Oculus to begin the merge with Facebook.

[dburne]

I figured eventually  this would come.

Hoping the new Reverb G2 fills the bill for me.

 

Today, we’re announcing some important updates to how people log into Oculus devices, while still keeping their VR profile. Starting in October 2020:

Everyone using an Oculus device for the first time will need to log in with a Facebook account.

If you’re an existing user and already have an Oculus account, you’ll have the option to log in with Facebook and merge your Oculus and Facebook accounts.

If you’re an existing user and choose not to merge your accounts, you can continue using your Oculus account for two years.

https://www.oculus.com/blog/a-single-way-to-log-into-oculus-and-unlock-social-features/

[Drum]

Same, forcing FB on users of an oculus device guarantees that no oculus device will ever be used around here again, shortly...

[Rei-sen]

F@#&ing zuck

 

Although it's not a surprise. Never planned to buy Oculus anyway after fb acquisition.

Edited August 18, 2020 by Arthur-A

[HunDread]

Sorry for the language but F*ck them. Luckily this comes around the time the G2s start getting delivered.

 

I'm happy to get rid of their software ragardless of this fb sh*t down your throat. Everyone is praising the oculus system but a software you cannot select an install destination for and need a 3rd party software to handle basic options like ASW is just a garbage for monkeys.

[firdimigdi]

Looking forward to jailbreaking oculus software.

Of course by 2023 who knows what'll be available.

Edited August 19, 2020 by Firdimigdi

[chiliwili69]

It is a pitty that a company like Oculus ended up in the hands of FB. All their founders left the company for diferent reasons.

This is an important reason for me to stop investing in the Oculus ecosystem. I will probably sell my Quest and cancel my account.

 

In any case, the Rift-S has never been an option for me for IL-2.

 

Who knows if one day FB will abandond the PC line.

[dburne]

12 minutes ago, chiliwili69 said:

It is a pitty that a company like Oculus ended up in the hands of FB. All their founders left the company for diferent reasons.

This is an important reason for me to stop investing in the Oculus ecosystem. I will probably sell my Quest and cancel my account.

 

In any case, the Rift-S has never been an option for me for IL-2.

 

Who knows if one day FB will abandond the PC line.

 

Rift S is fantastic with IL-2, with a good rig allows the sim to be run at full detail and still get good performance with a good image.

However going forward I think Oculus is most focused on mobile and social than anything.

I suspect we will get news on a new Quest shortly, which of course under their new terms would require that FB account.

They got the announcement out of the way now, I am sure they wanted that done before dropping the new Quest news.

 

My guess is an announcement sometime in Sept with deliveries around the first of the year or so. Unless they have done something mind blowing,  I

will be taking a pass on it. Hoping for good things from the Reverb G2.

[SCG_Fenris_Wolf]

I bet you won't be disappointed @dburne

 

I've checked out the current Oculus headset line-up a while ago. I can promise you, that you won't be disappointed, by what this next or even the current generation offers to you in comparison.

[Vortice]

Yeah, it's HP all the way for me in future I think.

 

HP is a company big enough and strong enough to resist the depredations of Facebook and their like and they have a business model based on making and selling PCs and laptops with no involvement in the mobile phone market that I'm aware of.

 

So Facebook can go away whistling if they think they will ever sell a VR device to me again.

[blitze]

Me - I'll stay away from Facebook and anything that requires it.  Glad I am with an enthusiast VR hardware manufacturer even if they have issues with timelines, not like the big players have been great with delivery schedules either (cough Valve, cough).

 

Not sure HP can deliver either but time will tell. 

 

Myself, not far out from taking delivery of an 8KX so that will keep me happy for a few years.  I have to say, the 4.009 Il2 with Nvidia, SteamVR and PiTool developments has things going quite well.  It will be interesting to see what Ampere and Big Navi bring to the table with VR grunt....

[dburne]

9 minutes ago, blitze said:

Me - I'll stay away from Facebook and anything that requires it.  Glad I am with an enthusiast VR hardware manufacturer even if they have issues with timelines, not like the big players have been great with delivery schedules either (cough Valve, cough).

 

Not sure HP can deliver either but time will tell. 

 

Myself, not far out from taking delivery of an 8KX so that will keep me happy for a few years.  I have to say, the 4.009 Il2 with Nvidia, SteamVR and PiTool developments has things going quite well.  It will be interesting to see what Ampere and Big Navi bring to the table with VR grunt....

 

Yeah whilst I may have been tempted to get an updated Quest, this decision with it requiring Facebook I will likely take a pass.

I use Rift S way more than Quest anyway, and hopefully the Reverb G2 I have on pre-order will satisfy me for a while.

