Your gateway to better sleep with your Meta Quest

Greetings, AR enthusiasts.

Quest now helps better with your sleep, while its PC app receives a much needed refresh.

In other news, Samsung could be looking to enter the AR market by 2028, and Quest headsets were not spared by Meta’s outage problems.

In today’s Phantom Thread, we will look at:

• Sleeping with VR is now more natural on your Quest headset

• Quest Link gets a 120Hz update

• Samsung could enter the ring against the Vision Pro by 2027

• The Meta outage did not spare Quest headsets

• Installing SideQuest is now quicker than ever before

• 3 New AR Tools

WEEKLY THREADS

^META
Sleeping with VR is now more natural on your Quest headset

The weave: The newest software update for Quest has added an experimental setting that lets you use the headset while lying down.

The strands:

• The Quest v63 update brought the feature to Quest 2 and Quest Pro, and it is currently not available on the Quest 3.

• The setting, called ‘Use apps while lying down’, recentering with your controller while looking up will rotate the headset display by 90 degrees upwards.

• This feature is currently not available for everyone, and you might need to wait for it to roll out to your headset as well. 

The fabric: There have been a lot of people who use VR experiences to go to sleep, and this new setting is a godsend for them. But even if you aren’t one of them, you can turn this on to use the headset even if you are simply lying down.

^META
Quest Link gets a 120Hz update

The weave: The Quest Link PC software, which has long been left neglected, just got a breath of fresh air with a new update. The new version brings 120Hz refresh rate support, better battery life while using AirLink and support for Nvidia 40 series GPUs.

The strands:

• The Quest Link app was earlier stuck to 90Hz, so the 120Hz update will make things a whole lot smoother while in VR.

• The update also brings support for 40 series GPUs from Nvidia. Earlier the app showed a blue compatibility screen when you tried to use the app with a 40 series GPU.

• AirLink is also usable now, and it doesn’t eat up your headset’s battery like it used to.

The fabric: This shows that Meta hasn’t completely given up on the app, and a complete overhaul of the app could soon be on the horizon. Valve already does this pretty well with Steam Link and integrates with your Quest headset, but this is the first time we’re seeing the integration from Meta.

^SAMSUNG
Samsung could enter the ring against the Vision Pro by 2027

The weave: Samsung currently has an microOLED display in development that industry insiders speculate is for a Vision Pro competitor.

The strands:

• Sony is the only other manufacturer for microOLED display at the moment, which is what Apple’s Vision Pro uses.

• Samsung is looking at entering the AR market, but it is unclear whether they are going to have their own  AR headset, or decide to supply just the displays.

• Their vision is one for the future, with their planned entry only really happening in 2027 or 2028.

The fabric: Samsung entering the AR market in any form, be it with their own headset or as a component manufacturer, is great for the industry. Newer AR hardware teams will now have access to cutting edge displays from Samsung, and you as an end user will have more choice in the market.

^META
The Meta outage did not spare Quest headsets

The weave: The widely publicized outage of Meta services last week wasn’t just limited to Instagram, Facebook and Threads. People had also reported that the online features of their Quest headsets also didn’t work.

The strands:

• Although this shutdown lasted only an hour, reports of people not being able to even launch their apps on the headsets were being made.

• Meta’s VP of VR needed to come in to assure everyone that the issue was temporary.

• The headsets didn’t go down because it needed to stay connected to Meta’s servers (They don’t need to stay connected).

The fabric: What really happened was that when Meta services went down, it logged everyone out of their Meta accounts. If you had tried launching an app during the downtime, you would have been taken to a Meta account login page, which would have been inaccessible because of said outage. Services were restored in an hour, so if you were affected, try checking back now.

^{AR TUTORIAL}
Installing SideQuest is now quicker than ever before

The weave: A recent update to how SideQuest works means that you no longer need to jump through the hoops of downloading and installing two separate apps on your headset and your PC. This means the install process has changed..

Here’s our step-by-step guide:

1. Connect your headset to your PC and log in to your Meta developer account.

2. Enable Debug mode under Developer settings in the Meta Quest app.

3. Go to SideQuest’s website and click Select Device to select your headset.

4. The app will automatically be installed to the headset using the web installer.

WEEKLY AR TOOL ROUNDUP

Featured AR tools:

• Bezi - A spatial canvas app that lets you collaborate with anyone around the world on your next 3D art piece.

• Vuforia - An AR SDK specifically designed for mobile devices to create AR experiences.

• CamPlan - The fastest way to create floor plans through AR. Now powered by GPT!

FLASH FRAMES

Scientists at the University of North Carolina are currently developing an AR headset that could help Parkinson’s patients with their physical therapy.

Apple wants developers to avoid AR and VR in their app descriptions and instead use spatial computing instead.

The first update for VisionOS is currently available for download, and it improves Personas, Mac Virtual displays and other features.

Popular VR streaming service PlutoSphere is shutting down as Meta bans VR streaming on Quest Store and the App Lab.

THAT’S ALL FOR THE WEEK