Oculus for Business – Augmented & Virtual Reality Confabulation

September 18, 2020

Facebook Lowers Price of Enterprise-focused Quest to $800

With the revelation of Quest 2, Facebook has quietly knocked down the entry price for its business-focused version of the headset.

Facebook only just made its Oculus for Business program openly available back in May, which basically let anyone buy a business-focused 128GB version of the original Quest for $1,000. That’s double the price of the consumer version, but that comes along with specialized software, licenses, and support for enterprises.

Now less than four months later, Facebook has brought the entry price down to $800, which now includes the 256GB version of Quest 2—again, at double the price of the same storage option available to consumers.

Like with the original $1,000 Quest for Business, this comes along with the need to sign up for a subscription to the company’s enterprise-grade software and support, which is renewable annually for $180 per year—first year included with purchase. That includes backend management software so a company can manage a fleet of Quest headsets with things such as deploying and updating apps, managing settings, and monitoring headset status.

In addition to the new hardware, Facebook has assembled a fleet of independent software vendors (ISVs) specializing in areas such as 3D modeling, product design, employee training, data visualization, and remote work applications—all of the sort of fields enterprises may look to address with an immersive headset.

Oculus Quest for Business: An Enterprise-focused Overview of Capabilities & Caveats

Last month Oculus released the Oculus for Business program for enterprise customers. The company promises a secure and reliable VR solution for enterprise customers with the capability to manage VR deployments and have a tailored in-headset experience. Is this the new backbone of immersive technology built with the enterprise in mind; is user friendliness and adaptability at the core of this technology? Read on to find out.

Guest Article by Onno Bos

Based in Switzerland, Onno is a freelance senior solution architect working on a virtual reality platform for a multinational enterprise. He has previously worked on large scale cloud and SAAS implementations. You can connect with him on Twitter and LinkedIn.

I have been working with Oculus for Business, preparing my client to deploy VR at large scale and integrate it with internal solutions. During this time the team reviewed both the software and hardware to understand their key capabilities and the challenges to overcome. I would like to give a first hand insight into the Oculus for Business platform that I have learned from this period. I will use seven qualities of enterprise solutions to review the capabilities of the platform: user experience, availability, performance, scalability, adaptability, security and economy.

First, a quick primer. What is Oculus for Business?

Oculus offers a platform called Oculus for Business which is built on Facebook Workplace. Oculus for Business is presented as a secure and reliable VR solution for enterprises. It includes software to set up and manage VR headset deployments, a tailored in-headset experience, and enterprise-grade customer support.

The only hardware the company offers with these capabilities is its Quest headset with a custom built enterprise specific operating system and a SAAS offering to manage VR headsets in the cloud. The headset costs around $1,000 which includes a one year license of $180 and a 24-month warranty and customer support. That is a steep price for a device that is not constantly used like a computer or mobile phone; at that price point the device will mainly be used for specific tasks as a shared device (for example to complete a training course).

User Experience

Oculus for Business software has a simple intuitive user interface that is built on top of Facebook Workplace design principles. The menus are clear and easy to understand. The navigation is simple, no additional training required. However the user interface is missing key functionalities for deploying large numbers of headsets. There is no search functionality to find or filter specific devices in a list. You can’t add additional metadata to a headset easily identify it by your own criteria, and there is no functionality to export a list of devices from the application.

Scalability

The device on-boarding process of Quest through Oculus for Business is simple, however a time consuming activity. For on-boarding there is an Android app from Oculus (no iOS app available at this time); you can onboard up 25 devices at the same time, however you need to have access to a good wireless network with access to the internet to complete the setup successfully. Plan your time well, if you plan to on-board a large number of devices you will need a considerable amount of time.

Enterprises with a large number of mobile devices accessing company network resources tend to use a Mobile Device Management (MDM) solution like MobileIron or Workspace ONE. Oculus for Business will overlap with your MDM solutions in the organisation.

Functionalities like certificate delivery, remote wipe, remote lock, and device pincode enforcement can only be done with your MDM solution. The Oculus Quest headset runs on Android fork which doesn’t contain Android for Enterprise, which means that functionality like ‘silent deployment’ of certificates, VPN, and automatic proxy configuration is not possible. This can only be done with help of the IT department and must be done for each headset individually.

