Horizon Workrooms 1.3 is now available, adding a new environment, high-fives and improvements to the remote desktop capability.
A relatively minor update, the big draw of the latest update for Meta’s remote collaboration software is a beach environment that places your workspace in a tropical, relaxing seaside enclosure.
Beach day workday
Work in VR with a new beach environment, collab next level with high-fives and more in Horizon Workrooms v1.3
As you can see in the video above, the environment looks very Greek in its design. If you can’t be in Santorini on holiday, I guess working in a virtual room that looks somewhat similar is the next best thing?
Besides the beach environment, you’re also now able to high-five colleagues in Workrooms — doing so will display a new effect.
Other significant changes in this update are found in Workrooms’ remote desktop functionality. Most notably, Workrooms now supports streaming desktop audio to your workspace while using remote desktop with your PC or Mac. Previously you could only stream a video feed of your desktop, without accompanying audio. This change should be useful for presenting videos and the like to a group of colleagues, depending on the latency between the video feed and the audio.
Audio streaming aside, Meta also notes that it’s made other improvements to Workrooms’ remote desktop features, particularly in relation to “discovery and connectivity, as well as general app stability.”
Like many things under Zuckerbergâs watch, the Horizon series (Worlds, Venues, Workrooms) hasnât launched without a bit of turbulence. From reported incidents of virtual âgropingâ to a janky, difficult-to-use interface, so far itâs been tricky for users to select Metaâs first offering as their chosen metaverse platform.
What are some of the early pitfalls of the Horizon series? Should they be passed as typical blunders for an entry-level application in a new world, or are they larger indicators that Meta is starting off on the wrong foot? Letâs take a closer look.
Safety risks in the Horizon world
If youâve been reading the news, sexual assault has become a rising concern in the growing Web3 space. A myriad of experts has started weighing in on the safety risks that an immersive, lifelike online experience can pose â with many leaders suggesting that the effects of sexual harassment in VR could evoke similar responses as a real-life physical experience would.Â
At the time of writing, chances are that if you run a quick Google search, reported incidents of virtual âgropingâ and harassment in Horizon Worlds are likely to be the most popular instances youâll find in any search result.
While running a beta test in Horizon Worlds, a woman reported being âvirtually gropedâ inside the platform by other male users. Not long after this encounter, Nina Jane Patel reported being âverbally and sexually harassedâ by other male avatars inside Horizon Venues.
âYou are literally stepping into a 360-degree digital environment,â Patel describes when recounting her experience. âBecause virtual reality has been designed to be as real as possible, it is similar to inviting someone into your living room, so the violation feels more acute than it would feel on a social media platform.âÂ
Moreover, Patel stresses that âsexual harassment and violence is a big problem in the metaverse in its current state.â Sheâs since had several other women reach out and report having similar experiences in the virtual ecosystem.
Upon further inspection by Metaâs team, Vivek Sharma, Metaâs VP of Horizon, called these incidents âabsolutely unfortunateâ. However, he also noted that both users had failed to deploy âSafe Zoneâ â a built-in safety feature that, when switched on, has the ability to prevent other users from touching or interacting with an avatar.Â
With that being said, Sharma also addressed the need for these safety features to be easier-to-find and more accessible for users. He added: âWe want everyone in Horizon Venues to have a positive experience, to easily find the safety tools that can help them â and help us investigate and take action.âÂ
Underaged users have also been cited as risky subjects for the Horizon world at large. Children claiming to be as young as 9 have been reported using each of the apps (registered users are required to be 18 and up), while several other reviews on the official Oculus site include complaints about foul-mouthed youngsters spoiling the experience for adults. Experts have noted that this dangerous mix of children and adults can lead Horizon to become a meeting ground for predatory behaviour.
