The latest XR News at a glance!

Researchers at Meta Reality Labs have created a prototype VR headset with a custom-built accelerator chip specially designed to handle AI processing to make it possible to render the company’s photorealistic Codec Avatars on a standalone headset. Long before the company changed its name, Meta has been working on its Codec Avatars project which aims to make nearly photorealistic avatars in VR a reality. Using a combination of on-device sensors—like eye-tracking and mouth-tracking—and AI processing, the system animates a detailed recreation of the user in a realistic way, in real-time. Or at least that’s how it works when you’ve got high-end PC hardware. Early versions of the company’s Codec Avatars research were backed by the power of an NVIDIA Titan X GPU, which monstrously dwarfs the power available in something like Meta’s latest Quest 2 headset. ...

La technologie 5G ouvre des perspectives formidables dans le domaine de la santé. Une expérimentation inédite vient d’être réalisée au CHU deRennes en partenariat avec AMA, b com, Nokia, Orange, et Philips : la simulation d’une intervention chirurgicale en salle d’opération sans fil.

Building on the stream of announcements around creators and AR from its Partner Summit last week, Snap today introduced several more initiatives across advertising and content during its presentation at the 2022 NewFronts. Most notably, the company is launching a new creator program in partnership with celebrity greeting app Cameo, a new advertising product called Snap Promote, and a slate of new original programs. A new global offering, the Snap x Cameo Advertiser Program was built by Snap and created by Cameo for Business. The program allows Snapchat’s video advertisers the ability to partner with Cameo’s top talent to create custom short-form video ads for the social app, the company says. This includes the over 45,000 celebs on Cameo, like actors, athletes, musicians, reality stars, influencers, and others....

Project Cambria will supposedly release this September followed by a new Quest in 2023. A new report by The Information states that Meta (formerly Facebook) is currently in the development of four new headsets that will release by 2024. The website claims to have seen an internal roadmap outlining the company’s next steps, revealing an ambitious plan to dominate the VR/AR space. According to the report, this lineup of new hardware will begin with the release of Project Cambria this September. Designed specifically for use in the workplace, this VR/AR device will supposedly feature both eye and face tracking as well as high-resolution colored Passthrough technology, allowing for more realistic mixed reality experiences. Meta claims the visuals are so clear that you’re able to pick up a pen and start writing comfortably without removing the headset, a major improvement over the original Quest and Quest 2 if accurate. ...

Google est le dernier en date à s'offrir un fournisseur de composants clés pour la fabrication de lunettes de réalité augmentée. Il a fait l'acquisition de Raxium, un spécialiste des MicroLED. Il s'agit d'un investissement à long terme qui va l'aider à sécuriser sa future chaîne d'approvisionnement... et […] Lire l'article

VR and NFT are both typical concepts of today's society where digital technology dominates in all areas. VR seems to offer a full bloom to NFT, but to what extent? Can we confirm this, or not? VR makes it possible to admire an NFT from all angles, with a VR headset of course. Contemplating a work of art, and other digital objects, has become increasingly easy with the advent of NFT. For example, an appointment in the metaverse will offer the opportunity to admire the Mona Lisa without having to visit the Louvre. But is this the only correlation between the two or are there others? Will this correlation last or not? The NFT, the fruit of blockchain technology?

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The Franco-Italian aerospace group may not have caught the first wave of virtual reality, but it is determined to embrace the technology to save time in its design processes and create business value.

Last year, Mark Zuckerberg's company devoted a lot of energy and time to improving its 3D avatars. In particular, it has added new customisation options to allow each user to create a digital character that resembles them. 

The upgraded HP Reverb G2 model is now shipping to even more countries, after it first launched in the US last October.