“Oh no, not another NFT!” You may say but this time it comes from Team17 and its popular Worms franchise. Called MetaWorms, Team17 is collaborating with Reality Gaming Group on the new venture which will feature content from the videogame’s 26-year history whilst being “environmentally friendly”.
The only Metaworms visual released so far.
Apart from the image above, Team17 and Reality Gaming Group (RGG) – creators of augmented reality (AR) title Reality Clash – have yet to reveal what the MetaWorms collection will actually look like. What is known its that the NFTs will be created and managed by RGG’s Digital Asset Trading (DAT) Platform, connected to its “own “side-chain” of the Ethereum mainnet.”
NFTs and cryptocurrencies are well known to consume significant portions of energy. The announcement claims that MetaWorms will: “offer substantial reductions to the amount of energy used per transaction,” 100,000 NFTs using as much energy on average as the “annual kettle usage of just 11 households.” So that’s nicely cleared up.
Adding to the environmental credentials – if they matter to you when buying an NFT – the companies have partnered with Coin 4 Planet. This is a sustainability platform that donates a portion of each NFT sale to Refeed Farms, which uses vertical worm beds to replace synthetic fertilizers and replenish soil.
“Worms remains an iconic franchise in global gaming with tens of millions of fans around the world, so we’re really excited and proud to announce our partnership with Reality Gaming Group ahead of the release of highly limited edition artwork NFTs later this year,” says Harley Homewood, Head of Publishing, Team17 Digital, in a statement. The ultra-low energy technology Reality Gaming Group uses, together with their carbon neutral servers, played an essential part of the reassurances we sought before our agreement; we’re very much looking forward to giving Worms fans a chance to own a piece of our history.”
Here's a full breakdown of how research tasks work and how to complete them in Pokémon Legends: Arceus so you can help create the region's very first Pokédex.
We've gone out on multiple expeditions and learned everything there is to know about Alpha Pokémon in Pokémon Legends: Arceus so you can complete your Pokédex.
Rumors and unconfirmed reports emerged over the weekend that suggest Metal Gear Solid and Death Stranding creator Hideo Kojima could be working on a new game for PSVR 2.
Kojima Productions got PSVR2 prototypes back in November 2021. According to unconfirmed information that I’ve got, studio's upcoming smaller project could be a VR game/experience in collaboration with award-winning Virtual Reality expert and storyteller Céline Tricart. pic.twitter.com/fAyF3OyCxk
The source of the rumors is the Twitter account Oops Leaks (@oopsleaks), pictured above. The tweet suggests that Kojima Productions “got PSVR2 prototypes back in November 2021” and the studio’s “upcoming smaller project could be a VR game/experience with award-winning Virtual Reality expert and storyteller Céline Tricart.”
Now, we would encourage you to take this entire rumor with a major pinch of salt, as the tweet is incredibly vague, unsubstantiated and only cites “unconfirmed information.”
Kojima also spoke to Famitsu at the end of last year, which was originally published in Japanese. However, Siliconera’s Andrew Kiya gave a translated report on what he said, suggesting Kojima confirmed that his studio was working on two games – one “big” title and a second “new, challenging” title. The description of the second could be referring to a new IP, but it’s also possible that the challenge he describes related to working with a new medium, perhaps VR.
Overall, it’s all still super unsubstantiated but given some developers likely have their hands on PSVR 2 dev kits by now and we know Kojima is working on two new games, it’s not impossible. Let’s keep our ears peeled for more info in the future.
Would you like to see a Kojima game for PSVR 2? Let us know in the comments.
If you love the weird and wonderful ideas XR creators come up with then you’ll have likely caught wind of HalfDive, a virtual reality (VR) headset that’s used whilst laying down. Designed by Japanese startup Diver-X, the company launched a Kickstarter back in December to help fund the project. As unusual as the headset is this story gets even more bizarre, Diver-X canceled the campaign after hitting its initial funding goal.
Issuing a statement today to its backers, Diver-X CEO Yamato Sakoda gave three reasons for the sudden withdrawal of the campaign. The first was a “major change in product direction,” going on to say: “we came to the conclusion that HalfDive’s current specifications were not the best way to realize our goals of “completing life in-bed”.”
The biggest issue Sakoda mentioned revolved around the interface rather than the headset itself. Even focusing efforts towards gaming, this wasn’t enough to provide the innovative experience Diver-X was looking for. “We became skeptical of the current concept of HalfDive, our test-product, and its mass production,” Sakoda adds.
Reason two stems from the company’s own organizational structure, outsourcing the design of key components. This increased costs, especially where the optical system was concerned, attributing to around 50% of HalfDive’s cost. “We found out it would be extremely difficult to manufacture within an appropriate price range hardware components that meet our expected-quality.”
Lastly, as with a lot of startups, it comes down to cash flow. Even with the Kickstarter funds, Diver-X isn’t “in a financially stable position” to go into mass production. However, the company has sufficient funds to continue development so it’s not the end of HalfDive. Diver-X aims to address issues mentioned before coming back with an updated design.
The Kickstarter looked to raise ¥20,000,000 Yen (around $176,000 USD) and actually hit ¥24 million before the campaign was canceled. Due to the cancellation, the 248 backers weren’t charged so at least there’s no refund to chase and Diver-X has been honest about what’s occurred.
When gmw3 learns more about the future of the company and its unusual HalfDive headset we’ll let you know.
