice forest or something similar.

And everyone can see the same as you