oculus quest 2

Zoom Meetings Heading To VR On Oculus Quest 2 Next Year

September 13, 2021 From vrscout

One of the most popular teleconferencing programs in the world joins Facebook’s new VR co-working platform.

Facebook today announced a partnership with Zoom Video Communications to bring the company’s popular teleconferencing software program to Horizon Workrooms, marking a major milestone for the recently released VR co-working platform.

Image Credit: Zoom Video Communications

Horizon Workrooms launched this past August on Oculus Quest 2 headsets. The platform makes excellent use of the headset’s many unique features to offer a one-of-a-kind VR co-working solution unlike anything currently available on the market.

A combination of remote desktop streaming and hand-tracking technology allows you to access your personal computer and type on your real-world keyboard without having to remove your headset. There’s also a virtual whiteboard, notetaking capabilities, support for video calls, and more.

Beginning next year, Horizon Workrooms will feature support for Zoom Meetings, allowing you to more easily connect with those outside of VR. Zoom Whiteboard integration lets you jot down notes and brainstorm with other users across multiple platforms. Hopefully, we’ll be able to interact with the Zoom Whiteboard by flipping the Touch controller around and using the end as a makeshift stylus, similar to the default Horizon Workrooms whiteboard.

You can learn more about Zoom Meetings on Horizon Workrooms at Zoomtopia, an annual celebration of the platform and its partners and users. The event runs from September 13-14th remotely via Zoom Events.

“The way we work is changing, and we’re excited that Zoom and Workrooms are coming together to help you and your colleagues defy distance to stay connected and productive, across realities,” states the company in an official blog post.

Zoom Meetings will be available on Horizon Workrooms beginning next year. Facebook’s VR coworking platform is available now in open beta.

Feature Image Credit: Zoom Video Communications

Oculus Quest Pro Reference Hidden in Latest Software, Mentions Face & Eye Tracking

September 13, 2021 From roadtovr

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg spoke about the idea of a ‘Quest Pro’ headset back in May, saying that it could include sensors for both face and eye tracking. The v32 firmware release for Oculus Quest last month ostensibly confirms that the company is moving forward with the device, as it contains hidden reference to an “Oculus Quest Pro” headset along with text mentioning both eye and face-tracking.

Reddit user ‘Reggy04’ did some deep-dive sleuthing and has posted a number of strings found within the Quest v32 firmware which not only includes Quest Pro by name, but also notes a few features that would mean a dramatic increase in the number of sensors embedded within the alleged headset.

Sensors are said to improve hand tracking, something that feels a bit like a hit and miss on current-day Quests.

“QUEST PRO ESTIMATES YOUR HAND SIZE AND HOW THEY MOVE SO YOU USE YOUR HANDS INSTEAD OF CONTROLLERS IN VR.””

Eye-tracking sensors, which can be used for a number of tasks like foveated rendering and smarter UI navigation, are also supposedly onboard. This string of text below refers to an eye-tracking setup which, like many such calibration tests, requires you to look and hold your gaze on virtual objects so the system can correctly model your unique eye movement.

“”FOLLOW THE TARGET WITH YOUR GAZE””
“”EYE CALIBRATION FAILED””

“”EYE MOVEMENT ESTIMATION COMPLETE””

Mentions of facial tracking, which is important to social VR interactions, are also found in the v32 firmware. It seems a calibration test is needed here too to get a good bead on how you smile, frown, bare your teeth in anger, and act surprised.

“COPY THE DIFFERENT EXPRESSIONS””

“”SMILE NATURALLY UNTIL THE CALIBRATION IS COMPLETE. YOU MAY NEED TO HOLD THIS POSE FOR A FEW SECONDS.””

“”SHOW AN ANGRY EXPRESSION UNTIL THE CALIBRATION IS COMPLETE. YOU MAY NEED TO HOLD THIS POSE FOR A FEW SECONDS.””

“”FROWN NATURALLY UNTIL THE CALIBRATION IS COMPLETE. YOU MAY NEED TO HOLD THIS POSE FOR A FEW SECONDS.””

“”SHOW A SURPRISED EXPRESSION UNTIL THE CALIBRATION IS COMPLETE. YOU MAY NEED TO HOLD THIS POSE FOR A FEW SECONDS.””

“”FAILED TO CALIBRATE THE EXPRESSION. RETRYING…””

“”FACE MOVEMENT ESTIMATION COMPLETE””

Further in the firmware, Reggy04 also find mention of sliding lenses, which could denote that Quest Pro will include some form of interpupillary distance (IPD) hardware adjustment that, much like the original Oculus Rift, will require you to move the lenses to get a clear picture.

