An AR experience featuring "The Mandalorian" is now out for the Pixel 4a 5G, Pixel 5, and other 5G Android phones. The free app places users "in the shoes of a bounty hunter" who's following Mando. They can retrace his steps, look for the Child (Baby Yoda), and interact with life-sized characters from the series.

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• Google worked with Disney and Lucasfilm to develop the experience, which is largely based on the show's first season.
• You don't need a 5G connection, though the app is limited to these compatible 5G Android devices. More could be added soon.
• The app is built on Google’s AR developer platform ARCore and utilizes ts ARCore Depth API, which allows for occlusion (aka, when virtual objects appear in front or behind real-world objects).
• New episodes will arrive weekly.

Time's best AR/VR inventions

The magazine just released its 100 groundbreaking inventions for 2020. This year, several AR/VR projects made the list, which we cover in today's special feature.

Pico's Neo 2 Eye VR Headset

• The VR headset, geared toward corporate use, released in May and costs $899.
• Time cited its eye-tracking software, which can tell where you're looking. This could help businesses view what element or a product a customer is looking at, for example...

Augmedics' xvision

• Chicago-based Augmedics developed an AR head-mounted display for spine surgery. It uses CT scans to create a 3-D visualization to help guide surgeries...

Virti

• The training platform allows workers from a variety of industries to experience AR and VR scenarios.
• This year, Virti launched training modules for the coronavirus, which shows frontline workers skills such as how to ventilate a patient, administer treatments, or wear PPE...

Supernatural by Within

• Within released the subscription-based full-body fitness service for VR in April. It's designed for Oculus Quest and now, the Quest 2...

The Quest 2 64GB version is seeing small shipping delays on Oculus.com ahead of the holiday season, according to Road to VR. It's still expected to ship in the U.S. within a week.

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• Road to VR predicts that the shipping delays—which impact Canada, South Korea, and Finland the most—could worsen as we approach Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
• The 256 GB version is seeing fewer shipping delays than the 64GB. The Rift S, which is being discontinued along with other Rift products in 2021, has the fewest delays.
• As of today, the Quest 2 (64GB) was also available in the U.S. through official third-party retailers. Best Buy has it in most locations. On Amazon, it'll be in stock on Dec. 7.
• Facebook said it planned to manufacture more Quest 2s than the original Quest, which was mostly unavailable last holiday season and went in and out of stock throughout 2020.

A game developed for the Sega VR headset, which was never released, is now playable on HTC Vive headsets through emulation. Back in the early 90s, Sega developed the VR headset for the Genesis, along with some games. But the VR peripheral was never released over concerns that it was "too realistic" and would cause headaches and dizziness.

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• Now, some video game preservationists have restored a hovercraft game called "Nuclear Rush" by reverse engineering it into an emulator, which can run on the HTC Vive Cosmos and other headsets.
• The effort comes from Video Game History Foundation's Rich Whitehouse and Gaming Alexandria's Dylan Mansfield, who worked with Sega VR game developer Kenneth Hurley.
• Hurley had gotten ahold of an old Nuclear Rush CD-ROM, which had its source code. “We kind of had to scrape things together," said Whitehouse, who wrote a lengthy blog post about the effort.
• The Sega VR, which had a refresh rate of 30 Hz, was highlighted at the 1993 Summer Consumer Electronics Show before Sega discontinued it shortly after.
• You can download the code for the emulator and Nuclear Rush on GitHub.

"Waltz of the Wizard" VR developer Aldin Dynamics is suspending development and updates for PSVR titles until Sony offers more info about VR on the PS5. Aldin CEO Hrafn Thorisson made the announcement in a tweet yesterday.

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• Waltz was released for PC VR, Quest, and PSVR several years ago.
• Now, the game's upcoming expansion, Natural Magic, won't be landing on PSVR unless Sony clarifies its PS5 VR intentions. It's due out in 2021 for other platforms.
• Thorisson cited PSPVR, Sony’s previous PSP gaming handheld device, suggesting that he believes a PSVR 2 should be standalone with an optional PS5 plugin.
• Related: VR sword-fighting game "Swords of Gargantua" is coming to PSVR on Dec. 8. It will cost $30.

Sony's latest PSVR Mega Pack is rolling out this month in Europe, Australia, and New Zealand. It doesn't appear to be getting a U.S. launch.

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• The bundle includes the headset, camera, and adaptor, along with digital copies of Moss, PSVR Worlds, Everybody’s Golf VR, Astro Bot Rescue Mission, and Blood & Truth.
• The adaptor is required to play PS VR titles on the PS5, but does not include PlayStation Move controllers. All the titles are still playable with the DualShock 4 controller.
• A price hasn't been announced yet. Last year's bundle sold for £299.99 (about $399 U.S.).
• Related: Immotion Group's Let’s Explore VR Oceans Pack is now available for £69.99 (about $94 U.S.). It includes smartphone-compatible VR Goggles, accessories, 10 VR movies, and four AR experiences.

QUICK HITS: 

• An algorithm that analyzes Twitter comments and invests in crypto is beating the S&P *
• UploadVR's Jamie Feltham says the Oculus Quest 2 controllers' battery life (two AA batteries) lasted him a whopping three months, after using the headset at least a few hours per week.
• The VIVE Focus Plus VR headset for businesses now includes a built-in VPN and device management tools.
• Myst-inspired VR adventure game "Ryte: The Eye of Atlantis" is coming to Steam VR and Oculus in December.
• The goal of "Star Wars: Tales From the Galaxy’s Edge," now out for the Oculus Quest, was to expand the world but not to recreate it, says game producer Alyssa Finley.
• DeSand Game Studios announced "Dreamhouse: The Game," which allows users to build a dream house and view it in VR. While there's no release date yet, it's likely to land on Steam in 2021.
• Investment manager Fidelity International is among the financial firms exploring VR for employee training as remote working becomes more common. It's trialing VR for sales team interactions with clients.

*This is a sponsored post.

Tweet of the Day: Brian Ambrozy, head of community at Unity Technologies, received his new Valve Index, which just won VR Hardware of the Year at the 2020 VR Awards.