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Meta Accounts: A New Login for VR
- 999900000999 4y agoI will admit this is very tempting. The Quest 2 is the only reasonably priced standalone headset. I'll probably wait until the end of the year though, hopefully ANYONE else will release a solid standalone
- annadane 4y agoOnly Mark Zuckerberg could possibly announce with a straight face (without apologizing for having made a Facebook login mandatory previously) this, as if he's doing us a favor. The man is a narcissist and megalomaniac
- bryan0 4y ago> Today we’re introducing Meta accounts: a new way for people to log into their VR headsets that doesn’t require a Facebook account. Great. where can I not signup.
- corrral 4y agoFrom the company that brought us "shadow" profiles, this is fucking risible. "Instead of a Facebook account, you can have a... uh... Fasebook account. Totally different, we swear!"
- gorjusborg 4y agoYep, they lost me at buying Oculus. Meta has no scruples. They'll try to track everything I do. I will not give them any more of my information if I can help it. Is there a VR headset out there with inside-out tracking that isn't made by a scummy advertising company?
- runnerup 4y agoHP Reverb G2. Also happens to be the highest resolution headset I think
- antiviral 4y agoPlease keep in mind this article from 2 months ago: “We do not have an adequate level of control and explainability over how our systems use data,” Facebook engineers say in leaked document. If that is the case, does it matter whether you have a separate account or not? https://www.vice.com/en/article/akvmke/facebook-doesnt-know-what-it-does-with-your-data-or-where-it-goes https://www.vice.com/en/article/akvmke/facebook-doesnt-know-...
- pabs3 4y agoWonder if there is a way to jailbreak their headsets and install SteamOS instead.
- protomyth 4y agoI guess that removes one block from us buying Oculus devices. I still have no clear idea how we buy them for a classroom, but I guess this is a good start. It still sounds like its a Facebook account in another form.
- cryptoboy2283 4y agoIt’s afraid
- rambojazz 4y agoAll I want is to be able to use the Oculus without any account at all. Just offline.
- user00012-ab 4y agotoo late; already moved on.
- anm89 4y agoExactly this. Meta devices are permanently off the table for me.
- wyldfire 4y agoThis looks like it's "just" follow-through from previous headlines. s/Facebook/Meta/g
- markstos 4y agoAs someone with an Instagram account but not a Facebook account, this does move the needle for me slightly, but my enthusiasm for opening a Meta VR account is only slightly higher than my zero interest in opening a Facebook account.
- honkler 4y agoyeah once the sales and stock prices are up, it's gonna be business as usual
- ProAm 4y agoApple is coming for their metaverse.
- sneak 4y agoYou can't create an Apple ID without a phone number. In Germany, you can't get a phone number without government ID. You can't install any apps on Apple mobile devices without an Apple ID.
- amelius 4y agoYou will need an Apple ID. And it will have no adult VR content.
- Duralias 4y ago> And it will have no adult VR content. With the new EU rules there would be nothing stopping anyone from viewing such stuff, because to my understanding those rules apply universally to the company, not just to individual products.
- amelius 4y agoOk, good point, so in the EU ... perhaps.
- superkuh 4y agoThis is a bait and switch. There's no reason to believe that Facebook will remain benevolent in the future. They will switch back to requiring some thing they can use to collect and sell your personal data even if it's not called Facebook. That was the point of them buying Oculus. They never tried to make money on the hardware.
- vkou 4y ago> That was the point of them buying (and ruining) Oculus. The point of them buying Oculus is because MZ thinks that VR might be the future, and he wants to own that space (Lest Facebook fade into irrelevance as a one-trick pony). I'm of the opinion that the data they could slurp up from mining your VR usage is of limited use, because it won't meaningfully improve ad targeting. And if it doesn't improve ad targeting, there's no reason for advertisers to pay FB more.
- everyone 4y agoI was so pumped for Oculus. I was following them way before Carmack joined. I had a DK2. What facebook did to Oculus is a good enough reason for me to hate them intensely forever.
- marrone12 4y agoWhat exactly did they "do" to oculus besides give them a ton of funding and try to bring them into the mainstream?
- kyboren 4y agoBy way of analogy: They took a precocious, promising young child and assimilated her into the Borg.
- superkuh 4y agoThey broke the emerging VR software ecosystem into the open side which many companies supported and a Facebook only proprietary one they asserted ownership and control of. Before Facebook bought Oculus there was cooperation and native software interoptibility between Vive and Rift. Then they stopped supporting desktop head mounted displays for the most part and switched to building face mounted VR computers that happened to have an initially janky, and always higher latency, passthrough mode to support acting as a display for a real computer.
