Category: HTC Vive

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Steam Sales and Events Revealed for Next 6 months

Steam’s sales events are quite legendary – and consistent – with hundreds of titles always available. Heck, there’s even one going on at the moment with the Steam Lunar New Year Sale ending tomorrow. But this week has also seen Valve reveal its plans for the next six months, detailing what sales and events will be heading your way.

Steam Lunar New Year Sale 2022

First on the agenda is a big one, Steam’s Next Fest. If you remember last year’s, it’s a pure festival of gaming demos, with a bewildering array of virtual reality (VR) and non-VR videogames to sample. It’ll run from 21st – 28th February, hopefully giving you enough time to play all those demos. And if you somehow miss that one, there will be a summer Next Fest in June, with exact dates to be confirmed.

When it comes to sales the next big event is the annual Steam Summer Sale which is scheduled to take place between 23rd June – 7th July 2022. Valve notes that: “Any game released at least 28 days before June 21 is welcome to participate.”

Continuing with the sales theme, are Themed Sales, dedicated to highlighting particular categories of videogames. This should give some titles greater visibility that may get lost during the larger discount events. Five themed events have been announced so far with more planned later in the year to highlight even more genres.

Metaverse
Image credit: Chaosamran Studio, Shutterstock

Themed Sales

  • Remote Play Together: 28th February to 7th March
  • JRPG: 14th – 21st March
  • SimFest – Hobby Edition: 28th March – 4th April
  • Die-a-lot: 2nd – 9th May (includes Roguelites, Metroidvanias or Souls-like games)
  • Racing: 23rd – 30th May
  • Survival: 18th – 25th July

In addition to these sales events, Steam will also be changing several of its discount rules for developers, rolling out from 28th March. Devs will be given greater flexibility to discount their games, so the time between discounts will change from six to four weeks (28 days). Other rules include not being able to alter price while a promotion is live and that it’s: “not possible to discount a product by more than 90% or less than 10%.”

For continued updates on the latest VR deals and discounts, keep reading gmw3.

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Deadness Brings February Chills to PC VR

There’s been a real dearth of new virtual reality (VR) horror videogames of late, which is a shame because there’s nothing quite like getting scared shitless in VR. Coming to the rescue this month is Deadness, a monster-filled scare-fest that certainly looks like it’s got terrifying potential.

Deadness

Set in an old research facility where some horrible events have taken place, Deadness is a tense, atmospheric horror where survival is more about careful expiration and hiding; rather than shooting everything in sight.

Developer ALIEN Studio has released some haunting screenshots, a couple of which show the ability to use weapons. However, how useful they actually are across the entire game remains to be seen as the team states one gameplay detail: “Trying to hide from the undead will make your heart race and take your breath away because you cannot kill what is already dead.” So hanging around trying to pop a few heads might not be the best tactic.

Visually, Deadness certainly looks the part. The research facility looks grim and very unwelcoming with hands emerging from walls and corpses strung up to ceilings. Just on the aesthetics alone Deadness could be one of the most frightening VR titles to emerge this year.

Deadness

Deadness also employs one other major gameplay component that should ramp up the atmosphere, you’re sat in a wheelchair the entire time. Just like last years’ A Wake Inn, in Deadness you have to physically manoeuvre yourself around the facility, meaning you either stay still to shoot or use both hands to get out of harm’s way.

Whilst this can help increase the tension as well as provide an intuitive control scheme, as A Wake Inn proved if the mechanic isn’t executed correctly it can become more frustrating than scary as the game progresses. You can see the wheelchair movement mechanic in action in the video below.

You won’t have too long to wait to find out. ALIEN studio plans on releasing Deadness for Valve Index and HTC Vive via Steam and Viveport on 22nd February 2022. For continued updates on the latest VR horror titles, keep reading gmw3.

