The Future of VR/AR is Already HERE & It's AWESOME! CES 2024
coming back from CS 2024 we have some amazing XR highlights to share this time VR had its moments but AR stole the show with its leap towards Sleek almost invisible smart glasses but of course I do have updates for VR from getting hands on with var's newest headsets to my eyes on Sony's latest XR headsets Canon's strange Mr concept and just cool highlights that I thought you soon miss we'll be looking at some ultra thin ultra light AR glasses but most importantly I just wanted to bring you along on our journey through CS now I'm sorry for being a little late on this video I had my reasons but I won't bore you with them there's a lot to unpacked so buckle up and join me Beyond reality right out of the gate Sony surprised us at CES 2024 making quite the entrance they didn't just walk on stage but drove in with a car maneuvered by nothing but a PS5 controller for demo purposes only of course now that wasn't even the surprise just when I started to worry that Sony might be taking a back seat in VR given how quiet it's been in the psvr2 content landscape they pull the curtain back on an Enterprise XR headset powered by the just announced Snapdragon xr2 Gen 2 plus chip this announcement came right after qualcomm's unveil ing of the chip only 3 months after the xr2 Gen 2 release which Powers The Meta Quest 3 but let's be clear this new plus version isn't a successor it comes at a higher price with a GPU that's 50% faster and a CPU that clocks 20% more it's for premium headsets like Sony's new XR headset which I think is beautifully built it has a 4K per eye resolution thanks to dual OLED micro displays it also comes with pass through and positional tracking using six cameras and sensors in total it's clear this device isn't playing games quite literally since it's not designed for gaming that's why it's not connected to the PlayStation brand it's actually made for spatial content Creation in collaboration with seens Sony claims their proprietary Tech allows for real time high definition rendering of 3D textures and facial expressions and something unique are the controllers there's one for pointing and the other one is a ring promising interaction with virtual objects that feels natural and for those moments when reality calls the headset flips up letting you switch between rows without missing a sip of your coffee it seems Sony is not seeing this as just a headset it's part of a bigger Vision one that we promised will unfold with more details on software compatibility and specs down the line unfortunately I didn't get to try that say kept it under glass but I'll try to get my hands on it later for now I'm just really excited as Sony's surprise announcement reminded me that xr's future is looking as bright as ever especially with multiple big companies coming into this space like apple amidst the fuss for the new headset Sony also showcased a PSV V 2 booth that while modest highlighted the multiplayer Ghostbusters game on psvr2 and Shing Spirits were high literally there was one more thing that caught our attention it was their vrk which is actually not really VR but I thought it was cool that you could step into a room where every wall and floor projects a screen and the floor had Happ they were immersing us in a Ghostbusters Adventure here as well and the floors would vibrate at certain cues and at some point the big marshmallow man exploded and we could interact with the goo using our feet it was very cool it felt like basic VR except no headset required now let's move on to a rather unexpected brand working on XR sharp last year they introduced us to a VR headset prototype which stood out because of how light it was at only 175 G this year they announced her actually launching it in the summer though I couldn't find out who's it for and what the specs of this thing is just yet but what really grabbed my attention at their Booth wasn't that it was their work on Ultra fast autofocused lenses and fast eye tracking cameras but why is this interesting well current VR headsets display images on a flat screen lacking the depth perception we experience in real life in reality when we focus on an object the back ground naturally blurs and vice versa this depth perception is challenging to replicate in VR as the software cannot determine where the user's gaze is focused making the virtual environment feel less realistic but what if a VR headset could do this companies like sharp are working on that by combining ey tracking with autofocus cameras they had these tiny cameras showcased which they claim should fit the most compact headsets and they were also showing me their Ultra fast autofocused lens I wasn't able to look through it myself but I could see it work on a separate screen and from what I could tell it did look impressively responsive and it's cool that this technology isn't far away either Foo has recently introduced a VR headset featuring autofocus Tech which I had the chance to try but more about this in a bit beyond VR sharp is experimenting with Mr glasses which are definitely still in the Prototype stage because I tried them on and while I like the design the screen quality wasn't very good it's an early concept for