The Meta Quest 2 VR headset comes equipped with a variety of skill-building apps designed to teach users how to operate the hand controllers and navigate through the digital realm. These games are fun and help build confidence for individuals new to the virtual reality experience via a headset.
"Everything is more fun, if you know how to do it!"
First Steps - Learn the Power of Meta Quest 2 Virtual Reality
Learn Before you Play
Like any electronic game, using the Meta Quest 2 Virtual Reality Headset can be frustrating if you don’t know how to use the controllers.
Many years ago, I spent time with a young teenage nephew attempting to teach me how to play Mario Brothers on his Sony PlayStation. We both agreed that I was terrible, and couldn’t seem to get my character to move in the right direction. I jumped when I meant to kick and kicked when I went to jump. After about fifteen minutes, we both lost patience, and it was over ten years before I attempted a PlayStation game again.
The makers of the Meta Quest 2 VR Headset understand that. To help users get comfortable in the virtual world as quickly as possible, they created a game “training tool” called First Steps and included it with every Meta Quest 2 headset purchase.
Begin the Journey
When you enter First Steps, you may feel like you have entered an alternate universe. But in truth, it’s a highly imaginative training tool.
You will learn the skills needed to manipulate items in the virtual world. The game will teach you how to push buttons and pick up cartridges to place in gaming slots. There’s a tether ball to knock around and a paper airplane that always comes back after you throw it. These are just a few fun ways you will learn to use your virtual hands.
If a youth or adult wants to try my Meta Quest 2 headset, I insist they play this free game first. It comes preloaded in the headset and perfectly introduces Meta’s VR world.
My younger users picked up the skills quickly, but even older people like my husband and I soon got on our virtual reality footing. – The virtual body doesn’t have feet, but you get what I mean.
Virtual Reality Special Effects
As you enter the app, the music begins to swell. Your senses are overwhelmed with an ever-shifting light show as neon stars explode like fireworks.
Suddenly, you are in a tree-filled glade where a pink waterfall plunges into a pond below. The scene shifts, and you find yourself underwater with a huge whale of sparkling pink and purple crystals floating above your head.
Now, you are on a balcony overlooking a brightly colored cityscape. Next, the scene shifts to a pier stretching into a lake where sailboats glide, and hot air balloons float overhead.
Just as you catch your breath, the scene has changed once more. You are sitting at a spacious desk while a narrator provides brief instructions on using the controllers you are holding.
And to make sure you understand completely, a series of toys appear before you to grasp, drop, and throw.
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First Hand - Explore Augmented Reality in the Meta Quest 2
A Digital Overlay on Your Physical World
Once you have mastered First Steps, I suggest moving on to the Meta Quest First Hand VR game. This second-level training app created by Oculus builds upon the skills you learned in First Steps. First Hand widens your experiences, teaching you how to move freely where you wish while solving a series of puzzles.
When you start the game, a large piece of equipment drops onto the floor next to your chair. You can see the real room around you, which makes the incredibly realistic-looking digital machine that appears by your side even more surprising.
Drone-like robots, floating orbs, and swirls of talking lights are just a few of the characters you interact with in this game. I felt like I was a part of one of Disneyland’s attractions. Can you tell that I had fun?
The 360-degree scenes are highly detailed.
Oculus cleverly designed the game. It includes more advanced skills like moving from place to place, negotiating obstacles, and jumping from one platform to another.
First Hand Summary
The storyline includes a series of tasks that you, the creator, must complete to save your creations. It includes a large virtual world that can be explored at your pleasure. Once again, I would highly recommend this follow-up training for anyone entering the virtual world for the first time.
These are not the only training apps available in the Meta Quest Virtual Reality Headset, but in my experience, completing them will make the rest of your virtual experiences more natural, whether you play games, watch the Oculus VR TV or enjoy immersive Virtual Reality Travel.
UPDATE – Meta Quest 2 just released another free game to practice virtual reality skills. This new game, Oculus First Contact, lets you play with even more 3D objects in an immersive space lab.
More information to come.
If you have played either First Steps or First Hand, or if you have other tips and tricks to help new Meta Quest users gain confidence and experience moving about the virtual world, I’d love to hear from you. Please use the comment box below!
