1. Valve is showing off a new version of its finger-tracking Knuckles VR controllers, the previous versions of which have been in the hands of testers and developers. The new EV3 release makes small but welcome improvements to the controllers, VentureBeat reports: “The biggest improvement to Knuckles EV3 is in battery life — sensor efficiency improvements led to a two-hour boost, equating to a total of between seven and eight hours of use per charge. Valve also improved the triggers for greater reliability, calibrated grip force sensors for consistency across units, and recessed both the system button and USB port for ergonomic reasons...a few more [tweaks] refine the strap, plus other fit and finish enhancements that make the new version look ready for wide manufacturing.” Valve will ship the EV3 to testers and developers later this month, but there’s still some time before consumers get access--VentureBeat puts that release in early 2019, “barring a last-minute surprise of some sort.” No word on cost yet, either. If you do manage to get your hands on the EV2 or EV3, Valve offers some SteamVR “Knuckles Tech Demos” to test out the devices. -- VENTUREBEAT / VRFOCUS

2. As mentioned in yesterday’s newsletter, Elon Musk tweeted that he plans to live stream Space X’s 2023 moon mission in VR. Since that announcement, the community has had a chance to digest the news, mostly settling on the question of how VR will have changed by that distant year. Musk announced the mission “will be livestreamed in high def VR, so it’ll feel like you’re there in real-time minus a few seconds for speed of light,” adding that he would achieve this using his Starlink network. The timing is curious: the Department of Justice has just opened a criminal investigation into Musk’s other tweets. But that’s the thing about this kind of fence-pointing: now that the idea is out there, someone’s going to do it. The timeline may not be what Musk suggests, but VR will absolutely be used to put Earthbound folks into space. Sometimes it takes a guy like Musk to get the ball rolling. Next stop: Mars. -- BUSINESS INSIDER / VRSCOUT

1. Mozilla has finally released its web browser designed specifically for navigation in standalone VR and AR headsets. Firefox Reality 1.0 is now available for free on HTC Viveport, Oculus Go and Daydream devices. According to VentureBeat, the browser includes features specifically developed to help reality-blind users, such as “voice search, letting you use the microphone in your headset to avoid typing URLs into a keyboard.” And as VB points out, Mozilla is known for its strict security and privacy features, unlike Facebook/Oculus. The company is reportedly “open to discussing ports”--hopefully that includes tethered headsets like the Rift, Vive and WMR options. -- VENTUREBEAT

2. Oculus will offer an immersive live stream during its Connect conference next week, but there’s a catch: the immersive live stream will only be accessible to owners of Oculus Go and Gear VR headsets. Bonkers, right? I’ll let Road to VR take this one: “Continuing a trend of an awkwardly incohesive product ecosystem which does little to allow users of its mobile and desktop headsets to engage with one another, Oculus today announced a schedule of immersive live streams that will offer some sense of virtual attendance to Oculus Connect...Through the Oculus Venues app, which is only available on Gear VR and Go.” According to Road to VR, Oculus suggested Rift users “consider jumping inside Oculus Home where they could virtually visit with other Rift users (but not friends using Go or Gear VR) while watching the standard 2D live stream from the event. A half-hearted consolation for what is arguably the company’s most engaged user base.” Truly baffling. -- ROAD TO VR

3. Erstwhile gaming goldmine “Angry Birds” will come to AR later this fall with a “first-person take on the physics-based slingshot smasher game,” according to Road to VR. Rovio Entertainment says its Angry Birds franchise saw approximately 4 billion downloads, with the original game alone racking up more than 100 million installs. But with the Magic Leap One headset still at a $2,300 price point--well outside of the kind of cost that could support folks buying the headset for this experience alone--this AR experience will likely be a taste of what’s to come when the hardware costs get down to consumer levels. However, it sure does look fun... -- ROAD TO VR

4. A fifth lion has joined the four classic, 150-year-old lions of London’s Trafalgar Square. “Please Feed the Lions” is the result of a partnership between Google and British designer Es Devlin that asks visitors to “feed” words to the fifth lion, with which a contained AI applies that word to its database of 19th century poetry (25 million words, according to The Verge). The lion then projects an original poem onto its body and the nearby Nelson’s Column. There are no headsets here, but this is the kind of large scale art installation I suspect we’ll be seeing more and more of, as shared AR spaces start to overlay… for lack of a better term, reality. Lots more detail after the jump--it’s a fascinating piece of art, in part because the lion is painted “in a shade of vermilion so bright that it warps its surroundings...It obliterates detail, and from a distance, it looks like the sculpture has been edited out of reality, leaving behind a lion-shaped hole where a lion ought to be.” -- THE VERGE / VENTUREBEAT

