First Images of Consumer Oculus Rift Revealed, Shipping Q1 2016

Oculus VR has finally revealed that the Oculus Rift will be launching in the first quarter of 2016.

The first images of the consumer Oculus Rift have surfaced at a number of outlets, including the Twitter account of VP of product Nate Mitchell and the official Oculus blog.

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The front of the device is boasting a sleek black finish, while the other shows a view of the Oculus Rift from the bottom, with integrated audio and over the head strap.

Since the earliest days of the Oculus Kickstarter, the Rift has been shaped by gamers, backers, developers, and enthusiasts around the world. Today, we’re incredibly excited to announce that the Oculus Rift will be shipping to consumers in Q1 2016, with pre-orders later this year.

The Rift delivers on the dream of consumer VR with compelling content, a full ecosystem, and a fully-integrated hardware/software tech stack designed specifically for virtual reality. It’s a system designed by a team of extremely passionate gamers, developers, and engineers to reimagine what gaming can be.

 

The Oculus Rift builds on the presence, immersion, and comfort of the Crescent Bay prototype with an improved tracking system that supports both seated and standing experiences, as well as a highly refined industrial design, and updated ergonomics for a more natural fit.

In the weeks ahead, we’ll be revealing the details around hardware, software, input, and many of our unannounced made-for-VR games and experiences coming to the Rift. Next week, we’ll share more of the technical specifications here on the Oculus blog.

Virtual reality is going to transform gaming, film, entertainment, communication, and much more. If you’re interested in building a next-generation VR game or application, everything you need to start developing for the Rift is available at the Oculus Developer Center.

E3 is just around the corner — this is only the beginning.

– The Oculus Team

Oculus VR has not mentioned a more specific release date for the Oculus Rift, or its price tag. The Q1 2016 release comes right after the holiday 2015 launch of Valve and HTC’s Vive. The PlayStation 4 Projekt Morpheus has an estimated Q1/Q2 2016 estimated release, so the Oculus will likely beat it to market.

We will bring you any new information about the Oculus Rift, as well as the other two major VR headsets, as soon as it becomes available.