Quest Update Adds Mixed Reality Casting, Global Cloud Saves, & More

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The latest update for Oculus Quest, v35, is rolling out to headsets starting today and brings with it mixed reality casting, global cloud saves, and Facebook Messenger calls in VR.

Mixed Reality Casting on Quest

Update v35 is bringing mixed reality casting to both Quest and Quest 2. This feature allows you to cast the VR experience to a smartphone while seeing your real body right inside of the virtual world.

This kind of mixed reality capture usually requires a complicated greenscreen setup with dedicated cameras and PC hardware, but having it built directly into Quest and the Oculus smartphone app stands to make it easy for anyone to do. Here’s an example shared by Meta showing how the feature looks with Beat Saber:

It even works with a moving camera view! While this is far from the production-ready quality you can achieve with a dedicated setup, it’s pretty amazing to see this capability built right into the headset and the companion app. Only six Quest apps are supported at present—Beat Saber, Superhot, Richie’s Plank Experience, Pistol Whip, Synth Riders, and Gravity Sketch—though we imagine developers will be encouraged to add support now that this capability is easier for players to use.

iPhone-only, For Now

Mixed reality casting on Quest only supports modern iPhone models and no Android phones, tablets, or iPads, yet. There’s no word on Android support, but in the past Meta has brought iPhone-only features to Android phones as well, so we hope this won’t be an exception. Here’s the complete list of devices which currently support mixed reality casting on Quest:

Mobile Device	Supported	Not Currently Supported
iPhone XR
iPhone XS
iPhone XS Max
iPhone SE – 2nd version
iPhone 11
iPhone 11 Pro
iPhone 11 Pro Max
iPhone 12
iPhone 12 Pro
iPhone 12 Pro Max
iPhone 12 mini
iPhone 13
iPhone 13 Pro
iPhone 13 Pro Max
iPhone 13 Mini
iPad (all models)
Android phone (all models)
Android tablet (all models)

Wasn’t This Already Added?

You might recall that a prior Quest update added a similar feature called Live Overlay, but it’s actually very different than mixed reality casting. Live Overlay simply superimposes the player on top of the first-person view that you normally see when casting with Quest. Mixed reality casting, on the other hand, actually shows the player in the virtual environment with a one-to-one correspondence.

Global Cloud Saves

Image courtesy Meta

Last month Meta announced that it would be launching a new cloud save system that would work automatically with every app. Well, wouldn’t you know it, that capability is rolling out with the v35 update.

The new cloud save system automatically backs up game saves so that players can retain their game progress even if they uninstall an app or change headsets. The feature works by default with all applications unless a developer chooses to opt-out.

Although v35 is required for global cloud saves on Quest, Meta says it will be rolling out the feature gradually “to make sure it works correctly,” so be patient if you don’t see it right away.

Facebook Messenger Calling in VR

Image courtesy Meta

Another feature that Meta announced last month is also rolling out alongside v35—Messenger voice calling on Quest. For a while now it’s been possible to send text-based messages through Messenger on Quest, but now you’ll be able do voice calls too.

Meta says this feature will be rolling out “over the coming weeks,” so if you don’t see it right away, fear not.

– – — – –

As with prior updates, v35 will roll out slowly to Quest and Quest 2 users, likely over the course of a week or more, but you can check for an update manually to see if it’s available to you. Here’s how:

How to Update Quest and Quest 2

1. In your headset, bring up the Quest menu by pressing the Oculus button on your right controller. Click on the clock to access Quick Settings.
2. At the top right of Quick Settings, click the Settings button (gear icon).
3. On the left of the Settings section select ‘About’ at the bottom of the list
4. Look next to the ‘Software Update’ label to see if a new version is available
5. Check the ‘Version’ label to see which version is currently installed

If v35 isn’t available but you think it should be by now, you can also try restarting your headset and repeating the above steps.

The post Quest Update Adds Mixed Reality Casting, Global Cloud Saves, & More appeared first on Road to VR.

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Nreal Brings The First AR Glasses To America, Via Verizon

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Nreal Light is the first AR glasses product available in the USA, launching via Verizon.

Update November 30: Light is now available, and this article has been updated to reflect that.

Light was previously only available in Germany, Spain, Japan, and South Korea. It weighs around three times a heavy pair of sunglasses, or a third of a Magic Leap One headset. To achieve this form factor Light is powered by your smartphone over a USB cable, there is no battery or full-fledged chip onboard.

Light is priced at $599. While Nreal says you can mirror any Android or iOS device to a floating virtual screen in front of you, to use the actual augmented reality capabilities including positional tracking and AR apps you’ll need a compatible Verizon flagship device:

• Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G
• Samsung Galaxy S21+ 5G
• Samsung Galaxy S21 5G
• Samsung Galaxy Z Fold3 5G
• Samsung Galaxy S20 FE 5G UW
• Samsung Galaxy S20 5G UW
• Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra 5G
• OnePlus 8 5G UW

The cheapest of these is $799, so the total buy-in price for AR if you don’t already own one starts at $1398. We’ve reached out to ask if there will be bundle deals.

Nebula is Nreal’s system software, available on the above devices. Using the phone as a tethered rotational laser pointer, Nebula lets you position running apps as floating windows in your real room. You could lie back in bed & pin a YouTube video near a  wall or browse the web as a giant floating window from your couch. Though given the limited field of view, you’d want to have at least a few meters clear in front of you.

Nebula also supports 3D AR apps available from the Google Play Store including Figmin XR – though currently most apps are simple demos. Hand tracking is available in the Nreal SDK, but very few apps yet support it.

