Oculus Go update gives hope for VR-loving Facebook haters

Oculus Get update gives promise for VR-loving Facebook haters

The Oculus Go headset on a table, with a blue wall behind it

(Image credit: Future)

There are plenty of people who would love an Oculus Quest 2 if it weren't for the controversial requirement to link a Facebook account. And for those people, a tweet from Oculus Consulting CTO John Carmack could prove extremely interesting.

Equally spotted by Android Central, Carmack revealed that the Oculus Become — the Oculus Quest's more basic predecessor — will become its own unlocked OS build after official support ends side by side year.

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Every bit Carmack explains, that ways that "a randomly discovered shrink wrapped headset twenty years from at present will be able to update to the final software version, long after over-the-air update servers take been shut downwardly." Yous tin also "repurpose the hardware" to your heart's content.

This opens up the power to repurpose the hardware for more than things today, and means that a randomly discovered shrink wrapped headset 20 years from now volition be able to update to the last software version, long after over-the-air update servers have been shut downward.September 24, 2021

That could pave the fashion, ane twenty-four hours, to a Facebook-gratuitous Oculus Quest experience. Something that, right now, is just available to those willing to pay over the odds for the enterprise version.

Wishful thinking?

It'southward important to note that there are a lot of assumptions and moving parts hither, not least of which is the fact that Facebook isn't mentioned at all in Carmack'due south tweet — although, unsurprisingly, the company crops upwardly a lot in the replies. While the Oculus Go was skillful, it wasn't the smash hit that the Oculus Quest has proved to be, and Facebook may be reluctant to offer similar freedoms to more commercially successful hardware.

Indeed, Carmack noted in a reply that while he hopes "this is a precedent for when headsets go unsupported in the future," it may non exist that simple: "getting all the necessary permissions for this involved And then much more than try that [sic.] you would look."

And even if this precedent is repeated for the Oculus Quest, Quest 2 and (theoretical) Quest three or Quest Pro, a more open Bone build would just kick in after official back up ends. That means that the hardware volition exist pretty long in the molar past the fourth dimension this could plausibly come to pass. Facebook announced that the Oculus Go would no longer be discontinued in June 2020, with back up continuing until 2022. That's a full four years afterwards release, and if the pattern was repeated, that would hateful a theoretical opening upward for Quest and Quest two could be 2023 and 2024 or afterwards respectively. If it even happens.

But, of form, for Carmack, this isn't near liberty from Facebook, it'south about preserving the history of VR in a digital world where cloud-based stores mean that software is oftentimes lost as companies move on to the next big thing, or merely cease trading. "I very much want that world to exist, where the early days of VR are explored as history," he tweeted in the replies.

At the very least, getting a company with as many layers of conclusion makers and bureaucracy as Facebook to sign off on this is a seriously impressive achievement. Even if this only applies to the Oculus Become, Carmack certainly deserves a lot of praise for his role in making this happen.

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Freelance contributor Alan has been writing about tech for over a decade, roofing phones, drones and everything in between. Previously Deputy Editor of tech site Alphr, his words are found all over the spider web and in the occasional magazine too. When non weighing up the pros and cons of the latest smartwatch, you'll probably discover him tackling his ever-growing games excess. Or, more likely, playing Spelunky for the millionth time.