My predictions for the Facebook Connect

Tomorrow is the big day of the Oculus Connect 7, which has now been sadly rebranded as Facebook Connect. Every year, Oculus has always made astonishing announcements during this yearly event, and we are sure that this year will be no exception to this rule. But what can we expect from it?

Let me make some predictions and play the guessing game. I’m very talented at it: last year, I predicted that Oculus would have never released a cable to connect the Quest to the PC and the day after, the Oculus Link was announced.

So prepare yourself for a bunch of predictions about things that will never happen!

Oculus Quest 2

Actually the guessing game is quite easy this year. Facebook has already (accidentally?) leaked most of the promotional videos of the Oculus Quest 2, so we already know a lot about this device. It is an impressive evolution over the Quest 1, featuring a Qualcomm Snapdragon XR2 chipset, 6GB RAM and a 2K-per-eye display. Not to mention the improved ergonomics. If you are wondering how much this is better than the Quest 1, let me say you A LOT. When I reviewed the Pico Neo 2 Eye, I was astonished by its 4K panel, it was night and day with regard to the Quest. The Quest 2 mounts exactly the same type of display, and so we can expect crisp visuals, powered by the XR2 chipset, that comes 3 generations after the Snapdragon 835 that ships with a Quest.

The device has been rumored to cost $299 for the 64GB version and $399 for the 256GB version. If the price will be confirmed, and it is a big IF, Oculus is going to wipe away completely the competition, with a device that is sold severely under cost that will bring profit with exclusive titles (Beat Saber) and data (Facebook Login). The price is the news that we are all expecting from tomorrow’s event, and honestly, I expect it to be in line with the one of the rumors.

Regarding the release date, I’m quite optimistic. Today on Upload VR I’ve seen that the box of the device has already been leaked, so I think we can expect a launch of the preorders starting from tomorrow and a release before the holidays, when Facebook plans to sell a lot of devices.

Expect lots of videos and news about the Quest 2, and also some videos made in collaboration with tech influencers like UrAverageGuy and Canoopsy.

Wireless Link

The promotional videos leaked on the Quest 2 still operate with a USB cable for the Link, but I’m sure that Oculus is cooking something wireless, with a dedicated dongle to offer a high-throughput low-latency wi-fi. I’m not sure it will be released tomorrow (most probably NO), but I’m more certain we’ll hear something about it, at least from Carmack, if not from the commercial guys. The Quest is based on the XR2 reference device that already supports Wi-fi 6, so local streaming may become possible. But we’re not sure that Wi-fi 6 compatibility has been added to the device, also because it could raise the costs of the total package. We’ll see tomorrow… For sure the release of the Wireless Link would be the final nail in the coffin for the Rift S, so they have to choose the timing of the release very wisely.

Better Facebook Guardian

In the proposed video, the Guardian system and the passthrough AR of the Quest 2 seemed the same of the ones of the Quest 1 (only with better resolution). I think this is going to change: the passthrough is going to be further improved, and especially the Guardian will be evolved so that to recognize people entering in our play space, identify objects around us, and couches we can sit on to have 3dof experiences. This will be powered by the AI features of the XR2 chipset, which are 11x more powerful than the ones of the Quest. I don’t expect the new Guardian to be released tomorrow, but to be announced tomorrow and released in some months.

Hands tracking with controllers

Ok, this one will most probably be a complete miss, but let me try anyway. The “Oculus Del Mar” (that is the codename of the Quest 2) features “Oculus Jedi” controllers (the ones of the Quest 2) according to a previous leak. The leak seemed to point to full 5 fingers tracking controllers, but the leaked controllers are too similar to the one of the CV1 and Quest to implement it. So I predict that Facebook will merge the output of hands tracking and controllers tracking to give you all better fingers tracking in VR without having to implement complex controllers like the Valve Knuckles.

Facebook Horizon

Another easy win is the prediction of the launch of an open beta of Facebook Horizon, Facebook’s metaverse. The new Quest has already Horizon written on its box, so it is going to be launched soon. I already imagine the “defy distance” sentence being repeated 1000 times during this presentation.