Looking to cook up a storm in VR? We’ve got you covered — here’s our list of the best VR cooking and food games on Quest, PC VR and PSVR.
The gaming industry, and more recently the VR industry, has a bit of a love affair with the cooking genre. There’s just something about chopping, frying and assembling food in virtual reality that is so attractive to developers and players alike.
Luckily, we’re now at the stage where we have enough games to assemble a list of the top five cooking and food games across all VR platforms. We’ve ranked them from worst to best, but realistically each game brings something different to the genre — any of these are good options, depending on what you’re looking for.
5. Job Simulator – Quest, PSVR, PC VR
This is one of the oldest VR games on this list, dating all the way back to a release on the original Vive headset in 2016. It’s also not technically a full cooking game in and of itself. Job Simulator sees you take on menial tasks across a few different levels set in different work environments – a car repair shop, a convenience store, a boring office cubicle and, most importantly, behind the grill at a restaurant.
It’s that last level that gets Job Simulator a spot on this list — it’s basically the original cooking game for VR, one of the first to grace us with its presence. Since its beginnings on the Vive, Job Simulator has released on loads more platforms, including Quest 2 with enhancements, and received new modes and levels. It consistently features on the PSVR top seller charts each month and, as of January 2020, it reached 1 million units sold across all platforms.
Clash of Chefs VR takes the age-old premise of many cooking games – prepare food with increasingly complex ingredients and methods, for an increasingly impatient and growing customer base. There’s four kitchens with different cuisines – American, Italian, Japanese, and Mexican – but regardless of which you find yourself in, the name of the game is time management under pressure.
There’s a fair amount of content for each kitchen and there’s also a competitive multiplayer mode as well, where you are pitted against others and can throw knives or plates at your opponent chefs to disrupt them.
Clash of Chefs is a solid entry in the list, but it doesn’t bring anything particularly new to the genre. Still, if you want something simple and tested, this might be your go-to.
Despite the ‘simulator’ tag, this is really a part-authentic, part-slapstick mixture of cooking interactions featuring hundreds of dishes and a wide range of ingredients. As expected though, it’s all about time management and steady hands here. There’s a big focus on precision — the game will ask you to season food a specific amount, or cut items into perfectly equal pieces, which isn’t always easy with VR controllers.
There’s a career mode and a sandbox mode. Career mode will see you open a restaurant and gradually move through a selection of dishes, earning money to buy new items and upgrade your setup. The sandbox mode focuses more on fun and silliness — throw food, start fires, do whatever you want.
Lost Recipes is perhaps the most markedly different title on this list – where most cooking games focus on precision, pressure and time management, Lost Recipes strips this away entirely. It falls somewhere between a game, simulator and educational tool — instead of working to a clock, you simply follow the recipe at your own pace with almost no external pressure. It’s all about learning and taking your time, accurately reproducing authentic recipes from three ancient cultures.
It’s a short experience, because it’s essentially about learning how to cook these dishes and understanding the meaning behind them. It’s a slow, meditative and really special VR experience. The most amazing part is that its structured in a way that will let you take what you’ve learnt and apply it to your own cooking. I managed to cook the steamed fish in real life after playing through the level in Lost Recipes — it’s quite an amazing achievement from Schell Games.
If you want something more laid back that will focus on teaching you about the recipes and how to cook them, then Lost Recipes is your best bet.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, if you want VR’s closest experience to frantic console and PC game Overcooked, then Cook-Out: A Sandwich Tale is the game for you. This is a multiplayer-focused title that will require you and your friends to cooperate under increasingly stressful conditions to make sandwiches for impatient customers.
It’s all about the balance between hectic action and overwhelming chaos — as orders come in, you’ll need to work together to make sure each sandwich gets the right ingredients, in the right order. Some players will only have select ingredients in their fridge, requiring you to communicate with the other players to make sure everyone has what they need. It can be hectic and difficult, but it nails converting that chaotic and stressful Overcooked style of gameplay to a VR headset.
A new video from Resolution Games gives us our first glimpse at Demeo’s upcoming social hangout hub.
The video, which reflects on the developer’s 2021 and looks ahead to 2022, rounds up all the releases the developer has announced for this year. Alongside updates for Blaston and the launch of Ultimechs, we also get two very quick glimpses of Heroes’ Hangout, the social hub for Demeo.
You can see it just after the 0:55 mark below.
Demeo Heroes’ Hangout Teased
2021 was a year we’ll never forget, but we have a feeling that this year is going to be even bigger! pic.twitter.com/Zl1pZ5po3v
Heroes’ Hangout sounds similar to the social hub Resolution added for Blaston – it’ll be a place for players to meet and head into games together, with some other activities thrown in too. You can spot an arcade cabinet for a game called The Hauntlet, for example, which seems to offer 2D, top-down action.
The video also gives us another look at Demeo’s flatscreen version, which is set to launch in April, and teases two new adventures to come later in the year.
There’s plenty to come for our 2021 Game of the Year, then. We loved Demeo for its compelling social VR mechanics, which simulated the board game experience inside headsets. We’re also hoping to see Resolution bring the game to more headsets in 2022, though the studio is yet to announce plans for platforms like PSVR 2 and beyond.
Are you looking forward to Demeo’s social hub? Let us know in the comments below!
