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What do you like about the Oculus Rift S?
When senior editor Devindra Hardawar tested the Oculus Rift S, he kept asking himself: Who really needs this VR headset? With built-in tracking, sharp resolution and a comfortable headstrap, the $399 Rift S makes a convincing argument for an entry-level VR purchase. However, it still needs to be tethered to a computer, its design and build quality aren't better than the original Rift and the identically priced Oculus Quest has higher resolution displays. That all adds up to a tough recommendation. In the end, the newest Oculus system earned a fair score of 80.
Facebook at 15: The long road to social media dominance
Facebook's come a long way since it launched 15 years ago today, on February 4th, 2004. Known as TheFacebook.com when it was created by Mark Zuckerberg and friends from Harvard, the service has gone from a "directory of information for college students" to a social media giant with more than 2.32 billion users every month. And that's not even counting people using services it acquired over the past few years, such as Instagram and WhatsApp, each with more than 1.3 billion users of their own. But while Facebook has had plenty of impressive milestones in its history, it has also dealt with a good deal of controversies. From the Cambridge Analytica data privacy scandal to the spread of fake news on its site, Facebook has had to put out a lot of fires, especially in recent years. So, as the company turns 15, let's go back in time and take a look at 15 of the biggest Facebook headlines since it was born.
Facebook hopes to prove AR is more than selfie filters and games
As I sit surrounded by software engineers in a conference room with no natural light, playing augmented reality games on an iPhone, I forget for a second that I'm in Seattle visiting Facebook. Not Amazon or Microsoft. Facebook, a company that's evolved from a simple social network to a full-on technology behemoth. Here, inside the company's largest engineering hub besides its Menlo Park headquarters, Facebook says people are working on many of the projects that will impact its 10-year road map and mission of "bringing the world closer together," including Games, Groups, Messenger and, of course, ads. But I'm here to talk about one particular emerging technology that the company believes will be key to its future: augmented reality.
Oculus will pay ZeniMax $250 million for copyright infringement
Bethesda Softworks parent company ZeniMax Media has always been a little sue-happy. But maybe a recent decision from its case against Oculus (and by extension, Facebook) will cool its jets a bit. A jury recently decided that Zuckerberg and Co. will only pay $250 million of the initial $500 million claim from ZeniMax that when John Carmack left Bethesda-owned id Software for Oculus, he stole his former employer's intellectual property, according to Bloomberg.
Standalone Oculus Go headset could debut at Facebook's F8 event
Last year Oculus teased its standalone "Go" VR headset saying it would go on sale for $199 early in 2018. Now Variety cites unnamed sources claiming that it will debut at Facebook's F8 conference May 1st. That should provide the kind of stage Zuckerberg, Barra & Co. would like for their first mass-market virtual reality product, although it does mean we have a few more weeks to wait before it arrives.
Gear VR was the 'Evolve' and 'Left 4 Dead' studio's savior
"Chaotic." That's how Turtle Rock Studios president Steve Goldstein described the 14 months between its last AAA game, Evolve, being effectively killed and now. The four-hunter-versus-one-gigantic-monster online multiplayer game struggled to retain players after it was released for PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in early 2015. Last June, Evolve transitioned from a $60 game to a free-to-play one. As a result, it went from roughly 100 players per month to more than 15,000. You'd think that would have been enough to keep the lights on, but you'd be wrong. Four months later, publisher 2K Games pulled the plug, saying that while the servers would remain online for the foreseeable future, the game wouldn't be getting any more updates. "It was absolutely looking bleak, but sadly that's not unusual in our space," Goldstein said. "Everyone who works here knows that they are taking a risk, right? That's not a problem unique to us." If all you've paid attention to are headlines on gaming and tech news sites, you'd think that Turtle Rock has been on the ropes ever since. But in the last year or so, thanks to Oculus' aggressive investments in virtual reality games and other experiences, Turtle Rock has been quietly building a mobile VR safety net in case its next $100 million project goes the way of Evolve.
Mark Zuckerberg uses Facebook to visit Puerto Rico in VR
More than three years have passed since Facebook purchased virtual reality headset-maker Oculus VR for $2 billion. Now, with its fourth annual Oculus Connect event fast approaching, Mark Zuckerberg is demonstrating the unique ways he uses VR. While the rest of us goof around with friends, take selfies, and go live on the social network's virtual reality experience (known as Facebook Spaces), the company's CEO plugs in to coordinate his humanitarian endeavours. In the course of his latest virtual livestream, Zuckerberg met up with Facebook's head of social VR Rachel Dwyer. They then set course for Puerto Rico to explain how the tech giant is utilizing machine learning as part of its relief efforts on the island.
Oculus co-founder Palmer Luckey leaves Facebook
Palmer Luckey, co-founder of Oculus VR and creator of the Rift headset, is no longer with the company. Following the news that he'd donated $10,000 to a group spreading pro-Trump memes, the 24-year old had increasingly shied away from the public eye. That even went as far as skipping last October's Oculus Connect event so as not to be a "distraction" to the news coming out of the conference.
AccuWeather now lets you look at the forecast in virtual reality
Checking the weather report is usually a colorless, simple experience -- a glance at an app to see the five day forecast or check the news for any major storms or events. If you have a Samsung Gear VR device, however, your daily forecast could soon be an experience. AccuWeather's new VR experience promises to offer immersive weather news, innovative forecasts and 360-degree video of severe weather events. o of severe weather events.
