May 31, 2019
Oculus Quest
The Oculus Quest has been hotly anticipated by VR developers and consumers alike due to the promise of wireless VR gaming. Games such as Beat Saber, Robo Recall and Superhot all are release titles of the new Oculus Quest VR headset. The standalone headset boasts 6Dof (six degrees of freedom) and two new Oculus Touch controllers. Alongside the Oculus Guardian system seen in previous VR headsets created by Oculus, the Oculus Quest VR headset makes for an incredibly portable VR headset. Many VR developers and those interested in the applications of the Oculus Quest have seen the release of the Oculus Quest as a great gateway into making VR more mainstream and appealing to a more casual audience who may be first time buyers of VR hardware. With the recent release of the Oculus Quest, we’ll round up our thoughts on the Oculus Quest.
Setup
Setting up the Oculus Quest is incredibly easy as all you need to do is connect the VR headset to your phone, charge it up, download some firmware and you’re ready to go. The setup is similar to the Oculus Quest’s counterpart, the Oculus GO. Comparing the set up to previous VR headsets such as the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive, the setup is comparatively easier.
Games Library
After setting up the Quest you’re met with an impressive games library for you to choose from. As mentioned, you have games such as Beat Saber, Robo Recall and Superhot, but you also have games such as Thumper, Fruit Ninja VR, Space Pirate Trainer and the previously PlayStation VR exclusive, Moss. These games take advantage of the Oculus Guardian System which for the Oculus Quest is incredibly easy to setup.
Tracking
The Oculus Guardian System takes advantage of the four cameras on the front of the headset which act as sensors. These cameras allow for inside-out tracking in 6 degrees of freedom, getting the rid of the need for sensors of any kind. Users simply must look around them to map out their environment and they are ready to go. One of the biggest drawing points for the Oculus Quest is that room-scale with a wireless VR headset is incredibly appealing. The Oculus Quest also has a mode for when you are sitting or standing up in one place called stationary mode.
Cost and portability
All of this makes for an incredibly portable VR headset which requires no other external accessories or hardware. The lack of a PC being needed makes the Oculus Quest much more portable, it also makes it a lot more affordable. If you include the cost of a powerful PC to run VR games, the price of the cost is significantly cheaper than other headsets such as the Oculus Rift and HTC Vive or equivalent. Making the Oculus Quest incredibly appealing to first time buyers of VR hardware.
Whilst we’ve only had the Oculus Quest for a short period of time, we’re very excited to develop for the Oculus Quest. At Pocket Sized Hands were also very interested to see the business applications of the Oculus Quest and how we can best develop fantastic games and applications to run on the Oculus Quest.
If you have an idea you want created get in touch with us and we can bring it to life. Whether it’s a quick prototype, a full product or even just to brainstorm, our team will be here to help. From the beginnings of your prototype to the final product we can support you with professional advice and delivery.