[dburne]

And they continue with the merge.

 

Oculus Connect 7 which was slated for later this year, has been announced.

Except now it is called -wait for it --- Facebook Connect 7. They dropped the Oculus name out of it.

To be held virtually on Sept. 16th.

https://uploadvr.com/facebook-connect-2020/

 

My guess: They will be focused on Quest technology with maybe an announcement of a Quest 2, and will be hitting

on their social aspect with Venues and the upcoming Horizon. 

Edited August 25, 2020 by dburne

[chiliwili69]

This is the typical case to study in business schools. How a company acquisition destroys the initial soul of the acquired company.

 

How they can be soo blind!

Alyx (and sims) is the fact which shows that the business is in the PC.

Maybe I am from another age...

[dburne]

8 minutes ago, chiliwili69 said:

This is the typical case to study in business schools. How a company acquisition destroys the initial soul of the acquired company.

 

How they can be soo blind!

Alyx (and sims) is the fact which shows that the business is in the PC.

Maybe I am from another age...

 

Nah, I think they see the business in a much broader scope. And I think that is what they are going after, more the social aspect than others.

I mean I believe I heard 1/3 of the world's population now use Facebook. That is one huge number.

 

The question is, will they also continue to pursue product for the PC-VR enthusiast, especially those like us that tend to favor the

higher end products. I am getting a feeling they are leaving that to others, but who knows. Maybe they will share some of their roadmap at this event.

After all they did add the Link capability to Quest to allow folks to use it as a PC-VR device, so guess they have not totally turned away from it.

Should be interesting.

 

Edited August 25, 2020 by dburne

[TheAmazinGreat]

PC gaming is a niche market. VR is also a niche market. IMO in order for VR to move out of niche, the future is going to be in standalone systems like the quest where they are a “console” or in console connected headsets. Sorry to say but the PC VR boat will rise with the tide rather than drive it. The development will be driven by the aforementioned systems. 

 

Majority of people won’t care about FB/Oculus profile connection. Especially if it’s a quick way to get connected to their friends, they already have it, it makes it easier to get started, etc. 

[chiliwili69]

Probably you would be right. And I am blind.

But how many people of the existing VR users use VR for social media (All these weird apps that Oculus created to socialize)?

I am not sure that connecting profiles will bring more VR users from FaceBook.

I don´t think PC gaming is a niche compared with VR mobile software. Look how big is Steam.

 

Perhaps it is just my frustration on seeing a great company losing the focus in social media and not in creating better VR devices, both for PC and mobile. So we can benefit of it.

[HunDread]

I don't think people in general want social media in VR. It's what fb wants. Then it will tell people how cool it is and how they cannot miss out and how stick-in-the-mud they are if they don't have it. THEN people will want social media in VR. People want what they are told they want.

Edited August 26, 2020 by HunDread

[firdimigdi]

3 hours ago, chiliwili69 said:

But how many people of the existing VR users use VR for social media

Invert that and consider how many social media users exist who have not bought specialized hardware because they do not think they need it. Now add VR-only features to the social media platforms and see how many will buy the VR headset so they are not left out.

[RedKestrel]

2 hours ago, Firdimigdi said:

Invert that and consider how many social media users exist who have not bought specialized hardware because they do not think they need it. Now add VR-only features to the social media platforms and see how many will buy the VR headset so they are not left out.

The main problem with that is that your average social media user is accessing the platform via a smartphone, tablet, or lightweight computer. They're often doing it while doing other things and taking pictures of it while they do.

I mean, I believe that Facebook WANTS to do this. I don't really think Facebook understands their userbase all that well, many corporations don't. Part of that is because people lie about the things they want - or rather, they think they want something but don't. So Facebook's internal focus groups are like "Yeah, VR is cool, I would totally watch videos in VR" when really people are mostly doomscrolling through facebook, arguing endlessly on meme pages about the definition of socialism, or making posts on their own page and thinking its a private message. 

Facebook users are not going to buy VR devices en masse to use facebook. A few 'influencer' type folks will do it and will upload VR pics or videos for their followers...and most people will just get in the habit of scrolling past them (or won't be able to figure out why the video is distorted on their iphone that their grandchildren set up for them). 

 

If Facebook's play is really to try and use their social media platform to get people to buy expensive hardware with a limited use case that is required to be setup and used on a specific room with a  powerful computer...I have some prime lowland to sell them down in Florida that I think they'll be interested in.