Oculus for Business offers the functionality to deploy your own VR content to multiple headset at the same time without any manual actions required. To distribute content to your headsets, the system will trigger a process on your headset to download the content using a URL that you specify. If your download location uses HTTPS you will need to use the certificates that are signed with trusted authority and not a certificate signed by your organisation. The only option to secure your download location is by adding custom request headers, no other protocols or certificates are supported. Oculus for Business doesn’t offer any concept of enterprise content stores for self-service and you can’t install a VR application using your own MDM solution or using manual side-loading.

Adaptability

The Oculus Quest headset available as part of Oculus for Business is specifically tailored for enterprise. After you put on the headset you enter the main menu area which is simplified compared to the consumer version; all settings have been hidden from the end-user behind an admin menu which can only be accessed using a pin code and the Oculus application store has been removed.

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May 22, 2020

Oculus for Business Officially Launched With Support Dedicated to Oculus Quest

During Oculus Connect 4 (OC4) in 2017, the company announced a new initiative called Oculus for Business, aimed at helping companies deploy virtual reality (VR) headsets at scale. It has been in closed beta since then, assimilating Oculus Go then Quest into the programme. This week the enterprise platform has been made generally available to help more organisations utilise VR.

Oculus for Business is a dual hardware/software solution where companies can buy Oculus Quest’s (128 GB model) for $999 USD with enterprise software, enterprise warranty and enterprise support. After 12 months it’ll cost $180 per headset, per year to maintain access to enterprise-grade software.

One important part to consider with the Oculus for Business solution is that employees will not be able to obtain software via the Oculus Store. They’ll only have access to internally developed VR content or third-party developer VR content tailored to specific use cases.

Built on Facebook’s enterprise collaboration platform, Workplace, which is developing new features catering to VR workflows, employees access content through a user interface providing approved content front-and-center. Plus, a new app launcher sends them directly to apps important to completing an assigned task.

“Since using Oculus Quest, we’ve seen a surge in interest from clients looking to use VR to help connect their teams working remotely,” says Angel Say, CEO & Co-Founder of InsiteVR in a statement. “Quest now accounts for over 50% of our usage and is the only device we consistently see teams using.”

As for Facebook’s other headsets, Oculus Rift S and Oculus Go, these can be purchased for commercial purposes – like a VR arcade – but they aren’t compatible with Oculus for Business. Therefore, they’re subject to normal consumer warranties and support, as well as accessing normal consumer edition software.

Plenty of companies had already begun deploying VR depending on their needs but with current coronavirus (COVID-19) lockdown measures in place, interest has increased. This has been driven by the need to remote collaborate, with new software solutions arriving to make the online process feel more natural.

For further information head to the Oculus for Business website. As more VR enterprise announcements are made, VRFocus will keep you updated.

May 22, 2020

Facebook’s ‘Oculus for Business’ Quest Enterprise Platform is Finally Openly Available

Facebook today announced that its Oculus for Business program is finally openly available. The program, which was announced more than a year ago, was slow to roll out as Facebook dealt only with a small number of select partners. Now any business can purchase the $1,000 business-ready version of Quest.

The consumer version of Quest (128GB) starts at $500 and is largely designed for gaming and entertainment. For businesses wanting to tap into Quest’s portability and ease of use for things like training, data visualization, and remote collaboration, Facebook’s ‘Oculus for Business‘ program charges $1,000 for the same Quest (128GB) headset, but includes specialized software, licenses, and support for enterprises.

Facebook had touted the program for some time, but it remained available only to select partners. Today the company announced that it’s opening the program up to any business.

In addition to a different interface inside the headset—which does away with many of Quest’s consumer-oriented features—the bigger deal is the backend management software which will allow a company’s IT department to manage a fleet of Quest headsets. From the management software, IT can configure headsets, deploy and update apps, manage settings, and check the status of all headsets in the group.

Facebook says that the Oculus for Business version of Quest works with major mobile device management programs like MobileIron and VMware Workspace ONE, making it easy to manage headsets through existing enterprise systems.

The $1,000 price-tag of the enterprise version of Quest covers the first year of access to Oculus for Business software and support, but after that it’ll cost enterprises $180 per year, per headset for ongoing access. The enterprise version of Quest also gets a longer, 24-month warranty.