While Light and its Nebula system sound great in theory, it is important to note that AR is still in the very early stages. Glasses are a massive technological undertaking with enormous leaps in capability needed to achieve widespread consumer appeal. Nreal Light’s field of view, like all current AR products, is only 52° diagonal – around half of a typical virtual reality headset. This means that you only see digital objects and apps within a section of your view rather than all over the glass. A specific shortcoming of Nreal is it doesn’t support occlusion. If an AR system doesn’t support occlusion, it means digital objects that should be behind real world objects (eg. walls) display as if in front instead, breaking the illusion. Both HoloLens 2 and Magic Leap One support occlusion.

Sale of Nreal Light begins in-store from November 30, and online from December 2. Nreal will have a first mover advantage over Apple, Meta, Google, Microsoft and Amazon  – though time will tell how much that really matters, especially given the limited device support.

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Quest v35 Update To Add iPhone Mixed Reality Capture, Messenger Calling

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An upcoming update to the Oculus Quest and Meta Quest 2 will add mixed reality capture via iPhone and calling via Messenger, Mark Zuckerberg confirmed.

Meta’s CEO revealed as much in a Facebook post today. Quest v35 is “landing soon” and will enable mixed reality capture via the Oculus app for those with an iPhone XS or above. No mention was made of possible Android compatibility.

Quest Gets Mixed Reality Recording (On iPhone)

Mixed reality capture refers to recording a VR player with an iPhone’s camera and having the capture present them within their given VR app. So you could film someone playing Beat Saber, for example, but rather than them swinging their arms in their living room, the end result would see them in the level of the game, holding their two sabers. You’ll need a green screen for this feature to work of course.

The feature isn’t to be confused with Live Overlay, which arrived in Quest v29 and let users cast their VR view to an iPhone that also overlays them playing in the real world on top of that feed.

Currently mixed reality support is limited to a handful of apps including Beat Saber, Pistol Whip, Synth Riders and Superhot.

Also arriving with v35 is Messenger calling, likely allowing you to use your Quest as a webcall device just as you would a smartphone or PC, and support for cloud backup. Finally, Zuckerberg also confirmed there would be new customization options for Horizon Workrooms “in the coming weeks”.

Quest updates often roll out slowly across the globe and Meta is rarely specific about their exact launch times and dates, so keep patient. Will you be using Quest’s new mixed reality feature when it arrives? Let us know in the comments below!

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Upload VR Showcase: Watch Here, December 2, 9am PT

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The Upload VR Showcase returns December 2 at 9am PT/12pm ET/5pm GMT. Here’s where to watch.

Yes, we’re back with our twice-yearly showcase, giving you a look at what’s to come for VR in the coming weeks, months and years. Our December showcase is brought to you in partnership with Polyarc, the developer of Moss, and also sponsored by Bean Stalker. We’ll have a focus on things to come in 2022, with some updates on titles that may be here a little sooner than that. Here’s a little overview of what to expect this time around:

• 20+ VR games featured
• 5 brand new game announcements
• Release date confirmations
• Titles for Quest, PSVR and PC VR headsets

As for where to find it? Well, right here is a start!

Head back here on December 2nd to find our video ready and waiting for you. Or you can head over to our YouTube channel right now to subscribe and get notifications about when the event kicks off.

Also make sure to check in with some of our friends and partners on YouTube and beyond, as many of them will be bringing you their reactions to the show or offering another way to watch live! We’ll also be partnering up with IGN once more, so you can find it on their channels too.

So, just to be sure you know, that’s December 2nd at 9am PT/12pm ET/5pm GMT. You can expect around 40+ minutes of VR goodness with brand new game reveals, surprise releases, new trailers and much more. We’ll see you then!

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Nreal Launches $600 ‘Light’ AR Glasses in United States via Verizon

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Nreal, the Chinese startup behind the Nreal Light AR glasses which made a splash back at CES 2019, has now expanded to the United States, making the smartphone-tethered device available through select Verizon stores starting today.

Nreal Light is a pair of AR glasses that are physically connected to a smartphone via USB Type-C to drive its graphics and provide power, making it lighter than standalone AR headsets like HoloLens 2 since it’s offloaded the need for an internal battery, chipset, and cooling to the phone itself.

Image courtesy Nreal

Relative to enterprise-focused AR headsets like Magic Leap 2 and HoloLens 2, it’s also less expensive due to the inclusion of cheaper and less complicated optics, called ‘birdbath’ optics, which project light from a microdisplay to the eye via what’s essentially a curved see-through mirror (among other things).

As for apps, the AR glasses play bespoke content in pre-defined playspaces, all of which you can download from Google Play, such as Table Trenches, a 1v1 tabletop strategy game.

It also boasts a screen mirroring function for your phone so you can use every app on it,  as well as the ability to use multiple browser windows so you can watch a video and surf the web in different floating monitors. The tethered smartphone acts primarily as a laser pointer selector, something Oculus Go and Google Daydream users will be very familiar with in terms of UI interaction.

That’s the value proposition at least, as Nreal Light goes on sale in the US today for $599. Rollout in that country comes first to select brick-and-mortar Verizon stores. According to Tom’s Hardware, online sales via Verizon will kick off on December 2nd and those physical stores will act as places to demo Nreal Light before consumers buy it.

