Oculus Quest 2 is one of the best headsets for first time VR users, bringing many new users into VR for the first time. Here are seven tips you should know right away to improve your experience.
Updated – February 5, 2021
1. Activate Passthrough Background & Passthrough Shortcut
“Passthrough” is when you are using the Quest 2 cameras to look outside of the headset. You saw this when you first set up the device. And while it may seem novel at first glance if your “virtual home” is a sci-fi apartment or a fantasy landscape, I can tell you now that using the pass-through view as a background makes using the headset a lot easier.
That’s because you can put the headset on first and then easily see where you want your controllers to pick them up, rather than fiddling around blindly. This is also much nicer than putting on your headset while the controllers dangle from their straps on your wrists.
When you return to your home location, you can also see your relative position within your margin of travel so you can return to the center in case you wandered to the edge (don’t be the next person to post a picture of the TV that you are during a VR boxing game).
And if you want a quick peek outside of your headset, there is no need to take it off. With Passthrough Short enabled, you can double-tap your headset to instantly toggle Passthrough View on and off to see who’s calling your name or where to put your controllers down before removing the headset. Here’s how:
Enable the passthrough background
- Go to the Quest menu on your headset by pressing the Oculus button on your right controller. Find the Settings section (gear icon).
- Select the “Virtual Environment” option in the “Settings” area on the left.
- Now select “Passthrough” as an option for your virtual environment
Enable the passthrough link
- Go to the Quest menu on your headset by pressing the Oculus button on your right controller. Find the Settings section (gear icon).
- In the Settings section on the left, select Experimental Features.
- Now scroll until you find ‘Passthrough Shortcut’ and toggle the switch
When you return to your virtual home, you will find that all you have to do is stand in your room with the quest menus floating in front of you. If you can’t see the outside world, double-tap the side of your headset with your hand or the controller to see the real world right away. Double tap again to return to VR.
2. Use voice commands to navigate Quest 2 and launch apps
Voice commands in Quest 2 are often the fastest and easiest way to navigate your headset menus and start games. Instead of going through the app list, you can ask your headset to “start Beat Saber”. Instead of browsing the settings menu, you can ask if you want to show me the Guardian settings. And instead of looking for a new game by typing its name in the search bar, you can say “Find The Walking Dead”. Here’s how:
- Go to the Quest menu on your headset by pressing the Oculus button on your right controller. Find the Settings section (gear icon).
- In the Quick Actions section, click the circular voice command icon to the right of the microphone (see the photo below for the icon).
This will start the voice command setup and teach you what to say. When setup is complete, just double-tap the Oculus button on your right controller to trigger the headset to listen, then ask!
3. Record, stream, or broadcast your VR gameplay on Quest 2
With something as cool as VR, it’s natural to want to share the experience. Fortunately, there are many sharing options built into Quest 2. You can record videos of your gameplay, take screenshots, broadcast a video to your phone or TV, or even stream it to viewers online. Here’s how:
- Go to the Quest menu on your headset by pressing the Oculus button on your right controller. Find the Divide section (three points connected by a line symbol).
- At the top of the “Share” menu, you can now choose between “Record Video”, “Take Photo”, “Go Live” and “Cast”.
You can even use the voice commands (which we shared in Tip 3) to say “record a video,” “take screenshot,” “occupy” or “stream” to quickly perform any of these actions while playing the game.
Casting allows you to stream videos of your experience to local devices. You can transfer to your smartphone using the Oculus smartphone app. You can also broadcast to any compatible device on your network, e.g. B. on a TV with Chromecast.
Go Live allows you to stream your Quest 2 experience to the internet, but unfortunately you can only stream on Facebook.
Recorded videos and photos are saved in the headset. It can be accessed by clicking the “View All” button on the “Share” menu. You can also connect Quest 2 to a computer to download videos and screenshots for editing and sharing.
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