During a pandemic（COVID-19）, it is important to maintain social distancing.
Recent incidents have raised some concerns about how to use VR devices safely, and more specifically, how to disinfect your VR headset.
We take this very seriously and have compiled some of the most frequently asked questions around practical hygiene recommendations for your convenience.
Oculus, the company manufacturing the Oculus Rift S and the Quest, encourages users to refer to their Health and Safety guidelines and the CDC guidance for general directions on cleaning and disinfecting. We recommend the following steps:
- Wash or sanitize your hands before and after training in virtual reality. Wash your hands and/or use hand sanitizer before and after using and cleaning VR hardware.
- Sanitize the VR headset and controllers before and after each use. You should ensure that the headset and controllers have been wiped down with antimicrobial wipes before and after each use. Oculus recommends non-alcohol-based sanitizers. However, we have found that in practice that this does not seem to have any negative consequences. If you are not sure it’s been cleaned properly prior to use, be sure to do it yourself.
- Use a dry microfiber cloth to clean your headset’s lenses.
Do you recommend any specific products for safe use?
Based on what is currently known, we believe taking the above measures will be sufficient. If you are curious about further steps you can take to mitigate risk, here are two additional things you can try:
1. Disposable VR Masks. Disposable covers such as these are perfect for keeping your virtual reality headset clean and protected for everyone who use it. Each mask is single-use. It is fitted over the ears and across the eyes before placing a virtual reality headset on and ensures that everyone gets a fresh VR experience every time, plus they’re pretty affordable.
2. Non-porous Face-foam. After-market face masks that are non-porous are available and easier to clean than the standard face-foam that comes with your hardware.
These are just a few observations and it is important that you define with your team what protocols you might need to put in place to clean your VR equipment or what measures may need to be added to keep employees and players safe.