Facebook is turning VR into a platform — but some indie developers fear its power

Illustration by Claudia Chinyere Akole ‘We’re basically guinea pigs.’ Continue reading… ... more - theverge

Mark Kelly campaign launches first Snapchat AR lens for a Senate race

As the Arizona Senate election heats up ahead of November, Democratic candidate Mark Kelly’s team launched its own Snapchat account on Wednesday, including the first custom Snapchat AR lens from a Senate campaign. Retired NASA astronaut Kelly is running ... more - theverge

Minecraft is now available for PlayStation VR as a free update

Minecraft ’s PlayStation VR update is available now to download. Developer Mojang Studios announced the update earlier this month but hadn’t previously said when it would be playable. If you own Minecraft on PlayStation, then the update is completely ... more - theverge

Fall announcements update: Apple Watch Series 6 to Oculus Quest 2

The fall tech season is in full swing, with Apple announcing new Watches and iPads, Sony announcing pricing for the PlayStation 5, and Facebook revealing a sequel to its standalone Oculus headset. The week on The Vergecast , Verge health reporter Nicole ... more - theverge

The PS5 is priced, the Oculus Quest 2 launched, and the GoPro Hero 9 reviewed

Processor is a digest for what’s happening in the world of consumer technology, with incisive analysis (or maybe just jokes) from Dieter Bohn. Sign up for the newsletter here and check out the Processor video series on YouTube . It is a remarkably good ... more - theverge

Mark Zuckerberg on why he doesn’t want to “put an Apple Watch on your face”

Photo by Nick Statt / The Verge Social networks contain multitudes. One day you’re writing about internal dissent over the company’s ability to uproot influence campaigns and election interference; the very next, you’re watching a live stream of the ... more - theverge

Facebook Connect 7: the 5 biggest announcements

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge Facebook packed its Connect virtual and augmented reality conference into a single day this year, and it announced a lot of news during its two-hour keynote. That included a new VR headset, the retirement of ... more - theverge

Oculus Quest vs. Oculus Quest 2: what’s the difference?

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge Facebook just announced the Oculus Quest 2, a successor to its Quest virtual reality headset from 2019. At $299 for the base model, the new beefed-up and slimmed-down Quest is $100 cheaper than its predecessor. ... more - theverge

Logitech’s new gaming headsets are certified for Oculus Quest 2

The G333 in-ear headphones connected to the Quest 2. | Logited Logitech is launching two new gaming audio products that are built for the just-announced Oculus Quest 2. One of them is called the G333, and they’re Logitech G’s first in-ear headphones ... more - theverge

Facebook will let creators put their AR effects in Messenger and Portal

Facebook Facebook is giving augmented reality effects creators more places to share their work. The company announced, as part of its Facebook Connect event today, that it’ll expand third-party creators’ reach to both Messenger and Portal, meaning effects ... more - theverge

Oculus Quest 2 review: better, cheaper VR

The new default for VR, if you’re okay with Facebook Continue reading… ... more - theverge

Facebook is discontinuing the Oculus Rift S

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge Facebook-owned virtual reality company Oculus is ending sales of the Rift S headset next spring. It’s retiring the PC-based VR device to focus on the standalone Oculus Quest 2, which can also be tethered to ... more - theverge

Here’s how to preorder the Oculus Quest 2

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge Oculus announced the Quest 2, its next standalone VR headset that doesn’t require a PC. My colleague Adi Robertson wrote everything you need to know about the new Quest 2, and she even spent enough time with ... more - theverge

VR Assassin’s Creed and Splinter Cell games are coming

Ubisoft has announced new Assassin’s Creed and Splinter Cell games built entirely for virtual reality. The games, announced during the Facebook Connect (previously called Oculus Connect) virtual keynote on Wednesday, mark a long-rumored but still potentially ... more - theverge

The Oculus Quest 2 has an optional, more comfortable head strap

Oculus Facebook’s Oculus Quest 2 virtual reality headset is being released alongside several optional accessories, including two head strap variants, Logitech earbuds and headphones, a “fit pack” for different head sizes, and the Link USB-C cable. As ... more - theverge

