Meta’s Hyperscape is ready to turn your real living room into a VR hangout

image via theverge.com
image via theverge.com

Meta’s impressive, photorealistic digital replicas of real places built using its “Hyperscape” capture tech, which uses the cameras on a Quest 3 or Quest 3S VR headset to scan a room, have so far been solitary spaces. But beginning this week, Meta is rolling out the ability to share links that will let other people visit Hyperscape rooms with you in a Quest 3 or 3S VR headset or via the Meta Horizon mobile app.

https://www.theverge.com/news/825705/meta-hyperscape-social-links-capture-scan-metaverse

The Steam Frame is a surprising new twist on VR

image via theverge.com
image via theverge.com

The new headset is called the Steam Frame, and it’s trying to do several things at once. It’s a standalone VR headset with a smartphone-caliber Arm chip inside that lets you play flat-screen Windows games locally off the onboard storage or a microSD card. But the Frame’s arguably bigger trick is that it can stream games directly to the headset, bypassing your unreliable home Wi-Fi by using a short-range, high-bandwidth wireless dongle that plugs into your gaming PC. And its new controllers are packed with all the buttons and inputs you need for both flat-screen games and VR games.

https://www.theverge.com/games/816118/valve-steam-frame-vr-headset-streaming-arm-steamos-hands-on

Steam Machine: Valve rivals Xbox and PlayStation with new console

image via bbc.com
image via bbc.com

Valve, the company behind PC gaming platform Steam, has revealed a new console to rival Nintendo, Xbox and PlayStation. In an unusual move, Valve has also announced further hardware – its Steam Frame virtual reality (VR) headset. The device is entirely wireless – and it described it as a "streaming-first" device – but it is also itself a PC running SteamOS.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cd679n9lnx5o

VR Headsets Are Better Than Ever and No One Seems to Care

image via gizmodo.com
image via gizmodo.com

If mixed reality and virtual reality are still a big thing, you wouldn’t know it based on Meta’s Connect conference last week. There were no big Quest announcements (outside of maybe Hyperscape), no new Quest headset, and it felt like the only time Meta (traditionally the loudest and proudest purveyor of XR out there) really tackled XR and VR was through a surprise, and slightly out of place, fireside chat with… Avatar director, James Cameron.

https://gizmodo.com/vr-headsets-are-better-than-ever-and-no-one-seems-to-care-2000663098

Meta conducts layoffs in Oculus Studios, impacting VR exercise app Supernatural

image via techcrunch.com
image via techcrunch.com

Meta laid off employees on Thursday in its Reality Labs division, which encompasses various virtual and augmented reality projects. The cuts impact employees within Oculus Studios, which develops apps and games for Meta’s Quest headsets. Reality Labs has been a massive cost for Meta, losing almost $5 billion in the last quarter of 2024 while generating about $1 billion in sales. Meta has reported billions of dollars in operating losses on Reality Labs each year since rebranding from Facebook and emphasizing its commitment to the “metaverse.”

https://techcrunch.com/2025/04/24/meta-conducts-layoffs-in-oculus-studios-impacting-vr-exercise-app-supernatural/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=mastodon

Meta Quest Didn’t Save VR Market, But Glasses May Take Over

image via gizmodo.com
image via gizmodo.com

VR headsets are out, and AR glasses are in. Research from analysis firm Counterpoint shows that the global VR shipments trended down through 2024 despite proliferation cheap headsets like the Meta Quest 3s. Worse, VR sales numbers may not improve any time soon. The next step for these companies are glasses—with or without augmented reality capabilities. Big tech now needs to convince consumers thin glasses filled to the brim with AI are better than shoving a heavy piece of plastic on their noggins.

https://gizmodo.com/the-vr-hype-cycle-is-over-and-just-in-time-for-the-ar-hype-cycle-to-begin-2000578035