This past weekend at the Oculus Connect conference in Los Angeles Oculus CEO Brendan Iribe unveiled the second-generation Oculus Rift VR headset called Crescent Bay which he said was a “massive leap” over the second-generation developer kit.
“It’s as big of a leap as we made from DK1 to DK2,” Iribe is quoted as saying on stage.
While Iribe cautioned this isn’t the consumer version of the headset, it does represent a fast-maturing technology. The next-gen headset has 360-degree head tracking, enhanced resolution as well as integrated audio. Reportedly, those who tried a demo unit say it offers a much more realistic sense of immersion than its predecessor.
Iribe also said that Oculus had secured a new partnership with Epic Games as well as with Unity. No VR-specific titles have been announced, but the important thing is that the Unreal and Unity engines will natively support VR.
The Oculus Rift does not yet have a confirmed release date, but Iribe has said that over 100,000 developer kits have been shipped to developers in 130 countries.
More technical details are expected in the coming days.
