Microsoft nixed Mixed Reality: This Windows VR didn't even make it to the ER Microsoft has admitted what the rest of the tech world has long suspected: Windows Mixed Reality has no future at the IT giant, and the platform will be yanked from a future release of the operating system. Sitting at the top of the latest list of deprecated features in Windows is the Windows Mixed Reality (WMR), including the …
The Quest 3 isn't selling like hot cakes; it isn't meeting projections and is being outsold nearly 3:1 by the much-cheaper Quest 2. That might in part help to explain why that segment of Meta has seen a revenue drop of 27% year-on-year.
I think it more likely indicates a lack of confidence in its current form (which would be unsurprising given that mixed reality remains desperately in search of an application) or — much more likely — a lack of confidence in developers to promote things the same way that Apple would.
... and we keep on waiting, and in the meantime getting on with our lives.
When the missus can slip some AR goggles on, like a pair of glasses, and start re-arranging the furniture (again) or re-arranging, nay, re-building the whole house, then you'll have something!
The AR killer app is a couple of lines of text on my glasses, with low BLE power drain.
It briefly looked like Bosch were there, but their HUD unit is now a fully color graphics thingy that is now years late, and will probably be too expensive for something I will stand on, and too power hungry.
It is telling that the core feature of the modern smartphone is the message aka the telegraph, A short bit of text was the killer app of the 19th century, and it's still the killer app of today.
While I'd consider that less ugh than pretty much every other AR/MR application I've ever heard of, it's still ugh.
I first tried out AR and an early version of what would eventually be MR at SIGGRAPH in Boston in 1989. Didn't like it then; don't like it any better now.
Well, there's one use for AR that I'd love to see.
I'm a volunteer responder - cover events such as horse racing and football, and more. Something we've talked about while on shift is if we could get tools such as AR to show us a map of the venue, possibly with routing information so we can get to a reported incident quickly, and possibly avoid 'bad' areas (fights for example). That same system could also help feed back to our control so we've online help should the case be something outside of our scope of practice: Early escalation.
Then consider the Fire service: If they had AR to help map safe routes through a burning structure.
Yes, very much like some video games, but in reality: Helping get people to where they're needed quickly, and to give those people access to better advice and support when on scene.
Downside: Needs to be damn well secured: Don't want ambulance chasers and their ilk tapping in, and there is the question of GDPR: But we had ideas for that, too.
End result: We don't have anything to work with to build on at the moment, but it would certainly be useful if we did.
It feels unlikely; given his level of control over Facebook, giving up on VR would require his contrition or at least humility. The Quests aren't actually doing badly in terms of sales, they just have a retention problem and clearly aren't going to recoup the money Meta has spent to date — reportedly already $36bn (!) in October 2022.
I'd really rather they didn't. For all the disadvantages of being owned by Meta and the Oculus brand/accounts disappearing :
You don't have to use your Facebook account, a Meta one can be used (which can involve zero social media interaction)
The interface is excellent.
The hardware is decent too.
The price is reasonable.
The only things wrong with Meta's VR offerings were the roadmap of social media connection (this appears to be disappearing), the fact it is effectively Windows only and utterly closed source (with the exception of the Oculus Go), and that Meta are the owner. It could be much worse.
Or at least make it possible to remove that crap without having to run a bunch of obscure Powershell commands?
Microsoft's decision that some "features" are removed one way, and others another way, and still others a third way may not be high on their list of sins, but it's damned annoying.
> This Windows VR didn't even make it to the ER
Where I work, they kept sodding trying to bring it into the ER. I kept rejecting it for all our projects because the hardware was expensive, unreliable to source and criminally locked down. It was basically Windows RT with a different form-factor.
Microsoft should be ashamed of themselves for adding more to landfill sites across the world.
I bought a Lenovo Explorer a number of years ago on Black Friday for the bargain price of 150 quid. Decent visuals, controllers are OK too.
The WMR Portal, its interaction with display drivers (throws a fit every time a new driver release is installed), and Steam VR integration are a different matter. Whilst native WMR apps are smooth, Windows Store is horrid, and there's virtually zero Windows Store VR apps. Steam VR does work, but it took some time to fix various niggles, and patch games such as No Man's Sky. Nowadays it should be fine : I tried Skyrim VR and a few other games a while ago and it Just Worked.
Oculus/Meta's interface is an order of magnitude easier to use, and looking around it basically seems a Meta Quest 3 is the best option unless you're absolutely desperate to run a Vive under Linux.
Haven't played with much AR - too many platforms and games already, but the VR killer app for me is Google Earth. Not everywhere is mapped, but when it works well, it's absolutely stunning.
SuperHOT VR, and Lone Echo (Oculus only, without hacks) are pretty decent, but Google Earth is the stand out item. I also really digged being able to render 3D mathematical shapes, pick them up, and manipulate them virtually but I'm not enough of a mathematician to make best advantage of that.
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