Facebook broadening virtual reality’s appeal

SAN FRANCISCO — Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg seems to be realizing a sobering reality about virtual reality: The headsets his company’s Oculus division has been making to put users into artificial worlds are too expensive and confining to appeal to the masses.

Zuckerberg says Oculus will tackle that problem with a stand-alone headset that won’t require plugging in a smartphone or a cord tethering it to a personal computer like Oculus’ Rift headset does.

The new device, called Oculus Go, will cost $199 when it hits the market next year. That’s a big drop from the Rift, which originally sold for $599 and required a PC costing at least $500. Recent discounts have lowered the Rift’s price to $399, a markdown that Oculus now says will be permanent.