“”SLIDE THE LENSES CLOSER TOGETHER OR FURTHER APART TO IMPROVE VISUAL CLARITY.””

There’s mention of depth adjustment too, which sounds similar to how it’s done in Rift S. Reggy04 notes that the string below was specifically added in v32, so it’s possible it’s also referring to Oculus Quest Pro too.

“”PRESS AND HOLD THE DEPTH BUTTON AND MOVE THE HEADSET CLOSER OR FURTHER AWAY FROM YOUR FACE. THE LENSES SHOULD BE CLOSE TO YOUR EYES, BUT NOT CAUSE DISCOMFORT.””

“”ADJUST LENS DEPTH””

“”TURN THE WHEEL LEFT OR RIGHT TO ADJUST TIGHTNESS. THE FRONT PADDING SHOULD FIT DIRECTLY OVER YOUR FOREHEAD.””

An all-digital version of Facebook Connect, the company’s AR/VR developer conference, is coming October 28th. We’re hoping to learn more then since Connect has been a historic venue for insights into the company’s research.

We’re also hoping to learn more about the company’s Project Aria AR glasses, future plans for its new Ray-Ban Stories camera glasses, and how experimental pass-through AR capabilities are coming on Quest 2.

Oculus Quest ‘Space Sense’ Feature Will Alert You When Someone Invades Your Play Area

September 13, 2021 From roadtovr

Oculus Quest just got its v32 software update last month which brought changes to file syncing, friends lists, and a few other things. Now it’s been discovered that within v32 is a video showing off what could be an upcoming feature to Quest’s roomscale Guardian system, which appears to alert you when someone wanders into your play area.

Guardian, the playspace boundary for Quest, may be getting a facelift and a name change to go along with an upcoming feature, which could arrive in Quest’s upcoming v33 software update.

Called Space Sense, the feature was first discovered by German programmer ‘Basti564’. Mining through hidden v32 files, Basti found a video buried within that shows off Space Sense’s features.

Under the video was also menu text explaining what Space Sense does:

See Your Real-World Surroundings in VR

Enable Space Sense to see outlines of people and things in your Room-scale boundary. Staying aware of what’s around you while in VR helps keep you and others safe.

You can see outlines up to 9 feet away as long as it’s still within your boundary, and directly in front of your headset. You can turn this feature off anytime in Settings.

The implementation isn’t foolproof; someone can always walk up behind you outside of the sensors’ field of view. Considering the number of videos of people getting blasted by Touch controller punches, it’s undoubtedly good news for people with pets, kids, and people unfamiliar with how VR works though.

Space Sense isn’t live yet, however it’s slated to be one of the biggest additions to Quest’s roomscale detection system as of late. Guardian has mostly remained the same since launch of the Quest platform in 2019, save a feature added last year which detects static objects within a playspace such as tables or chairs left in the way during the setup process.

Oculus Quest 2’s SteamVR Lead Shrinks Slightly During Paused Sales

September 7, 2021 From uploadvr

A month of paused sales seems to have detracted from the Oculus Quest 2’s usage lead in the latest Steam Hardware Survey.

August’s results put Facebook’s standalone headset at 32.15% of the overall headset usage on SteamVR. That’s 0.42% less than last month, and perhaps the first time we’ve seen Quest 2’s lead actually shrink since its launch late last year. Note that it is possible these figures might be changed in the coming days. Valve usually irons out any errors earlier in the month, but overall headset usage on Steam is down to 1.74%, which may well indicate there are changes afoot.

Either way, remember that this doesn’t necessarily mean there are fewer people using Quest 2 on Steam, just that more people using other headsets have taken some of that share.

Oculus Quest 2 Steam Lead Shrinks

Whatever the case, there’s good reason for a possible reduction in Quest 2’s share. In late July, Facebook paused sales of the headset as it participated in what it called a “voluntary recall” of devices in response to a small group of users reporting issues with skin irritation using the packed-in facial interface. Sales of the device didn’t resume until August 24, with a new silicone cover included in the box. It also removed the original 64GB, $299 iteration of the device from sale and replaced it with a 128GB version for the same price.

This pause in sales likely explains the decrease given that other headsets still on sale would have been free to increase their share of usage during that time. That said, Valve’s Index headset also went down to 15.99%, a decrease of 0.24% this month. Overall, however, Quest 2 is still comfortably in front of other devices and still accounts for nearly 1-in-3 headsets on Steam. There aren’t any other significant shifts to talk about this month.

