For those of you who aren’t aware, or if you’ve been living on Mars. Oculus Rift is a full virtual reality submersive headset that places you into the heart of the action. The idea behind Oculus was initially proposed in a Kickstarter campaign back in 2012. Since then the campaign went on to receive over $2 Million in public funding alone, proving a hit in the community.
There have been several prototypes of the device, the first being the DK1, DK2, Crystal Bay and several others. Although not officially released, you can grab one of the prototypes on E-Bay but they are currently around £350. Currently there are around 180 games that have, or will have Oculus Rift support and these range from Euro Truck Simulator 2, Half-Life 2 and Project Cars just to name a few. So you can see how big the demand for Oculus support really is. We’ve also seen several Indie developers confirming that their games will also support Oculus. So it’s not just going to be restricted to the triple A titles.
However it isn’t just about the gaming, Oculus has also attracted the attention of both the social and industrial sectors. Last year Audi used the device to allow customers to see customisation options before purchasing a vehicle. They also demonstrated what driving the same car on race circuit would be like. Pretty cool idea huh? Soon you’ll be able to go from playing a game, to viewing your next home, before it’s even been built. The possibilities really are endless.
Starting from January 6th, you’ll officially be able to pre-order your very own Rift. Every pre-ordered Rift will come bundled with Lucky’s Tale by Playful, as well as CCP’s EVE: Valkyrie for free.
At the moment there has been no confirmation of pricing, but early estimates put the device between £300-£400. It is likely to become more affordable as the device progresses but for a full virtual reality device, it isn’t that bad.
We were lucky to see and have a play of the device back at Insomnia 55 last year, and even then it felt surreal and you could see the potential straight away. So we look forward to seeing how it matures and progresses going forward.
For more information, you can visit the Oculus Rift Blog here.
