Oculus Quest 2 sales are being halted due to an issue with its foam faceplate, but it's not all bad news — all current owners can request a free silicone cover, and the virtual reality headset is getting a serious storage upgrade, too.
As CNET reports, Oculus is introducing a new silicone cover for the Quest 2 headset. The company came to this conclusion after a months-long investigation into reports of face irritation from a small number of people; it has received reports from approximately 0.01% of customers. Reports of this problem have been happening as early as February of this year.
According to Oculus, it conducted a "comprehensive investigation" on the issue to see if the foam face inserts were possibly contaminated with any irritants that may cause the issue. That report discovered nothing of significance outside of "a few trace substances" that could potentially cause skin irritation, but the levels of thos substances were at very low levels. Nonetheless, Oculus refined its manufacturing to further reduce these levels, just to be safe.
Oculus Quest 2 Foam Faceplate Replacement Available for Current Owners
Oculus Quest 2 sales are being stopped for now in a join effort with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, but what about people who already have a headset? Well, the company has that covered, too — it's making a silicone cover available to free around the world.
"The safety and comfort of every customer is our top priority," read an Oculus support page. "As part of this commitment we are now offering a free silicone cover to Quest 2 headset and Quest 2 Fit Pack owners globally."
Current Quest 2 owners can follow the instructions on this support page to request the silicone cover. If you're thinking of buying a new headset, though, you might want to wait — the storage on the $299 model is being upgraded from 64 GB to 128 GB starting on August 24, 2021.
Have you experienced any facial irritation while using an Oculus Quest 2 headset? What do you think of Facebook halting sales for a problem experienced by 0.01% of users? Let us know in the comments below!