Oculus Quest successor pictured: lighter and brighter

[mongeese]

Something to look forward to: Photographs and official renders of the Oculus Quest’s successor have leaked online. The images depict a device that is noticeably smaller, and seemingly more comfortable, too. It’s also a bit more stylish – is Oculus trying to break out of the early adopter market and go mainstream?

The Oculus Quest is the company’s trojan horse. It was first marketed as a standalone headset, the first at the $400 price point to dodge the need to be plugged into a PC to function. A little while after the device was released, though, Oculus added the option to plug it into a PC to run it like a Rift as well. That, and the innovative hand-tracking, made it a versatile device. Oculus calls it the “all-in-one” headset now.

The new device isn’t entirely unexpected: there have been several unofficial reports, and it makes sense for Oculus to update the device with a focus on the features it found unexpected success with on the original Quest.

New leaks on the Oculus quest 2 from r/OculusQuest

Bloomberg reported in May that the device is a refinement, not an update. Its dimensions and weight are to be reduced by 10-15% to make it more comfortable. The screen’s refresh rate could also be increased to 90 Hz or 120 Hz, up from the 72 Hz it runs at now. However, given that the internal hardware isn’t expected to change drastically, it could struggle to run some games at such high framerates.

Bloomberg’s anonymous sources said that the device was scheduled to release this holiday season but was pushed back to next year because of the coronavirus. A more recent report by the Nikkei Asian Review suggested that the device may be going into mass production soon.

Via WalkingCat.

It’s curious that the new device is white, not black. Oculus’ only previous white device was the Oculus Go, a $200 standalone device they ended up sacrificing for the Quest.

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/86131-oculus-quest-successor-pictured-lighter-brighter.html

 

[VitalyT]

That's right. When you product isn't good, and not selling - try it in different color.

UPDATE

In response to comments that followed...

This thing flying off the shelves isn't a sign that it is good. These days we are seeing alcohol and hemorrhoid pills flying off the shelves just as fast, among other things, to cater for drinking while sitting in front of computer too much.

People spending today has become a bit of an anomaly created by home isolation.

A good VR must be able to deliver at least 120Hz per eye, to avoid sickness, and this thing can only deliver a fraction of that, and makes you nauseous very quickly. This thing remains to be very unhealthy.

 

[Uncle Al]

And I wonder how much they will rip you for a copy ......

 

[Rayneofpayne]

To me this is a mistake while it may look good at first having it being white in practicality is a terrible idea the black has to be cleaned quite often after pistol whip and beat saber the sweat and overall crumminess no matter how cleanly you are will tarnish the headset making it look disgusting.

 

[Rayneofpayne]

That's right. When you product isn't good, and not selling - try it in different color.

What? You do realize both the Quest and Rift S have mostly been out of stock right? So has the Index, Oculus reported 20milion in software sales over the 2019 holiday season. For the price it's real good especially compared to alternatives.

 

[Evernessince]

That's right. When you product isn't good, and not selling - try it in different color.

Except that the quest has been flying off the shelves far before this pandemic was even a thing.

 

[Rayneofpayne]

Except that the quest has been flying off the shelves far before this pandemic was even a thing.

It's a good deal considering what it is, Could it have been better in design? yeah. I have both a Rift S and a Quest as well as a Vive and got lucky and got an Index right before the pandemic struck. Personally speaking, the Quest is nice for the portability, but the Rift S is better if you have a PC with a 1080ti or higher, it's more comfortable and seems to have better tracking, that said they don't compare to the Index in functionality but the setup and beef you need is considerably more, and I have ordered an HP reverb 2 so the jury is out on that one.

 

[texasrattler]

That's right. When you product isn't good, and not selling - try it in different color.

Good or not I always saw it sold out in stores. As far as I can tell it was popular n ppl bought it. And as long as ppl keep buying it more will keep being made.

 

[sreams]

A good VR must be able to deliver at least 120Hz per eye, to avoid sickness, and this thing can only deliver a fraction of that, and makes you nauseous very quickly. This thing is very unhealthy.

Totally disagree. I have a Rift, and the framerate is not an issue whatsoever. What makes one feel sick is smoothly rotating in game while your body is stationary.

 

[Eldritch]

The problem lies not entirely with this headset but also the game design and the concept of standing while you play as well.

The Forbes had a pretty good article on the subject. Excerpt here :

"As a “core” gamer, I’m used to 10 hour linear stories, 100 hour RPGs and thousand hour loot shooters. But these games all feel like…minigames. Fun minigames, but minigames all the same. Gimmicks to show off what you can do in VR, but only baby steps for the concept. I play them for twenty minutes each then get tired of standing or hot from wearing the headset or just plain bored, even if they’re fun initially."
https://www.forbes.com/sites/paulta...ady-starting-to-regret-buying-an-oculus-quest

 

[sreams]

The problem lies not entirely with this headset but also the game design and the concept of standing while you play as well.

