Category: oculus rift cv1

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Oculus Fixed: How To Get Your Rift Working Again

It may only be March of 2018 but when the time comes for us to look back on what happened this during this year and chart the highs and the lows for virtual reality (VR) over the previous 365 days we will look back to yesterday and say March 7th was definitely one for the lows column. With not just Oculus being incredibly embarrassed but the technology itself having one of its worst days in recent memory.

Oculus Rift: "Can't Reach Oculus Runtime Service" ErrorIf you missed yesterday’s fun and games, Oculus woke up to find that, owing to a security certificate expiring, practically every Oculus Rift headset around the world had suddenly been bricked overnight. Users being greeted with a “Can’t Reach Oculus Runtime Service” error message. The expired certificate not only causing users to tear out their hair, but Oculus too, as they admitted in a later update that fixing the issue was proving to be problematic due to it effectively locking off their normal way of updating.

Thankfully, as of this morning a patch fixing the issue is now available from Oculus and should be easy to implement so long as you are able to open the Oculus desktop app. However, a step-by-step process is also available for those who cannot. You can find the solution, care of Oculus’ Support page, below.

If you currently have the Oculus app installed:

  1. Go to https://www.oculus.com/rift-patch/.
  2. Click Download Install Patch to download OculusPatchMarch2018.exe.
  3. Open OculusPatchMarch2018.exe.
    • If Windows asks you if you’re sure you want to open this file, click Yes.
    • If Windows Defender prompts “Windows protected your PC”, click More info and then click Run anyway.
    • If your antivirus software restricts the file from opening, temporarily disable your AV and continue.
  6. Select Repair and confirm you would like to repair the Oculus software.
  7. Allow the repair process to run, download and install.
  8. Launch the Oculus app.

Shortly after the repair you will be prompted for an update. Please complete the update. The download and update may take up to 10 minutes depending on network connection.

If you uninstalled the Oculus app from your computer:

  1. Go to https://www.oculus.com/setup.
  2. Click Download Oculus Software to download OculusSetup.exe.
  3. Open OculusSetup.exe and follow the onscreen instructions to install the latest version of the Oculus app.

Should your Oculus Rift continue to have issues after this, as some have noted on social media, we’d recommend contacting Oculus Support further about the problem.

An additional statement was issued by the Facebook owned company in an email put out later this morning that also sets out details as to the compensation Oculus Rift users – or recently active ones, at least – can expect.

“We’re very sorry for the disruption today. We’re providing a $15 Oculus Store credit (or currency equivalent) to people impacted by this issue. If you used Rift on or after February 1st, 2018 this credit will be added to your account automatically within the next 7 days. See this page [5] for info about Oculus Store credits… Sorry again for any inconvenience this may have caused, and thanks for choosing Rift.”

That said, Reddit users on r/Oculus have noted that the issue could rear its head again in the future as the certificate is now updated to March 11th 2020 but is “still not timestamped properly”.  Though there is the possibility this is subsequently corrected. Whatever the case, hopefully for all concerned we won’t be recalling this particular story in a couple of years.

VRFocus will bring you more updates on the situation should there be any further developments.

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Update Your Oculus DK1 and DK2 Demos, Win $10,000

There were dozens upon dozens of virtual reality (VR) experience and videogame demos available for Oculus Rift Dev Kit 1 and Dev Kit 2, and the fact is that many of them have been lost to time now. Indie developers, one-man teams and those simply tinkering about out of interest created so much content for the early Dev Kits, and the fact is that most of these demos are no longer playable on more modern head-mounted displays (HMDs).

Well WEARVR are apparently sick of not being able to play the demos and experiences of yesteryear on modern retail devices, and as such are offering a bounty of $10,000 for a high quality update to one of your older VR demos.

WEARVR is a site that was founded thanks to the wealth of interesting demos available for early VR HMDs, and they don’t want to lose all of the content that was created; “These early demos are what compelled us to launch WEARVR and give the experiences the dedicated audience they deserved,” says WEARVR COO, Andrew Douthwaite. “Having tried and tested nearly every DK1 and DK2 demo out there, it’s sad to see that some of them haven’t made it to the consumer headsets. However, it’s understandable when you consider that these were largely created by new, or one-person teams.”

What they’re called the WEARVR Remastered Competition, the challenge sees VR developers enhancing and updating their old Dev Kit content and making it fully functional with the latest HMDs.

Douthwaite doesn’t want to lose the legacy of how VR started and became mainstream; “What we’re trying to do with REMASTERED is give new VR users an opportunity to try these short experiences that helped the new VR industry grow so fast, as well as creating a bit of nostalgia for the VR veterans.”

“There are many developers who, perhaps, created a demo with no intention of selling it. This gives them an opportunity to monetize their demos, through WEARVR, whilst having the added bonus of prize money for best in class,” concludes Douthwaite.