Probably the actual play is to get gamers who aren't engaged on social media to get on their platform so they can sell their info to advertisers. Saying  "Middle Aged Dudes with Lots of Disposable Income" to a marketing exec is like waving a ribeye stake in front of a wolf. They'll probably start tracking which games you spend the most time playing, combine that with your browser and posting histories, make a profile of you, and then start advertising anything that looks like it hits the sweet spot for the demographic you seem to be in - anything from political posts that fit your likely profile to cars to more computer hardware.

Or maybe Facebook will make a foray into more gaming stuff. Probably both.

 

[dburne]

26 minutes ago, RedKestrel said:

The main problem with that is that your average social media user is accessing the platform via a smartphone, tablet, or lightweight computer. They're often doing it while doing other things and taking pictures of it while they do.

I mean, I believe that Facebook WANTS to do this. I don't really think Facebook understands their userbase all that well, many corporations don't. Part of that is because people lie about the things they want - or rather, they think they want something but don't. So Facebook's internal focus groups are like "Yeah, VR is cool, I would totally watch videos in VR" when really people are mostly doomscrolling through facebook, arguing endlessly on meme pages about the definition of socialism, or making posts on their own page and thinking its a private message. 

Facebook users are not going to buy VR devices en masse to use facebook. A few 'influencer' type folks will do it and will upload VR pics or videos for their followers...and most people will just get in the habit of scrolling past them (or won't be able to figure out why the video is distorted on their iphone that their grandchildren set up for them). 

 

If Facebook's play is really to try and use their social media platform to get people to buy expensive hardware with a limited use case that is required to be setup and used on a specific room with a  powerful computer...I have some prime lowland to sell them down in Florida that I think they'll be interested in.

Probably the actual play is to get gamers who aren't engaged on social media to get on their platform so they can sell their info to advertisers. Saying  "Middle Aged Dudes with Lots of Disposable Income" to a marketing exec is like waving a ribeye stake in front of a wolf. They'll probably start tracking which games you spend the most time playing, combine that with your browser and posting histories, make a profile of you, and then start advertising anything that looks like it hits the sweet spot for the demographic you seem to be in - anything from political posts that fit your likely profile to cars to more computer hardware.

Or maybe Facebook will make a foray into more gaming stuff. Probably both.

 

 

I think their primary focus with this Facebook thing is to create a new demand for their product from consumers, using their mobile technology at the forefront. Rather than depending on and fighting over the current PC-VR customer base.

I expect we will see further progress in the mobile arena, with size and weight coming down and capabilities going up.

They will probably eventually write their own operating system for the device as well.

 

My personal opinion is this is where they are headed. Remains to be seen whether that aspect pays off for them. Likely the ad revenue they generate will help

offset some of the cost of the device. 

 

PC-VR? That is the big question, what will their focus be going forward for this market? 

I hope that information is revealed at Facebook Connect 7. I would not be surprised though it it was all about Quest and software.

 

As primarily a flight simmer, I am glad I have elected to pre-order the Reverb G2. I just hope it is as solid and reliable as my Rift S.

I am kind of reminded of my initial thoughts when text messaging on a cell phone first got started. I thought it was the craziest idea , and who in the world would rather spend the time typing out and sending a message rather than just talking on the phone.

Boy was I proved wrong on that one.

Edited August 26, 2020 by dburne

[TheAmazinGreat]

Streaming is a big thing now. And Facebook is in the video game streaming market. They have an opportunity to corner the VR streaming market with oculus systems connected to FB. You like watching streams? You can now immerse yourself in the actual game! Or sit in the room with your favorite streamer!

 

Streaming is such an interesting thing too. You don’t have to look at it long to see the “social” aspect of it as awful as it may be. I think it also is technically considered a form of social media at this point with major streamers being the “influencers” of the platform. Why you wouldn’t just play the game yourself is beyond me but I think most of the watchers are in it for more than just the game experience, but that is a completely different thread on the state of humanity. 

[chiliwili69]

35 years ago the streamers where the guys that with one coin they spend hours in the arcades machines. I was just looking them but I always prefered to play the game myself if I had the rare chance to get a coin.

 

Back to topic, I really don´t understand why all Oculus users are forced to be in Facebook if some of them don´t want. It could be an optional thing, but no. They (he) will force you to do things you don´t like. So good bye Oculus.

 

In practical terms, does any body know how to cancel and delete all my data in Oculus? And how to reset the Quest to sell it?

Edited August 27, 2020 by chiliwili69

[dburne]

43 minutes ago, chiliwili69 said:

35 years ago the streamers where the guys that with one coin they spend hours in the arcades machines. I was just looking them but I always prefered to play the game myself if I had the rare chance to get a coin.

