Oculus Go VR Headset ($199, standalone) stealth released, available now.

thepenguin55 said:

It's neat but I don't know that I fully understand the appeal of the Oculus Go, so this thread has been interesting to read through. I'm sure that there's an audience for it I just question how big it is. Sure it's cheap and easy to use but the kind of VR it can do is more of a cool novelty rather than anything most people would want to stick with. With stuff like Gear VR and Google Cardboard at least that is all generally free or even cheaper than this is. Again, not saying that I can't understand the appeal of this at all, I just find it kind of strange.

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Going long term Vr will have to break the shackle and untether from pc/smartphone etc to reach mass market status. They are really just setting the foundation here to provide clutter free vr solution with an affordable price tag with this. Not relying on smartphone means the standalone Oculus Go should (hopefully) evolve in a faster pace than Gear VR which also provide more room for improvements to mobile VR games.

In addition not everyone has a Samsung Galaxy phone, and an Oculus Go is a much better and cheaper option than Samsung Galaxy + Gear VR for these people.

Pilgore said:

Wouldn't the phone be higher res than this thing? I'm not talking about performance but about fidelity.

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Depends on your phone; Oculus Go resolution is a single 2560x1440 screen, same as Galaxy S6 and S7. S8 and S9 have a slightly higher resolution, due to a different aspect ratio (but by default it renders at a lower resolution, with an option to adjust that in place of battery life and performance/temperature).

One big difference, your phone will have OLED, which would give better black levels / contrast, since this is LCD based. Oculus had to go way out of their way to try and match OLED with the Go, but they still won't be able to match true OLED black levels.

KORNdog said:

i assume this is like the phone experiences. no real depth tracking for the headset? or walking around capabilities? just 360 head tracking?

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Its like phone experiences as far as we know (with better technical performance like graphicsl fidelity).

If you want something closer to high end vr wait for Oculus Santa Cruz, that one has inside out tracking and you can walk around, but most likely will be rather pricey.

I want a mobile, wireless standalone option with positional tracking - like Santa Cruz - but with the option to also attach to a PC for higher quality gaming. Anyone know if Santa Cruz might support that?

I have no idea who's going to buy this thing. The enthusiasts don't care about this, they want the next-gen of HMD. And the casuals will sure stick to their smartphones for a VR experience, I don't see them buying a dedicated headset. I'm puzzled with this thing.

Folks on that thread saying it has no head/positional tracking - so I assume they're wrong and it just doesn't have "room" positioning because without gyros it's just a screen.

Will be great for Porn! Just have to be careful that you don't walk into a wall with a woodie!

Stinkles said:

Folks on that thread saying it has no head/positional tracking - so I assume they're wrong and it just doesn't have "room" positioning because without gyros it's just a screen.

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You can't lean forward/backwards or to the sides like with CV1 or DK2.

thepenguin55 said:

It's neat but I don't know that I fully understand the appeal of the Oculus Go, so this thread has been interesting to read through. I'm sure that there's an audience for it I just question how big it is. Sure it's cheap and easy to use but the kind of VR it can do is more of a cool novelty rather than anything most people would want to stick with. With stuff like Gear VR and Google Cardboard at least that is all generally free or even cheaper than this is. Again, not saying that I can't understand the appeal of this at all, I just find it kind of strange.

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Gear VR is cheaper, if you already have a compatible and much more expensive phone. The nothings that work on any phone... well, there's no uniformity, and results extra suck on cheap phones. I'm looking at Go like a Game Boy. It's not going to be the best option, but cheap and untethered gives it a reason to be.

Stinkles said:

Folks on that thread saying it has no head/positional tracking - so I assume they're wrong and it just doesn't have "room" positioning because without gyros it's just a screen.

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It's just a matter of using different phrasing to mean the same thing. It can tell the motion/tilt of your head, but has nothing to keep track of its location in 3D space.

Stinkles said:

Folks on that thread saying it has no head/positional tracking - so I assume they're wrong and it just doesn't have "room" positioning because without gyros it's just a screen.

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raw, pitch, and yaw is not positional tracking. They are not incorrect, this thing indeed does not have positional tracking. These things track orientation, not position.

MrKlaw said:

I want a mobile, wireless standalone option with positional tracking - like Santa Cruz - but with the option to also attach to a PC for higher quality gaming. Anyone know if Santa Cruz might support that?

