North American ESRB ratings are bucking global trends by rating will preserve status quo

Meta’s lawyers successfully shut down VRPirates, which was by far the largest and most prominent source of pirated Quest VR games.

VRPirates was cracking paid VR titles from the Meta Horizon Store, removing the entitlement check system, and distributing them for free. The group even has a desktop PC tool on GitHub, called Rookie Sideloader, which allowed users to easily browse and sideload these cracked games to a connected Quest headset via USB (or wireless ADB). Worse, from a legal standpoint, the group was accepting financial donations from fans.

Earlier this month, Meta’s legal department issued VRPirates a formal DMCA takedown notice. According to VRPirates, Meta’s request made specific reference to Beat Saber, which it owns.

“As much as I hate to say this, they’re well within their rights”, a VRPirates developer wrote on Reddit.

In response to Meta’s legal notice, VRPirates says it has “shut down” all its file hosting servers, and publicly declared that they will “never come back”. Further, it says it will no longer accept financial donations.

The Rookie Sideloader PC tool still allows you to sideload APKs you download yourself, just as the Meta Quest Developer Hub and SideQuest do, but it no longer shows the VRPirates library of cracked content.

Quest Users Hit Record High In 2025 & More Than 100 Apps Made Over $1 Million

“The rumors of the death of VR have been greatly exaggerated”, Meta declared at GDC 2026.

UploadVRDavid Heaney

Multiple developers of popular paid singleplayer Quest games tell UploadVR that they’re elated with the news, and that their internal metrics suggest that piracy was a significant problem on Meta’s platform.

Of course, fighting digital piracy can often be a game of whack-a-mole. For now, the collapse of VRPirates has essentially eliminated the public Quest piracy scene. But will another group emerge to take its place, or will the chilling effect of Meta’s legal takedown relegate Quest piracy to private spaces for the foreseeable future?

You can step onto the runway and experience Pier Paolo Piccioli’s debut with the Summer 26 show in Balenciaga’s Apple Vision Pro app.

Filmed using the Blackmagic URSA Cine Immersive camera, the experience gives guests a spot at the end of one of the runway paths. Models walk directly towards you and then turn back to show off the shape and movement of the pieces. The vantage point places you directly in line with models, making the access feel closer than sitting along the runway’s edge. Despite my general preference for fully immersive experiences, the 180-degree view never feels limiting. Everything unfolds in front of you, with nothing like models entering or leaving from behind you to pull your attention away or prompt you to turn around only to find nothing there. At first, being placed at the edge of the runway felt a little isolating, with no sense of acknowledgement from the models or even audience. But that creative choice keeps the focus on the collection itself as it is being showcased.

The level of visual detail is striking, from the textures of premium fabrics to the ability to even glance at the screens on guests’ phones nearby to see which looks they chose to capture. It’s the kind of clarity that makes the quality of the pieces stand out in a way that’s difficult to replicate in other headsets, let alone screens. From soft leathers to feathers, the detail draws you in, even if you’re simply there to appreciate the artistry.

Cutting The Experience Short

For the most part, the show flowed naturally, though occasional edits were noticeable, disrupted the sense of presence, and felt unnecessary. At times, some models appear to jump slightly forward or reappear a step further along the runway during a turn. The transitions are brief, but in an immersive format they stand out more than they would in a traditional runway video. From an experience standpoint, I would have preferred to watch the full capture of the show unfolding as if I were there.

The finale moment was also missing a key element. The show builds to the usual finale walk, with the models returning together to show off the looks. But then the experience fades out. In the full, non-immersive runway presentation elsewhere, Piccioli steps out smiling after the finale walk. That moment isn’t included here. In an immersive format, it would have been a fitting ending not only to celebrate the creative director, but to create a moment of acknowledgement for the viewer positioned on the runway, even through a sense of eye contact. It could have strengthened the connection, both to the experience and to the Balenciaga house.

