Welcome back to Spatial Beats. This week, Facebook Reality Labs goes haptic, VR training and SXSW updates. Let’s dive in…

Facebook Reality Lab reveals the direction of AR smart glasses. For AR smart glasses to work as an all-day everyday device, AI and haptics need to be work with advanced optics within a new OS and user interface. The system will use a nerve-reading bracelet to read the users’ minds. There is no release date. This is researchers writing papers.

Facebook is already planning Quest 3 and 4 with key new features. The new generations will have better optics and performance, making it smaller and lighter. The goal of VR for Facebook is “social presence” through eye and face tracking.

We saw “Finding Pandora X” at SXSW. The immersive masterpiece by Double Eye Studios won Best VR Immersive User Experience Venice Film Festival last year. It’s an incredible hour of entertainment. Great script. Great production design. The towering performances by Zeus and Hera were god-like. This is a breakthrough in immersive theater that everyone in VR should see. My two controllers lit up with gratitude. I didn’t want it to end. That’s how you know a book or a movie has really got you in its spell.

KLM is increasing VR training for train workers after success with airlines. The pandemic has accelerated the testing of XR technologies in training workforces for transportation. Although training simulations are being used, Matterport is also being used to capture models of planes so workers can train with 360-degree wrapped-around imagery.

Neurosity launches the Crown™, a wearable device that puts users in control of their focus. The EEG wearable device connects with Spofity to identify music that syncs with a user’s focus to boost productivity and also has other neuro-driven apps. The pre-order has begun and will begin shipping in May for $899.

STYLY launches support for 3D models made with Google Tilt Brush. 3D modeling data created with Tilt Brush can be uploaded to STYLY after exporting it as a glb file. The feature was launched on March 18th and supports artists imports into STYLY XR scenes.

Surreal now offers some of the larger gathering in XR. SURREAL
Surreal Events launched Surreal, a virtual event platform for live experiences across industries. The product is web-based and offers 3-D fully customizable virtual environments for events. In the virtual environment, Surreal recently partnered with DNABLOCK to clients and attendees to create photorealistic 3D avatars which mirror facial and physical features.

This Week in XR is now a podcast hosted by Paramount’s Futurist Ted Schilowitz and Charlie Fink, the author of this weekly column. You can find it on podcasting platforms Spotify, iTunes, and YouTube. Watch the latest episode below.

Charlie Fink is an author and futurist focused on spatial computing. See his books here. Spatial Beats contains insights and inputs from Fink’s collaborators including Paramount Pictures futurist Ted Shilowitz.

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