What I think will also happen is that all the Oculus ecosystem will become Horizon-ized. A metaverse has little sense if it is not integrated with all the rest of the Quest ecosystem. So I think that all Oculus avatars will become like the avatars in Horizon and that all the main Oculus apps like Oculus TV or Venues will be integrated in the Horizon ecosystem. I also suspect that in the future (not tomorrow), your Oculus Home may become your world in Horizon.

Expect also many new social features to make your VR games more social.

Facebook Login

I think they’ll make some jokes about the backlash of the community and then they will spend some times to justify the new login strategy (“It’s to offer the same safe and secure tools of Facebook to all Oculus users!”). Of course, we will nod our heads and don’t believe to anyone of their words.

Colocation

This is the biggest unknown for me. Oculus for sure has the means to announce a full colocation solution to let people play together in VR at home or inside an LBVR venue. They already have the technology. But are they willing to release it? I don’t know… using colocation at home poses the safety of the users at risk, and the LBVR sector is in its worst moment ever. So, it’s more a no than a yes, but who knows, Facebook is very unpredictable.

Some data on the profitability of the Oculus Store platform

They won’t say how many Quest they have sold, but they will tell some numbers to prove its success as a commercial platform. So I expect some announcements like “5 Games have succeeded $5M in revenue” or “$200M have been spent on the Oculus Store in one year” or something like that.

Some data on Oculus For Business

I also expect some case studies to prove how the Oculus For Business platform is amazing. But honestly speaking, we all know that Oculus For Business is a mediocre program at the moment.

Oculus For Office

Some times ago, Boz teased the possibility of using the Quest with passthrough vision and a keyboard to do some office work. Abrash told at OC6 that they were working towards the use of VR to create the office of the future. I expect to see new teaser videos about using MR/VR to substitute your PC with a VR headset, with the possibility of using your keyboard with your Quest and a little multitasking XR OS made by Oculus.

AR Glasses

Facebook knows that the battle for the domination of the AR market is against Apple, and if Apple is being very secretive about AR, I think that Facebook will do the same. I expect some hints about their work in AR, maybe some tech analysis by Abrash, maybe some first prototypical technology shown, but it will be all smoke in our eyes. They aren’t going to tell us much to not reveal the cards they have in their hands.

Portal

While every one of us was too busy looking at the leaked videos of the new Quest, very few noticed that also some videos about Portal were leaked. I actually noticed that, and there were some videos about using Portal for work. Currently, Portal is used mostly to connect people at home, and it is probable that Facebook will announce some enterprise licensing and use for it in enterprise settings for remote working.

I also expect some AR-related announcements for Portal, that already uses AR filters.

Spark AR

I imagine new features and functionalities being announced for Spark AR, the AR framework by Facebook. I don’t know which kind of features, but if I had to bet, I imagine something about full-body AR (to battle better against Tik Tok) or something about landmarks detection (to battle better against Snapchat). The second one could be also a testbed for Facebook Live Maps, that is Facebook’s AR Cloud.

Facebook Assistant

In the leaked docs on Facebook Blueprint, I also found a reference to a “Facebook Assistant” that could help in better discovering Facebook products and AR Filters. It was a single page with just one image and few lines of text, though, so I don’t know if it was talking about a facility on Facebook’s websites (maybe to help you in choosing what Quest to buy) or about an AI assistant inside Portal and Quest 2. I really hope for the second one, though!

VR Content

Oculus invests a lot of money on content, and this Facebook Connect will be a fest where a lot of new content will be announced. I expect:

• The launch of Medal Of Honor: Above and Beyond
• An update on Lone Echo 2
• A full reveal of Star Wars: Tales From the Galaxy Edge as an Oculus exclusive built by ILMxLAB
• Some news about Beat Saber
• The launch of The Climb 2 and Jurassic World: Aftermath, as seen on the leaked box
• The teaser of the AAA game that Oculus is building with Ubisoft

The usual great talks by Abrash and Carmack

Aren’t we all waiting for them?

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These are my predictions for the Facebook Connect… let’s see which ones will prove to be true tomorrow! In the meanwhile, feel free to express your opinion here below in the comments or on my social media channel! Who guesses all predictions rights wins a kiss from Zuck!