A point cloud is a set of data points in a 3D space representing the surface of a subject or environment. NYU says Point-Cloud Video, which strings together point-cloud frames into a moving scene, has been under development for the last decade. However, it’s typically too data-intensive for practical purposes, requiring bandwidth far beyond the capabilities of today’s connected devices.

The researchers plan to address those obstacles by “reducing bandwidth consumption and delivery latency, and increasing power consumption efficiency so that PCVs can be streamed far more easily,” according to an NYU Engineering blog post published Monday. Project leader Yong Liu, an NYU electrical and computer engineering professor, believes modern breakthroughs make that possible. “With recent advances in the key enabling technologies, we are now at the verge of completing the puzzle of teleporting holograms of real-world humans, creatures and objects through the global Internet,” Liu wrote on Monday.

ChatGPT maker OpenAI launched a model last year that can create 3D point clouds from text prompts. Engadget reached out to the project leader to clarify whether it or other generative AI tools are part of the process, and we’ll update this article if we hear back.

The team will test the technology with the NYU Tisch School of the Arts and the Mark Morris Dance Group’s Dance Center. Dancers from both organizations will perform on a volumetric capture stage. The team will stream their movements live and on-demand, offering educational content for aspiring dancers looking to study from high-level performers —and allowing engineers to test and tweak their PCV technology.

The researchers envision the work opening doors to more advanced VR and mixed reality streaming content. “The success of the proposed research will contribute towards wide deployment of high quality and robust PCV streaming systems that facilitate immersive augmented, virtual and mixed reality experience and create new opportunities in many domains, including education, business, healthcare and entertainment,” Liu said.

“Point-Cloud Video holds tremendous potential to transform a range of industries, and I’m excited that the research team at NYU Tandon prioritized dance education to reap those benefits early,” said Jelena Kovačević, NYU Tandon Dean.

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You can use up to five “six degrees of freedom” (6DoF) Ultimate Trackers simultaneously and connect to a single headset to collectively support multi-point full-body tracking. Each tracker relies on two wide field-of-view cameras to precisely locate the wearer’s motions in 3D spaces, which ultimately gives it those self-tracking capabilities. The Global Head of Product at HTC, Shen Ye, said the technology built into the Ultimate tracker will enhance the virtual reality experience, making sessions “a lot more realistic and immersive.” Previous models relied on a base station for its tracking capabilities.

The lightweight positional trackers, weighing in at 94 grams a unit, can be attached to a variety of accessories, like a racket sports set, which expands its usability for things like VR training and dancing in VRChat. For example, the Vive Ultimate Tracker can be used specifically for foot tracking, which can be used to gauge passing skills during drills for soccer players. “From elite athletes to casual gamers, it’s extremely versatile and easy to set up anywhere,” Adam Dickinson, director of Rezzil, a tech company focused on training athletes using VR, says on using the new tracker.

The new Ultimate trackers are flat and are smaller than a smartphone, giving it an entirely different look from its three-pointed predecessor, the Vive Tracker 3.0. The Ultimate Tracker can also be paired with a standard mount and paired with HTC’s Vive XR Elite and Vive Focus 3. The trackers communicate positional and map data to the headset via 2.4 GHz band and a 5 GHz WiFi band and have a battery life of up to 7 hours.

Though the company may be getting ahead of itself, Vive says it would eventually like the Ultimate Tracker to work independently with SteamVR without being paired to an XR headset. The first step in this process should come soon, as HTC plans to release a beta for direct connection to SteamVR “in the coming weeks.” This, the company says, will expand the Ultimate Tracker’s capabilities for industrial use. HTC headsets have been vying for space in the race to deliver the best virtual reality headset and accessories, primarily against the likes of Meta and its Quest headsets. Expanding the capabilities of its trackers may help Vive narrow the competitive gap, as more innovative applications may be key to enticing the niche world of VR gamers and users moving forward.

Update, November 30 2023, 1:08 PM ET: This story has been updated to clarify how the trackers use WiFi to operate.

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The Smart Monitor M80D boasts a 32-inch 4K panel and all kinds of high-tech bells and whistles. The big news here is that you can use the display without a PC or a gaming console.

This doesn’t mean it’s a full-fledged computer on its own. The standalone tasks include video calls via the detachable webcam and streaming content from providers like Netflix and Prime Video. The monitor also includes Samsung’s Gaming Hub, so you can stream all kinds of titles via the cloud. Finally, there are standalone apps for controlling smart home devices, word processing and one for accessing fitness metrics.

The previous-generation M8 Smart Monitor already boasted some features that worked without the use of a PC, but this new version kicks things up a notch. You also get HDR10+ visuals, built-in 2-channel speakers and Bluetooth for connecting directly to other gadgets, like wearables. There’s even a tool that lets you quickly send images and text from other Samsung devices, like Galaxy smartphones and Book laptops, to the monitor. It also integrates with Galaxy Buds to offer a “surround sound-like experience” with minimal latency.

This model will be available sometime this year, but Samsung hasn’t released pricing details. As a comparison, the previous-generation launched at $700, but was commonly available with steep discounts.

Samsung also used CES to announce something truly odd, a 3D monitor in the year 2024. 3D technology was extremely popular more than a decade ago, but has since fallen out of favor due to limited use case scenarios. This display offers a potential new use for 3D tech, access to VR content without a headset.

Samsung promises the monitor can run most VR applications without any wearable accessories whatsoever, though the experience will be markedly different. There’s eye and head-tracking integrated into the display, so it can mimic VR movement, but the field of view will be limited by the monitor. A built-in algorithm automatically adjusts the 3D response to provide the most “immersive gaming experience” and it works with all Steam VR titles. Of course, you can also use it to watch traditional 3D content, like 2009’s Avatar or whatever.

There’s no release date yet, though Samsung says it’ll release more information about the monitor as the year progresses. The company also announced a monitor called The Link that’s intended for multi-screen setups. There isn’t much information available for this one, with more to come “later in 2024.”

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Spatialify launched earlier this year as a tool for converting Apple’s spatial videos (HEVC format) for playback on non-Apple VR headsets like the Meta Quest 3. But with Meta later adding native HEVC conversion to its headsets (the best-selling on the market), Spatialify’s superior recording could give the third-party app a new lease on life.

Engadget senior editor Devindra Hardawar confirmed that Spatialify produces files in 4K / 30fps when set accordingly. He also verified that Spatialify’s videos look much sharper on the Vision Pro than those shot in Apple’s camera app. HDR also makes the videos’ lighting look more realistic. Not bad for three bucks.

It’s somewhat surprising Apple is holding back its native camera app from exploiting the iPhone 15 Pro and Pro Max’s full hardware capabilities, but it isn’t unheard of. Halide, a popular iOS camera app, beat Apple to the punch with iOS photography features like shooting in RAW, manual controls and portrait photos for pets. Based on that history, I wouldn’t be shocked if Apple soon added similar advanced spatial recording to its camera,especially now that we know its current hardware has no problem with it.

Spatialify is available on the App Store for $3. It requires an iPhone 15 Pro or iPhone 15 Pro Max to capture spatial videos.

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