Virtual Reality

Late last year, Sony launched a mobile motion-capture system in Japan that worked with a companion app to create a VR avatar for such things as gaming or chat. Now the Mocopi system is up for pre-order in the US.

While we've seen multiple attempts to produce real-world odors in VR environments, many have involved cumbersome wearable devices. Chinese scientists have developed a much more streamlined system, which is applied to the skin below the user's nose.

After months of speculation, Apple has finally announced its house-brand augmented reality system. Known as Apple Vision Pro, the setup is described as being the company's first "spatial computer."

With Apple dropping hints that its much-awaited AR/VR headset will drop at next week's WWDC event, Meta has attempted to steal its rival's thunder. The new Meta Quest 3 is smaller, much more powerful than its predecessor, and designed for next-level AR.

SenseGlove has announced the upcoming release of Nova 2, the second generation of its innovative haptic force-feedback glove. The Nova 2 offers a more realistic VR experience and will be the first glove of its type to feature palm feedback.

While there are already haptic feedback VR gloves that provide a simulated sense of touch to users, they typically cost at least a few thousand dollars. The Pulse glove is aimed at making the tech more accessible, in that it's priced at just US$299.

It can be frustrating when you're searching for an object, knowing that you may have looked right where it is without realizing you've done so. A new augmented reality system could help, by showing users where items are … even if they're hidden.

VR app company Bigscreen is moving into hardware with the launch of the Beyond headset, which is claimed to be the world's smallest – coming in at less than an inch at its thinnest point and said to weigh in six times lighter than other VR devices.

A first-of-its-kind study has found adults with neurodevelopmental disabilities may experience improvements to symptoms of anxiety and depression after using specially designed virtual reality sensory rooms.

Although there already are experimental "telehaptic" systems that allow people to send and receive tactile sensations, they tend to be bulky and awkward. A new one is much slimmer and thus more practical, thanks to the use of piezoelectric materials.

After almost two years of drip-feeding us details, Sony has finally revealed the last tidbits of info we needed about the PlayStation VR2 – the price and the release date. The cherry on top is a slew of new games to try to entice us to it.

Redmond-based HaptX is preparing for business in the metaverse age with the launch of a pair of "ground-breaking" haptic gloves that allow enterprise users to get to grips with objects in the virtual workplace.

For decades, inventors have pursued the concept of adding "smell-o-vision" to movies or TV shows. Swedish scientists have now created such a system for use in VR gaming, and it could actually help people regain their lost sense of smell.

In Meta's ongoing quest to make the nebulous "metaverse" a virtual reality, it has already released two of the most amazing all-in-one, untethered VR headsets we've ever seen. Now, meet the Meta Quest Pro, a next-level headset with no expense spared.

In most body-tracking VR systems, users have to wear sensors on various parts of their body, and/or they must remain within the confines of a base station. The Surplex system, however, is claimed to track body movements via a single pair of shoes.