Project Santa Cruz wireless VR HMD is now Oculus Quest, begins shipping next spring

The next generation of Oculus VR is called Oculus Quest, a standalone HMD with hand tracking and 6DOF.

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There's been a lot of buzz surrounding Project Santa Cruz, the upcoming standalone VR HMD from the crew at Oculus. Thanks to the OC5 keynote, we now have a name for the future of VR: Oculus Quest, which will begin shipping to customers next spring.

Quest is the latest untethered HMD from Oculus, and is designed to present the very best of all technological advancements the company has been working toward. The Quest will offer "Rift-quality experiences" in a completely wireless, standalone HMD. That means no wires, no computer connectivity, and no additional components required.

The Quest supports inside-out tracking, hand presence, and 6 degrees of freedom, all in a singular package. It also has support for what's being called 360 degree audio, which Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg says is even better than the audio options present in the Oculus Go.

Oculus promises that over 50 titles will be available for Quest when it launches, and VR fans can jump into the action for just $399, a price which appears to include two Oculus Touch controllers. Shipping is slated to begin next spring, and we're certain to hear more about the latest tweaks and titles in the months leading up to its release.

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From The Chatty
  • reply
    September 26, 2018 10:25 AM

    Kevin Tucker posted a new article, Project Santa Cruz wireless VR HMD is now Oculus Quest, begins shipping next spring

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      September 26, 2018 10:41 AM

      for $399

      over 50 launch titles, including Robo Recall, The Climb, Dead and Buried, and more

      I still have my Rift + Touch but I would love to try one of these out.

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        September 26, 2018 10:55 AM

        I definitely want to hear quality testing reviews from places like Tested first.

        I am sure there is a noticeable quality difference, but we shall see, since I am sure in a lot of titles that isn’t that big of a deal.

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        September 26, 2018 10:56 AM

        There will still be things I'd prefer my Rift for, but I'm definitely getting one of these. There's just a ton of things that are nice about it - wireless, ease of setup, it'll be awesome for demoing stuff.

        Just need to see how easy it is to port stuff to - can I run Quake and Doom in VR on it, etc.

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      September 26, 2018 10:51 AM

      [deleted]

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        September 26, 2018 10:51 AM

        [deleted]

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          September 26, 2018 10:54 AM

          I don't think they ever answered the Go even? They've just been releasing higher priced SKUs not the opposite.

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      September 26, 2018 10:52 AM

      So this thing doesn't require a PC? How do the graphics/games compare to a full PC-based VR system?

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        September 26, 2018 10:53 AM

        [deleted]

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        September 26, 2018 4:04 PM

        I find everything about the Quest confusing. It sounds like a more powerful Go, and the base Rift will continue to stand on its own for the PC.
        However if the Quest can work with a PC at that $400 price point $plus$ some wireless setup to communicate with the PC it will make the Vive Pro inferior at it's $1,100 starter kit + $300 wireless adapter.

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          September 26, 2018 4:17 PM

          It can't do that. It's standalone.

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      September 26, 2018 10:55 AM

      [deleted]

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      September 26, 2018 11:03 AM

      if the resolution on this thing is also good enough to make watching Netflix/Hulu/etc enjoyable that'd be big

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        September 26, 2018 11:45 AM

        sounds like same as the Go, how is that experience?

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      September 26, 2018 11:03 AM

      I'm super into it. My Go has seen more use than my Vive Pro. The idea of taking this on a trip is super cool too

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        September 26, 2018 11:27 AM

        [deleted]

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          September 26, 2018 2:29 PM

          It’s a stand-alone 3DOF tracking system. Great for some on rails games and media. Does not have a trackable controller.

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      September 26, 2018 11:34 AM

      If they put beat saber on there I'll try and talk my family into getting one for the nephews.

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        September 26, 2018 11:41 AM

        question is will you be able to put custom songs into it though?

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      September 26, 2018 11:56 AM

      Looks great and love that it will lead to increase in VR adoption, but personally only interested in the high end of the VR market.