Every weekend gmw3 gathers together vacancies from across the virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR) and mixed reality (MR) industries, in locations around the globe to help make finding that ideal job easier. Below is a selection of roles that are currently accepting applications across a number of disciplines, all within departments and companies that focus on immersive entertainment.
Don’t forget, if there wasn’t anything that took your fancy this week there’s always last week’s listings on The VR Job Hub to check as well.
If you are an employer looking for someone to fill an immersive technology related role – regardless of the industry – don’t forget you can send us the lowdown on the position and we’ll be sure to feature it in that following week’s feature. Details should be sent to Peter Graham (pgraham@vrfocus.com).
We’ll see you next week on gmw3 at the usual time of 3PM (UK) for another selection of jobs from around the world.
Magic Leap 2’s specs – at least some of them – were revealed this week in a presentation at SPIE Photonics West 2022.
While Microsoft HoloLens came out first targeted toward businesses, the original Magic Leap One launched in 2018 as the first augmented reality headset available to consumers, priced at $2300. After reportedly selling just 6000 units in the first six months, the company pivoted to targeting enterprise customers instead in 2019.
At Photonics West, Magic Leap’s VP of Optical Engineering Kevin Curtis revealed some key specs for Magic Leap 2 (ML2).
The headset apparently weighs 248 grams, down from Magic Leap 1’s 316 grams.
However, Magic Leap headsets use a tethered compute box attached to your waist rather than housing the battery & processor in the headset itself. Curtis says ML2′ new compute box is more than twice as powerful as ML1’s with “more memory and storage” too. While ML1 used an NVIDIA Tegra chip, Magic Leap announced a partnership with AMD in December.
ML1 has two variants to accommodate narrower and wider interpupillary distances (IPDs). Curtis claims ML2’s eyebox is twice as large meaning this is no longer necessary. The eyebox refers to the horizontal and vertical distance from the center of the lens your eyes can be and still get an acceptable image.
While ML1 uniquely had two focal planes so near and far virtual objects were focused at different distances, there was no mention of the same technology in the ML2 spec presentation.
ML2 seems to have its own unique optical technology though; a new feature called Dynamic Dimming. A major problem with see-through AR headsets is the inability to display the color black, since their optical systems are additive – they superimpose color onto a transparent lens, but black is the absence of color. Curtis claims dynamic dimming can vary the lens from letting through 22% of real world light to letting through just 0.3%. At 22% the real world will be visible even in dark rooms, 0.3% would let virtual objects remain visible even in bright outdoor conditions.
ML1 had one eye tracking camera per eye, but ML2 has two per eye, which Curtis says “improves image quality, minimizes render errors, and enables “segmented dimming”. The later use case wasn’t elaborated on, but may suggest the headset could vary the Dynamic Dimming level based on whether you’re looking at darker or lighter virtual objects.
Notably, Curtis did not reveal the resolution or the exact field of view. But CEO Peggy Johnson revealed it in November at Web Summit as approximately 70 degrees diagonal, up from 50 degrees in the original.
If we assume the aspect ratio shared in the October tease is accurate, that would mean a horizontal field of view of roughly 45 degrees and vertical field of view of roughly 55 degrees. This is significantly narrower than opaque passthrough headsets like LYNX R1, but much taller than competing seethrough headsets like HoloLens 2.
Magic Leap 1 is targeted toward enterprise but still available to individuals who want one. It’s unclear what sales path Magic Leap 2 will take, and no price or specific release date has yet been revealed.
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I convinced my Mom and Dad to buy a Meta Quest 2 for Christmas 2020 with hopes that the “Metaverse” could bridge the physical gap between us. I’m still waiting for that to happen.
When I packed up my wife and kids and moved to Seattle in 2015, I knew that I was leaving behind my close knit Cincinnati family. Grandparents, cousins, and long time friends were now thousands of miles away instead of right across the street. Not wanting to be excluded after we moved, we attended big family gatherings via FaceTime and got passed around with just enough time to say a garbled, “Hey! Nice to see you,” then shuffled to the next aunt or uncle.
As an early adopter of technology, I find myself constantly waiting around for others to catch up and see the value of things. Over the course of my first few years in this industry, virtual reality helped me find good friends in places like Ireland, Australia, and France. Places that are much farther away from me than Cincinnati. We meet up at virtual bars, play laser tag, and enjoy movies together. Full and satisfying interaction. As cliché as it sounds, it feels like we’re really together.
It made sense for me to encourage members of my family to jump into VR as well to give us a newer, better way to interact. The tech works. It’s a decent substitute for the real thing and much better than awkwardly staring at each other on flat screens. Do you miss our New Year’s Day ritual of bowling as a family? Put on your headset and we can do that right now. Hey Dad, how about we go on a fishing trip and pull in some smallmouth bass while we discuss the latest Sportsball game?
But that didn’t happen… yet.
When I convinced my parents to buy a Quest 2, I knew it would take some time for them to get acclimated. I still have nightmares of when they first got smartphones and joined the world of social media. I also knew that my nieces would probably get the most use of it when visiting my parents. It didn’t take long for my kids to connect with their cousins to jump into Rec Room and enjoy themselves until their batteries died. But when it came time for my Mom or Dad to suit up, there was immediate resistance.
It could be my fault. Throwing my parents into very early untracked headsets with super low quality screens may have set an unfortunate precedent. I can remember my Dad playing hours of Wolfenstein 3D back in the early 90s, but when Doom came onto the scene, he couldn’t play it. It was too much for him and he got sick. Same with early VR. Now that I’m trying to get him into the newer, smoother, higher resolution VR, I wish I could persuade him to get past his previous notions and try it.