Facebook’s $1000 Oculus Quest For Business Platform Is Now Available To All Companies

Today Facebook announced that its enterprise-edition Oculus Quest that sells for $1,000 as part of its Oculus for Business platform is now available for all companies to purchase.

Back in January Facebook withdrew its 3DOF headset, the Oculus Go, from the business platform and began offering the Oculus Quest instead as part of a new Oculus for Business initiative. However, that was only in closed beta until now.

When a business purchases a Quest through the Oculus for Business platform for $1,000, they’re not getting a consumer device. Instead, this Quest is specifically designed for their company with enterprise-focused features like a kiosk demo mode and two years of enterprise-quality support via phone, live chat, or email.

Business edition Quests feature a custom operating system that doesn’t access the typical Quest store for downloading games and other consumer-facing content. Instead, businesses get unique features such as multiple device setup, the ability to load the headsets with their own content to launch directly, and even remote access.

oculus-business-multiple-device-setup-quest

The multi-device setup should help speed things up for businesses at events and for internal use. Using a separate version of the Oculus mobile app, businesses can simultaneously setup and update several headsets at once with the app as a central hub.

When using an Oculus for Business Quest the user interface is different as well, placing company-approved content at the front and center rather than needing to sideload things or access a store that wasn’t designed for enterprise use cases.

Facebook has some details on the Oculus for Business platform in a blog post on the Oculus website and a landing page Oculus for Business page right here.

The post Facebook’s $1000 Oculus Quest For Business Platform Is Now Available To All Companies appeared first on UploadVR.

February 2, 2020

Months After Its Expected Launch, the ‘Oculus for Business’ Program is Still “Available Soon”

Back at the end of April, 2019, Oculus introduced “the new Oculus for Business” program, an enterprise-focused program which would see Oculus headsets sold with customized software aimed at large scale device management and business and commercial use-cases, along with specialized support and warranties. While the company expected the program to launch in the Fall of 2019, the Oculus for Business program is still not open for business.

If you’re an enterprise looking to use VR to enhance your business, you may have come across the Oculus for Business program. Through it, Oculus pairs the Quest headset for $1,000 with specialized software, licenses, and support for large scale enterprise deployments.

The official site presents the program as ripe and ready for enterprise needs, but for anyone except select pilot partners, the program has been “available soon” for months following its expected Fall 2019 launch. For businesses hoping to integrate VR into their organization, that’s months of frustrating uncertainty.

When we reached out to the company, Facebook gave us a status update but still wasn’t able to be any more specific than “soon” regarding open availability of the Oculus for Business program.

“We recently completed beta with a closed group of customers and ISVs, and the feedback was overwhelmingly positive. This month we’re continuing a gradual rollout to additional customers in the order with which they purchased and as hardware becomes available,” a Facebook spokesperson said. “Oculus Quest is currently backordered, and we’re working hard to replenish stock. We plan to continue with release to everyone, including new customers, soon.”

While other companies have had enterprise programs in place for some time, the slow and uncertain rollout of Oculus for Business continues a trend which has earned Facebook a reputation for being obtuse to the needs of enterprise VR customers outside of hand-picked high-profile organizations.

That extends to which Oculus hardware Facebook even offers through the Oculus for Business program. If Rift S or Oculus Go are the best fit for your business, you’re out of luck; Quest is the only option, making ‘Oculus Quest for Business’ a more fitting name.

Facebook will sell Rift S and Go in bulk with an enterprise license, but key enterprise-focused features—like remote device management, provisioning, kiosk mode, and more—are only available on Quest. Oculus had planned to offer Go as part of Oculus for Business, but said it dropped the headset based on pilot feedback.

HTC on the other hand—which has long touted its Vive Enterprise program alongside a turnkey VR arcade platform—offers enterprise features across its entire line of products, both PC and standalone.

Speaking with Facebook about the Oculus for Business program, the company pointed us to both the Enterprise Use Agreement which governs the program, and the Hospitality Entertainment Combination Addendum, which further details limitations and responsibilities for business-to-consumer use-cases like VR arcades and attractions. The latter, interestingly, forbids companies from “implementing any custom co-location functionality” (ie: two users sharing the same physical space for a multiplayer experience), a capability which, to our knowledge, Oculus has not made available to developers since demonstrating it more than a year ago.

