HTC announced a major update to its Vive Focus headset at this week's Vive Ecosystem Conference in Shenzhen. The Vive Focus is available in China and will come to the U.S. and Western markets later this year. The System Update 2.0 includes the ability to receive calls and messages with the paired U12+ HTC smartphone. Other new features include "Surroundings Mode" to let users toggle to a see-through screen and "Passenger Mode" which prevents motion sickness from using VR on a plane or in a vehicle. — ENGADGET

NCTech showcased its new iSTAR Pulsar 360-degree imaging system at the Geo Business Show in London. The British company developed the system to allow users to capture 360-degree footage while in motion, such as being mounted on a vehicle or drone. The iSTAR has 11K spherical resolution, an adjustable capture rate, and an automated post-processing pipeline. The technology will be on display at the SPAR 3D Expo in California next month. — VRFOCUS

Microsoft has patented a new "electrostatic side clutch" for haptic feedback in VR. The patent was filed in 2017 and just published this week. The side clutch is worn on the arm or wrist and can be used in conjunction with a glove to enhance the sensation of shooting a basketball in Microsoft's NBA 2K18. Another recent Microsoft patent describes a wand controller for user interaction in AR. — DIGITAL TRENDS

Qualcomm is planning to unveil a new chip to power standalone VR and AR headsets. The chip will be called Snapdragon XR1, and will include a main processing unit, a graphics processor, security functions, and be equipped to handle artificial intelligence tasks. The Snapdragon XR1 will also enable voice control and head-tracking interaction with headsets. The chip will help hardware manufacturers build more powerful and efficient headsets with longer battery life. Qualcomm is expected to reveal the Snapdragon XR1 at the Augmented World Expo next week. — BLOOMBERG

GameFace Labs has opened pre-orders for developer kits for its standalone headset. The London-based company has been working on the device for several years and originally planned to ship it to developers by the end of 2017. The headset runs on a custom Android operating system and is built around NVIDIA’s Jetson TX2 computing platform. The Jetson TX2 is designed for devices with AI and has two 2GHz CPUs and a Pascal-based GPU with 256 CUDA cores. GameFace is calling the headset a "hybrid" because it operates as a standalone unit but can be tethered to a PC to support SteamVR content. — ROADTOVR

ASPEED Technology is launching the first-ever spherical image processor at Computex 2018. The Taiwanese company designed the processor for 360-degree imaging and it features six lenses, in-camera stitching, live streaming and social functions. ASPEED has also developed apps to accompany the processor. The launch will happen at Computex, a government-funded computer and technology trade show in Taipei June 5 to June 9. — VRFOCUS 

South Korean mobile carriers SK Telecom, KT, and LG Uplus are now expected to offer usage-based data plans rather than unlimited plans for the 5G network. Qualcomm and hardware manufacturers had hoped that unlimited data service would foster the growth of 5G networks, but a report by Yonhap suggests that some major carriers will be charging for heavier data use such as that needed for VR, holograms, and autonomous vehicles. Some U.S. carriers have already said that they will offer unlimited plans when 5G rolls out in this country next year. — VENTUREBEAT

Three new displays with ultra high pixel density debuted at SID Display Week. Attendees at the event in Los Angeles were able to preview the screens made by Samsung, JDI, and Google/LG. Samsung's OLED screen has a 120Hz refresh rate and 1,200 ppi. JDI's panel also has a 120Hz refresh rate and is 1,001 ppi. The Google/LG OLED display also has a 120Hz refresh rate but features the highest resolution with 1,443 ppi. The Taiwanese company INT is also developing the next generation of display screens, a 2,228 ppi AMOLED built on a glass substrate, which will support 5G VR devices. — ROADTOVR

The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) has created its first AR app focused on the International Space Station. The app is related to the Australian network's Back to Earth series and features three activities: a mini-game that uses lasers to defend the ISS from space debris, assembling parts of the station and learning how they function and exploring Jupiter with an interactive 3D model. Australia has many new VR and AR projects and facilities, but this is the first AR app to come from the country's news network. It's available on both iTunes and Google Play. — VRFOCUS  

Sensiks has developed a "sensory reality pod," or SR pod, to enhance VR experiences. The Amsterdam-based startup uses a booth that can emit heat, wind, smell, extra sound effects, and vibrations to users wearing an Oculus Rift. Sensiks is focused on content now and finding content partners who can benefit from the SR pod technology. So far its clients include European sports retailer Intersport, Thomas Cook and Lufthansa airlines, and a pediatric cancer hospital where patients can use VR during chemotherapy. Sensiks plans to raise money with an ICO (initial coin offering) in October. — VRSCOUT

