Welcome to the episode of the podcast I prepared for you, where the developments that caught my eye in the virtual reality sector over the past week are compiled.

  • (1) The smart glasses company North, acquired by Google, announced that it will cease all its operations.
  • (2) Polyarc , the studio behind the highly acclaimed virtual reality game Moss (2018) , received a $9 million Series B investment.
  • (3) The first-person shooter (FPS) game Onward (2020) was released for Oculus Quest.
  • (4) VR support is coming to the timeless game Microsoft Flight Simulator. But on one condition!
  • (5) Applications have opened for Oculus Launch Pad 2020, the 5th support program organized by Oculus for independent VR app and game developers.
  • (6) AR contact lenses that look like they came straight out of a Black Mirror episode might arrive sooner than we expect.
  • (7) HTC published the results of its annual Vive developers market research.
  • (8) The July results of Steam’s monthly hardware and software survey were announced.
  • (9) Discount opportunities for VR games on HumbleBundle and the Oculus store .

Podcast: TBA

(1) Our first news is about the big fish swallowing the little fish. The smart glasses manufacturer North , acquired by Google on June 30, is fully transitioning under the Google umbrella and withdrawing its own products from the market. North, which started as Thalmic Labs in 2012, had announced after the acquisition on June 30 that it would “scale down” the production of its smart glasses called Focals. Apparently not wanting to deal with old records, Google announced that as of July 31, they would completely stop the production of Focals smart glasses and shut down all systems. Users who previously purchased them will be refunded. Naturally, the Focals 2.0 smart glasses that were in development will no longer be produced either. With these decisions, it became clear that Google’s goal in this acquisition was to expand the human resources for Google Glass smart glasses. Meanwhile, some questions also come to my mind. Could a new ‘Google Glass’ appealing to the end-user, which could rival Apple at a similar time to Apple Glass, be coming? I don’t know, but I guess we will have to wait a little longer for this.

(2) Company news continues, and our new news is about a VR company that found investment. Polyarc , the studio behind the widely acclaimed VR game Moss (2018) , received a $9 million Series B investment. Announcing the investment with an article published on their official blog, the studio plans to make games for augmented reality after virtual reality with this investment. With this fund received under the leadership of Hiro Capital, the total amount of investment made in the company has reached $12.5 million. To talk a little about the company: Polyarc is a Seattle-based VR/AR game studio founded in 2015 with the motto of building new and original worlds with the visual and interactive magic of virtual reality. The Moss game they released in 2018 is a single-player, action-adventure-puzzle mix virtual reality game with impressive visuals suitable for all ages. I will continue to follow the fruits of this investment it received. Because clearly, something good will come out of this studio.

(3) The next news is about a newly released game for Oculus Quest. The Downpour Interactive team, which develops games for virtual reality headsets, released the FPS, or first-person shooter, game Onward, which they have been working on for over a year, as of July 30. The game, sold for $24.99 for Quest, provides early access at the same price for the Oculus Rift platform. Initial reviews are positive. In fact, as of right now, it has already taken the top spot on the best-sellers list. The promotional video of the game, which is multiplayer and can be played as a team or single-player, reminded me of the days when I played multiplayer Counter-Strike years ago. In 2020, the experience is completely different now. New technologies offer the experience of living the game, not just playing it. I know game prices are high, VR headsets cannot be found, and even if they are, they are sold at exorbitant prices, but this situation also reminded me of the early years when computers and mobile phones first came out. The days when they were expensive and inaccessible… I have no doubt about this. Just as mobile phones are today, VR headsets will become the same in the not-too-distant future. Even though we cannot feel it in Turkey due to the dollar exchange rate, when I consider the sales figures worldwide, I think it has already started to arrive… Let’s see what time will show.

(4) The next news is about the timeless game Microsoft Flight Simulator. Announced during a press briefing held by developers from Asobo Studio and Microsoft, the virtual reality support confirmed to come to Microsoft Flight Simulator (2020) this fall was enough to excite VR headset owners. But let me tell you right away, unfortunately, there is a ‘but’ to it. The game, which will initially only come to the HP Reverb G2, was said to come to other virtual reality headsets at a later date. In a statement to the PC gaming news site Polygon , the developers said they would begin working after the HP Reverb G2 launch to add compatibility to additional VR glasses, including HTC Vive, Oculus, and Valve’s own devices. Based on my own experience, my guess is that if no date is given, it might be necessary to wait another year. Meanwhile, it might be useful to remind those who don’t know that the HP Reverb G2 VR headset is co-produced with Microsoft under the Windows Mixed Reality platform. Although the game itself will be released on August 18, due to the Reverb G2 being released in the fall, VR support will be added simultaneously with the released VR headset.

(5) The next news is about the support program for developers. Applications have opened for Oculus Launch Pad 2020, the 5th support program organized by Oculus for independent VR app and game developers. Applications for Oculus’s Launch Pad organization, designed for hands-on training and economic support for promising VR content creators from different educational backgrounds for the development of the VR sector, will run until August 20. This year’s Launch Pad participants, unlike in the past, will attend a virtual bootcamp in September. Along with this statement , they also announced the 2019 winners on Oculus’s blog. Undoubtedly, for the development of the sector, it is necessary to support developers as much as possible and ensure they are channeled into the field of virtual reality. In this context, such organizations and programs are of great importance.