Nreal Light boasts a fairly wide compatibility list, with the following phones offering support:

• Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G
• Samsung Galaxy S21+ 5G
• Samsung Galaxy S21 5G
• Samsung Galaxy Z Fold3 5G
• Samsung Galaxy S20 FE 5G UW
• Samsung Galaxy S20 5G UW
• Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra 5G
• OnePlus 8 5G UW
• OnePlus 9 5G UW

The company says Light will also support iPhones in some capacity, however it hasn’t specified how that works.

Before its release in the US, Nreal has rolled out via telecoms in South Korea, Japan, Germany and Spain. The Beijing-based company also recently closed a $100 million Series C financing round which it will use for R&D and to widen its international reach.

Nreal Light has yet to launch in its Chinese homeland, however Nreal CEO Chi Xu has previously said it may happen at some point in 2022 along with “more countries as well.”

The post Nreal Launches $600 ‘Light’ AR Glasses in United States via Verizon appeared first on Road to VR.

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Masterpiece Introduces Free, Non-Commercial Version Of 3D Modelling Suite

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A new free version of Masterpiece Studio is available today, enabling anyone to use the tools for non-commercial purposes.

Masterpiece Studio Pro is a creative suite that give creators a way to easily make 3D character, props, animations and more. It can be used as a standalone service or integrated with other modeling apps in VR or on desktop.

The updated suite launched in early 2020, adding expanded support, features and programs. It now consists of two programs, Masterpiece Creator and Masterpiece Motion, allowing indie creators to conceptualize, create, rig, animate and export 3D models all in one workflow.

The free edition has all the same features as Masterpiece Studio Pro, with certain restrictions on exporting assets. Paid users, who are subscribed to one of the Masterpiece Studio Pro plans, can access private exporting options. The new free, non-commercial license will only cover exporting to Masterpiece’s public gallery online. The gallery can be browsed by Masterpiece users and allows them to download, modify and remix any available assets.

The overall aim is for the free edition of Masterpiece Studio to encourage indie creators to get started and create without any initial costs while also building a large community of 3D creators and assets ahead of an expected increase in demand in the years to come.

The free version of Masterpiece Studio is available now via Steam and Viveport.

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Free Version of ‘Masterpiece Studio Pro’ VR Creation Suite Now Available for Non-commercial Use

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Masterpiece Studio (formerly MasterpieceVR) today announced it’s releasing a free edition of its latest professional VR creator suite, Masterpiece Studio Pro. The free software license is targeting individuals looking to use the suite for non-commercial use.

The free version is said to contain the entire set of features of Masterpiece Studio Pro, which is a subscription-based service aimed at freelancers, teams, and educators using its creation tools for work.

Like its original 2019-era Masterpiece Studio, Masterpiece Studio Pro lets users create 3D assets within VR, letting you use motion controllers to draw, sculpt, texture, optimize, rig, skin, and animate things like characters or objects. The Pro version was launched back in April 2021.

Image courtesy Masterpiece Studio

One of the biggest caveats with the original was the inability to export models, which was a feature only paying users could access. That’s still a thing with the free version of Pro, although the studio has now created a public library where creations can be published and viewed.

“We believe this Free version will help showcase your work, bring value to other creatives, and help build the creative community of the future,” the studio says on its Steam page.

The Ontario, Canada-based startup is pitching the free license as a way to support VR indie creators by not only letting them learn the ropes of their software for free, but also by establishing a way to share and remix those publicly shared creations. You can find it on PC VR headsets for free over at Steam and Viveport.

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Valve On Steam Deck VR: ‘Technically’ Possible, But Not Optimized

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A new FAQ page says that although it’s not optimized for it, VR on the Steam Deck is technically “possible”.

The question, listed in the Steamworks documentation FAQ page for Steam Deck, says “Will Steam Deck Support VR?” Here’s Valves answer:

Technically it’s possible. We’ve seen people jury rig it, but we didn’t design and optimize Steam Deck for VR.

This is probably the most well-rounded response we’ve seen so far from Valve, given it’s a question that has come up time and time again since Valve announced the device.

The Steam Deck, in case you’ve been living under a rock, is Valve’s upcoming handheld gaming system that is essentially its response to the mega-popular Nintendo Switch, but decently more powerful.

Unlike the closed Switch system (and many other handheld game consoles), Valve pitches Steam Deck as “an open PC” that can “connect with any hardware,” with a starting price of $399.

After its announcements,  Valve’s description of the device led many to ponder whether it would be possible to connect a headset and run VR content on the Steam Device, and whether it might even be officially supported.

Valve told IGN that it had “all the connectivity” for VR but that performance is not optimized for it. Gabe Newell then said that the device could be used with an Oculus Quest, in that you could give it your best shot — Valve just won’t guarantee good performance.

We then caught a glimpse of a headset running SteamVR Home when connected to a Steam Deck, as well as an attempt to run Pistol Whip that displayed on the Steam Deck screen but not outputting to the headset itself.

Last month, it was revealed that a new ‘Deck Verified’ system would let users instantly know if any game works on Steam Deck or not — VR games are all listened as ‘Unsupported’ which simply means they’re not designed to run on the device.

All of this seems to lead to the same conclusion — we’re still not sure whether any VR content will run on a headset through a connection with a Steam Deck. Valve has at least now acknowledged the somewhat successful attempts to get VR to running, but are still re-iterating that it isn’t part of the design intention and maybe not perform or behave as expected.

Are you getting a Steam Deck? Let us know in the comments below.

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Study Suggests EEG Could be Used to Predict & Prevent VR Motion Sickness

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A new study on VR motion sickness concludes that certain brain activity detectable by EEG strongly correlates with VR motion sickness. This finding suggests that it’s possible to quantitatively measure and potentially prevent VR motion sickness.