sure but what is interesting to note here is the search of companies exploring XR at CES there's a notable link towards AR and smart glasses now there was more of that than VR this year but more on AR later in this video Let's dive into what voo has been up to first I had the privilege of a private demo during CES where I got to try Faro's latest headsets the xr4 standard and the xr4 focus Edition trust me when I say these headsets are truly reshaping our perception of reality what you're seeing right now is actual in-game footage the Dual miniet displays have a resolution of 3,840 * 3,744 and a pixel density of 51 pbd which is almost human eye Clarity and it shows the visual Clarity and the vibrancy of colors is nothing short of breathtaking it's so damn sharp you could read the fine print in a newspaper lying on a digital table but what vario has always been good at is their pass through technology this time it uses 20 megapixel cameras that deliver a 33 PPD and wow voio told me the software is still early here I was impressed voio had a cool demo that seamlessly merged the digital and the physical by opening a portal to the real world while it was in VR the clarity here is what made it feel reality bending but that isn't even what I'm most excited about let's talk about the xr4 focus Edition this one has one main upgrade which is its 51 pbd pack as true complemented by autofocus technology this ability to focus naturally within the virtual environment mimicking real life eyes like I explained before really does enhance the believability of a VR experience now the current software is early so it had its fair share of visual artifacts and a slight delay in response but for you said that's going to be fixed I can't wait to experience that as I think it's going to be a leap towards achieving true immersion but yes these headsets come with a hefty price tag so it's definitely not something many will buy but I like looking at them as they show us the future where such features could become a standard in more accessible consumer devices now this price does come really close to the Apple Vision Pro so this might be an interesting comparison I've yet to get my unit by the way I have pre-ordered it and it's coming soon so don't forget to subscribe to not miss anything and to support us now do you remember the bhaptics TCH glove the first consumer ready haptic gloves we talked about last year this year not much has changed only the design a little and they finally announced a release date for the developer kit the TCT glove which connects via Bluetooth and is compatible with camera based VR headsets only like the quest 3 doesn't do hand tracking on its own instead it's buses your fingertips and palm with six points of heptic feedback per hand via vibration Motors and betics algorithm the haptics were impressive as always but while last year's performance was good this year the crowded event caused some Wi-Fi interference which affected tracking but bhaptics reassures that it will be smoother in a less congested environment so I'm looking forward to giving it another go at home later the Tactical is hitting the market this month at $299 but note it's mainly aimed at Developers for now until there is more native support at the pimax booth I found prey Do's Unreal Engine VR mod that they had set up with the PX Crystal headset powered by a 4090 GPU this mod allows for playing Unreal Engine games in VR including full stereo 3D and six Dove tracking and some titles even support motion controls this means thousands of games are now playable in VR the mod has been out for a while now and it's free to download link is below but it was my first time experiencing it I played atomic heart and returnal and while it needed a reduced refresh rate of 60 hertz The Experience remained incredibly smooth and Visually stunning at least for the few minutes that I was playing but it's pretty amazing so go check it out what's more PX showcased her airlink a 60g wireless module designed for playing PC VR games without the tangle of cables on the crystal the cable you see here was just for charging by the way yeah I know very confusing but my test runs with air car and kayak VR under attemp to prevent interference has a slight resolution dip but maintains stable and really impressive visual quality a pretty impressive feed got to say though while pimax's Innovations are promising as always it's probably wise to wait for more reviews post relased before buying although I'm really impressed that they got this working then I went to ultral LEAP the ones behind one of the best hand tracking Technologies they showed how they were able to achieve the same menu selection as the Apple Vision Pro through gaze and finger pinches and jokingly showing that they've done it before them and well yeah it definitely is intuitive I can see why Apple chose to do it like this but Ultra leap has also announced a collaboration with gch known for manufacturing the psvr2 among other headsets together they've created a reference design that manufacturers can copy which features ultral leaps hand tracking pre-integrated in the same cameras used for positional tracking like the bottom Inside Out tracking cameras for example this partners