Reactions to the Oculus Quest

[OrinB]

i had to use a rainbow as your enthusiasm is so infectious... i love it... and i may even look into getting one myself... despite only having one working eye...

We use them to test VR stuff at work, so i sort of know what it's like, i just haven't played any games.

 

[Adeon Writer]

i had to use a rainbow as your enthusiasm is so infectious... i love it... and i may even look into getting one myself... despite only having one working eye...

We use them to test VR stuff at work, so i sort of know what it's like, i just haven't played any games.

A VRChat user, OwlBoy, (owner of the most popular VRChat world, The Great Pug Bar), is totally blind in one eye, and he's a total VR enthusiast, saying it does not take away from his VR immersion in the slightest.

...

Man I already have an Oculus Rift (AND and a handful of body trackers for full body capture) and all of this is STILL making me want a Quest just to be totally wireless. It sounds so nice and freeing. I'd love to forget about my cable.

 

[Ghost Pepper]

My only problem with the Quest so far is that it sits uncomfortably on my nose. Will have to adjust the straps more to see if that helps.

 

[OrinB]

A VRChat user, OwlBoy, (owner of the most popular VRChat world, The Great Pug Bar), is totally blind in one eye, and he's a total VR enthusiast, saying it does not take away from his VR immersion in the slightest.

I sort of get that, as I don’t exactly know what true binocular vision is like so can appreciate VR in my own way. But I have no comparison to gauge this with what others might see.

In a work environment when I’m needing to make decisions and support a team who are making these products I feel on a back foot. I hope I can get used to it in time.

 

[Beebo Brink]

OrinB for what it is worth, I have poor depth perception due to one eye being not-quite-useless, and it hasn't been an issue. The impact of VR (at least for me) is not so much the 3Dness of it as the completeness. You are walking into a holodeck.

 

[Ghost Pepper]

I found out about this strap below that supposedly will help with the comfort of the Quest. Unfortunately though it's out of stock. Only the company that makes it carries it and it takes 6 working days to ship it to the US. Usually it's $30 but they have it on sale for $19.99.

Quest Deluxe Strap | Studioform Creative

 

[Beebo Brink]

I'm still basking in the aura of that first thrill -- thank god for charging time to force me to stop -- but I'm already hiccupping when it comes to content. This has always been one of my biggest reservations (aside from the unfounded fear of getting nauseous). Don't get me wrong, though, because Beat Saber alone was worth the price of the Quest. I've paid that much for exercise equipment I never used, and I think Beat Saber is a lot more likely to stick.

Mostly what I'm struggling with are the interfaces to get to content. I tried to reach the VR Directory and found pieces of it, then got lost and never found my way back. I tried Big Screen and VR Chat and couldn't understand how to make anything work and finally just had to bail out. So I spent most of last evening (winded from Beat Saber) playing a very low-key fishing game called Bait. It's kinda cheezy, but reminds me of the fun fishing craze in SL, plus the various lake environments are soothing.

Given the immediate popularity of the Quest -- of which I am living proof -- I'm pretty sure content is going to follow over the next few years. The ease of setup, portability, and price point or going to be prime factors in its success. Anyone can take their Quest out to show friends and office co-workers what it's like. That direct experience makes all the difference.

As Cris has repeated over and over: you have to see it to understand the experience.

 

[Cristiano]

Beebs, a couple of suggestions:

When you are using the touch controllers, this is generally always the case in apps/games:

1) Tapping the smooth button at the bottom of the right controller (the Oculus button) temporarily takes you back to Oculus Home where you can quit the app, change settings, etc. Tapping it again takes you back in. Holding the same button down resets your view to what direction you are facing, but it has mixed results depending on the app.
2) The same button on the left controller is normally the menu for that app/game. For example, in Nature Trek VR, that button opens up the menu of interactive objects you can throw out into the scene you are in.
3) Most of the time, the front triggers are how you interact with things and grip onto them in VR, though depending on the app, the side triggers are also used (for example, in Ocean Rift, the side trigger makes you swim).
4) The thumbsticks are normally used to turn your view, and in games with teleporting, they are often used to indicate what direction you want to teleport. This is a bit inconsistent among apps but you learn after awhile what does what.
5) In the browser, when you are trying the WebVR stuff, I believe you press the menu button on the left controller to get back to the browser view, then B on the right controller to go back a page.
6) If you are confused about which controller is which, the side trigger should be on the opposite side of whatever hand you have it in (the side trigger is on the left on the right controller and on the right on the left controller). That is where you naturally put your middle finger while holding the controller.

