31 Dec Top Virtual and Augmented Reality Announcements of 2018

As 2018 comes to an end, we’re taking a look at some of the top VR/AR announcements of the year.

Magic Leap One is Here

The highly anticipated Magic Leap One shipped to developers late summer 2018. Magic Leap raised $2.3 billion dollars in funding before releasing a product. The bar was set high and they may have oversold everyone the capabilities of it early on but reigned in expectations as it came closer to release day. It’s a promising piece of technology and we can see the potential. We received our headset in September of this year and started developing for it immediately.  

Standalone VR Headsets: Oculus Go, Lenovo Mirage Solo, HTC Vive Focus 

Standalone VR headsets bring virtual reality technology to the masses. Priced at $199 for 16GB, the Oculus Go is one of the first headsets that does not require an additional piece of hardware like a gaming PC or smart device to a run a quality VR experience. While the Oculus Go is certainly a crowd pleaser, it is worth mentioning that it is 3 DoF. For a 6DoF standalone experience, we recommend checking out the Lenovo Mirage Solo or the HTC Vive Focus. Consumers in the U.S. can’t get their hands on the HTC Vive Focus just yet but it is available to select developers. 

We’re looking forward to seeing if the Oculus Quest meets expectations when it ships in 2019! 

Advancements in ARCore and ARKit  

ARCore and ARKit were released last year but the tech is making our list this year because they are proving to be usable. Developers can create tracker-less augmented reality experiences with more precision, allowing items to be placed in your environment to scale. It’s practical for visualizing products in the physical world, like the Ikea Place app. 

Improvements to Room Scale VR

Our VR office set up got some major upgrades in 2018. The HTC Vive Pro came out this year, which offers a 78% better resolution and enhanced audio quality with built-in amplifier and 3D spatial sound. The overall comfort of the headset has been improved upon with redesigned cushions allowing the weight to be more evenly distributed.  

We paired the Vive Pro headset with the Vive Wireless Adapter for a tetherless experience. If you’ve visited our office before you may have tried out the MSI VR One Laptop backpack – it’s still a favorite of ours but the Vive Wireless Adapter is a reliable option for those looking for room scale VR without having to tether to a PC. 

Killer VR App of the Year: Beat Saber 

There’s no doubt about it, Beat Saber is the stand-out VR app of 2018. Beat Saber got gamers and non-gamers alike up off the couch and excited about VR. Within a couple months of its release in May of 2018, tournaments began popping up around the world and we started to see stories about how people were using it as a way to work out. 

Ready Player One Comes to the Big Screen

Steven Spielberg brings the story of Wade Watts and the OASIS to life in the movie version of Ready Player One. The movie, like the book (written by Ernest Cline), is jam-packed with ’80s nostalgia and gives us a glimpse of what our future could look like in a virtual universe. While we hope we aren’t living in the stacks and running from the Sixers, we are excited for the possibility of advanced haptics and a world where the virtual and physical come together to create surreal experiences. 

That’s a wrap on 2018. What announcements did you find noteworthy from this year? Let us know on Twitter @TheFuturus