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Oculus Quest

Oculus Quest v33 Update Improves Air Link & Link Visual Quality

From uploadvr

Oculus Quest v33 is rolling out to headsets now, featuring several smaller improvements.

Many of Facebook’s regular updates to the Quest platform are headlined by big new features or fixes, but Oculus Quest v33 seems to be more concerned with making some finer tweaks. Perhaps the biggest addition is improved visuals for Oculus AirLink and Link. Facebook says users may notice “improved image quality and text clarity” using a new Link Sharpening feature.

Oculus Quest v33 Changes Revealed

We haven’t tried out the update for ourselves but the Link feature compresses the image quality to allow a Quest to display PC VR content either when linked up with a USB-C or wirelessly over AirLink. Any reduction to this effect would be welcome.

Elsewhere, Oculus Quest v33 allows you to clear the history for your Guardians settings to help combat any tracking issues you might have, and Facebook says it’s improved security when using the Oculus Browser. Some of the multitasking features are also being moved out of Experimental release and there are updates to notifications and keyboard settings too. You can see the full list of changes right here.

It’s a pretty quiet update, then. Some have speculated that could be because Facebook is holding back announcements for its upcoming Connect developer conference, which will be held in late October. We’re also waiting on Facebook to reveal the Space Sense feature that was recently unearthed in v32 and, oh yes, the Oculus Quest Pro headset referenced in that update too. Seems like there might be a lot in store for next month.

Facebook Announces Zoom Partnership For Horizon Workrooms

From uploadvr

Facebook announced a collaboration with video conferencing application Zoom, integrating Zoom meetings natively into Facebook’s new remote work solution for VR, Horizon Workrooms.

The integration won’t arrive until next year but will allow you to “easily join Zoom Meetings and use Zoom Whiteboard all from within VR.”

Horizon Workrooms is Facebook’s remote work collaboration tool for Oculus Quest 2, allowing several users to join a virtual boardroom and speak to each other as if they are in a real room, with avatars, spatial audio, remote desktop, keyboard tracking and group whiteboard features.

While the focus is on users joining using virtual reality, Workrooms also contains functionality that allows a non-VR user to join the meeting through a regular video call. However, starting next year, Workrooms will also allow VR users in the virtual boardroom to join an existing Zoom meeting and collaborate using Zoom Whiteboard. You can take a look at the announcement, which was made at Zoom’s Zoomtopia keynote speech, in the video embedded above. The Horizon Workrooms segment begins around the 34 minute mark.

Zoom Whiteboard was also announced at Zoomtopia, just before the Facebook and Zoom collaboration. It is an upcoming tool for Zoom that allows users to collaborate on a virtual whiteboard together, taking notes, making drawings, placing post-it notes and more. With Horizon Workrooms integration, VR users will be able to use Horizon’s desk whiteboard or the large standing whiteboard to alter the Zoom Whiteboard.

Zoom product manager Jordan Thiel said that they “envision” being able to save and share Zoom Whiteboards as well, which would allow you to save the end product after the meeting and send it around to those who weren’t in attendance.

Will you use the Zoom integration with Horizon Workrooms once it’s available? Let us know in the comments below.

‘Quest Pro’ Face & Eye Tracking References Found In Oculus Firmware

From uploadvr

Reddit user Reggy04 dug into the Oculus Quest v32 firmware, finding strings referring to ‘Quest Pro’ as well as face and eye tracking.

We obtained the Quest v32 firmware file, decompiled it, and searched it with grep to confirm Reggy’s claims.

The Quest Pro reference appears to be from the Hand Tracking setup process:

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

Quest Pro was first teased by VP of Facebook Reality Labs Andrew Bosworth in a February Instagram Ask Me Anything session. In April, Bosworth said Quest Pro could “introduce new functionality to the headset”, but cautioned it would not ship this year.

Face & Eye Tracking

Calibration text for both face and eye tracking are present. While this doesn’t confirm Quest Pro will have these features, it does suggest Facebook is testing them in real device firmware.

In March, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg described face & eye tracking as his most wanted feature for future Oculus headsets.

The face tracking calibration asks you to smile, pull an angry face, frown, and then show a surprised expression.

FOLLOW THE TARGET WITH YOUR GAZE

EYE CALIBRATION FAILED

EYE MOVEMENT ESTIMATION COMPLETE

It’s unclear whether the system simply detects these four states or whether the exact lip shape is passed to apps, as with HTC’s Vive Pro Facial Tracker.

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

Reggy is not the first to discover eye tracking & face tracking – YouTuber Basti564 found similar references back in June.

Lens Depth Adjustment

Reggy also found a reference to a “depth button” for adjusting the longitudinal distance between the lenses and your eyes:

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

ADJUST LENS DEPTH

Lens depth adjustment, present in headsets like Valve Index, allow the wearer to balance the comfort of pressure with the wider field of view afforded by closer lenses.

A depth button already existed in the PC-based Rift S, but this firmware is for the Android-based Quest range.

