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posted by martyb on Friday July 14 2017, @01:49PM   Printer-friendly
from the a-rift-in-the-market dept.

Bloomberg reports that Oculus (Facebook) will unveil a standalone VR headset that does not require a tether or smartphone:

Facebook Inc. is taking another stab at turning its Oculus Rift virtual reality headset into a mass-market phenomenon. Later this year, the company plans to unveil a cheaper, wireless device that the company is betting will popularize VR the way Apple did the smartphone.

Currently VR hardware comes in two flavors: cheap headsets that turn smartphones into virtual reality players (like Samsung's $130 Gear VR) and high-end gaming rigs (like Facebook's $400 Oculus Rift) that hook up to $1,000-plus desktop computers. Facebook's new headset is designed to bridge the gap -- a device that will sell for as little as $200 and need not be tethered to a PC or phone, according to people familiar with its development. It will ship next year and represent an entirely new category.

Like current Oculus products, the new headset will be geared toward immersive gaming, watching video and social networking, said the people who asked not to be named to discuss a private matter. Code-named "Pacific," the device resembles a more compact version of the Rift and will be lighter than Samsung's Gear VR headset, one of the people said. The device's design and features aren't finalized and could still change, but the idea is that someone will be able to pull the headset out of their bag and watch movies on a flight just the way you can now with a phone or tablet.

Even $400 is not low enough.

Also at TechCrunch and The Verge.

Previously: Google Partnering With HTC and Lenovo for Standalone VR Headsets


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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 14 2017, @03:16PM (2 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday July 14 2017, @03:16PM (#539142)

    so instead you'll spend your life in your parents basement eating cheetos and chugging energy drinks?

    walk
    get out in the sunlight (with sunscreen)
    notice that there is a big world out there, you know, trees and stuff.

    it will suck at first, but you will start to feel better about yourself

  • (Score: 2) by wonkey_monkey on Friday July 14 2017, @03:34PM

    by wonkey_monkey (279) on Friday July 14 2017, @03:34PM (#539154) Homepage

    get out in the sunlight (with sunscreen)

    Is that an app?

    --
    systemd is Roko's Basilisk
  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 15 2017, @12:28AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday July 15 2017, @12:28AM (#539412)

    I went outside just this week. Driving a car no less! You know what I discovered?

    There are a few hundred extra cameras up since the last time I drove around town. All recording everything I do. That is not including all the ones in the businesses, and everywhere else.

    While it may be 'public', I can now have *NO* semblance of privacy or belief that my wanderings around town won't be recorded and potentially logged somewhere for whoever it benefits to have them.

    From that point of view, I understand why many people would choose to eat cheetos and live in their parents basements, before including their social repugnance, or lack of interest in outside society. We've become a sick sick society in the past 30 years, and I expect it will only get worse in the next 30.