Even if it’s taking time for some members of my family to give VR a second chance now that it’s so much more compelling, I also understand there are still fundamental roadblocks making VR headsets intimidating. It takes time for habits to change and syncing up playtime with family in other time zones can still be pretty challenging, requiring passwords or room codes that can be pretty foreign to some people. But unlike previous headsets and platforms, the barriers truly are lower than ever. The destinations in VR are more beautiful, the things you can do with others are more fun, and for those reasons alone a lot more headsets are going to be charged up and ready to play a lot more often.
Maybe I’m being impatient. Once others from my parents’ generation start buying headsets they might feel the pressure to join their peers and not be left behind. That’s how Facebook evolved. What started as a “College Kids Only” club slowly became a haven for parents sharing photos with grandparents and 50th grade school reunion pages. How long before there are “Seniors Only” nights in the Metaverse? Would mainstream mass adoption be enough for my parents to meet me in VRChat? When the neighbors brag about seeing their grandkids in VR every Friday, will that push my parents to jack in?
I hope that’s all it takes. I guess I can wait a bit longer for my multigenerational virtual experience. The best part of having a big family is that multiple generations can share wisdom and enjoy experiences together. In today’s world of emerging technology and whatever the Metaverse becomes, physical distance shouldn’t be a hindrance.
I still believe 2022 will be the year I see three generations of my family play together in VR, it’s just taking a little bit longer than I expected for everyone to get ready.
If there is one blockchain game that is seemingly doing everything right, so far, it’s Blankos Block Party. Currently available in early access and free-to-play, this game is solidly focusing on putting gameplay above the blockchain and NFT capabilities, ensuring the developers deliver a game that can be remembered for the right thing.
On the surface the inspirations for Blankos are stark and easy to appreciate; there’s a large dollop of LittleBigPlanet in the mix, as well as a dash of Fortnite and a dusting of the pop culture collectable, Funko Pops. It’s an appealing combination, creating a super casual, yet compelling aesthetic under which a rather addictive game can be found.
While I mention above that the NFT and blockchain concepts come second to gameplay, it’s worth mentioning these early, because yes, each Blanko vinyl is an NFT. These Funko-esque models can be bought and sold on the game’s marketplace. However, aside from some seriously limited early Blankos, few are selling for ludicrous amounts of money, which is encouraging. This points to a community valuing the game rather than the resale and flipping of the assets for profit.
In the same way that Funko Pops create rare and limited editions, there can be a limited number of a particular Blanko available to buy with in-game currency, appealing to the collectors out there. Blankos teams up with established artists to bring unique skin designs to the models, ranging from anthropomorphic animals to trippy astronauts, and these can all be personalised with accessories too.
A nice hook into the NFT concept is the ability to combine different models or use coloured orbs which permanently alter the look of your avatar model. This can be applied and kept, giving you a one-of-a-kind Blanko, or it can be sold on the marketplace.
The important factor is that you don’t have to buy these in order to play!
With so many blockchain games there is a ‘buy-in’ or ‘stake’ required from the player. This is usually funding a number of NFTs which must be purchased in order to actually begin playing the game. For Block Party, this is far from the case. Yes, your first Blanko will be plain-looking, just one colour all over, but you’ll still be able to play. Which is great, because the game itself can be as entertaining as any other multiplayer experience on the market currently.
There are two games bundled into Blankos Block Party at this early stage – lobbies filled with other players who either shoot it out for points or must foot race through obstacles to reach a finish line. There are more game types planned for the future and the community can have a hand in creating them. The shooting could be a little tighter in its controls on a controller, but it’s good enough to have an old fashioned team deathmatch.
The other ‘game’ leans towards being a very light metaverse, in which Blankos can hang out in different environments just chatting with each other or finding collectables scattered throughout, which reward XP. It’s a great place to chill between shooting or running and it’s reminiscent of game worlds from Roblox or Fortnite. The worlds on display are all wonderfully bubblegum cute, utilising big broad shapes and eye-popping colours.
That XP can be earned in several ways; in-game challenges like bouncing on a trampoline, landing a set number of headshots or collecting lightning bolts throughout the levels. This XP goes towards levelling up your Blanko in order to personalise it more, by choosing a class for it: the Wrecker uses power moves like a ground pound, a Tracer is more agile with spins and dashes and the Tanker can utilise shields and traps.
There is also a Battle Pass which unlocks emotes accessories and customisation options for your Blanko, the downside to this is the current cost, which is around $25. One can only assume this price point is higher due to the nature of the NFTs and possible fees on the blockchain.
I’ve tried so many blockchain games (seriously, there are a lot and you’ll hear about many of them soon) and a lot of them fail to capture an audience because the gameplay always seems to come second to the technology. Gaming has already gone through this with other emerging tech – virtual reality, touchscreen integration and motion controls. With these opportunities, developers tried to capitalise on the tech before having a game in place to use them. This always resulted in awful games.
Blankos Block Party is seemingly establishing itself as a ‘game, with blockchain additions’, rather than a ‘blockchain game’. If they keep the gameplay fresh and add in a bunch of new game types, perhaps even branch out onto consoles, then this could be a title that showcases how NFTs can be smartly used, rather than appear as a cash-grab.