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Warhammer 40,000: Battle Sister Heads to PC VR in March

Pixel Toys released Warhammer 40,000: Battle Sister as a Meta Quest platform exclusive back in 2020, where you could unleash your wrath against the forces of Chaos. As gmw3 reported back in January, the title was stencilled in for its Steam release on the 12th before being delayed. Today, the studio has confirmed that the PC VR edition of Warhammer 40,000: Battle Sister will now arrive in March.

Warhammer 40,000: Battle Sister

The developer hasn’t said if the PC version will include any improvements such as upgraded graphics but from the new trailer (seen below) they certainly so seem of a higher quality than the Quest 2 videogame. However, Pixel Toys has confirmed that the Steam version will include all the content updates the Quest title has received including Last Bastion, the co-op multiplayer mode.

Warhammer 40,000: Battle Sister is a non-stop action-adventure where you play the role of Sister Ophelia, a veteran Sister of Battle who is searching for her long lost twin sister whilst fighting to save all of humanity. As Ophelia you have access to a brutal assortment of weapons, being able to switch between close quarters and long-range combat.

Staying completely faithful to the Warhammer universe and its lore, you can choose from Bolters, Plasma Pistols, Flamers, Las Rifles, Power Swords and Chainswords to cut down heretics and Chaos Space Marines. Additionally, you also have access to special abilities to aid each encounter, creating protective force fields or slowing time.

Warhammer 40,000: Battle Sister

Gmw3 reviewed Warhammer 40,000: Battle Sister saying: “Warhammer 40,000: Battle Sister has some great set piece moments, and the general gameplay is enjoyable throughout. Its action all the way, so there’s not much depth to the experience and no secrets to uncover. Just grab a gun and start blasting, which is no bad thing.”

The Steam version of Warhammer 40,000: Battle Sister will launch on 8th March 2022 for Oculus Rift, HTC Vive, Valve Index and Windows Mixed Reality headsets; priced at £14.99 GBP/ $19.99 USD. For further updates keep reading gmw3.

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HTC Vive to Launch NFT Marketplace Vive Bytes in Feb

Love them, hate them or plain not understand them, one of the hottest trends at the moment is NFTs (non-fungible tokens). There are plenty of global brands getting into this scene with HTC Vive announcing plans to launch its own marketplace called Vive Bytes next month.

Vive Bytes
3D Cat Art – Vive Bytes. Image credit: HTC Vive

Vive Bytes will be part of Viveport, the hardware-agnostic store for virtual reality (VR) videogames and apps. The NFT platform will focus on anime, cartoon, and game-themed NFTs to begin with, with the first wave of NFTs coming from the Step Into Cat Art exhibition by Shu Yamamoto.

Viveport held an online exhibition for Yamamoto’s Step Into Cat Art in September 2021, where guests could view 124 virtual versions of his work. Soon, you’ll be able to own some of these as NFTs. To begin with, the entire The Hisstine Chaple ceiling painting will be available via a series of “Collect-to-Unlock” NFT Mystery Box special events. Anyone who purchases Cat Art NFTs will also get the opportunity to buy limited-edition 3D Cat Art model NFTs, like the one above.

As for Vive Bytes itself, the platform will support both fiat and cryptocurrency payments at launch as well as the ability to link MetaMask wallets to users accounts. In the future, the marketplace plans to add auction features.

Cat Art
3D Cat Art – Vive Bytes. Image credit: HTC Vive

“NFTs are changing how we think about identity and ownership, and Vive Bytes is at the forefront of unlocking the potential of creative works and making digital works more accessible for consumers and creators,” said Joseph Lin, general manager at Viveport in a statement. “Following the launch of the world’s first Cat Art online exhibition with our partners last year, we’re delivering new formats of CAT ART NFTs – enabling visitors to grow and diversify their collection of digital works.”

However, this isn’t HTC Vive’s first foray into NFTs. Back in December as part of its Viverse strategy, the company sold NFTs of Art Nouveau masterpieces by Czech artist Alphonse Mucha via its Vive Arts Marketplace.

