The future of cloud gaming in VR looks bright!
Meta Connect, the yearly showcase that Meta (the company behind Facebook and the Meta Quest VR headsets) hosts, took place last month. During that time, they talked about the newly announced Quest 3S, which is a light version of the Quest 3. They also talked about new AI features coming to the Meta Ray-Ban smart glasses and finally introduced an early prototype of their augmented reality glasses. They also casually introduced a new app called Hyperscape, which became available the same day. But, it’s so much more than what they make it look like. Let me explain why…
What is Hyperscape?
This is a pretty easy application to explain. You can visit the workstations of very popular crafters and walk around their offices. You’ll get little dots that you can click that will explain some details of their art in their room. You’ll also get interesting information about their tools and other sections of their space. It’s very realistic and feels like you’re actually visiting these places, almost like a virtual museum. There are currently 6 places that you can visit at the moment.
OK. So that’s interesting, but why am I talking about this? Something surprising happened when I first started the app. I got a message saying “Checking Internet Connection,” followed by another message about my internet speed and how it would affect the app’s performance. I was surprised by these messages and quickly realized I was experiencing something new in VR! On top of that, if we look at the package name, we see it is named “com.oculus.paracosmaavalanche”, which is clearly a Project Avalanche reference!
What we know about Project Avalanche so far?
For those who don’t know, Project Avalanche is what Meta is calling their work to provide access to Quest games and apps via streaming from the cloud. This has been known for a few years now, but the thing is that this has never been publicly revealed. It has been accidentally leaked a few times. The last time we heard about it was back in June when a French outlet found a way to activate it through the experimental feature on the Quest.
When activated, they saw the title “Lone Echo,” a game only available on PCVR and not playable on the standalone headset. Unfortunately, they were not able to launch the title to see if it worked. But, the fact that we are seeing this is very exciting! Imagine being able to play PCVR quality titles without the need of a PC. I personally can’t wait for this day to come!
So what’s next for VR cloud gaming?
Well, that’s all we know for now. With the launch of their first cloud experience, Hyperscape, it means we now have a cloud-based VR title available publicly. This may be Meta’s way of experimenting, gathering feedback, and finding ways to improve the experience. I am super excited to see if Meta will go full on towards cloud gaming. It would be amazing for access to more powerful games, increased battery life, and reduced storage usage on the headset. So, keep a lookout! We’ll make sure at CloudDosage to bring out the latest news of anything happening in the VR cloud. I bet that we’ll definitely see other new tech. next year.
For those who don’t know me, I was really into cloud gaming with Google Stadia until it shut down. I still play GeForce NOW occasionally, as I truly believe cloud gaming is an excellent way to experience this hobby. I also really love Virtual Reality and I can’t wait for them to nail down cloud gaming. I’ve just joined Cloud Dosage’s team and I’ll be dedicating my articles towards cloud gaming in VR. So stick around with me if this is an interesting subject to you!
