HTC’s Vive Focus 3 has a new, far-out mission: astronaut mental health

Testing the HTC Vive Focus 3 during a European Space Agency parabolic flight. | Image: Novespace HTC is going to space. The company announced today that on a planned November 7th NASA resupply launch, a tweaked, microgravity-friendly version of its Vive ... more - theverge

Meta is investigating Quest 3 issues after controller tracking complaints

Meta has yet to confirm the cause of the tracking issues, or provide a possible workaround. | Photo by Becca Farsace / The Verge Meta is investigating reports of tracking issues blighting its Quest 3 VR headset following user complaints that controller ... more - theverge

Goodbye, Touch Bar, you held incredible promise

Image: Apple The Touch Bar was too ahead of its time. This happens occasionally. We finally reach the point we can make a really cool idea technologically feasible but not feasible enough for widespread adoption. Think 3D TVs or augmented reality headsets. ... more - theverge

Your guide to the internet’s most (and least) important moments

Image: William Joel / The Verge Hi, friends! Welcome to Installer No. 12, your guide to the best and Verge -iest stuff in the world. (If you’re new here, welcome. I’m so psyched you found us, and also, you can read all the old editions at the Installer ... more - theverge

Valve officially releases SteamVR 2.0

Image: Valve Valve announced Wednesday that it has released SteamVR 2.0, launching the major update exactly a month after the surprise launch of the SteamVR 2.0 beta in September. “In this release we’re bringing all of what’s new and exciting on the ... more - theverge

Now Meta’s Quest 3 lets you choose: better battery life or better VR graphics?

Stay immersed for a bit longer, but maybe not as immersed. | Photo by Becca Farsace / The Verge Meta is rolling out a software update that lets Quest 3 users eke out more battery life at the expense of graphics quality. In addition to this new Battery ... more - theverge

Meta actually added a useful feature to Horizon Worlds — and some goofy ones

Image: Meta Meta’s newest update to Horizon Worlds , its 3D social network, adds some useful changes, but while reading the v133 patch notes, I chuckled more than once because of things Meta probably didn’t intend to be funny. Arguably the biggest addition ... more - theverge

Google’s updated AR beauty tools make it easier to buy cosmetics and hair dye

More ways for you to get a more accurate preview of beauty products, without physically testing them at the store. | Image: Google Google is expanding its augmented reality (AR) shopping feature that allows people to virtually wear beauty products before ... more - theverge

Xreal’s Air 2 glasses put a big screen on your face and ship in the US next month

The Air 2 glasses in their graphite and red models. | Image: Xreal Xreal is opening preorders for its latest generation of augmented reality glasses, the Xreal Air 2 and Air 2 Pro, for a November release in the US, UK, Germany, France, and Italy. The ... more - theverge

FCC greenlights superfast Wi-Fi tethering for AR and VR headsets

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge The FCC has unanimously approved plans by several tech companies to use the 6GHz band for wireless devices. FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel proposed the new rules, which would authorize very low power (VLP) operations ... more - theverge

The Meta glassholes have arrived

Quest 3 in an elevator. | Video: @kukurio59 (TikTok) It’s happening: people are once walking into public places wearing a video-recording face computer on their heads. Only this time, the faceputer is sold by Meta, not Google. Say hello to Meta’s Glassholes. ... more - theverge

CEO David Baszucki’s mission to make Roblox a billion-player platform

Photo illustration by Alex Parkin / The Verge AI is relatively easy, Baszucki said at Code. Working in China? That’s harder. Continue reading… ... more - theverge

Meta Quest 3 review: almost the one we’ve been waiting for

Meta’s new headset is better than its predecessors in almost every way. But until there’s more to do in mixed reality, this won’t be the headset that gets everyone wearing headsets. Continue reading… ... more - theverge

Apple’s next Vision headset might ship from the factory with custom lenses

The next Apple Vision headset could get built-in prescriptions. | Photo by Vjeran Pavic / The Verge Mark Gurman writes in his Power On newsletter for Bloomberg today that a future Apple virtual reality headset could be smaller and lighter, and each unit ... more - theverge

Meta’s plans to beat Apple’s Vision Pro include cheaper headsets and no controllers

Illustration by Nick Barclay / The Verge Meta is looking down the road at a follow-up to the Quest 3, which is releasing this week, and plans to take cues from Apple’s Vision Pro while it races to mainstream its VR tech. That’s according to Mark Gurman ... more - theverge