Sarah Gardner, VP of external affairs at Thorn (a non-profit tech startup focused on online child safety) highlights how sexual predators âare often among the first to arriveâ on new online forums that appeal to children. âThey see an environment that is not well protected and [that] does not have clear systems of reporting. Theyâll go there first to take advantage of the fact that it is a safe ground for them to abuse or groom kids.â
To combat harassment on the platform, Meta has since added an extra layer of protection for Horizon users: âPersonal Boundaryâ, which will now be turned on by default in both Worlds and Venues. Functioning as an invisible virtual barrier around avatars, the âPersonal Boundaryâ feature can prevent other users from getting too close, acting as a âtwo-foot radius of personal space.â
A failed metaverse gig
During this yearâs Super Bowl celebration, popular rock band Foo Fighters performed their first big virtual gig in Metaâs Horizon Venues. Attendees were given a digital hot-seat, with 180-degree cameras positioned around the stage and a âcustom stage design, practical effects, sophisticated lighting programs and XR elements blended into the concert scene.â Those who attended the gig were also given the opportunity to socialise in real-time with other attendees, as well as the ability to don their avatars with limited edition Super Bowl attire.
However, if you were one of the concertâs lucky attendees, your review might have looked a little different. Post-gig reports alleged that Horizon Venues suffered from a poor onboarding experience, system crashes and â believe or not in this day and age â capacity issues. Out of tens of thousands of people who expressed interest in attending the VR show, only a reported 13,000 were able to actually get in.
Most online events allow people to enter a virtual queue before proceeding onto the actual event (in most cases, this is usually at least 30 minutes before the show starts). This is done to mitigate any impacts that can be caused by too many users flooding in all at once. However, Meta interestingly chose a different approach â one that didnât allow people access to the event until the advertised 8 PM PT start date. Inevitably, the digital âlobbyâ crashed from the force of 61,000 people trying to enter the show at the same time.
Again, Vivek Sharma was forced to comment on the controversy â claiming that âproblems were caused âby unprecedented demandâ. He also added that further opportunities to watch the show would be made available for those who were ultimately unable to attend.Â
Despite the attempt, however, this response was highly criticised by Meta Quest users across the globe â primarily due to the fact that the event was well-hyped and advertised during the Super Bowlâs most recent ad campaign.
Enter Workrooms fatigue
Recently, two of my colleagues joined me in trying to set up a virtual meeting in Horizon Workrooms. With each of us sporting a brand-new Meta Quest 2 on-head, we were all pretty stoked to explore how we could carry out our weekly meetings inside a metaverse space.
However, after about 20 minutes of trying to join a single room using our headsets, we ultimately decided to wrap things up and call it an afternoon. Before that, however, we tried several options â such as setting up party calls inside the Quest 2âs built-in interface and configuring our headsets to link with our web browsers. Ultimately, we grew tired of trying out so many logistics just to join a virtual meeting (many of us are still recovering from Zoom fatigue, mind you).
(Weâve also since had better success with Spatial and Rec Room, but weâll save that for another piece.)
If youâre able to launch and join Workrooms successfully, you should be able to create a room for a team and allow other users to virtually join using their dedicated avatars. Users who donât own a Meta Quest 2 can also join the Web2 way â via their web browsers. Either way, meetings in Workrooms should feel akin to real-life meetings: any other avatars can sit beside yours at a virtual table â and team members should have the ability to collaborate on projects immersively (such as being able to share a large blackboard).
Other users have reported the difficulty of setting up an experience in Workrooms. For starters, users are required to use their PC to create a Workrooms account before being able to use the platform in VR â all after theyâre already also required to have a working Facebook account to use a Meta Quest 2. Extra steps are also required to associate the headset with a Facebook account, where users are prompted to enter a special code that is viewable through VR. And if that wasnât enough, this is all in addition to needing to download a companion app that will mirror the desktop in VR.
While we will likely see this onboarding process become more streamlined in the future, this long sequence of steps feels exhausting to even type about â especially for those of us who have considered inserting a virtual meeting into a day of back-to-back events. Until the program becomes a little more tested and tried, itâs likely that the bulk of us simply wonât find the time or reason to kick this off. Even Web2 platforms (such as Google Meet, Zoom and Miro) still offer faster, more efficient web collaboration tools that get stuff done.
Final thoughts
Everyoneâs gotta start somewhere â and Meta shouldnât be an exception to this rule. Facebook itself wasnât built in a day. Metaâs staff also seem to be receptive to any raised complaints â an indication that they are at least trying to make improvements in light of a difficult start to 2022.