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January 21, 2020

Facebook Withdrew Oculus Go From Enterprise Platform, Now Offers Quest Only

After the closed beta of its new enterprise VR platform Facebook withdrew the lower end Oculus Go, leaving only the higher end Oculus Quest as an option.

The new Oculus for Business platform was first announced at F8 2019 back in May, with full details shared at Oculus Connect 6 in September.

Under the program, companies can buy Oculus all-in-one headsets with a special version of the operating system which supports multiple device setup, remote device management, a kiosk mode, and other business-oriented features. The consumer features like the games store are not present in the headset, replaced by a simplified launcher showing only the apps remotely installed.

The Oculus Quest is available under this program for $999. This pricing includes two years of enterprise-grade priority support via phone, live chat or email.

But at both F8 2019 and Oculus Connect 6, Oculus Go was also listed as available under this platform, for $599. The website offered a comparison of the Quest and Go headset specifications. However, as of writing, Quest is now the only headset listed under this program.

The last entry of the page’s FAQ addresses this change:

Why am I no longer seeing Oculus Go as part of the Oculus for Business platform?
As we’ve been developing and testing the platform based on key use cases for enterprise customers, it’s become clear that Oculus Quest with its high end graphics and fully immersive capabilities is the best solution for most business VR needs. We’ve decided to focus our efforts on developing the platform based on Quest features and functionality. Go remains popular for immersive media and with its affordable price point, it’s a great option for companies that are getting started with VR. We will offer Go with an enterprise license which allows for commercial use and includes enterprise warranty and support, but without the Oculus for Business enterprise software

We reached out to Facebook to ask if this withdrawal happened before the program launched, and whether any Go headsets were sold for the platform. A representative told us that Go was withdrawn after the closed beta, and that “for the small number of impacted customers we are partnering on various solutions that include transitioning them to Quest“.

3DoF Just Isn’t Good Enough Anymore

The Oculus Go has a major limitation that no other major VR headset has; it can only track the rotation of your head, not the position. This means the world feels locked to your head when you lean forward, backward, or to the side. This isn’t particularly comfortable and can make some people feel sick.

The controller (and there is only one, not two) also has the same limitation. This means it acts as more of a laser pointer than actually having your hands in VR.

This is likely what Facebook’s FAQ answer is referring to when mentioning Quest’s “fully immersive capabilities”. Unlike Go, Quest has positional tracking and two positionally tracked controllers. This would greatly expand the kinds of scenarios Quest can simulate or train for in VR.

With Go withdrawn from the new enterprise platform and the consumer version being cut to $150 without an announcement, it seems possible Facebook could be planning to retire the headset. Facebook also retired its Rooms social service on Go late last year and only says it will support its upcoming Horizon social networking service on the Rift Platform and Quest, saying that “full interactivity is core to the Facebook Horizon experience.” Assuming no other companies launch a 3DoF headset, that could finally mark the end of 3DoF consumer VR.

The post Facebook Withdrew Oculus Go From Enterprise Platform, Now Offers Quest Only appeared first on UploadVR.

April 30, 2019

Oculus for Business Gets a Revamp at F8 2019

The launch announcement news for Oculus Rift S and Oculus Quest might have dominated the virtual reality (VR) of the Facebook Developer’s Conference (F8) 2019 keynote but there was more to glean from the event. Kean to continue pushing its Oculus for Business initiative, Facebook has introduced a new programme which includes the addition of Oculus Quest.

Enterprise deployment has been an important part of the VR industry, with automotive, healthcare and architecture companies just some of the few industries employing the technology to help with design, training, and sales.

The new Oculus for Business will expand the initiative to include the new standalone headset alongside Oculus Go while the original Oculus Rift will be dropped due to the device being discontinued. It seems as though Oculus for Business will only be using these two headsets, with no mention of Oculus Rift S.

Alongside the new hardware will be a new set of tools for companies to utilise for large scale deployments, such as mobile device management for scale, enterprise-focused user experience plus dedicated service and support. Oculus also notes that: “We’re also working closely with leaders in enterprise IT and services to develop ways to integrate VR right alongside the workflows and services businesses already use.”

