‘Oasis’ WMR Driver Set to Release This Month, Revitalizing Microsoft’s PC VR Headsets

Alright, so here’s the thing. Microsoft decided to just kinda… walk away from their Windows Mixed Reality (WMR) platform on Windows 11. No more updates, nada. It was like, “Thanks for playing!” And now all those early birds with PC VR headsets are left dodging tumbleweeds. But, wait for it—something called ‘Oasis’ is rolling out soon.

Now, who’s behind this little slice of hope? A guy named Matthieu Bucchianeri. He’s talking about dropping the Oasis driver on August 29th. But hey, it depends on Valve. They gotta give the thumbs up first.

So, what’s Oasis supposed to do? Basically, let those WMR headsets chat with SteamVR without needing Microsoft’s Mixed Reality Portal. It’s like cutting out the middleman. Bucchianeri, over on GitHub, is saying it’ll work with 6DoF tracking and motion controllers. Sounds geeky cool, right?

Here’s the kicker, though. It only likes Nvidia GPUs. It’s like, “AMD who?” Matthieu tried sweet-talking AMD into playing nice, but… nope. He pretty much said on Reddit that AMD’s giving him the cold shoulder, not sharing the love, or the needed flags.

Flashback—last October, Microsoft pulled the plug on WMR with the Windows 11 24H2 launch. A bunch of partner PC VR headsets, from big names like Acer and Samsung, were just left hanging.

What’s funny? Bucchianeri used to be part of Microsoft’s mixed reality team. Now he’s knee-deep in Xbox stuff. Oasis? Totally his side gig. No NDA issues, he says. Just tapping into SteamVR, steering clear of snatching any of Microsoft’s secret sauce.

So, there you have it. Kind of a David versus Goliath situation, or maybe just an enthusiast not letting go of his VR dreams. Fascinating stuff, really. ✨