Following what looks to have been a very successful launch, Zenith developer Ramen VR has teased big plans for the VR MMO.
In a Q&A session hosted on Reddit last week the company provided just a few hints for the long-term roadmap for the game. Zenith’s current release is technically in early access; it’s marked as such on Steam but not on Quest or PSVR, which don’t label titles as pre-release. With that in mind, co-founder Andy Tsen shared some details about where the game might head next.
New Classes
Firstly, Tsen replied to a comment asking if there were plans for more classes. Currently, Zenith has two main classes allowing you to wield swords or projectiles, with three job roles to define how you level up. Tsen revealed that the team has plans to add more classes in the future, though, resulting in more than three choices. “We absolutely have plans to add additional classes overtime — beyond 3,” he said.
In the same reply he also confirmed there will be Character Customization updates, allowing you to better define your avatar.
Better Dungeons
Tsen also touched on the possibility of creating better dungeon content that’s unique to the game. “Internally our design goal is to build something that feels completely different from dungeon content in other games — this is a hard goal but we’ll do our best,” he said. “It’s part of the reason we didn’t release with instanced dungeons at launch (we actually had 3 dungeons fully complete, but we felt like it didn’t live up to our standards so we’re going to go back to the drawing board and make them better.)”
Ramen also hopes to add environmental aspects to battles and exploration in the future.
Replayability And User-Generated Content
Finally, Tsen provided a look into how Ramen hopes to evolve Zenith’s content in the months and years to come. New zones, dungeons, bosses and systems will be key to expanding the game, but Tsen was also cautious about how they’re implemented.
“We don’t want to become a content treadmill though,” he said, “because that makes it progressively harder for newbies to get into the game as endgame gets further and further away so we also want to introduce systems that give more replayablility, things like additional crafting systems, PVP, housing, Rogue-Lite, a player economy, a stronger emphasis on the social aspects of the game could all add together to make the end game last a lot longer.”
He also mentioned that the Ramen team sees user-generated content playing “a big component” in the game’s future, but there were no further details on how they might look.
We’re still journey deep into the core of Zenith to deliver our final impressions soon. Until then, you can check out our review-in-progress for our current thoughts on the game.
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Beat Saber undoubtedly has to be the most popular virtual reality (VR) videogame, just look at its permanent number one ranking on the PlayStation VR download charts. Developer Beat Games hasn’t rested bringing new features to the rhythm game, with the next to arrive introducing some new block types.
As you can see from the short teaser video Beat Games released this week, these new blocks look like they’ve burst apart, hence why they’re called Burst Sliders, Road to VR reports. The first portion contains the directional arrow whilst the thin ‘slices’ all have to be cut through adding a very defined sweeping motion to the gameplay.
Those ‘slices’ are referred to as ‘elements’ by the dev team who indicate that there’s no limit to the number of elements a Burst Slider can contain. As the trailer showcases, some Burst Sliders contain four elements whilst others contain nine. That could lead to some twirling block cutting in the future.
Keeping with the slide theme, you may notice the sabers in the video featuring what looks like light trails. These are in fact ‘Sliders’, guide lines that lead to a starter block. Whilst they are there to aid the next slice, they have another gameplay element, getting the player even more involved with the song. Following these sliders won’t add any more points to your score but they do add a touch of haptic feedback.
Finally, there’s going to be one smaller, community requested addition; diagonal dot blocks, yey! All of these features are slated to arrive in the next Beat Saber update, although there’s no clear indication when that’ll be.
Having seen the likes of multiplayer and 360-degree gameplay modes added since its original launch Beat Saber hasn’t lost any momentum over the years. As and when further updates are announced, gmw3 will keep you updated.
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Picture the scene, a sprawling cityscape dominated by skyscrapers stretching beyond the clouds, busy streets filled with people going about their everyday lives all beautifully lit by the warm glow of a summer sunset. Seems idyllic doesn’t it? But it isn’t real, merely a digital construct of a creators mind who envisions a utopian world without the pitfalls of the real one. You’ve seen it in films, read about it in books or explored one in a videogame, a metaverse where anything is possible.
However, in popular media how often have these virtual worlds descended into chaos, never living up to that dream of a virtual realm devoid of discrimination, hate and violence? More often than not the narrative paints a surprisingly factual image of why a particular society has crumbled and turned into a dystopian metropolis involving police states and oppressive regimes that wish to control every image you see and every thought you have.
That may seem a little dark in comparison to what’s available at the moment but there’s no telling where this new digital journey will take us.
If there’s any hesitation in metaverse adoption then it stems not from science fiction but the companies and creators jostling to make this a tangible reality. Meta – formerly known as Facebook – and its CEO Mark Zuckerberg has become the most vocal when it comes to the metaverse. Heck, he even changed the company name to reflect this new position. Alas, Facebook’s history isn’t one of a benevolent social network, continually shrouded in controversy thanks to whistleblowers, how it handles advertising, its effect on young people through platforms like Instagram and so much more.
Even without Meta’s potted history, its current immersive offerings are anything but cohesive. Under the Horizon branding Meta currently has three separate social virtual reality (VR) apps, Horizon Worlds, Horizon Venues and Horizon Workrooms, none of which actually work together. Horizon Worlds is the most ‘metaverse’ oriented of the three where you can build your own virtual realm; a space for you and your friends to play mini-games or a world open to all. Horizon Workrooms focuses on workplace collaboration, where you can share your PC screen and have fully realised meetings in VR. Whereas Horizon Venues provides access to live and recorded events. Yet none of these currently interlink making for a convoluted system.
