Facebook's Oculus conference is filled with Star Wars, hand tracking and Medal of Honor: Everything announced
The company announces new hand tracking technology and a social game called Horizon. It also says users have spent more than $100 million in its Oculus app store so far.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg at Oculus Connect in the demo room.
Facebook is focused on giving you more reasons to try virtual reality. Over the next year, it'll bring new sci-fi-inspired capabilities to its headsets, allowing you to control the devices with your hands.
During its Oculus Connect conference Wednesday, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said his company will offer new features for its Oculus Quest headset. The wireless $399 Quest will be able to sense your hands, the company said, and it'll be able to reproduce them in the virtual world without the need for controllers.
"The hardware is getting out of the way, and with each step, we're getting to a more immersive and natural experience," Zuckerberg said during a presentation at the conference in San Jose, California. "The first time you just wiggle your fingers and you see that full range of motion in your hands, it takes the experience to a whole new level."
The social networking giant hosts the annual conference to bring together the virtual reality community while also announcing its big initiatives for the coming year. In 2018, Facebook announced the Oculus Quest headset, a $399 device that doesn't have wires and doesn't need a powerful computer to run its apps. In 2017, it announced the Oculus Go, a $199 entry-level wireless device designed with minimal power, but for the masses.
The hand tracking this year wasn't the only big announcement, though. Facebook also announced a new feature coming later this year allowing its Oculus Quest headset to plug into a computer, streaming richer and more detailed visuals to the headset. That means the Quest will be able to run better-looking and more complex games than it can relying on its onboard computers.
Here's a list of all the big announcements from the event:
- Exclusive: Mark Zuckerberg sees the future of AR inside VR like Oculus Quest
- Exclusive: Facebook's Zuckerberg isn't giving up on Oculus or virtual reality
- Facebook's Oculus wants to let you control VR with your hands
- Facebook's Oculus users have spent $100 million on VR content
- Facebook Horizon will let you create your own world in VR
- Facebook is making AR glasses and is mapping the world for them to work
- Oculus Link will turn your Quest into a PC VR headset in November
- Oculus VR gets a second dose of Darth Vader, starting today
- Oculus, Respawn bringing 'Medal of Honor' WWII shooter to virtual reality
- Oculus Connect 6: 3 things still keeping VR and AR from going mainstream
Where
Oculus Connect will be streamed live on OculusConnect.com Wednesday and Thursday, as well as on the group's Facebook page (of course). You can also watch a replay of Wednesday's livestream below.