 

Back to topic, I really don´t understand why all Oculus users are forced to be in Facebook if some of them don´t want. I could be an optional thing, but no. They (he) will force you to do thing you don´t like. So good bye Oculus.

 

In practical terms, does any body know how to cancel and delete all my data in Oculus? And how to reset the Quest to sell it?

 

There is a way to do a total wipe  on the Quest returning to original factory condition, should be able easily find it with google.

You can delete your games in Oculus and uninstall the Oculus software, but your account stays with you nothing you can really do there.

Doesn't mean it has to reside on your PC though.

[Alonzo]

Facebook haven't been coy about all this. They see VR as the next social platform. They almost missed mobile and had to go on a spending spree. Remember them buying Instagram for a billion dollars, when that was an unheard of amount for a small startup?

 

They think we're going to get to Ready Player One and they want to own the Oasis. I don't know all the steps they envisage along the way, but their strategy is all about mass adoption of VR, which means cheap, lightweight, mobile, high fidelity. PCVR is just a stepping stone.

[Drum]

I use Paypal, so when Google decided they were going to compete with them by creating Gpay and disallow the use of Paypal on Amazon, I closed down my Amazon account and haven't looked back.  It's not that I'm trying to change their bully ways, it's simply I'm not letting them change mine...

Edited August 27, 2020 by Drum

[firdimigdi]

16 hours ago, RedKestrel said:

Facebook users are not going to buy VR devices en masse to use facebook.
[...]
If Facebook's play is really to try and use their social media platform to get people to buy expensive hardware with a limited use case that is required to be setup and used on a specific room with a  powerful computer.

 

No, neither the consumers will buy VR to use facebook nor facebook will push non-mobile VR hardware. Initially I expect facebook will do some vr-only apps/features that will tie in with facebook and aimed to Quest-like standalone devices (it was their biggest VR hardware success even before the Link feature) while eventually transitioning to AR devices at some point when they are cheaper and more practical for the social media usage. Plus AR devices will be used by people outside their houses eventually, thus enabling further data collection which is the actual facebook goldmine.

[ACG_Orb]

[chiliwili69]

Today I have received an email from Oculus stating the following:

 

We're reaching out to let you know about upcoming changes to the Oculus platform. On October 11, 2020, we are updating the Oculus Terms of Service and Privacy Policy to reflect that Facebook Ireland Limited will become responsible for the Oculus platform and your Oculus information, and to provide more detail about how your information is collected, used, and shared. On that date, you will have the choice to continue using your existing Oculus account and remain under the updated Oculus Terms of Service and Privacy Policy, or to use a Facebook account on the platform and agree to new terms. Learn more.

Below is a summary of some of the changes we are making to the Oculus Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. We recommend that you review the updated documents. By continuing to use an Oculus account on the platform after October 11, 2020, you agree to the updated Oculus Terms of Service and acknowledge that the updated Privacy Policy will apply to you.

Here are some of the updates we are making to the Oculus Terms of Service:

·  Facebook’s Role: Oculus has been one of Facebook’s apps and technologies since 2014. Previously, the platform was managed by Facebook Technologies Ireland Limited. With this update, we transfer this responsibility to Facebook Ireland Limited. As a result, the Terms of Service are a contract between you and Facebook Ireland Limited.

·  Other Updates: We also make some revisions for better clarity. For example, we clarify that the governing law for users in the European Union is the law of that user’s Member State, and we provide further detail on how we enforce these terms, such as removing content (including apps and other content offered by third-party developers) that violate any of our terms and policies or infringe on intellectual property rights, and to ensure compliance with our Community Standards.

Here are some of the updates we are making to the Oculus Privacy Policy:

·  Facebook’s Role: We updated the Privacy Policy to reflect that Facebook Ireland Limited is responsible for the Oculus platform and your Oculus information, and to provide more detail about how your information is collected, used, and shared now that Facebook Ireland Limited is responsible for the platform.

·  Oculus Features: We provide you with additional information about certain Oculus features and the information we collect to power them. For example, we explain how we collect information about your physical features and dimensions, such as your estimated hand size when you enable hand tracking. We also explain how we receive information about your Oculus Browser usage, such as the Oculus Browser features you use and crash reporting data.

The Oculus Team

 

I really want to be far from all Facebook ecosystem (I am not in wasap, instagram and the like), basically I don´t need that all for my life.

 

Today I have done two actions:

 

- Reset my Quest and put it on eBay for 370€

- Delete my Oculus account (https://deleteoculus.com/)

 

This is something really sad for me.?

