Today marks an important milestone in Oculus’ history. Five years ago, the brand launched the virtual reality world with Oculus Rift, the first VR headset in a long line of innovative products. We take a look at these five innovative years … and the next five.
It was five years ago. In March 2016, Oculus launched its first consumer VR headset, Oculus Rift, after it was acquired by Facebook two years earlier, in 2014. With Rift, Oculus laid the groundwork for its VR ecosystem. , Which is now a standard in the sector. In December 2016, Oculus continued its success in the sector by launching Oculus Touch, and then in 2018, with Oculus Go, an affordable headphone that has been unfortunately discontinued.
Oculus only returned to shipping in May 2019 with two flagship products, Oculus Quest and Rift S. They especially brought in the “Oculus Insight” tracking technology, which made it possible to exempt the use of external sensors placed in the room in which the wearer was located. The more advanced of the two, Oculus Quest, also brought freedom to the player by choosing the all-in-one format, as it was no longer a matter of connecting their VR headsets with anything. The recipe has improved even more with Oculus Quest 2, launched in October 2020, and it’s more technically successful than its predecessor, and even more affordable.
And that’s without relying on multiple software enhancements, like Oculus Link, allowing you to connect your VR headset to your PC to ten times increase its performance, or even manual tracking, for more natural controls and improved immersion.
What do you expect for the next five years?
In five years, Oculus will have come a long way. And then? On the occasion of its fifth anniversary, the company is revealing a handful of projects over the next five years. In its blog post, Oculus gives us some avenues the company is exploring, including eye tracking, or designing new screens with innovative optics to eliminate the notorious ‘mosquito net’ effect that still exists on many VR headsets. HDR is also a way to make virtual outdoor scenes more realistic, as well as new possibilities for social interactions in virtual reality. One thing is for sure: Oculus still has some good surprises waiting for us until his 10th birthday and beyond!