While virtual reality opens the door to incredible possibilities, what we can actually do with VR today is at least somewhat limited by comfort considerations. While developers have steadily invented new techniques to keep VR content comfortable, scientists continue to work to understand the nature of motion sickness itself.

A new study published by researchers at Germany’s University of Jena in the peer-reviewed journal, Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, intentionally induced VR motion sickness in participants while measuring brain activity.

14 subjects were hooked up to an EEG cap and donned a PSVR headset. In the headset the participants were exposed to increasing levels of artificial movement to induce VR motion sickness over the course of 45 minutes. In addition to recording brain activity via EEG, the subjects also subjectively rated their motion sickness symptoms throughout the experiment.

The researchers found a common pattern in the change in brain activity that closely corresponded with the subject’s own perception of motion sickness.

Specifically, the researchers write, “relative to a baseline EEG (in VR) the power spectrum for [brain] frequencies below 10Hz is increased in all brain regions. The increase in frequency power was correlated positively to the level of motion sickness. Subjects with the highest [perception of motion sickness] had the highest power gain in the theta, delta, and alpha frequencies.”

Researchers Matthias Nürnberger, Carsten Klingner, Otto W. Witte, and Stefan Brodoehl offer the following conclusion:

We have demonstrated that VR-induced motion sickness is associated with distinct changes in brain function and connectivity. Here, we proposed the mismatch of visual information in the absence of adequate vestibular stimulus as a major cause according to the model of predictive coding. […] Differentiation which changes in brain activity is due to the sensory conflict or caused by motion sickness should be investigated in further studies. Given the increasing importance of VR, a profound understanding of the constraints imposed by [VR motion sickness] will be increasingly important. Measures to counteract the occurrence of MS or assist in detecting it at an early stage will undoubtedly improve the progress with this promising technology.

The findings offer further evidence that motion sickness can be objectively detected through non-invasive hardware like scalp EEG, which could be used to guide future research into VR motion sickness and VR comfort techniques.

For one, such EEG measurements could be used to objectively evaluate the effectiveness of VR comfort techniques.

Presently developers of VR content employ a variety of well-known VR comfort techniques like snap-turning and teleportation to reduce the odds of VR motion sickness. But not all VR comfort techniques may be equally effective compared either to one another or when compared across individuals. Establishing a quantitative measurement of motion sickness via EEG could help improve VR comfort techniques or even discover new ones by providing clearer feedback while making testing more objective.

Such measurements could also inform comfort ratings as presented to end-users, to help those sensitive to VR motion sickness find appropriate content.

Further, EEG detection of motion sickness could potentially be used on a real-time basis to predict and prevent motion sickness.

EEG brain sensing technology is becoming increasingly accessible and has already been integrated into commercial VR hardware. In the future, headsets equipped with EEG could allow developers to detect a user’s level of motion sickness in real-time, allowing for content adjustments or for VR comfort techniques to kick in automatically to keep users comfortable while they play or work in VR.

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Thanks to Rony Abovitz for the tip!

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Walmart Selling Refurbished 64GB Quest 2 Headsets For Just $199

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A listing on Walmart’s site offers a refurbished Quest 2 headset for its lowest price yet, with a few caveats.

The first caveat is, of course, that this is a refurbished standalone VR headset, which means that this hardware was most likely returned to Meta/Facebook/Oculus, for what could be a number of reasons, and is now being resold. These might include ex-demo headsets, opened headsets that were returned, or headsets with faulty parts that have been replaced and restored with equivalent new parts. In any case, refurbished headsets should appear and operate like new. In the past, Facebook tested the $199 price for a refurbished original Quest, with the program ensuring there were no visible cosmetic imperfections, no scratches, and a 6-month warranty. The refurbished Quest 2 listing on the Walmart site still mentions an “Oculus limited Warranty one (1) year from the date of purchase or delivery of the Product, whichever is later”

Previous refurbished headsets were sold directly on the Oculus site, but this Quest 2 refurbished offer has only been spotted at Walmart.

These 64GB refurbished Quest 2s are the lowest priced version of the headset we’ve seen since its release — a full $100 below the $299 price of base model when sold new. Keep in mind that while this refurbished Quest 2 might be cheaper than a brand new system, it also has less storage. These specific models are the old 64GB SKUs, now phased out of the Quest 2 lineup and replaced by the updated 128GB model for the same base price of $299. So while you’re paying $100 less, you’re also getting less storage than a new base Quest 2 model.

For some people, 64GB of storage might not be a problem, but it’s definitely something that you’ll need to consider, as Quest 2 games are getting bigger and bigger in size. Medal of Honor: Above and Beyond only barely fits on the 64GB Quest 2, taking up 41GB of space — when you factor in the storage taken up by the system software, that doesn’t leave room for much else. Likewise, Resident Evil 4 VR and The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners take up 12GB of space each.  If you want to install a lot of the Quest 2’s big software draws (and yet-to-come mega titles like GTA: San Andreas) at the same time, then you might think about going for a larger brand new 128GB Quest 2 or even the top end 256GB version priced at $399 new.

Given the 64GB models are now discontinued, these refurbished models may only be available in limited numbers. It’s been just over a year since the 64GB Quest 2 model launched, so there’s a chance that we’ll see refurbished 128GB models later down the line. The original Quest headset launched in May 2019, but refurbished models for $199 only became available in February this year — almost two years after launch.

You can purchase the refurbished 64GB Quest 2 from Walmart for $199 while stocks last.

