Tag: VRChat

My First Day with the Oculus Quest

Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.

—Arthur C. Clarke
My New Oculus Quest (with Bertram the Bear)

Well, my Oculus Quest finally arrived on Friday, and this morning I set it up. I also downloaded my first app from the Oculus Store (VRChat), and tried that out. This is my report on my first-day experiences.

You need to have a cellphone with WiFi and Bluetooth enabled to set up your Quest. You will also need to download and install the Oculus app on your cellphone. I had installed mine three weeks ago, and I found that when I went into the Oculus App, only the Oculus Rift and Oculus Go were listed as options! So I had to delete and reinstall the app, and the second time I could select the Oculus Quest and begin setup.

Setup was relatively quick and easy. The biggest problem I had was finding a big enough space in my small apartment to play in! I decided to clear away all my unfolded laundry and create a suitable space in my bedroom.

The starting tutorials were very well-done, and I had a big grin on my face when I was dancing with the robot! Then, I loaded up the store and went looking for VRChat, and found and installed it.

VRChat on the Oculus Quest works the same way as it does on the Oculus Rift, and in no time I was up and running. I selected a portal to an avatar shop and picked out an anime avatar girl. I also visited Al’s Avatar Corridors, a popular and well-known avatar shop in VRChat, but I was disappointed to find that most of the selections would not work in an Quest environment.

When you encounter someone whose avatar is too complex to render for the Quest, their avatar is replaced with a grey robot which has “PC”: stamped on its chest. I predict that many Quest users of VRChat will soon realize that they are missing a LOT of what made VRChat so attractive in the first place, as they visit place after place where most of the other avatars are grey robots. Will that impact how popular VRChat is with Quest users? Perhaps. only time will tell. It could drive avatar creators to build lower-impact avatars, which could become a booming business.

All in all, my first morning was magical. There is a wonderful freedom associated with not having to worry about tripping over any wires! I do think that the Oculus Quest is going to prove very popular with consumers. I’m glad I got mine early, and I look forward to all the apps to come!

Facebook Doesn’t Have a Coherent Social VR Strategy—But They’re Working on Something Big

Ben Lang of the Road to VR website doesn’t mince words in an article titled Facebook Has Four Separate Social VR Apps, and None of Them Are on Quest:

Facebook’s fragmented approach to social VR hasn’t gotten any better with the launch of Quest. The company now has four separate social VR apps, and none of them are currently available on its newest headset.

With Oculus, Facebook has aimed to build the premiere VR ecosystem, but when it comes to allowing users of the company’s different headsets—Go, Quest, and Rift—to actually interact with one another, it has completely dropped the ball.

And, as I blogged about earlier, Oculus Quest users do not have access to any Facebook-branded social VR platforms: no Facebook Spaces, no Oculus Home, no Oculus Rooms, no Oculus Venues. Facebook has basically left social VR to third-party vendors like VRChat and Rec Room, both of which will probably see a jump in user concurrency figures with the launch of the Oculus Quest headset, which I predict will prove very popular with consumers.

Adi Roberston, a senior reporter for The Verge, posted a tweet about Ben Lang’s article, which led to a very interesting response from Infinite Retina, who apparently has heard some industry gossip and is willing to spill some tea:

Infinite Retina said:

We hear Facebook is working on a major VR initiative that will come out in next 15 months. Code named “Metaverse.” They ended Facebook Spaces to get the programmers to work on this new thing.

My first response to this tweet was “Hallelujah! They’re killing Facebook Spaces!“. (My second response was “Holy shit!“.)

As I have said before, Facebook has the potential to be a major disruptive force in social VR, if they could only get their act together. And it sounds as if that is exactly what they are planning to do. All the current players in social VR had better be paying attention, and planning accordingly. They have only a small window to make an impact with their products before Facebook launches their “Metaverse” product, and when they do, it’s gonna be pretty much the only thing that the news media will be talking about (if the oceans of fawning press coverage over every stupid little upgrade to Facebook Spaces is any indication). And Facebook has very deep pockets for things like programmer salaries and advertising budgets.

Fasten your seatbelts! Things are gonna get really interesting!

VRChat Prepares for the Oculus Quest by Redesigning Its Homes and Social Hub

In a recent blogpost, VRChat announced some changes to its platform to accommodate the expected influx of new users when the Oculus Quest begins shipping next week:

In preparation for our launch on the Oculus Quest next week, we’ve created a new VRChat Home and VRChat Hub for both our PC and Quest users! Both of the worlds are cross-platform, and will allow Quest and PC users to interact and chat with each other.

The new VRChat Home includes portals to popular destinations, as well as a new avatar selector next to a mirror. The redesigned social hub brings back the familiar campfire, which many people remember from the early days of VRChat:

The Hub has received quite a makeover. We’ve found that users tend to prefer smaller (but not too small) instances to chat with their friends, with areas that naturally lean into permitting groups to separate out and have conversations. A darker evening lighting scheme tends to be more favorable and provides an “after-hours” feel…The campfire provides a comfortable, natural area to gather up.

The New VRChat Hub

You should see these changes the next time you log in to VRChat.

I predict that VRChat will experience a second boom in use after the Oculus Quest begins to ship to consumers on May 21st. VRChat is one of only three social VR apps to be available for the Quest at launch date, along with Bigscreen and Rec Room.

The Great Pug in VRChat, the Most Popular Pub in Social VR, Hits the 10 Million Visit Mark

Not all social VR spaces are struggling to attract users. Some have been surprisingly successful, and here is a good example. Bryan Bortz (a.k.a. OwlBoy) has just announced that the virtual pub he created in VRChat, The Great Pug, has now received 10 million visits!

The Great Pug just rolled over to 10 Million visits according to the VRChat API. Thanks to everyone who has visited, made friends, and supported The Pug over the years. Thank you to everyone who has helped me learn and improve during this journey.

The Great Pug

According to Bryan’s Patreon page:

The Great Pug is the most popular hangout spot in the metaverse. It’s a pub where people meet, hang out, chat, perform, show off, and role play. The Great Pug is dynamic with regular updates and improvements. It plays host to large annual parties on St. Patrick’s Day and Halloween. Along with other parties throughout the year. Custom decorations are put up for each event and taken down shortly after. Musical performances happen regularly in select instances. 

My focus with The Great Pug is the social space it provides. I want it to be a place you visit for the other people you find there.

I hope to have OwlBoy as a guest on an upcoming episode of the Metaverse Newscast. I’m sure he has many wonderful stories to tell as the keeper of the most visited pub in the metaverse! Congratulations on reaching this milestone!