Apple has finally dropped the ultrawide virtual display for Vision Pro in beta, giving the existing virtual display feature the ability to stretch to wide and ultrawide widths for extra screen real-estate. Out of the box it’s impressive, but default MacOS window management makes it kind of a pain to use. But with the right third-party window manager, it’s even better than I hoped for.
I’ll be honest, I didn’t know just how useful the new ultrawide feature would be. I’ve used Vision Pro’s virtual desktop feature many times before. It’s a great way to get some extra screen real-estate out of my MacBook Air (M2). But it was limited in that it could only really act like a single, large 16:9 monitor.
My productivity workhorse is my desktop PC on which I’ve used two side-by-side monitors for years. For a power-user like me, having the extra width to have multiple things on screen at once is great; constantly minimizing and maximizing apps is a pain. I also combine my dual monitors with additional virtual workspaces, meaning I can group applications together on a specific workspace for a specific task.
I’ve yet to make the leap to a single ultrawide monitor over dual monitors. They’re pretty damn expensive and physically take up a lot of space.
But with a little software update, Apple just gave me an ultrawide monitor that I can take with me wherever I take my Vision Pro. The ultrawide setting essentially gives you two 16:9 monitors side-by-side, but without the seam in the middle if you were using dual monitors.
So not only is my little MacBook Air now able to replicate all the screen real estate that I have with the big setup that takes up my whole office desk, it also has the benefit of no seam in the middle of the monitors. I didn’t fully appreciate how much this would increase the flexibility I have with setting up my workspaces. Now it’s easy to span an app seamlessly in the ‘middle’ of the workspace, while less important apps can be on the flanks. It’s great! But…
MacOS window management is simply not ready to handle ultrawide monitors. Even though Apple just added improved window tiling in the latest version of MacOS, it really isn’t very helpful on an ultrawide monitor.
At best you can ask the system to put an app into any quarter of the monitor, but this results in super-wide apps that aren’t useful in that particular shape. You can make a window go to just one half of the screen, but that gives you a maximum of only two apps on the screen at once.
Without window management that’s actually made for ultrawide monitors, you’re stuck doing a lot of resizing of windows to get them into useful arrangements to really take advantage of all the space you have. Or you do the seemingly insane thing Apple always shows in their marketing: just use randomly sized windows that overlap with other windows while also wasting a bunch of screen space. I mean look, this is literally what they showed when promoting this feature:
Image courtesy Apple
Being able to quickly get apps into useful size and position is essential to really benefiting from an ultrawide monitor. The more time it takes to size and position apps, the less often you’re going to actually use the extra space to your benefit.
Luckily there’s many third-party window managers out there for MacOS. And I would argue that having one is essential if you’re using the Vision Pro ultrawide virtual display.
Here is a look at MacOS’s built in quadrant window tiling which is not remotely useful for an ultrawide monitor. Then you see a third-party tool that makes things much better.
For now I’ve landed on a window manager called Rectangle. With it I can easily set up a ‘main’ app in the center 2/4 of the monitor, then stick apps in the remaining 1/4 on the left or 1/4 on the right. Or I can even stack two apps on the sides, taking up 1/8 of the monitor each.
This works great and makes me feel like I have even more room than I did when using two physical 16:9 monitors (again, the lack of gap in the middle is a surprising benefit because you can put your most important app directly in front of you).
Screenshot by Road to VR
Although Rectangle has the features that make this work well, the app itself is overcomplicated; like using a sledgehammer when all you really need is a regular hammer. There still might be a more streamlined solution out there.
There’s really no reason why MacOS itself shouldn’t have similar window-arranging capabilities that actually make sense for ultrawide monitors, especially now that Vision Pro doubles as one.
Anyway… with the window management issue taken care of, I’m finding the ultrawide virtual display feature even more useful than I expected. When combined with MacOS’s built-in Spaces feature—which allows me to slide easily between multiple ultrawide workspaces—my little MacBook Air feels like an absolute productivity powerhouse. It’s wild to me that it can run five ultrawide workspaces worth of apps and still feel nice and smooth.
For me, the ultrawide option (with some third-party help) has changed Vision Pro’s virtual display feature from something that’s nice to have here and there, into an essential capability of the headset.
Now listen, some of you who have made it this far might be thinking to yourself: “to some extent you’re just praising ultrawide monitors in general.”
You’re not wrong. But the thing is, this one fits in my headset, which means I can bring a highly productive workspace with me anywhere that I would take my laptop.
Vision Pro is still too heavy to want to use this setup all day (and it’s still more expensive than an ultrawide monitor itself!). But mark my words: once Apple has an equivalent headset that’s half the size and half the price, people are going to see huge value from this kind of work setup.
Ray-Ban Meta smartglasses are already pretty fashionable, as they look nearly identical to a few of EssilorLuxottica’s best-selling sunglasses, albeit with the inclusion of neatly integrated cameras, speakers, battery and onboard AI driven by a positively tiny Qualcomm Snapdragon AR1 Gen1 processor. With the launch of a new pop-up store in Los Angeles today, Meta is hoping to test out whether it can move the needle with broader adoption.
Meta calls the LA pop-up store “experiential retail,” having modeled it after the Meta Lab pop-up at Connect 2024 in October, which allowed event-goers to try on a pair of Ray-Ban Meta smartglasses to capture photos and videos and keep the resultant files, or even buy a customized pair of the $300 glasses right then and there.
Ultimately, the idea with its first publicly available pop-up in LA is to increase word-of-mouth marketing, which Creative Director Matt Jacobson hopes will make its users into the “best salesperson ever.”
Ray-Ban Meta Glasses, Image courtesy Meta, EssilorLuxottica
Adorned with a giant pair of Ray-Ban Meta glasses on the outside (with the glasses’ LED privacy light), the flagship pop-up in LA is only going to be around until December 31st, although it won’t be the last.
The company’s next pop-up is planned to hit Phoenix, Arizona in January, which the company calls a “real shop-in-shop,” the exact location of which is still a mystery.
Meta Lab (LA) | Image courtesy Meta
“Can we build a store inside somebody else’s business? Can we drive traffic to it, and can we leverage their marketing as well as ours? By the end of January, we will have tested all three expressions of our experiential first-party retail.”
To boot, the Meta Lab location is doing more than just letting people try on and buy Ray-Ban smartglasses. The company says it will have “regular programming,” which includes stand-up comedy with Desi Banks, a live podcast with Madeline Argy, a ‘paint and sip’ night with Tinashe, a Ray-Ban Meta-focused workshop with Director Drex Lee, and a cooking class with Cassie Yeung.