- tpl 4y agoMisleading title. Going from requiring a Facebook account to a Meta Account is a very minor move.
- fdgsdfogijq 4y agoOdd to see so much hate for facebook, a company that created: 1. react 2. pytorch Arguably the two best technology frameworks to come out in the last decade.
- humanwhosits 4y agoYou can contribute some nice things but still be a bad actor.
- anm89 4y agoOdd to see so much hate for the Nazis on here. They made some really great tanks and submarines!
- newguynewphone 4y agoand rockets!
- Darmody 4y agoAnd Volkswagen. They were such good people, why are they so hated everywhere?
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- Arainach 4y agoAnd jet fighters!
- yieldcrv 4y agotake a moment to think about whether you consistently are in abusive relationships because of one redeeming thing the other person did
- AbraKdabra 4y agoAre you justifying their retarded decisions just because they created two good libraries that have nothing to do with the original topic?
- markstos 4y agoInstead, a Meta account is required. I see what you did there.
- georgeecollins 4y agoTo be fair: You needed an Oculus account to use an Oculus, just like you need a Switch account or a Steam account. Hardware with a digital store requires an account. A Facebook account is much more restrictive than say a Steam account. Facebook tries to get you to use your real name for example. Who in the world wants to use their real name playing a video game?
- 6yyyyyy 4y agoValve has done the right thing here and made it possible to use the Deck and Index without a Steam account. Granted, they haven't made it easy, but it is possible and they clearly haven't deliberately locked down their hardware.
- dmonitor 4y agoYou actually don't need a Switch account. You can just play offline and buy physical games. I don't think updates need an account either
- ihuman 4y ago> Hardware with a digital store requires an account. Can't you play games without the store? Like streaming games from your PC or side loading games. You shouldn't need an account if you're not going to use the store.
- CrazedGeek 4y agoOfficially: no, you need an Oculus account to even get a Quest set up to do streaming, and you need to separately make your account a developer account to unlock sideloading.
- hansword 4y agoI have a PlayStation, and play dozens of games, yet Sony doesn't know I exist.
- GauntletWizard 4y agoDoesn't change the Oculus games I lost from their forced integration.
- AbraKdabra 4y agoFuck Facebook.
- bananaoomarang 4y agoWell correct me if I'm wrong but so far as I can tell you still need a 'Meta' account to use them so... Not so great as it sounds.
- lordofgibbons 4y agoJust after leaks of a killer VR headset from Valve? No thank you, Meta. For those not in the know, Valve is coming out with a successor to the Index headset called Valve Deckard. They'll probably announce it later this year. From the leaked information, it looks like an absolute beast of a headset.
- bombcar 4y agoDeckard Cain? Stay while and listen.
- growt 4y agoMore likely named after Rick Deckard (Blade Runner)? After all Diablo is a Blizzard IP.
- henriquecm8 4y agoAnd it's also probably not the final name.
- spywaregorilla 4y agoI presumed some relation to the steam deck
- jonny_eh 4y agoI assume it's both, a pun.
- tgsovlerkhgsel 4y agoI didn't realize the Index was still being sold - it was unavailable so long that I thought they launched it, sold the initial batch, then never made more and abandoned the product. As a result, I wrote Valve off as "launches awesome tech demos but doesn't want to make consumer products". (I thought they also launched then cancelled another hardware product, but I don't remember details and can't find anything, so my memory may be playing tricks on me? Maybe I subconsciously mixed up the Nvidia Shield and Valve?) The Deckard seems to be standalone too. That's excellent. In practice, being standalone was a killer feature. You can just grab and use it like a phone, instead of having to boot a PC, mess around with cables, make sure the lighthouses are powered up, inevitably spend the first 15 minutes debugging the setup... (and of course having to own a gaming PC in the first place was also a significant hurdle).
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- amelius 4y agoCan I now safely consume adult VR content without anyone watching me back?
- whywhywhywhy 4y agoThis misstep cost them a heck of a lot of goodwill in their community.
- washadjeffmad 4y agoWe had to cancel an entire program we'd built around Oculus for VR content creation, and I filed an FTC complaint after the Facebook account requirement. After recent news I decided to give them another chance with a Quest 2, and because my Oculus dev account and the FB profile I closed in 2006 that I tried to merge it with didn't have matching info, I've been locked out. I'm hanging tight until this Meta thing goes into effect to switch, but if it's a hassle, I'll gladly spend up to $800 on a Deckard not to deal with Meta again.
