Axios Login: Meta's VR prototypes

Plus: Apple's union vote | Tuesday, June 21, 2022

Open in app View in browser     Axios Login By Ina Fried · Jun 21, 2022 I hope you had a good and meaningful Juneteenth and Father's Day weekend. ✅ Situational awareness: Twitter's board unanimously recommended that shareholders approve Elon Musk's $44 billion bid to buy the social media giant, per the AP. Today's newsletter is 1,038 words, a 4-minute read.     1 big thing: Meta's biggest VR advances remain in the lab Image: Meta   Mark Zuckerberg is clear on the kinds of virtual reality experiences he wants to deliver, but shrinking that big vision into something that ordinary people would be comfortable wearing remains years away. Why it matters: As we've reported, the technologies that will eventually form the underpinnings of the metaverse are being developed now, but breakthroughs are still needed to create devices that are thin, light, powerful and affordable. Driving the news: Zuckerberg showed off several prototype mixed reality headsets he says are key to the metaverse future he envisions. One offers resolution approaching 20/20 vision, while another offers a broader range of colors and another reduces distortion using varifocal lenses to make it easier to wear longer. Holocake 2 is the thinnest and lightest mixed reality prototype that Meta has built, using optical folding (aka pancake optics) and replacing the traditional curved lens with a flat holographic lens. Butterscotch offers a retinal resolution, that is enough detail to where the eye can't see any distinct pixels. That also means allowing roughly 20/20 vision. Starburst is a headset that focuses on displaying a high dynamic range, the difference between the brightest and darkest areas. Between the lines: All the prototypes were still rough around the edges and each addresses only one of the current limitations. Plus, Meta isn't committing to putting any of these concepts into a shipping product any time soon. Meta has said to expect a high-end headset, codenamed Project Cambria, later this year. Meta has also reportedly shelved or delayed plans to commercially release market several other AR and VR headset concepts. Be smart: It's a lot easier to get something working in a lab than it is to release something as a full product, with all the quality and reliability expectations that come with it, not to mention the hefty sales and marketing efforts that are required. The big picture: Putting all of these attributes together is key to what Zuckerberg calls the virtual Turing test, the point at which the eyes can naturally assume the virtual world is real. (Alan Turing created the Turing test in the 1950s to describe the point at which people believe a computer is human.) "Displays that match the full capacity of humanvision are going to unlock some really important things," Zuckerberg said. "The first is a realistic sense of presence, and that's the feeling of being with someone or in some place as if you're physically there." Go deeper: Read our "Pieces of the Metaverse" deep dive.     2. Apple store employees in Maryland first to unionize Apple workers at a store in Maryland voted roughly two-to-one to join a union, becoming the first of the company's employees to choose to do so. Why it matters: The vote comes as tech workers, who have long eschewed unionization, have been increasingly open to the idea. Driving the news: In the vote, results of which were announced Saturday, 65 employees at a store in Towson, Maryland, voted to unionize, with 33 voting against, per the New York Times. Between the lines: While the Maryland workers are the first Apple employees to approve unionization, employees at more than two dozen other stores are considering a similar move, the New York Times reported. Apple and Amazon have actively encouraged workers to reject organizing efforts, while Microsoft has said it will support employees who wish to unionize. An Apple representative was not immediately available for comment.     3. Two hot games' secret Google connection The Quarry. Screenshot: Supermassive, Take Two   Google was involved in the creation of two notable video games in the spotlight this month, before the downsizing of its Stadia gaming operation sent those projects elsewhere, two sources familiar with their development tell Axios' Stephen Totilo. Why it matters: The games' Google connections help fill out a picture of what Stadia could have offered, if Google hadn't abandoned its ambitions in 2021 to create a gaming platform to rival PlayStation and Xbox. Details: Neither of the games — the well-reviewed horror adventure The Quarry, and comedic sci-fi game High on Life — has been officially associated with Stadia. The Quarry, developed by Supermassive and published by Take Two Interactive, was released on June 10 for PC, PlayStation and Xbox. High On Life, from Squanch Games and a team led by "Rick and Morty" co-creator Justin Roiland, was revealed during a Microsoft gaming showcase last week and is slated for an Xbox and PC release later this year. But Axios sources say both games were projects that previously were being made for Google and presented as signature Stadia releases, meant to draw players to the streaming service. Catch up quick: Google announced Stadia in March 2019, attempting to shake up the games industry with a device-free cloud-based platform and a line-up of games from a mix of outside studios and internal teams staffed by veteran game designers. But an awkward roll-out, confusing price structure and lack of exclusive games at launch has hampered the project. In February 2021, Google began closing its internal studios. Its underlying cloud tech has since been licensed by AT&T to offer 5G subscribers access to a top Batman game and by Capcom to allow people to play a demo of the latest Resident Evil game in a web browser. The big picture: In the super-secret video game industry, projects can be in development for years at major companies, with no stakeholders so much as acknowledging them.     A message from Axios Smart Brevity® for your business     Tune in on 6/22 at noon ET to learn the fundamentals of Smart Brevity® — Axios' communications formula — and how it can transform your business communications.     4. Take Note On Tap Collision takes place in Toronto through Thursday, while NFT.NYC runs over the same time in New York. Meanwhile, Cannes Lions and Amazon's Re:Mars conference both run through Friday. Trading Places Noah Davis, who has been spearheading NFT efforts at Christie's is leaving the auction house next month to lead the CryptoPunks brand for Yuga Labs. ICYMI Apple is testing a feature for iOS 16 that would let people skip those annoying CAPTCHA tests to verify they are indeed human. (MacRumors) Meta announced the launch of an avatar designer clothing store called the "Meta Avatars Store." (TechCrunch) The FAA reached a new agreement with AT&T and Verizon Friday on deploying 5G signals around airports after a stand-off that threatened flights earlier this year. (Axios)     5. After you Login This is apparently an illusion and the square isn't really rotating. But, I'll be honest, after the last couple of years, it's gotten pretty hard to tell reality from fiction.     A message from Axios Smart Brevity® for your business     Tune in on 6/22 at noon ET to learn the fundamentals of Smart Brevity® — Axios' communications formula — and how it can transform your business communications.   Like this email style and format? It's called Smart Brevity®. 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