Santa Cruz Prototype Shows Improvements in VR devices

Man testing Oculus Rift

(Mirror Daily, United States) Oculus made an important announcement last week. During a conference, officials from the company introduced to the public a new model of virtual reality device. It is called the Santa Cruz prototype. Its new features provide us with insight into how VR devices will look like in the future.

Now, what makes the Santa Cruz prototype so special? Well, first of all, it is a wireless device. The headset model has no wires and needs no PC connection. For the time being, it is just a prototype; so further adjustments can be made. However, it is quite a strong statement that the future of virtual reality is wireless.

The Santa Cruz prototype works on its own, with the help of in-built sensors and cameras. They capture the surroundings and map them for the user. People who use the device will be provided with accurate images. Because the headset is wireless, users don’t have to worry anymore about going too far from the connection source or tripping on the tangled wires.

There is another feature about the Santa Cruz prototype which makes it unique. It has its own power source, so the services of a computer to control it are also out of the question.

Facebook and Oculus are working together in order to present tech enthusiasts with a one of a kind experience. The Santa Cruz prototype can give it to them. The device was introduced to the public through a presentation video. Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg attended the Oculus Connect event, where almost two thousand five hundred other producers were also present.

The people present had to ask for a special session in order to actually see and test the Santa Cruz prototype. The device was not displayed in the conference room. Those who were interested in seeing it had the chance to do it during a three or four minutes demo experience with the device.

The session of people who wanted to test the device was held in a separate room. According to those who tried it out, the room was quite small, well-lit, and displayed several items on the walls. These items stood as reference points for the cameras.

Developers are proud about the prototype. However, this is just an intermediate phase, as they intend to bring the device further improvements. Naturally, it is not available for sale, as there are more details to be set about it. Are you looking forward to the official release?

Image courtesy of: Wikipedia

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John Birks

John holds a diploma in journalism from the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University. He covers the technology, social media, green business, eco-travel, politics, arts culture.