PlutoSphere – Augmented & Virtual Reality Confabulation

February 2, 2022

VR Cloud Streaming Service ‘PlutoSphere’ Launches on Quest in Beta

PlutoSphere is a new cloud streaming platform in beta that lets Quest users play PC VR games without requiring a gaming rig—a big investment if you’re looking to play SteamVR titles like Half-Life: Alyx. Developers Pluto VR have been teasing it for the past few months, however now Quest owners will be able to finally see if it’s up to snuff via SideQuest.

PlutoSphere essentially lets you play your own games from Steam, the Epic Games Store, or the Oculus PC app—basically any app store you can install—all without needing a gaming computer capable of playing those graphically-intense titles.

The process is this: download PlutoSphere via SideQuest, have either a Quest or Quest 2, a 50 Mbps Internet connection, and a WiFi 6 router capable of 5 GHz. If you’ve never used SideQuest before, the unofficial Quest app store requires a few hoops to jump through. Check out our how-to guide to get started.

The download is free, however time allotment with the virtual gaming rig is measured in tokens. During its Early Access period each user starts with a limited supply of tokens automatically each day, however if you want to keep connected you’ll have to buy tokens via the PlutoSphere token store to continue.

All info is wiped from the virtual rig once you’re finished with a session, which means you’ll have to download all of your games there again when you start back up. The virtual computer boasts PC specs (and likely network specs) that would put any home rig to shame though, packing a Intel Xeon Platinum 8259CL CPU@ 2.50 GHz, NVIDIA Tesla T4, and 32GB RAM.

“Getting to Early Access on SideQuest has been a significant milestone for us and our community. We couldn’t have done it without our Plutoneers: our dedicated early adopters and testers,” said Forest Gibson, Co-founder of Pluto.

We haven’t had a chance to try out PlutoSphere ourselves, however it’s currently sitting at a [3.8/5] rating on SideQuest. Many users have reported acceptable latency levels, something that can make or break any cloud gaming service.

This is especially true for VR since it requires input latency measured around 10-20 milliseconds to be unnoticeable by the user. We’ll be trying out PlutoSphere is the coming days to see just what it’s made of, so check back soon.

The post VR Cloud Streaming Service ‘PlutoSphere’ Launches on Quest in Beta appeared first on Road to VR.

February 2, 2022

Plutosphere Available On SideQuest With Cloud PC VR Streaming For Meta Quest

PlutoSphere is launching today in early access on SideQuest offering a path to play PC VR content like Half-Life: Alyx and Boneworks on Meta Quest and future standalones without the requirement of owning a PC.

The service is available starting today from Pluto VR on SideQuest: “PlutoSphere supports Oculus Quest and Quest 2 during our limited launch, but will eventually support additional hardware,” the SideQuest listing says. “Steam comes pre-installed with PlutoSphere, but any PC games or apps you already own on other platforms will also be accessible to you. Install any other Windows apps you want.”

A press release from Pluto VR adds that “users can access their Steam and Epic Games Store libraries.”

We did a short demo of the service last year and said “it essentially felt identical to using Virtual Desktop on a local network with a PC. If you’re fine with that kind of latency you’ll probably be fine with services like PlutoSphere.” We have yet to take the newest version of PlutoSphere for a trip into some our favorite PC VR titles just yet, but we plan to soon and will report back our findings.

We also sat down in our virtual recording studio with Pluto VR co-founder Forest Gibson:

Gibson notes that VRChat seems to be popular among early PlutoSphere users alongside the aforementioned physics-based powerhouses.

“It’s really a different experience to be on the VRChat version of the Quest client versus the PC client,” he told us. “You kind of feel like you’re a second class citizen because you get lower quality avatars. You don’t have access to the same worlds. And so surprisingly, we’ve actually seen a lot of people really like that.”

For best results, you’ll need “a 50 Mbps Internet connection, 5 GHz WiFi 6 Router” and “Early Access users can use the service for free for a limited time each day with the option to purchase more time via Pluto tokens,” according to Pluto.

Prices might fluctuate, but Gibson told us they are taking an “arcade model” approach to pricing with tokens that “boils down to around $1-$3 USD per hour depending on how many tokens are purchased at a time.” Prices are listed here.

You can find our guide to sideloading and SideQuest here.

March 5, 2021

Facebook Won’t Allow Cloud VR Streaming On Oculus Store Or App Lab

A new Oculus policy forbids cloud VR streaming on both the store and App Lab.

Facebook lists its Virtual Reality Check (VRC) requirements on the Oculus developer website. VRC.Quest.Streaming.2 was added last week:

Applications that stream immersive VR content may only do so from a local source, that is, a device that the customer has physical access to. Streaming from virtual devices or cloud sources is not allowed.

The app Virtual Desktop allows streaming from local (or remote) PCs. When the feature launched in 2019 Facebook rejected it, forcing the developer to make it available as an optional patch on alternative store SideQuest.

Last week Facebook reversed that decision, allowing the feature back on the main store.

Last year cloud PC rental service Shadow VR announced plans to launch an Oculus Quest app for cloud VR streaming, and startup Pluto recently announced a managed service. In out short demo of the PlutoSphere service we asked about distribution plans, and were told it plans to use SideQuest. This means users will have to register with Facebook as developers – a process which is free but requires giving Facebook either your phone number or card details – and the app won’t get automatic updates.

We asked a Facebook representative for comment about the new restriction and received the following statement over email:

“We’ve seen the value that customers are able to get from PC VR titles and we want to enable those sorts of local PC experiences. That said, streaming from a remote device is a significantly different proposal as it could impact comfort. For now, we’re allowing PC VR wireless streaming for local PCs, and hope to learn more about the level of quality it can achieve before we consider cloud-based solutions for interactive VR.”

Facebook itself has no announced plans for cloud VR streaming. Last year an executive described the technology as more than five years away.

February 23, 2021

High-end PC VR Streaming Coming to Oculus Quest With PlutoSphere

Pluto VR originally began as a social startup releasing its communications service Pluto for SteamVR users back in 2018. Today, the company has announced its latest product, moving away from social and into high-end streaming for Oculus Quest with Plutosphere.

Unlike apps such as Virtual Desktop where you can stream your SteamVR library to Oculus Quest if you have a compatible PC, PlutoSphere utilises cloud streaming technology so no PC is required. The platform will allow users to access their Steam and Epic Games Store libraries to play on Oculus Quest/Quest 2 as well as being able to install and run any OpenVR or OpenXR videogame or application.

To enable this your setup will need to meet some basic requirements. PlutoSphere needs a minimum of 50 Mbps internet and a 5 GHz WiFi 6 Router, plus the Oculus Quest of course. Pluto VR does plan to add support for smartphones, Microsoft Hololens, and Nreal’s mixed reality glasses in the future.

“PlutoSphere represents a major milestone in the spatial computing industry. It opens the doors of closed platforms, allowing consumers to experience content regardless of their device,” said Forest Gibson, Co-founder of Pluto in a statement. “Now you don’t need to spend thousands of dollars on gaming rigs, graphics cards, and premium VR headsets to play popular PC VR titles.”

“This is just the beginning for what we have planned for PlutoSphere. Multi app, a persistent social layer across applications, and AR support are just a few features we are rolling out later this year,” Forest adds.

It’s taken Pluto VR five years of development to reach this point, participating in the 5G Open Innovation Lab during that time. The initial launch will be a phased rollout with Oculus Quest users able to reserve their place on the official website.

As the rollout continues VRFocus will bring you further updates.