Oculus Quest on Facebook announces the next generation of VR, but are we going to buy?

If you list people's complaints about virtual reality, they usually mention the cost of headphones, the difficulty of connecting to a computer over the wire, and the scarcity of apps and games.

Facebook thinks he's about to make a big difference in all of this with his new Oculus Quest.

Powered by a standalone onboard computer, the device is more powerful than the entry-level model $ 199 Oculus Go and works with a pair of manual controllers.

He can play many popular games on the high-end Oculus Rift S connected to a computer, such as the popular Beat Saber rhythmic game and the cinematic boxing movie Creed: Rise to Glory. There is also an upcoming Star Wars game, Vader Immortal, scheduled for its upcoming launch.

And it is priced at $ 399, less than other high-end headphones like the new Valve index or HTC Viveboth start at $ 499.

In the end, he tries to answer most of the complaints of people about virtual reality headsets up to now. And Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg thinks it could change the game.

The Quest is "the all-in-one helmet we all expected," he said Tuesday at a press conference. announcing the date of shipment of the aircraft from May 21 to during his business F8 Developer Conference. "The quest takes people,"

Scott Stein of CNET accepted, declare the quest "The best thing I've tried this year."

What we do not know, even with all this, is whether it will succeed.

The world of virtual reality has been overheated for years. It started in 2012, when Oculus was a startup, co-founded by the young inventor of the device, Palmer Luckey. In a Kickstarter video, the company launched a $ 300 helmet that promised to let you "get into the game".

Seven years later, with an acquisition of more than $ 2 billion by Facebook and the launch in 2016 of $ 599 at the time Oculus Riftand virtual reality has not yet proven that it is the technology that will change the world. Headset shipments, which began in 2016 with about 6.6 million units, are expected to increase by only 8.4 million this year, according to estimates by SuperData Research, the company's observer. Nielsen market.

"Virtual reality is not necessary yet," said Stephanie Llamas, who oversees virtual reality research at SuperData. Technology has conquered gamers, artists and technology enthusiasts, she added, but she has struggled beyond that.

That's where she thinks the quest might succeed. Facebook is offering at least 50 titles that will be available when Quest launches, including the Star Wars game.

"The Quest could be an opportunity to bring in the second wave of users," she said. "It depends."

Start the quest

Oculus Quest and Rift S are not just new devices in Facebook's VR division. They represent a second generation of virtual reality, one of the most influential device manufacturers in the industry.

One of the ways that Facebook telegraphs about the importance of the Quest lies in the retail stores. The company is updating its retail displays for stores such as Best Buy with new large touch screens that help people discover what Oculus Go, Oculus Quest and Oculus Rift S are, what games and apps are available for them and why they are different.

The company is also expanding its retail presence in GameStop stores, with the goal of attracting players as well.

"We hope the Quest will be a turning point," said Sean Liu, director of product management at Oculus. The company is also starting to sell to companies and plans to soon offer virtual reality helmet fleet management software. "There is a lot of basic work that we need to do, and I think it's a step in that direction."

Bet on the quest

Some persistent problems could hold the quest.

A recent survey conducted by IDC and sponsored by PlayStation VR maker, Sony, revealed that the cost of hardware and the lack of captivating games and experiences are one of the main reasons that prompt still people not to buy. Lost VR users do not have enough reasons to come back.

"It's hard to turn on the headset for several hours a month," said Lewis Ward, an analyst at IDC, who wrote the study. He found that on average, virtual reality owners spent less than seven hours a month in headphones. This encourages homeowners to question the wisdom of their purchase from $ 250 to $ 800, not to mention the cost of a game console or a PC to power their devices, has not it? -he declares.

"What can be done to increase hours of use?" he said. "You have to increase that number, and then those people will say to their friends," You have to put the headphones on, you have to try them. "Http://www.cnet.com/"

For game developers like Survios, who created Creed: Rise to Glory, it means creating even more essential titles that work well with the new device. James Iliff, co-founder and creative head of the company, said he's already encouraging his teams to create their next games in the spirit of the Quest.

"The quest is a starting point," he said. What excites him most is the wireless design, including cameras that can track your movements, which also allows you to hide in the real world. In addition to offering the same manual controls that the high-end Rift already uses, it makes it a compelling device.

"Quest is ultimately a synthesis of all these different technologies," he said. "Things are taking longer, but progress is being made."

That's probably what Zuckerberg feels too. "It's going to be a great year for RV," he said on Tuesday as he talks about launch plans for Quest and Rift S. "It's a real step forward."