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

Vader Immortal, a former Oculus exclusive, is available now on PlayStation VR

Vader Immortal is available now on PlayStation VR. The three-part series was previously an exclusive for the Oculus Quest and Rift, but has now arrived on the PlayStation for $29.99. Each episode of Vader Immortal takes about an hour to play and is narrative ... more - theverge

Google makes NASA artifacts and prehistoric crustaceans viewable in AR

Image: Google Google has made a number of prehistoric creatures and historical artifacts available to view in augmented reality in its Arts and Culture app, the company announced today. If you want to take a closer look at the ancient crustacean Cambropachycope ... more - theverge

How a designer used AI and Photoshop to bring ancient Roman emperors back to life

AI renditions of Roman emperors Augustus (left) and Maximinus Thrax (right) with their statues. | Image by Daniel Voshart Machine learning is a fantastic tool for renovating old photos and videos. So much so that it can even bring ancient statues to ... more - theverge

Facebook is making Oculus’s worst feature unavoidable

Image: Oculus VR Yesterday, Facebook infuriated the VR world, announcing plans to require a Facebook login for future VR headsets. The decision broke an early promise from Oculus founder Palmer Luckey and was almost universally reviled online, with critics ... more - theverge

You’ll need a Facebook account to use future Oculus headsets

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge Oculus will soon require all of its virtual reality headset users to sign up with a Facebook account. The Facebook-owned company says it will start removing support for separate Oculus accounts in October, ... more - theverge

Snapchat now has lenses specifically to be used in viral TikTok dance challenges

Snapchat Snap knows that people post videos with its augmented reality lenses to multiple platforms, and today, it’s launching lenses specifically to be used on TikTok. The company is partnering with four TikTok stars, including Jalaiah Harmon, who created ... more - theverge

Nreal’s augmented reality glasses are shipping this month in Korea

Nreal The Nreal Light mixed reality glasses are shipping in Korea alongside Samsung’s newly announced Galaxy Note 20. LG Uplus will sell the glasses as a standalone device for 699,000KRW (around $586), and it’s bundling them with the Galaxy Note 20 or ... more - theverge

PlayStation 5 will support PS4 controllers, but only for playing PS4 games

Image: Sony Sony is confirming today that its existing PS4 controller will not work with PS5 games. “We believe that PS5 games should take advantage of the new capabilities and features we’re bringing to the platform, including the features of DualSense ... more - theverge

July was a big month for VR games

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge 2020 has seen renewed interest in VR, and it’s not just because of the pandemic. There have been tentpole releases like Half-Life: Alyx , and the Oculus Quest continues to grow in popularity with a rumored ... more - theverge

Form’s smart goggles now work with GPS smartwatches to track open-water swims

Photo by Chaim Gartenberg / The Verge Form is releasing an update today for its smart augmented reality swim goggles that enable them to pair over Bluetooth to selected GPS smartwatches, allowing users to track their swims in real time in open water, ... more - theverge

Google adds creepy crawlies to its AR search results

If you’ve ever wanted to invite giant beetles or hornets into your living room without fear, Google has got you covered. The search giant is adding 23 creepy crawlies to its growing roster of augmented reality search results that also include dinosaurs, ... more - theverge

Virgin Galactic unveils the interior cabin of its tourist spaceplane

An artistic rendering of the interior cabin of VSS Unity. | Image: Virgin Galactic I was standing inside Virgin Galactic’s tourist spaceplane with three translucent green heads floating in front of me. One of the heads was explaining how the white-and-teal ... more - theverge

A new Oculus Quest has seemingly leaked from every angle, and it might launch soon

Image: WalkingCat on Twitter Earlier this week, we got our first look at what appeared to be a new Oculus Quest virtual reality headset thanks to an apparent marketing image shared on Twitter. Since then, more images — including ones of the device in ... more - theverge

Tetris Effect: Connected is an Xbox-exclusive multiplayer expansion

Image: Enhance Games The excellent Tetris Effect , a mesmerizing audio-visual spin on the classic puzzle game, is getting a full multiplayer expansion this fall called Tetris Effect: Connected , which is releasing as a timed exclusive on PC (on the Microsoft ... more - theverge