‘Quest Pro’ Face & Eye Tracking References Found In Oculus Firmware

From uploadvr

Reddit user Reggy04 dug into the Oculus Quest v32 firmware, finding strings referring to ‘Quest Pro’ as well as face and eye tracking.

We obtained the Quest v32 firmware file, decompiled it, and searched it with grep to confirm Reggy’s claims.

The Quest Pro reference appears to be from the Hand Tracking setup process:

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

Quest Pro was first teased by VP of Facebook Reality Labs Andrew Bosworth in a February Instagram Ask Me Anything session. In April, Bosworth said Quest Pro could “introduce new functionality to the headset”, but cautioned it would not ship this year.

Face & Eye Tracking

In March, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg described face & eye tracking as his most wanted feature for future Oculus headsets.

Calibration text for both face and eye tracking are present in the Oculus firmware. While this doesn’t confirm Quest Pro will have these features, it does suggest Facebook is testing them on a real standalone headset, not just PC-based lab prototypes.

FOLLOW THE TARGET WITH YOUR GAZE

EYE CALIBRATION FAILED

EYE MOVEMENT ESTIMATION COMPLETE

The face tracking calibration asks you to smile, pull an angry face, frown, and then show a surprised expression.

It’s unclear whether the system simply detects these four states or whether the exact lip shape is passed to apps, as with HTC’s Vive Pro Facial Tracker.

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

Reggy is not the first to discover eye tracking & face tracking – YouTuber Basti564 found similar references back in June.

Lens Depth Adjustment

Reggy also found a reference to a “depth button” for adjusting the longitudinal distance between the lenses and your eyes:

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

Lens depth adjustment, present in headsets like Valve Index, allow the wearer to balance the comfort of pressure with the wider field of view afforded by closer lenses.

A depth button already existed in the PC-based Rift S, but this firmware is for the Android-based Quest range.

Oculus Quest ‘Space Sense’ Feature Discovered, Provides Play Area Incursion Alert

From vrfocus

Before playing any virtual reality (VR) experience at home it’s always advisable to clear the area because once that headset is on you’ll quickly forget how you’re oriented in the room and where stuff is. What you can’t plan for is those moving variables, like kids running in or a curious cat suddenly appearing. Facebook aims to solve that issue with a feature unearthed in the most recent v32 software update, Space Sense.

German Twitter user Basti564 discovered in the firmware a video detailing how the feature works and reference to the ‘Space Sense’ name, which has previously been referred to as Guardian Intrusion Detection. As you can see, it’s all about notifying a VR player as to when a new obstruction comes into the play area. There’s also some text accompanying the video:

“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.”

Certainly beneficial for anyone playing in a busy home or area where footfall is more likely, the system is, of course, limited to the front tracking area which the cameras cover. So it won’t help if someone walks up behind you but at least you’re less likely to punch them in the face whilst VR boxing.

Oculus Quest - Space Sense

Now, the files Basti564 found were hidden so this is a feature currently still in the works. However, by the looks of the video and the accompanying text it certainly appears as if Facebook is gearing up for a release, in which case Space Sanse would be a big content addition to a future software update.

The last major enhancement to Oculus Quest’s Guardian system came just over a year ago, ‘Playspace Scan’ detecting objects like tables or chairs still within the boundary. Being able to detect active objects would be a first for any VR system, another boon for the standalone headset.

As further details arise regarding Oculus Quest’s next update, VRFocus will let you know.

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

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.

Baobab Studios Nabs 9th Emmy Award Thanks To Baba Yaga

From uploadvr

Baba Yaga won an Emmy for Outstanding Interactive Media for a Daytime Program at the 48th Annual Emmy Awards, bringing Baobab Studios’ total Emmy awards wins to nine.

Baba Yaga also previously won two other Emmy awards — Outstanding Directing Team for Animated Program (Eric Darnell, director, and Mathias Chelebourg, co-director) and Outstanding Individual Achievement in Animation for Character Design (Karl Athannossov).

“It was already such an honor and thrill for Baba Yaga to be awarded Emmys for both character design and direction,” said Baba Yaga director and writer Eric Darnell. “And now, to be honored with the award for best interactive is truly spectacular and a reflection of the team’s monumental efforts to give the audience the opportunity to be the hero of their own story.”

The immersive VR movie released in January exclusively for Oculus Quest after premiering at various film festivals in 2020, including the Venice Film Festival almost exactly a year ago. In our review at the time, we found it to be entertaining but slightly safe. It certainly wasn’t the ambitious step-up we were hoping to see from Baobab’s next offering:

This is a likable, sweet but ultimately safe adventure, highlighted by some great VR novelties but also equally limited by them. I want to see something from this studio that feels truly dynamic — like my presence has genuine impact in the stories it creates. Baobab remains one of VR’s most promising storytellers but, four years on from its debut, I feel like I’m still waiting for it to really hit its stride.

You can read our full review from last year here.

Baba Yaga is available now on Oculus Quest for $5.99.

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

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 ‘Space Sense’ Guardian Intrusion Feature Found In v32 Firmware

From uploadvr

Twitter user Basti564 has found updated graphics and settings options for the ‘Guardian Intrusion Detection’ interface, first found back in March, which is now referred to as ‘Space Sense.’

