Hey everyone!
Cas here, and Summers almost over, and historically, Summer is the calm before the storm for Virtual
Reality.
I’m not sure about you, but I thought the Summer was way too quiet, so I’m looking
forward to what’s coming next.
Quest update v33 was just released yesterday, too so I wanted to take this opportunity to
make a quick video talking about what’s new in this update and also what’s coming
soon.
Let’s start with the exciting stuff, so what’s coming!
First of all, Facebook Connect is coming next month on October 28th.
A bit later than usual, but it is again all virtually so that everyone can attend.
So mark your calendars.
Facebook Connect is the company’s AR and VR developer conference, where we usually
learn a lot more about their newest hardware and software.
To give you an idea, the first Oculus Quest was announced there.
While we are on the subject of what’s coming, the German developer Basti has found a hidden
video that shows off a new Guardian.
The Guardian is that virtual boundary you can draw and that you can align with your
real-life furniture or walls, so you don’t hurt yourself or, worse, others😉.
The Guardian has pretty much stayed the same since the launch of Quest in 2019, except
for the feature where it can detect non-moving objects in your play space.
The leaked video shows that it can now detect moving objects, so if your kid or girlfriend,
not that they are objects, of course… but what if they walk in your play area without
paying attention, you can see them in VR
This new feature is may be called Space Sense, and under the video, a description tells us
that you can see people up to 9 feet away as long as it’s still within your boundary
and that you can turn this feature off if you don’t want to use it.
It was initially thought that Space Sense would release with the version 33 update but
this version has just been released and unfortunately, Space Sense was not yet included.
So maybe it will come later this month.
I don’t know, but I’ll talk more about what is included in this update later in the
video.
But first, something else exciting.
A person on Reddit has found more in the code.
He found a couple of strings (which are basically static text put there by developers).
And they were found within the Quest v32 update, and they seem to leak features of a Quest
Pro headset.
I know there have already been hints towards one, but this further confirms it and tells
us a little bit more.
Take these leaks with a grain of salt, though, as we may never see them come.
But what these strings tell us is that the Pro headset may get a lot more sensors.
The first string suggests improvements in hand tracking.
The following strings suggest we’ll get eye-tracking sensors too, which can be used
for foveated rendering for example.
For those that don’t know what that is, this reduces the rendering workload by lowering
the resolution in your peripheral vision, so outside what you’re focusing on while
keeping the image quality high in the center.
Basically, this means developers will be able to give us better looking games with the same
hardware, which is always excellent.
Not only that, but even face tracking references were found.
If you pause the video and give these strings a read, then it sounds like instructions for
a calibration test where the software is trying to understand how you look like when you smile
or look angry.
All this is in line with Facebook’s CEO Mark Zuckberg’s interview a few months ago
where he talked about exactly this, and it further confirms that Facebook is actively
working on making social interactions more realistic.
Whether this is meant for consumers, though, is the question.
Because the community speculates that the Quest Pro could also be just for businesses,
it could also be that Facebook developers were just testing out these features and forgot
to remove them in a public commit, and it may never come.
In any case, I do hope we’ll hear more about this during Facebook Connect.
Before we move to what’s new in v33, there were two more features found.
These strings mentioned sliding the lenses together, which sounds like we may be getting
an adjustable IPD slider like Quest 1.
So you can align the lenses with your eyes, which improves eye comfort.
So I really hope the next headset has it.
Then the last few strings found are about depth adjustment.
Allowing you to move the headset closer or further away from your face.
What this is exactly means, is unclear, but it sounds like this may allow you to increase
your field of view as you move the display closer to your eyes.
Possibly.
Now let’s talk about the newest update, v33!
This update was released on Monday, September 13.
As per usual, it rolls out gradually, so you may have to wait a little until you get it.
We got some Link and Air Link visual improvements!
So the next time you use Link, you may notice improved image quality and text clarity thanks
to Link Sharpening, which makes images crisper, fine details clearer, and text easier to read.
Multitasking will now be available for everyone.
This is where you could see up to three currently running 2D apps in the Menu, like Oculus TV,
Browser, or Events.
You can drag and drop them next to each other and manage multiple tasks simultaneously.
I think this is the start of replacing your phone in the future with VR headsets, maybe
like 10 years from now.
The system keyboard also got a few quality of life improvements, like auto-correct features
and improved next-word prediction.
Typing in VR is awful, so any improvements here are always appreciated.
Then there are a few more little changes like the ability to clear guardian history to solve
tracking issues.
Before, this only deleted boundary data, but now it will also delete guardian maps and
tracking data.
So if you have any tracking problems, which I know a lot of people have since recent updates,
then try this out in the Settings under Guardian.
The Oculus Browser has gotten better security too.
Powered by Google Safe Browsing, it will warn you of a potentially harmful site.
Lastly, Notifications Settings also got a redesign and allows you to have more control,
like turning all notifications off for a specific app.
And that’s it!
These updates are not that spectacular this month as they’re more quality of life improvements.
But I’m hoping we’ll hear more and see a lot more after the summer and also maybe
at Facebook Connect.
However, anything that makes VR better is, for me, a win, so I wanted to make a quick
video to update you all, which I want to do every time so consider subscribing to stay
up to date.
Thank you so much for watching – I’m giving away Oculus Quest game keys for those that
stick around until the end of the video.
To win one, comment below your thoughts on these updates and favorite leak, and I will
pick a winner in 3 days.
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As always, VR on!