This is an amazing move on Oculus' part. Very consumer friendly, since they are cannibalizing their own Rift sales. It's also great for future proofing the hardware once the SoC is obsolete.
It's good for vr. The majority of the problems with the platform stem from low adoption rates. It needs to be made as accessible as posible. And I'm sorry but valves $1k headset doesn't do that.
Yea...good for those who bough the Quest. However it's a bit of a middle finger to consumers like me who bought the Rift S as the PC platform set. Had I known they'd change their mind about being strictly a "stand alone" I would have bought the Quest instead due to its infinitely more convenient wireless system. Instead I have a Rift S for PC with a long ass cable I have to worry about stepping on or getting tangled in which would have been an opportunity cost I was willing to accept, but instead now I feel like I just wasted my money.
I've never actually understood why the Rift S exists.
Even assuming the standalone headset and PC peripheral headset need to be different devices(which clearly isn't the case), they could save a lot of tooling and development costs by using the same casing and display modules on both devices. There's no reason that the headsets aren't 90% the same.
If you're getting entertainment value out of it equal to the price of entry, was it a waste? You were an early adopter and VR is still not a mature industry. Things are changing rapidly so cutting edge rapidly becomes yesterday's news. If it still works, just keep using it and try not to worry so much about what might be emerging from Facebook's bowels next.
Eventually you will be able to get a wireless adapter for Rift S. I wouldn't sweat it. The Quest is extremely uncomfortable and plagued with god rays, which is very annoying. I would much rather have the Rift S lcd's and headband comfort.
Can anybody at all point me to a 10Gbps USB-C cable above 2m? I sure haven't seen any. Personally, I don't see being tethered that closely to a desktop pc as very attractive. That optical cable will likely be a good thing when it arrives.
Companies are terrible at estimating length of cables. I remember Nest cameras, you could buy a longer cable online for them, the problem though is the longer cable was longer than specs. lol
I always figured I'd enter VR with seated experiences like flight/space sims. But this sounds potentially awesome. The idea of having a mobile device for friends/family to try out with no cables, but then being able to plug in and also play Elite Dangerous or a Flight Sim with it sounds really nice.
Virtual Desktop had the ability to stream SteamVR games wirelessly, but Oculus made them remove the feature (though I believe it was/(is?) possible to sideload a patched version). To me, that would be the killer feature.
Still, it's nice that they're going to support this natively. I've been planning to get a Quest to supplement my Samsung Odyssey+, but with this feature, I might end up selling the Odyssey+, especially after they add hand tracking to the Quest next year.
One correction based on what Oculus employees have said elsewhere, the USB-C cable _won't_ be utilizing the VirtualLink AltMode, it just needs to be a high-bandwidth USB 3 connection to your PC.
You don't need to plug it into your graphics card USB-C/VirtualLink port (though you probably still could), you just plug it in normally to your on-board USB 3, which can even be with a cable that ends with a Type A connector. Apparently they've made some highly customized compression (on both ends) to make this possible. The custom fiber optic cable they're making is to just optimize the length/weight/throughput of the cable for low-latency VR usage.
If it is compression, usb 3 is actually a lot of bandwidth remember, 60hz bluray is about 100Mb/s and USB 3.0 is 50 times that, so the issue is how do you stream in real time? It's like a Twitch stream at 1440p/72hz, which computers can do that?
The bandwidth isn't the problem. The latency is.They'll likely be trying to trade as much of a bandwidth increase as they can get away with in exchange for faster encoding (and thus lower latency).
Apparently the limiting factor for bandwidth is the decode limit on the Snapdragon 835 - Carmack said the most they can do is 150mbps. I believe it was stated that this solution only added 2-3 ms of latency, and tracking stability shouldn’t be much different because time warp is still being done in the headset. Carmack also said that because the display is rolling refresh (vs global refresh on the Rift S LCD) that theoretically they could have latency lower than the Rift S.
Modern GPUs have IP blocks for real-time encoding of frame buffer data which sacrifice optimal quality for fixed latency overhead. That was originally designed for VDI, but also works for cloud gaming or local streaming.
Well, that makes it a lot more appealing; something VR desperately needs. I can afford to shell out for one headset, but not really two. If I only have one, that means I won't use VR as much and possibly just abandon it.
Now, if only they had made the compute part of the headset modular.
Judging by the reviewers, no need to throw your Rift S just yet... :-) The image quality is not so crisp and there are some artifacts. Also 72Hz instead of 80Hz (IIRC). So for the same price, get a Rift S if you mostly care for PC VR.
We’ve updated our terms. By continuing to use the site and/or by logging into your account, you agree to the Site’s updated Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
Facebook
Twitter
RSS
22 Comments
Back to Article
PeachNCream - Thursday, September 26, 2019 - link
"According to Facebook, most of high-quality USB Type-C cables will work with the Quest..."Insert meme about Best Buy's overpriced Monster branded cables.
skavi - Thursday, September 26, 2019 - link
This is an amazing move on Oculus' part. Very consumer friendly, since they are cannibalizing their own Rift sales. It's also great for future proofing the hardware once the SoC is obsolete.Opencg - Thursday, September 26, 2019 - link
It's good for vr. The majority of the problems with the platform stem from low adoption rates. It needs to be made as accessible as posible. And I'm sorry but valves $1k headset doesn't do that.imaheadcase - Friday, September 27, 2019 - link
Oh and not because of the crappy games? lolLewcrative - Friday, September 27, 2019 - link
Yea...good for those who bough the Quest. However it's a bit of a middle finger to consumers like me who bought the Rift S as the PC platform set. Had I known they'd change their mind about being strictly a "stand alone" I would have bought the Quest instead due to its infinitely more convenient wireless system. Instead I have a Rift S for PC with a long ass cable I have to worry about stepping on or getting tangled in which would have been an opportunity cost I was willing to accept, but instead now I feel like I just wasted my money.Lord of the Bored - Friday, September 27, 2019 - link
I've never actually understood why the Rift S exists.Even assuming the standalone headset and PC peripheral headset need to be different devices(which clearly isn't the case), they could save a lot of tooling and development costs by using the same casing and display modules on both devices. There's no reason that the headsets aren't 90% the same.