But that is very much the state of the “metaverse” at the moment. Described almost like a singular entity, in actuality, the current climate is plural with the likes of Somnium Space, The Sandbox, Decentraland and many more trying to carve out their own little corner. So competition is fierce when trying to attract new users and then retaining them, utilising techniques like buying your own slice of virtual land or special NFTs using cryptocurrencies, hosting unique events or teaming up with brands and global personalities.
These smaller metaverse platforms are trying innovative ways to connect with users who sit on the cutting edge of technology, having decentralised ecosystems that don’t suffer the same sluggish nature that bog down the huge tech giants. Yet it is behemoths such as Meta that’ll provide the most mainstream push forward due to their deep financial pockets, mostly funded by advertising.
One giant billboard
And that brings us back around to the metaverse nobody wants. One continually recycling billboard that sucks in your data at one end and spews out another targeted ad, ruining the whole experience for everyone.
Advertising does have its place when integrated into the experience to help fund creators. Yet there’s a fine line between that and invasive ad placement continually telling you how your life could be so much better with this one product; nobody wants that. There’s already been pushback when Meta had a go at testing VR ads in PvP shooter Blaston. Developer Resolution Games quickly reversed the decision due to community backlash.
But people also like free stuff. So if you want free access to these new worlds companies need to make money in other ways, ads are inevitably the go-to product. Or there are avenues companies and creators can explore once you’re inside, such as customisation options for your virtual self, all of which can be bought and sold quickly and easily.
To give you an idea of what all of this will be worth – hence the exponential push – a recent research report by Market Research Future (MRFR) found that the metaverse market was worth $21.91 billion USD in 2020 and is projected to grow at a CAGR of 41.7% from 2021 to 2030. So there’s a lot of money to be made in the coming years.
A private safe space
Of greater concern is the ability to create safe secure worlds where everyone is free to explore these virtual realms without the fear of attack or having their data stolen.
If you’ve already tried apps like Horizon Worlds, VRChat or The Museum of Other Realities you’ll have noticed these places employ several methods to ensure users can avoid harassment, namely, creating a protective bubble. Rather than someone shouting at you from across a crowded room they have to be in close proximity before a conversation can be accepted. Should you find the other person disagreeable you can then exit the conversation or even block them entirely. All useful stepping stones towards a more hospitable environment.
Engaging in a particular platform may come down to the brand itself and whether you trust it. Where would you put companies like Epic Games, Meta, Apple, Google and Microsoft on a trust scale? Some probably not very high at all, especially when it comes to your data.
“Interoperability, open standards, privacy, and safety need to be built into the metaverse from day one,” Zuckerberg said during Connect 2021. “And with all the novel technologies that are being developed, everyone who’s building for the metaverse should be focused on building responsibly from the beginning.”
However, voicing his concerns Dr Marcus Carter, an expert in Digital Cultures at the University of Sydney said: “Facebook’s VR push is about data, not gaming. Metaverse technologies like VR and AR are perhaps the most data-extractive digital sensors we’re likely to invite into our homes in the next decade.”
So does a virtual wonderland await?
There’s no reason why it can’t, there are just a few hurdles in the way first. A lot of the social platforms already available show plenty of promise, whether that’s purely for gaming purposes, socialising, meeting up with like-minded groups, watching a concert or getting creative to earn some extra cash.
How well these places are governed and trusted will be far more essential for their future rather than the latest celebrity endorsement.
Long-anticipated VR MMO, Zenith: The Last City, is currently the top selling game on Steam.
The US charts for the PC store place Ramen VR’s new game at the very top of the list. To be clear, this isn’t a VR-specific category, it’s for every game on Steam. Currently Zenith is beating out pre-orders for Dying Light 2 and Elden Ring as well as recent releases like God of War and Monster Hunter Rise.
The game’s also currently sitting at the top of the Quest store’s best-selling charts. This, and the fact that the game seems to have been having login issues due to large amounts of players trying to get in at launch, suggests Zenith’s release has been a big deal.
We couldn’t tell you the last time we saw a SteamVR release reach the #1 spot in the top sellers list, though there’s a chance Half-Life: Alyx made it in 2020 (it did rank in the best-selling games for release month). Could this data mean that Zenith even challenges Beat Sabers’ winning streak in the monthly PlayStation Store chart releases?
Either way, the current data is fitting proof of just how much demand there is for a full-scale VR MMO that lets friends meet up and quest together online. And, based on what we’ve played of Zenith thus far, the game certainly has the foundations to live up to that potential. We’ve played the first few hours and detailed the game’s surprising accessibility and strong social infrastructure in our review-in-progress. Expect to see more updates to that article in the coming days.
What do you make of Zenith ranking #1 on the Steam Top Sellers list? Let us know in the comments below!
Anticipated VR MMO Zenith got off to the industry-standard shaky start yesterday when players reported login issues, but it looks like the game’s beginning to find its feet.
Just a few hours after launch on Quest, PC VR and PSVR yesterday developer Ramen VR tweeted that it was “experiencing an outage due to a massive influx of players.” The studio took the servers down and provided several updates over the course of the next few hours.
Partial service was restored around seven hours after launch and, earlier this morning, they went fully back up. Yet more issues plagued the game in the hours to follow but as of around 2am PT, Ramen says you should have normal service.
