Oculus’ move to require Facebook accounts is creating serious problems for some of its biggest fans. Windows Centralreports that Facebook is banning Oculus users who simultaneously use more than one VR headset linked to the same social network account. This violates Facebook’s terms of service, support representatives claim. In other words, you’re risking a ban if you buy a couple of Oculus Quest 2s for the family and don’t want to set up different accounts to let people play at the same time.
The company is planning on support for multiple Facebook accounts on one headset, but that doesn’t address problems for people who can’t or don’t want to create accounts, such as kids under 13. The current situation could force people to either create placeholder accounts or use only one headset at a time, potentially hurting some of Oculus’ most loyal users.
We’ve asked Facebook for comment.
The tech giant has claimed that the account requirement will help people find friends for social experiences like games, cut back on trolls, and allow integration features like the Horizon VR space. However, critics have argued that this ties users to the Facebook ecosystem and makes it easier for the firm to track users’ habits. These new reports won’t help Facebook’s case — it’s now harder to use Oculus headsets in a way that suits your household.
Update 10/25 6:15PM ET: Oculus has responded to the customer complaint in a series of tweets that using the same Facebook account on two headsets will not get the user banned. It also added that it plans to “introduce the ability for multiple users to log into the same device using their own Facebook account.”
Update 10/26 2:53 AM ET: The headline originally stated that Facebook would ban users with multiple Oculus devices, but Oculus stated that information is not correct. The headline has been updated with the correct information.
Ask VR fans about their gripes and they’ll likely mention the “screen door” effect, or the gaps between pixels that you notice when looking at a display so close to your eyes. That annoyance might disappear entirely if Samsung and Stanford University have their way. They’ve developed (via IEEE Spectrum) OLED technology that supports resolutions up to 10,000 pixels per inch — well above what you see in virtually any existing display, let alone what you’d find in a modern VR headset like the Oculus Quest 2.
The newOLED tech uses films to emit white light between reflective layers, one silver and another made of reflective metal with nano-sized corrugations. This “optical metasurface” changes the reflective properties and allows specific colors to resonate through pixels. The design allows for much higher pixel densities than you see in the RGB OLEDs on phones, but doesn’t hurt brightness to the degree you see with white OLEDs in some TVs.
This would be ideal for VR and AR, creating a virtually ‘flawless’ image where you can’t see the screen door effect or even individual pixels. This might take years to arrive when it would require much more computing power, but OLED tech would no longer be an obstacle.
It’s also more practical than you might think. Samsung is already working on a “full-size” display using the 10,000PPI tech, and the design of the corrugations makes large-scale manufacturing viable. It may just be a question of when and where you see this OLED rather than “if.”
Electronic skins can already react to touch, but they’re not much good at reacting to the jabs and burns that cause pain. That’s a problem for prosthetics and robots that are supposed to have human-like responses. They may be more sensitive in the future, though. RMIT University researchers have developed an artificial skin (via SciTechDaily) that reacts to pain much like humans do. It would provide “near-instant” feedback if pressure and temperatures hit levels that would make someone yelp.
The wearable prototype is made of stretchable, extremely thin electronics (oxides and biocompatible silicone) with pressure sensing, temperature-reactive coatings and brainlike memory cells. It’s subtle enough to communicate the difference between gently poking yourself with a pin versus a painful jab, researcher Md Ataur Rahman said. The design mimics the neurons, neural pathways and receptors that guide human senses.
The project is a long way from reaching practical products. The potential uses are clear, however. A prosthetic arm could better replicate the sensations of the real thing and keep people clear of danger. Robots could be less intimidating as they’d exhibit more human-like fragility. It could also be useful for non-invasive skin grafts where conventional methods aren’t effective. It won’t be surprising if any uses are selective, though. While pain is a helpful natural defense mechanism, there aren’t many people (or bots, for that matter) looking for it.
