Oculus Quest users will soon be able to create and collaborate on 3D mind maps and diagrams with Noda, a new creative and productivity app coming to the Oculus Store for Quest later this month.
Noda has been available on PC VR platforms for almost a year now, as well as on Quest via sideloading on SideQuest since January. However, the mind mapping application will now launch on the official Quest store sometime this month.
There’s support for both single-player and multiplayer modes, allowing you to work alone on something or bring in others to collaborate together. While other collaborative work apps cast a wide net and give users multiple virtual office features to play with, Noda is trying to capture a specific market — mind mapping and 3D flow diagrams. As you can see in the trailer embedded above, Noda lets you create a 3D space with ideas all around you, displayed with text, images shapes and links between different elements.
For those who benefit from visual learning, mind maps are a good way to quickly build a database of new ideas or links between existing ones. Given that VR is often cited as a way to increase presence and retention, it’s fair to say that Noda might provide an even stronger connection to new ideas than simply creating a 2D mind map.
It’s likely this version of the app will be free to download, but the Oculus Store page does list a in-app subscription that will be available at $4.99/month. This subscription model is listed as “Noda Plus” and gives you access to premium features such as speech to text, unlimited maps and different environments. With that in mind (and given that the Steam version is available for free on PC VR with an optional one-time premium upgrade), it’s likely that Noda will be free to download and use with limitations, requiring a subscription to unlock its full capabilities.
According to the Oculus Store listing, there’s no specific release date yet for Noda except for July 2021, so keep an eye out later this month.
