Honda soon to enter the augmented reality space

Greetings, AR enthusiasts.

Honda makes its first step into extended reality with a headset and mobility device, while industry leader Meta is looking at launching true AR glasses soon.

Meta also has their own version of a games subscription service, as their chipset partner Qualcomm looks to replace their head of XR.

In today’s Phantom Thread, we will look at:

• Honda combines the world of mobility and extended reality

• Meta could soon come out with their own ‘true AR’ smart glasses 

• Meta gets their own games subscription service

• Qualcomm’s Head of XR leaves right before a major moment for the industry

• Setting up Unity for your first XR project

• 4 New AR Tools

WEEKLY THREADS

^HONDA
Honda combines the world of mobility and extended reality

The weave: Honda announced that they will be expanding their mobility devices into extended reality through a headset that they will be revealing at SXSW at Austin, Texas next month.

The strands:

• Honda says that VR has been a stationary experience for a long time, and wants to combine it with their Uni-One mobility device to move around VR spaces.

• You can move around the experience by leaning in the direction you want to go while sitting on the Uni-One.

• They demoed a racing experience that people could control just by moving their bodies.

• While this experience isn’t necessarily intended for people with mobility challenges, Honda has not mentioned it anywhere.

The fabric: This is Honda’s first attempt at an extended reality experience, but their big ask of having a large skating rink type installation in buildings might have difficulty catching on. They also haven’t really expanded on what you could do with the headset and mobility device and we’ll have to wait until they do so at SXSW next month.

^META
Meta could soon come out with their own ‘true AR’ smart glasses

The weave: Meta is looking to debut their own AR glasses at the next Meta Connect event later this year, but they won’t be ready for the public.

The strands:

• This comes after Meta and Ray-Ban partnered to create their own smart glasses, but it does not feature anything that you would describe to be AR.

• They plan to launch the glasses internally this year, but a public release could be as far away as 2027.

• The glasses are called Orion internally, and is intended to go with their line of VR headsets.

The fabric: 2027 may seem too far away, but AR and extended reality as a whole hasn’t caught on like smartphones and such. Meta is waiting out for the industry and us as consumers to come to terms with AR being the future. So until then, Meta and other XR companies will be taking it slow.

META
Meta gets their own games subscription service

The weave: The Meta Quest+ subscription has now added games alongside the apps already included with the subscription.  It follows the idea of services from industry leaders like Xbox Game Pass and PlayStation Plus Extra and lets you play any game on the catalog  for free as long as the subscription is active.

The strands:

• There are thirteen titles out on the service right now, and Meta plans to cycle games in and out of the service every month.

• This is in addition to the two monthly titles you can redeem, which isn’t going away.

• The pricing has also remained unchanged at $8 a month or $60 annually.

The fabric: Meta’s Quest+ service packs quite a bit more value now that you can try games that you might never have if you needed to buy it. Gaming has always been at the forefront of VR, and service is a great jumping off point for anyone trying out gaming on their Quest headset.

QUALCOMM
Qualcomm’s Head of XR leaves right before a major moment for the industry

The weave: Qualcomm’s head of XR, Hugo Swart, has announced his exit from the company after 20 years. This shock moves comes during a pivotal moment in the XR industry after the release of Apple’s Vision Pro.

The strands:

• Qualcomm powers most if not every VR headset with their Snapdragon XR chipsets.

• Meta was one of Qualcomm’s biggest partners, with the partnership evolving under Hugo Swart’s leadership.

• Qualcomm hasn’t announced  any changes to their current strategy in XR, and will be committed their current course.

The fabric: NVIDIA is currently eyeing the growing XR market along with AMD and Intel. Qualcomm says this leadership change won’t affect their commitments, but that is an answer left up to the longer term.

^{AR TUTORIAL}
Setting up Unity for your first XR project

The weave: Unity is the first thing you’ll ever learn when developing for VR, but you’ll have to set up the engine before you dive into what the engine can offer.

Here’s our step-by-step guide:

1. Create a new project in Unity.

2. Go to XR Plug-in management settings to add the plug ins you’ll need to use.

3. You can also add XR support packages like AR Foundation and XR Interaction Toolkit.

4. Add GameObjects and other components to your scene that you need for XR, and you are good to go.

WEEKLY AR TOOL ROUNDUP

Featured AR tools:

• Zoho Lens - Cloud-based remote support software that lets you connect to technicians for technical support through AR.

• Zapworks - A WebAR platform that can create webAR content without code but has a suite of tools and SDKs to make the experience feature rich.

• VIVEPORT - Viveport is a PC subscription service just for VR games on your Meta Quest with new titles every month.

• McGraw Hill AR - A VR app from the publication giant that offers VR learning experiences sourced from their various books for 3-12th graders.

FLASH FRAMES

Apple steps up their Vision Pro production as demands soars post US launch.

Meta and LG finally announces that they are working on the new Quest Pro ending months of rumors and speculation.

Sony shuts down their London VR studio and lays off staff from the Horizon VR game studio as part of their wider company wide downsizing strategy.Para 4

VR Stealth game Espire 1 gets the long awaited Quest 3 update with better visuals and performance on the newer headset.

New AR Startup Augmodo is creating an in-store navigation system with the help of store personnel to map retail stores for better customer navigation.

THAT’S ALL FOR THE WEEK