Today's hot spots: Walmart has applied for several new trademarks; Apple's AR/VR headset will have M1 Pro-like performance; the PC version of "Monster Hunter: Rise" VR Mod has been released; Ubisoft and Pathé have cooperated to launch a VR escape room game based on the documentary "Burning Notre Dame de Paris".
Industry
Epic Games funded 31 XR projects in 2021 through the MegaGrants program
Epic MegaGrant is Epic Games' 2019 Unreal Engine Incentive Program designed to accelerate the progress of talented teams and individuals around the world using Unreal Engine, 3D graphics tools, and open source software. Recently, Epic Games announced that the program will fund a total of 31 XR projects in 2021, covering games, simulation, education and other fields.
Carol Silverman's Object Narrative, the VR documentary "Carry-on Items" has been released
The VR documentary Belongings is Carol Silverman's recollection of her deceased mother and quest for her secrets. The film was nominated for the Best Documentary Experience Award at the 2021 Rainance Film Festival. Experience via HTC Vive/Pro/Pro 2, Oculus Rift/Rift S/Quest + Link, or Valve Index headset.
Get ready to march into the Metaverse! Walmart has applied for several new trademarks
Walmart seems to be trying to enter the metacosm and plans to create its own cryptocurrency and NFT. The large retailer filed several new trademarks late last month, indicating its intention to manufacture and sell virtual goods, including electronics, home décor, toys, sporting goods and personal care products. In a separate filing, the company said it would offer users virtual currency as well as NFTs. According to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, Walmart filed an application on December 30 last year. A total of seven separate applications were filed.
Steam Sales Chart: The PC version of God of War 4 wins the title, and the Valve Index VR suite is sixth
In the latest week (January 10 to January 16) Steam platform sales chart, the newly released PC version of God of War 4 won the championship. Monster Hunter: Rises and Wait for It are close behind, ranking second and third. Valve Index VR kits are firmly in the top ten, ranking sixth.
products
Apple's AR/VR headset will have M1 Pro-like performance and will sell for over $2,000
A report on Friday pointed out that Apple's rumored AR/VR headset has encountered some problems due to overheating, camera and software challenges, so Apple may postpone the release of this product until 2023. Now, Bloomberg's Mark Guman brings us more news about the product. In his latest Power On, Guman said that the price range of Apple's internal discussions is above $2,000 (about 12,740 yuan), and the names that may be adopted are Apple Vision, Apple Reality and Apple Sight/iSight.
Games
The PC version of Monster Hunter: Rise VR Mod has been released, allowing players to experience hunting adventures in VR
Praydog, the VR mod maker for Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil 3, has developed a VR mod for the newly released PC version of Monster Hunter: Rise, allowing players to experience the hunting adventures the game has to offer in VR.
Valheim: Temple of Heroes VR Mod has released an update with a number of new features
Thanks to creator Brandon Mousseau's new mod, the popular Viking-themed survival game Valheim: Temple of Heroes began supporting VR last April. It's a full-featured mod that allows players to play via a PCVR headset and an Oculus Quest (streaming using Oculus Link or Air Link). Recently, this unofficial VR Mod released some quite a few updates that really perfected the game and felt more like an experience built for VR.
Ubisoft partnered with Pathé to launch a VR escape room game based on the documentary Burning Notre Dame
Recently, Ubisoft announced that it has partnered with Pathé to develop a VR escape room game "Notre Dame on Fire", which is based on the documentary of the same name directed by Jean Jacques Arno, "Notre Dame on Fire", which will be released on March 16 in parallel with the documentary.
The VR table tennis game Eleven Table Tennis showcases an experimental doubles mode
Eleven Table Tennis is a VR table tennis game developed by For Fun Labs that first landed on a PCVR headset in 2016 and was released for Oculus Quest in February 2020. Recently, the developer released a video showing off the new Meta Avatar in an experimental doubles match, saying it will be updated "soon".