Vive Bytes is scheduled to launch in mid-February featuring exclusive NFTs during its inaugural sales event. For further updates on the new marketplace, keep reading gmw3.

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MMO Zenith: The Last City on Track to Launch in Two Weeks

Zenith

Virtual reality (VR) platforms have some big titles you can spend hours and hours in, experiences like A Township Tale and OrbusVR two of the most well known. The next to join this group will be Zenith: The Last City, a VR MMORPG by Ramen VR scheduled to launch towards the end of January.

Zenith

Zenith: The Last City is the brainchild of Lauren Frazier and Andy Tsen, the co-founders of Ramen VR. Work on the project began back in 2019, garnering massive interest from VR players thanks to the scale of the project and its gorgeous aesthetic. Since the initial Kickstarter campaign, the studio has grown to ramp up production, helped by a $10 million Series A investment round.

The title promises to be an action-packed experience set in the sprawling world of Zenith. In this fantasy realm, you’ll be able to go on quests with countless other players, fighting monsters with physical and magical attacks. As a community-driven videogame, Zenith: The Last City will encourage players to forge alliances and join guilds before taking on raids and epic world events.

With such a big expanse to explore there will of course be a variety of unique locations to discover. From the titular city of Zenith to the Fractured Plains, home to rural towns or the Emerald Desert filled with ruins, in total Ramen VR has created five biomes.

Zenith

This wouldn’t be a VR videogame without some physicality to the proceedings and Zenith: The Last City shouldn’t disappoint on that front. Whether you’re blocking and parrying opponents attacks with a couple of swords or getting a better look at the environment by climbing up a rock face, you’ve got the freedom to do so. The developers have ensured that every surface can be scaled and once you’re up to the top you can then glide to your next destination.

Currently, Ramen VR has stencilled in 27th January as the launch date for Zenith: The Last City across Meta Quest, PlayStation VR and PC VR platforms for $29.99 USD but with a caveat that it could change depending on final approval from the relative VR stores. Check out the new trailer below and for further updates keep reading VRFocus.

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MMO Zenith: The Last City on Track to Launch in Two Weeks

Virtual reality (VR) platforms have some big titles you can spend hours and hours in, experiences like A Township Tale and OrbusVR two of the most well known. The next to join this group will be Zenith: The Last City, a VR MMORPG by Ramen VR scheduled to launch towards the end of January.

Zenith

Zenith: The Last City is the brainchild of Lauren Frazier and Andy Tsen, the co-founders of Ramen VR. Work on the project began back in 2019, garnering massive interest from VR players thanks to the scale of the project and its gorgeous aesthetic. Since the initial Kickstarter campaign, the studio has grown to ramp up production, helped by a $10 million Series A investment round.

The title promises to be an action-packed experience set in the sprawling world of Zenith. In this fantasy realm, you’ll be able to go on quests with countless other players, fighting monsters with physical and magical attacks. As a community-driven videogame, Zenith: The Last City will encourage players to forge alliances and join guilds before taking on raids and epic world events.

With such a big expanse to explore there will of course be a variety of unique locations to discover. From the titular city of Zenith to the Fractured Plains, home to rural towns or the Emerald Desert filled with ruins, in total Ramen VR has created five biomes.

Zenith

This wouldn’t be a VR videogame without some physicality to the proceedings and Zenith: The Last City shouldn’t disappoint on that front. Whether you’re blocking and parrying opponents attacks with a couple of swords or getting a better look at the environment by climbing up a rock face, you’ve got the freedom to do so. The developers have ensured that every surface can be scaled and once you’re up to the top you can then glide to your next destination.

Currently, Ramen VR has stencilled in 27th January as the launch date for Zenith: The Last City across Meta Quest, PlayStation VR and PC VR platforms for $29.99 USD but with a caveat that it could change depending on final approval from the relative VR stores. Check out the new trailer below and for further updates keep reading VRFocus.