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Walmart is Selling Quest 2 (64GB) at Its Lowest Price Yet

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Oculus Quest 2 already the best and least expensive standalone VR headset on the market, and now it has hit an all-time low price of $200—if you don’t mind skimping on storage.

Quest 2 initially launched with a 64GB model for $300 and a 256GB model for $400. Not long ago the 64GB model was discontinued in favor of a larger 128GB model at the same $300 price point.

Walmart is now selling refurbished units of the Quest 2 64GB model for just $200, marking an all-time low price for the headset. This is the very same hardware as the other models, just with less storage for games and apps.

Because the 64GB model was discontinued, this is likely a ‘while supplies last’ situation, but if you’re looking to save some cash and don’t mind keeping an eye on your storage, this is the cheapest we’ve ever seen this headset sold for from a major retailer.

As far as we can see, this isn’t a special sale price; the headset will presumably be sold at this price until stock runs out. If you’re looking for a deal on the Quest 2 models with more storage, check out the Oculus Cyber Monday sale before it’s gone!

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Kuo: Apple Headset To Launch Late 2022 With 4K Displays & Macbook Performance

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Apple’s rumored upcoming headset will have MacBook level performance and dual 4K OLED microdisplays, according to a note from Ming-Chi Kuo MacRumors claims to have viewed.

Kuo is a TF International Securities analyst known for predicting Apple products & moves over a year in advance using his supply chain sources. Apple Track gives him a 76% accuracy rating.

The Information, Bloomberg and analyst Ming-Chi Kuo all claim Apple will release a headset as early as 2022 with high resolution color cameras for mixed reality. Kuo previously claimed it will be priced at least $1000. In February The Information claimed to have viewed images of a late-stage prototype “which show a sleek, curved visor attached to the face by a mesh material and swappable headbands”. The outlet drew an impression:

Kuo’s new note apparently claims the headset will have a new chip with “similar computing power as the M1 for Mac”. M1 is Apple’s first in-house PC processor, the first in a line intended to transition its Mac products from the x86 architecture that has dominated PCs for two decades to the ARM architecture used in smartphones & tablets.

We’re somewhat skeptical of this claim. M1 is a fairly large chip. While its power efficiency is incredibly impressive for a laptop or PC, it draws much more power than the smartphone-tier processors used in existing headsets like Quest 2. That’s why Apple uses its lower power A-series chips in even its most advanced iPhones.

On the other hand, M1 was launched in 2020 and is manufactured using TSMC’s 5 nm node process. TSMC usually moves to a smaller node every two years, bringing with it significant performance per watt improvements. If TSMC successfully mass produces 3 nm chips by the end of 2022, it’s possible Apple’s headset could indeed deliver M1 level performance at VR headset power consumption levels. But that’s a big if, as TSMC recently cautioned investors about potential delays to 3 nm.

The Kuo note also apparently claims the headset will have dual 4K micro OLED displays. OLED microdisplays are significantly smaller than regular displays, so when paired with the right lenses can enable an extremely compact design such as Panasonic’s concept, but aren’t yet used in shipping products.

If Kuo’s claims are true, Apple’s headset will offer significantly better performance and visual quality than current headsets in a much more compact design. But bleeding edge processors and microdisplays aren’t cheap, so it may end up competing with Project Cambria, Meta’s upcoming take on a high end headset, rather than Quest 2.

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20 Free Games & Apps Quest 2 Owners Should Download First

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Not ready to plonk down your first $100 on Quest 2 games? Thankfully there’s a good amount of free games, experiences, social VR platforms, and apps to keep you playing before you’re paying.

Note: We didn’t include demos for paid games in the list, but you should definitely also check out these too for a quick taste of the full thing, such as Synth Riders, Journey of the Gods, Creed: Rise to Glory, Beat Saber, Superhot VR, and Space Pirate Trainer.

We have however included App Lab games. If you want to see more, SideQuest’s search function is a great resource for finding free stuff and demos. Below you’ll find some of the top App Lab games in addition to those hosted on the official store.

Free Games

Gorilla Tag

• Description: This humble game of tag has taken both SideQuest and App Lab by storm with its infectious gameplay. You’ll be lumbering around a tree-lined arena using its unique grab-the-world locomotion style that lets you amble around like a great ape. Chase the other apes and infect them, or climb for your life as the infected chase you. Pure and simple. Make sure you’re far from TVs, furniture, babies, and pets because you will punch something in the mad dash for sweet, low-poly freedom.
• Developer: Another Axiom
• Store link

Pavlov Shack Beta

• Description: Every wanted to play Counter-Strike on Quest? Pavlov Shack Beta offers up a pretty comparable experience, as you play in either deathmatch or co-op mode. It’s got all of the realistic gunplay and much of the fun of the paid PC VR title, but it’s still going strong with a free open beta on Quest.
• Developer: Vankrupt Games
• Store link

Echo VR

• Description: Zero-g sports aren’t possible unless you’re stationed on the ISS, and even then you probably shouldn’t muck about. In this fast-paced game of ultimate frisbee-meets-hockey-meets-whatever you’ll launch at speed to the goal, evade the opposing team and chuck your Tron-style frisbee-thing for the win. Remember: you can smash your opponent in the face, but please follow the same suggestions mentioned in Gorilla Tag above.
• Developer: Ready at Dawn
• Store link