Some are still experiencing issues, though, to which the developer has said it’s looking into more fixes. It’s quite possible more issues follow as much of the US comes online later today, too.
Launch issues like these are common for major online releases and, even though Ramen VR ran a smooth operation with the previous two Zenith betas, some outages around full launch were no doubt inevitable. It is, at least, a good indication that a lot of people are trying to get into the game.
We’ve been playing around with the first few hours of Zenith and, so far, we think it’s a really promising take on the VR MMO. We’ve got a review-in-progress up right now, with updates to come in the next few days as we get deeper into the experience.
Have you finally been able to log into Zenith? Let us know in the comments below!
It looks like a PSVR version of A Township Tale could be on the cards after developer Alta raised $12.4 million.
The funding round was led by Makers Fund and Andreessen Horowitz, with contributions from Pioneer Fund, Boost VR and more. In a press release, Alta said the money would be used to expand its team and “position the game for new platforms.”
A few months ago, we reported that the studio was looking to raise money so that it might bring the game to PSVR. Given A Township Tale is already on Quest and PC VR headsets, it seems likely that this is the next destination for the co-op title. Fingers crossed that includes a version for Sony’s newly-named PSVR 2 headset on PS5, too.
In a prepared statement, Aldin CEO Tima Anoshechkin added that the studio will “continue to develop world-class technology whether withVR or other platforms. Whenever and wherever you are playing, our experience will always beengaging, seamless and fun.”
A Township Tale is one of our favorite VR releases of the past few years, tasking players with restoring a ruined town by gathering resources across a vast world. “A Township Tale is a VR great in the making,” we said in our review. “I know that because, well, it’s already great. It’s impeccably rich in almost every one of its many disciplines.”
The launched in early access on PC a few years ago and came to Quest last summer. Alta continues to update and add to the game.
Do you want to see A Township Tale on PSVR? Let us know in the comments below!
Want to share your Oculus Quest or Quest 2 adventures with friends? Here's exactly how to cast your gameplay to a nearby TV so everyone can join in on the fun.
While medicine has traditionally been a hands-on encounter, the pandemic has rapidly accelerated the adoption of remote care technologies. Before COVID-19, a reported 43% of healthcare facilities were known to offer telehealth services. In 2020, we saw this percentage rise to 95%.
Across the globe, many of our healthcare systems have also become the subjects of abject scrutiny. With pressures of rising costs, ageing populations, limited resources and the strain of a global pandemic, the idea of bringing parts of healthcare from the hospital to the home might not sound like a bad idea.
As our everyday lives become more and more digitised, the pandemic’s push on our developments has certainly unearthed more health-related opportunities and business models for us to explore. Let’s highlight some of the ways where we will see these new developments start to shape the future of healthcare in the metaverse.
Image credit: Osso VR
Digital twins will revolutionise everything
The consensus amongst experts is that digital twins will be the foundations that build the metaverse. Digital twin technology also has the potential to transform several key areas of healthcare — including the treatment and diagnosis of patients, better-optimised preventative care, better surgery preparation and much more.
Currently, 25% of healthcare executives have reported using digital twins within their organisations — while an estimated 66% believe their investment in digital twins will increase within the emerging metaverse. And while we are still in the early days, healthcare leaders across the globe have already begun connecting networks of digital twins to create virtual models of supply chains, facilities and even human organs and other body parts.
Some experts even believe that everyone could one day have access to a digital twin of their genetic profile, which would be created for them after birth. In the case that they would be subject to illness or disease, their “virtual profile” would be computationally treated to provide doctors with advanced solutions on how to best treat their real bodies.
Digital twins will also certainly improve surgical practices in the metaverse. Surgery would be practised on a digital twin before an actual real-life procedure would be carried out, enabling surgeons to reference points in the simulation’s anatomy as needed. This would also allow for experimental techniques or treatments to be trialled on digital twins before being applied to real bodies, thereby reducing the level of risk to patients.
Several vendors have also made progress with creating customised virtual organs for patients, which can be used for research, observation and better surgical planning. Leading electronics providers Philips and Siemens have both developed digital twins of the human heart to simulate cardiac catheter interventions and other custom treatments. Dassault Systemes has also created a specialised digital heart model in collaboration with US-based hospitals, where these digital twin models have helped surgeons calculate the shape of a cuff between the heart and its arteries. Sim&Cure’s Sim&Size platform also now helps brain surgeons treat aneurysms with the use of simulations, allowing for better pre-operative strategies.
Brian Kalis, managing director of digital health at Accenture, puts things nicely: “Digital twins have potential across both clinical and operational dimensions in the healthcare industry. The ability to model the physical world in a digital format could help with medical education, research and care delivery in the future.”
Moreover, Kalis believes that: “Digital twins also have the potential to improve operational efficiency of healthcare enterprises through the ability to track and trace healthcare facilities, equipment and supplies in near-real-time, [allowing them to] more efficiently match supply and demand.”
It will transform medical training as we know it
VR has been used by companies to conduct medical training for a number of years now. However, emerging metaverse platforms are now presenting the combined use of VR, AR and AI to offer more effective, real-time guidance for training medical staff. For instance, there is immense potential for surgical training to be completely revolutionised within the metaverse. Alongside the backdrop of immersive experiences replicated from surgical practices, real-time guidance can be provided within surgeons’ fields of view on XR devices.
