Category: Facebook Connect

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Facebook Connect Schedule Reveals Start Time And Speakers For Sept. 16th

A schedule posted for the Facebook Connect VR/AR-focused developer conference on Sept. 16 reveals a 10 am Pacific start time.

We can expect the event to kick off with a keynote to Facebook’s conference — likely to be presented by Facebook’s executives — followed by sessions discussing developer tools and taking deep dives into various programs and technologies for VR and AR. Sessions listed include an unscripted talk by Facebook technical guide John Carmack, Unity and Unreal showcases, discussions about avatars and building community, securing content, porting content to Quest, as well as other sessions. Art Director Goro Fujita will discuss VR storytelling and “Cymatic” Bruce Wooden “will discuss publishing options and opportunities within the Oculus ecosystem.”

The first fully digital VR-focused developers conference from Facebook replaces the earlier Oculus Connect conference which was held annually since 2014. The event comes amid reports that production on a Quest successor was scheduled to get underway this summer and retailers start delisting the original Quest as Facebook shifts strategy to require a Facebook login on future hardware.

So there’s a lot for company executives to talk about, and Facebook Connect will be airing on Facebook Live with a recap that’ll be posted to the Facebook Reality Labs page afterward.

“Facebook Reality Labs is the new name for Facebook’s AR/VR team. They are responsible for building the next computing platform to help people feel more present with each other while we’re apart,” Facebook’s page for the event explains. “Facebook Reality Labs includes everyone working to make this computing platform a reality – including those answering important research questions that bring forward the AR/VR products of tomorrow as well as those working on products available today such as Oculus and Portal.”

We’ll be tuned in watching Facebook Connect live with everyone else, and we will have the latest news for you right here on UploadVR.

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Walmart Product Listing May Point to Quest 2 Pricing & Storage Sizes

An ostensibly premature Walmart product listing may point to both the price and available internal storage sizes for the upcoming Oculus Quest 2.

At the time of this writing, Walmart currently has a mystery Oculus headset listed, which neatly fits within Oculus’ long established codenaming scheme; Oculus Point Reyes.

The listing specifies two models, a 64 GB variant priced at $299 and a 256 GB variant priced at $399.

Image captured by Road to VR

If these are indeed authentic prices for the new Oculus Quest, it would represent a substantial reduction over the first Quest, which fetched $400 and $500 for the 64 GB and 128 GB versions respectively when it launched in May 2019.

The Oculus Quest 2 was first revealed in leaked images back in late July; with Facebook Connect (ex-Oculus Connect) happening on September 16th, it suggests we could see a product launch or pre-order campaign in about two weeks. We’ve sent a request to Facebook for confirmation, so we’ll update this soon.

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[Update] Multiple Leaked Photos Show Possible Quest 2, September Reveal Rumored

The listings also appear to have placeholder images of Oculus Go headsets, something Facebook has already vowed to retire in its quest (pun intended) to go full 6DOF from now on. It’s important to note that the entire listing could be filled with placeholder information, although it’s safe to say Walmart is getting ready to list something.

Notably, the ‘Point Reyes’ name is entirely new. It was previously thought that Quest 2 was operating under the codename ‘Del Mar’, which was discovered in developer documentation back in March 2020, however it’s not out of the realm of possibility that the Del Mar name was referring to an intermediate iteration of the Quest 2.

The post Walmart Product Listing May Point to Quest 2 Pricing & Storage Sizes appeared first on Road to VR.

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Facebook Horizon Invite-Only Closed Beta Will Start In The ‘Coming Weeks’

Facebook Horizon, the social VR app planned for Oculus Quest and Rift, is hitting its closed beta invite-only testing phase later this year. You can sign up now to be added to the waitlist as invites will begin rolling out “in the coming weeks” according to today’s Oculus blog post. Alpha testing began in March. You can find more information on the official Facebook Horizon website.

After spending a little bit of time inside Facebook Horizon earlier this week, I’d say the closest comparison would be Rec Room from indie studio Against Gravity. They both feature similarly whimsical art styles, a heavy focus on in-app game creation, and heavily incentivize being social with others in VR.

The big difference obviously is that Horizon is, naturally, backed by Facebook and is exclusive to Oculus devices like the Rift and Quest. Rec Room is made by a small studio, but is cross-platform on all PC VR headsets, Quest, PSVR, desktop non-VR, PS4 non-VR, and even non-VR mobile devices.

Like most user-generated content focused experiences, Facebook Horizon will live and die by the quality and quantity of good content. There seems to be a high ceiling for the types of games and worlds people can create, so it all comes down to whether or not creators will want to build for this platform instead of for others.

When using Horizon, you’re required to link your account to your Oculus actual Facebook account. However, in-game it will still only show your Oculus ID, not your real identity. There are plenty of safety and privacy tools as well, such as a personal safe space bubble, blocking and reporting features, as well as parties and friend invites to navigate. Accessing and playing content seemed simple, but the building tools will definitely take a lot of practice to master.

There isn’t a firm date yet for the invite-only Facebook Horizon beta, but they’ve at least said it will be here in the “coming weeks” so not much longer. Perhaps sometime near the Facebook Connect (formerly known as Oculus Connect) digital event on September 16th would make sense.

