Oculus Quest SDK Reveals Colocation API Is In Development

Code found by VR developers in the Oculus Unity Integration reveals Facebook is working on a shared-space “colocation” API for Oculus Quest.

The code was first spotted by developers at Bentham Realities a few weeks ago while working on their upcoming title Hermetika VR. Yesterday, the same code was separately spotted by Gerald McAlister from RGB Schemes, a startup working on VR games & tools.

UploadVR searched through past versions of the Platform SDK and determined that these additions were made in version 1.40.0, which shipped in August 2019.

Colocation means having multiple Oculus Quests sharing the same playspace. Facebook showed off an “arena scale” prototype of this at Oculus Connect 5 in late 2018, but no further development has been shown since then.

Based on the description of the technology at the time of the OC5 demo, it likely works similarly to the colocation features already present in Apple’s ARKit and Google’s ARCore. Inside-out tracking generates a useful byproduct- a point cloud of static features in the room. Machine learning algorithms can find shared unique patterns in the point clouds of multiple devices and thus align the virtual spaces. The process requires no external sensors, base stations, or specific markers.

At home, colocation could be used to build “frictionless” local multiplayer VR experiences. Ideally, if two members of a household each own an Oculus Quest, developers could allow them to quickly enter a LAN same-space multiplayer session.

For location-based VR experiences that take place over a large space already like at a VR arcade, a colocation API for Quest could bring down the cost significantly. Today, each user typically needs a backpack PC as well as a headset, and an expensive external tracking system is often used to track the weapons/tools.

Facebook sells Quest to businesses for $1000 per headset (including business warranty & support), whereas a backpack PC alone costs around $3000. An OptiTrack setup for these locations requires tens of thousands of dollars of cameras too.

The spotted colocation code is part of the Oculus Platform SDK component of the Oculus Unity Integration. The Platform SDK gives developers access to features which leverage the Oculus store and servers. This includes leaderboards, achievements, cloud storage, matchmaking, and more. On Quest, Platform SDK features are only available to developers who have passed Facebook’s pitch submission process.

That could indicate that colocation will only be available to select developers. However, Facebook could ship a local testing version to spur innovation from the community — much like with controller-free hand tracking.

Of course, working on a feature is never a guarantee that the feature will ship. While it’s fairly likely Facebook will eventually ship a colocation feature, it may be delayed by current events or never ship at all.

What kind of games would you want to play in a shared playspace? Let us know in the comments below.

The post Oculus Quest SDK Reveals Colocation API Is In Development appeared first on UploadVR.

By: David Heaney
Title: Oculus Quest SDK Reveals Colocation API Is In Development
Sourced From: uploadvr.com/oculus-quest-colocation-api-development/
Published Date: Tue, 14 Apr 2020 23:38:08 +0000