Metaverse technology may even one day allow students or trainees to “enter” a simulated body, allowing for a full-scale view and replication of actual procedures. AR is also a great way to provide students with better hands-on learning, giving medical students a better opportunity to practise and visualise new techniques before actually performing them in real life.
Veyond Metaverse aims to be a leading future healthcare metaverse ecosystem — citing advanced cloud and real-time communication technology as part of their communication infrastructure. Under their platform, their goal is to: “bring global participants into [their] metaverse world, enabling healthcare professionals to interact in real-time. Thus, simultaneous education, training, planning and collaborative medical procedures are possible.”
It will enhance mental health resources and treatment
While some analysts suggest that the metaverse has the potential to remove users from reality and negatively impact their mental health, a great deal of research suggests that the next phase of the web will also make way for more innovative mental health treatment. As it turns out, there are multiple ways for mental health-related conditions to be improved through VR technology.
A peer-reviewed study from Oxford University recently concluded that patients who tried VR therapy saw a 38% decrease in anxiety or avoidant symptoms over the course of a six-week period. Another study also found that patients suffering from paranoid beliefs noticed a reduction in their phobias after even just one VR coaching session.
Doctors are also already recommending VR videogames to treat mental health-related conditions such as brain fog, ADHD, PTSD and depression. In June 2020, Akili Interactive became one of the first “prescription-strength” video games to be approved by the FDA to treat ADHD in children.
And Rey, a growing Texas-based metaverse startup, secured its round of Series A funding within the last year. Rey offers VR sessions to help users work through challenges that will “rewire the circuitry” that causes anxiety. Through VR, Rey’s users can access simulations of various social situations — offering an opportunity for them to better acclimate to concepts that may trigger their anxiety symptoms. Throughout these sessions, human coaches also provide guidance to help users develop stronger coping mechanisms.
So, why exactly is virtual therapy effective? In short, VR’s ability to trick our brain into thinking it is reacting to a real encounter is also able to teach us healthier coping strategies — a phenomenon that we may see become more commonplace in treating mental health conditions in the metaverse.
Oxford professor Daniel Freeman (who also happens to be a scientific founder at Rey) has remarked on the effectiveness of VR therapy: “The beautiful bit… is that there’s also a conscious bit of your brain saying it’s not real, therefore I can try things differently. It doesn’t break the spell — it just enables you to make the learning.”
It will pave the way for more digitised and decentralised interfaces
The COVID-19 pandemic forced people worldwide to turn to digital services for wider (and safer) healthcare access. As a result, people have become increasingly more comfortable with the ideas of teleconsultations and accessing their medical data through digital services.
We are likely to see this level of comfort deepen within the metaverse — with some analysts suggesting that we will eventually see the creation of an entire meta-health ecosystem. This may come in the form of avatars for more life-like consultations, or with treatment and diagnosis being provided through data interconnectivity.
UK-based non-profit organisation DeHealth has stepped into the forefront of the digital healthcare industry, announcing the start of a decentralised metaverse platform that hopes to see millions of doctors and patients interact with each other in full 3D format. Users can even earn virtual assets by selling their anonymised medical data. And to top things off, DeHealth also plans to power its own economy using blockchain technology: the HLT (health) token will be offered as a primary means of settlement within the ecosystem.
Anna Bondarenko, co-founder of De-Health, has outlined the company’s goal as: “Providing people with the most advanced technologies to preserve their health, so that every person in the world, regardless of their place of residence, social status and financial capabilities, can control their health and life.” And thanks to HLT, the hope is that anyone in the metaverse will one day be able to sell and control their impersonal medical information.
DeHealth will be available for download in late 2022, offering access to 3 million Hospital OS users.
Final thoughts
In this article, we’ve been able to observe some of the immense ways in which the metaverse will transform the course of the healthcare sector. There is a long list of opportunities for populations one day to harness better control over their own healthcare data, or for medical students to learn from more advanced training modules. Incredibly, surgeons will also one day be able to reduce the number of trials they perform on patients and increase the efficiency of their procedures through digital twin models.
Overall, health leaders should lean into the metaverse and continue to explore the ways in which it can be used to make healthcare safer, more inclusive and more accessible for all.
Forget Zenith, Wanderer and GTA: San Andreas – there’s a VR forklift simulator on the way.
Best Forklift Operator is being published by Yupitergrad developer, Gamedust, and is developed by Setapp, adapted from its work on professional-level driving simulators. It’s going to be a flatscreen game with optional VR support, and should be arriving sometime in 2022. Check out the new trailer below.
Best Forklift Operator VR Trailer
This, then, is pretty much what it says on the tin. You’ll need to master immersive forklift controls as you transport cargo to and fro in a warehouse. The game has a full campaign mode in which you can earn money for unlocks, as well as an arcade mode for a more sandbox approach. The trailer shows you having full hand control in VR, but also running up against the game’s realistic physics. It’s safe to assume you’ll be making a fair few spillages.
Best Forklift Operator will first release in early access, where it will have most of its features included. Over the course of the following two to three months, Setapp anticipates polishing the game, adding new forklift types and other content. It’ll come to PC first, though there’s no word on possilbe Quest or PSVR versions right now.
Are you going to be checking out Best Forklift Operator? Let us know in the comments below!
Magic Leap 1 is targeted toward enterprise but still available to individuals who want one. It’s unclear what sales path Magic Leap 2 will take, and no price or specific release date has yet been revealed.