Basti564 posted a video on Twitter showing new graphics and an explainer video within the Quest running on v32. We’ve been able to get the graphics too. In Settings, under Device, we can see ‘Space Sense’ — a currently dormant feature, which shows an outline of people and objects that move in front of you while using a roomscale boundary.

The feature and the menus depicted above are not accessible natively to Quest users on v32. However, UploadVR was able to test the adb commands to bring up the menu on a Quest 2 and enable the feature. The menus seem to just be a placeholder for now — in our testing, the feature didn’t work even after it was enabled via hidden menu.

Here’s a transcription of the text from the dialog box:

Enable Space Sense to see outlines of people and things inside your Roomscale 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 at anytime in Settings. 

Basti564 also posted a clear capture of the new explainer animation, which shows a Beat Saber player who is alerted by a ghost-like visual of someone entering their play area and walking across the player’s field of view. It also shows a user who is able to see visualizations of objects in their play area. The Quest can currently detect objects during guardian setup, but this feature looks to show a visualisation of them during regular use.

Evidence of this guardian intrusion feature was first found back in March by Basti564. At the time, it had graphics in the style of the older Quest UI and evidence suggested that it had been dormant in the Quest since v20.

While it’s still unclear whether the feature will release soon, the updated Space Sense name and the newer Quest 2-style animated instructional clips would indicate that the feature is perhaps still being actively worked on. If nothing else, the graphics look more polished than they previously did and the inclusion of a settings menu, where you can adjust the sensitivity of the feature, bodes well.

Would you use this guardian intrusion feature if it came to Quest? Let us know in the comments.

First Of Its Kind ‘Outer Space Camera’ Captures Astronaut Spacewalk For VR

From uploadvr

ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet and JAXA astronaut Akihiko Hoshide stepped outside the International Space Station today for a spacewalk unlike any other.

What is special about this one is that you will soon be able to join them as Felix & Paul Studios’ new Outer Space Camera captured a real spacewalk in an immersive 3D, 360-degree virtual reality format. 

While Pesquet and Hoshide laid the groundwork for more additions to the solar arrays outside the ISS, an international team collaborated to capture some footage for new episodes of Felix & Paul Studios and TIME Studios EMMY Award-winning Space Explorers: The ISS Experience. The team had one shot to get it right, and time for just a single short simulated space walk inside the ISS ahead of the actual capture outside the station. Felix & Paul Studios co-founders Félix Lajeunesse and Paul Raphaël directed the filming from the Canadian Space Centre. The camera was mounted and powered by the Nanoracks’ Kaber MicroSatellite Deployer and maneuvered by The ROBO team at NASA and the Canadian Space Agency who were responsible for moving Canadarm2 to capture the shots. In parallel, TIME Studios documented the filming operations as part of a making-of documentary they are producing on Space Explorers: The ISS Experience. The entire spacewalk was planned to happen over seven orbits, during which the crew experienced seven sunrises.

Unfolded 360° still, produced from the 3D 360° VR source footage. View of the International Space Station, from a forward position, with a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft docked to Node2.

Outer Space Camera

The Outer Space Camera has already been capturing footage ahead of the spacewalk. With 16 sunrises that can be seen every 24 hours from the ISS (which travels at 17,100 miles per hour), this footage will be integrated into the series as well. The Outer Space Camera is made for a literal out-of-this-world environment.

The Outer Space Camera inside the International Space Station, ahead of the spacewalk

Lajeunesse explains that the camera “is constantly exposed to extreme temperature variations.” External temperatures range from -250° F to +250° F.  “No atmosphere means radiation…sun heat and deep space cold…microgravity [means] no dissipation of heat which is challenging when you are cramming together not one camera but multiple high res sensors, so we had to develop a heat dissipation system. We had to develop a way to manage light exposure and minimize flares.

The camera is a customized Z-Cam V1 Pro camera with nine 4K sensors. Nanoracks has specially hardened the camera to allow it to withstand harsh conditions such as solar ultraviolet (UV) radiation, charged particle (ionizing) radiation, plasma, surface charging and arcing, temperature extremes, thermal cycling, impacts from micrometeoroids and orbital debris (MMOD), and environment‐induced contamination from micrometeoroids and orbital debris (MMOD), and environment‐induced contamination. It also has custom lenses that can manage being directly exposed to the Sun. 

In history, just about 230 astronauts have had the opportunity to do a spacewalk. Not even all astronauts that visit the ISS get the chance, but our chance to step into the actual footage is coming soon.

Lajeunesse says what was captured today “in the vacuum of space” will be integrated into the upcoming third and fourth episodes of Space Explorers: The ISS Experience, available in VR for Rift, Quest and Quest 2, and in mobile 360° on 5G-enabled tablets and smartphones through telecom partners including LGU+ (South Korea), KDDI (Japan), AIS (Taiwan), Orange (France) and Deutsche Telekom (Germany.) As well, the best of that imagery will also be integrated into THE INFINITE – a large-scale traveling interactive exhibit produced in partnership with PHI Studio, which will premiere in the US December 2021.