However, the list of excuses behind these pitfalls is also questionable when theyâre coming from a multi-billion dollar company thatâs pledged $50 million to build the metaverse responsibly.
As of right now, the Horizon platform has hit up to 300,000 users â thatâs 10 times the increase in about three months. But will we see this growth proliferate? Early user growth statistics might look positive â but many experts also believe that Meta will need to iron out a lot of kinks if thatâs going to happen.
I sat at my desk, with a Meta Quest 2 headset covering my eyes, looking like a bit of an idiot to my housemate. Iâd just finished a work meeting where myself and two other colleagues had attempted to hold our weekly catch up, this time in a virtual space. At one point one of my teammates sat alone at his virtual desk, while we others couldnât sign into the room. We could only view through our PC browsers.
We tried everything possible, including letting others host the room. There always seemed to be something holding us back and after twenty minutes of trying to connect, we gave up and promised to try different software next time.
Feeling a little deflated that our metaverse jaunt had fallen flat, I kept my headset on. I felt around in front of me for my laptop keyboard. I could physically see it, as I was logged into Horizon Workrooms and Iâd paired my MacBook with the software, but Iâm a useless touch typist and I couldnât easily find my way to writing. So instead I decided to use my time for research.
I was sitting in a virtual space – an office that screamed Silicon Valley – and Iâd just enlarged my virtual laptop screen to read an article for research. The replication of my MacBook was great, there was little to no delay between my clicking a Google Chrome tab and it happening on my headset. Iâd lined up several pieces to read, grabbed my headphones and got started.
âOutsideâ my office the sky was Pixar blue, the neighbouring buildings looked like somewhere everyone travelled on Segways or motorised scooters. My virtual desk was large and free of the junk that clutters my real desk; behind me stood a large whiteboard on which I could cast things, or draw pictures if my team members ever actually got into my online workspace without connection issues.
I turned off notifications, opened my music app and selected an ambient playlist that mimicked the sounds outside a suburban home. I began reading faster than normal, absorbing each detail without my incessant need to re-read. I wasnât losing focus or being distracted by my phone or a message from the work Discord.
After Iâd reached the end of each article I sat back in my chair and looked around the âroomâ. It was such a clean space. Maybe a little sterile. A button in front of me changed the environment, so I selected a log cabin office. It didnât beat the real world, but it stole me away from my hallway office at home where I have no windows, and transported me a little.
Iâd fully expected this virtual working environment to be jarring or prohibitive in some way. Even the hand tracking that the Quest 2 was doing made life easier. There was no need to use the controllers, I was pinching my fingers together to select options or return to menus. It all felt oddly second nature, and a little Minority Report, minus the dystopia.
It was clear to me that reducing the number of distractions was allowing me more focus in my workday. Then things got a bit silly. I jumped from the Horizon Workrooms, which felt very corporate, over to Immersed. With Immersed, I got a great introduction and tutorial to set up my laptop, and I found myself with a similar setup to Workrooms. Except this time I was on a space station, or in a fantastical glowing world, or a living room which seemed Patrick Batemanâs cup of tea.
The major difference here, which I loved, was the ability to increase the screen size so it emulated a cinema screen. Reading now felt even more comfortable, and somewhat immersive. I reclined slightly in my chair and let the screen almost wrap around my vision, shrinking my visual focus onto just the text. Of course, five minutes later I decided to watch The Batman trailer on YouTube and that was an equally great experience, in my own personal cinema.
I was still doing the same things Iâd do for portions of my workday – just reading – but everything which usually surrounds that was blocked out almost completely. If typing was tough for me in workrooms, however, then it was impossible in Immersed. There was no representation of my laptop keyboard and so I began skewing my head to peek out of the gap between my nose and the headset.
I could never fully shift my workaday life to one of these apps, but for concentrated reading, it felt like a wonder. I have an unfortunate quirk with my OCD (Obsessional Compulsive Disorder) which forces me to re-read sentences repeatedly and now that was gone. Not only that, but I retained the information after closing down my laptop and removing the headset.
