Facebook leaked two promotional videos of its upcoming Oculus Quest 2 VR headset, ahead of its presumed official launch on Wednesday. The videos show specs of the VR headset, which appears to be smaller, lighter, and more advanced than its predecessor. Here's what we know so far:

How does it compare to the original Quest?

The Quest 2 is powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon XR2 platform, designed for VR/AR, an upgrade from the Snapdragon 835 for the 2019-era Quest. It will have soft-touch fabric instead of a plastic strap and 3D audio capability. It'll come with 6GB of RAM instead of 4GB and 256GB of storage instead of 128GB. Its resolution is nearly 2K for each eye, which a video confirms is 50% more pixels than before. The videos didn't specify the refresh rate. (Previous reports have suggested it will be 90Hz, up from 72Hz). It will include Oculus Link support for a Windows PC connection and standard PC VR gameplay.

Will it support hand tracking?

Yes, Quest 2 will have controller-free hand tracking, which will allow users to browse some apps, navigate menus, and play certain games with only your hands. Many games still don't support the feature, however, so the updated controllers will come in handy. Facebook says they'll have updated ergonomics for a more comfortable experience...

Also at Facebook Connect, there will be a "glimpse" of the upcoming "Star Wars: Tales from the Galaxy’s Edge" VR game. Developer ILMxLAB, Lucasfilm's immersive entertainment studio, confirmed tomorrow's reveal in a tweet, which included a screenshot of the game (see above).

More:

• The game is set between "The Last Jedi" and "The Rise of Skywalker" on the planet Batuu. Users will play as droid repair technician who crash-lands on Batuu after a pirate attack on the Black Spire Outpost outskirts.
• Players will be able to chat with Seezelslak, an Azumel bartender, in his cantina and transport to other times and locations within the Star Wars galaxy based on his tales.
• "Saturday Night Live" alum Bobby Moynihan voices Seezelslak. Debra Wilson ("Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order") plays Quarren pirate and gang leader Tara Rashin.
• The online-only Facebook Connect starts at 10 a.m. PT on Wednesday, Sept 16. You can live stream it here.

Combining VR with slow breathing promotes relaxation and better sleep quality in adolescents, according to new research. The findings suggest a promising potential to one day use immersive technology to help treat sleep disorders.

More:

• Researchers studied 29 high school students, 10 who have insomnia, using polysomnography for two nights. On the control night, they engaged in only quiet activities before sleeping. On the test night, they did slow diaphragmatic breathing in a relaxing VR environment.
• The VR/slow breathing technique resulted in more perceived sleepiness and less alertness for all participants before bedtime. It also led to a notable drop in heart rate and a 3% rise in sleep efficiency.
• Because VR is a "powerful distractor," it can lower the worry and rumination that interfere with falling asleep and general sleep processes.

Developer Simon Brown (a.k.a DrBeef) is working to port "Doom 3" to the Oculus Quest. This comes a month after he brought a full 6DoF VR port of "Return to Castle Wolfenstein" to the Quest.

More:

• To play the mod, users will need a copy of the original game and the SideQuest app.
• Brown told UploadVR that the game “runs surprisingly well" without having to remove too many effects.
• He previously brought 1993's "Doom" and 1998's "Half-Life" to the Quest.
• You can watch the teaser trailer here.

The XR Safety Initiative has released a privacy framework to establish accountability and improve data privacy in XR applications. The guidelines encourage Facebook and other VR companies to responsibly develop and deploy immersive technologies rather than use them to harvest data from individuals.

More:

• The framework stressed prevention over protection, which includes initiatives like content moderation, decentralization, anonymization, and proactive actions to preserve privacy.
• It incorporates privacy rules and standards from Europe's General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), among others.
• Organizations such as Open AR Cloud, the University of Michigan, and the Georgia Institute of Technology are working with the initiative to develop the framework even further and eventually get it adopted and enforced.
• None of the major VR developers - Facebook, HTC, Valve - have said yet if they would support the initiative.

Former Apple executive Jean-Louis Gassee argues that Apple Glass will be a VR headset rather than AR glasses. In a Medium Monday Note yesterday, Gassee writes that he believes the first iteration of the device would be VR goggles that link to Apple's Arcade gaming service.

More:

• Leaks have suggests Apple is working on both AR glasses, due out as early as 2023, and a separate AR headset, which could arrive earlier in 2022.
• Gassee argues that there are challenges to releasing AR head-worn wearables like glasses with a heads-up display, which can be distracting and come with privacy issues.
• In the post, he argues that Apple, being privacy-conscious, is likely to approach Apple Glass "with great caution," perhaps by not incorporating a camera or at least telling users when it's turned on.
• He says head-enveloping goggles that rely on PC computing and battery power seem "more likely." iPhones could be involved but only for if only "ancillary functions" such as communicating with the outside world.
• Apple Glass could further the company’s involvement in VR gaming as seen in today's Apple Arcade, he concludes.

QUICK HITS

• Sony has cut PS5 forecasts due to production issues.
• North Star's Bryan Chris Brown shows off "Half-Life: Alyx" running inside Leap Motion’s Project North Star open-source AR headset.
• A non-VR version of "Paper Beast" is coming on Oct. 20.
• A new VR experience aims to show people the serious and potentially deadly consequences of not getting a flu vaccine.
• Slack is gathering industry leaders and product experts at Slack Frontiers, a free virtual conference dedicated to digital transformation.*

*This is a sponsored post.

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Tweet of the Day: @SkarredGhost shared research that could result in future AR/VR headsets removing objects we don't want to see from our vision.