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Oculus Go Standalone VR HMD Rumored to Launch at Facebook's F8 Conference in May

Unnamed sources seem to think May 1 will be the official launch date of the affordable standalone VR HMD.
Charles Singletary Jr
Charles Singletary Jr
3

The Go was revealed by Zuckerberg himself at Oculus Connect in 2017 as a part of an effort to get VR into the possession of one billion consumers. It was announced at the $199 price point and that isn’t likely to budge before what’s being reported as the official launch at F8 in May.

Variety reports that the shiny new Oculus Go will debut at F8 on May 1, courtesy of information gathered from undisclosed sources. The event takes place in San Jose, California on May 1-2 and will be home to breaking news across the mobile gaming industry, VR, and a whole lot more.

The Oculus GO will ship with a custom optical design built on a 2560x1440 LCD panel. It features lenses with the same wide field of view of Oculus Rift and significantly reduced glare. The lenses are the next generation of the lenses being used on Rift. The Go also features spatial audio built right into the headset. The key to the Go is that it is untethered to a PC or mobile phone.

The Oculus Go fits into a space within the VR industry where the price is appealing and the experiences are adequate. There won’t be many groundbreaking virtual experiences on the device, but it will serve as a bridge between casual consumers and virtual reality as they try out media they’re accustomed to experiencing on flat panels in a 360-degree space.

Without positional tracking, the Oculus Go won’t be as immersive as the VR heavy hitters Rift, Vive, and PSVR, but that doesn’t mean it won’t be impactful for the market. Describing VR is a poor way to introduce the tech and consumers simply need to get their hands on it to understand its potential. VR arcades, pop-ups, and accessible devices like the Go, Daydream, and Gear will fill that role.

The F8 schedule is available on the official website but, as the application for participants is still open, it will likely be updated with new additions in the coming months. Catch up on Facebook's pursuit of one billion users with the recent announcement of a partnership that will expand the Oculus brand into China as well.

News Editor
News Editor

Charles Singletary Jr keeps the updates flowing as the News Editor, breaking stories while investigating the biggest topics in gaming and technology. He's pretty active on Twitter, so feel free to reach out to him @The_CSJR. Got a hot tip? Email him at Charles.Singletary@Shacknews.com.

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