Oculus launches Quest standalone VR headset, eyes mixed reality future
- by Terri Haynes
- in Sci-tech
- — Sep 29, 2018
Facebook has announced an all-in-one VR gaming system called Oculus Quest.
'This is the wireless virtual reality experience we have been waiting for, ' Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg said as he unveiled the new hardware and reaffirmed Facebook's commitment to virtual reality. Speaking of the future, Oculus also announced that the Quest is capable of mixed reality.
Oculus VR has confirmed a Spring 2019 launch date for the Oculus Quest, with United States pricing set at $399 - likely to translate to £399 in the UK, inclusive of Value-Added Tax. As for visuals, the Quest uses the same screens as the Oculus Go, coming in at a resolution 1600 by 1440 per eye.
"I think this brings console quality gaming and experiences to a price point that previously wasn't possible", Sag said.
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Concluding the statement, Rosen said that "people's privacy and security is incredibly important, and we're sorry this happened". Once logged back in, affected users will see a notification at the top of News Feed alerting them to the incident.
The stand-alone device, which evolved from Facebook's "Santa Cruz" prototype headset, will be compatible with existing Oculus software and looks to improve the portability and range of motion tracking for VR experiences.
Why it matters: Oculus and Facebook have been trying for years to convince consumers that VR is the next big computing platform, but the market for the technology is still tiny. It's fairly cheap too, starting at $399 for the 64GB model that comes with Oculus Quest and two Oculus Touch controllers.
But what's unclear is whether enterprise developers will be looking at Oculus headsets for corporate use cases.
Oculus Quest could be a game changer for VR; it does away with the need to set up external sensors around you to track movement. There is also a Star Wars game on the way that focusses entirely on Darth Vader. There will be more than 50 games available at launch including popular titles like Robo Recall, Moss and The Climb. This should mean, once hardware requirements have been factored in, most Oculus Rift games make the jump over to Oculus Quest. The fine print at the bottom of the press release states that "Oculus Quest has not been authorized as required by the rules of the Federal Communications Commission".
