Virtual reality has come a long way, but tripping over your couch while mid-game is still one of the more annoying things about the format. But, good news for Oculus Quest owners. A new experimental update will now let you mark your actual couch as an object in your virtual space.
The update, which was first spotted by UploadVR, is part of the v26 Oculus Quest software. It works as part of the Oculus Guardian system, which lets you draw boundaries that appear mid-game when you get too close. According to UploadVR, you can draw your couch via the camera passthrough mode. Once you do that, you’ll see the sofa rendered as a 3D model in Oculus Home. In games or apps, it’ll appear as a blue rectangle when you approach it. And since the couch position can be saved, you don’t have to re-draw it every time you want to use the Oculus Quest.
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As pointed out by the Verge, this is the first time that the Guardian system has been known to accommodate real-life objects like this. Previously, if you wanted to block off your couch, you had to draw around it as if it were a physical wall. This feature will also allow you to designate your sofa as a separate, seated playing area that exists either in or outside your Guardian boundary. Per UploadVR, if you decide to sit down on the couch, a system notification pops up asking if you what to switch to “Couch mode.”
If you want to enable the feature, you can head over to the Experimental Features menu in Settings to find it. That said, you might have to be patient as the update hasn’t rolled out to everyone just yet. You should also keep in mind that it seems like you can only add one couch per Guardian area — so if you’re lucky enough to have two in an area, you might have to get a little creative. And speaking for my fellow klutzes in cramped spaces, it would be neat if eventually, you could add other pieces of furniture like armchairs, coffee tables, beds, or even a floor lamp. Just saying, some of us are more hazardous in VR than others.