Oculus have released update 1.11 for the Rift VR headset and Touch motion controllers that bring promised enhancements for the system’s “experimental 360” degree roomscale support with multi-sensor setups and fixes for the guardian boundary system.

Oculus released their Touch motion controllers in December last year, and although they were warmly received by critics, those VR enthusiasts wanting to enhance their experience beyond the recommended 2 camera, ‘front facing’ setup have reported issues when moving to 3 or more sensors.

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Those Rift and Touch owners have been chomping at the bit over the last few weeks awaiting system updates to improve their roomscale VR experiences. The latest 1.11 Rift update brings enhancements for calibration for those with “experimental” (as Oculus calls them) sensor setups for 360 tracking (i.e. 3 or more cameras) and tweaks to address “judder or loss of hand location or hand orientation.”

Oculus’ constellation tracking system, which uses USB attached sensors (cameras) to detect pulsating IR LED arrays on tracked devices in order to deliver positional tracking in VR. The expansion of this system to roomscale duties seems to be pushing the system (which was originally primarily focused on delivering a seated, desk-based experience) quite hard. The implementation of Constellation tracking has drawn criticism, with comparisons to SteamVR’s roomscale-focused Lighthouse tracking system unfavourable.

However, Oculus is seemingly laser-focused on evening out this imbalance as much as possible, with Oculus’ VP of Product Nate Mitchell tweeting yesterday that their development team has a “big focus” on making sure multi-sensor setups work well:

Here are the summarised release notes for Rift update 1.11. The update is being rolled out to Oculus Home users as we write this:

Features

  • You can now choose to skip updating the firmware on your controllers when repeating Oculus setup.
  • Improved visibility of Guardian System boundaries with better hand animations.
  • Improved instructions for Oculus sensor positioning during setup.

Bug-fixes

  • Improved experimental roomscale and experimental 360º support.
    • Fixed calibration issues for multi-sensor configurations and Guardian System setup.
    • Fixed tracking issues with Touch controllers that resulted in tracking judder or loss of hand location or hand orientation in VR.
    • Fixed sensor issue which prevented Touch controllers from being detected.
    • Fixed stability issues with floor height in VR.
  • Improved Guardian System.
    • Fixed stability issue with Guardian System boundaries moving when the Rift headset wasn’t in use.
    • Fixed tracking issue where Touch controllers weren’t detected by Guardian System.
    • Fixed reliability issue with Guardian System boundaries triggering too soon.
  • Improved Oculus Rift and Touch setup.
    • Fixed visibility issues with VR screen for adjusting Rift headset lens position.
    • Fixed search issue with Oculus Store and Oculus Library in the Oculus software.
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Paul James
Based in the UK, Paul has been immersed in interactive entertainment for the best part of 27 years and has followed advances in gaming with a passionate fervour. His obsession with graphical fidelity over the years has had him branded a ‘graphics whore’ (which he views as the highest compliment) more than once and he holds a particular candle for the dream of the ultimate immersive gaming experience. Having followed and been disappointed by the original VR explosion of the 90s, he then founded RiftVR.com to follow the new and exciting prospect of the rebirth of VR in products like the Oculus Rift. Paul joined forces with Ben to help build the new Road to VR in preparation for what he sees as VR’s coming of age over the next few years.
  • Joan Villora Jofré

    It seems to give more problems than benefits

    • Bryan Ischo

      How so?

      • Joan Villora Jofré

        Please see my answer to ImTheMetalLord

    • What makes you think/say that? Or you just trolling?

      • Joan Villora Jofré

        Not trolling. I know one spanish site (Real o Virtual) where half of the members use Oculus Rift, and with the new update have worst problems.
        From one member: https://youtu.be/ULwuvaMkLu8
        Is not the only one.

        • nebošlo

          I’ve had no such issues. Maybe they need to learn how to setup their stuff better? :)

          Just kidding, maybe I’m just lucky.

          • Get Schwifty!

            And that’s how its almost going – it almost seems to be luck affecting the tracking for folks. One thing that seems to have really changed is that now the sensors are reading “poor quality tracking” on the initial check which wasn’t the case before.

    • Get Schwifty!

      I think they did something to use more information or some kind of additional processing load – people (like myself) who had little or no issues before now are having significant issues, while many who didn’t have issues now have them. I’d say it’s a net gain based on a very unscientific count of people speaking up, but it was a big step backwards for me personally.

      My guess is people with more powerful systems are seeing improved tracking, while nominal systems are actually witnessing degraded tracking, but I cannot base that on anything but a hunch… part of the problem is my rig technically isn’t up to speed right now, and it will be maybe three more months before I can upgrade.

      • Joan Villora Jofré

        The user from whom I put the video has a pretty powerful equipment

        • Get Schwifty!

          Like I said its a hunch… so I dunno, perhaps there is some other aspect. It’s strange how though so many people without problems now have them and people who did suddenly don’t… something seriously changed up in the tracking code.

          • Joan Villora Jofré

            The problem is most noticeable with 360 degree experiences. It seems that there is also a problem of vertical drift if you are using them for a long time: you can end up floating or dragging.

          • Get Schwifty!

            I get it with either two or three sensors, exact same issues now. Again for reasons I don’t know I haven’t seen the height issue at all, this is how random it is….

          • Joan Villora Jofré

            The user reporting the problem (Alehandoro) has found a workaround, which has already been reported to Oculus: https://www.reddit.com/r/oculus/comments/5sg8az/fix_temporarily_oculus_111_tracking_problem/

      • RipVoid

        How does that Oculus room scale kool aid taste now?

  • Foreign Devil

    I’m glad they addressed this issue:
    Improved Guardian System.
    Fixed stability issue with Guardian System boundaries moving when the Rift headset wasn’t in use.

  • Joan Villora Jofré

    The user reporting the problem (Alehandoro) has found a workaround, which has already been reported to Oculus: https://www.reddit.com/r/oculus/comments/5sg8az/fix_temporarily_oculus_111_tracking_problem/