Facebook's Oculus VR is looking to unveil a standalone virtual reality (VR) headset by 2018. The new product would cost $200 and would be designed to work without being tethered to a computer or a phone. This is part of the company's effort to turn VR technology into a mass-market sensation.
The new product will sit on a completely new category, allowing consumers to enjoy it alongside existing VR technologies. Currently, VR hardware are either cheap devices that turn smartphones in to VR players, like the Gear VR that was developed jointly by Oculus and Samsung, or high-end rigs that hook up to a powerful computer and are designed for gaming, like the Oculus Rift.
During Oculus's developer conference last year, Facebook Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg hinted on finding a "sweet spot" for a device that sits somewhere between the Gear VR and Rift. "This is the kind of thing that we believe will exist," he said during his keynote speech.
"We don't have a product to unveil at this time," said Oculus spokesman Alan Cooper in a written statement to Bloomberg. "However we can confirm we're making several significant technology investments in the standalone VR category."
The development of a standalone VR device will allow Facebook to popularize VR for mass consumption without phasing out the current hardware that early adopters have invested in. According to Ars Technica, the company does not see the new standalone headset as a replacement for the existing Rift or the Gear VR. They are hoping that the current owners of those devices will be able to enjoy them for years to come.
Many technology companies are also anticipating an increase in the demand for VR-based products and are gearing up for the future. Aside from Samsung's Gear VR, Sony has also debuted its PlayStation VR that capitalizing on the company's gaming ecosystem. HTC and Lenovo have both partnered with Google's Daydream operating system to develop their own standalone VR headset.
