A new Oculus policy bans the streaming of clouds in both the Store and App Lab.
Facebook lists its Virtual Reality Check (VRC) requirements on the Oculus Developer Web site. VRC.Quest.Streaming.2 was added last week:
Applications that stream immersive VR content may only do so from a local source, that is, a device to which the customer has physical access. Streaming from virtual devices or cloud resources is not allowed.
The Virtual Desktop app allows streaming from local (or remote) computers. When the feature launched in 2019, Facebook turned it down, the developer forced it to make it available as an optional patch on the alternative store SideQuest.
Last week, Facebook reversed the decision and allowed the feature into the main store.
Last year, the cloud computing rental service Shadow VR announced plans to launch an Oculus Quest app for streaming cloud VR, and the launch of Pluto recently announced a managed service. In a short demo of the PlutoSphere service, we asked for distribution plans and we were told that it intends to use SideQuest. This means that users will have to register with Facebook as developers – a process that is free, but you have to provide your phone number or card details – and the app does not receive automatic updates.
We asked a Facebook representative to comment on the new restriction and received the following statement by email:
‘We’ve seen the value customers can get from PC VR titles, and we want to enable such local computing experiences. That said, current from a remote device is a significantly different suggestion as it can affect convenience. For now we allow PC VR wireless current for local computers, and hope to learn more about the quality it can achieve before we consider cloud-based interactive VR solutions. ”
Facebook itself has no announced plans for cloud VR streaming. Last year, a manager described the technology as more than five years away.