September 25, 2019 – At OC6 today, Oculus announced that its new ‘Oculus for Business’ platform will launch in November. Built for easy adoption and scalability across a variety of industries, Oculus anticipates that its Business platform will help to transform the workplace by making large-scale deployments possible while expanding market opportunities for a growing community of VR developers.
VR is already transforming how companies and staff work, and industries across a variety of verticals are benefiting from the use of the technology thanks to enhanced training and collaboration, product demonstrations, and more. However, deploying VR solutions at scale has been difficult, especially with a large or distributed workforce. Developers haven’t had the means to scale their businesses within the realities and requirements of enterprise. Oculus thinks that it has answered these problems with the Oculus for Business platform, which the company states offers a comprehensive approach to scaled deployments for its all-in-one headsets, Oculus Quest and Oculus Go.
Scalability
This starts with software designed to grow alongside the needs of customers, with new cloud-based management tools. The new Device Setup app (available on Android to start) lets businesses set up and provision large numbers of headsets at once, and the Device Manager control center lets administrators manage headsets by updating settings and deploying apps remotely across multiple offices and locations. Oculus for Business also supports provisioning services, like MobileIron and VMWare Airwatch.
User Interface
Oculus’ new enterprise software also extends to the in-headset experience. A redesigned UI places company content front-and-center without the clutter of unapproved apps or consumer features, helping employees stay focused while boosting information retention and general output. Features include an enterprise app launcher and kiosk mode, so users can launch directly into a predetermined app. Oculus has also introduced a controller-free input, including gaze-based navigation and, soon, hand tracking on Quest to make working and training in VR more intuitive for a greater number of people—regardless of their previous VR experience.
Data Security
Building on the same infrastructure and principles of Workplace, Oculus for Business follows strict data handling protocols to store data, according to the company. Oculus for Business also provides a new help portal with dedicated customer support including live chat, phone, and email, and rapid replacement to minimize downtime and get things back on track.
Oculus for Business is in closed beta today and will launch in November.
Video credit: Oculus/YouTube
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Sam is the Founder and Managing Editor of Auganix. With a background in research and report writing, he has been covering XR industry news for the past seven years.