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GameFace is aiming to be this, although who knows when that will launch. It uses Daydream for the mobile VR bits (which is googles "big-boy" successor to Cardboard), which supports Google Worldsense for 6DOF, and you can tether it to a PC to use with SteamVR and Lighthouse Tracking.

Dorfdad said:

Will be great for Porn! Just have to be careful that you don't walk into a wall with a woodie!

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"Be wary of critical hits/lightning" aka electrical outlet...

Wouldn't a closed system be decided NOT great for uh, external video content? I imagine you would have to jump through hoops similar to what I hear with PSVR.

mario_O said:

I have no idea who's going to buy this thing. The enthusiasts don't care about this, they want the next-gen of HMD. And the casuals will sure stick to their smartphones for a VR experience, I don't see them buying a dedicated headset. I'm puzzled with this thing.

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Its sold out at Amazon so...

I really want one of these. Seems like a good entry point. GearVR has always tempted me but I've never had a Galaxy phone.

I just bought the daydream view to use with my Pixel 1 for $50. Watching videos seems really shitty with the resolution. I'm not really interested with the games on it. Honestly I just wanted to play with it but I'm already bored. Mobile VR seems like a novelty item.

Hi everyone! Yes, it's now for sale. What's more, I've had one for a little over a week. My full review of Oculus Go is now live at Ars Technica: https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2018...wireless-vr-future-begins-today-for-only-199/

Surprise! Oculus released a new virtual reality headset today. The Oculus Go standalone headset is now for sale at Amazon, Newegg, and Best Buy starting at $199—yes, $199, with no other hardware required—following a retail-launch unveil at Facebook's annual F8 conference.

What's more, Oculus sent us a working headset last week for the sake of a review—and I have no shortage of thoughts about what Oculus has gotten right with its first "budget" VR product. Before I break down performance, software, features, and limitations, I want to set the scene by rewinding to another era in which a "futuristic" gadget sector began plummeting in price.

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£199. Disappointing but perhaps not surprising. Kills it for me as an experimental buy though.

samred said:

Hi everyone! Yes, it's now for sale. What's more, I've had one for a little over a week. My full review of Oculus Go is now live at Ars Technica: https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2018...wireless-vr-future-begins-today-for-only-199/

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Cool! I didn't know we had Ars staff among us.

Wait so this won't be compatible with pc gaming rigs?

edit: like I know its meant to run by itself, but I can't expand its capabilities with a pc?

Also worth noting -- Google has a range of DayDream stand alone headsets in the works to launch this year that will compete directly against the Oculus Go, headlined by the Lenovo Mirage Solo.

Personally, if I'm getting a 3DOF headset these days (which i won't), it better have DayDream compatibility, as DayDream is by far the most supported Mobile VR platform.

Barrel Cannon said:

Wait so this won't be compatible with pc gaming rigs?

edit: like I know its meant to run by itself, but I can't expand its capabilities with a pc?

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Nope, although the stand alone DayDream headsets should be able to tether to PCs using 3rd party applications (which don't work all that well, tbh).

Krejlooc said:

Also worth noting -- Google has a range of DayDream stand alone headsets in the works to launch this year that will compete directly against the Oculus Go, headlined by the Lenovo Mirage Solo.

Personally, if I'm getting a 3DOF headset these days (which i won't), it better have DayDream compatibility, as DayDream is by far the most supported Mobile VR platform.



Nope, although the stand alone DayDream headsets should be able to tether to PCs using 3rd party applications (which don't work all that well, tbh).

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Thanks! I guess the product isn't for me then, but I'd be interested in trying a public demo later to see how it fares with watching netflix/tv on it.

Barrel Cannon said:

Thanks! I guess the product isn't for me then, but I'd be interested in trying a public demo later to see how it fares with watching netflix/tv on it.

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Best Buy will let you do some GearVR demoes if you ask. This is roughly the same thing.

any words on this being available in canada?

I've largely ignored VR stuff since I wasn't planning on buying but for $199 I think I'll bite. Does anyone have an idea of what movie watching would be on a device like this? If its halfway decent and easy enough I'll def grab this.

Well, I bought one because what's one more vr headset at this point.

samred said:

Hi everyone! Yes, it's now for sale. What's more, I've had one for a little over a week. My full review of Oculus Go is now live at Ars Technica: https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2018...wireless-vr-future-begins-today-for-only-199/

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Nice review. What's the resolution like when watching netflix or plex? Good enough for regular use? And how does it handle other apps like eg iPlayer or Hulu - does it need a VR specific app or can it work with non-VR apps

Wait could I theoretically watch YouTube and Giant Bomb videos with this? That might be the killer app for me. I hate lying in bed with my laptop to my side watching videos...

