AWE24 USA - The most interesting announcements from the biggest VR/AR event

AWE24 USA, the world's largest VR/AR event, has just concluded. Were you not there? No worries, here's a summary of the most interesting things that happened there.

AWE is an event dedicated to XR technologies, including VR, AR, MR and, more recently, AI. It's a place where you can learn about the latest research straight from different companies and meet interesting people from the industry.

AWE holds events all over the world, with the largest in the USA in June. There are also events in Europe and Asia. This article will focus on what was happening at AWE24 USA.

Anyone done EyeSight better than Apple?

What makes AWE such an interesting event is that interesting innovations or technologies can be found from both smaller and larger exhibitors. Some would argue that it is the smaller exhibitors who are the most creative and adventurous, which has some justification. Here an example - Remember EyeSight from Apple, a key feature of the Apple Vision Pro? It was met with criticism for being too low in brightness and resolution, as well as generally... a rather uninteresting design.

With many areas for improvement, some companies have taken risks and tried to actually improve them. One of these is UltraReality. This company specialises in creating 3D displays to demonstrate "advanced capabilities on the front screens of XR devices". Here is a video of their demonstration on AWE24 USA:

Lest there be any confusion here - these 'goggles' are most likely just the front display, while the Apple Vision Pro is a fully standalone device with two processors, screens, optics and an additional display on the front. Apple will likely improve EyeSight to match the screens from the movie in the coming years.

Logitech's MX Ink - Actual useful VR stylus for Meta Quest

Logitech's MX Ink stylus is the first third-party controller to work natively with the Meta Quest goggles. Initial impressions suggest this is a solid and worthwhile product.

Tony, a blogger who writes about VR, had the opportunity to test the stylus at AWE24 USA and shared his impressions on his blog, Skarredghost. According to Tony, the stylus worked great, especially on hard surfaces. It has three buttons: the middle button is the main one, which you press to draw in the air. Tony mentioned problems with accidentally pressing the other two buttons, which have different functions depending on the application, but other users did not have this problem. It's probably a matter of getting used to it.

Another early a review appeared from RoadToVR. Journalist Ben Lang had the opportunity to test the product privately, and here too it was not without praise. The Logitech MX Ink stylus has a pressure-sensitive tip that makes drawing on hard surfaces feel natural. Interestingly, the button used to draw in the air is also pressure sensitive. The price of the Logitech MX Ink stylus is $130, which seems quite reasonable. The stylus also comes with several accessories, including a $40 'Inkwell Dock', which is a charging station for the pen, and a $50 'MX Mat', which is a mat described by Logitech as providing a "paper-like drawing experience".

Sony VR/AR - Goggles for professionals and creatives

These goggles were announced in January at CES this year, but still lack an official release date. Despite the silence in the ether for the past few months, a number of people at AWE24 USA have had the opportunity to try out the goggles and share their feedback on the experience.

These goggles offer '4K' displays (although the exact resolution is unknown), Passthrough colour cameras, pancake optics, a lift-up viewfinder and a pair of unique controllers. One controller resembles an index finger-operated pointer, while the other is a small thumb-controlled ring. The goggles were designed with architects and designers in mind who would like to view their models in full your-dimension, although that's obviously not all these goggles can do.

First impressions of UploadVR suggest a poor field of view (less than 100 degrees on the diagonal) and unreliable tracking quality for both controllers. However, UploadVR has had a limited time with the goggles and software updates could potentially address the tracking issues. More testing and reviews are needed to fully understand the strengths and weaknesses of these goggles.

FreeAim shoes - omni-directional VR locomotion shoes

If you're interested in VR, you've probably heard of treadmills made specifically for virtual reality. They allow you to move freely in VR while remaining relatively stationary in reality. However, these treadmills have significant problems. They are expensive to manufacture, too big and often run into problems, such as the fact that the treadmill cannot always measure the force with which it should move you to its centre when the user drastically stops moving or running. This leads to you moving backwards by sometimes as much as a couple of metres, even though you have stood still for a long time. There are quite a few problems of this type, which is why many consumer VR 'treadmills' are more like... sliding treadmills, which are much easier to make.

This is also the reason why some people are looking for alternative ways to solve the problem of VR locomotion. One such innovation is special shoes, a concept introduced by the FreeAim on AWE24. Tony from SkarredGhost reviewed it and noted that although there are still some issues to be resolved, the future of this type of device looks promising. Here are some key points from his review:

Strengths:

• Once you get used to them, walking seems quite natural
• They are less bulky and heavy compared to competitors such as EktoVR

Weaknesses:

• Safety concerns
• Learning to walk takes time
• Walking detection problems
• High cost - the Enterprise version will sell for $5,000, while FreeAim aims to price the consumer version at $1,000

Xreal Air 2 Ultra with Beam Pro

XReal is a company known for producing smart glasses with displays for viewing content. Their glasses are 0-DoF, which means that the content on the screens always rotates with you. To solve this problem and go a level higher, the company has announced the XReal Beam, it is a box with a battery and Snapdragon processor that enables 3-DoF. This means that the content viewed on the glasses remains stationary in place as you turn your head, but moves with you as you physically move through space.