As pop-ups go, the LA and Phoenix locations may be a limited engagement, but it may also spark more to come.
“We can’t scale a hundred of these, but we can build a few of them at locations around the country, and then fill in if we decide we want to do more first-party retail. This is aspirational, inspirational. They’re not easily scalable in terms of what they look like, but in terms of experience, they are,” Jacobson says.
If you’re in the LA area, you can find the Meta Lab pop-up over at 8600 Melrose Avenue, open from 10:00 am – 7:00 pm PT seven days a week beginning November 8th through December 31st.
Posted holiday hours are 10:00 am – 3:00 pm on Black Friday and Christmas Eve, with the location closed on Thanksgiving, December 3rd, and Christmas Day.
Alien: Rogue Incursion is coming to Quest later than expected, as developer Survios announced the Quest 3 version of the game is now delayed to “early next year.”
The studio announced the news in an X post, noting that both PSVR 2 and SteamVR versions of the game will still arrive on the original December 19th launch date.
Survios says the delay, which affects Quest 3 and Quest 3S, is to “ensure Alien: Rogue Incursion meets these high standards and provides the Alien VR experience that fans and players expect.” You can find the full message from Survios at the bottom of the article.
This follows the game’s first preview event, where press went hands-on with the game running on Quest 3 tethered to a PC, consequently showing off the SteamVR version. Notably, previews were promising, with previewers from IGN and UploadVR praising the game’s immersive environments, smart narrative beats, and intuitive weapons and tools.
Fitting all of those complex and necessarily lush environments into Quest 3’s comparatively more demanding performance budget however is a big sticking point for practically all VR developers, as it requires a lot more care and polish to meet those ‘AAA’ visuals fans are expecting—making the delay regrettable, if not understandable from a developer standpoint.
A single-player action-horror game, Alien: Rogue Incursion is puts you in the shoes of Zula Hendricks, an ex-Colonial Marine on a dangerous mission that brings her to the uncharted planet Purdan. Accompanied by the sentient AI companion, Davis 01, you’re tasked with fighting to the heart of the infested Gemini Exoplanet Solutions research facility, fighting against packs of Xenomorphs along your way.
The full message from Survios follows below:
At Survios, we take pride in delivering top-tier immersive gaming experiences for our players. To ensure Alien: Rogue Incursion meets these high standards and provides the Alien VR experience that fans and players expect, we’ve made the difficult decision to delay the game’s release on Meta platforms until early next year. PlayStation VR2 and Steam versions of the game will still launch on December 19, 2024.
Our team has been delighted to see the reactions from the community, press, and creators following our first hands-on previews over the past few weeks, and we couldn’t be more excited to deliver this terrifying, action-packed, and authentic game for fans of Alien, VR enthusiasts, and players new to VR.
We can’t wait for you all to immerse yourselves like never before in this fan-favorite universe. Stay tuned to our social channels for the latest updates on the game – we’re confident it will be worth the wait, no matter where you play.
Metro Awakening brings the post-apocalyptic tunnel-dwelling franchise to VR for the first time, but is it a good fit? Read on to find out in our full review.
Metro Awakening Details:
Publisher: Vertigo Games Available On: Quest, PC VR, PSVR 2 Reviewed On: Quest 3 Release Date: November 7th, 2024 Price: $50
Editor’s note: all clips in this review are from the Quest 3 version of the game. Screenshots are from the PC VR version.
Gameplay
Developer Vertigo Games did a fine job of making Metro Awakening feel like a Metro game, but in VR. Although not nearly as broad in scope as the most recent title in the franchise, Metro Exodus (2019), it captures many of the series’ staples: a gritty, post-apocalyptic setting, interesting improvised weaponry, and a gameplay loop based around the pillars of scavenging, sneaking, and shooting.
The game’s weapons and shooting mechanics are its strengths. You start with a fairly basic pistol and AK-47. I particularly like that enemies stagger visibly when taking shots, making the impact of shooting feel much better than the more often seen bullet-sponge enemies. You’re pretty vulnerable yourself, and will find that squeezing off a few AK rounds into a bad guy and then taking cover is more effective than just standing out in the open. Gun fights feel scrappy rather than bombastic.
Later in the game you find a crossbow and a shotgun. While these weapon archetypes have been seen a hundred times before in VR, these two feel right at home among the uniquely cool makeshift weaponry the Metro series is known for.
The crossbow is a revolver with a pop-out cylinder into which you slide sharp metal rods. Cocking the crossbow requires pulling back a huge lever on top. Because of the weapon’s barebones construction, can watch exactly how the mechanism articulates to lift one of the bolts into position. And dang, it’s sure cool to see.
Like any good crossbow, this thing is quiet. And there’s an absolute satisfaction with not only dropping someone silently from the shadows, but then pulling the bolt from your victim, popping out the crossbow’s revolver-style cylinder, and sliding it right back in for the next shot. Retrievable ammo weapons in games always have that extra layer of fun, but there’s something especially unique about doing this in VR when it’s your own hands removing and reloading the bolts.
The next weapon, the shotgun, is for when you’re ready to go loud. Surprisingly, this one isn’t pump action, but it has a unique design all its own that makes it a standout. And you may know that I have a pretty high bar for what constitutes a great feeling shotgun in VR.
Image courtesy Vertigo Games
The shotgun in Metro Awakening is actually a revolver like the crossbow. But, interestingly, it has an exposed cylinder, which means you can pop shells into any open slot before pulling the charging handle to load a round. Again, the skeletal, makeshift construction of the weapon means you can really see how it operates, which is just extra cool in VR because you can inspect and articulate your gun however you want (rather than being stuck looking at canned animations).
The game’s final weapon is the blowdart gun, and while I love the idea of physically raising it to your mouth to fire, it doesn’t feel like it fits well with the rest of the game’s weapons. Not only does it feel like an inferior version of the crossbow, it’s just less fun and less satisfying to use.
All things considered, the game’s weapons have a great feel—especially the crossbow and shotgun—even if there are only four primary weapons to be found overall.
Scavenging also feels good. The detailed environments generally give me enough to look at to enjoy peeking around corners and down hallways to see if I can spot some extra supplies.
Scavenging goes hand-in-hand with being prepared, which is a must in Metro Awakening. If you jump into a fight without making sure your mags are loaded, knowing which weapons are equipped, and being able to operate your weapons confidently under pressure, you’ll get overwhelmed and overrun quickly.
