Spoiler alert: There will be no Rift 2

https://techcrunch.com/2018/10/22/oculus-co-founder-is-leaving-facebook-after-cancellation-of-rift-2-headset/

:cry:

If that reporting is accurate, might be time for me to check out the upcoming Odyssey+...

Hoping this is not the "full story".

Oculus was working on some pretty neat tech for CV2 ( Half Dome ).

bummer!

Facebook is denying any plans to cancel Rift CV2.

https://variety.com/2018/digital/news/oculus-co-founder-brendan-iribe-is-leaving-facebook-1202988298/

Facebook subsequently denied this report, with a spokesperson telling Variety: “Yes, we are planning a future version of Rift.”

Not exactly a firm denial, which sucks. But the Odssey+ looks interesting.

Nate Mitchell on Twitter this afternoon:

"A lot of questions today about the future of Rift — we're still driving forward on the Rift/PC platform with new hardware, software, and content.

Lots of great stuff in the works. More to share in the months ahead."

Damn, I was hoping a company as big as FB would be willing to sell high end hardware at a loss or break even to sell VR games like Sony and Microsoft with consoles. With their recent product launches and these recent departures it looks like high end gear is on the backburner. The guy mentioned in his statement that the tech needs to be pushed forward. Of course, they could always license tech but looks like a Rift 2 isn't going to happen for at least a couple years. They probably ran the numbers and realized the market with people with the hardware that can currently run VR is too small. Bummer, the tech won't get pushed forward unless large companies will make the investment. I was hoping they would come out with a Rift 2 with glove by next Christmas.

PR being PR, doesn't comfort me a whole lot but it's better than confirmation that the CV2 as we knew it is indeed dead in the water.

The can has been kicked down the road, we shall see where we end up :thumbup:

From the Reddit thread above; I think this say's it all:

Brendan Iribe: "The Rift 2 prototype I have been working on and excited about being released in the near future has been canceled."

Nate Mitchell/Facebook: "We still have R&D on PC and will probably release something down the road"

Hmm... damn shame if true and FB doesn't continue with the Rift development down the line.

Doesn't seem dead to me, perhaps just the "Rift 2"? New and improved maybe, "Rift S"?

https://www.google.ca/amp/s/techcrunch.com/2018/10/31/after-canceling-rift-2-overhaul-oculus-plans-a-modest-update-to-flagship-vr-headset/amp/

https://www.google.ca/amp/s/venturebeat.com/2018/11/01/oculus-reportedly-plans-rift-s-a-small-pc-vr-upgrade-thats-not-rift-2/amp/

Oculus will bring a new Rift, whether it is the one we all hope for remains to be seen. I don't think they are going to dump PC-VR anytime soon.

Pretty sure they have their eyes on the whole market- mobile, untethered with built in processing unit, and PC-VR.

Course I can very easily be wrong...

:smilewink:

I agree dburne. It appears Oculus is reluctant to release a new headset with a number of higher specs that would require another big jump in computer specs. Hence the Rift S instead of a Rift 2. This doesn't mean that Oculus has stopped research and development of higher spec headsets.

I agree dburne. It appears Oculus is reluctant to release a new headset with a number of higher specs that would require another big jump in computer specs. Hence the Rift S instead of a Rift 2. This doesn't mean that Oculus has stopped research and development of higher spec headsets.

What is crazy is there has been no official word from Oculus on any of this TechCrunch reporting including now the supposed Rift S. First Rift was cancelled, now it is Rift S.

Just rumors at this point. May very well be true, but I will prefer to wait for official word.

makes sense, facebook is probably interested in simple low-cost devices to outfit their social horde, with an emphasis on portability and smartphone compatibility. their vision of the VR experience is an immersive face-time videochat lounge, with any gaming applications as a bonus on the side

really this was predictable when facebook acquired oculus to begin with

makes sense, facebook is probably interested in simple low-cost devices to outfit their social horde, with an emphasis on portability and smartphone compatibility. their vision of the VR experience is an immersive face-time videochat lounge, with any gaming applications as a bonus on the side

 

really this was predictable when facebook acquired oculus to begin with

They are sure pumping a lot of money into those gaming applications for VR, and have stated no plans to slow down through 2020 in this regard.

FB/Oculus is by far pumping the most money into gaming applications than any of their competitors.

They apparently have a long term vision for VR and are trying to do what they can to bring it to a much larger adoption rate by going with the three pronged approach they have taken.

One thing for sure, going to be real interesting to see where VR is and what we are discussing three years from now.

The RiftS is probably the best idea for headset sales. A Rift2 might require a major PC upgrade, that would greatly curtail sales. The Rift2 should come out, when PC performance improves, and headsets are optimized to require less PC performance.

While there is still to be any official word on any of this from Oculus, my gut feel:

They have big hopes for this Half Dome Technology, but realize they are still a ways off of being able to make that a reality. I suspect the project has not been totally cancelled, but tabled for now as they sense a need to bring something at least sooner.

In the meantime, they recognize the need with these other VR devices coming out now to at least upgrade the current incarnation of the Rift, to give a small bump in resolution as the other folks are doing, and maybe something else as well. There is speculation of them going with inside out tracking for it rather than constellation. While it will make it easier for setting up and operating the headset, I myself would have preferred the constellation tracking - simply because it is just so darn good and not susceptible to light.

And now with the new Virtual Link Port Nvidia is putting in the 20x cards, it makes setting up and plugging in those sensors, headset USB, and HDMI such a breeze. I could not be happier with it. This is going to help very much new folks getting their Rifts set up and running properly.

More Oculus "news" compliments of TechCrunch again...

https://techcrunch.com/2018/11/03/oculus-organization/

What I get from all this news is that Rift 2 was not a cost-effective way to stay in the VR business. Can Rift simultaneously improve their products, reduce internal costs, reduce consumer costs, and get their hardware/software to run well on pcs/game systems most people have and/or can afford?

I am not buying in to $1,000 gpus and cpus. If that is where flight simming is going, I am going back to building model kits and/or flying R/C models. Right now, if I want my son's PC to run VR, I have to spend about $350-$400 on a VR set plus get a 1080 for about $500. That is about the limit of what I am willing to spend, and most people spend less than that on their entire gaming PC setup. I don't see how VR is going to survive trying to improve its resolution/display quality to match flat panels, while also expanding its field of view wider, and trying to get prices down to a level where VR becomes mainstream.

Well the cpu's, gpu's, vr headsets are all stepping up in price near 50%. On the other side, what are we getting back? 20% better? It looks like devoloping new techniques for feature products is coming to the end of inventing. Really?

I as consumer must pay all my vacationmoney for a new high end PC and vr headset? I think Intel, Nvidia, HTC, Oculus must know better. So i think i step over to AMD Zen2 and odessey+. And you know what? I can still go on vacation. :D

Well it comes faster then i hoped! :D https://wccftech.com/amd-zen-2-ryzen-epyc-cpus-higher-than-expected-ipc-clocks/