Let us know what you think down in the comments below and don’t forget to sign up for the waitlist right here since the beta is invite-only and check out our feature interview story from Oculus Connect 6 last year on Horizon’s features and focus.

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Yes, John Carmack Will Speak Live At Facebook Connect

In case you were worried, yes, John Carmack will be talking live at Facebook Connect in September.

Carmack confirmed as much in a tweet following Connect’s announcement yesterday. In fact, Carmack suggests his talk will be the only live element of the show — which takes place on September 16 — adding that everything else will be pre-recorded “with nice production values.” Production values were never much of a concern in his marathon keynotes, for what it’s worth.

Two factors had us wondering if the legendary developer would be putting in an appearance at the show. Firstly, Carmack stopped working full-time at Facebook in November of last year. He instead transitioned to a consulting role, while spending more of his own time working on AI. Second, this is the first-ever ‘Facebook Connect’; the developer event was previously called Oculus Connect 7, and Facebook says this year’s show will also have a focus beyond just VR. With that in mind, we had wondered if Carmack would be putting in an appearance at this year’s show.

Rest assured that Carmack will be giving another of his ridiculously detailed technical overviews at this year’s digital show, then. At last year’s talk, he offered a eulogy for the Gear VR. 12 months on, he may well do the same for the Oculus Go, which Facebook will stop selling this year, with no plans for another 3DOF headset. Hopefully we might hear some insights into the next Oculus Quest, too, which is heavily rumored to be revealed at the event.

We’ll be covering Facebook Connect extensively, so make sure to tune in.

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Oculus Connect Rebranded to Facebook Connect, to be Hosted Online September 16th

After six annual Oculus Connect conferences, Facebook is rebranding its XR developer event with the name Facebook Connect. This year the event will be held online on September 16th.

Although it no longer bears the Oculus name, Facebook says that Facebook Connect will continue to focus on the company’s XR efforts. Ostensibly the company’s other events, like F8, will still focus on Facebook’s broader portfolio of services. The rebranding announcement comes just after the company announced that its VR headsets will eventually require the use of a Facebook account.

The Coronavirus pandemic has resulted in Facebook Connect being shifted to an online event this year, which Facebook announced today will be held on September 16th. The online event will be free for anyone to attend; keynote presentations and sessions will be broadcast on the Facebook Reality Labs Facebook page.

While most sessions will be pre-recorded, Oculus’ Chief Technology Officer, John Carmack has confirmed that his longstanding unscripted keynote will be delivered live. This comes despite Carmack having lessened his commitment to Oculus last year when he announced that he was moving to a “consulting CTO” role to focus most of his time on other projects.

Mark Zuckerberg on stage at Oculus Connect 3

Besides an avenue to connect with XR developers, Facebook has long used Oculus Connect (now Facebook Connect) to make major announcements about upcoming games, hardware, software, and its long-term vision. Facebook is expected to announce the next Quest headset at this year’s event, and we wouldn’t be surprised to see a formal launch of Horizon, the company’s first earnest attempt at a metaverse-like VR social experience. As with years past we’d also expect to get an update from Michael Abrash, the Chief Scientist of Facebook’s XR research division, on the company’s R&D efforts.

The post Oculus Connect Rebranded to Facebook Connect, to be Hosted Online September 16th appeared first on Road to VR.

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Facebook Connect: Oculus Connect 7 Renamed, Held September 16

A week after announcing it will soon require Facebook sign-ins for VR devices, Facebook is renaming Oculus Connect to Facebook Connect.

The new iteration of the company’s VR developer event will be taking place digitally on September 16th. In addition to its focus on VR, Facebook Connect will also give more time to the company’s work in AR and to other products such as its Portal video calling service. The company says, though, that VR will remain the priority at this year’s event.

In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, Facebook Connect will be hosted entirely online, with its keynote and subsequent sessions available to watch for everyone for free.

At the same time, Facebook is announcing it’s renaming its entire VR/AR division to Facebook Reality Lab. In a blog post, Facebook VP of VR and AR Andrew Bosworth said that this year’s show will share more on “on our vision for Facebook Reality Labs and the latest innovations from our team and developer community.”

A.K.A. Oculus Connect 7

Facebook’s VR developer conferences started back in 2014 as Oculus Connect. At that initial show, Facebook founders like Palmer Luckey, Brendan Iribe and Nate Mitchell discussed the future of the platform as they prepared to release the first Oculus Rift. Each successive Connect was counted consecutively (Oculus Connect 2 in 2015 and so on). The Rift eventually released, but the event’s focus on the future remained.

In 2020, what would have been Oculus Connect 7 will be held with none of Oculus’ original founders still onboard, two weeks before Facebook will require all new sign-ins on Oculus devices to use a Facebook account. This year’s show is widely expected to reveal a new iteration of the Oculus Quest standalone headset, which has been subject to heavy leaks in the past few weeks.

We’ll be on-hand to cover the show extensively. What are you hoping to see at Facebook Connect? Let us know in the comment below.

The post Facebook Connect: Oculus Connect 7 Renamed, Held September 16 appeared first on UploadVR.