Oculus’ July Platform Update is all about Social VR.
Oculus has announced new features and updates to both the Oculus Quest and Rift platforms that greatly improve tracking and bring new social VR features to both platforms.
Here’s what’s included in the July Platform Update:
OCULUS VENUES ON QUEST
Oculus Venues has finally arrived on the Oculus Quest. Venues gives you access to a bunch of super-cool social VR events, such as live concerts, sporting events, and original comedy specials. Users can meet up with friends and family to enjoy the experience together, or make new friends in the crowd. Oculus Venues is also cross-compatible, which means you’re free to hang out with users across all Oculus platforms.
Because the Quest is tetherless and 6DOF, you have the freedom to move around as you cheer on your favorite team, and full hand presence will let you finally determine who dabs better in VR – you or your best friend.
Oculus is celebrating the arrival of Oculus Venues with live broadcasts of Liverpool Football Club vs Sporting Clube de Portugal at Yankee Stadium July 24th, followed by Tenacious D performing their animated and over-the-top rock opera Post-Apocalypto live at the Palace Theatre in St. Paul, Minnesota on July 31st.
GUARDIAN SYSTEM
Along with Oculus Venues, the Quest will now be receiving regular updates that increase the accuracy and flexibility of its Guardian system.
These updates add improvements to the Quest’s ability to detect numerous playspaces located in different rooms, making it easier to jump from a solo session of Beat Saber to family game night in the backyard. You can also establish multiple Guardian setups within the same room, allowing you to designate multiple play areas in an oversized room or customize an open floor plan.
Adjusting your Guardian system settings has also been made easier, allowing you to customize options such as your floor height and boundary sensitivity directly from the Guardian settings page as opposed to starting from scratch.
OCULUS TOUCH CONTROLLERS
The next big improvement comes in the form of a re-tuned tracking algorithm that increases the accuracy of the Oculus Quest and Rift S Touch controllers. This supposedly removes the tracking issues that arise when your hands come too close to your headset, a result of the inside-out tracking technology,
FOR THE RIFT S OWNERS
One of the most prominent requests Facebook has received since launching the Oculus Rift S has been the ability to turn on the true stereo-correct passthrough feature, Passthrough+, indefinitely. This new update finally allows you to do just that thanks to a new setting accessible right through the Oculus Rift S Dash.
This next one isn’t really an update, but more of a ‘hey, we’re working on it’. Some Rift S owners have reported that they are having intermittent display issues, such as black screens, static, and flashes. Facebook is still working on this issue and hope to have an update out to Rift S owners very soon.
GATEWAYS
Keeping in line with Facebook’s never-ending quest towards the perfection of social VR, the company launched Gateways back in May, allowing you to create a link between differently-themed spaces within your own Oculus Home, or connect your Home to other public Homes.
Starting immediately, Gateways will now let you link your Home directly to your favorite games, experiences, and friend’s homes, making it easier than ever to jump into your favorite content from the comfort of your personalized space. All of your ‘Gateways’ are listed in the Special Items section of your inventory. They’ve also added a new menu section where you’ll see all of the places you’ve visited in the last 30 days, so you can easily make your way back to your most-visited content.
TAKE A PHOTO, IT’LL LAST LONGER
Of course, what is social media without photos? The update adds a camera feature that will allow you to take screenshots of your Home or during live events. You can even flip the camera around and take a selfie with your VR crew.
THAT’S A LOT TO TAKE IN
These updates for the Quest and the Rift S will begin to roll out today through the rest of July. For a complete list of all the new features and updates for the Oculus Quest and the Oculus Rift, visit here.
Have an idea, complaint, or suggestion? Contact the Oculus Team on the official Oculus UserVoice channel and let them know.
Featured Image Credit: Oculus
