Why are you building a comic book reader? Our “grand vision” is a VR space of immersive utilities centered around comfort, focus, and freedom from small screens. We started with a comic book reader because we saw some excitment out of our early prototypes of utilities that we built (e.g., a book reader and Reddit client). In the end, we want to build something that makes a VR headset worth putting on daily.

What is the difference between the demo and the full version of the app? In the demo, you can read one high-quality featured comic for free and read the first ten pages of of your own digital comics. With the full version, you can read from our library of free comics and fully read all of your own comics.

How do I add my own comics? Install the Supermedium companion app to your computer. The app acts as a Plex-like local media server where you point it to your comic folders. They will be magically available to browse, read, and download from your Oculus Quest. No need to configure, the Quest will discover the companion app if they are connected to the same Wi-Fi.

What file formats are supported? .CBR and .CBZ. You can create your own .CBZ files by zipping up a folder of images, and renaming the .ZIP extension to .CBZ. Supermedium supports .PDF as well, making it also a VR PDF reader! Support for adding .epub, and folders of images will come soon.

Is the desktop companion app free? Yes, the desktop companion app can be used for both the demo and the full version. The app is free to download under the demo section on itch.io since that’s the only place to put a free file download on itch.io.

Does the desktop companion app support Mac / Linux? We will support this soon. We have a work-in-progress as we continue to work on the companion app itself.

Can Supermedium read comics from the Quest storage? The desktop companion app is the supported way to wirelessly transfer comics to your Quest storage. You don’t have to plug in a cable or enter developer mode. When a comic is opened in VR, it is downloaded to the Quest, and can be deleted from storage as well from within VR. We will support transfering comics via cable through the companion app, but it will require Quest is in developer mode, which may not be viable long term once we get into the Oculus Store.

Where can I get comics? Comixology Digital comic store with a DRM-free section of thousands of comics

zcomx A large collection of free self-published indie comic books

Digital Comic Museum Thousands of old-school public domain comics free to download

DriveThru Comics The first comic download shop

2000 AD Store for weekly British sci-fi comic magazine

Can you read by picking up the comics with your hands? We are starting with a hands-free “waterfall” style where the comics flow vertically with the thumbstick. We think this is much more natural and comfortable where you can read while laying down and wiggling your thumb. Picking up comics from a bookshelf and manually flipping pages would make use of 6DOF, but we don’t think it’d lend itself to a better core reading experience. An advantage of reading in VR is not having to hold anything up to the face. But we are open to anything.

Is there a side-by-side reading mode? We can add a setting for this. We started with the “waterfall” style because it is a natural reading flow (just scroll down) versus the skeumorphic two-page system which requires more panning back and forth left, right, down, and back up.

Are there full 3D environments? We will eventually add more environments. We started with a relaxing background that gently shifts to match the hues of the comic. Full environments may be distracting or clashing. We are adding dark mode and will add more dynamic abstract backgrounds, even shifting to imported music. Later, environments that are custom to the content.

How does this app make the most of the Quest? We use Oculus compositor layers and tons of optimizations to present the pages of the comic as ultra-sharp and vivid murals, making Supermedium one of the sharpest image rendering VR apps. Better resolution and GPU allows us to continue to push it further. And being untethered is vital to be able to read in bed or on the couch.

Why is there no hand tracking? There is intentionally no hand tracking at the moment until we have a feature that needs it. We are focused on comfort and convenience; by only needing the thumbstick and buttons, Supermedium can be used in bed or on the couch, with arms resting by the side, without needing to stand or wave arms around. This is also good for low light rooms where hand tracking is less stable.

When will this be available on the Oculus Store? We hope we can get in! Leave us a review on SideQuest to help us make the case.