Facebook has announced Oculus Go, which is a standalone VR-headset that does not require a connection to a PC or phone. It will launch in early 2018 for 199 dollars. The original Rift has also become cheaper.
Zuckerberg wants VR to reach 1 billion people
Mark Zuckerberg doesn’t want just your photos and video. He wants your full attention. His vision is to get 1 billion people inside the virtual world by selling them a VR headset.
One important step on the way is a standalone VR headset, Zuckerberg believes. A standalone version has all of the required components built into the headset. This is what Oculus Go represents. It is a VR headset that will sit between the cheap Samsung Gear VR for phones and the more expensive Oculus Rift for the PC.
Oculus Go will launch in “early 2018” and will sell for $199 dollars. To reach this price point Facebook has excluded positional tracking. Oculus Go only tracks your head movement.
The most significant difference, however, is that the OLED display has been replaced by an LCD display with a resolution of 2560x1440 pixels. The early prototypes of Rift used an LCD but the company later switched to OLED, which was described as a breakthrough. It seems that the road to one billion is paved with compromises. You control Oculus Go with a small remote similar to Gear VR’s remote.
Cheaper Rift & Santa Cruz
At the event, Facebook also announced a permanent price drop for the Oculus Rift, which is the original version of the VR headset that is tethered to a PC. It will now cost $399 including controllers.
Rift was launched in 2016 for $799 dollars.
Facebook is still working on getting the full functionality of the Rift into a compact package that does not require a connection to a PC or phone. The project has been dubbed “Santa Cruz” and the first developer’s version should be ready by next year.