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      September 26, 2018 12:01 PM

      Not interested in this at all. Is there anything new for PC users?

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        September 26, 2018 12:09 PM

        Vox Machinae is out now?

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        September 26, 2018 12:10 PM

        I definitely would like some indication of when a true v2 headset will hit for PC users

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          September 26, 2018 12:21 PM

          2020 at the earliest is the general consensus

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          September 26, 2018 12:23 PM

          I imagine that's what half done will eventually become.

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          September 26, 2018 12:24 PM

          I have a sinking feeling Oculus might just chase the standalone HMD from here on out, leaving the Rift without a true successor. Hope I'm wrong.

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            September 26, 2018 12:28 PM

            This might be the ideal thing for the company, as a lot needs to be improved to bring VR to the masses. System spec requirements need to drop significantly, FOV needs to go much higher, the refresh rate should go up, the whole unit needs to be much lighter and easier to put on, and have inside-out tracking so mounted sensors won't be required.

            This might not be a thing for another 3-5 years, though, sadly. Unless Oculus and other companies are further along than has been indicated in public.

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              September 26, 2018 12:32 PM

              Check out Abrash's keynote from today when you get a chance, he basically directly addressed all of these things in really fascinating ways, and says we're ahead of schedule to have answers to all of them.

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            September 26, 2018 12:28 PM

            They very directly said in the keynote that they plan to maintain 3 product lines going forward: high-end PC driven, standalone 6dof, and low-end affordable standalone.

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          September 26, 2018 2:56 PM

          I think I'm going to get the TPcast for my Rift now after this news.

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          September 26, 2018 3:02 PM

          Same. I get that this watered down consumer level stuff will put it into more people's hands, but I really want the next gen for PC. Many of us are paying a premium if it's truly worth it.

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            September 26, 2018 3:07 PM

            Santa Cruz definitely shouldn't be thought of as watered down. There's a lot to be said for a self contained experience, and the tracking and display are still pretty much top notch.

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              September 26, 2018 4:19 PM

              True. I meant watered down compared to what the next gen is capable of in terms of graphics.

              Self-contained experiences are more consumer friendly. The direction is necessary and makes sense, I just have no interest. I’d gladly pay $3k with a $2.5k PC to have something unbelievable. Hell I’d pay even more.

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                September 26, 2018 4:30 PM

                Oh, I own everything (the shack community DK1 was my old set). I'll own Quest because it has some real value and use cases, but I'm not giving up my Rift anytime soon.

                As I said above, I imagine half dome or some evolution of it will become Rift 2.0 - with 140 degree FOV and variable focus it's already a huge improvement. If they could get it wirelessly streaming it'd basically take care of all my current issues.

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                  September 26, 2018 4:36 PM

                  Obviously I want the stars but I’m looking forward to higher res than the current Vive Pro, eye tracking, wireless, and an FOV increase.

                  Next unit that has all that, I’m in for whatever price.

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                    September 26, 2018 5:00 PM

                    We'll eventually get all that, but I wouldn't expect all that next year. But I wouldn't rule it out, either; we know all of them are possible and in development.

          • Zek legacy 10 years legacy 20 years
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            September 26, 2018 6:21 PM

            This sort of device is attempting to solve the chicken and egg problem, where VR can't get big games because it doesn't have enough users because it doesn't have big games. More users getting in with a device like this will grow the VR market across the board, which benefits high end PC users as well in the long run.

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      September 26, 2018 12:32 PM

      I think this will be helpful for adoption - the barrier to entry for VR is way too high when tethered to a PS4/PC.

      However, I'm not the target audience for this product - I really hope we continue to see investments by companies for wide FOV, high resolution screens (i.e. Pimax) and better controllers and realistically those will need desktop PC's for the foreseeable future

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      September 26, 2018 12:34 PM

      Vox Machinae is up on Steam EA for your mech heads.

      https://store.steampowered.com/app/334540/Vox_Machinae/

      • reply
        September 26, 2018 2:26 PM

        "that's a real thing? That seemed like a joke" - gf watching the trailer

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