I enjoyed the feeling of the scavenging and emphasis on preparedness. I found myself regularly picking magazines off of dispatched weapons to steal the ammo, making sure my health syringe was prepared, and pre-selecting my shoulder-slung weapon depending upon which enemies I expected to encounter.
Rather than just finding extra supplies, some kind of ‘currency’ (ie: ‘weapon parts’) that could be applied to upgrade your weapons would have made for a more exciting scavenging reward, and would have fit well into Metro gameplay tropes.
Though there were ample opportunities to fight stealthily instead of going in guns-ablazin’, I didn’t find the stealth opportunities particularly exciting. Knocking people out with a punch to the head doesn’t feel very satisfying, and it seemed to backfire in many cases, with the bad guy just being confused for a moment before blasting.
Enemy AI was good at least, which keeps combat interesting. The enemies frequently communicate and move around the environment, giving them a sense of intelligence. Some enemies, like the rat mutants, can be a bit annoying because they sometimes come up behind you with little time to react to their presence.
But I do appreciate their behaviors like running away after taking some initial damage and peering around corners before popping out for a bite.
The game has a literal arachnophobia warning at the start, and for good reason. There are several sequences with spider enemies, including times where spiders are literally crawling on your head. I appreciate the creepiness of these moments, but found the actual combat with these enemies more annoying than not. Spiders can leap onto your face or hand, and it isn’t exactly clear what the player is supposed to do about it. I imagine a lot of people will end up smacking their headset once or twice while trying to pull the spider off.
Another annoying enemy were the game’s frequent ‘shadow’ figures which made for some boring and poorly telegraphed gameplay. The figures, which blend quite well into the game’s dark tunnels, will kill you if you stand near them for a few seconds. But given they’re hard to see, and that taking damage from them makes your screen even darker, it’s sometimes hard to tell when you’re even being hurt by them. Oh and there’s friendly shadows that look almost the same, but don’t do damage to you….
Even after beating the game, I’m still kind of unsure exactly what was intended with this ‘shadow figure’ gameplay. Waiting for an NPC to move out of the way so you can get to where you’re going just isn’t fun. Maybe there was some way to dispel them? Shooting certainly didn’t do the trick.
While Metro Awakening has strong VR fundamentals and a compelling first half, the latter half of the game unfortunately lacks the variety for a strong finish. From a story that’s nebulous and difficult to care about, to repeating gameplay sequences that aren’t particularly fun on your fourth or fifth go, to just a lot of needless walking, it felt like a great first half of the game gave way to a padded and uninspired second half.
It took me 7.5 hours to finish the game on medium difficulty, but I would have been happy if they had cut out some of the repetitive gameplay segments for a tighter and overall more fun experience.
Immersion
Metro Awakening isn’t high up there in environmental interactivity, but it does have a great sense of atmosphere. Environments are detailed, decrepit, and feel authentic in the way that much of the world looks like it’s been cobbled together from the remnants of a fallen society.
Although the game looks significantly better in its PC and PSVR 2 version (thanks to better textures, models, and much better lighting), I was generally impressed with the visual presentation on Quest 3. Although not as well lit or textured, environments felt equally dense on Quest 3, without any obvious cases of assets being carelessly crushed to meet the performance budget. The game relies heavily on Meta’s Application Spacewarp tech to run as well as it does on the standalone headset—bringing with it some artifacts—but generally I think it’s a good trade for how the game looks on Quest 3. I haven’t had a chance to test Metro Awakening on Quest 2 yet, so the verdict is still out on that.
For better or for worse, the inherent claustrophobia of being stuck in an abandoned metro really lands in a VR headset. Walking through the game’s labyrinthine tunnels and hallways makes you feel like there’s nowhere to run and that every corner could be hiding a threat. Consistently good ambient sound design helps to sell the game’s well measured tension. Though I didn’t appreciate how the game’s music would frequently kick in and spoil an upcoming encounter that would have otherwise been surprising.
I personally enjoyed getting immersed in this tense atmosphere, but some might find it oppressive.
Although the game’s holster system generally works quite well, the complete lack of a body or any indicators as to the location of the inventory volumes are felt like a miss for a VR game of this scope in 2024. All you see is floating hands… it’s up to you to remember where all the invisible inventory locations are. In the midst of combat, for instance, if you can’t remember exactly how to pull out your weapon backpack (reach over your leftshoulder with your righthand), you’re going to be scrambling.
Although the affordances for the inventory system aren’t great, I did appreciate the usability. I haven’t seen a VR game use the gesture of ‘reach with your right hand over the opposite shoulder’ before, but it seemed like the game did a great job of detecting this consistently with few false positives.
I also liked the diegetic inventory design. Basically you have two backpacks: one for guns and one for other equipment like grenades, gas mask, and health vials. In both cases, items are generally represented on your backpacks at full size and their actual count, rather than shrinking unrealistically and ‘stacking’ into infinite piles. So if you have three grenades, you’ll see three full-sized grenades on your backpack. And you can’t fit any more, because there’s only enough room for three.
This makes for an immersive way to not only communicate to the player how many supplies they have, but also an immersive way for players to actually retrieve the items. I also like that the game will give the player key items contextually from the chest inventory slot. If you’re holding a pistol and reach to your chest, you’ll pull out a pistol magazine. If you’re holding the health syringe and reach to your chest, you’ll pull out a fresh health vial. It feels very natural in practice and minimizes the cognitive load of frequent actions like reloading—a smart design that also worked great in Half-Life: Alyx (2020).
As a general framework for VR game inventory, this one has legs.
While the game’s atmosphere is compelling, I did find myself wishing there was more environmental interactivity. This is one of those games where some objects are interactive and some just… aren’t, with little rhyme or reason between what you can pick up and what you can’t. Even if there wasn’t any extra gameplay associated with making more of the world’s objects interactive, there’s so much detail visually in the world that it would add to the immersion to know that I could actually grab and look at all the things scattered about.
Comfort
Metro Awakening offers a full set of modern VR comfort options, including teleport movement. However, its particular choice of setting—cramped environments and quite a few steep stairs—is going to be less comfortable to those sensitive to motion discomfort than an equivalent game with more open environments and less frequent stair motion.
There are several moments in the game where the horizon is shifted significantly. For most, these are brief enough to not be problematic, but such moments can be triggering for certain people (and generally speaking, they could have been executed without altering the horizon).