Rec Room

• Description: Without a doubt one of the most fun, and most expansive VR titles out there… and it’s free. Sure, you can pay real cash for in-game tokens to buy spiffy clothes for your avatar, but that’s really up to you. Gads of mini-games await you in both first-party creations such as the ever so popular co-op Quests—that could be games in their own right—to user-created stuff that will keep your pocket book gathering dust. It’s social VR, so meet people and have a ball for zero dollarydoos. Fair warning: there’s a ton of kids.
• Developer: Rec Room
• Store link

VRChat

• Description: If you’ve been anywhere near the Internet in the last few years, it’s likely you’ve already heard about VRChat, the user-generated social VR space filled with… well… everything you can imagine, re-pro games included like Among Us, Mario Kart, and even a version of Beat Saber. Fashion your own avatar or download the millions of user-generated avatars out there so you can embody SpongeBob, Kirito from Sword Art Online, or any one of the million anime girl avatars that you’re bound to see there.
• Developer: VRChat
• Store link

Tea for God

• Description: Tea for God has been around for a while now in a pretty basic form, however through successive updates it’s really come into its own. It adapts to the size of your actual room, letting you use natural room-scale locomotion to explore the vast, procedurally-generated world. There’s a shooter element as well, available in arcade and a roguelite modes, although you can just as easily turn that off if you’re looking for a unique bit of exploration.
• Developer: Void Room
• Store link

Ancient Dungeon Beta

• Description: This plucky roguelite dungeon crawler is still in beta, but there’s a reason it’s become an App Lab favorite. Explore a vast dungeon to explore, housing plenty of baddies just asking for the steel of your sword, knives, and arrows. You’ll climb over deep pits, dodge lethal traps, and search for hidden treasures. Smash all the pots and crates you can before it officially launches on Quest sometime in the near future.
• Developer: ErThu
• Store link

Elixir

• Description: Would-be wizards, this is your time to shine. Explore a magical laboratory and take on the job of apprentice wizard. The lab is full of gadgets and magical stuff to mess around with; as one of the games that natively supports Quest’s hand tracking, you can put your controllers down and get experimenting with this little slice of the dark arts.
• Developer: Magnopus
• Store link

PokerStars VR

• Description: Pokerstars, but in VR and without real cash. Okay, that last part isn’t exactly true because you can buy in-game chips for more fun (non-transferable). If you’re good at Texas Hold’em, you may not need to buy any at all by working up from your starting chips. Just make sure you’re not giving off any tells, because in VR they can see you bluff almost as good as in real life. Also black jack and slots if you’re into it.
• Developer: Lucky VR
• Store link

The Under Presents

• Description: Ok, so it’s not a game in the traditional sense, but The Under Presents is a true tour de force when it comes to immersion, exploration, and downright weirdness that you can only experience in VR. This mind-bending adventure is an optional social experience that’s almost too big to describe, but suffice it to say you can easily get lost uncovering the game’s mysteries and puzzle-like room configurations. It also includes over 30 minutes of single player mysteries to discover for free.
• Developer: Tender Claws
• Store link

Free Interactive Experiences

Anne Frank House VR

• Description: This interactive experience takes you into the secret annex where Anne Frank lived for two years in hiding from the Nazi regime. The experience lets you explore the entire annex where eight people hid, and experience what it must have been like for Frank up until the group was discovered and shipped off to concentration camps in August 1944.
• Developer: Force Field
• Store link

Mission: ISS

• Description: Get your space boots and Tang ready, because you’re about to take a trip into orbit to learn about life board the International Space Station. You’ll float around in the station’s microgravity environment and experience how to dock a space capsule, take a spacewalk, and let real NASA astronauts guide you on the ISS through informative videos and images. Look out over the pale blue dot and marvel at humankind’s most awesome achievements.
• Developer: Magnopus / Oculus
• Store link

Home After War

• Description: Home After War is  a room-scale, interactive experience that takes you to Fallujah, a city that was, until recently, under Islamic State (IS) control. Even though the conflict has ended, there’s a looming fear of returning refugees: booby trapped homes and improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in the neighborhoods. Awe-inspiring. Human. Disturbing.
• Developer: NowHere Media
• Store link

Goliath: Playing with Reality

• Description: Narrated by Tilda Swinton, Goliath guides you through the unsettling world of Goliath, a man who spent years isolated in psychiatric institutions but finds connection in multiplayer games. Expect to have your heartstrings pulled by expressive dialogue and immersive visuals as you explore the mind and experiences of Goliath.
• Developer: Anagram
• Store link

Continue on Page 2: Free Apps & Films »

The post 20 Free Games & Apps Quest 2 Owners Should Download First appeared first on Road to VR.

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Gorilla Tag Hits 1.5 Million Players, In App Purchases Come To Quest

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An astonishing 1.5 million players have now monkeyed around in multiplayer VR hit, Gorilla Tag.

Developer Another Axiom confirmed as much on Twitter this week, also confirming that in-app purchases are now available in the Quest version of the game. Meta launched IAP support for App Lab titles on Quest earlier in the month. The game itself is free to download, and you can expect IAPs to relate to avatar cosmetics as opposed to new features and maps.

Gorilla Tag Hits 1.5 Million Players

What wasn’t confirmed was exactly how many of these players are on Quest and how many are on Steam. Normally we’d assume that Quest’s popularity would give it a significant majority but, given the game is hidden on the App Lab store and that the Steam version has more user reviews (10.5K to Quest’s 7.3K), we’re not quite sure. Some of those players will likely also come from the SideQuest version of the game, though.

Whatever the case, it’s clear to see just how popular the multiplayer title has become. In fact, last month’s Connect conference even saw John Carmack celebrate the game’s success, saying it had more players on Quest than some AAA productions.