- mrkramer 4y agoMetaverse is Zuckerberg's wet dream. I always remember Virtual Sex Scene from Demolition Man[0]. [0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3yARIfDJrY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E3yARIfDJrY :)
- m4tthumphrey 4y ago"Ewwww you mean the exchange of bodily fluids!" What a film! I do not appreciate this work of art being compared to Zucks wet dream tho!
- mrkramer 4y ago>I do not appreciate this work of art being compared to Zucks wet dream tho! You can put your Oculus VR headset, connect to the internet and have sex with anyone from the Facebook ofc if they are of legal age and they give you permission. ;) That can be marketing pitch for Facebook's VR headset!
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- prophesi 4y agoYou'll still need to add an email address, your name, DOB, a phone number, and payment info. To retain your privacy, you can easily create an email alias and put in a fake name and DOB. A paid Twilio number should work. A privacy.com (or similar service) should also work.
- martindbp 4y ago> Your “Friends” will now become “Followers,” similar to Instagram’s existing model. Don't see how this makes sense for VR, where you probably want to hang out with your friends and play games. Followers?
- jraph 4y agoOn the contrary! VR takes "following" to the next level. An abstraction that suddenly becomes much more concrete and literal. It is beautiful. At last it becomes truly creepy and not just vaguely concerning. You don't need to be in the street to be followed anymore, you can now stay at home for this. (please don't take my comment seriously, I just wanted to share a though that was very entertaining to me)
- martindbp 4y agoJesus... Actually now I can imagine the VR version of Twitch. A bit creepier I think.
- EddieDante 4y agoThat's nice, but I still don't trust Meta and will never willingly use their products. The brand is irredeemably tainted because my sense of history goes back decades. I'm not Jesus; I don't forgive and I rarely forget.
- andrewallbright 4y agoIt is an interesting growth play that Meta is doing (putting aside our feelings about it). By putting out relatively cheap VR headsets and requiring a meta (Facebook) account to use it, they are getting young people signed up for meta. Those young people might not have signed up for Facebook/Meta otherwise. It's a sneaky way to reduce friction and maybe convert young people onto the social media platform. It also reminds me of how google's social network automatically created profiles on their social media spot. That experiment failed. Will meta's growth play fail? This is purely me trying to figure out the business angle.
- dntrkv 4y agoI think you're reading way too much into this. Meta has a VR platform and needs some form of auth. Reusing their existing auth was the lowest friction approach both in development and user experience. I doubt they care very much about recruiting into their platform through VR. Their main business goal with VR is to own the app marketplace through Oculus Store. So far, they are far ahead of anyone else in the space.
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- karaterobot 4y agoI gave my Quest away when they announced they were requiring a Facebook account. I liked it, but ultimately decided it had been a mistake to use something owned by Facebook, and I should have seen where it would go. Maybe I did, but had been too excited by the idea of VR. I'm not going to buy another device now, expecting that their fundamental nature as a company will eventually win out. It's a frog/scorpion situation with them.
- Patrol8394 4y agoI am super bearish on Meta: - why would anyone trust Meta/FB on anything they say or trust them with your data - FB became popular because it was easy to use, it was just about uploading and commenting on photos. I don't see any of my family members buying a VR device and connect in metaverse ... there is no way .. - I don't think people will ever use VR devices for the sole purpose of having meeting, video works just fine The metaverse does not make sense, what it makes sense is AR, and Apple will be the one dominating the space.
- jonathankoren 4y agoThe reason to be bearish isn't because of privacy, it's because their existing social networks are declining, and Zuck has hitched his cart to a niche gaming setup.
- sahila 4y ago10 years ago, did you see all your family members keeping a computer with a constant internet connection in their pocket? I think our predictive abilities of the future are often lacking.
- Patrol8394 4y agoNo, but wearing a VR set or glasses with cameras and what not is too invasive. And for what? Meeting in the metaverse? Video works great, I don't need an "immersive" experience. Also, most of my family members have a pretty basic usage of smart phones. But hey, I know nothing, this is just my opinion. Who knows, people are unpredictable.