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HTC Vive Unveils new Hardware Solutions at CES 2022, Including a Wrist Tracker & Charging Case

VIVE Wrist Tracker

HTC Vive had quite the 2021 releasing not one or two but three virtual reality (VR) headsets, the Vive Pro 2, Vive Focus 3 and Vive Flow. As part of CES 2022 today, the company has just unveiled a bunch of accessories specifically for the standalone Vive Focus 3, a wrist tracker, charging case and multi-battery charger.

VIVE Wrist Tracker

The Vive Focus 3 is HTC Vive’s all-in-one (AIO) solution for businesses, whether that’s companies looking to conduct training sessions and meetings in VR, or location-based entertainment (LBE) venues after the latest cord-free technology. And it’s the latter that could benefit the most from these latest gadgets. The Vive Wrist Tracker provides a tracking solution specifically for the headset, 85% smaller and 50% lighter (63g) than the Vive Focus 3 controllers.

Worn either on the wrist or attached to objects so they can be tracked in VR, the Vive Wrist Tracker has LEDs that are picked up by the headset tracking cameras. Whilst the Wrist Tracker can aid hand tracking, HTC Vive says it can also improve tracking from your fingertips to your elbow, even when out of sight of the cameras. It does this by: “using high-frequency IMU data and an advanced kinematic model,” predicting a users hand position.

Offering four hours of continual use out of a single charge (charged via a USB-C connection), the Vive Wrist Tracker has a one-button pairing feature to the Vive Focus 3 as well as a removable strap for cleaning. It’ll arrive early in 2022 for US customers first, priced at $129 USD, €129 EUR, £119 GBP. HTC Vive has confirmed it’ll release the CAD files so that owners can build their own docking solutions for attaching the tracker to guns, sports equipment or other objects.

Vive Focus 3

Then there’s the Vive Focus 3 Charging Case, ideal for when you want to take the headset out and about whilst keeping it fully charged. With an outer splash-proof rigid shell design, the charging case features lockable zips for security and an in-built storage area for chargers and cables. As for that charging capability, the original Vive Focus 3 charger plugs into the corner of the case to juice up the headset and both controllers.

There’s an additional feature that businesses and other organisations may find useful if they have multiple devices, auto-pairing. When placing the headset and controllers inside the case, all devices will pair instantly, ensuring no awkward mismatching of components if sets get muddled together.

Finally, there’s the Multi Battery Charger. The Vive Focus 3 features the ability to hot-swap batteries for continual use but in a busy setting like a classroom, operators will need to continually charge batteries. The Vive Focus 3 Multi Battery Charger can charge up to four batteries at once, all at full speed with LED indicators showing the charge status.

Currently, HTC Vive hasn’t said when the Charging Case or Multi Battery Charger will be available or how much they’ll cost. When those details are available VRFocus will let you know.

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HTC Announces Wrist Tracker for Vive Focus 3, Releasing in Early 2022 for $129

HTC unveiled a new VR tracker device at CES 2022 today, this time targeting its $1,300 enterprise-focused standalone headset, Vive Focus 3. It’s slated to go on sale sometime early this year, starting at $129.

Unlike its SteamVR-compatible Vive Tracker, the new Vive Wrist Tracker is a wrist-worn device which hooks into Vive Focus 3’s inside-out tracking system. It does this essentially the same way the headset’s controllers are tracked in room-scale space, i.e. through infrared LEDs that are tracked optically through the headset’s onboard camera sensors.

HTC says in the announcement that the tracker allows users to either strap it to their wrist for what the company calls “advanced hand tracking” in addition to using controllers, or to objects like gun controllers, Ping-Pong paddles, or tools.

