Oculus announced a new VR headset today to complete
its first generation of VR headsets. The new Oculus Quest VR headset combines
the best features of the entry-level standalone Oculus Go and the PC-tethered
Oculus Rift.
The Oculus Quest is a standalone headset like the
Oculus Go but offers a similar experience to what you’ll get on the PC-tethered
Oculus Rift. It comes with touch controllers similar to that of the Rift and
provides six degrees of freedom.
Oculus also announced a new technology called Oculus
Insight. This uses a combination of four ultra-wide-angle cameras in the
headset and computer vision algorithms for tracking the user’s exact position
in real time without the need for external sensors.
Since the Oculus Quest has six degrees of freedom,
users can walk and duck and this is replicated in the game. Hugo Barra who is
the CEO of Oculus says the device provides “arena-scale” tracking for at least
400 square feet of space. Oculus has also brought the Guardian System from the
Rift for displaying wall and floor markers so you don’t hurt yourself while
moving around.
Just like the Oculus Go, the Quest has a display
resolution of 1600 x 1440 per eye. It also has built-in speakers but with
deeper bass than that of the Go. The Oculus Quest will be available in Spring
2019 for US$ 399 for the 64GB version with Touch controllers.
The headset will also launch with a brand new Star
Wars VR game called Vader Immortal: A Star Wars VR Series. The game is developed
by ILMxLAB and they are working with popular producer David S. Goyer (The Dark
Knight Trilogy).