New Oculus Rift Prototype Produced, Developer Kits Delayed

Oh Oculus Rift. How silly I looked with your prototype on my face at PAX 2012. How I bumped into things and managed to turn you upside down. And how impressed I was when I saw how well you worked even at that early stage.

For those who don't know, Oculus Rift is a Virtual Reality gaming headset that we had the chance to try out at PAX 2012. The Kickstarter was also immensely successful, leading to the bit of news we're learning now. Though the developers of the Rift were hoping to get Developer Kits out to supporters before the holidays, they are now stating that kits will not be released until March 2013.

Why the delay? Demand for one thing. The Oculus team expected to have to ship a few hundred units out, but a successful kickstarter, which netted the team 2.5 million dollars for the project, is now faced with the task of manufacturing 7,500 units in just 4 months. Also, the team has been focused on not only getting out the units on time, but getting out the best units possible, leading them to make a series of upgrades to the hardware during this time. A new display has been chosen for the unit, a 1280x800 7’’ is now standard, and a new sensor has also been equipped, this one having a refresh rate of up to 1000hz, several times faster than the previous one.

But what we do have now is a new look at the next generation prototype of the unit which is much more sleek than the one we tried a few months ago. Wires are condensed, the circuit board is now tucked neatly in the face-piece and the unit looks like it'll be much more comfortable. You can see the new prototype for yourself in the images below.