Oculus Quest 2, RayBan smartglasses …

It was Oculus Connect yesterday … Sorry « Facebook Connect » as Facebook renamed it this year. Let’s see what Facebook cooked for fall 2020 !

A new VR headset is here : Oculus Quest 2 ! You can already pre-order it on Oculus website … but what is bringing us this new headset from Facebook ?

I will try to summarize quickly what has been announced :

  • Qualcomm Snapdragon XR2 is used instead of Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 which will should give us more « horsepower » to display higher definition models …
  • … if the new resolution ( 1832×1920 per eye) does not « eat » this power gain. Display should be sharper ( with limited / without SDE = Screen Door Effect) and framerate should stay at least the same as in first Quest.
  • We can hope Quest 2 will be able to render faster the same applications as those deployed on first Quest to reach 90Hz (highest framerate announced to be supported … but only after Quest 2 launch thanks to an update).
  • Facebook redesigned a bit the controllers … nothing amazing but they should be better tracked.
  • They also create new accessories as some straps to better balance the system on the head (why is this an accessory and not sold with the headset by default if immersion is better using it ? Not using it would give a lower grade experience and will not help giving a good first impression for those who try VR for the first time). The accessory which seems to be the most interesting is the « elite strap » : headstrap with battery included, battery should counter balance the Quest 2 weight (as some third party accessory retailers already imagined for first Quest)
  • Another accessory named « Quest 2 Fit pack » is there to better fit any kind of faces and to limit the light entrance inside the headset (in my opinion, this should be included in the default package too !).
  • Oculus link is still available on this headset which means that you can play Oculus Rift / Rifts S games (and even SteamVR games) on your Quest 2 pluging it to your computer thanks to a USB-C cable. This makes the Quest 2 the cheapest Oculus VR headset for PC (350€ with 64Go included storage/ 450€ with 256Go) !

NB : it seems Quest 2 will need a Facebook account to use it … many people forecasted that point !

That’s not a revolution but more an upgrade of the Quest. Quest 2 weight is 10% lighter, processor power is increased and resolution too (replacing OLED displays by LCD ones). I am keen on my Quest and this new release seems quite interesting for whom would like to buy his first headset ! It is a really good price/performance ratio.
For instance choosing the 256Go version (450€) and adding the fit pack (40€) and elite strap (140€, strap + additional battery included & storage bag) you will need a budget of more or less 630 € and nothing more to add next (but who knows : maybe somedays eyetracking system will come as an accessory !).

Facebook is working with RayBan to create smartglasses in 2021. I first thought that it will be an Augmented Reality pair of glasses but it seems to be « only » smartglasses without an integrated display.

Simultaneously Facebook announced the Project Aria which targets to « help to build the first generation of wearable Augmented Reality devices »Nothing displayed on these glasses since it is more a device to acquire the environment, in order to imagine what we can process to give « smart information » to the user in future.

Marc LE RENARD
lerenard@foks-lab.fr