2021 will likely round out quietly on the VR hardware side. Sony’s PS5 VR headset won’t be discussed at this week’s big showcase event and, although Facebook is holding its Connect developer conference in late October, it’s looking increasingly like this year’s big reveal will be its smartglasses made in partnership with Ray-Ban.

Don’t expect a significant shakeup in the Steam Hardware Survey results anytime soon, then.

Quest 2 Sees Its First Loss in Share on Steam But It’s Hardly Done Growing

September 7, 2021 From roadtovr

Since the launch of Quest 2 the headset has steadily taken over as the leading PC VR device used on SteamVR, now accounting for about one-third of all headsets being used on the platform. After a month long sales pause due to a facepad recall, the headset sees its first ever month without growth in share on the platform, but it’s likely to pick up the pace again soon.

It took only a few months for Quest 2 to become the most popular headset used on Steam. As of the latest data provided by Valve, it now accounts for 32.15% of headsets used on Steam. But that’s actually down slightly (−0.41%), for the first time after six months of major growth.

The reason for the stalled growth seems clear. In late July Facebook announced that it was putting a pause on retail sales of Quest 2 while it dealt with a recall of the headset’s facepad. The headset was essentially out of stock for an entire month, which appears to have contributed to it seeing a loss of share on Steam for the first time since its launch.

With both the Quest 2 128GB and 256GB models now back in stock at major retailers like Amazon, we expect to see the headset’s growth on Steam continue in the months ahead.

Monthly-connected VR Headsets on Steam

Each month Valve collects info from Steam users to determine some baseline statistics about what kind of hardware and software is used by the platform’s population, and to see how things are changing over time, including the use of VR headsets.

The data shared in the survey represents the number of headsets connected to Steam over a given month, so we call the resulting figure ‘monthly-connected headsets’ for clarity; it’s the closest official figure there is to ‘monthly active VR users’ on Steam, with the caveat that it only tells us how many VR headsets were connected, not how many were actually used.

While Valve’s data is a useful way see which headsets are most popular on Steam, the trend of monthly-connected headsets is obfuscated because the data is given exclusively as percentages relative to Steam’s population—which itself is an unstated and constantly fluctuating figure.

To demystify the data Road to VR maintains a model, based on the historical survey data along with official data points directly from Valve and Steam, which aims to correct for Steam’s changing population and estimate the actual count—not the percent—of headsets being used on Steam.

Overall, the count of headsets on Steam appeared to drop significantly in the latest data, from 2.07% of users in July to 1.74% of users in August. But the drop is likely overstated; like we saw last month when the count bounced back after a drop, there was once again a large influx of Chinese (+7.21%) and Korean (+1.25%) users on Steam which appears to be driving down the reported portion of VR users overall. Those regions are thought to be significantly less likely to own PC VR headsets compared to Western regions, especially as Oculus, the leading vendor of PC VR headsets, doesn’t sell to those countries.

With the added variable of a surge of Chinese and Korean Steam users (which was even larger than the prior month where a large drop in VR users was reported in the data), it’s difficult to say how accurate the latest count of VR users on Steam is, though the trend will ultimately reveal itself over time.

Share of VR Headsets on Steam

Aside from Quest 2’s stunted growth due to its retail pause, there wasn’t much movement among the share of individual headsets on Steam. Quest 2 remains far and away the leading headset used now at 32.15% (–0.41%), with Rift S continuing to hold a distant second place at 18.09% (+0.30%). Interestingly, the original Quest saw the largest growth last month (even though it wasn’t much) now at 5.70% (+0.37%).

Valve’s Index headset dropped slightly to 15.99% (–0.24%), but still easily holds its place as the third most used headset on the platform, ahead of the original HTC Vive, which continues it’s slow decline, now at 10.01% (–0.36%).

As for the share of headset vendors overall, Facebook continues to dominate, despite dropping slightly to 61.13% (–0.14%). HTC’s grasp also declined slightly to 14.45% (–0.11%), while Valve dropped a bit more to 15.99% (–0.24%).

As for where those losses went from the leading vendors; largely to Windows VR headsets which reached 5.79% (+0.22%), marking a rare two month growth-streak for the headsets.