- closedloop129 4y agoThere was no need for instant messaging and yet people don't use mail exclusively. VR will work for the next generation when children grow up on VR playgrounds because parents can pretend that they don't watch tv all day. You don't need a phone anymore. An LTE watch and a VR headset are enough for your online activities because the majority of time is spent in VR. If you have to decide between a cheap phone and a cheap VR set or a good VR set because you already have the watch, you will choose the VR set. You won't chose the expensive phone alone, because you need a VR set to interact with your friends. Once the market accepts VR, regular flats become too expensive and everybody will live in small, windowless apartment that are only bearable when you spent all your time in VR. And since you spent all your time in VR, it's perfectly acceptable to rent a small, windowless apartment.
- hankman86 4y agoHow exactly does this address the privacy concerns underlying the previous model? They still require me to have a “social” profile. I never agreed to that when I bought my Oculus Rift back in 2016. In effect, my Rift remains bricked unless I agree to have a presence in their dystopian Metaverse. No thank you!
- camdat 4y agoHave you turned on your device in the past year? Social/FB profiles haven't been required for Rift/CV* for a few years at this point.
- wingmanjd 4y agoSmall counterpoint, you're not able to do some social things without signing in (I have a Rift on permaloan from a friend who bought an Index). You're right I don't _need_ to sign in, but I wish I could chat/ compete with friends. I can even receive friend requests, but I can't accept them. It's not a huge deal, but the FOMO push to sign into FB is a bummer each time I use it.
- dljsjr 4y ago@dang This is a heavily editorialized bait-and-switch title, posted by a user who is a VP at Facebook. That doesn't seem above board.
- TameAntelope 4y agoOh get over it, your hate for FB is noted. The title is accurate, the information is news, and IMO HN users are smart enough to know what a PR release is when they read it. What are you worried about? That folks will walk this earth thinking you have to use a Meta account instead of a Facebook account to log into your VR app?
- lolinder 4y agoThe post was posted by a (edit: recently ex-) VP at Facebook, and the posted title, while strictly accurate, doesn't mention that there's a brand new account type that you need to have. I read this at first as "I can finally buy a VR headset and use it as regular hardware", not "FB is still going to track my usage, just under their new name". "Introducing Meta Accounts: A New Login for VR" is the actual title, and should be used instead of this one.
- cableshaft 4y agoThere's user accounts for almost every software business out there that has any form of online component. You have a user account on this very site. I don't get the complaint.
- lolinder 4y agoI do miss the days when I could buy hardware (or appliances, for that matter) and just use it as hardware, without signing into it. I miss not having everything have a mandatory online presence. But the bigger issue here is that this account is owned by the company formerly known as Facebook, and that company has given me absolutely zero reason to trust them with any data whatsoever. I don't mind having a Steam account, because Valve hasn't had scandal after scandal of them abusing user data in egregious ways.
- jmull 4y agoFrom Meta's point of view this doesn't change anything. Your activities and interests on your meta accounts will all be part of the same profile meta keeps on grin your Facebook activity, internet browsing, and anything else they can attach or infer a tracking identity from. Their "privacy" controls are outward facing - e.g., how your meta account is related to your Facebook profile outside meta, not inside. This really doesn't seem to be getting to the meat of the matter. Your neighbor and family may not know that "John Smith" on Facebook is "mariofan#1" playing VR games and "naughty69" doing VR porn, but meta sure will.
- go_elmo 4y agoBlock third party cookies and youre good, no? Havent seen personalized ads in years and the only sites not working are the ones Im not using anyways.
- lancewiggs 4y agoBut at least we won’t be required to create a FB account, and if the new Meta account is on a independent gaming computer then….. Oh who are we kidding. We just can’t trust Meta/FB.
- mark_l_watson 4y agoSince I still login to Facebook at least once a month to see what my family is doing, I see no reason for me to switch. If I was starting with a new device with no prior purchases of entertainment content, then I would create an Oculus account. For me, Oculus is the one really great thing about Meta/Facebook. It is my favorite toy.
- D13Fd 4y agoI'm still disappointed that Facebook bought Oculus. I was a big Oculus Rift user, but I switched to a Valve Index when Facebook got involved. I don't want Facebook monetizing my data and my gaming life. It sucks because the Valve software just isn't anywhere close to being as good. And they haven't shown any meaningful signs of improvement in the last two years. I don't think they are ever going to get it like Oculus used to. I think they'll eventually decide VR is not worth it because of a lack of user engagement, when in reality the problem is that no one wants to constantly fight with Valve's obstinate software just to play VR games.
- mark_l_watson 4y agoThanks for the info. I just checked out the Valve Index. I don’t think it woks with my MacBook, but it looks like a promising product. I will try to remember to check them out in the future.
