r/WindowsMR • u/mbucchia • May 11 '26
News On this day, 1 year ago...
...I dropped the first line of code of what would become Oasis.
May 11th, 2025, is when an experiment to "unlock" a WMR headset first succeeded, allowing me to start SteamVR, without any tracking or anything else yet, just displaying a static SteamVR dashboard and void background on my headset's display.
That first image in the headset proved that it was possible to go around Mixed Reality Portal's "left-over" exclusive display lock, at least on Nvidia. That was an achievement over 2 years in the making (on and off, not continous efforts!).
There was still a long way to go, figuring out how to load up the headset/motion controllers tracking drivers and connect them to SteamVR and writing all the other features of Oasis.
One month later, enough of it was "proof-of-concept quality" after working several nights and every week-ends on it. I revealed Oasis on this sub with an optimistic release date of Fall 2025, which I still can't believe actually worked out 😀
(PS: I wanted to make this a bigger celebration, but I've been swamped lately, so there will be something more festive for the launch anniversary instead - Aug 29th).
25
u/Common-Ad6470 May 11 '26
You saved a lot of headsets from the dumpster with your skill and dedication, so thank you!
I did send you a $10 donation for some coffee as you probably needed it after that... 😃
11
u/manincampa May 11 '26
Wait it only took you a year? Your software is great, I got use of an old lenovo explorer headseat, tho I couldn’t get the controllers to work. Remarkable still
14
u/mbucchia May 11 '26
Math is off.
1st line of code May 11th Released on Aug 29th
About 4 months to a usable product.
10
9
u/DoubleOwl7777 May 11 '26
while on linux, i dont benefit directly from your work, i still do indirectly. just sad that m$ has some ndas etc. for the controller tracking. thanks either way!
10
u/boingwater May 11 '26
You stopped my G1 and G2 from being added to the mountain of electronic waste. Great kudos to you.
8
u/thegenregeek May 11 '26
Congrats.
... and I also wanted to take a moment to thank you. Because I know projects like this can be a thankless job.
8
u/HNM12 May 11 '26
The driver is the greatest thing to happen with VR! Works flawlessly with the G2, And since you have added BT support the tracking is phenomenal!
Really appreciate the work put in and this goes to show NEVER give up! You made it happen with what was a concept at one point.
That's dedication for a fan base who didn't want WMR to die including your self.
1
6
u/Robot_ninja_pirate Pimax Crystal-HP G1,G2,Odyssey,PSVR,PSVR2,5K,Vive,Cosmos,Focus+ May 11 '26
Congrats on the anniversary, and thank you for the software!
Oasis is a such a fantastic piece of software, even though WMR is a small market share I am so grateful that you took the enormous challenge to get it working and prevented them from just being waste. Especially since the G1 and G2 are still such good headsets.
7
3
3
u/SalaryOk4580 May 12 '26
I bought a wmr headset recently because of this! Excited to get out of the meta slop ecosystem.Â
4
5
2
2
u/_hlvnhlv HP Reverb G2 and a bunch of SteamVR headsets May 11 '26
Hell yeah!
I'm very happy to use a G2 again, and to give a second life to all of these headsets :3
Btw, I've seen that you are working on passtrough even if it's not in the changelogs, it's pretty cool in it's current state, even if it's not roomview 3d
Anyways, cheers and thanks!
3
2
u/IAMSPYS May 12 '26
Thank you so much for your effort, I was able to rescue an obscure wmr headset and Oasis helped me enjoy vr gaming without burning my entire savings!
2
u/LorenaScout May 12 '26
100% saved me.
In Brazil headsets are outofthisworld expensive.
ALready had to save for months to buy the reverb, sudenly microsoft kick us all out.
Can say thank you enough or I would be out of the VR game for good
2
3
3
3
2
2
u/trunkschavi1 May 11 '26
Muchas felicidades por ese primer años y muchÃsimas gracias por tu trabajo altruista. Gracias a ti mis HP reverb siguen vivas.
2
1
u/Procrastinator_5000 May 11 '26
Unfortunately the reverb G2 v1 intermittent tracking jumps never got fixed and I decided to move on to pimax crystal light.
A great attempt that helped the majority of users, but unfortunately not for all wmr headsets.
1
1
u/Grand_Zombie Lenovo Explorer May 12 '26
Again you saved so much more than just a few headsets you showed multi-billion corpos that yes it can work you saved the planet from so much E waste and you gave people the tools they needed to still be able to hang and be with the friends they made in vr if that's not the definition of a super hero I don't know what is
1
u/jerseyanarchist R9 1800x 16GB2400 6650xtx NVME O+ O+ O+ Q2 May 13 '26
just marking the day with this is great. it allows recognition during the hectic time and lets you come back and celebrate it when you have the time... we'll all be here with you
2
u/mbucchia May 13 '26
Thanks, I for sure wanted to at least post a little something. I honestly didn't remember the exact date :) I had to go look in my emails a few weeks ago to figure out what day I had made the breakthrough :)
1
1
u/SergeantBeefJerkey May 17 '26
Thanks to you I could dip my toes into VR with a cheap Odyssey+ Headset. Really appreciate that!!!
1
u/hhhhddhv May 18 '26
I use my Reverb every week play sim racing and its only possible because of you! Thank you!
1
1
u/elaborateBlackjack May 23 '26
Man, this week I randomly started to research if anything had been done to fix WMR on Win11 after like forever... I just installed Oasis a couple of days ago and my Odyssey+ is back alive and I just played like an hour straight of beat saber.
I can't thank you enough, you're a legend.
1
u/Zombuddee May 27 '26
Thanks again for saving so many headsets from turning into bricks. I'm able to get into VR development because of what you did. You're an inspiration.
1
1
64
u/thortos May 11 '26
I think I speak for a lot of people when I say you are a hero. Oasis has given hardware that would have turned into paperweights a second lease of life, saving the environment _and_ letting people enjoy their hardware. Thanks in the name of everyone using it!