Oculus Home, the hub space that users see when putting on their Oculus Rift, has been updated with virtual screens for embedded Dash content and the ability to import custom objects.

Announced in a post this week on the Oculus Blog, Oculus Home version 1.26 is rolling out to users and now offers up several screen-like items into which users can embed Dash screens. Dash, as you’ll recall, is the immersive menu which Rift users see any time they hit the Oculus button on their controller. From Dash, users can browse various menus, and even access their PC desktop to run desktop applications and flat games from within VR.

Image courtesy Oculus

Oculus says that users can embed any Dash panel within the new Home items, including Oculus Desktop. That means that users can set up virtual monitors and TVs inside of their Home space which have the same interactive screens, except now located persistently in logical locations. There’s even some rare items that users can unlock—like a retro TV and arcade cabinet—which into which users can embed Dash panels. It’s a simple but smart change which will surely make Home feel more functional. Exactly how (or if) the functionality will carry over to Home’s eventual multi-user support is unclear.

Image courtesy Oculus

The new Home update also takes the first step toward allowing importing of custom objects—something Oculus has had on the horizon for some time. Initially it’s a manual process (but as simple as dropping a file into the right folder) and only supports .glb (the binary version of the glTF 2.0 file format). Full instructions on importing models (and their file requirements) can be found here. Oculus also affirmed that an update to Oculus Medium later this month will allow users to import their own content directly into Home.

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Ben is the world's most senior professional analyst solely dedicated to the XR industry, having founded Road to VR in 2011—a year before the Oculus Kickstarter sparked a resurgence that led to the modern XR landscape. He has authored more than 3,000 articles chronicling the evolution of the XR industry over more than a decade. With that unique perspective, Ben has been consistently recognized as one of the most influential voices in XR, giving keynotes and joining panel and podcast discussions at key industry events. He is a self-described "journalist and analyst, not evangelist."
  • impurekind

    Coolio

  • Great update.

  • Michael Sherman

    Now we need a Rift with better optics and I’ll be super happy

    • MosBen

      Nicer optics would be good, but I’ll take a headset that doesn’t have the lenses fog up, the user’s face to get sweaty, and weighs less. Being able to watch videos in VR is nice, but first I’ll need to want to wear a VR headset for a long enough time without it becoming uncomfortable.

    • Darshan

      We need Rift with Oculus Go Optics and JDI 1001 PPI panel
      both…

  • Firestorm185

    A note for the article author, it’s actually version 1.27, not 1.26. ^^