1. HTC’s VR experience platform Viveport just announced support for the Oculus Rift, showing a promising move toward a more unified VR market. Viveport has nearly 500 VR experiences on the platform, and the move to enable Rift-compatible experiences will only encourage further audience growth moving forward. “By adding support for Oculus Rift, we’re doubling the potential user base for Viveport developers,” said the president of Viveport. “Viveport continues to offer the most opportunities for developers to monetize their VR content. From Viveport and Viveport Subscription, to availability on Amazon and in Viveport Arcade, we’re going to continue to expand and reach the largest global audience possible on developers’ behalf.” The official launch is scheduled for September 4. — VRSCOUT

2. Samsung seems to be working on an update to its Odyssey standalone VR headset for the Windows Mixed Reality platform. According to a new FCC filing, the upgraded “Odyssey+” looks to contain much of the same tech found in its $400 predecessor, aside from a new “SFS” feature that VentureBeat speculates is “a screen door effect-mitigating filter Samsung recently showed off, transforming the visible black grid between pixels into a film-like grain.” Jeremy Horowitz breaks down the curious position Samsung VR is in right now, so head over for powerful insights after the jump. — VENTUREBEAT

3. Firefighters in California are using AR to keep personnel up to date on the rapidly changing conditions found during this record wildfire season. According to ZDNet, “teams from the Alameda Police Department and the Menlo Park Fire Department are using a technology called EdgyBees, which provides contextual mapping to distributed teams.” The technology allows for the relay of visual information back to command and control centers, helping teams make “critical decisions immediately.” Having covered wildfires myself, I can attest firsthand that the communication of vital information between teams and control centers is vital to safe, successful wildfire operations. — ZDNET

1. Sony announced today that the PlayStation VR platform has sold over 3 million PSVR headsets and 21 million PSVR games. The PlayStation 4—needed to run PSVR apps—has sold 82 million consoles, which means the install base is far from saturated. It also puts Sony ahead of console competitors Microsoft and Nintendo, neither of which have a VR solution on their flagship systems. — VENTUREBEAT

2. Nickelodeon has released its new “Slimezone VR Showdown” series that builds on the the IMAX VR slime experiences available to the public since March. According to VRScout, the series features “two teams of two in the virtual ring as they battle one another for Nick Toon dominance.” It sounds like a fittingly slimy experience and is only one part of the children’s media company’s push to create VR and AR content. — VRSCOUT

3. Jumping on the “BFA” bandwagon, Snapchat has introduced a new Shoppable AR lens that lets users transform into an orc or a void elf (ask your friends). In addition to that, the lens lets users “fight sworn enemies of the faction they pick on the front-facing experience by placing them in their physical environment and tapping the screen to attack,” according to Next Reality. The lens also contains a link to the Blizzard online store, where users can purchase the Battle For Azeroth (“BFA”) expansion. — NEXT REALITY

4. Russian startup PlatformVR has announced the opening of a new free-roaming arcade that takes advantage of Valve and HTC’s SteamVR Tracking 2.0 solution, which allows for a 10 x 10 meter coverage area. Location-based entertainment (LBE) is growing in popularity, as they provide both another revenue source for VR developers, as well as give the public relatively cheap ways to experience new—and expensive—VR tech. PlatformVR currently has LBE facilities in Moscow, Riga (Latvia) and Orlando, Florida, with plans to open new locations in London and Los Angeles, as well as Western Europe, Mexico and China. — VRFOCUS

5. Following this week’s announcement that PSVR has sold 3 million headsets, Road to VR breaks down what these new figures mean for PlayStation competitor Xbox, which once talked a big game about high fidelity VR on the Microsoft platform. “In a candid interview in mid-2017, Xbox Head Phil Spencer suggested that Microsoft was staying away from VR on Xbox because they didn’t feel that the family room is a good place for tethered headsets. He figured at the time that the industry is 'a few years away [from a wireless VR solution].' But if Microsoft is planning on waiting 'a few years' for wireless tech before rolling out a VR offering on Xbox, they could be handing away a couple billion dollars in extra revenue to a competitor which already has a sizable lead.” — ROAD TO VR