Metro Awakening’ Comfort Settings – November 7th, 2024
Stranger Things VR (2024), the Quest game from Tender Claws, is leaving timed Quest exclusivity next month.
Originally launched on Quest 2/3/Pro in February, the studio announced it’s bringing Stanger Things VR to to PSVR 2 and SteamVR-compatible headsets on December 5th.
Here’s the breakdown, courtesy of Tender Claws:
Experience the world of Stranger Things from the never-before-seen perspective of Vecna as he explores unknown realities, forms the hive mind, and enacts his plan for revenge against Eleven and Hawkins.
Players will invade the dreams and memories of fan-favorite characters and harness telekinetic powers to possess minds and battle creatures, as Henry Creel’s transformation into Vecna and his influence on the events of prior seasons is revealed.
In our review on Quest earlier this year, we lauded the game’s visually intense retelling of the show’s last two seasons, showcasing extremely deft art direction in the process. On the flipside, it retreads a lot of familiar ground for fans of the show, and puts some of its most engaging gameplay mechanics in the backseat, presenting itself as more as mélange of interesting scenes than a truly indispensable addition to the franchise’s lore.
Still, it’s a visually intense experience, letting you follow the show’s villain Vecna and protagonist Eleven as you traverse the terrifying world of the Upside Down and a shattered version of Hawkins, letting you confront Dr. Brenner and duke it out with Demodogs and Demobats alike—culminating in around four hours of gameplay.
Meta may be rethinking its approach to third-party app funding, as the company has reportedly cut funds to some outside VR game developers whilst reshifting its focus to non-gaming apps.
According to a report from The Information, Meta is becoming “more discriminating” in how it spends to stock its Horizon Store for Quest.
Citing unnamed Meta staffers, the company has reportedly cut funding for some outside app developers amid a wider shift to fund apps that have seen comparatively better traction. The Information maintains Meta is hoping to boost “lifestyle apps,” such as fashion, beauty and music. Funding for these apps is said to arrive at some point via an accelerator that grants seed-stage funding.
Meanwhile, The Information has cited two VR developers that have taken a hit as a result, requiring them to slash staff numbers following the funding pull.
Netherlands-based studio Monks has reportedly halved its team of 100 people, which was creating content for the company’s Horizon Worlds social app. France-based Atlas V, known for work on Wallace & Gromit in The Grand Getaway (2023) and Mobile Suit Gundam: Silver Phantom (20240, has also apparently cut half of its team, according to The Information report.
A few months prior, the studio concluded a protracted legal battle with the United States Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to acquire Within, the studio behind popular VR fitness app Supernatural.
In times like these it’s nice to be able to get away from it all, if only for a brief moment. If you have a VR headset you’re one of the lucky people who can enter other realities from the confines of your living room, so why not use it for your wellbeing? Here we’ve gathered Quest meditation games and experiences focused on VR relaxation. This list also covers apps on PC VR and PSVR 2, so there’s something for everyone.
Below you’ll find that we split up 20 VR meditation and relaxation experiences into several categories: Nature Relaxation, Musical Relaxation, Creation & Puzzling, Musical Creation, Meditation, Reflection, Mindfulness, and Exploration.
Ocean Rift is like an aquarium where you get to swim around with the fish. You’ll get to see lovingly animated sea creatures up close and you might even learn a thing or two with more than 40 narrated points of interest to find. And if you’re on Quest 3, Ocean Rift has a mixed reality mode that lets you turn your own room into an aquarium.
You can probably guess what this one is about… but you might not expect that the app has some rather beautiful environments. So yes, you’ll be fishing and you can take it as fast or as slow as you’d like. Consider putting on some music or even a podcast while you relax and wait for the big one. Real VR Fishing also supports multiplayer so you can fish with friends.
Google Earth VR is exactly what it sounds like… its Google Earth, but in VR. Beyond being able to explore essentially the entire globe as if you were a giant towering over it, the app can also be a wonderful way to relax. Find yourself a pretty place (there’s some great ones in the ‘Featured’ section inside the app), bring yourself down to ground level, and simply sit as a giant and take in the scene around you. You can even set the mood by adjusting the time of day. It can also be magical to just ‘wander’ starting from a familiar place and see where you wind up. Considering both the quality of the experience and the fact that its free, this one is an absolute must-try.
EarthQuest aims to not only bring the Google Earth VR experience to Quest, but modernize it too. EarthQuest adds multiplayer so you can explore the globe with friends as well as natural language input allowing you to ask ChatGPT to tell you more about the things you find.
Tetris Effect is classic Tetris gameplay wrapped in an audio-visual experience which uniquely accompanies each of the game’s levels. As you maneuver the blocks you’ll hear sounds that fit into the beat. Don’t lose yourself too much in the sights and sounds though as some of the levels will take skill and practice to complete, even on ‘Normal’ difficulty. A post-launch update to the game has brought cross-platform multiplayer to Tetris Effect so you can vibe with friends no matter if they’re playing in VR or on a flat screen.
Ever wish you could cruise down an endless highway, watching as the trees, buildings, and city streets pass you by while a synthwave soundtrack perfectly fits the vibe? Artist and musician Sheaf has created just that—a short VR experience which is hand-crafted to fit a three track synthwave album. For the great price of free, this one is a no-brainer.
Squingle is one of those games that you can look at and still not entirely understand what you’re actually seeing. But once you get your hands on the game all becomes clear: it’s a clever, trippy, and fun puzzle game that plays to VR’s spatial strengths. To put it simply, the goal of Squingle is to guide a pair of spinning balls through a pipe. Sounds easy enough, right? Well like any good puzzle game, Squingle starts simply enough but introduces more difficult concepts as you go—like a button that reverses the spin of the balls or one that changes the axis of the spin. And the pipe? It’s actually a bit more like a cosmic bowel that undulates with twists, turns, and parallel tunnels.
Puzzling Places is a series of 3D puzzles made out of 3D scans of real-life places. Going from flat jigsaw puzzles to 3D puzzles will stretch your brain in satisfying new ways as you use all your 2D jigsaw strategies (like sorting by color, edges, and the like) while leaning into your spatial reasoning sense to find the right connections between pieces. Even more satisfying—when you’re done you have a tiny 3D diorama to explore! Since launch, Puzzling Places has been updated with a multiplayer mode so you can relax and puzzle with friends, and mixed reality mode on Quest 3 so you can solve puzzles right in your room.
