Facebook Announces Oculus Go Standalone VR Headset Arriving In 2018 For $199

Facebook has announced Oculus Go, a new standalone virtual reality headset that will work without the need of a smartphone or a PC. The Oculus Go is slated to arrive sometime in “early 2018” and will start at $199.

Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg described Oculus Go on his Facebook page as “the most accessible virtual reality experience” that they’ve ever built. In terms of functionality, the Oculus Go is pretty similar to the Gear VR. Users will be able to spin around in place while wearing the headset, but not walk around freely.

The exterior appearance of the Oculus Go is a bit reminiscent of the Google Daydream View. It’s designed with breathable fabrics and allows users to adjust the straps freely to get the most comfortable fit. The Oculus Go can also be worn even when users are wearing glasses.

The Oculus Go is equipped with a “fast-switch” WQHD 2,560 x 1,440 LCD display, which is supposed to deliver “a dramatic effect” on visual clarity and will reduce screen door effect (visible lines between pixels). The Go also features lenses that have the same wide field-of-view that’s available on the Oculus Rift.

The VR headset also comes with built-in speakers to provide users with integrated audio. Audio performance is also a big deal with the device since it’s capable of delivering spatial sound. There’s still a 3.5mm headphone jack if users want to use their own pair of headphones.

As for actual content that can be viewed using the Oculus Go, it’s compatible with all of the same experiences that are already available on the Gear VR. This means that at launch, Oculus Go users will already have access to more than a thousand VR games, social apps and other 360-degree content.

The Oculus Go will ship with its own small controller. The design is slightly different than the Gear VR’s, but functions almost exact same way. It features a circular touchpad, a couple of buttons and a single trigger.

The development kits for the Oculus Go will be shipping to developers in November. Oculus VR boss Hugo Barra described the device as “hands-down the easiest way for developers to get involved with VR,” according to TechCrunch. The Oculus Go is binary compatible with the Gear VR, meaning developers that are already using the latest Mobile SDK, or the latest Unity or Unreal game engines, can run their apps on the new VR headset without any modification.

In addition to announcing the standalone Oculus Go VR headset, Facebook gave an update on the development of its high-end wireless VR headset, Project Santa Cruz. The company revealed the latest Santa Cruz prototype and now it looks pretty similar to the consumer version of the Oculus Rift, according to The Verge.

The new prototype also includes a new pair of controllers. These controllers are being tracked by sensors on the Santa Cruz VR headset and allows “inside-out tracking.” Project Santa Cruz was first announced by Facebook last year and now its developer version will finally start shipping sometime in 2018.

Facebook’s goal with the Santa Cruz headset is to deliver a high-end VR experience without the need to plug it into a PC. The company also wants to get rid of external sensors for tracking the wearer’s movements, which is why it’s developing this inside-out tracking technology.