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The most critical thing in this piece: Get a better head-strap! He mentions it in passing in the article, but 90% of the strain from wearing the Quest 2 for ex
by caslon 5y ago
The most critical thing in this piece:
Get a better head-strap! He mentions it in passing in the article, but 90% of the strain from wearing the Quest 2 for extended periods of time can be traced to the garbage default head-strap. You want something that properly balances the headset. If you want, you can even get one that gives you a bit of extra charge, too. There are plenty of options.
Something critical that doesn't seem to be mentioned:
You can manually alter the resolution of Quest apps; if an app is looking blurry it's almost always because it's set to a lower resolution than native. This is a problem with a lot of "productivity" VR apps, and the main reason why I ended up working on my own for a few months.
The standard 90hz is comfortable for me for prolonged periods of time, but if you feel nauseous, you can turn it up to 120hz, though some applications will require manual adjustment.
The Quest 2 is really cheap and offers a lot of different ways to do work; you can pretty much throw it in a bag with a USB-C mouse and keyboard (and splitter, so you could technically also bring along a USB-A mouse and keyboard just fine if you bought a 2A-to-C splitter) or a bluetooth keyboard and mouse combo and you've got a full computing environment anywhere, assuming you set it up beforehand. And if you bring around a laptop or other small form-factor PC while traveling, it works really well to augment those, too.
Literal years ago Palmer Luckey talked about using a Go, a significantly less powerful headset, as a replacement for any monitor setups while traveling with his computer. We're finally at a point where you can do the same on any operating system, and it's honestly a really good experience.
- leovander 5y agoNot sure why he got rid of the picture of it, but he actually put a computer inside his HHKB. I was waiting for him to do a write up. https://palmerluckey.com/oculus-goblack-how-to-make-your-oculus-go-better/ https://palmerluckey.com/oculus-goblack-how-to-make-your-ocu... You can see that on wayback machine. https://web.archive.org/web/20190325121641/http://palmerluckey.com/oculus-goblack-how-to-make-your-oculus-go-better/ https://web.archive.org/web/20190325121641/http://palmerluck...
- caslon 5y agoYeah! I double-checked that post while writing my comment and noticed the picture was gone, myself. I'm guessing it's because he was using the Facebook CDN.
- jcun4128 5y agoWhat was it for? That sounds nuts (not a lot of room)
- caslon 5y agoWhat was it for? So... he could have a computer inside of his keyboard.
- cortesoft 5y agoDo you have any suggestions for a better head strap for the Quest 2?
- caslon 5y agoI talked a little about them in this comment: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28678568 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28678568
- gilbetron 5y agoRecommendations for a strap? We have the Oculus Elite Strap and while better, isn't as comfortable as our Rift S "strap".
- ptom 5y agoHi! OP here - I use a GoQuestVR Halo strap. I'd originally purchased it for my Quest 1, and adapted it to fit the Quest 2. There are several makers of this form factor now, though.
- caslon 5y agoThe Elite Strap has some really awful reliability issues; I'd definitely recommend returning it if you can. If you've got a 3D printer, there's a pretty popular project that allows you to adapt the Vive Deluxe Audio Strap to a Quest 2; I've heard little but glowing praise for it. However, since you mention the Rift S, as far as I'm aware the halo strap(s, there are a lot of different brands pushing pretty much the same thing) the author mentions in the page is pretty much just a clone of the Rift S strap, and I've also heard really good things about it. It's like $20 on AliExpress, so it's probably worth a try, at least.
- 5y ago
- ekianjo 5y ago> The Quest 2 is really cheap But it requires a FB account right? Or is there a way to use it without one?
- caslon 5y agoIt requires an Oculus account. There are ways to get a new one even now that don't require you to make a Facebook account. If you check the subreddit you'll probably be able to figure it out in about ten minutes. I make a habit of not mentioning exactly how to do it here because I don't trust employees of companies on HN to avoid fixing any user-beneficial problem involving their work.
- stronglikedan 5y agoThey say they will eventually force everyone to Facebook. At least, that's what they said when I got mine back in January.
- caslon 5y agoNope, that's not what they were saying. They did say that they'd eventually cut out the store for people on legacy Oculus accounts, but your headset would still be perfectly usable; you'd still be able to load .apks in like you can now, you'd still be able to use it with a computer, and it would still more or less work just fine, as long as you weren't depending on Oculus functionality beforehand. It'd be more like a Wii without Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection. It really won't be that different unless you're dependent on their online services. However, eventually they'll be getting rid of the avenues to make a new account without a Facebook account like they've already slowly been doing. Which is a bad move, but while the avenues are available they might as well be taken.
