Welcome to the 5th episode, prepared for you as a podcast, where I compile the developments in the virtual reality industry that caught my eye over the past week.

  • (1) The new Oculus v20 software update has been released , including head tracking and image stabilization features when recording VR.

  • (2) Oculus is celebrating the first anniversary of its Independent Software Vendor (ISV) program.

  • (3) Apple has reportedly acquired Spaces, a virtual reality company specialized in VR avatars.

  • (4) It was announced that the 7th Oculus Connect event, which will take place online on September 16, will be organized as Facebook Connect starting this year.

  • (5) Amazon has launched Room Decorator, a new augmented reality shopping tool.

  • (6) DLNA support has arrived for the Bigscreen VR video watching application.

  • (7) New information has been shared about Facebook Horizon.

  • Echo VR has officially launched for Oculus Quest.

  • HP announced that they will make “Exciting Announcements” for VR ahead of the Reverb G2 launch.

  • The FPS game Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond is coming to Oculus Rift. A PC will be required to play it on Quest.

  • The Oculus Medium VR creativity application has become Adobe Medium.

Podcast: TBA

(1) The first news of this week is about a new update coming to Oculus virtual reality headsets. To the extent that hardware allows, it is possible to provide long-term support via software. Although the v20 update that came to Oculus Rift S and Quest this month was released to fix minor bugs, it is quite noteworthy for Oculus Rift S on the PC side . This is because improvements have been made to fix head tracking issues and shaky images when recording VR, which users had complained about. On the Quest side, a feature has been added to mute any specific person among the party participants.

(2) Our other news is also about Oculus. The company published a post on its blog for the first anniversary of the ISV (Independent Software Vendor) program, which it announced for the business world at the Oculus Connect 6 event in September last year. To talk about the ISV program ; it is a program organized by Oculus to cooperate with enterprise developers or independent producers who focus on creating solutions for training, simulations, data visualization, or remote collaboration through VR, targeting Fortune 2000 companies. In the first year of the program, more than 600 eligible applications meeting the criteria were submitted.

(3) The next news confirms what I mentioned last week. According to a report published by 9to5mac, one of the prominent websites covering Apple news; the startup Spaces , which can integrate facial expressions into avatars in virtual environments, was acquired by Apple. Spaces updated its homepage with a message titled “To new journeys,” essentially confirming the news. Founded in 2016 by Bred Herman and Shiraz Akmal, who left DreamWorks, the company focused on the location-based entertainment space. It is believed that the industry will cross a new threshold once Apple releases its virtual or augmented reality glasses.

(4) The next news is about an event that brings many innovations with it. The date and even the new name of the Oculus Connect event, which will be organized for the 7th time this year, has been announced . Starting this year, it will be called Facebook Connect and will be held online on September 16. It will be open to everyone who wants to participate and will be broadcast on the Facebook page of Facebook Reality Labs and via Oculus Venues . It is said that answers to everything people are curious about, including Facebook Horizon and Spark AR , will be found at the event. Additionally, the name of Facebook’s VR/AR team has been rebranded as Facebook Reality Labs.

(5) The next news is about the augmented reality move of the world’s largest shopping site. Amazon has launched a feature called Room Decorator ( Room Decorator ), a new augmented reality (AR) shopping tool that allows you to visualize furniture and other home decor products in your own room. The unique aspect of this application by Amazon is its ability to place multiple objects at the same time. As of right now, you can use it if you see the ‘view in your room’ button for compatible furniture on Amazon’s iOS app or in your internet browser. For now, it is an application exclusive to US users.

(6) The next news is about the Bigscreen video watching application, which is one of my favorite apps. Following the feature introduced last June that allows you to load and watch your own files on VR headsets, DLNA support has also arrived . DLNA support allows viewing media played on one device on another device, either wired or wirelessly, without the need for manual file transfers between compatible devices. It was also mentioned that thousands of 2D and 3D movies will be coming to the platform soon. Unfortunately, the movie rental feature is not yet available in Turkey.

(7) The last news of the week is again from the Oculus camp. New details have been shared about Facebook Horizon. Starting next week, those with an invitation will be able to test the closed beta version. They shared a page to sign up for an invitation, but it is not yet open to Turkish users. It was mentioned that all the plazas and spaces created in Horizon were built by the FB team using Horizon’s own creation tools. Offering options such as doing anything you want or going anywhere you want with unlimited possibilities highlights the difference that sets it apart from traditional social media platforms.

That’s all for this week’s virtual reality agenda. You can also follow my blog on Twitter, Instagram, and Telegram accounts to stay updated on daily developments without waiting for a week. You can leave a comment for questions, suggestions, and anything else, and if you like it, you can subscribe via the YouTube channel or the podcast application you use.

See you in the next episode…

Stay healthy…