Facebook has lifted the veil on a new Oculus Quest 2 app that enables professionals to create a virtual meeting room.
The app called Horizon Workrooms is intended to enable colleagues to work together through the power of virtual reality (VR) and to give Oculus Quest 2 owners the opportunity to work on documents together, to collect ideas or just to socialize.
Facebook says that Horizon Workrooms works through both VR and the web and is designed to improve a team’s ability to collaborate, communicate and connect remotely without typical office space.
The app will bring together features like mixed reality desk and keyboard tracking – the kind we recently tested – hand tracking, remote desktop streaming, video conferencing integration, spatial audio, and brand new Oculus avatars. You can see it all in action via the video below.
It’s the first time these technologies are being brought together in a way that creates a different kind of productivity experience, says Facebook, and it could mark a turning point in the practical applications of mixed reality technology.
The app will soon launch in beta, with instructions on how to sign up on the Oculus official website, although it will be free to download to all Oculus Quest 2 owners worldwide after the official release.
Analysis: Practical Reality
Just a few weeks ago, Facebook added a new feature to the Oculus Quest 2 devices that allows developers to create augmented reality (AR) experiences using the headset’s camera.
Given that Quest 2 is essentially a game console, it’s not surprising that the most immediate application of this technology is in the gaming arena. Developers have not only used the platform – called Passthrough API Experimental – to create entirely new mixed reality experiences, but some have also ported existing VR games to AR.
However, the introduction of Horizon Workrooms by Facebook seems to bring this mixed reality experience beyond gaming into the professional work environment.
Given the need to work from home in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, the app could give employees unable to go to offices the space they need to perform tasks in more collaborative – if not entirely traditional – ways. Way to do it.
At least that’s the theory. It’s hard to imagine dozens of pros around town picking up a Quest 2 headset only to high-five their peers’ avatar, but the promise of a hybrid approach – which results in the app between Web and VR Platforms Works – Should Make Sure Facebook’s Latest Cool Idea Reaches The Audiences It Deserves.
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