Below you can see a Nerf gun has  been rigged up with Vive Wrist Tracker, making for a 6DOF-tracked virtual weapon:

The company says Vive Wrist Tracker is 85% smaller than Vive Focus 3’s controller, and 50% lighter at 63g. It boasts up to four hours of constant use, charged via USB-C. HTC says it includes a simple one-button pairing feature for wireless connection, and also features a removable strap for easy cleaning.

As for its more accurate hand tracking, this is what the company says in Vive Wrist Tracker’s announcement:

“When user wears the tracker on the wrist, we can predict the tracker’s motion trajectories even when the tracker is out of camera’s view in a while by using high-frequency IMU data and an advanced kinematic model. With this technology, we can predict their hand position when the hands leave the tracking camera view.”

Road to VR skipped the physical bit of CES 2022 this year, however we’re very interested to see the wrist tracker in action to see if it makes a material difference in terms of hand tracking.

Image courtesy HTC

Likely its biggest appeal is the ability to track objects, giving location-based entertainment venues and enterprise users the ability to avoid the typical mixing and matching of hardware ecosystems, such as OptiTrack or SteamVR base stations. To boot, HTC says its releasing CAD files so prospective owners can build custom docking solutions or harnesses around the tracker.

HTC is initially launching Vive Wrist Tracker in the US starting early 2022, priced at $129/€129/£119. Although they haven’t said as much, that pricing means it will very likely roll out Vive Wrist Tracker to the UK and EU at a later date.

In addition to Vive Wrist Tracker, HTC unveiled a few other Vive Focus 3 accessories, including a new charging travel case and a multi-battery charging dock. It’s not clear when either of those will go on sale, or for what price. We’ll be keeping an eye on the Vive accessories product page in the meantime.

The post HTC Announces Wrist Tracker for Vive Focus 3, Releasing in Early 2022 for $129 appeared first on Road to VR.

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Year In Review: The Biggest VR & AR Stories Of 2021

While perhaps lacking some of the huge, jaw-dropping announcements of previous years, 2021 was a surprisingly busy year for VR and AR.

We’re looking back at the year that was with this list of the biggest stories from 2021.

It was an interesting year for VR and AR – there were several new hardware announcements, the Quest 2 continued to dominate and some absolutely killer, innovative games were released. And yet, we’re also left a feeling that 2021 might just be the calm before an incoming VR/AR storm.

Read on for the biggest and best VR/AR stories of 2021, month by month.

