Who wants to buy a current virtual reality glasses from Oculus, has been facing a fundamental decision: Take the Oculus Quest, a pair of glasses that works wirelessly and independently from the home PC, but which comes quickly in terms of game graphics to their performance limits? Or opt for the Oculus Rift S, so for a computer-wired headset so this comes along powerful but inflexible? Price landed in both cases at around 450 euros.
On Wednesday, the Oculus mother Facebook could have made the selection much easier for many interested parties. Oculus Conference Connect not only introduced new headset prototypes. The company also announced that a feature called Oculus Link will be unlocked for the quest in November.
Oculus Link should make it possible to connect the quest via USB-C cable to a gaming PC. So should be executed on the PC running VR games, which were actually intended for the Rift S and their original model Rift, on the display of the mobile glasses. At the same time, the quest should be charged via the cable.
Wiring the wireless glasses: Advertising image for Oculus Link
In other words, the wireless goggles will become a wired headset if desired. But you can with this - if in practice really everything works as smoothly as Facebook promises - thanks to the extra power from the computer can play hundreds of games that are previously not compatible with the Quest.
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Technical Data and Game Impressions: This is the Oculus QuestAlso usable with existing cables
This announcement is a surprise that should appeal to many quest owners. Especially as Facebook for Oculus Link wants to bring its own, five-meter-long "premium cable" on the market, the function but also with "the most high-quality USB-C cables" third-party use. (By the way, the Oculus Quest can also be connected to computers with the right cable: in this way, it can be used to record music and films, among other things.)
The Rift S, hitherto staged as the high-end headset in the Oculus portfolio, should make this upgrading of the Quest unattractive. If the link function does not have massive technical weaknesses in November, why should you opt for the wired glasses if you can also have the quest as a hybrid? Most likely Facebook could help here after with discounts for the Rift S, which have not yet been promised.
That Facebook apparently sees the quest as its flagship platform, also indicates another announcement: From the beginning of 2020, the glasses should offer as an "experimental feature" hand tracking. Instead of using the handheld controllers, users will be able to control some games with their own hands. Explicitly announced this feature was so far only for the Oculus Quest, although technically it would also match the Rift S.
Another novelty is to appeal to both Quest, Rift and Rift-S owners. Facebook is planning a new social VR experience under the name "Facebook Horizon". The software, which looks like a comic-styled VR world building kit, is designed to allow users without programming knowledge to build their own digital environments, where they can then interact with other VR users. "Facebook Horizon" should go into a beta phase in early 2020, for which one can already apply now.