As a VR enthusiast,  I was a backer of the DK1/DK2 and I had a lot of nice paid content from Oculus Store that I just have lost. I remember very well all the first experiences I had with the DK1 and DK2 and finally the Rift, and how I was closely following all the development of Oculus and the VR at the same time. I really don´t understand why we have to be forced into Facebook, it could be just an optional thing.

 

Fortunately there is life beyond Oculus.

 

With all that I have some kind words for the crazy owner of Oculus:

F**K YOU MARK!!

[dburne]

@chiliwili69

 

I assume then you will be a no on the new Quest 2 headset...

 

 

Going to be powered with a new Qualcomm Snapdragon XR2 Processor which is about 100% faster than the Snapdragon of original Quest.

Display nearly 4k. Leaked price of 299 for 64 GB version, and 399 for 256GB version.

 

Going to be a ton of original Quests on Ebay now...

 

Edit: Also 

https://www.facebookblueprint.com/student/catalog/list?category_ids=6107-oculus-demo-experiences

Edited September 14, 2020 by dburne

[dburne]

And another promotional vid where Link is mentioned.

I wonder how Link will run with the new higher resolution.

 

 

[chiliwili69]

3 hours ago, dburne said:

I assume then you will be a no on the new Quest 2 headset...

LOL!

Definetely I am already out of all Oculus offerings.

VR mobile will be always quite inferior to PC VR and I don´t need portability for seated games like IL-2 (and perhaps FS2020). So, not as tragic as it seems to delete Oculus account.

 

In addition to that, the comfort of the Quest was not really good (all battery and processing power has to be there). So the PC VR headset would be always going beyond in weight, comfort, resolution, FOV, ...

 

Hey, but for people who don´t care about Facebook secondary effects it will be a good upgrade over the current quest.

 

 

[Alonzo]

Nice that they're transferring the relationship to Facebook Ireland, where the data privacy rules are weakest and murkiest.

 

Glad I sold mine, but sad that their hardware is still going to be at the cutting edge and therefore attractive in future.

[chiliwili69]

funny video:

https://v.redd.it/m5o9atzxclj51/DASH_720.mp4

[dburne]

1 hour ago, Alonzo said:

Nice that they're transferring the relationship to Facebook Ireland, where the data privacy rules are weakest and murkiest.

 

Glad I sold mine, but sad that their hardware is still going to be at the cutting edge and therefore attractive in future.

 

Yes I imagine their advancements in VR even with this new direction will prove to be very beneficial for the VR industry overall and help grow it way beyond

what we do here.

One thing FB has, is lots and lots of money. And Zuck I think is convinced the social aspect among FB users will help them achieve their goals for VR.

 

 

 

Sounds mighty impressive for what it is.

Edited September 14, 2020 by dburne

[Drum]

De-ja vu,  the Console vs CPU crap all over again with the exception that this time your involuntary servitude to an online media corp. is required.

 

However, if you're already on FB this all becomes a pretty good deal for those wanting/needing a mobile/cheap entertainment solution, albeit a controlled one.

[Lusekofte]

I gave my Rift S to my son. I care less about fb or not. As long as you carry a cellphone and cards you are controlled. FB is in fact just what you do with it.  I was going for reverb 2 , but I find that humid water closet strapped to my face pretty uncomfortable. 
I have lied GB to rest and see if VR will get lighter and cooler. 
like some cool sunglasses. I rather not spend more money on it as is. 
Rift S was adequate for me, I do not need wider fow, not more pixels than my gpu can take. 
MSFS 2020 seem to be good on my pc with dual screen , I might hang on and wait for 40 series gpu and cooler VR

Edited September 15, 2020 by 216th_LuseKofte

[[CPT]Crunch]

https://na.panasonic.com/us/news/panasonic-develops-worlds-first-hdr1-capable-uhd-vr-eyeglasses

This might be for you.

[Lusekofte]

56 minutes ago, [CPT]Crunch said:

https://na.panasonic.com/us/news/panasonic-develops-worlds-first-hdr1-capable-uhd-vr-eyeglasses

This might be for you.

Now we are talking

[firdimigdi]

https://www.reddit.com/r/OculusQuest/comments/japo1j/facebook_account_banned_within_10_minutes/

 

Fun!

Edited October 15, 2020 by Firdimigdi

[messsucher]

11 minutes ago, Firdimigdi said:

https://www.reddit.com/r/OculusQuest/comments/japo1j/facebook_account_banned_within_10_minutes/

 

Fun!

 

Not going to buy that gadget. Really not going to send them a copy of my driver's license, not going to be monitored by Facebook, and not going to give them power to just cancel my ability to use the gadget.

 

Bad terms. My money go elsewhere with better terms.