Lastly, if you are looking for something impressive, check out the app Wander. It's not free (I think it is $10) but it is worth every penny. It uses Google's street view imagery in an amazing way that basically lets you explore anywhere in the world. I can spend hours in it looking around different places.

Please feel free to bug me with any questions you have, and also add me as an Oculus friend sometime - my user id is GrandTheftGato.

 

[Cristiano]

Oh one more suggestion - check out the OculusQuest subreddit. They have a daily questions thread and FAQs that may be helpful for you as you are learning:

r/OculusQuest

r/OculusQuest: A place to discuss the Meta/Oculus Quest, Quest 2, and Quest Pro

www.reddit.com

 

[Ghost Pepper]

Oh one more suggestion - check out the OculusQuest subreddit. They have a daily questions thread and FAQs that may be helpful for you as you are learning:

r/OculusQuest

r/OculusQuest: A place to discuss the Meta/Oculus Quest, Quest 2, and Quest Pro

www.reddit.com

I found this on that Quest subreddit and it talks about a battery to extend how long the Quest works. It also shows how you can use it as a counterweight for the front part of the Quest.

 

[Beebo Brink]

Beebs, a couple of suggestions:

That was helpful in a general way, but the problem I'm having is often conceptual rather than mechanical. It's not so I don't know "how" to do something, it's that I don't know "what" I'm supposed to do.

Please feel free to bug me with any questions you have, and also add me as an Oculus friend sometime - my user id is GrandTheftGato.

Will do! I think I saw your name pop up somewhere, probably through the Facebook connection. I'll have to root through the Home interface again and do something more proactive to make you a friend. I also saw another friend of mine from college days pop up on that list, so I'm not the only old geezer nerd who is jumping on this bandwagon.

 

[Cristiano]

Well, knowing mechanically what you can do with the controls often reveals what you can do conceptually. VR uis are usually minimalistic (sometimes to a fault). In apps, I usually experiment with what button does what so I can figure out how to use it. I didn't notice I could throw things out into the environments in Nature Trek VR until I tried out what the menu button did and a bunch of orbs popped up to be grabbed and thrown. VR experiences are more exploratory.

 

[Cristiano]

Also, the friend requests and suggestions have been popping up in the Oculus app on my phone. I think you can add them on the headset too, but it's easier to do some things in the Oculus app.

 

[Beebo Brink]

Also, the friend requests and suggestions have been popping up in the Oculus app on my phone. I think you can add them on the headset too, but it's easier to do some things in the Oculus app.

I tried adding you to my Friends list today, but I'm not sure I succeeded.

Meanwhile, I bought Wander and spent part of the morning wandering around old haunts. I couldn't remember the address of the apartment complex I lived in for much of my childhood, but I remembered the street name, and I was able to hop my way to it from the landing point. It's razed to the ground, currently under construction. I'm not too sentimental about it -- even when we lived there it was on the worn side. I'm surprised it wasn't pulled down sooner, given the sky-high prices in that neighborhood now.

 

[Cristiano]

You succeeded in sending me six friend requests.

 

[Ghost Pepper]

Too bad that there isn't an Oculus option under Your Account > Identities.

 

[Cristiano]

Oh one other thing to mention in case you've not seen any warnings about this. Direct sunlight is the enemy of the lenses. Do not leave the Quest somewhere that direct sunlight will shine on the lenses. They are basically giant magnifying glasses and you know what sunlight does with a magnifying glass - it will fry the display.

 

[Beebo Brink]

A word of friendly warning to anyone who approaches VR on a tight budget. You don't NEED other stuff, but there are quite a lot of useful accessories, and then of course the cost of the games. At a minimum, expect to pay around $500 to get the Quest, a few games, and a few accessories.

Top of my list: AA rechargeable batteries and charger. I've been playing 4 days now, and my controller batteries are down to 50%. Crossing my fingers that they last until Amazon delivers.

I'm also looking at washable rim covers, which aren't available for the Quest just yet (another few weeks).

I'm tempted, but for the moment I'm taking a pass on the carrying case. Same for the extra foam padding for the rim.

 

[Ghost Pepper]

There are in-ear headphones for the Quest but it won't ship till June 4th and are $50 through Oculus. I'll wait and see how good they are first.

 

[Cristiano]

Too bad that there isn't an Oculus option under Your Account > Identities.

There is now.