If you want to enter your own VR software for consideration, you can do so on the WEARVR website. The closing date is May 1st 2018, so get in fast.

It’s a good opportunity for early VR devs to revisit their earliest projects, and hopefully get paid for them too, if they win or decide to update the software to a saleable point. For all of the latest on VR demos and money making opportunities for you developers out there, make sure to keep reading VRFocus.

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How to Re-enable VR in Alien: Isolation

Did you love Alien: Isolation? Do you like screaming for mercy and hiding in dark corners like you’re really there? In virtual reality (VR)? Well then you’re in the right place, as VRFocus has put together a guide to help dive you back into the world of Alien.

If you haven’t heard already, Nibre has created a VR mod, MotherVr Alpha, to enable VR support in Alien: Isolation. Now available to download via Github, MotherVr Alpha is compatible with the Steam version of Alien: Isolation. At present, you can play the videogame on the Oculus Rift CV1 (the current consumer version) or the second edition of the Oculus Rift development kit (aka DK2), and since 26th August 2017, the latest edition of the MotherVr Alpha mod (0.3.0) also supports the HTC Vive.

 

The modified version of Alien: Isolation does not have any roomscale functionality at present and is designed to play seated. It requires an Xbox One controller or keyboard and mouse, though Nibre is working on Touch and Vive controller support at some point.

 

Follow the instructions below to enable VR in Alien: Isolation:

 

  1. You have to own or buy Alien: Isolation in Steam.Link here: http://store.steampowered.com/app/214490/Alien_Isolation/

  2. Go to this Github link: https://github.com/Nibre/MotherVR/releases

  3. Download MotherVR.0.3.01.zip

  4. Unzip the .zip MotherVR file in your Download files and extract with a program like 7-zip or winzip

  5. Copy and paste the ‘.dll’ files and paste into Alien: Isolation videogame folder

  6. Usually this is: This PC > C: Drive > Program files (x86) > Steam > Steam Apps > Common> Alien Isolation and paste ‘.dll’ files into this folder. It may be somewhere else if you have your Steam games installed in other folders.

  7. Launch Steam and add ‘steamvr’ to your launch options in steam.

  8. Play the Alien: Isolation.

You can watch the video below for a more visual guide, and VRFocus will keep you updated with all the latest details on Alien: Isolation‘s VR compatibility.

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Oculus: Rift Won’t Be Superseded by New Version for ‘at least two years’

During an interview at the Game Developers Conference at the end of March, head of Oculus’ PC VR division Brendan Iribe stated that the Rift will remain the company’s flagship VR headset for “at least the next two years”. The report by The Verge also discussed the company’s future direction for inside-out tracking and glove-free hand tracking.

Since stepping down as Oculus CEO, Brendan Iribe has lead the PC division of the company, a role focused on the day-to-day development of leading edge VR technology—so this estimated timeframe carries significant weight.

HTC has offered similar prescriptions, describing recently the likely generational cycle for VR headsets to sit somewhere between a smartphone and a games console, and there have been grand predictions for major technical advancements that are less than five years away. It seems likely that the two companies will continue to compete at the high-end of VR with similar schedules, although recent hints from HTC suggest a possible 2018 launch for next-generation hardware, such as Daniel O’Brien’s interview with Digital Trends, and Gabe Newell’s discussion about massive display advancements arriving in 2018 and 2019, and the expectation for integrated wireless by 2018.

Oculus’ ‘Santa Cruz’ prototype is a standalone VR headset. Iribe has confirmed its being developed under the company’s mobile division.

In terms of wireless, Oculus is looking at both untethering the headset as well as removing the need for external sensors, as the company recently demonstrated with their Santa Cruz prototype. This standalone VR headset is still on the way, and will be coordinated by Oculus’ mobile division, Iribe says, but he may be hinting that their Rift PC headset could embrace inside-out tracking too.

In February, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg posted photographs of his Oculus Research lab tour, and Iribe teased multiple breakthrough technologies “from advanced optics and display systems to revolutionary tracking and machine perception”, one of which was recently revealed as the Focal Surface Display.

“Everything we’re doing is still research-oriented”, said Iribe, indicating that the new technology is still a long way from production spec. For example, the prototype tracking gloves worn by Zuckerberg are very unlikely to become a consumer product, as fit and comfort are difficult problems to solve. “In the future, we’re trying to pioneer natural hand gestures without gloves,” Iribe said.

Both Oculus and HTC are looking to make meaningful advancements before committing to a new generation of hardware, and it takes time for the components to reach a level of affordability and production-readiness. Iribe believes the current Rift has a long life ahead; it won’t be superseded for “at least the next two years”, and will remain relevant after the fact. “I think you’ll see even beyond that, a lot of people will be using this first [generation]”.

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