The commercial version of Santa Cruz already has a name, date, price and a total of more than 50 games released.
Oculus he has presented in Oculus Connect 5 the commercial version of the Santa Cruz Project, a device that was introduced in the Connect of 2016 and that does not require a computer for its operation. The autonomous viewfinder Oculus Quest will be available in spring 2019 (second quarter) by $ 399, a price identical to that of Rift in the United States, so it is likely that in Spain it will also cost€ 449 (the same as Rift), although it is not yet confirmed. This version (the only one announced at the moment) will include 64 GB of internal memory to store our games and applications.
Oculus Quest integrates the chip Snapdragon 835, mounts two 1440×1600 screens at 72 Hz (same as Vive Focus, although the latter works at 75 Hz) and offers IPD adjustment (interpupillary distance) by hardware and absolute positioning for the viewfinder and for the Touch-type motion controllers, which have exactly the same buttons and sticks as those of the equivalent PC version, thus facilitating the compatibility of the titles. Looking at the angle of view (FOV) and lenses, Oculus has shared that they use the same optics as Oculus Go, so it could offer a similar experience. The fastening system used seems to go beyond the soft tapes, being apparently at least more rigid, although we do not know if as much as Rift. As for the sound, the viewfinder also includes speakers and headphone jack, and offers a better bass system than Go.
To offer absolute positioning (6 dof), the viewfinder has 4 sensors (with ultra viewing angle) placed on the front to inside-out position the HMD and the motion controllers. Oculus Insight it is the name given to the positioning technology capable of offering us positioning scales “without limits”, in fact, in OC5 they have a room of more than 300 square meters in which to try an experience. Like Rift, Quest users will also have their Guardian system to avoid obstacles such as walls or objects, which will be able to store the configuration of multiple rooms so as not to have to reconfigure each time we take the HMD to an already known place. The cameras will also be able to offer mixed reality features to get to integrate real elements into the experiences, something that visitors to OC5 can try in the Dead and Buried Arena experience.
There will be a total of more than 50 games for the day of its release, among which we will find titles such as Superhot VR, Moss, Robo Recall, The Climb, Face your Fears 2 and more, as well as an interactive series of Star Wars (Vader Immortal Episode 1). As shared by Hugo Barra at the conference, the Superhot team took a few weeks to create the port a Quest, so it is expected that more Rift games make the leap to the new platform, as it will allow the execution of Rift-type content, although the latter is mainly for positioning.
In the coming months we will learn more about this new Oculus viewer.
