What you need to know
- Players can now mark where a single couch exists in their physical space, which will create a virtual representation of that couch in Oculus Home.
- Players can use the couch as an easy way to switch between standing and seated VR experiences.
- Oculus has also made some quality and reliability improvements to the pinch gesture for selecting items when using hand tracking.
Are you a VR gamer that likes to make the most of your space? Roomscale VR is a thing of beauty, but sometimes it's just easier to play those longer VR games while taking a seat. While it wasn't an arduous process to switch between standing and seated VR in the past, it definitely required a few extra clicks. Now, all you'll have to do is sit down on your couch, thanks to firmware v26 for the Oculus Quest and Oculus Quest 2.
As you can see in the image above, a blue rectangle hovers over the top of my very own couch, denoting its existence in actual space. Below is the virtual representation of said couch, making it simple for me to meander over while in my Oculus Home and take a rest, all without having to take my Oculus Quest 2 off. Best yet, sitting on the couch in VR will automatically switch to a seated VR experience. That means any app or game you're in will also switch right over to the seated experience, making it a lot easier to simply rest your legs without messing with your gaming.
To add a couch to your Oculus Home, make sure you've got the latest firmware update — version 26, to be exact — and open your Oculus Universal menu by pressing the home button on the right controller. Click on that settings wheel on the rightmost side, select Experimental features on the left menu, and click the Add / Remove button next to Bring Your Couch into VR. The Quest will automatically switch to the passthrough cameras so you can see the room around you, and you'll just click and drag a rectangle over your seated area. Boom! Now your couch is in VR. So far, it appears you can only add a single couch, so pick the one you prefer to sit on (if you have multiples) and mark away.
Firmware v26 is probably the smallest update in recent memory, as most Oculus firmware updates add a significant number of features. Bring Your Couch is the only major feature in this update, and the only other noted addition are some quality improvements made to the pinch gesture for hand-tracking. At least during the couch setup process, I noticed the pinch gesture was far more reliable than in previous firmware versions, so that's definitely a good sign.
Little effort, big pay off
You won't need a PC or a console to play on the Oculus Quest 2, which makes this the easiest way to play in VR.
