Just as the iPhone revolutionized the telecommunications market, the Oculus Quest will do the same for the use of VR in the CRE market. Previously using a high-end Head Mounted Display (HMD) required the use of a desktop gaming computer, the HMD, external sensors, and a LOT of cables. This made it very costly, cumbersome and difficult to use, and required a lot of time and skill to setup, operate, and maintain.
By being a fully contained “All-in-One” system, the Oculus Quest eliminates all these barriers. The cost of the HMD is much more reasonable (at $399 vs $1500), and you can save an additional $2,000 by not needing the gaming computer.
The Quest is 100% pre-installed, pre-configured, and pre-calibrated, making it truly ready to use right out of the box. Once the gameplay area is set, simply hand it around as a shareable device.
The Quest includes the HMD as well as all the processing hardware in a comfortable easy to wear HMD, as opposed to a cabled HMD with a dedicated gaming computer. It’s display resolution (1440x1600 per eye) rivals those of the latest cabled HMDs, and here’s no need to setup externally powered sensors in the room to be reconfigured each time they are moved. This makes the Quest perfectly suited for mobile use.
When combined with the Quest’s inside-out tracking, this eliminates much of the typical hassles of setup – as no sensors, computer or cables are required, which allows you to freely move and walk about. This makes the Quest much safer than cabled HMDs as it is very easy to trip. The built-in battery supports up to 2-3 hours of use. But for endless gameplay, simply plug in an external USB battery, put it in your pocket to play indefinitely without having to plug in.
But that’s not all…
The Quest includes some new technologies and features to vastly improve the user experience. Some of these include:
Insight – The Quest’s “inside-out” tracking uses four cameras and complicated algorithms to track the edges of the objects around you to very accurately determine not only where you are within the world, but where you are looking and moving.
The video through these cameras can be passed through to inside the HMD allowing the user to “see” as though they were not wearing it. Where a traditional HMD “blinds” the user from the outside world.
With Quest’s Insight, you don’t need to take off your HMD or put down you handheld controllers to see and interact with the people or objects around you.
Guardian System – By simply putting on the Quest and painting a virtual perimeter on the floor, the Guardian System gives you plenty of warning before they bump into an object. As you approach the barrier, a grid displays the surrounding grid. If you go beyond the barrier, the Guardian system display the pass-thru video, so you can see where they are – making accidental collisions a thing of the past.
The quest can remember up to 5 unique spaces without needing to recalibrate each time you use at any of them. The current maximum play-space is 25 by 25 feet, but Oculus has demonstrated an entire arena sized area with many simultaneous users – none of which were bumping into each other. This was impossible with previous HMDs.
Video Casting – You can wirelessly share what you’re experiencing in the HMD to a display for others to see. This is especially helpful for group settings, allowing others share in the experience.
Image courtesy of Oculus
The Oculus Quest provides the best of both worlds – highly immersive user VR experience without all the hassles of a desktop-based system. However, there are some limitations. The key limitation being the complexity of the virtual environments and the level of realism within them. It can play smaller and less graphically intense VR games. But when using 360 VR Tours, this is not an issue, making it a key tool for delivering immersive VR experiences.
With all these benefits, the Quest will help accelerate the adoption of VR in the CRE market.
To learn more about the Oculus Quest, you can watch this detailed product review. To learn how Pix VR can benefit your CRE business, you can attend one of our demos.