7. 360 Video from Lockheed Martin: Sky High View: F-16 Aerial Photographer 360-Degree Video

"Go behind the scenes with our aerial photographer to get a 360-degree view from the back of an F-16 Fighting Falcon, capturing the flight of two F-35A Lightning IIs. Learn more about the F-16: http://lmt.co/2sesgm3 and the F-35: http://lmt.co/2sej3d5" -- YOUTUBE (ht VRFOCUS)

8. Everyone's getting on board...

"Virtual reality isn’t just for gamers. We’re using #VR #technology to improve team member experience and workplace #safety. #RaisingExpectations" - @TysonFoods (Tyson Foods, Inc. founded in 1935. Raising the world's expectations for how much good food can do. Follows≠endorsements. Retweets≠endorsements.)

9. A safe avenue for catharsis...

"Ukrainians relive bloodshed of Kiev's Maidan in virtual reality | Reuters #Ukraine #Maidan #Kyiv #VR" - @e_klymenko (Ukrainian. Technology passionate. Music enthusiast. #Ukraine #ICT #IoT#Investment #Entrepreneurship#Technology #DigitalTransformation)

10. Should prove to be an interesting event...

"Interested in virtual reality? Check out the live stream of Oculus Connect 5 next week- now offered in 2D, in VR via Facebook Venues and in person. And if you’ll be there IRL, let me know! #OC5 #VR #FBSpaces" - @amylameyer (Investing in the future of AI AR VR (all R's) • Mentor #WXRfund #ARVRAcademy#BoostVC #WomeninVRAR • Music is as vital as air)

3. VRFocus published several pieces today diving into the life of a VR/AR developer: in this case, UK-based Make Real. The content covers creation best practices, the future of VR and several other aspects of running a business in this new, chaotic space. Of particular interest to anyone creating content for VR or AR: a lengthy interview with the developer’s director of immersive technologies on “What Makes Good VR.” -- VRFOCUS

4. Vehicle AR company WayRay has secured $80 million in series C funding, led by Porsche. The funding round also included Hyundai, Alibaba, China Merchants Capital, Jvckenwood, and Consortium of Sovereign Wealth Funds (JBIC and partners), according to VentureBeat. WayRay’s holographic AR solutions are designed to prevent the discomfort of drivers needing to wear an AR headset for long periods, while assisting the user with navigation and more. The company expects to have its technology on the road within three years. -- VENTUREBEAT

9. Very excited for this one...

"Finally, another local Montreal title, also in #VR! Congrats to the team at @Ubisoft and @_SpectreVision for the launch of #TransferenceVR on Steam, PS4 and Xbox One (so also playable non-VR). Great creepy #Wwise work in this psychological thriller." - @AKMikeD

10. By the time that Moon mission is live in 2023, we may not even need headsets...

"Moon mission will be livestreamed in high def VR, so it’ll feel like you’re there in real-time minus a few seconds for speed of light" - @elonmusk

1. A new mobile app uses Google’s optical character recognition (OCR) library to bring “find on page” word searching to real life. “In real time, the app searches the text in its view for multiple keywords you input into the app,” Next Reality reports. “When found, the words are underlined within the camera view.” The app can search text in English, Spanish, French, Romanian, Portuguese, German and other languages. True story: I’ve worked in several libraries over the years, and while there (and other places where I was confronted with a literal wall of words), I’ve thought about which appendage I’d give up for the ability to “Ctrl-F” real life. This app isn’t quite that, but it’s dang close. Looks like I won’t have to give up my left hand after all. -- NEXT REALITY

2. Tetris is one of those experiences that seems to transcend the gaming space, which makes the upcoming “Tetris Effect” VR release exceptionally exciting. VentureBeat published an interview over the weekend with Tetsuya Mizuguchi, the game designer leading the “Tetris Effect” team known for creating “Lumines” and the early, designed-for-VR experience “Rez.” If that last sentence sparked interest, hold onto your butts: “There was a time after the development of Rez had finished and before the PlayStation Portable was released when I wanted to create a game that combined elements of Rez with the mechanics of Tetris,” Mizuguchi told VentureBeat. “Nothing came of it at the time, but that idea ultimately led to the creation of a brand new game: Lumines. The reason things didn’t work out was due to issues surrounding the Tetris license, but sometime later—about five years ago—I ended up hitting it off with Henk Rogers, which is when I came up with the basic concept for Tetris Effect.” Could not be more excited for this--"Tetris Effect" could be one of the VR applications that drives adoption… or it could be like “Rez”: a fascinating concept released a little too far ahead of its time. -- VENTUREBEAT