The Oculus (Meta) Quest 2 is a device that the BMS Lab has available for students and professors that want to do research, a project or want to do education in the domain of Virtual Reality.
The Oculus Quest 2 is one of the most accessible VR headsets we have at the lab. It is a stand-alone headset. Thus it can be used completely wirelessly without/with a PC depending on the nature of the study. This enables researchers to be able to use it and conduct their research experiments in different locations that may be more convenient for their participants or fitting for their research.
Oculus Quest 2 for research & education
At the BMS Lab the Oculus Quest 2 has been used to conduct a wide variety of research. Two types of examples of how it has previously been used is firstly by use of videos. Students who want to research the effect of specific nature environments on their participants can upload 360° videos of these hard to reach or recreate environments to conduct their experiments. This method of usage is often quick and requires little to no development time. Often students make use of videos found online or they can film their own to match the environment they are looking to use for their research.
Secondly, it’s by the use of developed virtual environments. Our developers in collaboration with researchers are able to develop a variety of environments for research or educational purposes. Such an example is a supermarket scene where researchers and students are able to observe consumer behavior in a variety of different controlled settings.
Best practices
When handling the equipment, keep the following points in mind before using the oculus quest 2 for your research:
The Oculus Quest 2 headset can be reserved to be used within or outside of our facilities. Researchers are able to reserve the ManouVR room or the Flexperiment rooms to conduct their experiments. For experiments where you need to take the research to your target group you are also able to reserve our Experivan.
All Oculus headsets have been registered with the BMS Lab account. Therefore you can work with the headset using the BMS Lab profile instead of creating your own additional one. If for a reason you want to add your own profile on the headset as well, please discuss this with the developer you are in contact with and make sure to remove your account before returning the headset to us to avoid having the headset remain linked to many different accounts.
Uploading or purchasing content onto the headset Often times researchers want to do a VR project which does not include the development of a virtual environment via Unity but want to use instead videos. For these purposes, it is perfectly fine to download the videos or needed content onto the headset. However, all these must be deleted before returning the device back to us.
In terms of downloading apps onto the device. If it is an app that is required for the purpose of your research, e.g. watching videos, you are able to download it and inform the developer you are in contact with. However, you are not allowed to download or purchase games onto the device. If you link your card to purchase games or apps onto the device, it will stay linked.
Hygiene Protocol
In addition to the general hygiene information provided, there are also additional hygiene requirements when it comes to using the Oculus headset.
When lending this equipment, you will also receive cleansing wipes along with face masks to be used with the headset. In general you will need to clean the oculus lenses and rim with the (non alcoholic) wipes after using it or when it’s dirty during the period that you are using it. However, if multiple people will be making use of the headset e.g. group work, or especially when collecting data from participants, you are required to have each participant make use of the headset face mask and clean the device with the wipes after every use.
Further support
Getting Started With The Oculus Quest 2
After receiving the Oculus Quest 2 that you reserved, there are a few steps you will need to take to get started.
If you are doing a project that requires development in Unity, you will need to install this software to collaborate with our developers.
First install Unity Hub and via this install the Unity Editor that will be used (ask the developer which one they are making your project on).
(Watch our Unity tutorials to learn how to work with the program.)
Read the manuals and suggested links to learn how to set up and start using the headset.
Manuals And External Links