Connect 7: All the news from Facebook and Oculus’ big VR / AR event

A virtual conference for virtual reality Continue reading… ... more - theverge

The original Myst is coming to VR

Cyan Worlds Myst creator Cyan Worlds is adapting its classic adventure game to virtual reality. Facebook and Cyan announced that Myst will get a VR remake for the Oculus Quest later this year, launching after the release of the upcoming Oculus Quest ... more - theverge

How to watch Connect, Facebook and Oculus’ big AR/VR event

Oculus The seventh annual Facebook Connect virtual and augmented reality conference, formerly known as Oculus Connect, is being streamed online today. Facebook is expected to announce a new Oculus Quest VR headset, which has been widely leaked over the ... more - theverge

Add comic book dialogue boxes to your next video call with this amazing gesture-based add-on

The social etiquette surrounding video calls and meetings is still an evolving phenomenon, but a new gesture-activated add-on that works with Zoom, Slack, Skype, and more could certainly alleviate some problems. In short, it saves you from unmuting your ... more - theverge

Facebook’s Oculus Quest 2 leaks in full via official promo videos

Image: Facebook Blueprint The Oculus Quest 2 VR headset has leaked in full via a pair of promotional videos uploaded to a marketing hub run by parent company Facebook, The videos outline the specs of the standalone headset, which is a successor to 2019’s ... more - theverge

Here’s how to view the Android 11 statue in AR

Google has officially announced Android 11, and the new operating system is already rolling out to Pixel phones. In honor of the release, Google has created a statue that you can view in augmented reality on any Android phone. Dave Burke, Android’s VP ... more - theverge

Apple hid an AR Easter egg in its September event announcement

Apple has officially announced its upcoming “Time Flies” event for September 15th, and the company hid a neat augmented reality Easter egg in the event announcement that uses Apple’s ARKit to turn the swirling Apple logo into a floating image of the ... more - theverge

Minecraft is coming to PlayStation VR as a free upgrade later this month

Minecraft is getting a free upgrade making the game playable in PlayStation VR later this month, developer Mojang Studios announced in a blog post today. Fans have been asking for PSVR Minecraft for a while now. Although the ever-popular game is already ... more - theverge

Facebook wants its AR glasses to give wearers superhearing

Facebook A new Facebook experiment shows how sound could play a major role in augmented reality. Chief scientist Michael Abrash and his team at FRL Research (formerly Facebook Reality Labs) released details today about what the team calls “perceptual ... more - theverge

Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit is a Switch racer that uses RC cars

During a surprise announcement today, Nintendo revealed the latest Mario Kart — and it’s an unexpected one. Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit is a racing game, but one where players use their Switch to drive remote-controlled cars. The cars, along with a ... more - theverge

Facebook’s OASIS-style VR playground Horizon enters public beta

Did you forget that Facebook was building the OASIS? The company has been working on its multiplayer virtual reality social space, Horizon, for a while now, which is comparable in concept if not scope to the fantastical VR world of Ready Player One. ... more - theverge

League of Legends’ virtual K-pop group K/DA is back with a new song

In 2018, the League of Legends World Championship opened in stunning fashion, thanks to an augmented reality concert from a virtual K-pop group called K/DA. The video for the virtual group’s first single, “Pop/Stars,” currently has more than 360 million ... more - theverge

The Witcher is getting a monster-hunting AR spinoff for mobile

You might not have Henry Cavill’s arms, but you can still pretend to be a witcher thanks to a new mobile game. Today, developer CD Projekt Red announced The Witcher: Monster Slayer , an augmented reality game for iOS and Android that has players doing ... more - theverge

Apple TV Plus is reportedly getting augmented reality companion content

Apple is planning to add augmented reality content as a companion to its TV Plus streaming service next year, according to a new report from Bloomberg . The AR content could be characters or objects from the show itself, which would then be overlaid ... more - theverge

Oculus Connect is now ‘Facebook Connect,’ and it’s happening September 16th

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge Facebook’s annual Oculus Connect conference will be held online-only on September 16th — and it’s being rebranded as Facebook Connect, part of the social giant’s gradual assimilation of its virtual reality ... more - theverge