New Oculus Quest headset image seemingly leaked on Twitter

WalkingCat A picture of a new Oculus Quest virtual reality headset has seemingly leaked online. The image was posted by Twitter user WalkingCat, who has produced credible leaks in the past. It shows a headset very similar to the existing Oculus Quest, ... more - theverge

OnePlus says the Nord will come with Google Messages and Phone pre-installed

Image: OnePlus Ahead of its debut on July 21st OnePlus released an Instagram video indicating its Nord phone will come with Google’s Messages and Phone apps installed instead of its own SMS and dialer, 9to5Google reported. The device also will have Google’s ... more - theverge

PlayStation 5 pack-in Astro’s Playroom is a DualSense controller demo

Every PlayStation 5 console will include a pack-in copy of Astro’s Playroom , a lighthearted platforming game based on the Astro Bot Rescue Mission PS VR game. But a new gameplay demo from Geoff Keighley shows off the game’s real purpose: to introduce ... more - theverge

Sony reportedly boosts PS5 production by 50 percent

Sony is ordering at least 50 percent more PlayStation 5 consoles than it had originally planned to ship this year, according to reports in the Japanese press. While the company was expecting to produce around six million consoles in 2020, Nikkei says ... more - theverge

Peacock’s interface aims to recreate the feeling of live TV, but it comes up short

Every new streaming service is looking for standout features to differentiate themselves from the competition, and Peacock’s features try to combine three different types of experiences in one app: a traditional streaming interface, a curation of small, ... more - theverge

OnePlus teases first pair of true wireless earbuds for July 21st reveal

OnePlus is no stranger to producing headphones (pictured), but it has yet to release a true wireless model. | Image: OnePlus OnePlus will reveal its first pair of true wireless earbuds on July 21st, the company confirmed today. The OnePlus Buds, as the ... more - theverge

Superhot creators are giving away millions of free copies of Mind Control Delete expansion

Image: Superhot Team The team behind time-bending first-person shooter Superhot has a pretty good proposition: buy or have bought the first game and you get the follow-up for free. Called Superhot: Mind Control Delete , the standalone expansion has been ... more - theverge

Unreal Engine can now capture facial expressions via an official iOS app

Epic says the tool can be used alongside full motion-capture suits, or while an artist is sitting at their desk. | Image: Epic Games A newly released iOS app from Epic Games lets developers record facial expressions that can be imported directly into ... more - theverge

The OnePlus Nord will be officially revealed on July 21st

Image: OnePlus The midrange OnePlus Nord is due to be officially announced with an augmented reality event on July 21st, the company announced today. OnePlus said the Nord will be a “more affordable” device compared to its recent flagships, and it’s ... more - theverge

Watch this Pokémon Go commercial directed by Rian Johnson

At its best, Pokémon Go blends the real world and the virtual, thanks to its use of location-based gameplay and augmented reality. That sensation really comes across in a new 30-second commercial for the game, directed by none other than Rian Johnson, ... more - theverge

Palmer Luckey’s surveillance startup Anduril signs contract for ‘virtual border wall’

Anduril Industries US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) has signed a deal with Anduril, the “virtual border wall” startup launched by Oculus founder Palmer Luckey. The Washington Post reports that the agency awarded Anduril a five-year contract to ... more - theverge

Iron Man VR is a tinfoil version of a truly great Iron Man game

Image: Sony “I am not Iron Man,” I mutter to myself after crashing into a wall for the umpteenth time while waving my arms around. But it’s not for a lack of effort. Iron Man VR is a game with a simple premise: putting players inside the famous metal ... more - theverge

Dreams is getting PlayStation VR support this month

Dreams , the expansive game creation tool for the PlayStation 4, is getting VR support. Development studio Media Molecule made the announcement on the official PlayStation blog, saying that PlayStation VR compatibility would arrive as part of a free ... more - theverge

Facebook’s newest proof-of-concept VR headset looks like a pair of sunglasses

Image: Facebook Facebook has shown off a new proof-of-concept virtual reality headset, and it has a completely different design than most other VR devices on the market today. Instead of a bulky contraption that covers up the top half of your face and ... more - theverge

Google buys AR glasses company North

Photo by Amelia Holowaty Krales / The Verge Google has bought North, a company focused on building augmented reality glasses. The companies announced the news earlier today, saying that North’s “technical expertise” will help Google invest in its “hardware ... more - theverge