HP Reverb G2 & Co: New driver makes Windows VR glasses usable again
A new driver brings back the VR glasses from HP, Samsung, Acer and Lenovo that were rendered unusable by Microsoft. However, there are restrictions.
After the end of Windows Mixed Reality support, VR glasses from Lenovo, Samsung, Acer, Medion and HP became unusable.
(Image: Microsoft)
With the launch of Windows 11 version 24H2, Microsoft cut support for its Windows Mixed Reality ecosystem and thus as well for a whole range of VR headsets from numerous partners such as HP, Samsung, and Lenovo. Now, an unofficial driver called “Oasis” is about to be released, which should make these devices usable again with SteamVR. Developer Matthieu Bucchianeri, who used to work for Microsoft's mixed reality team himself, confirmed on GitHub and Reddit that the global release is planned for August 29, 2025 – provided Valve approves the entry in the Steam store.
The Oasis driver works independently of the now discontinued mixed reality portal and, according to Bucchianeri, offers full 6DoF tracking including support for motion controllers. The aim is to make Windows mixed reality headsets usable for OpenVR and OpenXR applications again, i.e., primarily for SteamVR. Oasis is focusing on native integration in SteamVR. Unlike projects such as Monado, which recreate alternative runtime environments, Oasis uses Valve's existing infrastructure directly.
On his GitHub page, Bucchianeri states that he has overcome many technical hurdles in recent months. For example, the developer fixed head and controller tracking bugs, optimized distortion profiles and integrated the eye-tracking function into the HP Reverb G2 Omnicept Edition. Cosmetic adjustments such as the display of controller models or adjustable brightness, color channels and field of view parameters are also included. Initial passthrough functions are also integrated. However, these only work monocularly and are currently still experimental. According to Bucchianeri, a complete room view is planned but not yet available at launch.
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Oasis only works with Nvidia GPUs
However, there are significant limitations in terms of hardware compatibility: Oasis only works with graphics cards from Nvidia. The reason for this lies in the way SteamVR communicates with the GPU. According to Bucchianeri, only Nvidia can implement the necessary direct mode correctly. There is no working solution for AMD or Intel. The developer had already sent AMD an executable version of the driver in June but has not seen any progress. He now speaks of a “dead project” in terms of AMD support. The situation is even clearer for Intel users: SteamVR does not offer direct-to-display support on these GPUs.
Oasis is being released without Microsoft's involvement. According to Bucchianeri, the project does not violate any internal guidelines or NDAs and does not use any of the company's proprietary software. Oasis is a purely private project, he emphasizes. The return of mixed reality headsets to SteamVR should be welcome news for owners of older devices such as the HP Reverb or Samsung Odyssey. Since the official drivers were discontinued, operation under Windows 11 24H2 was practically no longer possible. Oasis could significantly extend the service life of this hardware.
(joe)