Iâm still a way from sitting in a virtual office with my colleagues, but I think Iâd even be happy with that; being able to collaborate in real-time with those who live across the world, or simply look up and ask a question, breaking away from my work-from-home lifestyle. But even if those things never happen, Iâm happy that Iâve found a new way to focus on the white papers and articles which build out my day.
Looking to use an external wireless keyboard with your Meta Quest 2 headset? Here are the options.
Quest 2 now supports using Bluetooth keyboards with the headset in VR, both across the system and in Meta’s remote work solution, Horizon Workrooms.
While you can connect most Bluetooth keyboards to the Quest, only a few are fully compatible and considered ‘tracked’ keyboards in VR.
When connected, a tracked keyboard is represented in VR with a 1:1 model that matches the position and orientation of the keyboard in real life. It also shows an overlaid view of your hands above the keyboard, as pictured above. This allows you to use the physical keyboard as normal while in VR.
Without tracking, you will still be able to use a Bluetooth keyboard but you won’t be able to see it while in VR, making it much harder to type reliably.
So without further ado — here are the best keyboard options for Quest 2.
Logitech K830
The Logitech K830 is the best keyboard to pair with a Meta Quest headset.
This keyboard was the first to receive support and remains the best option, as it includes a trackpad on the side. This allows you to have full mouse and keyboard control with just one device in VR. The trackpad isn’t the most responsive but its inclusion is still welcome.
The Apple Magic Keyboard is the second supported tracked keyboard on Quest 2. This keyboard is Apple’s standard wireless keyboard, often shipped with iMacs and other desktop Mac computers and also sold separately.
If you have an iMac or other desktop Mac with a Magic Keyboard, you’ll be able to disconnect it from that device and connect it to your Quest 2. Similarly, if you own a standalone Magic Keyboard or if you buy one, it can easily connect to Quest 2.
Any Bluetooth Keyboard
As mentioned above, you can connect any Bluetooth keyboard to Quest 2 and it should work fine. However, you won’t be able to see the keyboard at all while in VR, which is quite inconvenient.
However, if you’re using Horizon Workrooms specifically, you can use any keyboard and turn on the passthrough cutout feature on your desk. While using Workrooms, this will let you see your keyboard on your desk while in the app using passthrough — slightly better than the alternative. It should be noted though – in this instance, the keyboard should be paired with the computer you’re using in Workrooms via remote desktop, not your Quest.
Horizon Workrooms Bonus – Apple MacBook Pro
When using the virtual desktop feature of Horizon Workrooms, there is support for one additional keyboard type: the Apple MacBook Pro laptop keyboard.
This will only work when using virtual desktop in Workrooms — there’s no way to use or connect the keyboard directly to the Quest for general use — but it does give you one more tracked keyboard option for that service specifically. You can use it with the passthrough cutout and AR button labels (pictured above) or fully in VR with a tracked virtual keyboard model.
What keyboard are you using for your Quest 2? Let us know in the comments.
Though Meta is steadily building up three social VR appsâHorizon Worlds, Horizon Venues, and Horizon Workroomsâthe trio still exist as separate apps and hardly constitute a seamless experience. In the future the company hopes to change that and open the door to non-VR devices. But how long will it take?
Meta is undoubtedly bullish about taking a leading position in the metaverse, but it still has a very long way to go before anything that it’s working on could even really be considered part of the metaverse.
Today the company runs three separate social VR apps under the Horizon name. There’s Worlds, a place where people can build experiences for others to enjoy; Venues, where people can watch concerts, sports, and more together; and Workrooms where people can collaborate with traditional meeting tools.
1 of 3
Image courtesy Facebook
Image courtesy Facebook
Image courtesy Facebook
Although all three share a common umbrella name, and even share the same avatars, they’re really entirely different applications. You might be sitting right next to your colleague in Workrooms and invite them to watch a show with you in Venues after the meeting, but there’s no seamless way for both of you to actually go from A to B without quitting your current app, launching a new one, and then eventually find each other on the other side. Not to mention dealing with an entirely different interface and features between the two.
In an interview with Digiday, Meta’s VP of Horizon, Vivek Sharma, hinted that the company hopes to eventually bring these experiences together in a more seamless way.
