Doing office work in VR isn’t easy. It isn’t just the lack of software plugins for VR and most productivity apps, since VR headsets can already transform into wearable monitors. The keyboard part is what gets really frustrating. Facebook’s working on a way to bypass physical keyboards altogether with hand tracking. Facebook Reality Labs’ latest …
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In late 2014, I pulled CNET TV editor David Katzmaier into a conference room to show him a black plastic pair of goggles fitted over a Samsung phone. I seated him in a comfy swivel chair. I wanted to see what he thought of what I was about to show him, from a display perspective. A few 3D 360-degree videos …
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Here’s a shocker (not): Dave pays for Microsoft Office! Why, Dave, why?! There are so many totally free alternatives that can get the job done. So here’s the question: Should you stop paying for Microsoft Office and use a free suite instead? We shared the scoop on some of our favorites. Elsewhere in the show, we talked about (OK, slobbered …
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Egocentric. It’s a weird word. To Facebook, regarding AR and VR, it means a world where computers start processing the world as you perceive it. It’s a cornerstone of a strange future we seem to already be heading towards, where assistants and notifications and social media meet us where we’re already looking. Or where we seem to be looking. Virtual …
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We won’t be wearing our magic Tony Stark AR smartglasses this year, or the year after, or maybe not even the year after that. Although Facebook is already working on smartglasses with Luxottica, those won’t be world-sensing mixed reality devices yet. But Facebook’s Project Aria is ready to start mapping the real world with a head-worn sensor array being deployed …
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When Apple sent invitations to the press and public to watch its “special Apple Event from Apple Park” on Sept. 15 through apple.com, the company included an artistic rendering of its logo, along with two words: “Time Flies.” Most people interpreted that to mean a next-generation Apple Watch, but there was an augmented reality surprise that hints at much more. If you tapped …
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A pair of promotional videos have seemingly revealed Facebook’s Oculus Quest 2 VR headset after being uploaded to the social network’s marketing hub, as previously reported by The Verge. It’s powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon XR2 processor and is lighter than last year’s original model, according to the videos. It apparently includes up to 256GB of storage and 6 GB of …
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Facebook’s future plans for AR smartglasses are still in the works, but one part of the equation that could soon see the light of day is smart audio. Spatial audio and augmented audio reality are two arenas in which Facebook is actively interested, and the company’s newest Facebook Reality Labs research update details how the company plans to make devices …
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We’re standing in an escape room space, where one of us is trying to guide a block into a target and communicate to the other person, standing behind a wall at a control panel. CNET colleague Joan Solsman and I are in this world, but haven’t seen each other in person for months. It’s weird, fun stuff, the sort of …
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Facebook’s AR and VR businesses are about to sound a lot more Facebookish. The company’s annual Oculus Connect VR conference is happening Sept. 16, as a free online event. But the name is changed: it’s Facebook Connect now, and it’ll be focused on a wider range of VR and AR experiences. Facebook’s also officially renamed its AR/VR division to Facebook …
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