XReal, however, has just unveiled its latest product, the XReal Beam Pro. It still functions as a dedicated 'box' with a battery and processor, but it now feels more like a phone than just some box. It is technically a phone, but it is not intended to replace it. It has a screen for a better user interface and can also record 3D video and photos. Its camera has a 50mm spacing, much more than the iPhone 15 Pro, for example.

However, the most important capability that XReal Beam Pro enables for their glasses is the 6-DoF mode, transforming XReal Air 2 Ultra from smart glasses into full-fledged AR glasses. 6-DoF allows content to be placed in space, whether moving around the house or sitting on the couch. This is standard for VR goggles today and will be for future AR glasses, but the XReal Air 2 Ultra with Beam Pro offers this capability now.

XReal was present at AWE24 USA to demonstrate its Beam Pro with the XReal Air 2 Ultra. Impressions of the the first shows have been positive, and given XReal's experience with smart glasses, genuinely something could come of this.

HyperVision, VR Goggles with Giant Field of View (FOV)

If you are reading this article, I assume you have tried VR before. I'll shake my hand that the first thing that might have caught your eye (apart from enthusiasm and surprise) is the relatively small field of view (FOV). This continues to be a challenge for even today's VR goggles, as most offer a field of view of around 100-110 degrees horizontally and 90-100 degrees vertically. In comparison, the human field of view covers about 200 degrees horizontally and 120 degrees vertically.

Some companies tried to solve this problem, like Pimax. Their goggles offered a wide FOV, reaching up to 180 degrees on some models. However, they encountered challenges such as distortion, heavy weight and size, and lower resolution due to the gigantic displays for VR goggles, resulting in reduced pixel density. Improving FOV comes with several challenges, which led HyperVision to explore a different approach.

Instead of trying to accommodate two large displays and optics, they opted for four displays and lenses. It looks like this:

These goggles, although currently possible to try out stationary, offer a 240-degree field of view. It uses micro-OLED displays and four 'stitched' lenses. By userwho tried out this headset, the line that divides the two different lenses is completely invisible. However, as he pointed out Ben Lang in his comments to this post, the separation might be more apparent if the goggles could be tested while moving.

Varjo Teleport

Have you ever wanted to... teleport? Surely each of us has thought at least once what would happen if we could. Unfortunately, it's still not possible - no surprises here. However, a 3D scanning method created by Varjo that creates realistic VR scenes using only an iPhone is possible. These scenes have been described as looking 'amazingly good', with some resembling a dream, and others - a little less well indexed - failing to live up to expectations. It all depends on the quality of the scan.

OK, but where can users view and explore their scanned 3D environment? In VR goggles, of course. Specifically in the goggles from Varjo, known as the XR-4. These are the company's latest and most advanced goggles.

Varjo Teleport is currently in the 'pre-release stage' and will not be implemented any time soon. However, this project has been in development for several years and is set to become a significant focus point for the company - definitely worth waiting for.

UltraLeap on Meta Ray-Ban glasses with "event cameras"

UltraLeap is a company known for its early investment in hand tracking technology and is still recognised as having the best hand tracking quality available. However, to date, no goggles on the market have directly integrated UltraLeap technology into their cameras. Fact, there have been times when some goggles (usually those from the Enterprise division) have integrated their technology, but this was done via a separate 'box' with all the hand tracking cameras and sensors attached to the goggles.

Tony from SkarredGhost had the opportunity to try out a demo with Goertek's new reference goggles with built-in UltraLeap technology. Overall, the experience was positive, although Tony encountered issues with the accuracy of the micro-movements - hand movements that detect subtle gestures such as moving the thumb over the index finger. However, this demo may not represent the most convincing demonstration of UltraLeap.

What is more intriguing is the integration of the UltraLeap controller into Meta Ray-Ban glasses to control the device. As opposed to using hand detection cameras (which would be too energy-intensive for the glasses), this has been achieved using a technology called 'event cameras'.

The glasses featured a controller with a downward-facing event camera, allowing the user to rest their hand comfortably on a knee or other surface. Users could slide their thumb over their index finger to change the music. According to Tony's report, the accuracy of the micro-movements was significantly better compared to the VR goggle demonstration.

But wait, what are all these event cameras? Well - it's a technology that could be suitable for future AR glasses. Event cameras, also known as dynamic vision sensors (DVS), are fundamentally different from traditional frame-based cameras. Instead of capturing images at fixed intervals, event cameras detect changes in the scene asynchronously. Each pixel independently records changes in brightness, creating a continuous stream of events. This results in extremely high temporal resolution and low latency, making event cameras ideal for fast-moving scenes and low-light conditions.

Overall, the experience of using UltraLeap on Meta Ray-Ban glasses was reportedly quite good. However, the use of event cameras had drawbacks, including the need for a large controller on one side of the glasses and the connection to an external 'box' via a cable. These problems can be improved, potentially leading to smaller forms in the future.