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- girvo 5y agoIs that still the case as of today? Even the subreddit itself seems convinced its no longer possible to create an Oculus account with a Quest 2 without linking a Facebook account. https://www.reddit.com/r/oculus/comments/k81bg2/oculus_without_facebook/ https://www.reddit.com/r/oculus/comments/k81bg2/oculus_witho...
- stubish 5y ago> Get a better head-strap! He mentions it in passing in the article, but 90% of the strain from wearing the Quest 2 for extended periods of time can be traced to the garbage default head-strap. You want something that properly balances the headset. I'm very curious why I seem to have heard this exact same advice for every single headset on the market. Why does it seem endemic that headsets ship uncomfortable, fixed within days by amateurs with Velcro and tape? Why haven't manufacturers noticed that they are partly responsible for one of the major blocks to wide spread adoption?
- elliottkember 5y agoIt’s all in the box! The standard strap is very foldable and cuts the total size down a lot. Extended wear straps make the kit much larger. I have a Quest 2, with a fancy strap and a standard carry case and they don’t really work together. The simple strap is also easier to adjust.
- MichaelEstes 5y agoThey make money from selling the better head strap, the Quest 2 elite strap is $50 extra.
- Kiro 5y agoFor most people the stock strap is good enough. I spend a lot of time in VR and never even considered replacing the strap.
- wccrawford 5y agoBetter headstraps are bigger, bulkier, and more expensive. In a market that competes on price, it's most efficient to have the basic version in the box and then charge for upgrades. Plus, this also allows you to grow your market share by not excluding people that can't quite afford the better version of the headset.
- ptom 5y agoI think the Vive Focus 3 has learned this lesson, and ships with what looks to be a very serviceable strap.
- 5y ago
- redisman 5y agoIt sounds like you’re describing the Quest 2 as a full computing device. I thought it was pretty much a replacement for just a monitor in a traditional setup.
- snailmailman 5y agoThe quest two is basically an android phone with special hardware/software for VR. It’s running android. It can be used completely standalone. It can be hooked up to a more powerful PC and essentially just used as a monitor, but it can also run less demanding titles natively with no additional hardware. It has a web browser built in and you can connect a Bluetooth keyboard to it. So you can do some stuff without a laptop/pc. There’s a good library of native games but if you wanted to make a PowerPoint or do office/work you’d likely be using a web app (or just connecting to a pc)
- jmiskovic 5y agoYou can also install (sideload) Termux for a decent standalone Linux experience - vim, git, python, ssh...
- caslon 5y agoThe Quest 2 has enough performance to run Citra (a recent Switch emulator) without any slowdowns; you can install just about any .apk on it, and if you want you can literally run Docker. It works pretty much okay for just about any actual computing task you can throw at it.
- caslon 5y agoSmall correction that I only realized a minute ago (past the edit window): Citra isn't a Switch emulator, if I recall correctly.
- dorkwood 5y agoFor me the worst thing about the Quest 2 is the lack of adjustable eye-width options. The original Quest had an adjustable dial, but they replaced it with I think 2 or maybe 3 different widths to choose from. Because of this, my experience is way more uncomfortable than the first Quest, since none of the settings match my eyes.
- caslon 5y agoYeah, that's actually a problem that Palmer mentioned years ago with the Go. It hasn't gotten better since these things hit mass-market.
- anonred 5y agoIt’s not well known, but the Quest 2 firmware does support intermediate IPD settings, so it’s straightforward to 3D print an adapter for the lenses: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4627924 https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4627924 https://www.reddit.com/r/OculusQuest/comments/jeie0q/your_ipd_between_quest_2_settings_lock_it_in_with/ https://www.reddit.com/r/OculusQuest/comments/jeie0q/your_ip...
- bottled_poe 5y agoIs it really that surprising that spending 25% of your life with 35% extra weight at the top of your head is going to affect your neck? I’m not convinced that a different strap is going to make a significant difference.
- Armisael16 5y agoThe weight matters a little, but people having been wearing helmets at work for millennia. The bigger problem is that the weight isn’t balanced - the front is heavier than the back.
- bottled_poe 5y agoHow does a different strap shift the weight balance? Is there some magic?