“Eventually, Sharma plans to stitch [the three Horizon applications] together to create a cohesive virtual world,” writes Alexander Lee. “Though he didnât offer specifics about the timeline for this union or what the overarching platform would be called.”
âYou can imagine us building out an entire ecosystem where creators can earn a living, where communities can form and do interesting stuff together,â Sharma told Digiday. âSo itâs not just a place for games; itâs not just a place for people to build creative stuff; itâs all of the above.â
At present, Horizon is scattered in more ways than not being able to navigate seamlessly between apps. Accessibility is also an issue… you’ll need an Oculus Quest 2 headset if you want to be able to access all three. If you have the original Oculus Quest you can only use Worlds and Venues. If you have an Oculus Rift you can only use Worlds. And if you have a non-Oculus headset well, you’re out of luck.
To some extent, the company hopes to fix, or at least temper, this issue by opening Horizon apps to non-VR devices, Sharma told Digiday. Exactly when this might happen, or which devices it would target is unclear at present.
High accessibility is important for any social applications to find traction, something that Meta ought to know better than anyone else. And yet when Meta does finally get around to making its Horizon apps more accessible, it will only be playing catch-up.
Leading social VR applications like Rec Room and VRChat have long since supported VR and PC, with Rec Room even being available on game consoles and smartphones. Not to mention that both of the aforementioned apps are available on a much wider range of VR headsets than any of Meta’s Horizon offerings.
After years of waiting, the Horizon Worlds beta is opening to anyone in the US and Canada, with no invite required.
Meta announced the change today, which moves the beta from an invite-only system to a public beta with no invite requirement. Anyone who is in the US and Canada and over 18 can download Horizon Worlds and try it out from today.
UploadVR asked Meta for clarification on how the 18+ age requirement will be verified, to which a spokesperson responded: “When you log into Horizon Worlds with Facebook, youâll be able to use the app in VR if your age on Facebook is over 18.”
Horizon Worlds is the social hub and creation tool created by Meta as part of the wider Horizon brand, which also includes Horizon Venues and Horizon Workrooms. It was announced all the way back in 2019, then known as Facebook Horizon, and displayed similar social, world-building functionality as VR apps like VRChat and Rec Room.
Now, more than two years after it was announced, the beta will be open to those in the US and Canada. There is no word on other regions at the moment, but expect to hear more as the open beta progresses towards (hopefully) a full launch in the future.
Horizon Worlds beta is open to anyone aged 18+ in the United States and Canada from today on the Quest and Rift platforms. Support for the original Quest 1 will end January 13, 2022.
Horizon Workrooms 1.2 is available now, bringing more customization to rooms and a lectern for easier presenting.
Originally announced back at Connect 2021, the new update lets users upload custom posters and logo graphics to display in the room, as well as pick a room theme.
When Workrooms launched, there was only one room available (the ‘Lakes’ room). Now there are two room locations available, each with two different themes: Lakes – Cabin, Lakes – Vibrant, City – Bright and City – Sleek.
The latter Vibrant and Bright themes feel a bit more casual, while the Sleek and Cabin themes take on a slightly more professional tone, especially the former.
The City room is a nice change of pace from the standard offering, but the view does look a little close to the ‘The World If’ meme skyline for my liking. Nonetheless, you can make it feel a little more homely by uploading custom graphics and decorating the walls.
To upload custom graphic files to Workrooms, you’ll need to ensure that both your Workrooms Quest app and the Oculus Remote Desktop app are updated to version 1.2. Oculus Remote Desktop doesn’t update automatically, so you’ll need to head over to workrooms.com and download the latest version.
Once everything is updated, head to the Room tab in Workrooms in VR, then scroll down until you find the option that lets you customize the room’s graphics. Clicking on the plus icon for each graphic will open a link in the browser of your connected computer, where you can upload the poster and logo graphics.
Once uploaded, apply them to your room and feel a little bit more at home. We managed to get our UploadVR logo into the City – Sleek theme, as pictured above, and it definitely makes the space feel a little more personal.
The last new feature is a lectern, to be used when presenting so that you still have access to your desk area while speaking to the audience.
Will you be customizing your Workrooms environment? Let us know in the comments.
