Good day! Cas here, and massive things are happening in the VR space. This week this
has mostly to do with Oculus. Fine updates are coming that will make the Oculus Quest
not only a VR headset but also an open AR headset. Facebook is working on its own version
of the Oasis, a.k.a. the Metaverse, Sword Art Online; it has many definitions. I’ll
explain what it is, what makes this exciting, in this video, and I also wanted to let you
know you may want to sell your Quest 2 now.
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gameplay & tech tips! And now, join me beyond reality.
Mark Zuckerberg has shared his future vision for “The Metaverse”. What this means precisely
is going to be hard to say because it doesn’t have one definition. Not yet, at least, because
it doesn’t exist yet. However, most people define it as a collection of virtual worlds
that are connected and that you can enter with one avatar. Kind of like VRChat, except
that a metaverse is bigger than that; it’s not only virtual reality; it’s also augmented
reality and the Internet as a whole.
Think about the Oasis in the movie Ready Player One, which was a virtual universe, like a
MMORPG but parallel to the real world. You could enter it any time, and people could
play, escape but also work and earn money in there. You could actually live in that
universe and spend more time in there than real life.
But the most bizarre news? It’s coming sooner than I thought it would. Facebook has already
set the first steps for this. Not only have they formed a special team focused on developing
its future vision for “the Metaverse”, they’ve already announced software updates
getting ready for this. This month.
Facebook is betting big on this idea of becoming -the- “Metaverse” company instead of being
seen as a “social network,” and the vision is to make the Metaverse accessible across
all platforms, so VR, AR, but also mobile phones and gaming consoles. Zuckerberg hopes
that this will become a system operated by many different players in a decentralized
way. So you have your avatar and your digital goods, and you want to be able to teleport
anywhere, not just within Facebook’s worlds. This opens up many possibilities. Entertainment
and gaming will be a big use case, of course, but also for things like people who want to
work remotely so they can own a home further from the expensive city center and to people
who live in places where education or recreation is limited. This could be a solution. I personally
really believe this will be our future. With or without Facebook.
There is a scary part to this as it could become a dystopian future… Because the company
that controls the Metaverse could have a lot of control over our lives, and no one wants
that company to be Facebook, or honestly any big entity for that matter.
So I am really interested in seeing how this will shape up. “Metaverses” are already
kind of coming in the blockchain and cryptocurrency world, which is my other hobby. If this Metaverse
by Facebook can also be decentralized, so not owned by one entity, but owned by the
users themselves. Then it could be very, very exciting. It could open up many opportunities
for people to make money, but also give us new, more accessible ways to connect with
friends & family all over the world.
I have my doubts that Facebook doesn’t want to own this metaverse, though. Still, as a
VR enthusiast, I am beyond excited to see what’s coming and when it arrives, we’ll
just have to see what we can do to protect ourselves as much as possible.
Facebook isn’t the only one building this by the way. Epic Games & Roblox are also making
a “metaverse” and they all have different views on it. I’m glad there is some competition,
and I guess time will tell what we will actually get. I’ll keep you updated.
Then, this metaverse is probably also the reason why Oculus is now going all-in on OpenXR.
This is exciting news because this means Oculus will become a more open platform. Kinda surprising
actually as this goes against everything they’ve done so far. Now, this may be some nerdy stuff
so get ready after you leave me a like.
OpenXR is the royalty-free standard with the goal to standardize the development of VR
and AR apps. This makes it easier for different VR systems to exchange information and work
together.
May sound complicated. These images will hopefully clear things up. This is what it is like without
OpenXR, and this is what it’s like with OpenXR.
As you can see, OpenXR’s API sits in the middle of a game and headset’s platform.
An API is in simple terms, like a library of code that developers can use to make development
faster and easier. With OpenXR, fewer steps are necessary to make software work with different
systems compared to without OpenXR. So it’ll be easier for VR developers to make one game
work on various VR headsets. Hopefully, this means we’ll get more games and better games
on every platform and not just exclusively on Oculus Quest.
And surprisingly, it’s happening fast, too, starting with the v31 SDK update, OpenXR is
the preferred API for all new apps moving forward. Apps on the older Oculus SDK’s
will continue to work for one year, but from the end of August next year, Oculus will require
new apps to be built with OpenXR.
This could that older games next year may not work anymore if a developer does not update
it. But you know, this update does seem to be in line with what Facebook envisions for
the Metaverse, which would actually be a good thing for us consumers.
Let me give you an example of what we’re going to see very soon with OpenXR. Facebook
also announced that from the v31 developer update, Unity developers will get access to
a Passthrough API delivered via OpenXR. This means we are going to get Augmented Reality
experiences and features are coming to the Quest. This will allow stuff like this…
Previously, these Passthrough features were closed off and not available to third-party
developers. So I’m expecting a lot more use cases for the cameras on the headset.
It is going to be exciting to see what developers will come up with.
Although, the Quest does give us a low resolution and black & white AR view and when compared
to AR dedicated headsets like the Hololens, it is just not as beautiful. So the Quest
won’t be a full AR headset and with VR of course. However, this probably means that
Facebook will improve the Passthrough AR view in future VR headsets. Quest 3, anyone?
If you have any ideas for AR apps, let everyone know in the comments below, and who knows,
maybe a dev will read it. Please give me a virtual Pokemon in AR *fingers crossed*
Keep in mind, though, that this does raise privacy concerns. Facebook is aware of this
too, it seems, and they do seem to be more open about this. For example, Facebook says
that the Passthrough API apps cannot be accessed or viewed by them. So whatever the camera
sees doesn’t get sent to Facebook or third-party developers. Still, let’s keep track of this.
I’ll keep you updated.
Last but not least, if you have a 64GB Oculus Quest 2, it may be a good idea to sell it
as soon as possible. Because Facebook announced that it has paused selling the Quest 2 globally
because, according to Facebook, “a very small percentage” of VR players have reported
skin irritation from the headset’s stock foam. So Facebook is now working on a new
silicone facepad cover, which they will include when a new Oculus Quest 2 variant releases
on August 24th.
Yes, we’re getting a new 128GB version of the Quest 2. More interestingly, it will be
sold for the same price as 64GB at 299 US dollars. This means the 64GB will be discontinued.
So I would say if you have that one, I would definitely try to sell it at a good price and then buy the 128 with that.
Also, if you already own a Quest, you can request a free facepad cover. I’ve linked
below where you can do it!
I feel like our VR future is starting to get a form, a shape. We’re not there yet, but
it does make me excited because we are at the front of an undeniable future. We are
the early adopters; it’s like seeing that the Internet would be big before everyone
used it. So let’s take advantage of this, invest in it, and subscribe to this channel, and don’t forget to have fun.
I hope you enjoyed this quick update video. Let me know what you are the most excited
about in the comments below, leave us a like, and support us for free by watching more.
A special thanks go to all our Champions, especially these Patrons down below. As always,
VR on!