6. The Verge pointed out a pretty impressive deal from B&H that offers a VR-slaying GTX 1080 Ti GPU, along with several VR PC components built into the $1000 bundle. Should you be looking to build a powerful VR PC—as I am—this is the kind of deal we haven’t been seeing for awhile, thanks to GPU stock depletion by the crypto gold rush. Worth noting: NVIDIA recently announced its next generation of GPUs, so there may be more deals on the powerful 1080 TI in the near future. — THE VERGE

7. CAN. NOT. WAIT...

"It's to the point that when I'm feeling frustrated with anything that I take a step back, play @BeatSaber for an hour, and suddenly feel a lot better. #VR #BeatSaberisbestsaber" - @WeldenShocendi

8. Slightly more realistic than Surgeon Simulator...

"FundamentalVR just launched Fundamental Surgery in the US and will bring a low-cost and scalable flight-simulator like experience for trainee and qualified surgeons @FundamentalVr #MedicalSimulation #VR https://buff.ly/2BiQ5S1" - @MedTraining_Mag

9. Hands on StarVR One with Forbes...

"Some of my thoughts on the @StarVRCorp #StarVROne headset I saw at #SIGGRAPH2018 this week. #VR #StarVR" - @anshelsag (Technology fiend, curious soul, amateur photog. Consumer & Chip Tech Analyst at Moor Insights & Strategy. Power 100 Ranked Analyst. Sometimes tweets politics.)

10. Deloitte is dedicating a lot of energy to VR—a good sign...

"Help identify whether #VR is right for your particular #learning needs by following these major steps." - @DeloitteGov

4. New VR headset technology launched at SIGGRAPH 2018 could offer a solution for motion sickness, eye strain, prescription glasses that don’t fit under headsets, and more. Attendees are currently testing out Lemnis Technologies’ Verifocal system, which “works to trigger a natural accommodation response in the human eye, which allows for a more comfortable experience when observing nearby objects in VR, meaning less possibility of eye strain,” according to VRFocus. No pricing or release date information is available yet, but this sounds similar to tech being built into next gen VR headsets like Oculus’ “half-dome” headset.  — VRFOCUS

5. Another novel solution on display at SIGGRAPH 2018: Stanford researchers have created prototype “autofocals” that “bring the world into focus when someone lacks the ability to do it on their own,” according to TechCrunch. The prototype—though currently too large for general use—is meant to be a flexible replacement for bifocals and progressive lenses. Using eye-tracking tech currently being implemented for VR headsets, the tech shows a lot of promise in the more medical use case: “Even with an early prototype, the Autofocals are comparable to and sometimes better than traditional correction,” reads the company’s research summary. “Furthermore, the ‘natural’ operation of the Autofocals makes them usable on first wear.” Gives me hope for my failing eyes, at least. — TECHCRUNCH

6. Blind protagonists who see via echo location aren’t new, but upcoming VR puzzler “Blind” looks to be pushing the boundaries of the genre. The game asks users create sound via in-game objects (toss a heavy book), a microphone ("is anyone there?") and more, eventually giving the player a cane, which can blind the user with sound if smacked widely without caution. VRFocus doesn’t have platform, pricing or release date information, but this is one I'll definitely be following—I'll update when new information is available. — VRFOCUS

7. Niantic has announced its popular "Pokémon Go" AR app is getting better parental control options in the near future. "Niantic Kids adds a new portal that gives parents the option to review and approve their kid’s in-app permissions before they start playing, and offers better control over what personal information gets shared in the game," according to The Verge. The controls will likely make the jump to the upcoming Harry Potter AR game, as well. — THE VERGE

8. I wonder if Nickelodeon got the memo...

"Future of Imax VR uncertain after company closes two centers" - @Variety