Surely it’s a matter of time before we see an official release for Gorilla Tag on the Quest store. Currently, though, the game remains in early access on Steam, and Meta says it doesn’t allow EA titles onto the full Quest store. That hasn’t stopped games like Onward and Blade And Sorcery appearing, though, so we’ll have to wait and see.

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Watch: Blade And Sorcery Quest Now Has Star Wars Lightsaber Mod

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Well, that didn’t take long. Blade and Sorcery: Nomad, the Quest 2 version of the sword-swinging hit, now has the Star Wars lightsaber mod.

This force-fuelled mod was a huge draw for the PC VR version of the game when it launched a few years ago. It lets you take on the game’s hordes of doomed enemies with the iconic laser sword in-hand, cutting off heads and locking blades. Combine it with the game’s existing lightning magic ability, not to mention the force-like grip ability, and you’re basically an unkillable Emperor.

Blade And Sorcery: Nomad Star Wars Lightsaber Mod Gameplay

Modder Piepop101 has worked quickly to get sabers into this version of the game after mod support was finally launched last week. You can download the mod right here. It adds in sound effects and makes it easier to dismember opponents, and you get a choice of blue, green and red sabers. Take note that the retract and return feature currently doesn’t work.

Check out our gameplay video of the mod in action above. It works really well though the sabers are still sticky like the game’s usual weapons and don’t quite act like you’d expect based on the movies.

Mods are an important addition to Blade And Sorcery: Nomad, which we think is a fun port with room to grow. The game even recently made it onto our revised best Quest games list. Are you going to be downloading the Star Wars mod? Let us know in the comments below!

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Cyber Monday Oculus Store Discounts Include Quest 2 Games, Bundles

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Cyber Monday is here and there’s a bunch of sales on the Oculus Store for Quest, running for one day only.

Similar to the Black Friday sales, there’s a mixture of single-game sales and bundle sales. However, unlike Black Friday sales, these Cyber Monday deals only last for one day, available now (from 12am PT November 29) until 11:59pm PT later this evening. If you want to pull the trigger on anything, you better get in quick.

There’s two Cyber Monday bundles available. The Cyber Simulation Pack includes Job Simulator, Vacation Simulator and Floor Plan 2 for $49.99, a discount of 33% from the regular combined price of $74.97.

The other bundle is the Quest Essentials Pack, which includes Eleven Table Tennis, Five Nights at Freddy’s: Help Wanted, The Climb and In Death: Unchained for $69.99, down 35% from a regular combined price of $109.96.

In terms of single-game sales, there’s a variety of new and older releases with discounts as high as 40%. It’s a different selection than what was on offer last week for Black Friday — here are some of the highlights we found:

– Onward for $14.99 (down 40% from $24.99)

– Warhammer 40,000: Battle Sister for $20.99 (down 30% from $29.99)

– Kingspray Graffiti for $8.99 (down 40% from $14.99)

– Phantom: Covert Ops for $20.99 (down 30% from $29.99)

– Arcsmith for $15.99 (down 36% from $24.99)

– Swords of Gargantua for $14.99 (down 40% from $24.99)

– Lies Beneath for $17.99 (down 40% from $29.99)

– Carve Snowboarding for $13.99 (down 30% from $19.99)

– Path of the Warrior for $11.99 (down 40% from $19.99)

– Chess Club for $10.49 (down 30% from $14.99)

– Tetris Effect: Connected for $17.99 (down 40% from $29.99)

– Cubism for $6.99 (down 30% from $9.99)

– Wraith: The Oblivion – Afterlife for $17.99 (down 40% from $29.99)

You can view the full list of discounted games over on the Cyber Monday section of the Oculus Store.

What will you be picking up this Cyber Monday? Let us know in the comments below.

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Contractors Gets Swords And Archery In Ninja Warrior Update

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Modern VR shooter, Contractors, now lets you become a ninja.

Yes, really.

Contractors Ninja Warrior Update Goes Live

The game’s Ninja Warrior update is now live and adds a new loadout that lets you embrace your stealthy side. It features a katana to cut through foes with as well as a bow and arrow. Because not enough VR games have a bow and arrow.

It’s not the first time we’ve seen Contractors, which primarily features modern-era combat, branch out to other eras. The game got WW2-era combat a while back, for example.

Ninjas aren’t the only focus of the latest update. There are new pistol and bolt-action only loadouts, an improvement to the game’s online and social features, as well as an overhaul to the Domination game mode that implements a ticket system. You can keep up with the full changelog right here. More map revamps are due in the future, too.

We’re quite fond of Contractors, giving the game a ‘Great’ label last time we tried it. “It’s got the gameplay polish of something like Medal of Honor VR, with the content, game modes, and speed of combat that you’d expect of a non-VR shooter like Call of Duty,” we said in our review, “all while wrapping it up in a neat, cheap package that’s approachable without being too simple.” The game also made our recently updated list of the best Quest shooters.

Are you going to be checking out Contractors’ Ninja Warrior update? Let us know in the comments below!

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HTC Vive Flow Review: A Niche Within A Niche

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HTC’s Vive Flow is by far the lightest VR headset on the market, but should anyone actually buy it?

Flow was announced in October just a week before Facebook Connect 2021 after a month of teases, speculation, and leaks. It started shipping at the start of this month.

While many hoped for a direct Quest 2 competitor, HTC describes Flow as mostly passive “immersive glasses” for media viewing, casual games, and “on the go wellness”. But is it worth the $499 price? And who exactly is it for? Read on to find out.