Vermillion is a free-form painting app designed to replicate the oil medium. You can do everything from basic paint-by-number to completely freestyle painting with color mixing and the use of various brushes to achieve different effects. With a multiplayer mode up to four players total can paint together. You can also paint in your own space thanks to mixed reality on Quest 3, or even do co-located painting with a friend so you’re both painting in the same physical room.
Have you ever wished you had a whole room and a box full of tracks, balls, and dominos to build the ultimate Rube Goldberg machine? You’re in luck. Gadgeteer will let you finally imagine your childhood dream of filling an entire room with a crazy chain-reaction-machine without the cat knocking everything over. Beyond being able to build whatever you want in ‘Sandbox Mode’, Gadgeteer is a full fledged puzzle game with 60 puzzles to complete and a pleasant soundtrack to boot.
Cubism is a casual VR puzzle that plays a bit like a 3D version of Tetris. Its sleek, casual design makes it great for relaxing seated play. But fear not, while the puzzle concept is simple, Cubism will have you scratching your head in short order as difficulty increases across 60 stages. The bright, void-like environment makes it easy to forget about the woes of the real world as you focus on finding the right fit for the pieces before you to the backdrop of a beautiful piano soundtrack. Thanks to hand-tracking support, you can even play without needing to pick up your controllers. A post-launch update has added a mixed reality mode on Quest 3 so you can solve puzzles from the comfort of your own room.
Vrkshop describes itself as a “VR woodworking game” and aims to recreate a hands-on woodshop where you can measure, mark, cut, nail, and much more. With a realistic wood-cutting system, the app challenges you to use the tools at your disposal to create furniture and other objects with no explicit instructions.
Color Space is a virtual reality coloring book where you get to bring life to a full 3D scene rather than just a flat page. Step into one of 26 environments and start adding color as you see fit. As you color the scene, it will start to come alive with animated elements and ambient sounds.
Electronauts is like a VR DJ station with training wheels. Though you can take the training wheels off if you’re especially talented, the training wheels are actually part of the appeal; Electronauts does an incredible job of letting you express your inner musical creativity even if you don’t have instrumental talent. The game serves up some 80 tracks, each which function as a custom sound-kit with unique instruments, backing tracks, and more. And as a huge bonus, PC VR version of the game are multiplayer, meaning you can jam out with a friend. The track list is heavy on the EDM side (though there are some chill songs to be found) so if that’s not your cup of tea you might want to look elsewhere.
Drops is a musically focused experience where shapes that you place make different sounds when struck with falling balls. With an endless flow of balls, you can construct a cacophony of sounds on the fly, adding new shapes and creating new paths as you go. Think of it like a Rube Goldberg machine, but for making minimal, meditative music.
Apple has released initial access to the long-promised panoramic display feature for Vision Pro’s Mac Virtual Display, which now brings three virtual screen sizes via its visionOS 2.2 beta release.
Having initially launched with Vision Pro back in February, Mac Virtual Display only included a single virtual screen size, albeit allowing Vision Pro users to have multiple app windows open at the same time.
Many were hoping Apple would release the new ‘Wide’ and ‘Ultrawide’ display formats for Mac Virtual Display last month during the company’s online Mac product reveal event. Now, as reported by MacRumors, visionOS 2.2 is here in beta, allowing Vision Pro users who opt in to finally take advantage of long-awaited wider screen real estate.
Apple said during the feature’s unveiling in June the update would bring an “ultra-wide display that wraps around you,” allowing for resolutions “equivalent to two 4K monitors, side by side.” Mac-side dynamic foveated rendering also keeps content “sharp wherever you look,” Apple said.
While it’s unclear exactly when Apple plan to push out visionOS 2.2 to the stable branch, it’s likely to come alongside the next ‘X.2’ updates for iOS, iPadOS, macOS Sequoia, watchOS, and tvOS, MacRumors suggests.
In the meantime, to enroll in the visionOS 2.2 beta, simply follow these few steps:
HumanWithin is a sci-fi interactive VR film coming to Quest in January that explores how AI affects humanity. Departing from standard VR films, which are usually pretty ‘one-and-done’, the upcoming interactive experience promises to give you the choice in how the story progresses and ends.
Created by Signal Space Lab and Actrio Studio, Human Within is set to arrive on Quest on January 9th, and “soon” to SteamVR headsets.
Like the interactive Black Mirror episode Bandersnatch, HumanWithin is slated to offer the user choices and consequences, but also explore digital recreations of the films environments, displayed as point clouds, in addition to viewing some of the action from what the studios call “a virtual internet space.”
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Image courtesy Signal Space Lab, Actrio Studio
Image courtesy Signal Space Lab, Actrio Studio
Image courtesy Signal Space Lab, Actrio Studio
Image courtesy Signal Space Lab, Actrio Studio
Directed by Avi Winkler and Anne Weigel, Human Within follows engineer Nyla, and her sister Linh, who are employed at Forward Industries. Having pioneered a groundbreaking supercomputer that harnesses the human brain’s processing power, Nyla pulls back from the project after confronting its implications. But the sisters are forced by the company to continue their work, and Lihn’s consciousness is transferred to the metaverse.
Lihn’s now-digital brain is where the narrative plays out, presented as a mix of 3D spaces, and both 2D and 360 video, offering a total of five possible endings.
“At key moments in the story the events that take place are defined by the user’s choices. These moments define how events unfolded in the past and determine how it all ends in the present,” the film’s Horizon Store page says.
“We wanted to explore how advanced tech affects the human experience, and how we connect to one another,” said Avi Winkler, Creative Director at Signal Space Lab. “Launching at a time of rapid advancements, like ChatGPT 4.0 and Neuralink, Human Within no longer feels like science fiction, but rather a timely reflection on the shifting realities of modern life.”
Virtual reality was a key component, Winkler says, noting Human Within “immerses viewers in the reality of now – and where we’re headed – in a more immersive, nuanced way than through a traditional film or video game.”
You can pre-order Human Within on the Horizon Store for Quest 2 and 3, regularly priced at $18, and wishlist it on Steam for PC VR headsets.
Code discovered in a recent Google Play update indicates the company may soon roll out support for XR headsets on its Android app store, which would mark a decisive shift in the competitive landscape.
As reported by Android Authority, code in version 43.3.32-31 of the Google Play app contains mention of “XR headset,” including a new headset icon that ostensibly indicates whether an app works with the supported device.
Google has technically hosted XR games on Play in the form of Cardboard apps since 2014, which use Android smartphones as ad hoc VR displays—something that was big in kickstarting user interest in the early days of consumer VR, but not so much in the day of standalone headsets like Meta Quest 3 and Apple Vision Pro.
