Facebook made a major announcement this week, and it didn’t have anything to do with its core services. Instead, Mark Zuckerberg took the stage at Oculus Connect 5 to introduce an entirely new virtual reality headset. Oculus, which Facebook acquired in 2014, developed an all-in-one VR system that doesn’t need wires for premium performance.
The Quest, as Facebook explains, is the “VR experience everyone’s been waiting for.” Seriously, we believe it. Oculus and Facebook are on the verge of releasing a groundbreaking product.
Expect the Quest to be a game-changer for VR. It removes all the barriers that prevented immersive experiences from achieving mainstream success. Rather than connecting to a computer, the Quest relies on in-house components to drive apps, games, and videos.
Here’s all you need for the Quest to work:
With the Quest, you don’t need a separate computer, wires, or sensors. The Quest uses built-in components to operate. Here, you have six degrees of freedom as well as 1600×1440 display resolution per eye. Oculus has the Touch controllers paired, too.
Oculus already made a wireless VR system, but Go isn’t prepared for demanding games. It’s more of an alternative to Samsung’s Gear VR, which Oculus co-created, and Google’s Daydream View. Look at the Quest as a Rift but without wires.
So far, there are more than fifty titles lined up for the Quest. Oculus says that existing made-for-Rift games will be available on its new model as well. Between them, the level of gameplay should be identical while the Quest’s users benefit from expanded mobility.
When it goes on sale in the spring, Oculus will sell the Quest for $399. That’s an incredible price for a VR system that doesn’t need any additional help to run graphic-intense content.
