Latest news with #MetaQuest
The Star
2 days ago
- The Star
Xreal's One Pro are a stopgap ahead of true AR smart glasses
Xreal Inc's new One Pro augmented reality glasses are a taste of the future, giving a preview of what devices from Meta Platforms Inc, Apple Inc and Alphabet Inc's Google may feel like. The impressive new glasses resemble normal spectacles from a distance. They're discreet and comfortable to wear. But they're not an example of true, standalone AR glasses that blend digital content with the real world while also supplanting a phone. Instead, they excel at one important feature: plugging into smartphones, computers, gaming devices and other equipment and turning into a virtual, high-definition external display. Because they use augmented reality, you can see your PC's screen, a video on your iPhone, or a Steam Deck game surrounded by real-world views through clear lenses. Unlike Apple's Vision Pro and Meta Quest – mixed-reality devices – the Xreal product isn't using pass-through cameras; you're actually seeing what's in front of you like real glasses. The One Pro glasses are an impressive example of how rapidly wearable AR gadgets have progressed in recent years. And the floating picture you see when peering through the lenses is bright, colorful and crisp enough to give the illusion that you're watching videos (or playing games) on an enormous projection screen. The glasses, which cost about the price of a mid-tier smartphone, connect to devices over an included USB-C cable. Within the increasingly crowded glasses space, Xreal's profile is rising as the market leader. Next year, it'll team up with Google to release true AR glasses that don't require a phone or PC. Instead, they'll hook up to a puck and function similarly to Meta's planned AR glasses for 2027. Even more competition is emerging, though, with Meta announcing new smart glasses with Oakley on Friday and the company planning its first glasses with a display this fall. Apple, for its part, is planning non-AR smart glasses for next year and is working on a lighter and cheaper mixed-reality headset. The next-generation Xreal glasses aren't expected to go on sale until 2026. For now, then, the One Pro glasses serve as a stopgap, with technical compromises that reflect the category's current limitations. The hardware The most fundamental of those shortcomings is the most obvious one: That the glasses must physically be tethered to a source device – your smartphone, a laptop or a gaming handheld like the Steam Deck. Essentially, they function as a head-worn external display for the gadgets you already own. The positive is that there's no battery to worry about charging; the One Pro is powered by whatever they're plugged into. But if the cord accidentally gets pulled, they'll immediately shut off. There are other trade-offs that come with this design. For instance, the glasses offer capable dimming technology that reduces distractions when looking straight on, but your periphery never fully vanishes, and this can lessen the private theatre sensation you'd get from a fully enclosed mixed-reality or virtual reality device. Samsung Electronics Co's upcoming mixed-reality headset, for instance, will offer both fully enclosed and open modes dependent on the content being viewed. Xreal has also bumped the price of the One Pro since it was first announced in January; it was originally supposed to cost US$599 (RM2,550), but that will increase to US$649 (RM2,763) at the end of June. The company squarely attributes this increase to tariffs. Wearing the One Pro is surprisingly comfortable – even for two or three hours at a time – and several different nose piece sizes are included to help the glasses stay put on your face. (Prescription lens inserts are also available for those who need them.) The weight distribution is balanced enough to avoid pressure points. Xreal lets wearers choose between several different viewing modes when using the glasses. The company's custom X1 chip does a commendable job synchronising all of this in a way that prevents motion sickness, but if you're susceptible to that sort of ailment, the anchored option is a much better choice. Even at the higher price, the Xreal glasses cost a fraction of Apple's US$3,499 (RM 14,900) Vision Pro, but then again, the hardware is nowhere near as advanced. Each of the One Pro's two displays has 1080p resolution, far below the sharpness of Apple's category-leading panels. That makes these glasses better suited for entertainment and gaming as opposed to extended reading or web browsing. Still, when watching movies, TV and YouTube videos, I felt satisfied with the glasses, and their peak brightness is impressive. Gaming is just as enjoyable as movies. When plugged into one of Lenovo Group Ltd's handheld gaming consoles, the device's short three-millisecond response time resulted in no perceptible delay between button presses and corresponding movements in games. Compared with Xreal's previous glasses, these have a broader 57˚ field of view, which makes it easier to get lost in whatever content is in front of you. The less expensive Xreal One glasses top out at 50˚. That difference might seem small, but the difference is very noticeable up close. A 57˚ FOV is nowhere near as wide as what you'd get on industry-leading mixed-reality headsets, but it's about as good as it gets with augmented reality-only devices. In practice, the device's field of view provides a comfortable level of immersion, but it can still feel like there's a window between your eyes and the big digital screen – and the picture can sometimes get blurry at the edges. If you're not a fan of tilting your head to see everything, you can shrink the size of the image in