How the App Lets You Explore the Collection

The immersive runway is just one way to experience the collection inside the app. There is also a hybrid viewing mode that presents the collection differently. A central non-immersive video plays the runway presentation while a column of numbered looks appears along the left side. On the right, a stereoscopic image highlights the look being featured from a different vantage point. I see less value with this option because the immersive runway is the best way to see the details in the collection. This also allows users to jump to different looks however information about what the pieces are is limited and viewing the collection on the Balenciaga website unlocks much more right now, including the ability to buy or reserve items in store.

A Growing Archive, with Opportunity to Expand

This isn’t Balenciaga’s first experiment with showcasing runway experiences on the Apple Vision Pro. The app already includes an archive of shows dating back to Winter 23, offering visitors different vantage points in their shows from sitting alongside audience members to being in the middle of the room during couture shows with an up-close view of the collections as well as iconic guests watching with you, like Anna Wintour. You can also get up close with a very small curation of accessories but that is limited to only two past seasons.

As Balenciaga adds more content to their app, I hope to see more options like a version of virtual try-ons even if it’s just accessories to start – especially eyewear given the details of my face are already captured. Pieces from each collection are not always easy to try on in person depending on where you are located with limited stores selling Balenciaga. During a visit to a local Balenciaga store, I also learned that pieces from each collection are not always shipped to each store. For example I was able to try on eyewear from the Pre-Fall collection but not Summer. Summer 26 is just starting to arrive now but the brand could benefit from more potential customers getting up close with the collection especially through the immersive experience. Watching shows this way doesn’t replace the atmosphere of attending a runway presentation in person. But access to a Balenciaga runway is inherently limited, and for those who are customers or simply curious, Apple Vision Pro offers guaranteed access. The few Balenciaga staff that I spoke to didn’t know about the Balenciaga app on Apple Vision Pro, but I am sure that if there were a way to more seamlessly demo Apple Vision Pro content in stores that sell Balenciaga, this could help drive more sales.

Meta awarded $150,000 in research funding to each of six university teams studying how people learn to control computers using muscle signals, and what ethical issues come with that shift. The grants focus on wrist-based surface electromyography (sEMG), the subtle input method Meta has been developing for its glasses.

This technology is already in use in the Meta Neural Band that allows subtle hand and finger control of Meta Ray-Ban Display glasses. The wristband shown with Orion also used sEMG sensors to convert almost imperceptible muscle signals as gesture input.

sEMG For Learning And Agency

At the University of British Columbia, researchers are developing sEMG-Talk, a system that uses forearm muscle signals and machine learning to generate speech without using the mouth and throat. The team also plans to build a neuroethics framework around this new form of interaction.

UC Davis is studying how different users learn sEMG controls, comparing more structured instruction with gamified and implicit training. The project also looks at how age, sentiment, and social support shape the learning experience.

The University of South Florida is focused on helping people gain voluntary control over subtle muscle signals that may not produce visible movement. The work will include stroke survivors, while also examining trust, agency, and user preferences.

The emphasis on learning makes sense given what we have already seen from EMG wristband gestures, where the challenge goes beyond simply reading signals to making devices feel useful and natural.

From Speech To Higher-Bandwidth Input

Newcastle University is exploring multi-sEMG input that could expand communication bandwidth while fitting alongside normal hand use. The researchers also plan to study attitudes toward large-scale data collection and possible barriers to adoption.

At the University of Central Florida, the focus is on co-adaptive training, where both the user and the system improve together over time. The project also embeds ethics work directly into the engineering process, including questions around privacy, agency, and embodiment.

Northwestern University is comparing gradual skill-building with AI-assisted training that teaches multiple muscle inputs at once. The work includes both non-injured participants and people with stroke or spinal cord injuries, with ethics advisory input built in from the start.

These grants connect with other recent Meta accessibility research, which suggests wrist-based input could promote more inclusive computing.

Why sEMG Research Matters

Meta is treating sEMG as more than just a flashy demo. The company already has a shipping product in Meta Ray-Ban Display and has continued expanding what the wristband can do with features such as handwriting recognition.

These six projects target the harder part, exploring accessibility and ethics while making gestural sensory control learnable, trustworthy, and comfortable enough for everyday use. See Meta’s announcement for more details.