Stand-alone wireless VR headset... Eureka!

FACEBOOK has dropped a bombshell on the virtual reality world: a $200 (R2 675) virtual-reality headset that doesn’t require wires or a smartphone to work.

The headset could go a long way to helping Facebook get VR into the hands of a “a billion people” – a (time framefree) goal chief executive Mark Zuckerberg set on Wednesday at a developers’ conference hosted by its VR company, Oculus.

The new headset addresses two major problems analysts have said stand in the way of adoption: high prices and a complicated set-up process.

The price of virtual reality headsets has continued to drop, making the technology more accessible. Setting a $200 price for a headset that doesn’t require any additional equipment, however, is a new landmark for the industry.

The Oculus Go is set to ship early next year. It will be able to use all the apps currently available for the Gear VR, the Samsung and Oculus headset that requires a smartphone to work.

Developers will be able to get their hands on Oculus Go in November to make more specialised programmes for it. Like the Gear VR, the Go is designed to be for lighter VR experiences such as 360-degree viewing or short play sessions.

It will also ship with a controller that users can hold in one hand, to point, poke or otherwise interact with the environment around them.

Facebook also announced plans to introduce streaming 360-degree video to Oculus as well as Facebook Spaces, the network’s “social VR” space that Zuckerberg controversially used to virtually tour Puerto Rico earlier this week. – Washington Post