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WARNING - OPENXR NEEDS YOUR HELP - PLEASE READ AND TAKE ACTION
Since 2024, the OpenXR ecosystem on PC is under attack. What you have all enjoyed as a technology to create a better VR experience is in jeopardy and is at the brink of extinction. This attack is led by Meta, through a piece of software called "OVRPlugin". OVRPlugin is a piece of software (a "middleware") published by Meta for integration to Unity and Unreal Engine. OVRPlugin claims to be an OpenXR middleware, however it violates several fundamental principles behind OpenXR. Meta is using OVRPlugin to preclude developer's content (games) from running through OpenXR on any platform other than theirs. This includes blocking applications from running with Virtual Desktop, SteamLink or ALVR's OpenXR support, even if you have a Meta Quest headset. This includes blocking applications from running on your non-Meta headset's OpenXR runtime as well, such as Pimax, Pico, Varjo, Vive, etc. More and more content has become subject to these unwarranted restrictions in the past year.
Meta is taking away your ability to enjoy OpenXR content on PC unless you are a customer of their Quest Link platform.
YOU MUST ACT NOW to end this hostile take-over and if you wish to continue to benefit from OpenXR and the superior performance and experience that it has provided you on PC.
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If you are a developer, DO NOT CREATE A UNITY/UNREAL PROJECT WITH META'S OVRPLUGIN. Your application/game will not work on anything but Quest Link if you do so. You will exclude thousands of end-users from enjoying your content with OpenXR. See the detailed technical explanation.
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Spread this message. We need as many developers as possible to understand the risks and the damage caused to their content when they use Meta's OVRPlugin. Repost on X, on Reddit, on forums to raise awareness. You can link this technical explanation.
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Reach out to Khronos on social media to denounce Meta's attack. Be sure to mention Meta's OVRPlugin as the culprit. Be sure to remind Khronos that their mission to create a cross-vendor ecosystem is in jeopardy if they do not take action to end Meta's attack through their OVRPlugin. Mention "GitLab issue 2279" and refer to the technical explanation. You can find a list of Khronos' social media presence at the bottom of this page, next to "sign up for our newsletter".
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Refrain from purchasing from Meta. Every dollar that you give Meta is a dollar that Meta is putting to use to obliterate the OpenXR ecosystem on PC. See a game you like? Buy it on Steam or another store. Do not buy it on the Quest store.
IF YOU DO NOT ACT, THE OPENXR ECOSYSTEM ON PC WILL NOT SURVIVE.
VirtualDesktopXR (VDXR) is an open source implementation of the OpenXR standard for Virtual Desktop on Windows. It allows you to run OpenXR applications without SteamVR.
DISCLAIMER: This software is distributed as-is, without any warranties or conditions of any kind. Use at your own risks.
OpenXR is the new standard for developing VR applications. It is the successor of OpenVR (the standard set by SteamVR) and OVR (the vendor-specific interface defined by Meta/Oculus).
OpenXR is not software, it is not something you "install" on your PC. It is not something you "choose to use" with your applications or games. The developer of your application or game chooses whether they will use OpenXR as a standard when developing their application. You, the end user then chooses which implementation of OpenXR you will use on your PC.
How to choose which implementation of OpenXR (or "OpenXR runtime") I should use?
It depends on a lot of things... Here are some pointers below.
- This is the OpenXR implementation from Meta.
- It can only be used with Quest Link Cable/AirLink, it cannot be used with Virtual Desktop.
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It is lightweight but rich in features (hand, face, eye and body tracking)
- Certain features are blocked behind Developer mode, which can be inconvenient for users.
- This is the OpenXR implementation from Valve, which universally works with any headset compatible with SteamVR.
- It can be used with Quest Link Cable/AirLink, Steam Link, Pico Streaming Assistant and Virtual Desktop.
- It is backed by a large ecosystem of applications and utilities, such as fpsVR or OVR Toolkit, many of which are not available outside of SteamVR.
- It has a user-friendly home environment, settings interface and in-game dashboard.
- It is heavyweight (due to all the features above), occupies a large amount of memory and incurs an additional performance overhead.
- It does not support features such as eye tracking or face tracking.
- This is the (new) OpenXR implementation tailored specifically for Virtual Desktop.
- It can only be used with Virtual Desktop (at this time).
- It is designed for gaming efficiency and aims at providing maximum performance.
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It is lightweight but rich in features (hand, face and eye tracking)
- None of the features are hidden from you, even if you are not a developer.
- It is open-source, which means the community can contribute to its development or learn from its implementation.
In a nutshell.
| I want... | I should use... |
|---|---|
| Maximum performance in OpenXR games with Virtual Desktop | VirtualDesktopXR |
| Face and eye tracking in supported applications with Virtual Desktop | VirtualDesktopXR |
| My user-friendly home environment and dashboard | SteamVR OpenXR |
| My utilities such as fpsVR or OVR Toolkit | SteamVR OpenXR |
| To use Quest Link Cable/AirLink | Oculus OpenXR or SteamVR OpenXR |
VirtualDesktopXR works with all headsets supported by the Wireless version of Virtual Desktop.
| Headset | Supported? |
|---|---|
| Meta Quest | Yes* |
| Meta Quest 2 | Yes |
| Meta Quest Pro | Yes |
| Meta Quest 3 | Yes |
| Pico Neo 3 | Yes |
| Pico 4 | Yes |
| HTC Vive Focus 3 | Yes* |
| HTC Vive XR Elite | Yes* |
(*) Not tested by the developer.
See the Application Compatibility page.
VirtualDesktopXR is available through the Virtual Desktop Streamer package.
Head to the Virtual Desktop website and look for the "Wireless version" of Virtual Desktop. Follow instructions to install it, be sure to have version 1.29.7 at least!
Open the Virtual Desktop Streamer application, and under settings, select VirtualDesktopXR as the OpenXR runtime.
If all went well, you can check if an application is using VirtualDesktopXR by bringing up the Virtual Desktop performance overlay and look for the 'Runtime'. If the value reads 'VDXR', then it means the application is using VirtualDesktopXR.
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Make sure VirtualDesktopXR is selected as the OpenXR runtime in the Virtual Desktop settings.
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Make sure your application uses OpenXR! Supporting OpenXR is a decision made by the developers of each application. It is not something you can force an application to do if that application was not developed for OpenXR. There is no universal way to tell whether an application can use OpenXR, see the Application Compatibility page for more information.
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If none of the above helped, you can file an issue or join our Discord to ask for support.
IF YOU DON'T INCLUDE YOUR LOG FILE AND A CLEAR EXPLANATION OF YOUR ISSUE, YOUR MESSAGE WILL BE IGNORED.
Log file can be found under the %ProgramData%\Virtual Desktop folder and is named OpenXR.log. You can copy this string into your File Explorer to be taken directly to the correct folder!
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Thank you!