The Forbes had a pretty good article on the subject. Excerpt here :

"As a “core” gamer, I’m used to 10 hour linear stories, 100 hour RPGs and thousand hour loot shooters. But these games all feel like…minigames. Fun minigames, but minigames all the same. Gimmicks to show off what you can do in VR, but only baby steps for the concept. I play them for twenty minutes each then get tired of standing or hot from wearing the headset or just plain bored, even if they’re fun initially."
https://www.forbes.com/sites/paulta...ady-starting-to-regret-buying-an-oculus-quest

I agree that much of the content has this problem. But Half Life: ALYX breaks this mold and sets a new standard for VR. Also... anybody that has a sim-racing wheel and Assetto Corsa (or many of the other great driving sims) can tell you how great these games are in VR (no standing!). I don't blame the hardware one bit. What lacks is the content, but I see that changing as the bar keeps getting raised.

 

[EClyde]

"have leaked online" When are people going to stop writing this lie?

 

[aMerkuri]

A good VR must be able to deliver at least 120Hz per eye, to avoid sickness, and this thing can only deliver a fraction of that, and makes you nauseous very quickly. This thing remains to be very unhealthy.

FPS does not make you sick but poor game design does. I own Quest, you should try too before writing nonsense.

 

[scavengerspc]

FPS does not make you sick but poor game design does. I own Quest, you should try too before writing nonsense.

The nonsense is all yours. 90 FPS was the goal from day 1 to help reduce the chance of dizziness and nausea.

The Importance of Frame Rates

"One of the biggest technical challenges of VR is delivering content at a high enough frame rate to accurately "trick" the user into believing he or she is experiencing the external world. Studies have shown that in practice, any VR setup that generates frame rates below 90 frames per second (FPS) is likely to induce disorientation, nausea, and other negative user effects. The lower the frame rate, the worse the effects".

 

[bviktor]

any VR setup that generates frame rates below 90 frames per second (FPS) is likely to induce disorientation, nausea, and other negative user effects.

Lucky for you, this update seems to address that problem.

The screen’s refresh rate could also be increased to 90 Hz or 120 Hz, up from the 72 Hz it runs at now.

HTH.

 

[Evernessince]

The problem lies not entirely with this headset but also the game design and the concept of standing while you play as well.

The Forbes had a pretty good article on the subject. Excerpt here :

"As a “core” gamer, I’m used to 10 hour linear stories, 100 hour RPGs and thousand hour loot shooters. But these games all feel like…minigames. Fun minigames, but minigames all the same. Gimmicks to show off what you can do in VR, but only baby steps for the concept. I play them for twenty minutes each then get tired of standing or hot from wearing the headset or just plain bored, even if they’re fun initially."
https://www.forbes.com/sites/paulta...ady-starting-to-regret-buying-an-oculus-quest

A majority of VR games work perfectly fine sitting.

There are a good chunk of AAA titles in VR nowadays and even some exclusives like Half Life Alyx.

IMO though you don't even particularly need those. Beatsaber isn't a mini game. It has far more of a song library then any guitar hero or just dance title by far. Thrill of the fight is by far the best boxing game I've ever played. Paranormal activity alone is a system seller. Everyone I've demoed that game to they quickly realize how immersive the binaural audio is in VR and either quit because they are too afraid or play through and have a blast.

Are there a lot of smaller games that are overpriced for VR? Yes and that's to be expected given the tech still has a lot of room to grow.

To me it seems like the author of that article bought a standalone VR headset and didn't care to exert himself enough to research the best games for the platform, let alone what's available if he had connected that quest to a PC. Ironically he did mention he had a PC yet didn't seem to realize you can connect the quest to it.

He also said this

" The social aspect of VR is practically non-existent"

Which really made me question his opinion in general. VR Chat is pretty famous and free. Not to mention Bigscreen.

He also mentions a lack of media but you can literally watch any TV Show or video in VR, with the added bonus of being able to watch it in any virtual environment of your choice with or without friends. With the quest you don't even need to take the headset off either as the built in Cameras let you walk anywhere in your house.

The guy was less making a review and more saying "Well it doesn't work like regular consoles so I don't like it!". Wish I could get paid for doing a half-*** job like that.

 

[Puiu]

That's right. When you product isn't good, and not selling - try it in different color.

UPDATE

In response to comments that followed...

This thing flying off the shelves isn't a sign that it is good. These days we are seeing alcohol and hemorrhoid pills flying off the shelves just as fast, among other things, to cater for drinking while sitting in front of computer too much.

People spending today has become a bit of an anomaly created by home isolation.

A good VR must be able to deliver at least 120Hz per eye, to avoid sickness, and this thing can only deliver a fraction of that, and makes you nauseous very quickly. This thing remains to be very unhealthy.

The Quest is a really good headset. While more is better, I didn't have issues with 60/72Hz when I used it at friend's place for about an hour (neitheir several others). I have no idea how Oculus managed to do it.

I cannot find it in any stores because it's such a good headset and people want it. I might just wait for this new version now that we have more details.

 

[Rayneofpayne]

That's right. When you product isn't good, and not selling - try it in different color.

UPDATE

In response to comments that followed...

This thing flying off the shelves isn't a sign that it is good. These days we are seeing alcohol and hemorrhoid pills flying off the shelves just as fast, among other things, to cater for drinking while sitting in front of computer too much.

People spending today has become a bit of an anomaly created by home isolation.

A good VR must be able to deliver at least 120Hz per eye, to avoid sickness, and this thing can only deliver a fraction of that, and makes you nauseous very quickly. This thing remains to be very unhealthy.

Your last paragraph is actually flat out conjecture and false.