PeachNCream - Friday, September 27, 2019 - link
If you're getting entertainment value out of it equal to the price of entry, was it a waste? You were an early adopter and VR is still not a mature industry. Things are changing rapidly so cutting edge rapidly becomes yesterday's news. If it still works, just keep using it and try not to worry so much about what might be emerging from Facebook's bowels next.Dug - Saturday, September 28, 2019 - link
Eventually you will be able to get a wireless adapter for Rift S. I wouldn't sweat it. The Quest is extremely uncomfortable and plagued with god rays, which is very annoying. I would much rather have the Rift S lcd's and headband comfort.Valantar - Thursday, September 26, 2019 - link
Can anybody at all point me to a 10Gbps USB-C cable above 2m? I sure haven't seen any. Personally, I don't see being tethered that closely to a desktop pc as very attractive. That optical cable will likely be a good thing when it arrives.imaheadcase - Friday, September 27, 2019 - link
Companies are terrible at estimating length of cables. I remember Nest cameras, you could buy a longer cable online for them, the problem though is the longer cable was longer than specs. lolBloodyBunnySlippers - Thursday, September 26, 2019 - link
I always figured I'd enter VR with seated experiences like flight/space sims. But this sounds potentially awesome. The idea of having a mobile device for friends/family to try out with no cables, but then being able to plug in and also play Elite Dangerous or a Flight Sim with it sounds really nice.bloodgain - Thursday, September 26, 2019 - link
Virtual Desktop had the ability to stream SteamVR games wirelessly, but Oculus made them remove the feature (though I believe it was/(is?) possible to sideload a patched version). To me, that would be the killer feature.Still, it's nice that they're going to support this natively. I've been planning to get a Quest to supplement my Samsung Odyssey+, but with this feature, I might end up selling the Odyssey+, especially after they add hand tracking to the Quest next year.
Cumulus7 - Friday, September 27, 2019 - link
For a wireless experience you can always use the free ALVR.See: https://github.com/JackD83/ALVR/releases
Works just fine - although it includes a bit of lag. So maybe not good enough for BeatSaber but fine for simulations like DCS.
Nibre - Thursday, September 26, 2019 - link
One correction based on what Oculus employees have said elsewhere, the USB-C cable _won't_ be utilizing the VirtualLink AltMode, it just needs to be a high-bandwidth USB 3 connection to your PC.You don't need to plug it into your graphics card USB-C/VirtualLink port (though you probably still could), you just plug it in normally to your on-board USB 3, which can even be with a cable that ends with a Type A connector. Apparently they've made some highly customized compression (on both ends) to make this possible. The custom fiber optic cable they're making is to just optimize the length/weight/throughput of the cable for low-latency VR usage.
Alistair - Thursday, September 26, 2019 - link
If it is compression, usb 3 is actually a lot of bandwidth remember, 60hz bluray is about 100Mb/s and USB 3.0 is 50 times that, so the issue is how do you stream in real time? It's like a Twitch stream at 1440p/72hz, which computers can do that?Guspaz - Friday, September 27, 2019 - link
The bandwidth isn't the problem. The latency is.They'll likely be trying to trade as much of a bandwidth increase as they can get away with in exchange for faster encoding (and thus lower latency).smithg5 - Friday, September 27, 2019 - link
Apparently the limiting factor for bandwidth is the decode limit on the Snapdragon 835 - Carmack said the most they can do is 150mbps. I believe it was stated that this solution only added 2-3 ms of latency, and tracking stability shouldn’t be much different because time warp is still being done in the headset. Carmack also said that because the display is rolling refresh (vs global refresh on the Rift S LCD) that theoretically they could have latency lower than the Rift S.abufrejoval - Friday, September 27, 2019 - link
Modern GPUs have IP blocks for real-time encoding of frame buffer data which sacrifice optimal quality for fixed latency overhead. That was originally designed for VDI, but also works for cloud gaming or local streaming.Tams80 - Thursday, September 26, 2019 - link
Well, that makes it a lot more appealing; something VR desperately needs. I can afford to shell out for one headset, but not really two. If I only have one, that means I won't use VR as much and possibly just abandon it.Now, if only they had made the compute part of the headset modular.
atatassault - Sunday, September 29, 2019 - link
Optical cable from the manufacturer? Will this be the first USB-C / TB3 optical cable?Mugur - Tuesday, October 1, 2019 - link
Judging by the reviewers, no need to throw your Rift S just yet... :-) The image quality is not so crisp and there are some artifacts. Also 72Hz instead of 80Hz (IIRC). So for the same price, get a Rift S if you mostly care for PC VR.WiSHFUL - Monday, October 14, 2019 - link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_eXsAU6RGY