Oculus Quest White Backdrop 1

Because of these additional features, Oculus for Business bundles are priced differently. Available to bulk order, the 64GB version of Oculus Go retails for $599 USD while the enterprise Oculus Quest will cost $999 for the 128GB version. When purchasing an Oculus for Business hardware bundle, each one will include an enterprise warranty with full software access and support for one year. Once that first year has concluded, software access is available for an annual fee of $180 per headset.

Oculus for Business was launched during Oculus Connect 4 (OC4) back in 2017 with the Oculus Go version released in 2018. Since then numerous companies have begun utilising VR, with one of the most notable being Walmart which has deployed 17k Oculus Go’s across its stores after testing VR training and seeing a 10-15% improvement in performance (claims Oculus).

Head to the Oculus for Business website to find out more and for further updates, keep reading VRFocus.

March 5, 2019

Oculus Quest and Go Enterprise Edition’s in Development for 2019

Sometimes the best way to find out what a company is working on is to simply look at its job vacancies. If a project is suitably big enough then more personnel are occasionally needed – or those with specific skills and experience – and this seems to be the case regarding Facebook’s interest in putting a great focus on enterprise edition headsets.

First spotted by Variety, a recent job posting by Facebook was looking for a Software Engineer, with the details revealing the company’s interest in expanding its business platform:

“The AR/VR Enterprise team charter is to deliver Facebook AR and VR platforms for business. Starting with VR, we are building an Oculus Go and Oculus Quest Enterprise edition expected to launch in 2019. This effort encompasses everything from hardware integrations, software platforms, enterprise-developer ecosystems and SDKs, SLAs, and more.”

Now the company already has enterprise operations in place thanks to its Oculus for Business initiative which began in 2017, offering specific bundles for Oculus Rift and later on Oculus Go, with extended warranties, service and licensing terms. These new Oculus Go and Oculus Quest Enterprise edition’s seem to be going a stage further, with the job applicants responsibilities including:

Design and develop enterprise features into Oculus mobile VR system applications
Design and develop VR frameworks to enable enterprise use cases such as corporate training
Ensure security and privacy concerns remain a top priority and are identified and addressed

All of which accounts for a far more robust and focused approach to providing VR business solutions to companies and institutions worldwide.

Oculus could well be taking a leaf out of HTC Vive’s book – or offer its own solution – because of the HTC Vive Pro Eye and the HTC Vive Focus Plus, two headsets both aimed specifically at the enterprise market only, offering high-end visuals with eye tracking or a wireless, standalone experience respectively.

More official details will likely be released on or around the Facebook Developers Conference (F8) at the end of April, when the Oculus Quest is most probably going to be launched. As further details become available, VRFocus will keep you updated.

July 17, 2018

Oculus Go Business Bundle Begins Shipping

A few days after the official launch of the Oculus Go standalone headset at the beginning of May the company announced Oculus Go for Business, allowing companies to deploy large numbers of the device. Today, the Oculus Go for Business has become available.

Oculus Go GDC Promo 03

The Oculus for Business programme, which began with the Oculus Rift, was designed to allow companies to easily embrace virtual reality (VR) adoption on the larger scales needed by enterprise, whilst offering expanded services like warranties and servicing.

In the Oculus Go business bundle companies will get a 64GB headset, an international multi-prong wall charger, two facial interfaces, an extended commercial warranty, and dedicated support – all for $299 USD each.

Oculus for Business has only been rolled out to certain countries and last month Australia, Japan, New Zealand and Taiwan were added. This enabled the Australian War Memorial Museum to deploy up to 50 Oculus Go’s at a time for its interactive VR experience the Battle of Hamel.

Oculus Go GDC Promo Hero

Oculus for Business is also available in the following countries: Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the UK, and the USA.

When the Samsung Gear VR originally launched it was used in a similar way, being employed by institutions and museums as a means of showcasing experiences to a wide audience. Now with advent of standalone VR headset like Oculus Go that process becomes even easier and completely self contained.

The consumer Oculus Go retails for £199 GBP/$199 USD for the 32GB version. Features include built-in speakers (with a mini-jack option for headphones), 3DoF controller, a 538ppi, 5.5” 2560 x 1440 WQHD, fast-switch LCD display with a new set of optics providing what Oculus calls ‘our best lenses yet’, microphone for all your voice chat needs, and compatibility with Samsung Gear VR, so there’s plenty of content available. For further updates on Oculus for Business, keep reading VRFocus.