The Oculus Quest 2 is an excellent virtual reality viewer. In Xataka we had the opportunity to try these glasses thoroughly and the experience with them was outstanding, but they lacked one thing: be able to play PC games without cables officially. Because yes, it is possible to connect the glasses to the PC to play ‘Half Life: Alyx’, but for this it is advisable to use the Oculus Link cable, which is worth 99 euros, or a similar cable.
The wireless game is the next big step for the Oculus Quest 2 and, in fact, it is a step that has been taken unofficially thanks to Virtual Desktop, an independent app developed by Guy Godin. We are now closer to an official solution developed by Oculus, as the company owned by Facebook has announced the release of Oculus Air Link, your system to play PC virtual reality games on Oculus Quest 2 wirelessly.
So long, cables
One of the problems that the current system has to play PC games with Oculus Quest 2 is that it requires a cable. It is not a drama, but it is something that significantly reduces mobility and, therefore, immersion in the game. Air Link seeks to solve just that, since by streaming the game from the PC to the viewer the user will be able to move freely.
Air Link will work via WiFi. From Oculus they say that if we have a strong WiFi network and we are about six meters from the router or less, Air Link will be a good alternative to play. It is recommended to connect the viewfinder to the 5 GHz band and the computer via Ethernet cable. However, they point out that if we want to charge the glasses while playing or “experience the images with the highest possible fidelity”, the cable is still a better solution.
The quotation marks are not casual, since next to the Air Link ad Oculus has confirmed that it will activate the 120 Hz refresh rate. Currently the glasses work at 90/72 Hz, but from now on it will be possible to access a higher refresh rate in those apps that are compatible. Oculus Link support for 120 Hz will come in a future update, so we will see if Air Link will be able to play with those refresh rates or if there will be some kind of limitation.
On whether Air Link will be compatible with other viewers, only Quest 2 will be available at launch. Oculus Air Link is a feature that will be part of the V28 version and requires both the viewer and PC to be running that version of the software. Precisely for this reason we will have to wait a bit, since Oculus will unlock the function when both applications are ready.
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