- camdat 4y ago> I don't want Facebook monetizing my data and my gaming life. Do you use the Steam store? It's related "recommendation" queue? Is that not an example of Valve monetizing your data/gaming habits?
- D13Fd 4y agoTo my knowledge Steam/Valve is in the business of selling games, not monetizing my personal info by selling it to third parties.
- somehnacct3757 4y agoThe problem isn't that you need a Facebook account, it's that Meta owns Oculus at all. Call the account whatever you want; if I'm a record in any of Meta's databases then I expect to be linked to a shadow profile and surveilled for their profit. The only control I have over the situation is to never agree to any ToS relationship with Meta. There's literally nothing they can do to change this short of selling Oculus to someone else. The day Meta bought Oculus they killed the platform for privacy-conscious webizens. I say this as someone who would love to try the Soda Island VR experiences and often lament the acquisition.
- impulser_ 4y ago"they killed the platform for privacy-conscious webizen" They are okay with this, because that a VERY small portion of the population. Most people couldn't care less about what a company does with their data as long as they provide a good product.
- somehnacct3757 4y agoWe have over a year of data now from Apple's app tracking transparency feature. Only 25% of users have opted in and the trend line is not promising. I think the HN crowd is way ahead of the curve on this topic, but still a good indicator of global sentiment.
- belval 4y agoThere is a difference between "Do you want to be tracked" and "Would you be willing to pay more for a headset that is not made by Facebook". If privacy is free, people will take it. If privacy adds 100$+ to the price tag, people will still pick the cheaper option every time.
- somehnacct3757 4y agoPeople may remove the choice from themselves by supporting data privacy laws. I think if privacy laws were to be made that restrict what data the Oculus can snoop, Meta wouldn't raise the price to compensate. They would sell or shelve the entire Oculus brand and endeavor. VR has little value to Meta other than a way to sneak cameras and microphones into your home. If you've seen what the Kinect could do a decade ago with IR cameras, the Oculus has those. The Kinect could monitor your heart rate in real time and track multiple bodies. Nobody will be thinking about the Oculus when they pass the laws, but they may be thinking about Echos and Nest cams and pass laws to restrict audio and video snooping. So Oculus is along for the ride even at its current level of irrelevance.
- agentultra 4y agoAh cool, they're going to use your Oculus account to open a Meta account for you. How convenient.
- jobigoud 4y agoIt's not automatic, you have to do it manually. If you don't the device won't work anymore. > After January 1, 2023, you’ll need to set up a Meta account to continue using your VR device. When you update your Oculus account to a Meta account, the Supplemental Meta Platforms Technologies Terms of Service and Supplemental Meta Platforms Technologies Privacy Policy will apply to you.
- xigency 4y agoI’m really hoping the open source implementations can catch up. As it stands, I’ve sidelined my VR headset until I can get it working without the Oculus software at all. Privacy is just too important for me - why would I want to visit a virtual world just to have all of my activity stalked by Meta of all companies.
- Cameri 4y agoNewAccount.source = Meta SameOldTableOfAccounts.add(NewAccount)
- kache_ 4y agoMeta/Facebook is actually a good company, and I trust them. They're really clear about how they use your data, and as far as I can tell (being a FANG worker), you can trust what they say about data usage In fact, I'd trust them with my data more than a bank (competency is more important)
- theplumber 4y agoUpdate 2023: now a facebook account is required!
- Overtonwindow 4y agoI’ve had one just laying around since they announced this. I have an updated or anything. Still not quite trusting Facebook…
- saos 4y agoJust waiting for Apple to enter VR market and pull market share from Facebook Oculus
- micromacrofoot 4y agoguess their find & replace "Facebook -> Meta" task completed
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- gpmcadam 4y agometa (heh): can’t view this page without accepting all cookies, including Facebook ad ones, which it says you can control on your cookie settings page (404 link) but if you don’t have a Facebook account you can’t access
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- gaws 4y agoEasy solution: Never spend money on a Meta product.
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- stuaxo 4y agoToo late.
- ilrwbwrkhv 4y agoSteam valve VR headset all the way. Not touching one thing from Facebook.
- unboxingelf 4y agoSo this is the long awaited promise to use oculus with a facebook account? What a joke.
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- terrycody 4y agoThis is really a big move from Meta, and very right one. Consider how many countries can't directly use Facebook, they had to use a VPN to first login Facebook, then the headsets, its ridiculous. Many novice users have even no idea what is a VPN, so they have to put away the headsets just bought from the online. I heard many stories of this, now finally changed. Good job Meta!