Facebook Inc today launched a new ‘standalone’ virtual reality headset called the Oculus Go at the Oculus Connect event in San Jose. What makes this new VR headset ‘standalone’ is the fact that it does need to be tethered to a computer, like the Oculus Rift that was launched last year. Oculus Go was officially unveiled by Facebook’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg.
Zuckerberg claimed at the event that Oculus Go is extremely lightweight & far more comfortable to wear, thereby making the VR experience more personal & accessible phenomena. The company has also gone for major hardware up-gradation for Oculus Go. This new VR headset comes with Next Generation VR optics that offers significantly reduced glare. Besides, the company has added spatial audio along with built-in speakers and a fast-switch LCD screen that displays images at WQHD 2,560-by-1,440 resolution.
Priced at $199, Oculus Go will cost half the price than its predecessor. However, this new VR headset will start shipping into the market early next year, which means it won’t be available for consumers during this year’s festive season. The low price seems to be driven by the aim of achieving Zuckerberg’s ambitious goal of getting 1 billion people into VR.
Facebook is one of the many big tech companies that are investing heavily in VR industry. The social media giant’s journey into VR began when it bought Oculus for $3 billion in 2014. Since then Zuckerberg has been immensely vocal about making VR a truly mass & global experience.
Most Industry experts believe that the VR or AR headsets will first have to become affordable for achieving mass appeal.