The addition of a dedicated section in the Play store and official device support however points to something bigger than Cardboard, or even its now-defunct Google Daydream platform, which the company abandoned in 2019.
So what’s spurred this renewed interest in XR? There are a few things, arguably the largest of which is the Google, Samsung and Qualcomm headset collaboration, which was announced in early 2023. Samsung is building the hardware, Qualcomm the chipset, and Google the Android-based XR operating system.
Although the companies have confirmed the headset will be announced (and possibly launched) by the end of this year, practically nothing is known about the XR collab. Industry rumors maintain Samsung initially delayed the device to better compete with high-end mixed reality headsets, such as Vision Pro.
Apple Vision Pro with Dual Loop Band | Image courtesy Apple
Then there’s the recent report from The Information that claims Google and Samsung are looking to partner on a Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses competitor, which would be materially ‘easier’ to produce than a full-fledged XR headset, since the comparatively cheaper AI-centric smartglasses don’t include displays.
Still, such a device likely wouldn’t need such a close tie-in to the broader Android ecosystem like a potential Vision Pro competitor, which would likely trade on its ability to not only play XR games published on Google Play, but also run standard 2D apps too, like Vision Pro does with its millions of compatible iOS apps.
This follows revelations from earlier this year that Meta and Google held talks in effort to bring Android XR to Quest, however talks apparently stalled due to Google’s terms being too restrictive for the liking of Meta. In the meantime, Meta has been making overtures to Android developers to bring their apps directly to Quest in a bid to further flesh out Quest as a general computing platform.
Cyan Worlds has released its big 2.0 update to MYST (2020), the VR-supported remake of the classic ’90s point-and-click adventure game, which includes performance boosts and improvements to stability for PC VR users.
The studio says in a recent Steam update that many of those performance woes have been resolved thanks to upgrading Myst from using Unreal Engine 4.27+ to Unreal Engine 5.3.2.
This has also pushed Cyan Worlds to adopt OpenXR in Myst, as it previously relied on the older OpenVR API, which is compatible with SteamVR. This, according to the studio, brings stability improvements, more generic launch options, and a more flexible environment for VR users.
Now, when booting the game for PC, users will see a single launch option that should work for all officially supported headsets, and possibly unsupported ones too, the studio says, which is largely thanks to OpenXR support.
While Myst can unofficially run on any SteamVR-supported headset, the studio says the new update drops official support for the original Rift headset and Quest 1 through Quest Link, as well as the original HTC Vive.
“This doesn’t mean that you CAN’T play Myst with those headsets, it just means that we are unable to give official support for them anymore. This statement also applies to WMR headsets, of which we only supported the HP Reverb 2 previously, but we will unfortunately no longer be able to officially support it, especially because of Microsoft’s own announcements to deprecate this support on Windows,” the studio says.
For PC VR users, Cyan warns that “mileage may vary” based on your machine, however the studio reports increased performance on some hardware, and decreased performance on others, to which the studio recommends toying with the existing and updated supersampling options.
The studio also fixed a number of VR-specific issues in Myst’s 2.0 update, such as resolving a height change bug when teleporting and menu visibility issues in certain game areas. The update also fixed backward movement glitches, random teleport loss, crashes upon exiting certain rooms, and inconsistencies in visual effects between eyes, along with refining VR menu bindings for smoother access across different SteamVR configurations.
It remains to be seen when the standalone Quest version will get similar focus from the studio, which released Myst sequel Riven (2024) back in June—optimized for Quest 3. Cyan Worlds says Quest and other platforms will get a patch “soon,” however the studio hasn’t released a clear estimate at the time of this writing.
Skydance’s Behemoth is coming to all major VR headsets in December, and developer Skydance Games has entered full hype mode with the release of its latest trailer, which shows off a new Behemoth and a good slice of fresh gameplay.
Ahead of its December 5th launch on Quest 2/3/Pro, PSVR 2, and SteamVR headsets, Skydance is revealing more of what’s to come for its single-player combat adventure, which is said to feature a 12-hour campaign.
Developed by the studio behind The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners franchise, Skydance’s most recent trailer shows off a new bat-like Behemoth, which aims to take you into an epic skybound battle.
“The curse dooms our home. Black rot eats our flesh, and bloodlust consumes every soul,” the trailer narrates. “Salvation lies in the Forsaken lands, where foul Behemoths are the source of our affliction. Be our light in the dark. You walk on hallowed ground. Listen to me, Ren—there is no freedom while the curse remains. I can still feel the black rot in my veins. Together, we will be stronger. Show no mercy. Ren, I won’t let the curse take my people. I’ll fight, no matter what it takes.”
If you’re looking for more Behemoth lore, the studio also published a free graphic novel that prominently features the new giant bat Behemoth, revealed to be named ‘Nightscraper’.
Image courtesy Skydance Interactive
In addition to a good slate of concept art covering Behemoths and in-universe areas, we also learned from the graphic novel that a previously revealed boss, featured in the first public hands-on, is named ‘Shacklehide’, owing to his main ball and chain weapon.
This follows the announcement in September that Skydance’s Behemoth was delayed beyond the original November 14th release date, pushing launch to December 5th. As recompense, the studio also released a trailer then revealing the boss ‘Dreddstag’, which similarly tasks you with grappling your way up the suitably mountainous Behemoth.
Nintendo has published a new patent that could point to its next iteration of Labo VR for its long-awaited Switch successor.
While news of the company’s next Switch console is expected “within this fiscal year,” Nintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa said in May, rumors however suggest the company has delayed release to early 2025, which has only fueled speculation among Nintendo acolytes hoping for what promises to be a bigger, better Switch.
Now, Nintendo has published a patent (Japanese) that appears to be a VR add-on similar to its Labo VR kit first released in 2019, which allowed users to essentially ‘build’ a VR display add-on for use in experimental mini-games, and for playing a handful of traditional Switch titles in 3D.
Images courtesy Nintendo, Japanese Patent Office
Called an “auxiliary device and stereoscopic image display system,” the patent describes a “portable main unit that displays a stereoscopic image, and an auxiliary equipment that assists the user in viewing the stereoscopic image.”
Unlike Labo VR, which was primarily made of cardboard and featured a loose slot to house Switch, the patent shows off a more refined clip-in mechanism that more securely cradles the console. Images also show the console with controllers attached, with patent literature describing how a user holds it in the their left and right hands.
