Oculus Announces New Rift Prototype “Crescent Bay”

Prepare your eyeballs and senses ladies and gentlemen – the men and women leading the charge on VR technology have just publicly announced a new Oculus Rift prototype unit, codenamed “Crescent Bay”. The new prototype features improved 360-degree tracking and integrated audio, and even though the finalised consumer build still isn’t here yet – there’s a lot to like about the new prototype build. CEO Brendan Iribe said that the company is licensing 3-D audio technology from RealSense VR – which provides the wearer with a virtual world of audio. Iribe explained that integrated audio technology helps to create a more true-to-life surround sound experience. “This is still very, very early hardware and software, but it’s in a state that we’re ready to show you today.”

As part of the announcement, Oculus said that they had shipped over 100,000 units of its previous developer kits of the Rift VR headset. Iribe seems very impressed with the technological jump to “Crescent Bay” over the previous “DK2” prototype, quoting “Crescent Bay is a massive leap” that is “sprinting towards a consumer version.” The company – since been acquired by Facebook – is said to have doubled in staffing size, so hopefully we’ll be seeing the Oculus Rift consumer version on the horizon in the near future.

As of the time of writing, no pricing or release date for the Crescent Bay Rift prototype is available.