John Carmack, the video game legend behind Facebook‘s VR push, is stepping down as chief technology officer at Oculus. He announced the move Wednesday afternoon, saying he’d transition to the role of “consulting CTO” at Oculus. “I will still have a voice in the development work, but it will only be consuming a modest slice …
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O2 switches on 5G in six UK cities
On Thursday, O2 became the last British major phone carrier to switch on its 5G network, starting with key locations in six cities across the UK. Following in the footsteps of other UK networks, O2 is providing an unlimited data option for heavy phone users and also promises its 5G plans will be priced the same as their 4G equivalents. O2’s …
Read More »Say goodbye to Google’s Daydream VR experiment
What began as a way for Google to compete against Facebook’s high profile Oculus Rift virtual reality headset, Sony’s PlayStation VR and Samsung’s Gear VR came to an end Tuesday, when the search giant admitted its Daydream VR program wasn’t popular among consumers and would be ending. Google’s original vision for Daydream was to let people take high-end phones like …
Read More »I tried Facebook’s vision for the social future of VR, and it’s full of question marks
I get used to my new virtual face and virtual body, crisp and clean and legless. I’m swiping through several options. They’re cartoonish, in a 3D-animated Pixar or Dreamworks way. I give a thumbs-up to myself in the mirror. I smile. Thumbs-down, I frown. Thumbs up and thumbs down, I make a shrug-like face. I’m wearing Facebook’s recently released Oculus …
Read More »Oculus, Respawn bringing ‘Medal of Honor’ WWII shooter to virtual reality
Virtual reality promises to bring you anywhere. All you have to do is slip on a headset that puts a screen so close to your eyes that your brain is tricked into believing you’re in a spaceship in some far off galaxy, or an underwater shipwreck, or a boxing gym. But one thing VR doesn’t do well is first-person games, …
Read More »Facebook is making AR glasses and is mapping the world for them to work
Welcome to the race to map reality. At Facebook’s Oculus Connect conference, Augmented and VR VP Andrew “Boz” Bosworth announced that Facebook is making AR glasses, which we technically already knew. But to make those glasses happen, Facebook’s kicking off a project to map reality for spatial computing, called Live Maps. Live Maps looks to code several levels of data …
Read More »Oculus Connect 6: 3 things still keeping VR and AR from going mainstream
Oculus Connect 6 is happening right now. Here’s how to watch. When Facebook released its Oculus Rift headset in 2016, officially bringing virtual reality to store shelves for the first time in decades, it was the talk of the town in the tech industry. But in the three years since, CEO Mark Zuckerberg — who said he’s on a quest …
Read More »Facebook’s Oculus wants to let you control VR with your hands
For decades, science fiction has predicted that we will eventually control computers without a keyboard, mouse or controller. Instead, we’ll wave our hands and control the virtual world. Mark Zuckerberg announces hand tracking at Oculus Connect. Angela Lang/CNET Starting next year, Facebook says it’ll be a step closer to that promise. New software being created for its $399 Oculus Quest …
Read More »Oculus Link will turn your Quest into a PC VR headset in November
Facebook has two new VR headsets released this year: one that’s standalone mobile, one that’s PC-tethered. The two look ready to dovetail a bit: the versatile self-contained Oculus Quest is now about to be a PC-connected device, too. At the Oculus Connect developer conference on Wednesday, the VR company announced Oculus Link. The software update, expected later this year, will …
Read More »Facebook’s Oculus conference is filled with Star Wars, hand tracking and Medal of Honor: Everything announced
Facebook is focused on giving you more reasons to try virtual reality. Over the next year, it’ll bring new sci-fi-inspired capabilities to its headsets, allowing you to control the devices with your hands. During its Oculus Connect conference Wednesday, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said his company will offer new features for its Oculus Quest headset. The wireless $399 Quest will be able to …
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