(6) Those who watch the series Black Mirror will show interest in this news. According to an interview given by an official from the company Mojo Vision , which is working on augmented reality contact lenses, to a technology news site, AR contact lenses may enter our lives sooner than expected. Mojo Vision is a company that produces augmented reality contact lenses, that is, contact lenses that you put in your eyes and not only correct your vision defects but also provide you with augmented vision. When we consider the fact that even AR glasses are an advanced technology for us, what is coming is sure to make us redefine our vision of technology. The company Mojo Vision, working for the lenses we are used to seeing in futuristic series, was founded in 2015. The company, which has more than 90 employees, has received $159 million in investment to date. So when will they offer us the opportunity to live in dystopian scenarios by simply putting a contact lens in our eye after so much investment and effort? If there are no problems with FDA approval, it is quite possible we will see it in 2022 according to the roadmap announced by the company. The price of the tiny lens, which contains a microdisplay image hardware, an image sensor, an eye-tracking sensor, a battery, an antenna using the 5 GHz band, and a processor, is expected to be in the $500-900 range. So we can say that the price of the lenses you will buy for both your eyes is around $1500. When I saw this news on Twitter, I didn’t know what to think. Because while we haven’t even been able to reach AR glasses yet, the impending arrival of lenses that are a few sizes up still seems unbelievable, to be honest. Although while we Turkish citizens are dreaming augmented dreams without glasses; we even have difficulty accessing the technology of the 2000s, but anyway, that’s not our topic. I will continue to follow the developments about the company, which I put at the top of my watchlist.

(7) This time the news is about the market research of HTC Vive, one of the leading companies in the sector. There are striking details in the results of the research they conduct every year regarding the motivation sources of the Vive developer community, which projects they want to work on, and the problems they face. In the research with more than 350 participants, the question ‘What has changed in the virtual reality sector since last year’ is asked, and participants said that 53% more companies are interested in VR, 43% have better development opportunities and information sources, 42% can reach more end-users, and 41% said more developers have entered the VR sector. When developers were asked who their target audience is; 46% said the business world, while 44% said it is the end-user. The rate of those saying the business world being 14% higher than last year’s survey stands before us as a striking detail. This can be considered an indicator that companies’ interest and the efficiency they get from VR are increasing. While the business world is so important for developers, when asked about the segment whose star will shine the brightest in 2020, 69% said VR games. While 63% said simulation, 41% answered as the education sector. I recommend those who are curious about the subject examine the report. You can find the links in the article on our site.

(8) The VR-related results for July of the hardware and software survey that Steam publishes every month based on the data it receives from users have been announced . The headset showing the highest increase compared to June was Steam’s own brand, Valve Index, with 1.55%. Then, Oculus Quest and Oculus Rift S respectively made their mark in July as headsets whose usage on Steam is increasing. The usage rate of HTC Vive, which generally does not lose the first place to anyone, is 23%. Rift S is at 22% and thirdly comes Valve Index with 14%. The ratio of those using virtual reality headsets on Steam to all users is 1.93%. That is, approximately one in every 50 people uses a virtual reality headset. The rate may seem low, but when we consider both the VR headset and VR game prices, we will have to wait a while longer for the usage rate to increase.

(9) This week’s final news is noteworthy for VR game lovers because every penny counts given the prices of the games. HumbleBundle has launched a discount campaign supporting many games for PC-tethered headsets via Steam. Providing discounts up to 90%, the site provides savings in this way, even if a little, for us Turkish users with TL pricing. Unfortunately, among the notable games in the campaign, which will be about to end when this video is broadcast; FALLOUT4 with WindowsMR and HTC Vive support is sold for 125 TL with a 70% discount, SUPERHOT VR for 105 TL with a 40% discount, and ZERO CALIBER VR for 130 TL with a 25% discount.

Also, with the start of the summer sales in the Oculus store, it is possible to get many games at a discount. The campaign, where the discount rate varies between 20% and 30%, will continue until August 9. In the Oculus store, one of the most notable discounts is the SUPERHOT VR and PISTOL WHIP bundle game. While it is possible to get both games for $35 with a 29% discount, it is possible to buy VIRTUAL DESKTOP for $16, GUN CLUB VR for $14, and THE CLIMB for $22.5. In addition, by following daily discounts, it is possible to access other games at lower prices. When you consider PC games, the prices might seem high, but factors such as the industry being at the beginning of its journey, resources being limited compared to PC, and of course, sales figures not even being at a level to be compared with PC games, do not allow prices to drop for now. Have no doubt that as virtual reality headsets become more widespread, their prices will also become more normal.

Let this be all for this week’s virtual reality agenda. You can also follow my blog from Twitter, Instagram, and Telegram accounts; you can be informed of daily developments without waiting 1 week. You can comment for questions, suggestions, and everything else; if you liked it, you can subscribe from my YouTube channel or podcast apps.

See you in the next episode…

Stay healthy…