An update to Horizon Workrooms on Oculus Quest 2 adds the ability to overlay AR labels onto your tracked keyboard when using passthrough mode.
The feature is one of a few added in the Workrooms 1.1 update. As previously reported, the update includes support for M1 Mac models, but also introduces the AR keyboard labels, quicker connection to your computer via Oculus Remote Desktop, and “more intuitive whiteboard design” that lets you use your hands more.
You can see some photos of the AR keyboard labels spread throughout the article — on a flat 2D photo, they look hard to distinguish from the normal light-up keys on the MacBook Pro. However, the depth perception in VR makes the labels look just slightly elevated from the keys themselves.
This only applies to tracked keyboards (which currently only includes the Logitech K830 and Apple Magic Keyboards and laptop keyboard) when using the desk passthrough cut-out. If you’re just using the standard tracked keyboard in Workrooms without passthrough there’s no need for the AR labels — a 1:1 digital model represents and displays your keyboard in VR, matched to the position of your physical keyboard.
It’s only when using the passthrough desk cut-out feature that the AR labels come to life. This makes the passthrough cut-out feature much more useable, as you retain full visibility of your keyboard keys while also being able to see other desk accessories such as your mouse, drinks etc.
Meta (formerly Facebook) is expanding 2D app support on Quest — apps like Instagram, Dropbox and Slack will soon be available to download on the Oculus Store.Â
Announced at Connect today, these 2D apps for Quest will use a new framework based on the PWA (progressive web app) industry standard.
Starting today and expanding with increased support to come, this will expand the Quest Home’s 2D app capabilities from just the operating system first-party 2D apps and services (Explore, Oculus Store, Oculus Browser) to include other first and third-party apps from âa variety of developersâ that can run in a 2D panel model and take advantage of the Questâs multitasking capabilities.
âYou just download them and then you use them like panel apps in Home, just like the first party apps,â said Product Management Lead, AV/VR for Enterprise Jill Campbell on a call earlier this week. âEnabling more 2D apps is another step forward in making VR more flexible and more useful ⊠Services like Slack and Dropbox, Facebook and Instagram, and many more open up opportunities, not just for how to use the headset, but for developers and how they might build for the headset.â
Select apps, including Facebook, Instagram, Smartsheet and Spike, will be available in the Oculus Store for Quest from today. Apps such as Dropbox, Monday.com, MURAL, My5, Pluto TV and Slack âwill follow soonâ along with other unannounced apps in the future.Â
Meta says that these apps 2D panel apps are using a new framework based on the Progressive Web App (PWA) industry standard, which will make Home a developer platform for the first time and allow an app to “have the look and feel of a native app and gain access to discovery and distribution features on the Oculus Platform.â
Thereâs also a new work-focused home environment, designed to be used with 2D panel apps and a desk as a virtual office location, pictured above. Unlike Horizon Workrooms, which is designed as a communal meeting and collaborative workspace, this environment is simply an aesthetic change to the home environment optimized for 2D apps and multitasking — essentially an area to work on something by yourself.Â
Mark Zuckerberg announced that Facebookâs company title will be renamed to Meta.Â
Facebook Becomes Meta
The social media platform Facebook will keep its name, as will other company services and apps, while Meta will become the official name for the umbrella company that oversees Facebook, Instagram, Facebook Reality Labs and all its other subsets.Â
The official announcement follows on from a report from The Verge last week that indicated the change might be incoming and announced officially at Connect.
As we remarked last week, the move is not dissimilar to Googleâs 2015 decision to rebrand their company title from Google to Alphabet. This was done to distinguish Google from the search engine and provide a more encompassing name for the umbrella company managing all of its services and products.Â
For Meta, the new name signals a shift towards the metaverse, which has been a big focus of Facebook’s recent VR/AR efforts and today’s Connect keynote. Currently the company brands its own social VR applications on platforms like the Oculus Quest as ‘Horizon’, including Horizon Home, Horizon Workrooms and Horizon Worlds.
Meta says that the name was chosen “because it can mean âbeyond,â and captures our commitment to building social technologies that take us beyond what digital connection makes possible today.”
What do you make of the new Meta name? Let us know in the comments below!
workday
