Oculus has announced its new set of features for the Samsung Gear VR, this time going social with video and games.
The new set of features is called Social Trivia. It will allow users to create a profile, search for friends, and rank VR apps on the Oculus Store, according to ZDnet. Users can make a team with their friends or compete with them for trivia and multiplayer games, which is a similar feature to Xbox Live and PlayStation network. Users will also be able to create rooms within Oculus social, making their avatars available to watch Twitter streams or Vimeo videos in real-time with other groups of people.
But the most essential thing of this social perspective is the introduction of a new Facebook Videos tag to Oculus Video. Users can now connect their Facebook accounts to view the personalized content based on the pages and people they follow. In the future, the VR headset will also feature the Likes and shares.
Among the first Samsung devices that will take advantage of the new feature are Galaxy S7, Galaxy S7 Edge, Galaxy S6, Galaxy S6 Edge, and Galaxy Note 5 and 4. They are the first set of Samsung devices that enable to work with Gear VR and will have the first access.
Moreover, Oculus has also announced a new multiplayer game that will use of some of the new social features, Venture Beat reported. Herobound: Gladiators is a multiplayer co-op adventure game and it is now available in the Oculus Store. Users and their friends can work together to conquer goblins and demons in arena battlefields via the integrated voice chat.
In addition, the Oculus Store content increases in quantity and the need for user reviews beyond 5-star rating system has become more apparent. Oculus decided to introduce written user reviews. Not only is this a great way to leave feedback for other users, it also increases dialogue between users and developers on the VR consumers’ desire.
This decision to move into social is in line with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerburg’s plan to jump into the world of Social VR, competing with others in the marker. This announcement will be one of the many moves to build a community around the Oculus platform.