Some images show the device without controllers, however no such headstrap configuration is specified—essentially positioning it to work like Nintendo’s 2019 Labo VR, albeit without mention of the optional ‘Toy-Con’ game accessories offered at release.
Image courtesy Nintendo
So, not a VR headset as such, but an encouraging development considering Nintendo hasn’t fully invested in XR tech with a standalone headset release, like Meta Quest 3 or its new Quest 3S, which was launched earlier this month starting at $300.
Revisiting Labo VR with a follow-up device for its new Switch doesn’t seem that far-fetched though, as the kit widely sold out at retailers at launch, and used Switch in innovative, patently Nintendo ways.
Still, we’re taking this (and any patent) with a grain of salt. A mantra worth remembering: every product has a patent, but not every patent has a product.
Canon today announced a more affordable lens option designed for social media creators and videographers interested in VR and 3D content creation.
Back in June, Canon announced its RF-S3.9mm F3.5 STM Dual Fisheye lens, which was designed to allow its line of cameras to take spatial video and photos—priced at $1,099.00.
Now the company is widening its line of dual lens optics with an even more affordable VR lens system with the introduction of RF-S7.8mm F4 STM DUAL lens, which is going on sale this November for $449.99.
Image courtesy Canon U.S.A., Inc.
As the name suggests, the lens offers a 7.8mm focal length, as well as a 60-degree angle of view. Like the previously released Dual Fisheye lens, the new lens is also compatible with Canon’s latest cameras that support RF mounts, which includes EOS R, R5, R6, RP, and the R7.
While admittedly offering a lower field-of-view (FOV) than the 144-degree FOV of its bigger brother, it’s also less than half the price.
Image courtesy Canon U.S.A., Inc.
Previewed at Apple’s 2024 WWDC, Canon intends to use the new lens to meet the growing demand for accessible spatial video creation.
Notably, the new RF-S7.8mm F4 STM DUAL lens is said to operate like a traditional 2D RF lens, enabling easy setup for newcomers, and allowing anyone with its latest RF mount cameras to create immersive content for headsets like Apple Vision Pro and Meta Quest 3.
According to Hiroto Kato, Canon’s vice president of Imaging Products & Solutions, the RF-S7.8mm F4 STM DUAL lens is “an exciting step” in making 3D content creation accessible.
“With the RF-S7.8mm F4 STM DUAL lens, Canon is not only providing a new visual tool but also enhancing the way creators communicate using emerging VR, spatial and 3D technologies,” said Kato says. “This lens allows users to capture immersive content, bridging the gap between traditional content creation and the latest in VR and Spatial imagery. It’s an exciting step forward in making high-quality 3D content more approachable for everyone.”
The new dual lens is scheduled for release in November 2024, priced at $449.99. Check out the specs below:
Valve officially released a feature to the SteamVR stable branch that adds basic hand-tracking to Steam Link for Quest users.
Previously only available in the Beta test branch released back in August, the new SteamVR 2.8 update doesn’t actually bring full hand-tracking support to SteamVR’s UI, but rather allows Quest users to DIY their setup for each game by experimenting with input bindings.
To enable hand-tracking through Steam Link, make sure both SteamVR and the Steam Link app for Quest is updated and head into the Binding UI in SteamVR’s Controller Settings to toggle on hand-tracking. From there, simply tap your controllers together and you’ll be able to start experimenting.
Valve says in the SteamVR 2.8 release notes (seen below) that the update also comes along with a number of bug fixes and quality of life improvements across SteamVR, Valve’s OpenXR API, and Steam Link for Quest, such as improvements to overall 2D and 3D streaming stability via Steam Link.
“We continue to focus on OpenXR as our preferred API for new games and applications,” Valve says. “SteamVR’s official OpenXR subforum is here and we’d love to hear your feedback, as well as suggestions for new features.”
Valve hasn’t said as much, however Steam Link probably won’t service just Quest. While Steam’s latest hardware survey indicates that over half of connected VR headsets are some flavor of Quest, its continued work on Steam Link may be a key to the rollout of its own rumored standalone headset, codenamed ‘Deckard’, which has been a hot topic of conversation since 2021 following a series of code leaks.
Continued references to Deckard in SteamVR and various patent filings have fueled further speculation that Valve is indeed exploring a standalone headset to compete with devices like Meta’s Quest lineup, which would make Steam Link an important utility.
Check out the full SteamVR 2.8 release notes below:
SteamVR
Dashboard Grab Handles have a new movement model that includes accelerated movement towards and away from the user. The acceleration factor can currently be adjusted in the dashboard settings tab. The dashboard settings tab is hidden by default; select Show Advanced Settings in the lower left to unhide.
The controls for desktop windows have been restyled.
Allow Tundra trackers to bind to left and right ankle roles.
Fixed the SteamVR settings page crashing if drivers attempt to show settings on the page before an HMD connects.
Curl data from GetSkeletalSummaryData will now report 0.0 (rather than 1.0) if fingers are hyperextended.
Improved behavior with very low FPS scene apps on non-native headsets (Quest, Steam Link, Virtual Desktop, etc)
Fixed workshop bindings not displaying for popular titles that had changed input systems.
Fix black screen bug for Pico users using Virtual Desktop on some games.
OpenXR
Fix inconsistencies in xrLocateViews when switching between stage and local space.
Fix bindings for left_ankle and right_ankle in XR_HTCX_vive_tracker_interaction.
Fix non-base projection layers displaying in the wrong space.
Steam Link
Enable hand-tracking pass through for SteamVR Input and XR_EXT_hand_tracking.
Eye gaze information may be passed through OpenXR via XR_EXT_eye_gaze_interaction if enabled in the Steam Link settings. Note: Any users who previously had the “Share eye tracking data to other apps on this PC via OSC” option enabled, they will need to enable “Share eye tracking data to other apps on this PC” in Steam Link settings, and it will enable eye tracking data sharing both for OpenXR and OSC (if enabled).
Improved 2D/3D VR Steam Link behavior.
Fix image binding locations in binding UI for hand tracking controllers.
Updates to SteamVR for Steam Link use with Quest 3S, fixing AMD users and improving experience for NVIDIA users.
Some of the first hands-ons with Survios’ upcoming Alien: Rogue Incursion have emerged, revealing a promising look at one of the biggest entries in VR this year.
In case you haven’t been following along, Alien: Rogue Incursion is coming to all major VR headsets this December, letting you take on the role of Zula Hendricks, a resilient former Colonial Marine with a complicated past on a dangerous mission to rescue friend and former squad mate.
