Lately, virtual reality has boomed due to the impressive advances it represents, and the immense range of things people can do with it. On Wednesday, Facebook announced that it developed a new virtual reality system called Oculus Go, which the American company will launch on 2018.
These types of VR are not always embraced by customers due to the high price the companies ask, and because the systems usually need a high-tech computer to work. But, as CEO Mark Zuckerberg said, this device will be the “most accessible VR experience ever” tagged with a $199 price.
Different from the old VR system, the new Oculus Go doesn’t need to be powered by a phone or any other type of computer. The VR has those systems integrated, so people don’t have to be worried to find a powerful, new phone, laptop, or desktop computer – which are usually very expensive.
Facebook also said that the device would include spatial audio instead of headphones. Additionally, the Oculus Go has improved lenses that reduce glare.
Developers will build new apps to make people able to work with both the Oculus Go and the old Gear VR. Zuckerberg also said that this new device would come with other apps that the Gear VR had integrated.
Oculus Go, and Facebook’s new hope
The American company hopes a better response for this new VR after the Oculus Rift headset, which was launched in March 2016. The last VR system wasn’t a hit, and its sales reflected it. Analysts say that this might be the Facebook’s last chance to launch a VR if the public doesn’t appreciate it. According to the analyst that works with IDC, John Delaney, if this VR doesn’t go “mass market at this price point,” Facebook can conclude that “it never will.”
However, the last VR was not extremely expensive – compared with some other virtual reality systems. What people mostly didn’t like was that the $129 Gear VR had to be used along with a high-end Samsung smartphone. Those who didn’t have this phone couldn’t experience the Facebook’s virtual reality.
In fact, Facebook’s CEO admits that the company’s system was not well received. Speaking at Facebook’s virtual reality developers conference in San Jose, Zuckerberg talked about the slow adoption the world has had with VR technology. However, he expects that his company will, one day, be the one gets billions of people into VR.
To achieve that goal, Zuckerberg has to figure a way for people to be able to move while using the premium, standalone VR device. Facebook has not managed that yet.
Facebook’s CEO wants the VR to be a mainstream product, and he will do anything to make it happen. To convince the developers, he told them that all of that represented big new ideas.
“A lot of them seem maybe too crazy or complex at the start,” Zuckerberg said at the conference. “Some people say that VR is isolating and anti-social. I actually think it’s the opposite. We all have limits to our reality. Opening up more of those experiences to more of us – that’s not isolating, that’s freeing.”
Source: BBC