Mark Zuckerberg has announced a new virtual reality headset: Oculus Go, a cord-free device designed to "bridge the gap" between powerful PC-connected headsets and portable mobile-powered ones. When it ships early next year, the $199 Oculus Go will be the VR firm's first standalone product.
Speaking at Oculus Connect, the Facebook-owned VR firm's annual developer conference in San Jose, Zuckerberg reaffirmed his commitment to VR, saying, "When we run up against the limits of reality, VR is going to make our reality." His goal, he told the audience, was to bring a billion people into VR.
Affordable VR headsets such as Google's Daydream and Samsung's Gear VR currently need to be powered by a PC or a smartphone. Oculus Go will need neither. The lightweight pale grey headset will have spatial audio and a fast-switch LCD screen that displays at 2560×1440 resolution, an upgrade on the existing Oculus Rift headset, which is more than double the price of the Oculus Go.
Oculus Go development kits will start shipping in November, before a mainstream release early in 2018. New Oculus CEO Hugo Barra called it "The sweet spot between mobile and PC VR."
"We think people are going to spend a lot more time in VR when they get a standalone device," Barra said.
This article was originally published by WIRED UK