Tackling the ship’s Xenomorph infestation, you fight alongside your synthetic companion Davis 01, tasking you to fight your way to the heart of the Gemini Exoplanet Solutions research facility and confront the secrets waiting within. There, we’re promised “deadly horrors” which could spell the end for humankind.
Now, a few outlets have published the first hands-on reports with Rogue Incursion.
In Leanne Butkovic’s preview for IGN, she said it “certainly had classic moments of Alien horror.” There’s no “but” there either. Butkovic goes on to praise the Rogue Incursion’s immersive environment, smart narrative beats, and intuitive weapons and tools.
It’s doesn’t appear to go too hard on wave shooter mechanics either, as Butkovic says the game “wasn’t endlessly frenetic.”
“If anything, it deliberately moves slowly in parts to spatially acclimate, to give people like me who can’t help but touch things that are laying around, a chance to explore and discover the story of this Alien property for myself,” Butkovic said.
Rogue Incursion also doesn’t appear to be the sort of experience that throws a ton of classic ancillary ‘gamer engagement’ mechanics at you. Butkovic calls it a “cinematic experience that isn’t obsessed with leveling up or unlocking map areas.”
Notably, we also learned the Xenomorphs’ pack-style hunting behavior was based on the “clever girl” Velociraptors in Jurassic Park, making for what seems like a more active game of cat and mouse, where roles are constantly switched given the mission at hand.
UploadVR’s Ian Hamilton also went hands-on with Rogue Incursion, which promises to offer an eight-hour story.
You can find video of Hamilton’s gameplay below, which includes a short interview with Survios Chief Product Officer TQ Jefferson and Writer Alex White, who talk about how Rogue Incursion fits into the franchise’s lineage, and how Xenomorphs work in this “thriller-paced” shooter.
So, while it’s clearly not Alien: Isolation (2014) replicated for the modern age of VR games, which was more about hiding from a near-invisible Xenomorph, gameplay suggests it’s definitely capable of offering up thrills.
White says Rogue Incursion was designed to “hype up the action, hype up sense of empowerment of being a soldier,” which is said to constantly “flip that power dynamic” between you and the Xenomorphs ahead.
Alien: Rogue Incursion comes out December 19th, 2024, launching simultaneously on PSVR 2, PC VR, and Quest 3 and Quest 3S (exclusively). You can pre-order now on Steam, the PlayStation Store and Horizon Store.
Trombone Champ: Unflattened, the VR-ified version of the 2022 indie rhythm game, is coming to Quest on November 26th.
Trombone Champ: Unflattened reimagines the viral rhythm game for VR, allowing you to take the stage in dynamic concert halls and toot around on some increasingly wibbly trombones.
Starting with one trombone, players can unlock a diverse collection, each with unique properties, sounds, and animations. Trombone Champ: Unflattened also introduces a rhythm and timing challenge-filled campaign, including interactive environments that respond to your performance and real-time audience reactions.
At launch, the game is slated to arrive with 50 tracks spanning classical to modern genres. Collect Tromboner Cards, customize instruments, and unveil the ‘Trombiverse’ secrets. The game is also coming with custom track support, giving players freedom to create and perform.
Launching on November 26th on Quest, Trombone Champ: Unflattened also offers mixed reality support for Quest 3 and Quest 3S. Pre-orders are now available on the Horizon Store for Quest, which also supports Quest 2 and Quest Pro.
Additionally, the game is headed to SteamVR headsets and PSVR 2 at some point, however neither Flat2VR Studios nor original developer Holy Wow Studios has mentioned when to expect either of those releases.
Bigscreen, the social VR screen sharing platform, is spectacularly good at letting users hold communal watch parties dedicated to anything they can show on a PC’s screen, Quest users included. But now the studio is launching a paid cloud-streaming service that aims to make it even easier for Quest users looking to get away from their PC entirely.
Bigscreen already offers a remote desktop client for Quest, which allows you to cue up content on your PC for playback in the Quest-native app. It’s a really handy way of sharing your screen without technically needing a beefy, VR-capable PC, as practically any PC will do, even Intel CPUs with integrated graphics which support Quick Sync Video.
Now the studio is rolling out what it calls its ‘Cloud Browser’, a paid service that lets you host rooms and stream content without needing a PC at all.
While DRM restrictions technically black out services like Netflix and Disney+ on Bigscreen’s new Cloud Brower, it does allow Quest users to stream movies from less litigious services, such as Plex, Dropbox, and Vimeo.
And as the name implies, it also allows you to browse the web for anything worth chatting over, such as websites and web-based games.
As a paid service, Bigscreen’s Cloud Browser comes with a free two-hour trial; day passes are priced at $1.99 for 24 hours of access, and a monthly pass are priced at $9.99 for 30 days of access. You can learn more over on the Bigscreen website.
Apple announced in June it was planning to release a wider, higher-resolution version of Mac Virtual Display for Vision Pro. Now, the company says its holding a bevy of Mac announcements starting Monday, October 28th, which many are hoping includes the still unreleased mode.
“We have an exciting week of announcements ahead, starting on Monday morning. Stay tuned,” Apple marketing executive Greg Joswiak recently revealed on X.
The coming week of announcements seems to be a replacement for its annual Mac event, traditionally held in October, which in the past has seen the release of new iPads and Macs. The event is very likely centered around the reveal of the company’s new slate of Macs featuring various flavors of its M4 chipsets.
The Mac event however may present the ideal opportunity to highlight the promised panoramic Mac Virtual Display feature for Vision Pro, which was planned to release sometime after the debut of visionOS 2.0 in June.
Mac Virtual Display | Image courtesy Apple
At the time, Apple said its new Mac-tethered virtual screens would include an “ultra-wide display that wraps around you,” allowing for resolutions “equivalent to two 4K monitors, side by side.” Thanks to Mac-side dynamic foveated rendering, Apple maintains content will “stay sharp wherever you look.”
Like everyone outside of Apple sphere of influence, we haven’t seen it in action yet beyond the initial WWDC keynote, although on-stage teaser showed a simple UI toggle, letting Mac Virtual Display users choose ‘Normal’, ‘Wide’ and ‘Ultrawide’ modes.
If you’re looking to follow along, you can bet Apple will be livestreaming announcements on its website, and also very likely on its YouTube channel too. There’s no word yet on when to tune in, so check back soon.
Typically, Apple events start at 10 AM PT. You can click here to find your local time, although we’ll be updating this article once we know more.
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