Compatibility

To start, you can only use Flow with a very specific list of Android phones. HTC told us it’s “looking into” iPhone and Laptop support, but there’s no concrete timeline for either.

Flow is a wired device with a female USB Type-C connector, but the cable is used for power rather than data (other than to sideload content). HTC says you can use almost any USB port to power it, including laptops, phones, and those offered by trains, planes, and hotel rooms. I found any port I tried worked.

The limited phone compatibility comes from using Miracast to wirelessly stream your phone to a virtual screen in VR. To support other phones, HTC would need to use a cable which, without a new adapter, would force you to use your phone as the power source.

Comfort, Visuals, Audio, Tracking

At just 189 grams, Flow is the lightest headset you can buy in the west. You can still feel weight against your nasal bridge but it’s significantly reduced compared to headsets like Quest 2.

What’s less comfortable than other headsets is the rigid arms. While they remove the need for a top strap, they put uncomfortable pressure on the side of larger heads. I did find this got better with each passing day though, presumably as the arms stretched over time.

The fabric gasket which blocks the peripheral light from your real room attaches magnetically. It can be detached and replaced with a nose insert. This actually feels more comfortable, and is even preferable for situations where immersion doesn’t matter. Bright lights in the room can reflect in the lenses though.

Flow doesn’t accommodate glasses, because it has per-lens diopter adjustment instead. You simply twist the ridge of each lens. I don’t wear glasses, but had family who do try this and they said it worked, providing a clear image.

While the 1600×1600 LCD displays are technically lower resolution than Quest 2, the slightly narrower field of view means the visual quality is actually very similar. What isn’t similar though is the stability. Like with Varjo Aero, I noticed geometric distortion when rotating my head that makes the virtual world not feel solid.

The quality of the built-in audio is surprisingly good given the small size of the speakers, but the sound of the cooling fan is often distracting. Thankfully Bluetooth audio is fully supported for private listening and I didn’t experience connection issues with it.

Unlike Oculus Go (Facebook’s 2018 take on the VR media viewer concept) Flow has positional tracking, enabled by two greyscale cameras. But whereas the inside-out tracking on Quest 2 and Windows headsets like HP Reverb G2 feel solid and consistent, Flow’s tracking feels swimmy and sometimes even seems to bounce. Worse, looking directly up at the ceiling often causes a “positional tracking lost” error.

Double tapping the button on the headset toggles camera passthrough, but as with Quest 2 the view is black & white with low resolution. Flow comfortably rests on the top of your head though, a much better way to quickly see reality.

Phone As Controller

There’s no other way to say it, Flow’s input scheme is clunky.

When wearing the headset your phone, if unlocked, acts as a rotational laser pointer via Bluetooth. The touchscreen is split into four sections, System Menu, Select, “Trigger”, and App Menu. You can also perform swipe gestures.

I get why HTC chose the phone approach. Flow is meant to suit a travelling-light lifestyle and a controller would be one more thing to carry and keep charged. But since you can’t actually see either your phone or fingers inside VR, and the phone isn’t positionally tracked, and you can’t feel out virtual buttons, I sometimes found myself pressing the wrong thing.

Worse, some apps (including some of HTC’s own!) place panels and controls at steep angles, requiring you to either awkwardly bend your wrist or recenter the controller. Ugh.

HTC says controller-free hand tracking will arrive at some point in the future. Some people dislike current hand tracking tech as it doesn’t provide haptic feedback and lacks thumbsticks, but given Flow’s mostly-passive content focus I think it would be ideal. In fact, given how clunky the phone controller experience is, I’m puzzled why HTC didn’t wait for hand tracking before launching this product.

Software, Content, Performance

Flow runs a modified version of Android. The spartan system menu has four sections: Store, Library, Phone (streaming), and Settings.

Streaming your phone screen via Miracast is Flow’s headline feature. It connects quickly without issue and both the quality and latency feel great for apps like Netflix and YouTube. This is Flow at its best. It’s your phone, but on a much much larger (virtual) screen.

Using native VR apps from the store, however, is a far less impressive experience. Most of these apps feel like what we saw in the Google Cardboard or Samsung Gear VR era, with only a handful of true gems.

Flow uses Qualcomm’s Snapdragon XR1 chip, which is significantly less powerful than the XR2 found in Quest 2 and Vive Focus 3. I mentioned in my hands-on preview that none of the apps I tried seemed to maintain 75 frames per second. Unfortunately that’s still the case in almost all the apps on the Viveport Flow store.

The combination of low framerate, swimmy tracking, and lens distortion means Flow just isn’t great for immersive experiences. The exception here is 360 videos – if you’re a fan of this content format Flow is a comfortable way to view.

What’s sorely missing is a Virtual Desktop like app to view your PC screen in VR. Better yet, HTC could support laptops in place of your phone, automatically booting into a virtual desktop when plugged in for both data and power. Right now there is no PC integration at all.

Who Is Flow For?

So I’ve described the experience of using Flow, but the question remains: who exactly is this product for?

There are a few small niches I can see it appealing to: people who live in shared accommodation with no space for their own TV, and people who frequently travel by plane or train to stay in hotel rooms. For these people, Flow would be a portable personal cinema. At $499 few could truly justify Flow, but if future similar products can reach much lower prices this could become a real sub-market of VR.

For everyone else, Flow feels like a concept without a purpose. If you have regular access to a TV and don’t travel often I really can’t find a reason you’d want one. At least not yet.

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