settings so that everything fits within your vision. Like other smart glasses, the temples of the One Pro feature built-in speakers, and their Bose-tuned audio sounds fine for casual viewing at home. (You can pair wireless earbuds or headphones to your source device for richer, fully private sound; the loudspeakers on the glasses are audible to others nearby at louder volumes.) The takeaway Xreal's One Pro glasses aren't trying to be a next-generation computing device. Their displays aren't intricate enough for productivity work. But the relatively normal design goes a long way in making these appealing in those moments when someone else is using the TV – or when your laptop proves underwhelming for watching movies on a plane. As an entertainment gadget, the One Pro doesn't need to offer a glimpse of the future; they're fun enough to use in the here and now. But it's that lack of a futuristic operating system, the persistent technical constraints, and sacrificing untethered freedom that still makes these AR glasses, like others before them, a nice-to-have gadget instead of an essential wearable. – Bloomberg
Engadget
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Engadget
Beat Saber support is ending on PS VR and PS VR2
Devindra Hardawar/Engadget It's the end of the line for Beat Saber on PS VR and PS VR2. While you'll still be able to buy and play the base game on both platforms, as well as any songs and music packs that were released before today (June 18), Beat Games is winding down support for those versions. They won't get any new songs or music packs. As such, the final song that became available for Beat Saber on PS VR and PS VR2 was Lady Gaga's "Abracadabra." Moreover, the PlayStation versions of Beat Saber will lose their multiplayer features on January 21 next year. Beat Games says that it will still provide customer support to players on those platforms. "As we look to the future and plan the next big leap for Beat Saber, we have made the decision to no longer release updates for PS4 and PS5 starting in June 2025," Beat Games wrote in a statement on X and its website . "Our passion for VR remains unwavering. We are excited about the possibilities that lie ahead and what we can bring to Beat Saber fans who have been on this journey with us over the past seven years." To view this content, you'll need to update your privacy settings. Please click here and view the "Content and social-media partners" setting to do so. — Beat Saber (@BeatSaber) June 18, 2025 This change doesn't impact the Steam VR version of Beat Saber . New songs, music packs and features are still coming to Beat Saber on Steam and Meta Quest platforms. Meta bought Beat Games back in 2019 . In effect, the company is ceasing Beat Saber development on platforms that do not support its own headsets It's most likely that Meta and Beat Games are ending their efforts on PlayStation versions of Beat Saber because they're no longer seeing enough of a return on investment (though ending multiplayer support is an odd move). By all accounts, Meta Quest headsets have far outsold PS VR2 units. It could be argued that Sony hasn't fully gotten behind its own platform. By my count, there are fewer than two dozen PS VR2-exclusive games. The most recent State of Play stream featured only one (non-exclusive) game for the platform, Thief VR: Legacy of Shadow . So, it's maybe not surprising that Meta is pulling the plug on Beat Saber on PlayStation's VR headsets. It's still a shame though, as Beat Saber arguably remains one of the best VR games around, and maybe even the killer VR app. At this point, it might be best for PS VR2 owners who have a capable-enough PC and want more Beat Saber songs to pick up the PC adaptor and play the game on that platform. After all, Beat Saber is modable on PC (and Meta Quest), and there are thousands of custom song maps available.
Hans India
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Hans India
Wordle Answer Today for June 18, 2025 (#1460) – Hints and Solution Revealed
Wordle streak is still alive and well. Whether you're on a roll or starting fresh, we're here to help with some hints and the answer to today's Wordle puzzle. What Is Wordle? Wordle is a daily word game where you guess a hidden five-letter word. You get six tries to guess the word. Letters turn green if they're in the right spot. Letters turn yellow if they're in the word but in the wrong spot. Gray letters are not in the word at all. It's simple but addicting — and the same word is given to everyone each day. Wordle's Popularity Wordle became a huge hit in 2021. Its creator, Josh Wardle, made it easy to share results, which helped it go viral. The New York Times bought Wordle in 2022. In 2024, players played 5.3 billion Wordle games! You can play it on the NYT website, app, Discord, or even Meta Quest headsets. The game refreshes daily at midnight local time. How to Play Wordle Type any 5-letter word as your first guess. Use the color hints to narrow it down. You get six guesses total. Letters can appear more than once in a word. You can play once per day, unless you're a subscriber. Want to Play More Than Once? If you subscribe to NYT Games, you can: Access over 1,400 past Wordle puzzles. Use Wordle Bot to analyze your guesses. Recent Wordle Answers June 17 (Tuesday): PRANK June 16 (Monday): PETTY June 15 (Sunday): QUAIL June 14 (Saturday): GHOST June 13 (Friday): BILGE Hints for Today's Wordle (June 18) Clue: What a famous Norwegian artist might do when eating. There are no repeating letters. The first letter is M. Today's Wordle Answer (Wednesday, June 18, 2025): MUNCH If you didn't get it today, no worries — tomorrow is a new chance to play and win. Good luck with your next puzzle!
