By: Nick Gambino
There were a number of tech events on the docket where companies planned to launch or unveil new products that were rightly canceled because of the COVID-19 global “lockdown,” but that’s not stopping these companies from making their announcements online.
Facebook was set to unveil major changes to the Oculus Quest VR console at the Game Developers Showcase, but when they canceled, they decided to move forward and show us what they’ve been working on anyway.
The Oculus Quest UI is getting a massive overhaul that will see a complete redesign, changing how we interact with the system. The idea behind the update is simplicity and flexibility. They want people to easily access the menu and settings with ease.
As it stands, the Oculus Quest menu is pretty cluttered and can be a bit of a pain to navigate. The new universal menu seeks to change that with a “less is more” approach.
“The redesigned universal menu is a personal dashboard that lets you navigate between immersive environments and 2D apps, control your device, and stay connected with people and with your system’s status while in VR,” reads the Oculus blog post that announced the changes. “Our new design organizes information more clearly to help you navigate to commonly-used system apps like Explore, Store, Browser, and TV more quickly, as well as access key settings like brightness and volume.”
For in-game access, they’ve included brand-new immersive overlays that allow you to bring up the universal menu and other content without ever having to leave the app you’re in. This is a big deal and allows for easily switching between apps without having to pop back to the main menu “living room” every time.
Those who like to fiddle with their control settings while in-game will find this new immersive overlay feature will allow them to do that with ease.
Multi-taskers are also getting a leg-up with Oculus Browser now offering support for multiple windows. “Watch a video to crib gameplay tips in one window, check out your friends’ latest Facebook updates in another, and catch up on the day’s news in a third,” the blog post reads.
Facebook is launching these new Oculus Quest UI features throughout March, so look out for that.
