The Forest Vr Oculus Quest 2

One of the best features of the Oculus Quest and Quest 2 is that they can exist manually linked via USB to your gaming PC so you can play more demanding VR games that couldn't otherwise be run natively on the headsets. That's great if you desire a way to play games like Half-Life: Alyx , but the obvious downside is that you're now physically tethered to a PC — and so much for the wireless freedom that the Quest platform advertises.

Since so, the developers at Virtual Desktop — and, more recently, Oculus itself — have both figured out how to stream the visual feed from your PC to your VR headset while quickly syncing all of your movements over Wi-Fi. Either choice will give yous the best of both worlds: letting you play the games you want without existence fastened by a cable to your computer.

Oculus' method, which is chosen Air Link, now comes every bit a complimentary characteristic with the headset (if you're running v28 software), while using Virtual Desktop requires a $twenty app. There are benefits to both options, so we're going to walk you lot through setting upward each of them.

Upwardly first is Oculus Air Link.

Installing and enabling Oculus Air Link

In belatedly April 2021, Oculus released the v28 software containing Air Link, a feature that enables wireless PC streaming. To check if your Quest is running the right software:

• Click the gear icon forth the bottom section of the headset's screen to access the system settings
• Scroll all the way down to bottom to find the "About" section and click that. Once y'all're there, make certain that the version number is 28 or to a higher place.

Now, you demand to enable the feature within the Oculus app on your PC. Beginning off, make sure that app is updated to v28, like the headset.

• Click "Settings" on the left-side navigation console.
• Get to the "General" tab and scroll all the way down to see the version number.

• Within the settings card on the Oculus PC app, click the "Beta" tab. That's where you should find Air Link, at least until it exits beta.
• Toggle the switch to turn on Air Link. This FAQ on the Oculus site should show the most upward-to-date info for these steps.

Open settings, go to the beta tab, then toggle Air Link on.

Switch Air Link on within your Quest headset

Now that your software is updated and the feature has been turned on at your host PC, you lot tin enable it within the headset. To practice this:

• Put the headset back on and reopen the system settings.
• Find "Experimental Features." Air Link will exist nestled within that menu (at least for as long as Oculus considers it to be an experiment). Tap the toggle switch to activate it.

Actuate Air Link to play a game

The Oculus app for PC must remain open for your headset to connect to it over Wi-Fi.

• Physically position yourself within line of sight (or every bit close as possible) of your Wi-Fi router to become the best possible experience. Then put your headset back on and click again into its system settings.
• The first option on the left-manus side of the menu will say "Quick Deportment." Click that.
• You should run into a large button for Air Link on the correct side of this carte du jour pane. Click on it.
• After you click on Air Link, the adjacent prompt will enquire you to pick from a list of devices to connect to. Find your computer, and once y'all've successfully continued, you lot'll be pushed into Oculus' desktop interface, which looks a bit unlike than the Quest interface.

If you need to make quick adjustments to Air Link's bit rate to optimize performance (or if you desire to quit using Air Link and return to the Quest interface), the left-most option at the bottom of your field of view will pull up a carte (shown below) that lets you exercise either.

Here'southward what the Air Link bill of fare looks like within the Oculus Abode interface for PC.

Alternatively, buy the Virtual Desktop app for Quest

The Virtual Desktop app also lets you lot access your PC through the lens of a Quest VR headset. You can use it for games, like we'll be doing here, just you can also picket movies you accept stored on your PC in a diverseness of different virtual environments, or simply browse the internet. There's a Quest-specific version of the app that yous tin can purchase hither for $20. (Make sure it says that information technology's uniform with Quest underneath the purchase push.)

Compared to using Air Link, Virtual Desktop doesn't accept y'all completely out of the Quest interface. Y'all can still hit the Oculus push on the right Touch controller to see the Quest universal menu. However, it allows for far more than fine-tuning than Air Link currently does. You can conform myriad settings to detect the perfect performance for your setup, and it even has some extra tweaks, similar letting you choose the kind of virtual environment the app will boot into. There'south an flat, a computer room, an auditorium, and the vast area of deep space, to name a few examples.

Become Virtual Desktop if you really want to accept a custom experience, or every bit an alternative if Air Link doesn't work all that well for y'all.

Virtual Desktop running on the Quest 2.

Download Virtual Desktop Streamer

There's yet one more application to download for your PC: Virtual Desktop Streamer. It's free, and made past the aforementioned folks who made the Virtual Desktop app yous purchased on the Quest or Quest 2. This app is necessary for streaming PC content to your headset via Wi-Fi.

• Once this app is downloaded and installed, you lot'll demand to input your Oculus username in the Streamer window
• If y'all don't know it off the tiptop of your head, yous tin can observe it past opening the Oculus app on mobile, navigating to "Settings," and so borer on the surface area that shows your name and email accost. The name that will display side by side to your avatar is your username.

Having a hard time finding your Oculus username? Tap on your full proper name in the Settings menu to see this view pictured above.

• After that'south entered, striking "Save"
• That's the last step! But recall that it'due south crucial to have the Virtual Desktop Streamer app open in lodge for your headset to communicate with your PC.

Here'south what the Virtual Desktop Streamer app looks similar. Information technology'south very elementary.

Open up Virtual Desktop on your Quest headset

You should see your PC pop up in the list of available devices to connect to from within the Virtual Desktop app on your Quest or Quest 2.

Once y'all've continued, the Options button (the left Touch controller'southward equivalent of the Oculus push) is mapped to open the tiptop-level menu for Virtual Desktop, as shown in the image beneath. From there, clicking "Games" will reveal every game that'due south installed on your PC. Yous tin can simply boot each one from in that location, and your PC will handle all of the difficult piece of work of opening the necessary apps.

All of the VR-ready games installed on your PC will evidence up within Virtual Desktop.

If y'all aren't happy with the visual fidelity within each game, you lot're free to customize some settings that affect latency, refresh rate, and more. Note that you'll likely go a clearer, more than fluid image if your PC is powerful. Your wireless router plays a huge part in delivering a smoothen feel, as well.

Streaming VR over Wi-Fi certainly isn't a perfect solution. I play just a few anxiety away from a Wi-Fi 6-ready router that'south wired straight to my PC via an ethernet switch, nevertheless I all the same experience the occasional spot of lag and slightly fuzzy paradigm. Though with enough tweaking on the Virtual Desktop app (turning Wi-Fi off on seldom-used tech items never hurts), I think you'll have a good fourth dimension.

Update April 30th, 9:16AM ET: Updated this mail with the steps involved for setting up Air Link for Oculus Quest and Quest 2.

Correction: The original article erroneously suggested that internet speed played a role in your power to employ this wireless solution to play your VR games. Information technology's all handled locally. As well, due to a malfunctioning USB-C port on the author's PC, they erroneously stated that the USB-C cable included with each Quest 2 couldn't be used to complete this how-to. A reader pointed out that it will work, and the writer confirmed it past using the cable with an OTG adapter. We regret these errors.

Source: https://www.theverge.com/22218827/oculus-quest-2-wireless-pc-vr-games-how-to

Share this post