WMR Headsets Get A Second Chance
Microsoft killed off support for their Windows Mixed Reality family of VR headsets (made by Acer, Asus, HP, Lenovo and Dell) in Windows 11 update 24H2. Even before that, the WMR software was rather poor quality.
A developer has recently released Oasis, a free driver for all WMR headsets that bypasses the Microsoft software. It's implemented as a native SteamVR driver.
I tried it with my HP Reverb G2, it works really well. Full headset and controller tracking, audio, everything. The tracking was a little jittery at times, but it was pretty minor, and it's just the first release.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/3824490/Oasis_Driver_for_Windows_Mixed_Reality/
A couple of notes though:
- Nivdia GPUs only. AMD has abandoned their LiquidVR Direct Mode driver and won't fix it to allow Oasis to access the headset.
- It can't use the bluetooth adapter built into the headset, you need to pair controllers with your PC's bluetooth.
I haven't done a long test though. A few years ago I tried for a couple of days to play Euro Truck Sim 2 and Elite Dangerous with the G2. It was horrible, display dropping out, input switching annoyance, audio issues, etc. I gave up and went back to my Rift-S. I'm curious if Oasis is more stable.
Running the SteamVR room calibration after owning a Quest 3 just feels so antiquated. Place the headset on the floor and click with the mouse to calibrate floor height? Urgh.