Month: January 2022

Enlarge / It's not much to look at, but at least the name is official. (credit: Sony)

Sony's trickle of information about its future in virtual reality continued on Tuesday with the surprise announcement of an unsurprising name: PlayStation VR2. Thankfully, the name comes with a dump of specs that confirm Sony's aspirations to deliver one of the most robust VR systems yet on the consumer market.

The upcoming VR add-on, which will require a PlayStation 5 to function, is still missing crucial stats like a release date, a price, or even a photo of what the primary headset will look like. In some ways, it's reminiscent the Meta Quest 2 (formerly Oculus Quest 2), as it includes a comparable pixel resolution (2,000 x 2,040 pixels per eye, or roughly 15.7 percent more than Quest 2's per-eye count), a comparable field-of-view of 110 degrees, and a comparable "inside-out" array of cameras that will track a user's space without requiring an external device like the original PSVR's webcam.

It’s thinking (and watching)

We previously knew that PSVR2 would require a hardwired connection to PlayStation 5 consoles, unlike the default wireless freedom of Quest 2. Today, however, Sony revealed two potentially huge differentiators over its VR headset competition: haptic feedback, and internal eye-tracking.

Enlarge (credit: Lesley Cherns et al.)

Researchers created a highly detailed 3D model of a 365-million-year-old ammonite fossil from the Jurassic period by combining advanced imaging techniques, revealing internal muscles that have never been previously observed, according to a paper published last month in the journal Geology. Another paper published last month in the journal Papers in Paleontology reported on the creation of 3D virtual models of the armored plates from fossilized skeletons of two new species of ancient worms, dating from 400 million years ago.

The ammonite fossil used in the Geology study was discovered in 1998 at the Claydon Pike pit site in Gloucestershire, England, which mostly comprises poorly cemented sands, sandstone, and limestone. Plenty of fragmented mollusk shells are scattered throughout the site, but this particular specimen was remarkably intact, showing no signs of prolonged exposure via scavenging, shell encrustation, or of being exhumed from elsewhere and redeposited. The fossil is currently housed at the National Museum Wales, Cardiff.

"When I found the fossil, I immediately knew it was something special," said co-author Neville Hollingworth, public engagement manager at the Science and Technology Facilities Council. "The shell split in two and the body of the fossil fell out revealing what looked like soft tissues. It is wonderful to finally know what these are through the use of state-of-the-art imaging techniques."

Enlarge / The OnePlus 10 Pro. (credit: OnePlus)

Official product news about the upcoming OnePlus 10 Pro has begun to trickle out. For now, we have an incomplete overview with some pictures and specs, while things like a price, release date, and the finer details will have to wait for later.

First up: specs. OnePlus 10 Pro officially has the brand-new Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 SoC. This is Qualcomm's new flagship SoC for 2022, and it features a single ARM Cortex X2 core, three medium Cortex A710 CPUs, and four small Cortex A510 CPUs, all built on a 4 nm process. OnePlus isn't saying how much RAM and storage the 10 Pro has, but the 9 Pro came with 8GB or 12GB of RAM and 128GB or 256GB of storage. The company confirmed the display is 120 Hz but didn't give a size, though rumors say it's 6.7-inch, the same as the OnePlus 9 Pro. That fits the now-official dimensions, which are 163 × 73.9 × 8.55 mm.

The battery is officially 5000 mAh, an upgrade over the 9 Pro's 4500 mAh battery. Considering the similar dimensions between the two phones, this is a welcome upgrade in battery density. OnePlus is also up to a whopping 80 W "SuperVOOC" quick charging now—an improvement over last year's 65 W "Warp Charge." OnePlus doesn't give any indication of what kind of charge time we can expect, but 65 W could charge the 9 Pro's 4500 mAh battery from 0-100 in a half-hour. Charging speed is still outpacing battery growth, so the 10 Pro should charge in under a half-hour. Just like last year, wireless charging is 50 W.