Oculus Rift Launching In Q1 2016

An anonymous reader writes: Oculus has announced that their Rift virtual reality headset will be coming out sometime in the first quarter of 2016. They've also posted a couple images of the final consumer headset design. The device was Kickstarted in August, 2012. Consumer-level release dates have slowly slipped further and further out since then, though they've shipped two different development kits. Ars points out that a 2016 launch date will bring the Oculus Rift to market after the Valve/HTC VR headset, and possibly after Sony's Project Morpheus.

Comments

Lost Momentum?

[Anonymous Coward]

I've really been looking forward to this, but the road to release has been so lengthy that I've stopped caring to an extent. While I still think VR will be revolutionary, I feel that revolution is further away than ever. We're likely going to see compatibility issues between the Rift and the Valve headset, which is going to delay things for years to come. Standardised VR is probably years away.

The Facebook buyout also leaves me concerned that I'll need an account to use the Rift, and I most definitely don't want a Facebook account (I don't even want a Slashdot account). When I do buy a VR headset I think I'd be more inclined to go for the Gaben's rather than Zuk's.

Re:Lost Momentum?

[Anonymous Coward]

Announcing a product over four years before they're able to ship it is a much bigger mistake. They've made things very hard for themselves. Trying to keep people interested for that amount of time isn't easy, particularly when they haven't had much to show. Try to attract developers would also be much harder when they didn't known when they product would be released would also be a problem.

You can insult me all you want about my attention span, but it's not me that's the problem. The fact is they fucked up their release. Valve got it right by announcing their product less than a year before it was due to ship.

Re:VR is a fad

[Spamalope]

There is real demand for VR.

There is no demand for a crappy head mounted 3D screen, and little demand for a 3D TV that works only from one angle with special glasses.

Working immersive VR is a winner though. These latest headsets are getting very close for the first time. If this generation doesn't manage it, the next one will. It's VR headset time.

Re:VR is a fad

[Greyfox]

Mack over on Mackscorner on youtube has been playing with an Oculus Rift. Watching his response to that one game, the potential for the technology is amazing, if some company can make one that's not shit. I think that company might actually be Microsoft, based on what I've been hearing. If they can do this right, I'm willing to forgive all previous transgressions. He does one with Subnautica too, which looks freaking amazing (Even without an Oculus.)

If they can get a 360 degree camera into a reasonable form factor (neighborhood of a GoPro,) it would be possible to give people the experience of skydiving, rock climbing, or flying a wingsuit in ways that are significantly more real than just watching a video on youtube. You could actually be there, and look around as if you were the pilot. That would be a game changer both for the audience and for content creators.