Oculus has teamed up with NASA, the European Space Agency, and the Canadian Space Agency to produce Mission: ISS, a free virtual reality experience that simulates the day-to-day operations of the International Space Station.
Using a Rift headset and a pair of Oculus Touch controllers, players can navigate the International Space Station and take part in activities like spacewalks and space capsule docking, while a realistic training regimen teaches the basics of navigating confined spaces in zero gravity.
Developed by Los Angeles-based studio Magnopus, Mission: ISS is the latest virtual reality experience to be published under the Oculus Studios brand, following up on recent Oculus-published efforts like Landfall and Robinson: The Journey. Recreating the International Space Station in “painstaking detail,” Mission: ISS offers a mixture of educational content and interactive experiences inspired by the work of real-world astronauts.
After coming to grips with zero-gravity navigation, players are given various jobs aboard the simulated station. Using Oculus Touch controllers for input, players complete mission-critical tasks that emerge following a day spent docking cargo capsules and conducting spacewalks, among other simulated activities.
Oculus pitches the experience as an easy way for civilians to experience the wonders of outer space, as only around 500 trained astronauts and scientists worldwide have completed the necessary training in order to be cleared for space travel. Mission: ISS effectively eliminates the demanding physical requirements and years of training that are mandatory for real-world space travelers.
Oculus additionally revealed plans to provide high school students in the United States with access to Mission: ISS. The experience will later come full-circle when Mission: ISS and an Oculus Rift setup are delivered to the actual International Space Station for testing.
“(We’re) piloting a limited beta program in the U.S. to provide high school students with direct access to Mission:ISS,” Oculus said. “At the same time, we’ve partnered with CNES, the French Space Agency, to send a Rift to the ISS! The Rift will be used for the first time in orbit by European astronaut Thomas Pesquet to test the effects of zero gravity on human spatial awareness and balance using software developed by the space agencies.”
The absolutely absurd idea of putting a touchscreen display on a mouse isn't exactly new. Turtle Beach already did it with its Command Series MC7, which features a 2.25-inch control screen. But apparently, even that wasn't ridiculous enough for Arctic Fox Technologies. Its new Super Mouse looks like someone took the chunky old Atari ST mouse, slapped a touchscreen and scroll wheel on it, and called it an upgrade.
The result is a rather unusual-looking mouse that is now on Kickstarter, starting at $199. And as ridiculous as it looks, some of its features are genuinely intriguing.
Apple is less than a day away from launching its highly anticipated OLED MacBook Pro with a touch-sensitive screen. But it appears that the upgrade is going to cost a pretty penny. According to a report by Bloomberg, Apple is reportedly eyeing a starting price of $2,899 for the 14-inch MacBook Pro, while the 16-inch version could start at $3,399 in the US.
"At $2,899, the 14-inch model would mark the highest starting price for a new MacBook Pro model, surpassing the $2,799 Apple charged for a 17-inch version introduced in 2006," says the report. The report claims that Apple is targeting a minimum price hike of $400 for its upcoming redesigned 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models.
I've spent a good amount of time digging into the spec sheet of the new M6 MacBook Pro (14-inch), and for all intents and purposes, this is a classic Apple "chip and connectivity" refresh. It's not a full redesign. The chassis, Liquid Retina XDR panel, speakers, ports, and battery, all of them carry over unchanged.
However, the M6 brings more cores, stronger on-device AI, higher memory bandwidth on the larger configs, and modern wireless. Here’s the practical rundown of what actually improved, and whether those gains are worth your money.