e493 — A VR Merry Holiday

Games At Work dot Biz

Photo by Alexander Grey on Unsplash

Published 16 December 2024

e493 with Andy, Michael & Michael — all things VR, from #AndroidXR & Project #Moohan to #GorillaTag to the #NFL #Funday crossovers with the #Simpsons and a whole lot more!

Andy, Michael and Michael are back together again, and have a whole episode full of VR, AR, MR and XR stories to discuss! The team starts things off with the mixed reality partnership between Samsung and Google. Dubbed “Project Moohan”, stemming from the Korean word for infinity, the cohosts consider a couple of articles on this MR exploration. According to the YouTube video, these corporations are considering the seamless movement from a headset (VR) to glasses (AR) as part of the overarching operating system powering each. The video gives an intriguing example of what the user experience may be to watch a baseball game, complete with statistics, news, ball trajectory and much more. The viewing and fan participation in such mixed reality experiences lend themselves to rich engagement.

Michael R marvels at the recently released UltraWide mode for the Apple Vision Pro, granting an amazing worskpace vista to users. Andy shares the Espresso display concept of laptop users having a second screen that they can take with them on the go.

Then things take a weird turn. An article about Gorilla Tag prompts Michael M to check out the embedded video to better understand what this game is all about. The recording of an older player interacting and asking for help from younger players to buy in-game virtual goods is a challenge to watch, not only for the user experience requiring so many steps to buy a digital bow tie, but also because of the interactions between the players of the game. Next up, the co-hosts take a look at the NFL’s crossover events with The Simpsons and the Toy Story characters in the VR space. Having the analysts and color commentators as VR driven cartoon characters in the style of the Simpsons was interesting, however, Michael and Michael found the ball and player tracking without mo-cap suits especially intriguing. The ability to keep track of the ball and so many players in real time hints at the future for sports viewing. The team also found it interesting how the NFL is using this technology to potentially broaden their viewership and generate additional fan engagement.

Wrapping up this week’s episode are a couple of hardware stories, the last of which speculates on the potential for the Apple Vision Pro to gain the advantage of an Apple modem to enable cellular connectivity. This sparks a spirited discussion about hotspots vs native cellular connectivity to close out the recording. Maybe mesh communication is the answer.

Would you prefer your computing devices to have their own cellular connection or tether to a hotspot from your phone? Have your bots 🤖 drop our bots 🤖 a line at @[e-mail] (our home for now) and let us know!

These show notes were lovingly hand crafted by a real human, and not by a bot. All rights reserved. That’s our story and we’re sticking to it.

Selected Links

Visualizing MR

https://youtu.be/Pn5uG1ys-pE?feature=shared&t=80

So how many months/years do we think it’ll be before #Android XR is abandoned like Tablets, Stadia, etc., etc., etc.?

— Al Sutton (@[e-mail])
2024-12-13T19:05:18.124Z

Android Authority article: Samsung’s ‘Project Moohan’ takes shape as the first Android XR headset

omfg it's beautiful 😂

— Casey Liss (@[e-mail])
2024-12-11T20:54:12.488Z

Espresso Displays

Github AVPEnterpriseAPI-CameraStreaming

9 to 5 Mac article: Analogue is the first 3D immersive collaboration app for Apple Vision Pro, Spatial 3D design app coming soon

MR Weirdness

Road to VR article: How ‘Gorilla Tag’ Became a $100 Million VR Success on Quest

Gorilla Tag

Good Morning America article: ‘The Simpsons’ take over Monday Night Football

What’s on Disney Plus article: “Toy Story Funday Football” Becomes Most Watched Live Event On Disney+

CNBC article: What’s next for Meta’s metaverse

VR Hardware

The Verge article: Apple and Sony are working on Vision Pro support for PSVR 2 controllers

9 to 5 Mac article: Apple is reportedly exploring cellular connectivity for Vision Pro, and that’s a great thing

Games at Work e238: Walkman and Walkbot

Web 11.0 mashup junkie, and co-founder / co-host of the GamesAtWork.biz podcast. My views are my own.

Michael Martine