Owners of Facebook devices such as Portal and Oculus VR headsets can now say 'Hey Facebook' to initiate voice commands, making hands-free use of these devices more user-friendly and accessible. A beta version of voice commands has been available for Oculus since last year, but it required activation with a button. Portal has had voice commands from the beginning, but the wake word was 'Hey Portal.' Now users have the new option to activate with too if it's preferred.

Facebook bought Oculus in 2014 when the company had only produced prototype and developer kit versions of its VR headset, but the technology was promising enough and the surge of interest generated from fans commanded attention, signaling that a new era of virtual reality might be on the rise. In 2021, Oculus has produced five versions but has solidified on the Quest 2 as being the solution for all VR needs at present, even discontinuing the PC-dependent Rift S as the Quest 2 can be used with a PC for more demanding games by connecting via the Oculus Link wired connection. Facebook Portal is the company’s video calling solution that included a webcam and monitor for a no-fuss way to interact with family or friends that are less proficient with technology.

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Facebook announced the new 'Hey Facebook' command for activating voice mode on its Oculus VR headsets via the Oculus blog. This sort of command has become somewhat of a standard form of interaction, with Facebook following in the footsteps of other big tech companies that use activation commands like 'Hey Google,' 'Hey Siri,' and 'Hey Alexa.' At the moment, the feature is only available on the Oculus Quest 2 and Facebook Portal, each of which has a different set of subsequent commands available. Also, some initial setup is required before using 'Hey Facebook.' The Portal option was first spotted by The Verge, which noted that the feature hasn’t been tested with Portal yet, but it is listed in Facebook's Portal help documentation.

How To Use Voice Commands On Quest 2

A Facebook Portal device on a cabinet

To enable voice commands on the Oculus Quest 2, users can press the Oculus button on the right controller to open the menu, then under Settings, find ‘Quick Actions’ and select the voice icon, which appears to the right of the muted mic icon and looks like three vertical stripes, with the largest in the middle. Setup options guide the user to enable a shortcut that allows double-pressing the Oculus button to begin a voice command. This feature has been available for some time as an experiment but now appears under the Quick Actions menu. The new twist is that voice commands can now be initiated with a spoken 'Hey Facebook' after that has been set up.

To enable this new experiment, the user can find ‘Experimental Features’ under Settings and switch on 'Hey Facebook' as a wake keyword. The commands available after this change are the same as before, but much more convenient to get to. For example, voice can be used to take a screenshot, open an app or game by name, check if friends are online, open the Oculus browser, or go to the settings. This convenience will be appreciated by users of Oculus VR headsets and perhaps 'Hey Facebook' will feel more familiar to some when using Portal.

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Source: Oculus, The Verge, Portal