spatialcomputing.info

Microsoft stopped supporting its WMR platform on Windows 11 last year, essentially putting an end to its first foray into PC VR headsets. However, an unofficial SteamVR driver called ‘Oasis’ aims to bridge the gap when it releases later this month.

According to Oasis creator Matthieu Bucchianeri, the driver’s tentative global release date is August 29th, which he notes is subject to Valve approving release on Steam.

Oasis is slated to bridge Windows Mixed Reality headset support to SteamVR, which would otherwise need Microsoft’s Mixed Reality Portal to function. This, Bucchianeri says in the project’s GitHub, will include support for full 6DoF tracking along with motion controllers.

As for broad GPU support, Oasis is unfortunately restricted to Nvidia GPUs due to the way SteamVR interfaces with the GPU drivers. Bucchianeri has been trying to gain AMD’s permission, although at this point, he says the effort is “dead in the water.”

Bucchianeri says in a Reddit post this essentially comes down to AMD either “ignor[ing] 3rd party usage flag when LiquidVR attempts to open the device [, or offering] a functional EDID override so we can mask off the flag ourselves.”

Last October, the company deprecated the WMR platform with the launch of Windows 11 24H2, essentially killing support for a fleet of partner PC VR headsets, which included devices from Acer, Asus, Dell, Lenovo, HP, and Samsung.

Notably, Bucchianeri worked as a software engineer on Microsoft’s mixed reality division. While he currently leads firmware efforts at the company’s Xbox Gaming Devices Ecosystem, Oasis is a personal project.

Bucchianeri notes it doesn’t breech any prior non-disclosure agreements, leverages SteamVR, and doesn’t borrow any Microsoft intellectual property.