Oculus Browser Issues

[Z-Dr]

The Oculus Browser in my Oculus Go quit being able to display VR videos within the last week or so.  The problem is with immersion mode using WebXR.  Neither the Oculus Browser or Amazon PrimeVR work anymore.  You can still view normal videos though.

Other applications like Playa and Skybox still seem to be able to display immersive videos just fine.  Somewhere during my research of the problem someone suggested using Firefox Reality browser.  I downloaded it and it seems to work!

Hopefully whatever changed relating to WebXR recently will be fixed, but at least we have a workaround.    

[Mr_Hand]

Can you post a walkthrough?

[Ray Rentell]

To me this is like a foreign language , feeling really tech challenged now, must be getting old and out of touch .....   ......

[Z-Dr]

To me this is like a foreign language , feeling really tech challenged now, must be getting old and out of touch .....   ......

Hi Ray,

Age is all in your head!

You have to have a Virtual Reality (VR) headset for this to be applicable.  We (the collective nerds led by Camp) have Oculus Go headsets which they stopped selling because everyone was only using them for porn and Oculus is a Facebook Company.  They have a standalone browser that uses a wifi connection but the builtin browser stopped being able to play VR movies recently.  We all (at least Camp and me) have been going through withdrawals as a result.

VR is something that definitely needs to be experienced.

[Z-Dr]

Can you post a walkthrough?

A walkthrough?  Go to your "Store", search "Firefox Reality" and install it (it's free).  You will see a tile on the home page and is just like any other internet browser.  It also remembers logins where the Oculus Browser doesn't.  The videos were a little jerky the first time I ran it but that went away.  It also lets you download to external storage if you have any configured.

Let me know if you have any difficulties. 

[Ray Rentell]

Thanks for the explanation, a lot of posters on my flight sim forums use VR.

There always seem to be work rounds to get things working again, Windows "upgrades" do not help either with older Sims and hardware ! 

[Z-Dr]

The Oculus Go is a standalone device which means it doesn't have to be slaved off a computer, just like the newer Oculus Quest2 (and the very pricey HTC Vive Focus 3).  You have to set it up using a phone app and then you can connect it directly to any wireless network (or hotspot).  As a result it has it's own operating system and isn't affected by Windows updates (or fruity ones).  The Go has a great one hand controller which leaves the other one available for whatever.    Battery life is not that great though.  The newer VR units have much better resolution, processor power, and memory needed for gaming but the Go does fine for VR videos (porn).

Unfortunately, they discontinued selling the Go by about the beginning of 2020.  It has been replaced by the Quest2 which is supposed to be a great unit, but requires Facebook access to activate and use it.  The Facebook police require identification validation so you can't set up a bogus account to use it.  If you don't have a Facebook account or your account gets blacklisted, the device becomes useless.  I am waiting for someone to figure a workaround/hack to enable use of the Quest2 without Facebook before I get one.  Luckily most of the VR videos out there still work on the Go.

The immersive experience of VR is really cool and has to be experienced to be fully appreciated.  Camp was our Pied Piper and brought his Go to Dollstock in 2019.  At least 4 of us bought one immediately after trying his out.  In the words of Mahtek, "Don't think, SPEND!".  Mahi would have been a great salesman in another life.