Disney-Pixar introduced new AR emojis on Samsung smartphones to promote the June 15 premiere of The Incredibles 2. The new AR emojis turn selfies into talking animated characters including all five members of the superhero clan and their friend Frozone. The Incredibles AR content is accessible through the Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9+ camera's built-in AR emoji mode. — MOBILE MARKETER

Ford has produced a VR experience called WheelSwap that allows cyclists and vehicle drivers to see the dangers of not sharing the road properly. WheelSwap uses a cyclist's perspective to show drivers passing too closely, failing to signal, and opening car doors without checking for bikes. The experience also uses a driver's perspective to show cyclists running red lights, biking the wrong way down a street, and swerving unexpectedly. Ford is making WheelSwap available on YouTube and is integrating it into the company's free driver training program Driving Skills for Life. — WHEELS24

The new Razer Core X makes Macbook laptops capable of running VR applications. The Razer Core X is an external graphics processing unit (eGPU) enclosure. The unit retails for $299 and connects to a laptop via Thunderbolt 3, but users will also need to purchase an AMD graphics card for an additional $300. The Core X comes with an integrated 650-watt power supply and works with laptops running macOS High Sierra 10.13.4 or later. — VARIETY

Virgin Galactic will use VR to help train people to prepare them for trips to space. The company has already used VR to let people take virtual tours of its spaceships, and now it is developing a 3-day VR training program to prepare passengers for space travel. Virgin Galactic is pricing tickets for the space tours at $250,000 and has 650 people interested, but there are no estimated flight dates yet. — TECHRADAR

Against Gravity's social VR platform Rec Room is adding a battle royale game free update. The Seattle-based company's Rec Room already has several mini games including 3D charades, disc golf, and paddle ball that support cross-platform play between PC headsets and PSVR. The new Rec Royale game is from the "battle royale" genre of competitive multiplayer titles like PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds, Fortnite, and H1Z1 as well as VR titles including  STAND OUT: VR Battle Royale and the upcoming Overduty VR: Battle Royale. Rec Royale enables up to 16 players who parachute into a national park, gather weapons, and navigate forests, ravines, mountains, lakes and other terrain. — VRSCOUT

The iFLY indoor skydiving facility is adding a VR experience to enhance its free-fall attractions. iFLY is the world's largest indoor skydiving company and has 28 locations across the country. The VR enhancement uses a VR helmet and Samsung GearVR headset to let users virtually experience jumping from a plane and falling 13,000 feet while they are suspended in the iFLY wind tunnel. Users need to be in good health, 8 years of age or older, and complete a pre-flight training course and several flights before they can perform the jump in VR. — VRFOCUS

A new AR experiment superimposes the classic Looney Tunes characters Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner onto a real environment. The experience is the work of developer Abhishek Singh, who created other AR experiences including The Ring and Super Mario AR. A recent demo on YouTube and Twitter shows the characters running around a parking lot and painting a fake tunnel that only the Road Runner can pass through. It also features a freeze frame mode reminiscent of the cartoon where the characters are identified and the user can walk around the characters and observe them from different angles. — NEXT REALITY

The first-person, open world survival VR game The Forest has launched out of Steam Early Access and is now available on Oculus Rift and HTC Vive. The Forest was developed by Endnight and has a full 3D inventory and survival book, but the VR experience doesn't yet have multiplayer support. According to the Steam post, beta users can expect bugs and technical issues as they take the role of a survivor of a plane crash marooned in a forest, explore caves, shoot arrows from a bow, throw flares, light bombs, and chop down trees. — ROADTOVR

Microsoft is adding mixed reality functions to its SharePoint collaboration platform. The company announced SharePoint spaces, which lets users view and interact with content, and visualize and manipulate 3D data and product models in real time. SharePoint spaces is viewable on any Windows Mixed Reality headsets as well as any browser that supports WebVR. Microsoft has 135 million Office 365 users that have access to SharePoint, and the company is offering a special preview of SharePoint spaces before it opens the new features to all Office 365 users. — VERGE

Details have emerged about the upcoming 1443 ppi OLED display that Google and LG are making for VR headsets. Researchers published a paper about the new display, which is an 18-megapixel OLED screen that measures 4.3" and has a 120 Hz refresh rate and a wide field of view. It's expected that the high-resolution display will make an appearance at today's SID Display Week talk. The Japan-based JDI group and China-based INT are also presenting their high-resolution VR display panels at SID Display Week: JDI has a 1,001 ppi LCD screen, and INT has a 2,228 ppi AMOLED display. — ROADTOVR