Outlined in the Oculus Quest release notes for version 16, Facebook indicated that their mobile app will now offer a new prompt for certain kinds of content that allows users to open the content in VR.
The full release notes contain a variety of new features, including an AR-like home experience, but the ‘Open in VR’ option is a significant next step in the increasing social integration of Facebook services with the company’s headsets, particularly the Oculus Quest.
According to the release notes, “When browsing the Facebook app on your phone, you may see an option to “Open in VR” for certain content. Clicking this button will launch that web content on your headset when you put it on.” This feature will presumably only present itself to Facebook users who have linked an Oculus account or device, and not to everyone on Facebook.
Separately, the Oculus Browser recently received support for multi-window browsing on the Oculus Quest. This allows users to have a more traditional browsing experience in VR because they can view multiple windows at once.
In December of last year, Facebook began to require a Facebook login in order to use certain social features, such as party chat and messaging, on the Oculus Quest. They also announced that for Oculus users with a linked Facebook account, their VR data will be used for advertising as well.
Facebook seems to be updating the Quest at a rapid pace with new features added in new versions of the software. We’ll keep you updated with each new addition as it arrives.