Quest 2 Facepad Debacle Comes to a Close as Both Models Return Back in Stock

August 31, 2021 From roadtovr

Oculus Quest 2 128GB is Now Available

August 24, 2021 From vrfocus

Several weeks ago Facebook made the shock announcement that sales of the popular Oculus Quest 2 would be halted as the company looked to address the irritation issue some users found with the facial interface. And also because a new model with a higher storage capacity would be released. Today, the standalone headset is now back on sale, with the base 64GB model replaced with the newer 128GB version.

As Facebook previously stated, the 128GB Oculus Quest 2 retains the same price of £299 GBP/$299 USD, with the only other difference being that customers will find a silicone cover in the box. This can then be fixed over the foam interface if users need it. Don’t forget that if you already own an Oculus Quest 2 then you can request a free silicone cover.

The Oculus Quest 2 128GB model can be found in stock on Oculus’ website as well as Amazon UK, OverclockersUK and Currys, whilst US customers can pick one up from Amazon, Best Buy and Target. The same can’t be said for the 256GB model which seems to be out of stock at most retailers for the time being.

Oculus Quest 2 has dominated the VR market since its launch in October 2020 with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg saying sales had “exceeded expectations” and is “on track to be the first mainstream virtual reality headset.” That’s been helped in part thanks to a continual stream of new updates improving the platform’s features, whilst more and more developers create content for the system.

Initiatives like App Lab have made it much easier for indie developers to get their projects onto Oculus Quest, whilst features like Air Link make the headset a cheap solution for PC VR gaming, where rivals like Valve Index retail for almost £1000 for the full kit.

And once you get your Oculus Quest 2 there are all sorts of ways to mod the experience. From unofficial gun stock controllers to lens protectors and new headphones, there’s a whole accessory industry based around the headset.

Facebook has previously said Oculus Quest 2 will have a longer life than its forebear but the company is still planning ahead, already confirming an Oculus Quest Pro is a possibility. More details are expected during Facebook Connect in October. For continued Oculus Quest updates, keep reading VRFocus.

Facebook Users Buying The Quest To Unlock Banned Accounts

August 6, 2021 From vrscout

NPR reports that some users have discovered a way to access locked accounts by purchasing a new Quest headset.

If you’ve ever had to deal with the issue of a locked Facebook account, then you know that it can be a bit of a struggle to get immediate help to get your account back. In most cases, it can take several weeks for any type of resolution. It’s not that Facebook doesn’t care, they just don’t offer phone support at this time. Instead, the company uses an automated process that features numerous identification steps, which can delay results anywhere from several days to entire weeks.

To help speed up the process, locked-out Facebook users have figured out a workaround to get their accounts back almost immediately. They did this by purchasing an Oculus Quest, calling the Oculus customer support hotline, giving them the serial number from their new headset, answered some questions to prove it’s them, and wallah! Their account was unlocked!

Image Credit: Facebook

First reported at NPR, Brandon Sherman—a frustrated Facebook user who was locked out of his account—saw the tip on Reddit and attempted the procedure himself. Facebook (who owns Oculus) can be pretty quick to respond to any type of customer issue so long as you’ve actually purchased an item from them.

“I ultimately broke down and bought a $300 Oculus Quest 2,” said Sherman. The strategy worked! Sherman told NPR that he heard back from the company right away and his account was unlocked almost immediately. Sherman doesn’t plan on keeping the headset, however; he only made the purchase in order to get his account back. He was happy about the results, but felt all those steps and being out $300 for a couple of days was an unnecessary solution to his account troubles.

According to NPR, another Facebook user, Angela McNamara, found herself in the same situation as Sherman after discovering someone hacked her account and changed her email, even going so far as to add two-factor authentication. She tried the automatic process, but nothing worked. At that point McNamara said, “And from there I’m just like, OK, it is gone.”

After reading the same Reddit thread, McNamara did exactly what Sherman did. She purchased an Oculus Quest, called the Oculus customer support line, and got help almost immediately. No word on if you can use a previously purchased Oculus Quest headset or even an older Oculus Rift, but considering your Oculus account is connected to your Facebook account, it should theoretically work.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, ZeroFox has reported that almost 20% of social media platforms are compromised, while corporate accounts and brands saw a whopping 95% increase in attacks on social media accounts compared to 2020.

Currently, Facebook’s automated help page says that requests “may take longer than usual.” During an interview with NPR, Gaby Curtis said, “We also know that we need to keep improving in this area and plan to invest more in the future.”

In the meantime, this Oculus Quest hack seems to be a not-so-perfect solution. However, some Reddit users are reporting that this hack doesn’t seem to work for everyone. So keep that in mind before running out and buying a new VR headset.

Feature Image Credit: Facebook, Oculus