January

Beat Saber 90Hz Support Hits Quest 2 In New Update
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Hitman 3 VR Review – A (Mostly) Clean Kill
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Editorial: Oculus Quest 2 Developer Success Marks New Era For VR
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Oculus ‘App Lab’: Quest Platform Gets Non-Store App Distribution
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Sony Confirms Next-Generation PS5 VR Headset Coming Post-2021
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Sony: PS5 VR Is ‘Completely New Format’, Dev Kits ‘About To Go Out’
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Report: Apple’s Dual 8K VR Headset With Eye Tracking Could Cost $3000
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Kuo: Apple’s VR Headset Around $1000, AR Glasses Pushed To 2025
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Nearly 20% Of Facebook’s Employees Are Working On VR/AR
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Facebook Says Quest 2 Already Outsold Every Previous Oculus Headset Combined
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PS5 VR Controllers Revealed By Sony – Finger Detection, Analog Sticks, Inside-Out Tracking
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HP Reverb G2 Omnicept Launches In May For $1,249
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Facebook Brings Subscription Support To Quest
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Resident Evil 4 VR Is Coming To Oculus Quest 2
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Confirmed: Resident Evil 4 VR Is The First Quest 2 Exclusive
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Facebook Canceled Oculus Rift 2 Just Before Production – Palmer Luckey
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Floor Plan 2 Review: A Henson-Esque Marvel
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Oculus Quest 2 To Get PC VR Air Link, 120 Hz, And Desk Support
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HoloLens 2 Review: Ahead Of Its Time, For Better And Worse
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Oculus Quest 2 Now Has A 60 Hz Hand Tracking Mode
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Oculus Air Link Launches For All With v28 On Quest 2 & PC
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HTC Announces Vive Pro 2 For Consumers & Vive Focus 3 For Businesses
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Vive Focus 3 Specs: 5K LCD, 120° FoV, Swappable Rear Battery, $1300
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Vive Pro 2 Specs: 5K 120Hz LCD, New 120° Lenses, SteamVR Tracking
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Demeo Review – A Social VR Masterclass In An Engaging Tabletop RPG
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Oculus v29 Update Adds 120Hz Air Link Support
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FRL VP ‘Doesn’t Have An Issue’ With Quest Store On Other Headsets
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Exclusive: Next-Gen PlayStation VR Is 4K With Foveated Rendering And Vibration Feature
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Facebook: ‘Long Term’ Oculus Studios Titles Targeting Quest 2
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Facebook Starts Advertising In Virtual Reality
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Larcenauts Review: A Slick, Rich Shooter For Competitive Play
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Oculus Quest v30 Rolling Out With Microphone Swapping And Multitasking
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Sniper Elite VR Review: Old Dog, New Tricks
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Quest 2 Experimental Mixed Reality & Passthrough API Details
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Oculus Quest v31 Adds Experimental Passthrough API For Mixed Reality
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Quest 2 Sales Paused As 4 Million Facial Interfaces Recalled
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Oculus Quest 2 128GB Model On Sale August 24 For $299
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Steam Deck Could Be Used With Oculus Quest, Gabe Newell Says
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PS5 VR Headset Will Have HDR OLED Display, Hybrid AAA Games – Report
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Confirmed: TikTok Owner ByteDance Buying Pico VR
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I Expect You To Die 2 Review: A Worthy Sequel Rich With Detail
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Valve Suggests Steam Deck Processor Could Be Used In Standalone VR Headset
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A Township Tale Review: A Fascinating Glimpse Of A Future VR Great (Quest)
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Facebook Launches Horizon Workrooms To Power Remote Work
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Facebook Reveals $299 Ray-Ban Stories Smartglasses With Camera And Assistant
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Report Claims Apple AR-VR Headset Uses iPhone/iPad/Mac For Advanced Features
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Andrew Bosworth To Take Over As Facebook CTO In 2022
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Report: Apple’s AR-VR Headset To Launch Second Half Of 2022
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Reports: Valve Working On ‘Deckard’ Standalone Headset With ‘VRLink’ Wireless
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Medal of Honor: Above And Beyond Is Coming to Oculus Quest 2 This Year
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Eyes-On: Facebook’s First Glasses Pave The Way For Public AR
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Quest Pro Potential Specs & Apparent Controller Images Leak
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Oculus Quest Pro Leak? Promo Videos Show Possible Headset Design
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Lynx Standalone AR-VR Headset Kickstarter Launches With $500 Price
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Facebook Rebrands Social VR Platform ‘Horizon Worlds’, Offers $10M To Makers
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Varjo Aero Review: A Powerhouse Headset With Some Big Question Marks
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Unplugged Review: Thrilling Air Guitar With Unmatched Hand Tracking Capabilities
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Microsoft Shows Off Adaptive Shape VR Controller Prototype
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Song in the Smoke Review: A Primal VR Survival Game With Real Majesty
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HTC Vive Flow Announced: Compact $499 6DOF VR Headset
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HP Releasing Upgraded Reverb G2 With Better Tracking
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Resident Evil 4 VR Review: An Incredible Way To Revisit A Classic
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Facebook Responds To Changes To Sexist Sequences In Resident Evil 4 VR
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Zuckerberg Announces Facebook Company Rebrand To Meta
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Oculus Quest Devs Will Get Speech Recognition, Tracked Keyboard, Hand Interaction Library
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Meta Announces AR Glasses Prototype Project Nazare
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Meta: Quest VR Headsets ‘Won’t Need A Facebook Account’ From 2022
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Quest Users Unlinking Facebook Account Keep Their Purchases, Meta Confirms
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Oculus Brand Dead, Oculus Quest To Become Meta Quest
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Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas Is Coming To Oculus Quest 2
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New ‘High End’ Headset Codenamed ‘Cambria’ Launching Next Year
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Quest 2 Now Shows Pets, People, & Android Phone Notifications
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PlayStation Patent Filing Shows Work On Eye-Tracking With Foveated Rendering
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Meta Shows Research Towards Consumer Force Feedback Haptic Gloves
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HaptX: Meta’s Glove Tech ‘Substantively Identical’ To Our Patents
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Quest’s App Lab Now Supports DLC And In-App Payments
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HTC Vive Flow Review: A Niche Within A Niche
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Hitman 3 PC VR Support Confirmed, Coming Next Year
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Meta Quest 2 Is Already Replacing Oculus Quest 2 Branding
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Application SpaceWarp Can Give Quest Apps 70% More Performance
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Kuo: Apple Headset To Launch Late 2022 With 4K Displays & M1 Level Performance
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Upload VR Showcase Winter 2021: Everything Announced
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Apple Hiring AR/VR Frameworks Engineer For ‘Entirely New Application Paradigm’
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Horizon Worlds Beta Goes Public In US & Canada With 18+ Age Requirement
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Among Us VR Announced For Quest, PSVR And PC VR
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New Meta Avatars Now Available To All Unity Developers
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Kuo: Apple Headset Is 300-400 Grams, Second Gen Will Be “Significantly Lighter”
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Meta Supernatural Acquisition: FTC Opens Antitrust Probe For $400 Million Deal – Report
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After The Fall Review: Frantically Fun Co-Op That Needs More Content
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Watch: Blaston Passthrough On Quest Turns Your Living Room Into An Arena
Read Here