Mint
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Mint
AR, VR and XR differences explained: Why should you care?
We hear a lot about AR, VR and XR these days, but what do they mean and why should you care? With these technologies becoming more common in gaming, work and education, it's worth understanding what the difference is between them and how they're already starting to shape the world around us. Augmented reality, or AR for short, is all about adding an extra digital layer to the world you already see. It takes your surroundings and enhances them by overlaying digital content like images, sounds, animations or bits of helpful information. Unlike virtual reality, AR doesn't block out the real world; it simply builds on top of it. A great example is the wildly popular Pokemon Go game that launched back in 2016. If you played it, you'll remember how it used your phone's camera and GPS to place digital creatures called Pokemon around your local area. That's AR in action, digital content that feels like it's part of your real environment. Virtual reality, or VR, is quite different from AR. Instead of enhancing your real surroundings, it replaces them entirely. Slip on a VR headset like the Meta Quest or PlayStation VR, and suddenly you're standing in a 3D world that's been completely digitally created. The visuals and sounds are all coming from the digital world, cutting you off from the physical space around you. For most people, VR is still most closely linked with gaming, but its potential goes way beyond that. It's already being used for serious things like pilot and medical training through realistic simulations, as well as in therapy. Extended Reality, often shortened to XR, is the broader term that brings everything under one roof. It includes Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality, Mixed Reality, and anything else that blends digital and physical experiences. The main goal of XR is to create a seamless connection between the digital and real. Whether you're wearing smart glasses that display directions on the street in front of you, or attending a business meeting in a shared 3D space with people from around the globe, XR aims to make it feel like the digital is naturally part of your world. Feature AR (Augmented Reality) VR (Virtual Reality) XR (Extended Reality) Immersion Enhances the real world Fully digital world Covers AR, VR, and Mixed Reality (MR) Interaction Real + digital Digital only Mixes or extends real & virtual worlds Common Devices Smartphones, Nreal Air smart glasses Meta Quest 3, PlayStation VR Microsoft HoloLens 2, Meta Quest Pro Typical Use Cases Navigation, retail try-ons, education Gaming, training and virtual meetings Enterprise solutions, blended reality apps Understanding the difference between AR, VR and XR isn't just about staying up to date with the latest tech buzzwords. It's about recognising how these technologies are already shaping the way we live, work and play. As these tools become more widely available, knowing what each one offers helps us make smarter choices.
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Business Standard
4 days ago
- Business
- Business Standard
Nazara launches Pokerverse VR, enters immersive gaming with poker
Nazara Technologies, India's only listed gaming entity, has debuted into virtual reality (VR) and multiverse gaming after it rolled out an immersive multiplayer game of poker for headsets such as Meta Quest and Apple Vision Pro. The game, known as Pokerverse VR, is available to play globally. It was developed by Hyderabad-based studio YesGnome and published by Nazara Publishing. 'Featuring real-time multiplayer, natural VR controls, and AR/VR flexibility, it allows players to step into a futuristic poker lounge or bring the game into their real-world environment,' Nazara said in a statement. The VR modes enable players to choose between full virtual environments or augmented overlays in a player's real space. 'As platforms like Apple Vision Pro and Meta Quest gain traction, we see exciting possibilities in this space. We're actively exploring future titles with developers who want to build for the next era of gaming,' said Nitish Mittersain, Joint Managing Director (MD) and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Nazara Technologies. Controls can be influenced via gesture-based interactions in the VR space to check, call or peek at one's cards. 'We wanted to reimagine poker as an immersive, social experience that felt tactile, intuitive and global from day one,' said Sridhar Muppidi, Founder of YesGnome. Nazara Publishing is a game publishing division of Nazara Technologies. It aims to support Indian and global game developers by providing resources, expertise and a strong network to bring gaming experiences to a wider audience, the company said in a statement. 'While no additional VR titles have been announced yet, the company is actively scouting high-potential projects for future collaboration,' it added. Nazara Technologies reported a consolidated net profit of ₹4.07 crore for the fourth quarter of FY25 (Q4FY25), a significant rise from ₹18 lakh in Q4FY24. However, the company recorded a loss of ₹9.79 crore from discontinued operations during the quarter, which weighed on overall profitability. Sequentially, net profit narrowed from ₹8.85 crore in Q3FY25. For the full year, Nazara's FY25 net profit contracted 31.82 per cent to ₹50.96 crore, down from ₹74.75 crore in FY24. The company's revenue from operations surged 95.40 per cent year-on-year to ₹520.2 crore in Q4FY25, up from ₹266.21 crore in the same period last year. Sequentially, revenue declined 2.7 per cent from ₹534.69 crore in Q3FY25.