Meta’s text chat for Horizon Worlds is rolling out to all users

Image: Meta Meta’s text-based chat feature for Horizon Worlds will be available for all users beginning this week, Meta said in a blog post on Tuesday. The text chat, which Meta dubs “world chat,” offers a way to communicate with other people inside ... more - theverge

The best Google alternative I’ve tried yet

Image: William Joel / The Verge Hi, friends! Welcome to Installer No. 8, your guide to the best and Verge -iest stuff in the world. (If you’re new here, first of all, hi, hello, welcome, and second of all, you can read all the old editions at the Installer ... more - theverge

Five ways the Meta Quest 3 will (let developers) change the game

On Wednesday, Meta didn’t announce an obvious killer app alongside the $499 Meta Quest 3 headset — unless you count the bundled Asgard’s Wrath 2 or Xbox Cloud Gaming in VR. But if you watched the company’s Meta Connect keynote and developer session closely, ... more - theverge

Mark Zuckerberg can’t quit the metaverse

Meta Almost two years ago, Mark Zuckerberg rebranded his company Facebook to Meta — and since then, he has been focused on building the “metaverse,” a three-dimensional virtual reality. But the metaverse has lost some of its luster since 2021. Companies ... more - theverge

Here are the Qualcomm chips that power Meta’s Quest 3 and new Ray-Bans

The Meta Quest 3. (It has two controllers, not just the one you see here.) | Image: Qualcomm Meta has just fully revealed its Quest 3 virtual reality headset and announced its Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses, and they’ve both got Qualcomm silicon inside. ... more - theverge

Meta’s Quest 3 wireless charging dock juices up your headset and controllers

Image: Meta Meta is releasing a charging dock for its new Quest 3 headset. For $129.99, the all-in-one charging station allows you to neatly mount and charge the Quest 3 headset and controllers when you’re not immersed in virtual reality. This charging ... more - theverge

Here’s where you can preorder Meta’s upcoming Quest 3 headset

The new Quest 3 is smaller and more powerful than its predecessor. | Photo by Becca Farsace / The Verge Meta announced that the Meta Quest 3 will arrive on October 10th during its Meta Connect event, providing a little clarity around the headset’s initial ... more - theverge

How to watch Meta Connect — and Quest 3 — at 10AM PT / 1PM ET

Meta Connect’s shifting logo. | Image: Meta Meta Connect, the annual product summit from the company behind Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and the headsets formerly known as Oculus, will reveal its latest announcements in less than an hour. Meta Connect ... more - theverge

The Quest 3 is Meta’s last chance to win the headset war before it truly begins

The Quest 2 versus the Quest 3. | Image: Meta Meta doesn’t just need another hardware building block — it needs games. Continue reading… ... more - theverge

Valve suddenly says SteamVR 2.0 is now in beta — as headset rumors swirl

Half-Life: Alyx. | Image: Valve Valve built up to virtual reality for a very long time — and never stopped, but it also seemed to slow its roll while nurturing the Steam Deck gaming handheld. But for weeks now, Valve sleuth Brad Lynch has been tracking ... more - theverge

All the big tech events coming this fall

Image: Code September and October are some of the most exciting months of the year if you’ve been waiting all year to see the latest and greatest tech, even if that just means meeting the annual new iPhone. Of course, events are also planned for entertainment, ... more - theverge

Meta’s Horizon Worlds is surprisingly decent on the web and mobile

Image: Meta Meta’s Horizon Worlds 3D social platform is starting to roll out on the web and mobile, and it generally works a lot better outside of VR than I expected — though I wish there were more to do. Until recently, Horizon Worlds has only been ... more - theverge

Apple’s new software is widgets all the way down

Hi, friends! Welcome to Installer No. 7, your guide to the best and Verge -iest stuff in the world. (If you’re new here, first of all, hi, hello, welcome, and second of all, you can read all the old editions at the Installer homepage.) This week, I’ve ... more - theverge

Meta is shutting down three Oculus games without explanation

Dead and Buried is a Wild West arena shootout multiplayer VR game. | Image: Gunfire Games Hope you didn’t enjoy playing Dead and Buried , Dead and Buried II , or Bogo on your Rift or Quest headsets — because Meta’s shutting them all down with no explanation, ... more - theverge

Apple’s new AirPods Pro with USB-C charging case is already $50 off on a preorder

While this is technically a photo of second-gen AirPods Pro with a Lightning case, the new USB-C model will look identical. | Photo by Chris Welch / The Verge Apple’s biggest announcement last week at its “Wonderlust” event was, without a doubt, the ... more - theverge