Oculus Rift – CES 2016

Technological advances have made virtual reality a viable mainstream consumer technology. Like most, I am extremely excited for the age of virtual reality, if not a bit apprehensive about its potential effects on our society.

Well, there is not much longer to wait, Facebook’s Oculus Rift is slated for a Q1 2016 release, but the general consensus is that many PCs will not be able to handle the strain of virtual reality.

Tweet by inventor Palmer Luckey divulges all the details:

Thrilled to share some news: Manufacturing continues to go well, and we are still on-target for an awesome Rift launch in Q1!

— Palmer Luckey (@PalmerLuckey) December 22, 2015

However, according to Nvidia, most machines are not powerful enough to support the Rift as well as other virtual reality headsets. Research firm Gardner states that capable machines will account for less than 1% of the 1.43 billion computers that are expected to be in use this year.

Last May, the Facebook-owned company recommended an Intel Core i5-4590 processor or better, an AMD 290 / Nvidia GTX 970 graphics card or equivalent and at least 8GB of RAM in addition to an HDMI 3.1 video output, two USB 3.0 ports and Windows 7 SP1 or newer.

More will be revealed at CES 2016 which takes place Las Vegas, Nevada between January 6 and 9th. The Oculus event will be held on the 7th from 12:00pm EST to 12:30pm EST.

For CES we are anticipating more detail when it comes to price, specifications, and a definitive release date.

Competitors Sony and HTC will also have their showcases at CES, of their Hive and Playstation VR, respectively. Thus, it will be quite an event for virtual reality enthusiasts or anyone following the progress of the technology.

As for me, I can’t wait to climb Everest, dive to the bottom of the ocean and play my favorite games using the new technology.