Meta begins fund for new VR developers

INSIDE: Quest 2 Lite gets a price cut, and PSVR2 firmware indicates PC support could be closer than expected

Author

Mathew Abraham
April 06, 2024

Greetings, AR enthusiasts.

Good news from Meta if you are a new game developer; they opened a new fund aimed specifically at new VR game devs.

In other Meta news, the Quest 2 Lite is getting a price cut that some speculate could be because the Quest 3 Lite is on the horizon.

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

  • Meta doubles down on game development; announces multi-million dollar fund for VR game studios

  • Quest 2 price cut could indicate that the Quest 3 Lite is on the way

  • The new PSVR2 firmware update points to PC support

  • WebXR gets Vision Pro input support more than a month after launch

  • Setting up Meta Spark Studio for your first AR project

WEEKLY THREADS

Skorzewiak / depositphotos.com

The weave: Meta announced Oculus Publishing Ignition, which is a fund for new XR studios looking for funding for their next major game title.

The strands:

  • Meta says they are looking for dev teams that started after April 2023, and is aiming to fund at least 20 teams by the end of 2024.

  • They will be provided funding for prototypes of VR and MR games and if those have potential, they are further funded to bring out a finished product.

  • The studios funded by Meta will receive Quest headsets and dev kits, with Meta promising all rights to the IP, code and assets to remain with the studio.

The fabric: After news of Meta funding Godot to make it viable for VR development, this new fund is great news for VR devs, who have been hit harder by the video game industry layoffs than flatscreen game devs.

The weave: Walmart, Target and all major retailers have slashed prices for the Quest 2 which industry experts say could be an indication that the Quest 3 Lite is launching soon.

The strands:

  • The price has dipped to $200 new for the 128 GB model, with similar pricing around the world. 

  • Some retailers are saying the sale will end at the end of the week, but some have not indicated when this price drop will expire either.

  • This could mean that Meta is trying to clear stock of the Quest 2 possibly in preparation for the new Quest 3 Lite that is on the horizon.

The fabric: The Quest 3 Lite could be coming out sooner because of this price drop, and Zuckerberg finalizing a manufacturing deal with LG earlier this month, lends credence to these rumors.

The weave: A new firmware update for Sony’s PSVR2 indicates that it no longer needs the PS5 to work, meaning it could start working with PC earlier than the end of 2024 like Sony had announced earlier.

The strands:

  • The newest firmware update removes the requirement for Extended Display Identification Data and DisplayPort Compression, both of which were technologies that only work if you connect the headset to the PS5 console.

  • The update indicates that PC support would not be through streaming, and a direct link would be used.

  • Sales of the PSVR2 have been suffering because they have not been able to get PS5 owners onto the headset.

The fabric: Sony handing off the headset to the PC VR community is more evidence of the fact that they feel VR isn’t profitable enough to put more money into. A lackluster game catalog and a high MSRP mean that the headset has become very niche, even among VR headsets.

The weave: WebXR is the web standard that allows XR experiences to run on any modern web browser, and now the Vision Pro supports look and pinch inputs on it.

The strands:

  • Apple has added a ‘transient pointer’ where it can take inputs from the headset and translate it to a standard that web pages can understand and convert into inputs in the experience.

  • While it is not a one to one reproduction of the how look and pinch inputs work natively on the headset, you will at least have the option of using it in WebXR experiences.

  • It is not just limited to the Vision Pro though. The transient pointer mode is being baked into WebXR so it can be used by other devices that also use a similar look and pinch input mode the Vision Pro uses.

The fabric: The transient pointer feature was created because Apple doesn’t report the user’s position all the time for privacy reasons. But the feature is experimental at the moment, so you might run into bugs if you ever get to try it.

AR TUTORIAL
Setting up Meta Spark Studio for your first AR project

The weave: Meta Spark Studio is the builder app for Meta AR projects, and is a fun tool that anyone looking to make apps for Meta headsets should know. But you’ll need to set it up before you start your development journey.

Here’s our step-by-step guide:

  1. Get Meta Spark Studio downloaded and installed on your PC.

  2. Launch Meta Spark Studio and complete the tutorial.

  3. Create a project and set it up according to your requirements.

  4. Your first project on Meta Spark Studio is ready!

WEEKLY AR TOOL ROUNDUP

Featured AR tools:

  • Nifty Sparks - A news app that curates the best of the metaverse, including jobs, events and new games.

  • Synthesthesia - An AR virtual synthesizer for your Vision Pro that lets you use hand gestures to control it.

  • LinkXR - A social media app in VR that aims to unify your AR, VR and MR experiences into one place.

FLASH FRAMES

The International Data Corporation predicts that AR/VR headset shipments could rise, fueled by new interest in mixed reality thanks in part to the Vision Pro.

Leap AR is back in the news again with HUSH, an architectural design company choosing to make their designs with the Magic Leap Workshop.

To not be left behind by the AR wave, popular social media app Snapchat added new AR filters that can be added after you take a picture. Earlier, AR could only be used before you take a picture or video.

Meta’s AI work is also going full steam ahead evidenced by the demo of the Project Aria AR glasses, which uses AI to identify objects in real life.

THAT’S ALL FOR THE WEEK