Oculus Rift is still a gaming VR headset first – company

While Facebook did say that the virtual reality technology is a strong candidate to emerge as the next social and communications platform when it acquired Oculus VR earlier this year, the main focus of the virtual reality headset that is under development today is gaming, according to Nate Mitchell, vice president of product at Oculus VR.

Many industries, including communications, media and entertainment, are expected to benefit from virtual reality technologies, so it is logical to expect that eventually there will be different types of VR headsets designed with various applications in mind. Nate Mitchell said that while Facebook had introduced Oculus VR to new ideas, the headset that is expected to hit the market next year is still intended for gaming.

“For us, we are all gamers, we are game developers, and if you look at our team, it is 90 percent industry veterans, so we have this big focus on games,” said Mr. Mitchell in an interview with Polygon. “We want this to be the best platform for VR games. I think, longer-term, we are all excited about the potential of everything you can do with VR, whether it's film or education or training or communication. Over time, I think you'll see more of that, but it's all really about games, and Facebook is excited about that, too.”

While gamers demand realism and high-quality experience, they can live with relatively bulky and not really stylish devices that come with numerous wires. Therefore, it is pretty logical to create a gaming headset and then develop VR headsets for other applications based on the gaming device. To some extent, this is the strategy of the ongoing collaboration between Facebook and Oculus VR.

“Part of the Facebook deal is, ‘Here's a buffet of resources, take advantage of whatever you want.' On the flip-side, they've also been super proactive in suggesting ideas,” said the vice president.

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KitGuru Says: It is nice to see that there are no attempts to make Oculus VR’s first commercial virtual reality headset a universal consumer device from the very start. In a bid to build a perfect gaming device, no trade-offs should be made.

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