SteamVR version 1.18 brings some fixes for Oculus headset performance, particularly in the way of headset disconnections.
The update is mainly focused on improving the experience of Oculus users when connected to SteamVR, including specific improvements for Link users:
Oculus users will no longer be required to restart SteamVR every time the Oculus runtime needs to reconnect to the HMD. You may still see a slight disruption during reconnection, for example, the Oculus software may prompt you to re-enable Oculus link if appropriate.
The more specific patch notes outline “increased robustness” for Quest 2 error handling and disconnections for both regular wired Link and Air Link.
This is a key fix that will cut downtime significantly for users who disconnect their headset mid-session — instead of having to restart the Oculus software and then close and restart SteamVR, Oculus users should now just be able to pick up where they left off at the point of disconnection. Valve says that “connection loss to the [Quest] is now survivable in many cases.”
These fixes will impact the majority of SteamVR users, given that 60% of SteamVR users are using Facebook headsets as of April this year.
There’s also improvements for OpenXR support, as well as some minor changes for Valve Index support and SteamVR Home. In particular, Valve is encouraging Index users not to play with their controllers plugged in, as it may cause damage to the USB-C connector.
In other recent updates, SteamVR 1.17 allowed users to natively pin windows to controllers, as well as adjust the field of view and world scale with sliders.
You can view the full patch notes for SteamVR 1.18 here.