ship promises to make advanced hand tracking more accessible and cost effective for headset manufacturers and so for consumers as well having Superior hand tracking in future consumer headsets would be an exciting development for intuitive navigation but talking about the future Canon is also venturing into the mixed reality space with a strange compact concept and they're aiming to launch it within the next 2 years what sets can concept apart is its use of prism lens Optics a rare choice in the industry with the lyns R1 being the only other headset to employ these Optics Canon leverages its proprietary lens Tech alongside dual full HD Micro oleds at 60 fps to project images onto the prism lens and then onto your eyes this setup combined with Canon's own Advanced image processing seems to deliver exceptionally clear visuals and fantastic color pass through as you can see here but the size is impressively compact Canon's experience in camera and lens technology could redefine the standards for headset design and functionality so I really hope they turned this concept into reality jeez now shifta originally a Panasonic Venture but now sold off to Tokyo based Creek and River was there to show off VR Hardware Innovations shiftall is known for n consumer devices from the mean PC VR headset harit Tor X ress body trackers flip VR motion controllers to the strange M soundproof microphones so last month sifto unveiled the mean x super light alongside Next Gen haror X and mut I got to try the super light which is now slated for a 2024 release it promises the high resolution display of its predecessor so Duo 2560 * 2560 pixels 1.3 in micro OLED displays at 120 HZ but in a lighter frame nearly half the originals weight at about 200 g and yes it felt super comfortable and looked great I think this positions it as a contender against premium VR headsets like the big screen Beyond I do have to note her previous headset has never never been released so whether we'll actually see a release remains to be seen I also got to try the flip VR controllers which have this unique design that allows you to quickly flip it back and forth to free your hands for other stuff and it works well plus I just love how cyberpunk this looks though they require a bit of a learning curve before we dive into some uh exciting AR Innovations let's wrap up our VR segment with the brilliant mind behind ocas link Amanda Watson she's now unveiled CRA VR a 3DS emulator ported to Quest I tried it by playing one of my all-time favorite games Zelda or Arena of time and I think it's pretty impressive as the game is automatically upscaled and rendered in 3D a fature the quest handles natively unfortunately it's impossible to convey the what the 3D looked like through a flat video like this one so all I can tell you is is that it surpasses what I've actually seen on the actual Nintendo 3DS keep in mind performance may vary across different titles but CRA VR offers a unique opportunity to revisit Classics in a new dimension it's available for free I'll drop a link below give it a try and let me know what you think time to close the chapter on cameras which is kind of like what the VR headset is like and let's dive into our AR highlights at CS real stood out with its new air2 Ultra glasses which they claim to present an affordable yet Advanced alternative to the Apple Vision Pro xre glasses project a big virtual screen in front of you for various use cases the air2 ultra is their newest iteration and priced at $699 the main upgrades are the reintroduction of six Dove tracking allowing users to move fre fre in the AR space and the frontf facing 3D sensors for things like image tracking it also features an improved 52° field of view and crisp 1080p micro OLED displays along with a refresh rate of up to 120 htz and hand tracking capabilities they still require an external power source a smartphone or PC via US PC and despite the additional Hardware xre managed to keep the design Sleek with a titanian frame maintaining the regular sunglasses look at a weight of just 80 GS to show off the six do experience they could only show me a concept demo where I got to navigate a massive virtual desktop social media windows and watch a movie I could also scan AR discs to switch between various profiles it's unfortunate to note that the six Dove experience is only compatible with the Samsung Galaxy s22 or s23 although you can still use the glasses for other things like screen mirroring with other devices and xre is developing a dedicated companion device to go with the air2 ultra but it's unclear when this is coming but that device should support everything it's an interesting upgrade but its true value won't be clear until the software evolves to fully leverage these advancements and I would not compare these glasses to The Vision Pro as the leather is also a VR headset very different but xv's software development has made significant progress over time so I'm keeping my eye on this but we should talk about the tech behind AR glasses as the advancements here are getting really exciting current smart glasses predominantly feature bird path Optics like here on the X real glasses which as you can see can still be pretty bogy so what I noticed is that