VRLab VRLab
[ 2019-09 → 2020-08· system ]

VRLab Arena

Arena put several players in one virtual space on standalone Oculus Quest headsets, aligned with the room they shared; it was demonstrated at Oculus Connect 6 in 2019, with a public arena outside the convention center.

research system · 2019 → 2020

Watch IHMC's video of Arena (2:08)
Split screen: on the left, players in Quest headsets outside the Oculus Connect 6 venue; on the right, the robot avatars they control in the shared space.
[ 2019-09· OC6· San Jose· public arena ]Players in the public arena outside Oculus Connect 6, and the avatars they appeared as.

Arena let several people wearing standalone Oculus Quest headsets share one virtual space aligned with the room around them, each seen by the others as a robot avatar. IHMC researchers developed it working with VRLab, and IHMC published a video of the system on 2019-10-28. During Oculus Connect 6 in San Jose in September 2019 VRLab demonstrated Arena at the conference and ran a public arena outside the convention center. In February 2020 VRLab prepared ten Quest headsets for arena sessions, and by August 2020 the shared space carried hand-tracked full-body avatars.

What it is

  • Co-located shared space: several players in one room and one virtual world, on standalone Oculus Quest headsets
  • Each player appears to the others as a robot avatar that follows their head and hands
  • A demonstration at Oculus Connect 6, San Jose, 2019-09-25, and a public arena outside the convention center
  • Ten Quest headsets prepared for arena sessions, February 2020
  • Hand-tracked full-body avatars in the shared space, August 2020
[ 2019 → 2020· 3 photographs ]

Players, the avatars they appear as, and tracked hands, 2019-09 → 2020-05

Composite: people in Quest headsets in a meeting room, overlaid with the robot avatars they appear as in the shared space.
[ 2019-10· arena.vrlab.com· Arena ]Players in Quest headsets and the robot avatars they appear as.
Three robot avatars stand on a grid floor under a pale sky inside the shared virtual space.
[ 2019-09· inside Arena· avatars ]Inside the arena: three players as robot avatars.
In-headset view: a full-body robot avatar raises both hands to wave while the viewer's own tracked robot hands are raised in the foreground, on a grid floor under a pale sky.
[ 2020-05-29· inside Arena· hand tracking ]Hand tracking in the shared space: the other player's full-body avatar waves, your own tracked hands in front.
[ 2019 → 2020· record ]

6 dated items, 2019-09 → 2020-08-11

  1. [ 2019-09· San Jose McEnery Convention Center ]

    A second arena opened to the public outside the convention center during OC6

  2. [ 2019-09-25· OC6· San Jose ]

    Arena demonstrated at Oculus Connect 6, San Jose: co-located players on standalone Quest headsets

  3. [ 2019-10-28· YouTube· IHMC ]

    IHMC publishes a video of Arena: “IHMC's Oculus Quest Shared Space VR environment”

    Watch IHMC's video (2:08)
  4. [ 2020-02· the lab ]

    Quest hand tracking drives the avatars' hands in the lab's build

  5. [ 2020-02-21 ]

    Ten Quest headsets prepared for arena sessions

    Read the lab's post
  6. [ 2020-08-11 ]

    Shared space with hand-tracked full-body avatars