What were your favourite VR/AR stories of 2021? Let us know in the comments below.

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Bigscreen Streaming Update Improves Remote Desktop, Audio & More

Bigscreen - Streaming Update

Bigscreen may have expanded its focus from a remote desktop app for virtual reality (VR) headsets to a social platform where you can watch movies and TV shows but it hasn’t forgotten where it came from. Over the weekend Bigscreen launched its “Streaming Update”, improving a lot of the core functionality of the app, from the performance and audio to UI tweaks and hosting larger rooms of guests.

Bigscreen

The first big improvement is the addition of dedicated streaming servers which the Bigscreen team say ups the video streaming quality as well as offering “perfectly synced audio”. Another bonus from using dedicated servers is the ability to reduce the bandwidth requirements for room hosts who would experience choppy video, with blocky, low-quality video artefacts as well as delayed and laggy audio on occasion. Not only has Bigscreen solved those issues the platform has managed to up the room count for both PC VR and Quest users to 15 (previously 12 and 4 users respectively).

On the Remote Desktop side of things there have been some major enhancements, most notably for Meta Quest users. While Meta Quest had basic Bigscreen functionality users would get a laggy and low quality 30fps video stream. The update ensures the Remote Desktop app streams at 60fps over a local network and that when playing videogames the latency can be sub-20ms.

This should all mean that the social aspects of Bigscreen are greatly improved, making sharing your PC screen with a group of mates to watch a film a far more fluid and enjoyable experience.

Bigscreen

That’s not all though, voice chat now supports Spatial Audio so group events now feel more immersive as you’ll be able to tell where someone is within a virtual room. Rendering performance has been upped, especially for original Oculus Quest users which can also handle 15 people in one virtual space.

As for what’s next in the coming months, Bigscreen is still working on its Friend System, a built-in YouTube app, and Input streaming for Remote Desktop, including support for Bluetooth gamepads and keyboards. For continued updates from Bigscreen into 2022, keep reading VRFocus.