After the recent issues Facebook had with the two Elite Strap versions for Oculus Quest 2 snapping – they’ve now gone back on sale – the company has now begun addressing new complaints. Reports have come in that a very small number of customers have experienced skin irritation from the foam on the facial interface. So Facebook is tackling the problem head-on by developing a replacement program.
A new blog posting from Oculus explains that: “We’ve received reports of skin irritation from about 0.01% of people using Quest 2, occurring where the foam portion of the Quest 2 headset rests on their face.” While this is a very small percentage, any sort of discomfort will impede a players enjoyment no matter how mild the reaction might be.
There could be a number of reasons why this is occurring with Oculus going onto say: “As part of our investigation, we’re looking at any potential causes, and we’ve already made changes to the Quest 2 manufacturing process, which we believe addresses the reported effects. We’re confirming the effectiveness of these changes now.”
The company is: “working with experts in dermatology and toxicology” to understand the root cause of these reports which aren’t the same as the usual ‘VR Face’ pressure marks you can get. “These experts have advised us that this irritation is not an allergic reaction, nor is it a serious medical condition and it should go away by itself. However, we’re sharing more information about it out of an abundance of caution,” the statement notes.
If you have suffered from any irritation due to the foam interface, Oculus is currently developing a replacement facial interface program for anyone affected. Once live VRFocus will let you know.
First-party products like the Elite Strap have been created to aid comfort, but there are third-party solutions like VR Cover which may suit some users.
It’s an issue Facebook will want to resolve quickly as sales of the Oculus Quest 2 “surpassed our expectations,” said CEO Mark Zuckerberg in a recent earnings call. While the rollout wasn’t quite as smooth as the original Quest, plenty of developers have been getting behind the new platform, releasing updates to their games which make use of the extra processing power. For further announcements, keep reading VRFocus.