this year wave guides are emerging everywhere as a sleeker alternative a wave guide is a mostly clear thin piece of glass or plastic inside AR glasses that kind of magically helps Bend and combine light into your eye and this is what makes it possible to see the virtual images overlaid on the real world wave guides were everywhere last year too but this year they seemed thinner more colorful and actually coming soon to Consumer glasses one of the companies making use of wave guides is vsix who showcased her latest AR offering the ultral light s smart glasses doubted as their most stylish and lightweight model yet these glasses combine wave guide Optics and microlet Technology but they connect to smartphones or SmartWatches projecting clear see through images of important data like directions messages and fitness stats directly into your field of vision this allows users to access information and interact with AI Bots without losing touch with their environment now this is just a reference design for manufacturers to uh take and make their own beyond the ultral light s V's lineup remains similar to last year so let's move on to something I always find impressive sell it a Japanese startup working on Wave guides has impressed me with their achievements especially for a small company they showcased two of their latest Innovations one of which could be major first is their full color wave guide at a white 60° Feud of view which is really wide and second a mass producible full color plastic wave guide it's the first time we're seeing a wave guide made out of plastic this is amazing for its potential to make AR glasses even more like regular glasses and more comfortable thanks to how incredible lightweight and thin it is compared to Glass while maintaining a clear and vivot image they were showing the image off on the glass version on one eye by looping a video unfortunately I wasn't able to capture the through the lenses of the plastic version however I captured this glass version which looks similar but there are some Main differen es the plastic version comes with a more limited fov of 30° compared to their glass counterparts 60° and the glass version projects clearer and finer images than plastic Sid says that the plastic could be used for more practical everyday applications like notifications and navigation while walking outside while the glass version could be used to provide a higher Fidelity image and AR experience you can see from my video that the image is clear readable and I'm just really excited to see this in such a small form factor a few years ago this seemed Unthinkable but what's even more exciting to me is that it's actually getting real because simultaneously TCL is already set to launch the first consumer AR glasses that uses wave gues this is the REO X2 launching soon on Indiegogo these glasses have Micro that displays with two wave guyses for a binocular full color experience lots of fancy words but it basically means there are two wave guides one for each eye so you get a stereo image which is a more natural experience than having just one and because it uses wave guides the glass is super thin now the frame is still pretty bulky because it not only connects wirelessly to smartphones but also operates as a standalone device powered by the Snapdragon xr2 gen 1 with 128 gigs of storage and it's pretty awesome with some caveats these glasses currently have four main features real-time translation with face tracking voice guided navigation a personal AI assistant on your face and a centrally located camera for capturing firsters perspectives the last one is kind of like the ray band Matas but except this one has more features and I tried them briefly and while it worked which is amazing to me in such a small form factor I did notice that the software is definitely early so I need more time with it to form conclusions the other thing I noticed was that since my nose is small it slides off easily so I'm not sure if I can use this outside while walking but at least it did stay put on Cherry's nose first impressions of the visuals are great though clear visuals even even in bright conditions thanks to the 1500 nits brightness however the wave guides don't match the visual Fidelity of bird bath Optics in terms of clarity this might not matter though as the raino x2's focus is on enhancing everyday practical tasks or outdoor activities with digital overlays not for watching movies or overlaying monitor screens so DCL gave me one to bring home for review purpose so I'll report back with my full thoughts later feel free to drop any questions below and I'll take it into account for this video now I really hope you enjoy joining us in our journey through CS 2024 there wasn't as much VR as last year and not that many upgrades but I think we're well on our way to an awesome future stay tuned For an upcoming video this Friday where we'll dive into five more XR highlights from CS but then from one standout country so tell me what XR highlight was your favorite let me know below and very soon we'll also be diving into the Apple Vision Pro so don't forget to subscribe to join us Beyond reality and if you like this video milkway and Cherry sense their thanks too
2024-02-12 18:20
