The Oculus Quest 2 goes “hands-free” with this week’s latest update.
It looks like the Oculus Quest 2 is in the middle of a growth spurt. Over the past few weeks, we’ve seen a slew of new features arrive on Facebook’s standalone VR headsets, multi-user support, app sharing, and, just recently, Couch mode. And it appears as though the company isn’t done with the surprises just yet.
As part of a rolling update arriving now on Oculus Quest 2 headsets allow you to use the voice command “Hey Facebook” to navigate your Quest headset. You can check out your friend list by saying “Hey Facebook, show me who’s online,” open games and apps by saying “Hey Facebook, open [insert game or app],” and take screenshots by saying “Hey Facebook, take a screenshot,” offering a true “hands-free” experience to standalone VR users.
Facebook announced Voice Commands for the Oculus Quest last year. The original version, however, proved to be fairly inconvenient. In order to access voice commands, you had to manually select the tool from the Oculus menu each and every time you wished to use it. This new update streamlines the process, allowing you to activate voice commands by saying the phrase “Hey Facebook”, followed by a specific command.
However, much like Google’s “Hey Google”, Apple’s “Hey Siri”, or Alexa’s “Hey Alexa,” “Hey Facebook” does bring up some interesting questions around privacy. It’s no secret that Facebook has had its fair share of setbacks when it comes to user privacy and data collection, which could affect how users view this new feature.
Facebook knows that users are going to have concerns, which is why “Hey Facebook” is strictly an opt-in experience. You’ll still be able to use Voice Commands without having to say the wake word. To do that, you just use your controller or hand tracking to navigate to the home menu and then to the Experimental Features panel. From there you can then turn off the “Hey Facebook” feature, giving you a little peace of mind.
You also have the ability to view, hear, and delete your voice commands activity at any time. You can even turn off voice storage and still be able to take advantage of Voice Commands.
“Hey Facebook” will gradually roll out to Oculus Quests 2 owners first before arriving on OG Quest headsets at a later date. You can also use the “Hey Facebook” wake word on your Facebook Portal if you happen to own one of those.
You can read more about the Quests “Hey Facebook” feature on the Oculus Blog.
Feature Image Credit: Facebook, Oculus