Month: October 2022

Enlarge / An intensive care nurse cares for a patient suffering from respiratory syncytial virus who is being ventilated in the children's intensive care unit of the Olgahospital in Stuttgart, Germany. (credit: Getty | Picture Alliance)

Doctors around the country are reporting early and dramatic surges in respiratory illnesses, with many children's hospitals saying they're running low on beds.

Nearly three-quarters of pediatric hospital beds are full, according to national data compiled by the Department of Health and Human Services. Some areas are seeing pediatric hospitals full, including the Washington, DC, and Boston areas.

Multiple viruses are behind the surge. As Ars reported earlier, health officials have warned about a surge in adenoviruses and enteroviruses, both common childhood respiratory viruses. One enterovirus, called EV-D68, is associated with a polio-like neurologic condition called acute flaccid myelitis (AFM) in young children, and health officials are bracing for a subsequent uptick in AFM cases. So far, the CDC has not seen such a rise this fall.

Enlarge / Out of the case and ready to demo.

Even virtual reality's biggest boosters may hesitate at the idea of spending nearly $1,500 for the Meta Quest Pro without trying it first. Fortunately, a retail partnership means that people can try the upcoming Quest Pro at select Best Buy locations during weekend demos.

After checking out one of those demos, though, we came away largely unimpressed with our first impressions. Even if the Quest Pro's new features end up justifying its massive price (and more time with a retail unit later this week should help answer that question fully), our retail demo did not put Meta's best foot forward.

Where do I go?

Upon entering Best Buy in Columbia, Maryland, on Sunday, I didn't find any signage suggesting that there was any special VR demo going on inside the store. Instead, I had to search the aisles until I found a lonely Quest display in an unloved back corner of the store, complete with a Quest 2 and Quest Pro under glass. Nearby, a demo staffer leaned on a counter playing with his phone next to a demo unit in a charging stand. When I approached, he said I was the first person all weekend who had expressed any interest in a demo (though one more came to see what it was about while I was in the headset).