Next up in your News Feed: Gear VR livestreams
It looks like announcing 360-degree photos and videos for the Gear VR app was a teaser of what Oculus had in mind for this week. Now, Facebook's $2 billion baby is pulling back the curtain on the mobile VR live-streaming it teased last October. Assuming you aren't stateside, it's rolling out to the public today. Domestic users will be able to livestream their VR gameplay from Face Your Fears or Wands, a sorcery simulator, directly to Facebook "in the coming weeks," according to TechCrunch.
Games like 'Augmented Empire' are why Gear VR needs a controller
If you've ever used a Samsung Gear VR before, you've probably found yourself awkwardly tapping the side of the headset to issue a command, or fumbling with its four-way touchpad to make a selection in a menu. This inelegant, embedded touch control is a necessary evil -- a compromise that allows the headset to be a self-contained VR experience free of the complicated peripherals and setup required of the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive. I struggled with its faults at Oculus' GDC demo day as I uncomfortably tapped my way through a battle in Augmented Empire. Holding my arm to the side of the headset, constantly rapping the side of it to direct characters and attack enemies, I thought that there had to be a better way to control a tactical RPG in virtual reality. Then somebody told me Samsung had announced a new Gear VR earlier that morning. One with a motion controller. That sounds so much better.
'From Other Suns' lets players move in VR however they want
When I boot up a new VR game for the first time, the same question always hangs in my mind. "So," I think, "how do you teleport in this game?" It's become a standard in virtual reality, the go-to movement system that lets players explore the digital realm without contracting simulator sickness. It works, but not perfectly. Warping from place to place avoids the disparity between vision and physical movement that causes nausea, but teleporting across a tiny walkable distance feels a little weird. From Other Suns doesn't change the basic function of the teleport mechanic but adds a nice twist: It lets you see your character actually walk to the teleport location.
'Rock Band VR' is coming to the Oculus Rift on March 23rd
You won't have to wait much longer to play Rock Band VR. Developer Harmonix has announced that its virtual reality title is launching for the Oculus Rift on March 23rd, with pre-orders available now through Amazon. You should keep in mind that the bundles being sold, one for PlayStation 4 and the other for Xbox One, only include a digital copy of the game and a guitar controller.
ZeniMax now wants $4 billion from Oculus as case goes to jury
VR pioneer Oculus has been on trial for several weeks now, defending itself against claims it stole crucial code from ZeniMax. But the ultimate judgement is now in the hands of a jury. As reported by Polygon, closing arguments have concluded and the jury now has to decided if Oculus chief technology officer John Carmack stole ZeniMax IP and brought it to Oculus when he joined the company in 2013. At the same time as it wrapped up closing arguments, ZeniMax doubled the damages it is asking for. The company now wants a grand total of $4 billion -- $2 billion in compensation and $2 billion in punitive damages.
Hugo Barra's next job: Head of Oculus VR
Mark Zuckerberg just revealed the next landing spot for former Google and Xiaomi executive Hugo Barra: Facebook. As Barra revealed a couple of days ago, he's coming back to Silicon Valley and will "lead all of our virtual reality efforts, including our Oculus team." This fills the hole left when former Oculus CEO Brendan Iribe stepped down to focus on the company's PC efforts in December, as Barra becomes the VP of VR at Facebook. The announcement came along with a pic of Zuckerberg and Barra hanging out virtually, since the new VR exec is still in China. In a comment on the post, Barra said "It's been a dream of mine to work in virtual reality even back when AR/VR were just figments of science fiction; now we're taking selfies in virtual worlds," and stated his plan is to take the technology mainstream.
Dino VR adventure 'Robinson: The Journey' stomps to Oculus soon
Virtual reality is the best (and safest) way to get up close and personal with dinosaurs. And next month folks with Oculus Rift headsets can do just that thanks to Robinson: The Journey's PlayStation VR exclusivity going going extinct expiring.
Oculus CEO Brendan Iribe steps down, will lead PC VR group
Brendan Iribe has been the CEO of Oculus VR since its inception in 2012, working with founder Palmer Luckey to essentially bring virtual reality into the mainstream. In a blog post today, though, Iribe announced a pretty major change in his role: he's vacating the CEO seat and moving within the company to lead its PC VR group. "As we've grown, I really missed the deep, day-to-day involvement in building a brand new product on the leading edge of technology," he writes.
Why are dinosaurs everywhere in VR?
There's a key scene early in Jurassic Park when the visiting scientists see their first dinosaur in person. Paleontologist Alan Grant (Sam Neill) and paleobotanist Ellie Sattler (Laura Dern) clamber out of their Jeep as they stare at the majestic brachiosaur looming above them. "It's a dinosaur," Grant stammers in disbelief. His reaction matches the audience's: After a lifetime of looking at fossils and picture books, here, in the flesh, is a real, live dinosaur. We'll never experience this ourselves, but virtual reality can convincingly take us face to face with these extinct creatures.
You can now pre-order Oculus Touch controllers for $199
At last week's Oculus Connect, the virtual reality company revealed that its Touch motion controllers would arrive December 6th. You don't have to wait until then to make your purchase though, Oculus is now accepting pre-orders ahead of that date. If you also pre-ordered and purchased a Rift headset from the company's website, using the same email will allow you to jump to the front of the line for the accessories if you commit before October 27th.
The VR reading library Oculus hid at its developer conference
Oculus' annual developer conference serves as a touchstone for its community; a time to see how far virtual reality has come in the last year and to inspire, motivate and help developers build the VR experiences of tomorrow. Most of that comes in the form of announcements, panels and software showcases, but in the media demo rooms, the VR company hid dense sources for inspiration in plain sight. Stacked just above the TV in at each demo station was a small collection of books -- all of them about either games, game development or the effect of virtual reality on our culture.
