August 6th, 2023

Welcome to this weeks’ edition of The Future of VR newsletter. Thanks for subscribing to our list - we’re grateful to have you here. Let’s dive in to some of the biggest updates we’re seeing in the world of Virtual Reality this week:

UFC Zone for Meta Horizon Worlds

Big news for UFC VR fans. Meta Horizon Worlds will have a dedicated zone later this year specifically for UFC. This partnership began last October with Fight Pass MMA events and is in the process of expansion.

Fans will be able to see the greatest fights in the UFC in a 4K 180 degree environment. Interactive gaming (both individual and multi-player) are also going to be available.

UFC is one of the fastest growing sports in the world at the moment. Plus, unlike most other sports that can be watched for free, UFC generally requires a pay-per-view purchase.

We’ve seen many other disruptive technologies making their way into sports over the last few years (for example: many crypto exchanges are the largest sponsors of sports like Formula I). This partnership should help with bringing VR to the mainstream and gaining mass adoption.

Swap Genders with VR:

“Body of Mine” is a 15 minute VR experiences that allows you to step into the body of another gender. For example: a man can leverage Body of Mine to spend 15 minutes as a woman (or vice versa).

Gender transformation surgeries are becoming much more common over the last few years. However, these surgeries are extremely expensive, painful, and high risk.

Plus, the average person looking to change genders ultimately has not had any experience stepping into the shoes of someone from a different gender. Body of Mine will help to bridge the gap and give people more clarity surrounding whether they would like to go through with this transformation (prior to going through with the surgery itself).

Virtuix Plans to Ship 1,000 VR Treadmills

Virtuix, the company behind the Virtuix Omni which allows players to walk and run on their treadmills mid-game, has raised $4.7M through crowdfunding. They’re currently planning to ship 1,000 treadmills before this year ends.

The company currently has a waitlist of 35,000 interested customers at the moment. Omni One is priced at $2,595 (and comes with the Pico VR headset). Due to this, they will likely target mainly businesses as their customers.

Although we’re very excited for this new launch, similar to the Vision Pro, it brings up the question of affordability. Apple was one of the first companies to build a mass-market product at a $1,000 price point (I.E. the iPhone). However, the iPhone was able to develop an extremely clear use case for both personal and business reasons.

At this point in time, a VR treadmill is realistically not a necessity for anyone. Although a lot of people would enjoy this product for gaming purposes, it’s tough to say whether consumers will be able to justify the steep price tag.

Ultimately it could change the gaming space in a very positive way by promoting children’s exercise. The gaming industry overall tends to receive a lot of criticism for promoting sedentary lifestyles for children. But if gaming becomes a more interactive experience through VR and children use it as a source of exercise, this problem could be solved.

Only time will tell.

Meta Quest+ Launches New August Games

Meta Quest+, a VR gaming subscription service for $7.99/mo, launched back in June for both Meta Quest 2 and Quest pro.

Playeres receive two popular VR games chosen by Meta. Last month’s games were Pistol Whip (a VR shooter game) and Pixel Ripped 1995 (an action adventure type experience).

This month, users will have access to Walkabout Mini Golf and Mothergunship: Forge.

That’s a wrap for this week. Watch out for our next newsletter coming next Sunday!