Meta Community AMA: May 2024 Q&A Thread!

[neurodivrgent]

Here for the May 2024 AMA? Then you’ve made it to the right place! This is the thread where we’ll gather your questions and get the highest voted questions answered by the team.

This month’s guest team hosting the AMA with us is the Link team! This is the team responsible for both the user experience for Link in the HMD, as well as for the Link PC app. For more information check out the May AMA Announcement here and if you’re curious for how our AMAs work check out all about them here.

[Choleni]

The link team......that's great.

My most burning question to you:

Will PC Link ever have anything other than the awful white grid again?

[lukaszdu]

As a developer, I have only one question: When can we get access to the camera? Without it, we cannot read QR codes, we can't take pictures of mixed reality content, we can't detect or track real objects with CV and many more. This is one of the biggest pain points for business applications. 

[StorminLightEyes]

Exactly. If the worry is privacy, just make it so users can accept ot deny that capability rather than not give the capabilities.

[TheJ0rma]

Could we have an option to save the position of displays in link?

[chris.o.yul]

Stereo Video Recording Directly From the Quest 3

Hi Team,

Following the pretty impressive v64 improvements that bring the Quest 3 even closer to the much more expensive spatial computing device, will you consider adding 3D recording and posting from the Quest 3 itself instead of relying on the iPhone?

This would be a game changer, giving every Quest 3 owner the capability to generate 3D content for the ecosystem. I would even bring my Quest 3 while travelling.

[Anyverse]

1. Will we finally be able to use graphics cards that are not in the supported list?

I understand that Meta wants users to know that the graphics card is unsupported, but we should be allowed to continue to use the hardware we have and continue in an unsupported mode with the Oculus PC app.

In this instance we recognise there will be instability and bugs because the graphics card is not yet optimised or validated.

We should be able to continue to use Quest Link or Air Link for PC VR by being able to skip past the disclaimer.

Right now this option is not available and we have to buy Virtual Desktop that does work with unsupported graphics cards. Virtual Desktop demonstrates this could be possible in the Oculus PC application.

This particularly affects recent graphics cards like the 7900 XT and the Arc A770.

2. Will Meta collaborate with Samsung to release a final GearVR update to allow users to Sign in to Oculus Gear VR? Or continue in offline mode with limited functionality?

The sign in process has been broken since the Meta + Oculus account creation / management process was restructured for a year or more. So the login component of the Gear VR app certainly needs updating to reflect the current workflow.

Users are unable to access their library without signing in. A continue without sign in option for basic access to the Universal Menu to launch installed apps is the minimum requirement to prevent the headset being bricked. It avoids useable devices being chucked away.

https://communityforums.atmeta.com/t5/Get-Help/Samsung-Gear-VR/m-p/1190055

3. Will Horizon Worlds become a cross-platform application and come to PC VR and PSVR2?

Facebook is a multi-platform/cross-platform social network, while Horizon Worlds is limited to the Meta Quest. Shouldn't this be a cross platform application across PC VR via Steam VR and Windows Mixed Reality Portal? Or even PSVR2?

4. Will Meta create a WebView wrapper that could be used by Cross-Platform Software Development Frameworks like .NET MAUI and Flutter to take advantage of the unique version of Chromium built into Horizon OS?

The WebView component in the Meta Quest version of Android is unsupported by the popular Microsoft .NET MAUI because of its differences from the basic non-VR version of Chromium. To help developers bring more apps to Quest a reusable WebView API extensions are needed in Horizon OS.

https://communityforums.atmeta.com/t5/PCVR-Development/launch-the-default-browser-with-a-URL-from-a-...

https://github.com/dotnet/maui/issues/21242#issue-2189620284

5. Will we see more accessibility improvements e.g. voice guided navigation and interface interaction / word suggestions while typing using Virtual Keyboard?

6. Can we setup our Meta Quest headsets without pairing both controllers or skip past this step and configure our device with hand tracking instead?

7. Can we have sharper pass through mode like the Meta Quest 3? I haven't seen similar improvements in Meta Quest 2 in v64 update.

8. Can future Horizon devices have expandable storage slots so we can continue installing apps beyond the physical limit?

Users aren't going to change their headsets after they've bought it. They're stuck with the decision of having a smaller capacity headset. Having a high speed memory slot allows us to continue downloading more apps beyond the physically installed memory. It is extremely easy to fill up 128GB when you have SideQuest and a Meta Quest+ Subscription.

9. On future headsets can we have a dedicated return to menu button like the Gear VR which cannot be disabled by the loaded application.

Sometimes the home buttons are remapped to game controls and can be temperamental at exiting the application. Having a dedicated button for a single use case avoids this confusion.

This demonstrates how finicky it can be...

https://communityforums.atmeta.com/t5/Get-Help/Quest-2-Oculus-button-not-bringing-up-the-menu/td-p/9...

10. Battery Saver option not in Meta Quest

V64 Meta Quest does not include an Quick setting action to enable battery saver mode. The advanced power settings list does not include this feature either. This is a basic feature in Android. I was surprised it isn't there.

[camnewnham]

QR codes are critical to use the device in a professional environment. If privacy is the concern... just do what Microsoft did with the HoloLens 2 and expose them through an OpenXR extension. 

[Moriarti4]

All very good questions and ones I would like answered myself, but the issue is none of them is about LINK ! and it's The Link Team that will be answering the questions!! You wouldn't expect a doctor to answer a question about repairing a Tractor would you..?? Your question here is not the only non link related question on this thread! So to you save yourself from banging your head against a wall and moaning that no one answered my questions, just stick to the point of the thread.. LINK! (I don't mean any of this nastily, it's that they will just shut these threads down if not used correctly, then we won't get any answers!!!)  

[Anyverse]

Thank you. Fair point, well made. The first question is regarding Link functionality. I am unable to use my A770 16GB card with a Meta Quest 2 using Oculus PC application for both Oculus Link or Air Link. If that is fixed, I can begin using my Meta Quest for PC VR without Virtual Desktop. I'm not as concerned with the outcome for the other suggestions. They are user experience improvements.