Drain You said:

I've largely ignored VR stuff since I wasn't planning on buying but for $199 I think I'll bite. Does anyone have an idea of what movie watching would be on a device like this? If its halfway decent and easy enough I'll def grab this.

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Much of my review is dedicated to this proposition. Scroll to page 3. Bullet point:

With this combination of apps, I can lie in bed, turn the brightness down on my Go display, and watch movies or TV on a screen that virtually hovers in a fixed position above my head. And, seriously, don't knock it until you've tried it. I've done this every night since getting the Go.

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samred said:

Hi everyone! Yes, it's now for sale. What's more, I've had one for a little over a week. My full review of Oculus Go is now live at Ars Technica: https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2018...wireless-vr-future-begins-today-for-only-199/

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Oh wow didn't know you were on here! Will read the article look interesting

Dr_Boris_Goltz said:

Wouldn't a closed system be decided NOT great for uh, external video content? I imagine you would have to jump through hoops similar to what I hear with PSVR.

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It' was very easy to load your own VR videos with the GearVR. Easier than PSVR actually.

Thanks Chessguy1 and samred. Great minds think alike, I'll check it out now.

samred said:

Much of my review is dedicated to this proposition. Scroll to page 3. Bullet point:

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Wow I might be sold on one of these now. I hate watching my laptop in bed and this might solve that problem.

Do the bone conducting headphones bleed a lot of sound?

I imagine like the Rift, this doesn't work very well with glasses?

Worth noting that certain websites, like CNN, actually have VR components these days. WebVR is a thing, and certain websites, when you travel to them with a VR headset, display in special VR modes that look radically different than the normal website.

Thanks for posting this. Just bought one from Best Buy, picking it up tonight.

Orb said:

I imagine like the Rift, this doesn't work very well with glasses?

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As someone who wears glasses (but didn't back in 2014), I recommend either VRLens.eu or WidmoVR, both are prescription lenses for the Rift that slot in. Way, way more comfortable than using glasses in a VR headset. VRLens.eu is my recommendation, but both are good. Just stay away from VRLensLab.

Fuck it I'm pulling the trigger on the 64GB version. I'll sell my old GearVR and Galaxy S6 to offset the cost.

Krejlooc said:

Also worth noting -- Google has a range of DayDream stand alone headsets in the works to launch this year that will compete directly against the Oculus Go, headlined by the Lenovo Mirage Solo.

Personally, if I'm getting a 3DOF headset these days (which i won't), it better have DayDream compatibility, as DayDream is by far the most supported Mobile VR platform.



Nope, although the stand alone DayDream headsets should be able to tether to PCs using 3rd party applications (which don't work all that well, tbh).

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My wife may be getting a galaxy s8 for work, which I could probably borrow to experiment with. Would you recommend a gear VR or a daydream headset?

You can sync this to a regular bluetooth gamepad right?

Had to cancel and reorder amazon was still showing Dec 31 lol. I am excited I own the rift but idea of having this without the phone is fun especially since I work over nights

What's the OS on this?

wonder if this will allow for 3rd party apps...emulators would be pretty cool

MrKlaw said:

My wife may be getting a galaxy s8 for work, which I could probably borrow to experiment with. Would you recommend a gear VR or a daydream headset?

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It's basically a philosophical question regarding Oculus and DayDream. DayDream is the "open" mobile VR standard, being built into the Android N kernel. As such, any phone that can run Android N can run DayDream. DayDream headsets themselves are basically cardboard -- the real "magic" of DayDream is in the phone and the software, while the headset itself is just mainly a shell to block out the world and hold the lenses. And, it follows Google's "everywhere" mentality.

The Oculus Mobile stuff is pretty much the exact opposite. Their headsets actually include some advanced IMUs inside to augment the phone parts, and as such only work with a very small range of phones (and now headsets like Go). This makes for a much smaller audience for developers, and as such uptake has been slower, although the standardized hardware means the software available for Oculus Mobile stuff is typically prettier (in terms of visuals) than DayDream.

I like both. For my business stuff, it's easier to work with DayDream, as you can mail out daydream viewers built into post cards. But both are really neat.

Worth noting -- the high end Samsung phones like the Galaxy S8? They are both GearVR and DayDream compatible. If you have an S8, you can use it in both a GearVR shell, and access GearVR software, AND use it in a DayDream Shell (or hell, out of cardboard) and access Google's stuff.