The Oculus Go - Standalone VR without breaking the bank
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The Oculus Go - Standalone VR without breaking the bank  | ||||||||
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Transcript[edit | edit source]
The Oculus Go: It claims to be “an all-in-one virtual reality headset… that doesn’t require a phone or PC.” It’s “offered at an attractive price point… and is an appealing option for people new to VR.”
The headset either comes with 32 or 64GB of internal storage. It has a Micro USB port for charging and a standard headphone jack, as well as a single 2560 x 1400 LCD display. And it uses a combination of an accelerometer, gyroscope, and a magnetic field detector to sense 3 degrees of motion.
The Oculus Go has a more friendly look than the industrial style of other VR headsets. It comes in a modish, gray color scheme and has a mostly rounded design with three adjustable velcro straps.
Setting up the Oculus Go is simple. Download the Oculus companion app on iOS or Android and you’ll be guided through the setup process. Once it’s setup, the headset can run independently from a computer or smartphone.
Since this headset doesn’t have the added benefit of external sensors such as IR cameras, its capabilities are limited to only 3 degrees of freedom, meaning that you can look in any direction, but moving your head forward or backwards doesn’t affect what is shown on the display, so the device is best used sitting down or standing still. Another downside is that the Go only comes with one controller, which limits the type of games it can support.
And while there are a lot of apps available, we felt gaming on the Oculus Go fell more in line with a mobile gaming experience than the type of games you’d find on a full fledged VR device like the Oculus Rift. But where the headset excelled was in personal entertainment like watching Netflix or using the web browser.
The idea behind the Oculus Go is to offer a standalone, user friendly device that doesn’t impede the visual qualities demonstrated by its VR counterparts, such as the Rift, while keeping the device affordable. And at $200, they’ve definitely achieved that. If you’re looking into VR for gaming, you might be better off going for a full featured tethered headset, but if you are just looking for a hassle free VR experience for watching movies or showing the tech off to friends, the Oculus Go is a well made product at a surprisingly low price.
Our verdict?:
Get it!
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Shut up and cut to the tech!