Consumer-ready Oculus Rift VR headset will ship early next year

[Jos]

Almost 3 years after it Kickstarted its first developer kit and rekindled the industry’s interest in virtual reality, Oculus has finally announced a launch window for the finished, consumer version of its Rift headset. The device will ship in the first quarter of 2016 with pre-orders opening later this year.

According to the announcement on the Oculus blog, the finalized headset will be based on the Crescent Bay prototype, building upon its "presence, immersion, and comfort." It’ll feature an improved tracking system that accommodates seated and standing experiences, as well as a highly refined industrial design and updated ergonomics for a more natural fit.

The company didn’t delve into specific features and technical details but says it plans to do so with a series of posts in the weeks ahead. First up will be hardware specs, coming next week, followed by more information on software, input and many unannounced made-for-VR games and experiences.

The latter will no doubt be a major focus for Oculus given the gaming talent that has joined the company in the past few months, including Doom creator John Carmack, Naughty Dog co-founder Jason Rubin, and the former head of Valve’s Steam Jason Holtman. For now, we’re only told the Rift will ship with "compelling content, a full ecosystem, and a fully-integrated hardware/software tech stack designed specifically for virtual reality."

The Oculus Rift raised more than $2.4 million through its Kickstarter campaign in August 2012. Since then, the company received a few rounds of funding and was later acquired by Facebook in 2014 for $2 billion. 

Its success jumpstarted a bigger community around VR which now includes the likes of Sony with the Morpheus and an HTC-Valve collaboration on the Vive. Both have commercial release dates;  Sony's headset, designed for the PlayStation 4, will be released in the first half of 2016, while the HTC Vive will be coming out by the end of this year. Meanwhile Razer is getting in on the game too with an open source kit that’s set to launch sometime in 2015.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/60589-consumer-ready-oculus-rift-vr-headset-ship-early.html

 

[noel24]

First - does it support prescription lenses, second - compatibility with existing and future games, and last but not least, price UNDER the cost of decent gaming FHD LCD ($250 ?), then we will talk. If not, it's probably gonna and up like 3D, Kinect or other gadgets that failed to deliver to the masses.

 

[IAMTHESTIG]

That is good news... I can't wait to get my hands on one.

 

[WangDangDoodle]

I've read something about Sharp making 5.5" screens with 4K resolution next year, sporting 806 pixels per inch density. Perhaps this is what they're waiting for before starting production? I'm thinking Oculus Rift will get pretty expensive. I just hope it comes without some ridiculous Facebook integration on the software side.

 

[9Nails]

I've read something about Sharp making 5.5" screens with 4K resolution next year, sporting 806 pixels per inch density. Perhaps this is what they're waiting for before starting production? I'm thinking Oculus Rift will get pretty expensive. I just hope it comes without some ridiculous Facebook integration on the software side.

That's some amazing density! And when magnified to a 50 foot screen like the Oculus would, it will go a long way to removing that screen door effect.

I've already said, "Shadup and take my money!" In anticipation for this, I've ordered and played with Google Cardboard-like product. One which allowed me to set focus depth. It was very entertaining. But my cell phone heated up the unit quite a bit. I'm curious of Oculus has had similar problems with heat.

 

[LNCPapa]

I currently have 2 DK2s and a GearVR - and I can tell you the difference of going from 1920x1080 to 2560x1440 is pretty significant in the same amount of space. If we're really getting 90fps/hz performance out of this as rumored I'll be very happy with this when it arrives. I'm also looking to get my hands on a Vive. The only problem is some things will take 4 Titan X's to get 90 fps at 2560. It takes quite a bit more horsepower to deliver good frame rates to the DK2 than a traditional 1080p display.

 

[guyver1]

If it doesn't have a feature to flip up the visor or a button that turns on an external camera so I can briefly see my keyboard to type in any in-game chat then its bordering on useless for any current online multi-player game.

I play Arma3 EpochMod and DayZ mainly, if I can't type in chat quickly and easily then it doesn't matter how immersive it is, its useless for the purpose.

I've never seen any output from Oculus that addresses that most basic and simple situation.

 

[WangDangDoodle]

I'm curious of Oculus has had similar problems with heat.

I haven't even considered the fact that this thing might produce heat, as of course it will... being a dual monitor with all kinds of chips and tech. I just wonder how hot it gets. I wouldn't want to sit around sweating all day.

Btw, does anyone know how this thing handles V-Sync? I'm so sick of these 60Hz monitors and the choppy V-Sync. Even though Oculus Rift is (apparently) 90Hz, it's still going to be choppy unless they've integrated G-Sync/Freesync or some such.

I don't think I'm getting a first generation VR headset. The tech doesn't seem mature enough.

 

[Skidmarksdeluxe]

Assuming it doesn't remain a niche thing it's about a decade to soon for me to consider one. I'll wait until they've gone through a few generations first, by then they'll be cheaper and a helluva lot better.

 

[Puiu]

First - does it support prescription lenses, second - compatibility with existing and future games, and last but not least, price UNDER the cost of decent gaming FHD LCD ($250 ?), then we will talk. If not, it's probably gonna and up like 3D, Kinect or other gadgets that failed to deliver to the masses.

you won't see it for under 300$. realistically we're looking at a 350-400$ product (300-340 if they sell it at a loss), although I would be happy to be proven wrong.

 

[LNCPapa]

Considering the DK2 was 350 with lower performing scavenged parts I'm betting the CV release will be around 350 as well. Also, not much heat is generated on the Oculus Rift compared to the GearVR because none of the data processing is happening within the display - it has to be tethered to a computer with only a portion of the positional data being handled by the unit itself. The other part of the positional data is also handled by the PC and the IR camera that you connect to it.

 

[Puiu]

I'm curious of Oculus has had similar problems with heat.

I haven't even considered the fact that this thing might produce heat, as of course it will... being a dual monitor with all kinds of chips and tech. I just wonder how hot it gets. I wouldn't want to sit around sweating all day.

Btw, does anyone know how this thing handles V-Sync? I'm so sick of these 60Hz monitors and the choppy V-Sync. Even though Oculus Rift is (apparently) 90Hz, it's still going to be choppy unless they've integrated G-Sync/Freesync or some such.

I don't think I'm getting a first generation VR headset. The tech doesn't seem mature enough.

the heat from the phones doesn't come from the screen, it comes from the CPU. the oculus lacks a CPU/GPU so it won't heat up.

 

[IAMTHESTIG]

You can't really compare this to a traditional monitor. So saying if it isn't cheaper than a decent gaming monitor is rather shortsighted. You have to remember the lenses cost money too, quality glass isn't cheap.

Honestly I'm surprised by how many of you are tearing this thing apart. It is new tech trying to get into the mainstream, sure it will need time to mature but the pricing compared to something of this nature 10 years ago is very good.

And who still types/chats in video games? We have VOIP now. Although there are some people you just have to mute.

 

[deemon]

If it doesn't have a feature to flip up the visor or a button that turns on an external camera so I can briefly see my keyboard to type in any in-game chat then its bordering on useless for any current online multi-player game.

I play Arma3 EpochMod and DayZ mainly, if I can't type in chat quickly and easily then it doesn't matter how immersive it is, its useless for the purpose.

No it's not! Buy a headset with microphone and learn to speak! ... typing anything quite frankly breaks any military/RL immersion.... ever seen any military OP or SWAT team SMS-ing eachother notes while running around with guns? seriously...