News broke this morning that Facebook's ever growing virtual reality headset Oculus Rift will finally become available to the public as it goes on commercial sale in early 2016. Nate Mitchell, vice president at Oculus VR tweeted " Extremely excited to announce that the Oculus Rift will be shipping Q1 2016! We can't wait to get it in your hands", putting an end to months of speculation about just when we would get to see the virtual reality headset on our shelves.
We got more confirmation after a follow up on the Oculus VR blog, which had this to say about the consumer model: "[the consumer model] builds on the presence, immersion, and comfort of the Crescent Bay prototype, with improved tracking systems that supports both seated and standing experiences, as well as a highly refined industrial design, and updated ergonomics for a more natural fit".
No price tag has been placed on the Oculus Rift as of yet, however pre-orders of the device will become available later this year, so we won't have long to wait until we discover the cost of what could be the next big step in gaming. However, Oculus Rift don't have a complete monopoly over the virtual reality headset concept, with Sony preparing to launch their Morpheus headset during the same period of next year, as well as Valve teaming up with HTC on the Vive VR headset, which will launch later this year. One thing is for sure however, we are entering a new era of gaming, and the Oculus Rift could well be at the forefront of that new era. The Rift is coming.
- Kieran L
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